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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cerebral Paladin" data-source="post: 3131233" data-attributes="member: 3448">Lady Sepulva returned to her table, and a few minutes later sent Clarence to the one spice merchant remaining with the exchange as the hour grew late.  The spice merchant listened to Clarence and nodded curtly.  A few minutes later, he rose from his chair and made his way down to Lady Sepulva’s seat, showing markedly less favor than an invitation for her to attend on him would have.She sized the spice merchant up as he made his way down.  He was a dashing young man, dressed in the finest silks and with an attractive face and a stylish cut to his hair.  He also wore a rapier with a finely wrought gold hilt and a bejeweled scabbard, making him the only merchant in the Exchange who wore a sword.  Lady Sepulva nodded silently, pegging him as a gallant who probably relied on his family wealth rather than having done much to increase it himself.  Still, it wouldn’t do to underestimate him.“You wished to speak with me?  Perhaps you have some interest in buying the finest spices for sale in Canberry?”  As he looked over Lady Sepulva’s corpulent form, he dabbed at his nose with a perfumed handkerchief.“Yes… Do remind me of your name.  I’m sure that my late husband, Lord Sepulva, mentioned his dealings with you, but…”“I should say he would have!  I sold him a quantity of the finest saffron to be found,”  the merchant preened.  “I am Brian Penthorpe, and my family is famed throughout Drucien for the quality of our product.”  He executed a rather showy and theatrical bow in her direction as he introduced himself, more from habit than from any real desire to impress her.“Oh, I’m terribly sorry for failing to make the connection sooner!  That saffron had more flavor than any I’d ever tasted before.  And the perfume that accompanied it was simply marvelous,” she gushed.  “I’m so glad to meet you personally-- I’m sure we can become the closest of friends.”  As Lady Sepulva finished her sentence, she leaned forward towards Penthorpe and placed her hand firmly upon his elbow.The spice merchant twitched, unwilling to be so rude as to pull away fully, but equally unhappy about the contact.  “Yes.  Ahem.  Well.  Did you have a matter of business you wished to discuss?” He finally managed to croak out.“How do you get such fine spices?  I know you charge more for them, as well you should given your quality, but no one else in the Exchange compares to you.”Penthorpe swallowed.  “It’s a matter of the right source.  We deal exclusively in spices from the Spice Lands, which are greatly superior to spices from other sources.  And even within the Spice Lands, there are gradations.  The premiere spices come from the ‘Empire’ of Seachen, as they call it, though it’s not really an empire.  Only one city, and no conquests, although they do have a large army.  The saffron from there fetches twice the price of more plebeian strains, and the cinnamon three times the standard price.”“Have you begun detouring, then?  The tariffs in Brightspan must hurt badly given your trade route.”“Certainly not what we would wish, of course, but we make enough profit on our spices to keep trading.  We can pass most of the tariffs through to our buyers, so while we lose some money, it’s not too bad.  And it’s simply not worth it to follow a different route.  The lost time of going west and then south to circumvent Brightspan would cost almost as much as the tariffs, and two merchants that tried that route disappeared without a trace.  I prefer more reliable trading, even if it costs a small amount of profit.”</blockquote>

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