Sariel: May 1st: Kargos Capital, Slum District
(Over the last few weeks, the other half elves and I have worked tirelessly to balance the tanning business and supplying Regnald with his supply of carcasses.
We are secretly skimming off the surplus from our regular work and hiding it from Cook underneath the floorboards.
One of the first things I suggested was for us to decide upon a name for our underground company. We all thought "The White Rats" sounded like the best description of our group.
Things had been going exactly how I'd planned them.
The scope of it is that if we can establish our own contacts with this build-up of material, we can sell the cured and stitched pelts off as some other animals. Using the money from that, we can pay off Regnald in order for us to become business partners, or we can take our business elsewhere; his choice, really.
After my first time negotiating with the man, I realised that he was quite an impulsive person, but was relatively reasonable when it came to contract negotiations.)
My hands are developing a yellow tint with the amount of time I've been spending in this shack.
Tanning the giant rodent fur we've been collecting as of late and dyeing it the colour white.
Its actually becoming quite concerning to me, Just how much could the king ignore this? I get that were the lowest of the low in their eyes, but the slum district is practically being overrun with these things. They're in every alley, every street. Poor Katarina had to wrestle one for her soup back the other day because it somehow made its way in here.
Recently, the menial labour has been really getting to all of us, really, I've always enjoyed stitching, but this is making me acquire a distaste for it, when I managed to put a needle all the way through my thumb tackling a particularly tough rat hyde.
I thought having everyone on the same page about how things were going to work in this operation would've sped it up, but…
My eyes began to wander around the cramped underground room. The lighting was making it hard for me to stitch right.
My gaze was drawn to the large pot we have been using to mix the rat brains and vinegar, for higher quality hydes, it takes up most of the room.
However It seems as though Katarina, Lexi, and Selwyn were the only ones actually doing any work around here. As the two boys had fallen asleep in a pile of unfinished rat hydes.
I strided towards them, picking up one of the hides covering them and rolling it in my hands.
-"HEY!" I shouted, glaring at them.
They shot up immediately. A hyde slowly slipped off of Dom's face onto my shoe,
-"What are you boys doing, lazing about?"
-"Sorry, sis", they both said in unison.
We had become quite close nit recently, and all of them started thinking of me as their sister after Selwyn started the title.
I thoroughly hit both of them on the forehead with the hide that I still had at the ready in my hand.
I was about to correct them.
But now that I think about it, although I've never had siblings, they do fit the bill as far as parentage is considered.
None of us has ever really been loved by our parents or anyone else. I guess in a way we are all like family. I can let them have that for the time being.
I smiled at them,
"Some work would do you good, I think."
The two boys and I opened up the floorboard cover that we had detached to make this sort of base of operations, and we set off, with me leading them out the door.
I led them through the market past Cook's butchery&smoked meats stall.
We gave him a short nod before heading even further into the slums.
I had been quite careful to keep alert as we passed a makeshift gate into an alleyway.
Then the boys rushed past me as I was closing the gate. I barely had time to turn around before….
Crunch!
Crunch!
I was in shock…
Those two appleheads actually managed to kill four of those monstrously large rats on their own.
I knew they had came far, but I didn't realise their sleeping was deserved, they had clearly been putting in some extra work training.
Blood pooled on the ground.
The smell invigorated me.
I was about to give both of them a high five
when 20 more of the beasts came running through.
We bolted to the door, pushing past it and closing it behind us.
I regret my own lack of foresight, as I turned around to see a group of eight men wearing expensive merchantwear, and holding pikes to our throats.
The shortest one came forward, he was elven, and dressed in a manner befitting a less wealthy noble of the spire…
He came forward.
-"What is your business here, mongrels?"
He practically spat the word in the two boys' faces; he had not yet seen me, as I was the last through the door.
So I glared at him for a while.
He had a look in his eyes, an Insincere one but not an explicitly hateful one.
It dawned on me that even though this man was a reprehensible blob of elven blood ineptitude.
He might be able to help me with my… venture.
I smiled warmly at him before approaching.
-"Hello my lord, my name is Sariel"
I took care to stroke his hand and lock his eyes with mine for a second before introducing myself.
He seemed taken aback slightly
-" I see, I am Lepron, and how might I… be of service?"
I introduced us, whilst making sure to keep my own smile fixed.
He stank of wine and smelled like the slums.
-"The White Rats have come seeking a business deal, today my lord."
I knew he wasn't a lord. In fact, everything about him screamed criminal, his hair was tied back far too tight, his eyes looked dilated. I can gather it's likely smoking-induced, as I had spotted Cook with some of that in his hand many of the times we were made to drop off our kills. And he had rusted jewellery around his hands.
We followed him into what from an outside perspective seemed to be a run down building, but inside it was a small but decorated, comfortable meeting space. I sat down on the couch and left the boys outside to play.
-" So, what is this deal?" surprisingly he was all smiles now. I was saving that move for if I ever needed something from Regnald, but I sincerely didn't expect it to work so well.
-"We would like to sell you some…
Hides, you look like a man who is well connected, im sure you can find a market for our product."
The grin on his face became wider.
-" And what is this product you speak of, my love? Hmmm."
I pulled out the white fur I had used to hit Dom and Lev earlier with and passed it to him.
His eyes lit up
-" We can get 10 gold a piece for this in the right market. What is your asking cut?"
I decided to be bold,
-"75%"
He looked very displeased,
-" Are you serious?"
We were locked in silence for a while until he stood up and clamped down on the table.
-" If you are not willing to conduct serious business, girl, then why would I want yours!" he shouted.
I replied to his outburst calmly,
-" I saw your gate out there, very large, very heavy, it's quite Interesting that there were so many of those rats out there, in that enclosed space, almost as though you might have competition you need their protection from?"
He winced away from the table and turned around before his expression could become readable.
-" competition like, Regnald, and Cook"
His eyes lit up with fear,
-" You work with those barbarians?"
….
-"Fine, take the 75, just never bring their names up to me again!"
With that, I had secured my hundred gold deal, we had around 30 hides ready to be delivered, A solid 225 gold profit to be shared between the 6 of us. That's 37 gold and a silver each. Quite a fortune once we start producing it full-time.
Im quite happy to have made this new deal. We shook hands and agreed we would meet tomorrow at noon, and I would personally deliver the hides to him.
Reginald: May 1st: Kargos Capital, Slum District
Enjoying a sip of one of the most high-quality luxuries available in this pit of a city was a novelty. Aged whiskey from the Royal Spires kitchens was pulled down my throat straight from the bottle today. Usually, I would have more patience in my wine tastings, but as of right now, the only thing im tasting is the foul stench of my subordinates' failings.
Cook had entered my residence, no doubt uncertain about something stupid or another.
I had learned that in the grand scheme of things, Cook was a necessary brute, for my reach into the Royal Spire to become complete.
A cold breeze spread through the air as the door was finally shut with a loud crack.
He had a deathly serious look on his face, likely because he suspected the Local church had already made a move.
Quite the misconception.
-"Cook, I've received some troubling news from our demon contact"
-" Oh no, please say it's not that, I was just getting started with the fun…"
Then he smiled at me, it was almost like a scene from a horror book, where my only capable subordinate had the directional sense of a crumbling tower.
I cut across his ramblings
-" The Half Breeds, I mean, they've been cutting down the larger rats, something I explicitly told you to instruct them not to do, Cook"
-" Mustve slipped my mind si…"
-" Close your cunting hole for a second!"
I threw my empty bottle at his disgusting face.
He almost fell over from the force.
I might've even noticed a tooth fall from his face, oh well, it was an improvement by any standards." He was useless as the day I found him. Fighting for bread In the slave markets.
-" Put them in check, Cook. They've been colluding with the Elven bastard Lepron. Our property has lost its investment value, the rats have told the demon merchant that they were followed, and found entering Lepron's home with very luxurious looking hides. They are your responsibility, Cook. This is beginning to become a recurring pattern.
Cook looked as though he was about to voice a complaint
-" But what about the gir…"
He was cut off again by the deathly glare I was giving him.
-" If you want to keep the coin flowing and your tongue in your mouth, I suggest you stop with your incessant ramblings"
That was enough to get him going.
Those mixed breeds think they're infallible as of late, I'm going to show them the truth of the world, really, it's a charity.