Early Autumn 416a, Storm Coast Trade Guild Headquarters, Vasir
Shinall had been in Vasir for too long without leaving. The drama in the coast of late had caused an increased focus upon the Guild. So much so that the Guild reached out to the remaining nobility for assistance in planning.
Messengers were sent to the various powers involved or immediately threatened. Diplomats went to survey the potential damage and try to prevent anything worse from happening. Merchants had already been returning to Vasir with rumors of civil wars, regime changes and rampant paranoia from east to west.
He was getting tired of playing nice with the other merchants who were content to sit on their collective rotundous asses provided that they managed at the end of a year to be a ducat richer than they had started. Shinall called a mandatory Guild meeting early that fall, something that hadn't been done in years.
No one was pleased at the meeting being called, and there were only a trio of merchants that were not present. One, being a personal friend of his, was on a guild assignment in Lowlands. The others had less reason to be missing, but the last anyone had heard they were in Polca this Summer. Given the state of Polca - their absence wasn't unexpected.
The Guild Hall looked like it should have for a bunch of Masters of Commerce: Bland, organized and obvious that they were not an entity to be ignored. Standing at the central podium, before he could say a word, Shinall was interrupted by a robust elderly man who looked like he spent more money on socks than some nations spent on armies - "What in the name of all that is holy have you summoned us for, Grandmaster?"
The spite and sarcasm in the use of his title would have been apparent to the smallest child, but without skipping a beat he replied simply and directly, "If you had even the faintest instinct of when to shut your pie hole, you'd already know that..." The man simply glared at him and sat back down in his seat, much to the murmur of the assembled Guild. "Fellow Members of the Guild. We've long spent our time trying to emerge from the failures of the past. It has taken a great effort on all our parts, some more than others, but we have emerged from our darkest times to be stronger for it. In response to this, the Storm Coast seems to be poised to lose it's mind recently - Civil Wars, riots and personal wars are raging up and down the coast. What have we against this insanity? A fleet of merchant vessels and the good graces of mercenaries and other swords for hire. While they're more than happy to collect their payments protecting our goods from port to port - none of them would stand to our guard in the face of invasion."
He looked around the room a little to gauge the reaction of the assembly before continuing, "It's no secret that Vasir hasn't had a military force in years. This needs to be rectified and quickly given the state of the region. I've sent messengers to what is left of the Vasiri Nobility and other landowners in raising what will be an entirely defensive guard. We made the provisions when the Guild took control of Vasir that we wouldn't raise an army or remove the nobility. They got to sit fat and relaxed, and in truth - so did we. If things continue down the path they've started...then we may soon need eachother once again. The Landowners have the manpower to raise an army, but they're unable to support one without riots of their vassalage. We can support it easily at very little cost to any of us."
The notion of having to increase their obligations to the Guild didn't sit well with anyone there. "I have ideas in mind for how to do this, but I will refrain from saying anything currently. I have yet to hear anything from the landowners as well as the runners I've sent to get more solid information on the state of the coast. With that, I call this meeting ajourned until the mid-season mark. At which time a choice will need to be made."
He turned and left the Meeting Hall to the sound of disgruntled questions asked to the air. Shinall knew he made no friends this day, but it couldn't be helped. If things in the Coast are going south, then something needs to be done to ensure that Vasir has nothing to fear from anyone outside of Vasir. The biggest threat to Vasir, and largely the Guild, has always been it's own people.
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Topic: You Are King II: Tales of the Storm Coast (Winter 416a) (Read 238277 times)