A box for a sword

Patina found Crown in Five Squares market haggling with an out-of-city minotaur over the price of a bar of green iron. They sighed a little, but quietly so he wouldn't hear. It was nice to have a boss who worked so hard, it boded well for their prospects, and Crown was certainly effusive with his praise. But they simply couldn't see how this was a good use of his time since they got the promotion. Given how much the Circle had paid for them and Crown, if they found out he was in the market place still trying to turn a few rings on some verdant steel, they'd have his guts for gate posts."Crown - I've got a response from the City of Chains. You were right - they are interested!"The taller herald nodded excitedly in their direction to indicate he'd heard them "Nobody goes away empty handed at my stall friend, the iron is good quality so I can go as high as seventeen scourds for that, but not a scourd more."Patina was forced to stand there for another five minutes, holding a deal in their hands that could be worth hundreds of thrones. This was their ticket to the big time... And instead of focusing on that, Crown was frittering his time away finding a way to part the minotaur from his green iron turning a profit of about... unless they were much mistaken... 2 rings.Finally the deal was done, and the Minotaur went on his way. "Did you really need to do that deal, Crown?" they asked their boss."He had green iron!" said Crown as if confused by the question. "Three ingots... look" and he held the oversized piece up so that they could see it."Yes, I see that. Well done." They bit their tongue and handed him the copy of the contract the City of Chains had sent through.Crown quickly scanned through it. "Ouch... that's a lot of mithril..." he said as his eyes ran down the parchment. "Still, they said they were good for it... I guess we're about to find out...""Do you want me to take it through to Anvil?" they asked."No, no, I'll take it that's fine. I need to drop off a letter for Bella anyway - about that ring. I'll take it now."Once he left earshot, Patina sighed again, but audibly this time. What part of having an assistant did Crown find so difficult to understand they wondered?Oh well, it looked like they'd have the afternoon to relax after-all which would be nice. The Chambers of Correction had got some new double-entry accounts in and apparently there were four errors in them. For a small fee they'd let you spend the afternoon trying to find them. The first three were fairly easy apparently, but the last one was supposed to be a nightmare to find. Hardly anyone had managed it... They'd been dying to give it a go, but had made themself wait until they had the time to really enjoy it."Looks like todays the day" they said to themself as they set off for the Chambers. It was good to be successful.

Overview

The City of Lead and Gold has been increasingly active in the Empire recently. The meetings with hawkers and traders who have sent a box of goods to the City to sell have grown in number, and after almost a year it seems the City feel they have learned a lot from the ritual. As a result, one of their heralds, an excitable individual called Crown has been in touch with the civil service at Anvil to let them know of some updated trading terms for the coming season.

That is far from all however. Crown was abroad in Anvil last season, accompanied by a four-armed construct hired as muscle from the Towers of Calx and Coom, they went to a meeting with the Crimson Reapers and their guests in the League camp. Some of what was discussed there remains a secret, but at least some of it is about to be very very public. When Crown appears to let the civil service know of the additional trading information, they casually happen to pass on a quite extraordinary offer for Vossk, or Urizen, or the Empire, depending on how you look at it.

The Waning Circle

The Waning Circle will provide a price for any wains offered by Ephisis' Scale this summit The spot price will fall, the more wains are offered

Previously, Crown has operated the trading desk for the Street of Grains, a relatively minor operation in the City that mostly handles small value deals. The Street of Grains do handle larger volumes of goods, and have purchased substantial amount of wains from the Empire in the past, but this is not their typical arrangement, and it is clear that the trade has been straining their finances. Last season they were forced to decline several purchases of high denomination wains, leaving both the herald and their customers disappointed.

To everything there is a time, and it would seem that Crown's time is now. The Waning Circle, a much larger and better funded trading house, has taken over the Street of Grain's operations. They appear to have bought the entire establishment, lock, stock, and barrel. Which apparently includes the herald Crown - although in the City of Lead and Gold that apparently counts as a promotion. Crown, it seems, is going up in the realm.

From here on, the Waning Circle will be handling all the business of the Street of Grains, and that includes handling all the Anvil trade in white granite, weirwood, mithril, and ilium. However, citizens should not expect to be able to make the same profits that they might previously have enjoyed when trading with the City of Lead and Gold. The Waning Circle are well aware that the value of wains is currently falling in the Empire, and the prices they are prepared to offer are quickly falling to match them. Anyone who hopes to make a killing trading with the City of Lead and Gold will need to seal the deal quickly.

At this summit, the Circle are prepared to offer 3 thrones 1 crown for the first few wains of weirwood that they receive. If they are offered more than ten wains of weirwood in total, across all the boxes then they will reduce their offers to every merchant accordingly. Spot prices for mithril and white granite are currently higher, by almost a throne, but the Circle encourages merchants to move their goods quickly if they wish to take advantage of those offers. Again, the more wains they are offered, the lower their bid will be.

Ilium is a little more complex. It is exceptionally hard to judge the ephemeral price of information, but the Waning Circle are cognisant of the fact that the Empire is about to auction their ilium seats this season. As a result, they won't reveal the spot price for ilium until after next season, when the auction is concluded, for fear that any price signals they give out destroy the delicate equilibrium of the Bourse.

To avoid disappointment, Crown recommends that those traders who are interested in offering their wains to the City of Lead and Gold avoid putting other valuables in the box with the wains. The rules of the Waning Circle only allow one offer to be made for the whole contents of a box, so customers risk losing out on the sale of other assets if they find the price of wains has dropped too far for them to make a profit.

The Blade of Finest Silver

Callidus is prepared to offer Vossk of the Concordium of Pallas an army of Autumn mercenaries The offer can only be accepted if the eternal has amity The offer can be authorised by the Imperial Senate only if the army is placed under regular control of the Military Council

Vossk of the Concordium of Pallas was one of those present at the Crimson Reaper's business meeting. They asked Crown to investigate the possibility that Urizen might buy an army from the Autumn realm. Vossk was at pains to stress that there must be no slaves involved, but they would be happy to pay to buy constructs or to hire heralds or mercenaries to fight for the nation. Heads of terms were agreed and Crown promised to liaise with representatives of the various cities in the Autumn realm to see what might be arranged. The City of Lead and Gold do not deal in such matters, but they are more than happy to broker a deal for another great power if that will grease the wheels of commerce and trade.

Having broached the proposal with representatives of the various cities, Crown is sorry to report that the City of Locks, the Towers of Calx and Coom, the Green Iron Gaol, the City of Salt and Sail, and the City of Bridges have all declined to take up the invitation to bid at this time. However the Sovereign-Lord of the City of Chains is prepared to make an offer. The cost is not cheap, but of course few things that are truly valuable ever are.

The Prince of the Argent Tontine is prepared to raise an army of mercenaries from the Autumn realm to fight under an Urizen banner. Such an army does come with some drawbacks. The Sovereign-Lord of the City of Chains simply cannot provision the number of heralds needed unless Callidus has easy access to the Empire. That would mean that the army cannot be raised unless Callidus has amity and it cannot benefit from any form of resupply, natural or otherwise, unless the eternal is under amity that season. Should Callidus be placed under enmity, there may be some legal complications, but given the mercenaries are not from any one city, unless the Conclave places a significant number of Autumn eternals under enmity the army will still operate. When questioned about potential legal implications of an army whose provider was under enmity, the magistrates said "that sounds quite tricky; we would consult with the Autumn archmage if that came up."

The other drawback is that the army could not be enchanted with magic from a foreign realm - only Autumn rituals could be cast on the army. If Urizen attempted to make the army march to war under an enchantment from a different realm, it would break the terms of the contract.

The army would be seasoned soldiers - minotaurs from the City of Locks, gang members from the City of Bridges, that sort of thing. They would be as tough in a fight as any Imperial soldier, and with an eye for any opportunity for profit they would be capable of taking the plunder order.

Callidus' offer can only be accepted if the Imperial Conclave choose to grant the eternal amity. It would need an appropriately worded Senate motion to authorise the deal, and the army would have to be placed under the control of the Military Council with an Urizeni general picked through constitutional means. Imperial law does not allow individual citizens to raise their own armies beyond leading a military unit.

Vossk also enquired about the possibility of being able to buy one of the boxes that Crown used to convey the purchased enchantment stolen from the Wolves of War to its new home. Crown regrets to inform the Urizeni that such a thing is not possible at this time. He does not expand on why, simply that it can't be done at the moment.

Raiders

Can use the plunder order when attacking Other Descriptors: Forager, Scavenger, Snaffler, Raider, Maggots (derogatory)

A raiding army excels at stripping enemy settlements and casualties of valuables. The Freeborn Red Wind Corsairs were known for their ability to gather resources in enemy territory, prior to their embrace of the idea of ransoming their enemies rather than simply robbing them. Some Wintermark armies find fighting alongside a foraging army distasteful - the deeply ingrained cultural dislike for "maggots" is well known.

The Value of a Circle

The City of Lead and Gold are prepared to offer an alternative payment plan for Callidus army If the Empire cedes the Canterspire Circle to Ephisis, then the eternal will pay the entire upkeep of the army

Never one to miss an opportunity for profit, Crown has one small alteration to the proposal that the Empire could consider. Instead of paying the upkeep of the Argent Sword, the City of Lead and Gold would pay the sellswords wages instead. That would reduce the effective upkeep of the army to zero.

Of course the City of Lead and Gold would need to profit by these arrangements... their price for getting them involved in the deal would be to take a rolling lease on the Canterspire Circle. Each season, the city would take all the weirwood from the Circle, and pay any upkeep of the Bourse resource. In return, they would pay the wages of the army. The City gets Imperial weirwood cheap, the Empire gets a cheap army.

There are sadly, some constitutional problems with the arrangement. It wouldn't be constitutional for the Senate to lease the Bourse resource to the City of Lead and Gold, but they could cede Canterspire to the City. Crown is more than happy to accept that arrangement with the clear understanding that the City would cede the Circle back to the Empire at any point that the deal needed to be terminated for any reason. They are more than happy to be bound by the Lictors on this point, but Crown points out it would be unthinkable for the City to deliberately break a contract, plus they would have to hire expensive armies from other cities to try and defend it since they have no soldiers of their own.

The arrangement would need to include a clause by which either side could terminate the arrangements with a season's notice. The City has no interest in owning a weirwood grove that is threatened by some foreign power, since they can't defend it. If that happened, from either side, the contract would end. In the following season the Empire would have to begin paying the upkeep of the Argent Sword or else see the army to disband and return to the Autumn realm.

Obviously if the Senate did cede the Canterspire Circle to the City of Gold and Lead, the civil service would return the appropriate portion of the money paid for the seat by Arlais of The Silent Tide, depending on how many seasons of production they would lose.

The Price of an Architect

Delora of the Brass Coast and Arlais of Highguard enquired after the cost of a fortification built by the Autumn realm The City of Lead and Gold cannot profitably fulfil this request at this time, but the copy of Immaculate Architect that they offered is for sale at a price of 77 rings of ilium An opportunity to acquire the ritual text can be purchased by any character placing 77 rings of ilium in an Ephisis Box

Two of the representatives at the meeting enquired after about the possibility of paying the Autumn realm to construct, or help them construct fortifications in Highguard and the Brass Coast. Crown confirmed that such a thing might be possible, but thus far they have been unable to find a way to make the deal profitable. The problem is that the Empire can already commission a fortification - they don't need the help of the Autumn realm. The realm could certainly build a fortification in the Empire if they were paid to do so, but it would require just as much white granite as a normal fortification or citadel and the labour costs would be much higher as workers would have to travel to the mortal world from the Autumn realm. Under those conditions, Crown is struggling to understand why this offer would be any use to the Empire.

However, the City does have a way to help all sides profit from this need. Arlais asked about the ritual text for the Immaculate Architect that was one of the offers made for the enchantment on the Wolves of War. This powerful ritual was originally codified by Jarmish magicians centuries ago but Imperial magicians were able to obtain a copy of the ritual for a while. Sadly it ended up in the possession of the Thule who point blank refused to return it. The buyer that wanted to purchase the enchantment still has the ritual text - and it is still for sale - at a price of 77 rings of ilium. The City of Lead and Gold will offer the ritual text to the first citizen to send this much ilium to the city via Ephisis' Scale at this summit.

Cows and Silence

The Silent Market are interested in acquiring cow bonds for a client in the east They are offering a dram of rare magical spice for each cow bond, delivered for the Summer Solstice

The brokers of the Silent Market present a specific deal this season. They are aware of the cattle drive taking place in the Marches and have been retained by a foreign client with significant resources and an interest in fine dining. The other brokers of the City of Gold and Lead are disinterested in acquiring Imperial beef-on-the-hoof, so this foreign client appears to be the best bet for anyone intending to submit some of the cow bonds in an Ephisis box.

The foreign epicure has made arrangements to take ownership of Imperial cattle and move them out of the Empire across the eastern seas. The client has given instructions to pay not in Imperial money, but in a rare spice unavailable to Imperial chefs. Vermillion Heart, when added to a hot beverage or a cooked meal, enhances the natural flavours of the dish to a remarkable degree. If the food or drink is consumed by a magician in a relaxed environment where they have time to enjoy the experience, the spice restores their reserves of personal mana - as well as giving them a fine flavourful experience. The spice is of no use on a battlefield, but obviously valuable to cooks, chefs, and those who enjoy the finer things in life.

The Silent Market are instructed to offer a dram of Vermillion Heart for each cattle bond, delivered prior to the Summer Solstice.