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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cerebral Paladin" data-source="post: 3113666" data-attributes="member: 3448">“You could hire a page, m’lady.  All of the more promising lads around the Exchange would be able to advise you on which merchants are which.  We can’t supply your husband’s preference; that’s illegal here.  No slaves, no mutilation, no out-and-out abuse.  Even the foreign factors who bring their pages with ‘em are forbidden to bring slaves.”Lady Sepulva thought about the tongue-less boy for a moment; slavery and mutilating pages might be illegal in Canberry, but some of the merchants went awfully close to the line.  “Where are the messenger boys looking for work?”The doorman led her into a room.  A cluster of boys, ranging from perhaps seven to teens nearing adulthood, looked up at her, in some cases eagerly, in others appraisingly.  Lady Sepulva stepped forward and scattered a few coppers on the table, watching who focused on or even reached for the coins versus who stayed focused on her.  Two of the older boys stayed focused on her, clearly more interested in a larger long-term payoff than in getting a quick coin.  She pulled them aside and questioned each of them.  One of them seemed mostly a guard-type; physically fit and strong, with a certain canniness but no great intelligence.  The other was less physically imposing but more intelligent.  Lady Sepulva hired Clarence, the more intelligent lad, at 5 coppers a day plus the opportunity to earn bonuses.“How may I help you, m’lady?”“I’m still settling in and learning the people in the Exchange while I consider what deals to pursue.”“Very good.  Have you claimed your husband’s letters of credit?”Lady Sepulva paused.  Of course her late “husband” had to have had letters of credit.  But she didn’t even know how to go about claiming them.   “Could you take care of that, Clarence?”They returned to the Exchange floor, and Clarence climbed to the highest level, just outside the gilded wrought iron fence barring entrance to the Inner Circle.  He waited patiently at the rail and returned about twenty-five minutes later, with an officious man in tow.The man looked Lady Sepulva over.  “Lady Sepulva?”“Yes?  And you are?”“I am Tharvan, Master of the Exchange.  I’m sorry for your loss.  I was sad to hear of his assassination.”Lady Sepulva noted that unlike many of the merchants who had only heard vague rumors of Sepulva’s death, the Master seemed confident of his information and believed correctly that her husband had been killed in the coup in their Enclave.  “Yes, it was terrible.  But we must go on.”Tharvan produced a ledger and Lady Sepulva signed for her letters.  Most of the letters represented cash, and he gave her 2000 round yellow chits and 50 silver chits, all carefully arranged in a box for her convenience.  “And this last letter is for livestock-- 500,000 head, delivered to the Empire of Masque.  Do you wish to claim this letter as well?”“Keep it in the safe for now, I think.”Lady Sepulva spent the rest of the afternoon taking an inventory of the people in the Exchange.  The dozen top merchants and the officials of the Exchange filled the Inner Circle.  Only those representing a full merchant on a specific task or those that the Inner Circle summoned could enter their domain.  The middle tier consisted of major merchants and permanent factors, but not within the top dozen.  Most were factors for other nations, including one from Tang, three from the Sunken Lands, several from Masque, and many from Enclaves, although many of the Enclaves based members of the Middle Circle were not physically present that day.  Hanal was conspicuous for its lack of a factor in that circle, whether by happenstance or policy.  Lady Sepulva also noted that, in addition to the seats that had banners next to them but no current occupants, there were many that appeared completely vacant.  When she asked of Clarence, he mentioned that those were the old South Kingdom seats.  They still technically belonged to their old owners, but many of their owners had died without heirs, and even more were broken, without any trade interests left to manage.  All told, the hall could hold about 400 merchants, although only 230 or so were present that day.  As Lady Sepulva considered the volume of trade that the Exchange carried on, it became clear that this was the central Exchange for all of the trade in Southern Drucien; the only larger exchange on the continent was the Enclaves exchange itself.</blockquote>

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