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"Revenge, Renewal and the Promise of a New Year" (Boot Hill/D&D)
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<blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 1945267" data-attributes="member: 8530"><p><strong>Chapter 72, “Fisk,” Monday, January 9th, 1882: </strong> </p><p></p><p>Back at the El Parador, Ralph Elliott comes in for dinner accompanied by another man who Jake hasn't met yet. Ralph waves to Jake but the two do not approach him as he is still seated with Chester and Nanuet. They sit down at another table and order some food from Dorita. </p><p></p><p>Nanuet remains mostly quiet throughout the supper meal. He does tell them briefly that he spent the day with Sonoma doing chores and shopping, then a picnic. He leaves out a lot of details and tries to melt into the background. Anyone watching him though would notice that he can't keep his eyes off of her and that he watches her every time she passes nearby in the room. Nanuet says that he agrees on the price of the wagon and that he plans on visiting Flint tomorrow just to see exactly what he needs before placing the order. About the Lone Star, he says that he would spend some time there this evening as long as his presence was welcome and wouldn't cause any trouble.</p><p></p><p>"I'll talk to you two later," Jake says to Nanuet and Chester. He gets up and goes over to the miner and his guest. "Would you like me to join you now? Or would you rather talk late tonight?" Elliott says "Now's fine. This is our other partner, Patrick Seawell. He's the one who actually found the silver vein. Seawell says "Pleased to meet you Mr. Cook. My partners are all getting a bit restless, they'd like to get this ore somewhere other than inside of a wagon. I agree that it was best for you to find out what you could about Fisk before trying to negotiate with him. It would be nice though to get going soon. Fisk is over at the Long Branch Saloon right now having his supper."</p><p></p><p>Jake says, "Well so far nobody has said he ought right cheats, but neither does anyone seem to trust Mr. Fisk. The lawyer Berg appears to have a good reputation here in town, I suggest you consider seriously retaining him. And he makes a good point about having a third party make up the additional agreements documents." Jake folds his hands on the table in front of him and looks the men in the eyes. "What are you willing to tell Fisk right now about me," Jake pauses only for a second, "and the status of the mine. He is going to know something is up and is no fool. He may already know the ore is in town. He, and I, need to know what latitude I have as your agent."</p><p></p><p>Elliott says "Well, Berg seems to think the deeds are solid. And they're all now nice and safe inside a lock box in the First National Bank of Promise City. We're anxious to get this ore processed and get some money to get going. You and Berg both noticed that the deeds are silent about how to get the ore from Fisk Mountain to the Breakheart Stamping Mill and Smelter here in town. For latitude as our agent I'd say that it would be best to see if you can get a percentage out of his share to cover the cost of transporting the ore. If we have to pay for the extraction he should have to pay for that part of it."</p><p></p><p>Jake replies, "I was thinking along the lines of first trying to get him to cover all the costs after extraction. And then give a little. How does the stamping, smelting and assay costs work? Seems to me transportation costs are the smallest portion besides assay aren't they? I've never met Fisk. You'll need to introduce me. Are you ready to tell him you've found ore? I don't see what other choice you have. We really don't want him suspicious, we want him looking forward to being one of the richest men in these parts thanks to your fine work."</p><p></p><p>Seawell says "That's something I do know about, which is why I wanted to be in on this part of the negotiations. Costs for transportation are low for the mines here in town, which is why the stamping mill and smelter was built here. Five miles is a very long way to travel but this is the closest we could get a stamping mill and smelter anyway. It takes a water source to operate it and where the Pine Creek turns here in town is the closest continuous source of water to Fisk Mountain. Hubbard charges $10 a ton to process the ore, which doesn't sound like much but it adds up. Most ore is less than 1% silver content, although I think ours is a very high grade, probably in the neighborhood of 4 to 5%. </p><p></p><p>As for the assaying, the County Assay Office charges $ 3 to $ 5 per sample. Hubbard has his own assayer and will buy the ore for $ 3 an ounce, which is less than market price but has the convenience of being right here in town so the Liberty Hill and Lucky Deuce mines use that. The Gila Belle mine hates Hubbard and won't even use his stamping mill and smelter, transporting his ore all the way to Tombstone for processing. That costs him more in the long run due to the transportation even though his ore is high grade has been running between 2 and 3% silver content.”</p><p></p><p>"Good. When shall we approach Mr. Fisk and advise him of the good news and help him celebrate?" Asks Jake with a crooked smile. The three of them head over to the Long Branch Saloon, which was the very first saloon in town. Kate Higgins owns it. This 30x30 foot three-story brick building is rather luxurious, with all-brass bar fixtures and a crystal chandelier. It has four gambling tables featuring both poker and faro and has a reputation for high-stakes games that are sometimes less than honest. A piano player provides entertainment and there are four prostitutes who work there, otherwise they do not rent out hotel rooms. This establishment requires all patrons to check their guns at the bar. </p><p></p><p>The room is currently filled with around fifteen patrons, most of whom are having dinner. Jake recognizes Hoss Cartwright, Adam Cartwright and Nick Barkley at one of the table. Seawell leads him over to another table where a man is dining alone. Like Jake, this man has a thin mustache and goatee. Unlike Jake, the man has dark greasy slicked down hair parted in the middle and is thin boarding on malnourished. </p><p></p><p>Elliott says, "Mr. Fisk, we'd like a word with." The lawyer looks up and apparently does not recognize Elliott and Seawell at first, then he says "Ah, the miners. How goes our claim." Elliott says "Not very good for most of the past half year, then a few days ago we came across some silver. That's what we'd like to talk to you about. This is our associate Jake Cook who we've asked to help with the discussion." </p><p></p><p>Fisk smiles and says "Ah yes, the good Mr. Cook. My friend Mr. Adair has told me about you. How is it that you've hooked up with these men?" "Serendipity, Mr. Fisk. I am drawn to successful people." Jake replies with a poker face. "May I buy us a round of drinks to celebrate? You and your partners are taking the next steps to becoming truly wealthy men."</p><p></p><p>Fisk asks them to all take a seat at the table and orders drinks. Jake decides that this lawyer also has a good poker face, not being able to detect any reaction from him. A young women acting as a waitress but dressed as a dancer takes their drink orders. From the corner of Jake's eye he notices the halfling Chumbley enter the Saloon carrying a stack of newspapers.</p><p></p><p>Seawell begins to briefly describe that they blew out a section of the hill with dynamite and some of the ore looked to contain silver. Elliott then says "Mr. Cook looked over the deeds and indicated that there are a few things not clearly specified so we through that we had best discuss them with you before proceeding any further." Fisk continues to look unemotional about this and nods. </p><p></p><p>Jake is doing his best to concentrate on Fisk's eyes and attempts to tune out the obnoxious halfling at the door. This becomes almost impossible however as the little man gets closer hawking his papers and yells out the front headline "Johnny Ringo Killed! Shot by Deadeye Douglas." Jake reacts only slightly to Chumbley's shouted headline. "Another outlaw gone. Good riddance." </p><p></p><p>Jake raises his glass to the other men. "To your new and good fortunes." He takes a drink and smiles at Fisk. "The partners are looking forward to completing the agreements necessary to get the ore processed, and ultimately in all of your pockets. The miners here need to focus their efforts and resources on finding, excavating and extracting the ore from the ground. That leaves the transportation and processing to the other side of the partnership. The agreement would then specify the monitoring, checks and balances that would ensure the profits of all you partners end up squarely in your pockets. That would cover the entire operation from extracting to assaying."</p><p></p><p>Fisk says "I don't quite get what you mean. The deeds clearly specify that they are responsible for obtaining the ore and I get my share of the processed product. We'll split the costs to process it based upon our shares, unless you're suggesting something else Mr. Cook." Meanwhile Chumbley approaches the table and yells "Tombstone Epitaph, Promise City Edition. Eight Pages, Only Five Cents. Johnny Ringo Shot Dead!"</p><p></p><p>Jake ignores the bellowing in his ear from the cretin that passes himself as a halfling. Smiling, "Respectfully Mr. Fisk, the contract is quite clear and unambiguous about the miners responsibility for extracting the ore from the ground. Now in order to move this along, we need to agree to the controls to be established to protect all of you. Both in the extraction where the miners are responsible for the cost and your side of the operation. All partners here I believe have significant skills that can be brought to bear to be certain they are minimizing outside costs. This way the maximum profit from the ore, as I said before, arrives in your pockets. Given the unsettled nature of the country side, an expeditious agreement allows you all to assemble the necessary infrastructure to protect your valuable resource."</p><p></p><p>Fisk says "Ah, well, that's nice Mr. Cook, but I still don't see what you're getting at. The agreements are already in place. They are responsible for getting the ore and we then split proceeds according to the ownership shares after Breakheart finishes processing the ore into silver. If you're talking about the smelting costs those would be divided according to the ownership and just deducted by Breakheart from the payment to us. I can draw up some papers to that effect in the morning. End of story."</p><p></p><p>"I suggest we use a third party to draw up any additional agreements. As always all parties review and agree to them. It is important to avoid any possible appearance of impropriety. If I may be so bold Mr. Fisk, you should think beyond Promise City. This mine may be the richest in the Promise City area, and that may make you one of the wealthiest men in the territory. A man of your talents may determine he has greater aspirations, perhaps even politics? I am certain the Mitchell Berg will be suitable for drawing up the additional paperwork." </p><p></p><p>"I think that the miners could be convinced to share the smelting costs if you were to be responsible for the transportation costs. Under those conditions the assaying costs could probably be shared as well. As I said before, you stand to gain much more quickly if the miners focus their attention and resources on extraction." Jake pauses and stares at Fisk. </p><p></p><p>After a long period of silence Fisk replies, "Well Mr. Cook. If you are intent on using Mr. Berg then he should be present before we finalize any further agreements. Let us all meet back here tomorrow morning at 9:00." Jake looks at the miners and nods getting their agreement to adjourn and stands up. "A pleasure Mr. Fisk, tomorrow then." And they go outside. Seawell tells Jake "That was easy. Too easy. I don't trust him."</p><p></p><p>Jake replies, “Good. Keep it that way. Let's go to Mitchell Berg's now. Pay him to make up an agreement that I outlined." Jake stops him from interrupting. "Yes I know he hasn't agreed to it yet. So what. Negotiating tactic. It may cost you a bit more to have him work on it tonight, but we need every edge we can." Jake continues to talk on the way to Berg's. "If things get tough in the negotiation tomorrow what is your leverage? Are you willing to delay excavating ore? If we can't come up with leverage besides his public image and greed to get you guys working faster I won't have much to work with."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Silver Moon, post: 1945267, member: 8530"] [B]Chapter 72, “Fisk,” Monday, January 9th, 1882: [/B] Back at the El Parador, Ralph Elliott comes in for dinner accompanied by another man who Jake hasn't met yet. Ralph waves to Jake but the two do not approach him as he is still seated with Chester and Nanuet. They sit down at another table and order some food from Dorita. Nanuet remains mostly quiet throughout the supper meal. He does tell them briefly that he spent the day with Sonoma doing chores and shopping, then a picnic. He leaves out a lot of details and tries to melt into the background. Anyone watching him though would notice that he can't keep his eyes off of her and that he watches her every time she passes nearby in the room. Nanuet says that he agrees on the price of the wagon and that he plans on visiting Flint tomorrow just to see exactly what he needs before placing the order. About the Lone Star, he says that he would spend some time there this evening as long as his presence was welcome and wouldn't cause any trouble. "I'll talk to you two later," Jake says to Nanuet and Chester. He gets up and goes over to the miner and his guest. "Would you like me to join you now? Or would you rather talk late tonight?" Elliott says "Now's fine. This is our other partner, Patrick Seawell. He's the one who actually found the silver vein. Seawell says "Pleased to meet you Mr. Cook. My partners are all getting a bit restless, they'd like to get this ore somewhere other than inside of a wagon. I agree that it was best for you to find out what you could about Fisk before trying to negotiate with him. It would be nice though to get going soon. Fisk is over at the Long Branch Saloon right now having his supper." Jake says, "Well so far nobody has said he ought right cheats, but neither does anyone seem to trust Mr. Fisk. The lawyer Berg appears to have a good reputation here in town, I suggest you consider seriously retaining him. And he makes a good point about having a third party make up the additional agreements documents." Jake folds his hands on the table in front of him and looks the men in the eyes. "What are you willing to tell Fisk right now about me," Jake pauses only for a second, "and the status of the mine. He is going to know something is up and is no fool. He may already know the ore is in town. He, and I, need to know what latitude I have as your agent." Elliott says "Well, Berg seems to think the deeds are solid. And they're all now nice and safe inside a lock box in the First National Bank of Promise City. We're anxious to get this ore processed and get some money to get going. You and Berg both noticed that the deeds are silent about how to get the ore from Fisk Mountain to the Breakheart Stamping Mill and Smelter here in town. For latitude as our agent I'd say that it would be best to see if you can get a percentage out of his share to cover the cost of transporting the ore. If we have to pay for the extraction he should have to pay for that part of it." Jake replies, "I was thinking along the lines of first trying to get him to cover all the costs after extraction. And then give a little. How does the stamping, smelting and assay costs work? Seems to me transportation costs are the smallest portion besides assay aren't they? I've never met Fisk. You'll need to introduce me. Are you ready to tell him you've found ore? I don't see what other choice you have. We really don't want him suspicious, we want him looking forward to being one of the richest men in these parts thanks to your fine work." Seawell says "That's something I do know about, which is why I wanted to be in on this part of the negotiations. Costs for transportation are low for the mines here in town, which is why the stamping mill and smelter was built here. Five miles is a very long way to travel but this is the closest we could get a stamping mill and smelter anyway. It takes a water source to operate it and where the Pine Creek turns here in town is the closest continuous source of water to Fisk Mountain. Hubbard charges $10 a ton to process the ore, which doesn't sound like much but it adds up. Most ore is less than 1% silver content, although I think ours is a very high grade, probably in the neighborhood of 4 to 5%. As for the assaying, the County Assay Office charges $ 3 to $ 5 per sample. Hubbard has his own assayer and will buy the ore for $ 3 an ounce, which is less than market price but has the convenience of being right here in town so the Liberty Hill and Lucky Deuce mines use that. The Gila Belle mine hates Hubbard and won't even use his stamping mill and smelter, transporting his ore all the way to Tombstone for processing. That costs him more in the long run due to the transportation even though his ore is high grade has been running between 2 and 3% silver content.” "Good. When shall we approach Mr. Fisk and advise him of the good news and help him celebrate?" Asks Jake with a crooked smile. The three of them head over to the Long Branch Saloon, which was the very first saloon in town. Kate Higgins owns it. This 30x30 foot three-story brick building is rather luxurious, with all-brass bar fixtures and a crystal chandelier. It has four gambling tables featuring both poker and faro and has a reputation for high-stakes games that are sometimes less than honest. A piano player provides entertainment and there are four prostitutes who work there, otherwise they do not rent out hotel rooms. This establishment requires all patrons to check their guns at the bar. The room is currently filled with around fifteen patrons, most of whom are having dinner. Jake recognizes Hoss Cartwright, Adam Cartwright and Nick Barkley at one of the table. Seawell leads him over to another table where a man is dining alone. Like Jake, this man has a thin mustache and goatee. Unlike Jake, the man has dark greasy slicked down hair parted in the middle and is thin boarding on malnourished. Elliott says, "Mr. Fisk, we'd like a word with." The lawyer looks up and apparently does not recognize Elliott and Seawell at first, then he says "Ah, the miners. How goes our claim." Elliott says "Not very good for most of the past half year, then a few days ago we came across some silver. That's what we'd like to talk to you about. This is our associate Jake Cook who we've asked to help with the discussion." Fisk smiles and says "Ah yes, the good Mr. Cook. My friend Mr. Adair has told me about you. How is it that you've hooked up with these men?" "Serendipity, Mr. Fisk. I am drawn to successful people." Jake replies with a poker face. "May I buy us a round of drinks to celebrate? You and your partners are taking the next steps to becoming truly wealthy men." Fisk asks them to all take a seat at the table and orders drinks. Jake decides that this lawyer also has a good poker face, not being able to detect any reaction from him. A young women acting as a waitress but dressed as a dancer takes their drink orders. From the corner of Jake's eye he notices the halfling Chumbley enter the Saloon carrying a stack of newspapers. Seawell begins to briefly describe that they blew out a section of the hill with dynamite and some of the ore looked to contain silver. Elliott then says "Mr. Cook looked over the deeds and indicated that there are a few things not clearly specified so we through that we had best discuss them with you before proceeding any further." Fisk continues to look unemotional about this and nods. Jake is doing his best to concentrate on Fisk's eyes and attempts to tune out the obnoxious halfling at the door. This becomes almost impossible however as the little man gets closer hawking his papers and yells out the front headline "Johnny Ringo Killed! Shot by Deadeye Douglas." Jake reacts only slightly to Chumbley's shouted headline. "Another outlaw gone. Good riddance." Jake raises his glass to the other men. "To your new and good fortunes." He takes a drink and smiles at Fisk. "The partners are looking forward to completing the agreements necessary to get the ore processed, and ultimately in all of your pockets. The miners here need to focus their efforts and resources on finding, excavating and extracting the ore from the ground. That leaves the transportation and processing to the other side of the partnership. The agreement would then specify the monitoring, checks and balances that would ensure the profits of all you partners end up squarely in your pockets. That would cover the entire operation from extracting to assaying." Fisk says "I don't quite get what you mean. The deeds clearly specify that they are responsible for obtaining the ore and I get my share of the processed product. We'll split the costs to process it based upon our shares, unless you're suggesting something else Mr. Cook." Meanwhile Chumbley approaches the table and yells "Tombstone Epitaph, Promise City Edition. Eight Pages, Only Five Cents. Johnny Ringo Shot Dead!" Jake ignores the bellowing in his ear from the cretin that passes himself as a halfling. Smiling, "Respectfully Mr. Fisk, the contract is quite clear and unambiguous about the miners responsibility for extracting the ore from the ground. Now in order to move this along, we need to agree to the controls to be established to protect all of you. Both in the extraction where the miners are responsible for the cost and your side of the operation. All partners here I believe have significant skills that can be brought to bear to be certain they are minimizing outside costs. This way the maximum profit from the ore, as I said before, arrives in your pockets. Given the unsettled nature of the country side, an expeditious agreement allows you all to assemble the necessary infrastructure to protect your valuable resource." Fisk says "Ah, well, that's nice Mr. Cook, but I still don't see what you're getting at. The agreements are already in place. They are responsible for getting the ore and we then split proceeds according to the ownership shares after Breakheart finishes processing the ore into silver. If you're talking about the smelting costs those would be divided according to the ownership and just deducted by Breakheart from the payment to us. I can draw up some papers to that effect in the morning. End of story." "I suggest we use a third party to draw up any additional agreements. As always all parties review and agree to them. It is important to avoid any possible appearance of impropriety. If I may be so bold Mr. Fisk, you should think beyond Promise City. This mine may be the richest in the Promise City area, and that may make you one of the wealthiest men in the territory. A man of your talents may determine he has greater aspirations, perhaps even politics? I am certain the Mitchell Berg will be suitable for drawing up the additional paperwork." "I think that the miners could be convinced to share the smelting costs if you were to be responsible for the transportation costs. Under those conditions the assaying costs could probably be shared as well. As I said before, you stand to gain much more quickly if the miners focus their attention and resources on extraction." Jake pauses and stares at Fisk. After a long period of silence Fisk replies, "Well Mr. Cook. If you are intent on using Mr. Berg then he should be present before we finalize any further agreements. Let us all meet back here tomorrow morning at 9:00." Jake looks at the miners and nods getting their agreement to adjourn and stands up. "A pleasure Mr. Fisk, tomorrow then." And they go outside. Seawell tells Jake "That was easy. Too easy. I don't trust him." Jake replies, “Good. Keep it that way. Let's go to Mitchell Berg's now. Pay him to make up an agreement that I outlined." Jake stops him from interrupting. "Yes I know he hasn't agreed to it yet. So what. Negotiating tactic. It may cost you a bit more to have him work on it tonight, but we need every edge we can." Jake continues to talk on the way to Berg's. "If things get tough in the negotiation tomorrow what is your leverage? Are you willing to delay excavating ore? If we can't come up with leverage besides his public image and greed to get you guys working faster I won't have much to work with." [/QUOTE]
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