[Jazzy]

The building where the Nuralian Merchants' Guild had taken up residence was a quite unassuming building. It had once been a residential house of some merchant's, which had felt quite fitting at the time of purchase, but as the Guild had started moving in their business it became more and more apparent that it would quickly become quite cramped in the long run. 

Ningñalëka Balanced-flight, the local Master Merchant of this branch, was sat in an old hardwood chair they'd gotten with the purchase, counting the rafters for what felt like the hundredth time that day. It was a bad habit she'd gotten since moving there, always worried one would show signs of cracking and tumble down on their heads. Although maybe that wouldn't be too bad, then they'd have a great reason to hurry along changing out those ghastly tiles they had for roof. 

She wouldn't call the offices run-down, although they were perhaps a bit on the dingy side. It was quite good for the price-range actually, and seeing as they were just starting their forays into trade they had to be as economical as they could. That said though, she would personally make sure the place got seriously refurbished the first thing she did once they were properly settled in. 

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Yes? Come in," she called. 

A young face met her as the door opened, one of the apprentices at the Guild, and until they had the budget to hire more people also acting her secretary and receptionist. "They're here," the apprentice said. 

"Oh, already?" Ningñalëka said and looked out the window. Oh, well, judging by the light she'd spent more time lost in thought than she'd intended. Nothing she could do about it now though. 

"Do send them in then," she said and got up from her seat, brushing off her coat quickly. How exciting, the first deal of the office was hopefully underway! She turned her attention back to the door and smiled.

[(Chaos)Jester]

The soft tap and polite throat clearing belies the sheer size of the humanoid that enters the room, scrunching his shoulders and ducking his head Ningñalëka Balanced-flight estimates them to be nearly eight and a half feet tall. They take a knee and introduce themselves.

"I am Valdun Mor Aktian, a trade representative of the lands of Vuthuilia." His voice is a deep chest rattling baritone, though he makes clear attempts at not shouting, if he did the windows would probably rattle loose! He was well kept, if the generally wild appearance was anything to go by, his beard and hair combed, adorned with little rings made from various metals and stones. He didn't bother standing, his head would have been brushing the rafters anyway, but she could tell he was well muscled and built for either hard work or fighting.

"The lands I represent have an interest in silk and cloth, something that we could, perhaps trade for weapons of iron, or even silvered goods. We also have unrefined marble, though my colleagues thought it wouldn't be as good of a trade deal to mention them..." He chuckled as softly as possible and gestured around the office. "I'd like to come to an agreement with you and,by extension, your people."

[Jazzy]

Ningñalëka smiled and bowed slightly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Valdun Mor Aktian. I am Ningñalëka, representing Nurali as Master Merchant of this Guild branch. We have not met before." 

She sat back down in her seat and motioned to another chair stood across the room. "I'd offer you a seat, but it looks like our chairs wouldn't be very comfortable for you. Feel free to grab a pillow though, if you please." 

"But, good to hear of your possible deals. In Nurali we don't produce silk, but we do make cloth of various dyes. We would too be prepared to trade this. Most of all we would like to trade this for silver. We have been looking to provide this for the holdfast, as well as marble, now that you mention it. A rebranding of our holdfast is underway, and we feel it would be prudent to secure these resources which so many others have used to better their homes." 

She cleared her throat and brought out some paper from a box, laying them out in front of her. "Most of all we would like to trade for silver, though. It would have practical applications, as well as aesthetic ones. You mentioned a willingness to trade goods for goods, yes? Perhaps we should start our negotiations there? How much cloth are you in need of?"

[(Chaos)Jester]

Valdun folded into a cross-legged sitting position, waving his hand at the offer of a pillow. "Well Representative Ningñalëka..." He rolled the name around in his mouth, sounding it out slowly and fumbling over it a little, "We don't have the facilities to produce much of our own stock, cloth is useful for many applications." He shifted slightly as he talked getting more comfortable on the wooden boards.


"Light working clothes would be ideal, as you can see I don't wear much at all, its terribly cold where I come from, though we live in the depths of the Warren now." An uncomfortable look passed across his face but he nodded and settled properly. "Regardless, it is warm for me here, so light clothing would be ideal. I feel I should inform you that we largely deal in silvered weapons, mostly hammers and axes, though creating silverware, goblets and jewelry isn't beyond our smiths capabilities. As for marble... well we don't have the facilities to refine it into bricks you can use for building, however if you have masons you trust we can send the raw marble that way, make things more direct." He cleared his throat and brought forth a small sack, well... small for him.

From within he drew a set of cutlery, a goblet, a small set of rings for fingers, hair and beards and a dagger, though to Ningñalëka it was more like a sword. There was also some raw nuggets of ore, good quality iron and silver, and some raw marble. "Regarding quantity, well there are some three thousand individuals, most of them hard workers and soldiers... even the nobility of ours fight, we all need something practical.... give or take thirty odd articles... we have some, 'free' golems... odd creatures." He mused a little before taking a good hard look at the papers and nodding.

[Loller Corleone]

Adri Manard had started feeling slightly hungry by the time he spotted the offices of the Nuralian Merchant's Guild. But he chose to ignore it. Hunger was nothing new to Adri, he was orphaned at a young age and has had to starve many a days before his current family took him in.

As Manard entered the building, he noticed the giant humanoid that was entering the room ahead. If a fight broke out, even his very fit and healthy human body would never stand a chance against that.. One of the apprentices greeted him as he was looking around.

"Greetings. My name is Adri Manard. I am here with the written permission of Aila Zansolar of Mestrland, the Trade Minister and Sister of King Theoden Zinsalor. I have been given the permission to negotiate a trade deal with the good folks of Nuralia."

[Jazzy]

"Ah, lovely," Ningñalëka said and took some notes on one of the parchments. "Clothing of course wears over time, I assume you'd like to have your needs covered for a longer time ahead? This would raise the required amount of cloth and that is quite a hefty order of cloth, but this suits us very well. A long time trade-deal seems in order in that case. We will not be able to supply it all at once, if this is the case, but we could definitely provide your people with cloth incrementally, and as we increase our production over the coming years I'm sure we'll be able to fill demand nicely." 

She took some more notes while talking. "As for your side of the deal, the status of the marble matters little. The people of Nurali have a long history of carving out their homes among the mountains, I'm sure we could process the stone as it arrived. While we don't have as much experience working with metals we should be able to hire expertise as needed. We don't have much need of silver weaponry, but would accept this per its weight along with raw material. Jewelry would be compensated for in accordance with its judged market value." 

She regarded the items Valdun had produced for a moment before continuing. "Now, that the needs and wants are established, shall we discuss conditions? We would be prepared to provide a boatload of cloth once per year for a period of five years, with potential to extend in the future of course. Seeing as the price of cloth at the moment lies at about 7 pieces per step, meaning about 32 pieces per weight-stone, this would put this boatload at about, hmm, one million pieces according to my calculations. A just recompense for this value would perhaps need to be calculated, but I'd be prepared to settle for a boatload of raw marble once per second month for the set period, along with a crate of silver goods on one of these boats once per year. Does this sound like a reasonable deal to you?" 

_____ 

The apprentice, Ithañai Cat-climb, greeted the negotiator from Mestrland with a courteous bow and introduced herself.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Adri Manard. I'm afraid the Master Merchant is in a meeting at the moment, if you wish to negotiate with her specifically I'd be happy to show you around while we wait. It should not be too long, and we have a well-stocked waiting room, if you please. Otherwise I too am able to negotiate on behalf of Nurali. We can accommodate whatever you please."

[Loller Corleone]

Adri Manard liked the humble and courteous demeanor of Ithañai.

"Although I am sure that you are equally capable, I would like to talk to the Master Merchant directly. I am willing to wait until they are available to talk. If you would be kind enough to lead me to the waiting room.."

[(Chaos)Jester]

"That seems reasonable, yes." Valdun produced a pair of small, almost dainty, and intricate looking glasses as well as an equally intricate and ornate looking box that held a feather of unknown origin and an inkwell who's contents seem to drink in the light. "There will need to be signatures, duplicates of the paperwork..." He was mumbling more to himself now as he scooped the items that had been looked at, but not accepted as trade goods, into the bag he had.

"We also offer mercantile services, though in small numbers, to those who may require them. Something to keep in mind." The smile he gave was full of teeth and devoid of the gentile nature he'd been showing, but it all returns as he softens again and pours over the papers before him. "Was there anything else you would like to discuss while I remain here? I'll be returning to the warehouse that serves as our own headquarters of trade, over seeing its set up and all the fun thigs that go along with it..." He smiled tiredly, no teeth, and shook his head.

[Jazzy]

Ithañai nodded. "Very well, I will show you the way, please follow me." 

She led Adri through the corridor, past doors opening up to rooms being looked over and renovated by artisans and apprentices. The place had a feeling of being newly moved into, and the vast majority of the activity going on was indeed related to the process of converting the building into something more up to date and suitable for the purposes of the Guild. 

Finally the corridor opened up into a larger area. The ceiling was quite high in this place, and across the way a large fireplace was spreading a warm glow throughout the room. There were carpets and tapestries lining the space, displaying various Nuralian and Guild insignia, and matching furniture with soft pillows had been scattered throughout the room. Some windows lining one of the walls lent the room some additional light, framing a table in one of the corners. On it stood baskets of various sizes and some sealed clay containers. 

Ithañai motioned toward the table and its contents. "We have beverages and some lighter foods prepared, please feel free to try them out if you want to. There should be water, berry juice, and pine brew, of both fermented and unfermented kinds. Specialties of Nurali. You will find biscuits and crackers of many types of grain along with cold cuts and cheese, as well. Please, choose any seat you wish and I will send word when the Master Merchant is ready." 

_____

"Lovely. We shall consider your mercantile services, should they be of need," Ningñalëka said and smiled, looking over the papers along with Valdun. "I don't believe there was much more we had to discuss. Of course, if there is anything else you are in need of from us feel free to ask. Otherwise I know where to find you, your warehouse is not the hardest building to find in this city after all."

She turned to a box in the corner, still being unpacked, and produced two little containers along with two cups. "I wish to extend my gratitude for your business as well, on behalf of both the Guild and Nurali. I'm sure this will be the start of a mutually prosperous relationship. Shall I offer you something to drink? Myself I don't drink fermented beverages, so I'll just be having some water, but if it's to your taste I'd like to offer a toast to the occasion!" 

[Loller Corleone]

Adri Manard's hunger had hit the peak by then. He went towards the table with the food items and took a biscuit to eat. He also poured himself some pine brew and consumed it. After having some more crackers with cheese, his hunger had finally subsided.

"Good that they brought me here before the negotiations. I would have been a cranky negotiator otherwise." He thought in his mind and smiled.

Manard calmly sat in the nearest chair he could find, waiting for the Master Merchant to be free.

[Loller Corleone]

OOC: I really like how calm this RP is.

[Jazzy]

After wrapping up the deal with Valdun, Ningñalëka received the report of Adri waiting for her. She excused herself and went to meet the man, trusting the apprentices would see Valdun properly seen off.

While walking to the waiting lounge she quickly went over what she knew about Adri Manard's home holdfast. Mestrland, quite harmonious, rich in resources, and most importantly resources that Nurali would be interested in investing in. If their representative was anything like their administration she'd have to watch herself with him. Despite her high position within the Guild, she'd have to admit that she wasn't very adept in the art of intrigue. Ah, but that was only to wait and see, now she was already arriving in the lounge and quickly spotted Adri where he waited.

"Ah, you must be Adri Manard of Mestrland," she said and walked over, bowing politely. "Sorry to have kept you waiting. I am Ningñalëka, Master Merchant of this branch of the Nuralian Merchant's Guild, we have not met before. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Would you prefer we stay and discuss matters here, or would you feel more comfortable in my office?"

(Yeah! Who needs hectic when you can have chilled out! ^^
Also, sorry it took so long to reply, I just wanted to give everyone a chance to respond and then forgot to myself xD )

[Loller Corleone]

Adri saw Ningñalëka and realised that his wait is now over. With his hunger satisfied he had become much more calm. He bowed to his host and replied.

"Lets move into your office, if you don't mind."

[Jazzy]

"Of course," she said, nodding. "Please follow me." 

She quickly made her way back to her office. It wasn't very far. Really, there weren't very many places you could go in the guild presently, anywhere was close to everywhere else. But they were working on it, just wait! One day the guild would be the envy of all the trading districts, she'd make sure of that. 

Head full of grand ideas and plans for her organization's future, she sat herself down in the office with no small sense of ceremony. "Ah, very good!" she said, motioning to another seat as Adri entered after her. "Please, make yourself comfortable. We have some chairs, although I'm afraid they aren't the most comfortable. We'll see to a refurbishment of the furniture once the building is done. There are pillows too, help yourself to some if you want some better seating." 

Leaning back and forming a little tent with her fingers, giving Adri the typical businessman's appraisal, she considered his holdfast again. She'd have to watch what she said and promised with this one, she thought, considering what little she knew. Admittedly, that wasn't a lot, to her great shame. But it never hurt to be a bit cautious in negotiations, and she wouldn't want to promise anything she couldn't keep. 

But it certainly wouldn't serve to be paranoid and judge a man before speaking at least once either. Dismissing her earlier thoughts, she smiled. "So, how might the Nuralian Merchants' Guild be of service to you and your holdfast today?"

[Loller Corleone]

Adri sat down on the nearest chair he could find.

"I have heard about your holdfast. Always wanted to pay it a visit."

Adri cleared his throat and continued

"I am a trade negotiator working under Commerce Minister Rumi. My job is to negotiate long term trade relations with other holdfasts in the Warren. What all goods are your holdfast prepared to trade with us?"