Once Upon a Rheim (Erekose13 Judging)

[Bront]

"Well, my family has pressured to sell the Harewinds and their estate for generations now, but we made an agreement long ago to let them earn their way out of their debt to us, and they should be done in 10 more years, but untill then, we've still got a pretty fair and relaxed arrangement."

"However, if things keep going like this, I may have to sell them off, which voids their ability to buy out of the slavery. Garza Vahan has made me several offers for years, and it'd be more than enough to secure the Valdor estate for a long time."

"I don't know what I can spare, but I can offer you what I can if you can stop this. I realy don't want to sell the Harewinds. Heck, I don't like owning them, but the contract is binding, and I'd rather sell them than have them reposessed and auctioned off."

 

[Someone]

"Uh, at least we saved most of the cloth this time" says Nodis "Which seems strange now that I think on it, that it was left there to burn. Was there other valuable things in the caravan?"

"But I´m afraid I don´t get all the talk about slavery and selling people."

 

[Bront]

OOC: Actualy, very little was saved, because what wasn't already burning (It was lit for almost 45 minutes before you got there) now has dirt all over it, and it's still sitting out on the road.

"I think it's a personal attack. Someone wants me out of business. Not sure what I would have done to earn such spite though."

"Slavery is accepted here in Rheim, and it's not uncommon for someone to sell themselves into slavery if they are desperate. The Harewinds were desperate when my grandfather was a young man, though I didn't quite get why, and head of the family sold himself and his lands to us, but that he be allowed to slowly pay off the debt over the course of 100 years. It was a little odd, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth, particularly for the price. He was a pretty scrupulious bastard though, and hid two clauses in there. One allowed him to sell the contract to someone else, and another that allowed a new purchaser to void the repayment. Fortunately, he got sick and died before he could sell it. Father invested some of the money from that into the clothing business, and with the help of the Harewinds, he did pretty well, and taught me the trade."

At that point, the young elf woman returns with more roast and vegitables. She sets them down further down the table, so that the new arivals can have something in easy reach.

"However, business has been down, and money's getting tight. And if I don't get some retun on our goods and work in the next two months, I won't be able to afford the taxes Riem charges, and the first thing the city does is sieze slaves and auctions them off."

 

[El Jefe]

OOC: Actualy, very little was saved, because what wasn't already burning (It was lit for almost 45 minutes before you got there) now has dirt all over it, and it's still sitting out on the road.

Ooc: *Cough!*Post 357*Cough!*Although I think we're arguing over barely enough to weigh down one of the horses vs. enough to fill a couple of carts.

"I think it's a personal attack. Someone wants me out of business...The Harewinds were desperate when my grandfather was a young man, though I didn't quite get why, and head of the family sold himself and his lands to us, but that he be allowed to slowly pay off the debt over the course of 100 years."

Oirhandir nodded as he listened to Valdor's explanation of how his family came to own the Harewinds and their land. Certainly, it made sense to him. What was a debt of 100 years to an elf? An inconvenience, no less, not much more than an agreement between men to work for a year and a day in exchange for some favor. But with only 10 more years to go, something didn't seem quite right. Either someone of the race of men was out to get Valdor, just as he said, or some elf had it in for the Harewinds, waiting until near the end of the contract to extract a cruel punishment. Either way, Oirhandir had to find out who this someone was and put an end to their plot.

Oirhandir waited until the serving girl left the room, then put forth a question to Valdor. "And your elf-maiden, Violet, is she one of the Harewinds who serves in your house instead of your fields?" There was always a risk of speaking in front of the help, but that risk would be doubled if anything he said was taken directly back to Scarlet and her family. And it would not be too much of a coincidence if Scarlet and Violet were sisters, would it not?

Oirhandir saw three avenues of attack opening up to him: Investigating this Garza Vahan, finding out if the Harewinds had any old enemies, or simply taking Valdor's next caravan out of the city and capturing whoever attacked. Best that the first two avenues be explored before committing to the third, the elf decided. And precisely how he approached the first two options would depend in part on Valdor's answer to the question that he had just posed.

 

[Someone]

"Well, all that talk about slavery and that sounds awful, but that's life." says Nodis. "Not anything I´d like to get into, so maybe after visiting the city tomorrow I'll look for the way to return to Orussus, since we know there are dangerous things out there."

 

[Bront]

"Violet is Scarlet's little Sister, and Blue over there," He motions to a young elf at the table, Violet is younger than 90, Blue may be just over that, "is the middle brother. Probably been a blessing this arrangement, since Scarlet's parents died around the same time, there wasn't realy anyone to teach them to run the plantation. Father and I have been doing that, and Scarlet's been picking everything up real well. In many ways, I'm not looking forward to them getting out of the arrangement, as my costs will go up a bit, but I'm sure we can arrange for something amicable."

 

[El Jefe]

"Violet is Scarlet's little Sister, and Blue over there is the middle brother."

Oirhandir did the sums in his head. He was always good at sums. "So they must have done well by selling themselves", he thought. "Well enough to have two more children as slaves."

"Probably been a blessing this arrangement, since Scarlet's parents died around the same time, there wasn't realy anyone to teach them to run the plantation."

"So when and how did their parents perish?", the elf asked, trying to sound disinterested and only half succeeding. "No parents to meet...and here I sit with what? A 'younger brother' who is the head of the family? Well, a good man, and for an elf to think that, that is something", thought the elf. He also thought that three orphans couldn't possibly be the source of a vendetta, and that anyone who wouldn't be satisfied with the death of the parents must be cruel, indeed. Perhaps this was aimed at Lord Valdor, with his slaves caught hapless in his peril.

 

[Bront]

"It was, maybe 70 years ago," Valdor says. "Some illness came through the area, took my grandfather and them as well. Was a sad bit of Riem history, almost 20% of the population died."

 

[Fenris]

OOC:[sblock] Wow, you guys moved fast! [/sblock]

"We were attacked sir. I'd still be laying on the road if it weren't for these men."

Kali pokes Nicol after his comment, taking umbrage at either being called a man or omited from the rescue.

Kali listened intently to the conversation. She took a seat next to Violet once she returns and helps herself to some fruit and bread with a small nod and smile of thanks to Violet.

This was all too familiar to her. How often had she seen these tactics employed? How often had she discovered and distrupted such plans? This time she had no one to embarrrass, no one to compromise. Lord Valdor would, she was sure, not have a problem with her merchant's services. Kali ate and listened, doing the math in her head of how much it would cost a rival to hire the thugs, against the profit from taking the Harewinds, trying to determine if this was personal against Valdor, or merely a plot to gain his slaves.

 

[Bront]

Nicol corrects himself, "Sorry, this lady as well. I ment no offense ma'am, just trying to keep it simple."

[sblock=Kali]Not knowing the current market for slaves, their value would likely be fairly high if the land is included, though it's likely whoever wants them would be making Valdor offers directly to buy them than chance the sale in a public auction, and likely he would end up paying most of their value anyway. As such, it wouldn't be extremely profitable, though perhaps in the long run it could be worth more.[/sblock]