Royal Crown Commision: Financial Details

[Jim Roberts]

[Jan 30 -- Castle Sibley]

> “From the sounds of what I am hearin’,” Balzac rumbled, puffing
> thoughtfully on his cigar. “Send Kwantym down. An’ lemme send a note
> for the shops.” He paused a moment to scribble some orders, then inked
> and stamped his personal runestone at the bottom. “We got some serious
> business to be taken care of.”
>
> In fairly short order, the Khuzdar was brought up to speed with the
> day's pressing topics.

After the requested break, the delegates returned to the day’s business.
Dwarflord Balzac confirmed his Captain’s prediction; skilled labour from
Baldy Delving could be available to help with the construction at the
Sibley end – subject to available resources, and above all, for the
appropriate fee.

That point naturally led to a detailed discussion about how the finances
for the project were going to be arranged. The Crown was providing its
end of the resources “gratis”, or rather, for the good of the country,
provided that its already described conditions were met. The potential
for remunerative gain in the project were vast, given the amount of
goods that could be shipped from the far away capital in a heartbeat.
Any up front investment in the infrastructure would be healthily repaid
by drawing upon a small amount of the commercial traffic’s profits,
exactly as the Exchequer did across the financial landscape.

Here, the gnomen financial wizard truly shone. He suggested a framework
where *everyone* in the community would benefit. Any investor funding a
mercantile run between Bar Erain and the Gelmir Vale would receive a
considerable return; that was a financial requirement, or else there
simply would be no economic incentive.

However, part of those profits would be shared in one form or another
with the broader community. The three lords of the region would
individually draw a small percentage of the profits, as would the elven
wizard contributing the Arcane side of the spellpower, and no little
amount of personal lifeforce. Other key contributors to be nominated by
this very working group would receive a smaller percentage that would
still result in a considerable recurring income stream. Finally, the
*entire* population would divide another chunk of the profits, meaning
that each and every citizen – provided, of course, that their tax
records were up to date – would be receiving a regular stipend. It would
not be enough for anyone to abandon income generating work and slide
into a life of idleness, but it WOULD provide a welcome benefit to each
and EVERY citizen.

There were no objections to the overall goal, and the remainder of the
afternoon was spent fine tuning a few details, as well as nominating
various people for the “benefactor” award who would be receiving smaller
but regular payouts drawn from each cargo’s profits. An early suggestion
was that in addition to key people who had been in the recent or distant
past instrumental in helping the Gelmir Vale succeed were the various
druidic orders themselves. The Grangers, Kaltans, as well as the local
Medicine Lodges were put in to each receive a small cut; their aid in
guiding population levels would be essential for making this all work,
and so it only seemed right that they should receive a share of the benefit.

The only “dissension”, if it could be called that, was entirely polite
and without animosity. Which made sense, given the two participants.
When the Lord of Fort Resolute nominated the Keeryte Order for a share,
Vowsister Avril, speaking on behalf of her Sisters, politely declined.

“That is a most gracious offer, Lord Erik,” Avril offered the knight.
“But it might present those we lead an unfortunate impression. We strive
to teach our Little Sisters that as an Order, we eschew wealth as a
distraction from our mission. I would so wish to avoid them rejecting
that lesson, and seeing your most generous offer of a dividend as an
open invitation to find other avenues of income to feed their various
habits.” A glance towards Mithi suggested that the Vowsister was
thinking of Seaweth’s patented AWAKE tea, her magical potions, and other
enchanted trinkets available for sale.

“Believe me, the funds you are making available to the people sound more
than sufficient for our modest needs,” the Vowsister smiled. “Many if
not most of our more advanced students donate any coin that comes into
their hands to the Sisterhood. The DwarfLords of Brandon manage the
Sisterhood’s accounts for us, and so far that has always worked out just
fine.”

Sister Erin, Tramma, and Tiglo all had filled stacks of parchments with
notes, charts, and scenario examples by the time the day’s discussion
drew to a close. Fortunately, there was a broad agreement. Also agreed
was to meet again the next day. Not just in case any new business or
questions about the current day’s arrangements arose, but Sister Erin
noted that there were a couple of other proposals to discuss with the
Lord of Baldy Delving that had nothing to do with the current
Teleportation Circle topic. And perhaps the Khuzdar had something he in
turn wanted to discuss with his fellow Lords and the Kamyran military
representatives, given that there was clearly something in the region
that could so batter a dwarflord.

But those were topics for tomorrow; they had covered everything that
*needed* to be covered today, and it was time to break for the evening.