70th of Searing 4622
This season had been a turbulent time for Daravin. It was a time of great crisis and of great opportunity. For divine beings now walked the earth. Word had spread that Nydden, an Achra of Ulen himself (May he be praised) had talked to the pontifex. Then not a month later word had arrived that a great expedition was to be gathered, one to 'kill' the mad elven gods Lotheren and Tyrnac. To kill those beings would be ideal, but it was severely unlikely. As it was more commonly understood the point was to, at least, remove them from their current positions and quell the disorder they caused. Motivated by religious fervour or greed in search of fame and gold many were preparing to go on this adventure. To risk their lives in order to find an opportunity in a land where that precious commodity was so very lacking.
Hugo could not criticise these people for their intentions to join. Primarily because he himself was planning to join the expedition itself. It could be an opportunity to gain some renown, improve his skill at arms and perhaps make contacts for future opportunities. Many of those who were going on the adventure were mercenaries or other adventurers who had highly specific skill sets which could be useful to him in the future. But beyond all these far-reaching goals, Hugo knew that there was a far more practical and immediate benefit that could be gained from this expedition. Profit, or at least a decent amount of denari.
Because though Hugo was not an expert in military logistics, he knew one thing, people consumed a lot of food and needed a lot of supplies when going on an expedition. There was a greater risk of harm/possessions being damaged whilst the nearest available supplies were far away. That meant that any merchants with specialized goods could make a lot of profit if they were on location when it was necessary. Especially if those kinds of goods were in short supply and high demand. There was no reason why Hugo couldn't both go on this adventure for renown and sell goods to these people for a way too high price. No reason indeed. The main question was, what goods should he buy in bulk? Though Hugo had some moderate wealth, he didn't have vast amounts of money to rent ships or even just buy a cart. All of the goods that he could sell should be brought with him. Which meant that they had to be carried by him and Bertrand. Well probably not him, though he liked to be a 'hands-on' kind of noble he wouldn't lower himself to carrying bulk goods. Perhaps he should buy a pack animal to carry the goods........................ Regardless, pack animal or not, the number of supplies he could bring was limited. So it had to be relatively light. The small amounts of supplies he brought meant that the supplies themselves should be highly valuable, but not too expensive for adventurers ( or that matter for Hugo) to afford. Finally, they should be something unconventional. Something that adventures would not buy ahead of time and would have much need of when they were off on the frontier.
This, however, led to a small dilemma. What kind of good would fit these criteria? A dilemma which had led to a somewhat heated discussion in the warehouse that Hugo rented most of the time. (Though he wouldn't rent it for at least the first month of next season. As he would be off on this adventure.) On the one side of the debate was Hugo Abreo, the young enthusiastic Veir who wished to go off on this adventure and to exploit dimwitted adventurers and their lack of preparation. On the other hand of the debate was old soul Bertrand LaRue, a veteran soldier and retainer who was completely unenthusiastic about Hugo going off on this highly risky adventure and only paying lip service to his suggestion to sell goods to adventurers.
"How about whetstones ? They are very important and not that easy to find when you are on the frontier." Hugo enthusiastically stated (more so pleaded). The sole response was a loud snort. "I know that you think that people of a lower class than you are not smart, which admittedly sometimes they are, but they are not dumb enough to avoid a whetstone. Everyone knows you need that. Also, whetstones are quite cheap, you won't make much of a profit." The discussion was in reality less of a debate and more a desperate Hugo using Bernard as an unenthusiastic sounding board for his ideas.
"How about other stuff for sword maintenance? Like the oil, we always use to keep the sword clean and sharp." This time the response was a shaking of the head. "Same case applies here. People, especially newbies, do use it less but it is still common enough you can't really make a profit from it. Also, it is quite risky to transport if you want to do it in large amounts. Also honestly just smells way too much if you want to transport it in large amounts. " The oil did not actually smell but Hugo did now know that, and the other points of Bertrand's arguments still remained. "Well that removes the option of weapon or armour maintenance. Food was not an option from the start and buying a large amount of livestock for supply purposes is way too expensive and risky. What options remain....." Bertrand shrugged whilst Hugo rubbed his chin and closed his eyes, going deep into thought. As he began talking mostly to himself.
"We can't sell swords, spears or other melee weapons either. People will buy those before they set off on the expedition and depending on the number of casualties there will be enough reserve weapons to loot from dead soldiers. Arrows are an option but they are not that profitable and most archers will think about the number of arrows they need beforehand. Food will also be handled beforehand and will be in the hands of established food merchants so that will not be an option. Then what does remain that a soldier might need?" Hugo tried to imagine the journey that he was going to take.
He would go board a ship, and from there he would sail to an island. Were there any goods in reserve that might be useful for the sea voyage? Maybe supplying dry clothes? It was a possibility but clothes took up a large volume and it would be risky to take with him in case they became wet. People would also probably not be that willing to buy new clothes and would in most cases find some other option. It was a definite possibility but it did not feel right to him. Perhaps it was because he felt that the amount of profit that he might make of it would be limited in comparison to the volume of space it would take. Also, the fact that it was so circumstantial and that people might not get their supplies that wet in the first place. So that option was off the table. Were there other supplies that could be necessary for a sea voyage? Not particularly. Maybe fishing rods but the time at sea wasn't that long and the chance that fish would get caught would be very low. Were there any other supplies for the average adventure making a sea journey? Not particularly. Now for the rest of the journey.
They would arrive at the island and perhaps spend several nights camping. Were there any camping supplies that could be useful to sell? Food was again not an option, flint and steel were too common, tents take up too much volume and there would most likely be plenty of fuel on the island. Perhaps some shovels? That would be a good idea if this was an expedition with a more organized army but Hugo was not sure how organized the army would be in general. Nor if they were going to set up any fortifications on the island once they arrived. Bedrolls were necessary for camping but would be thought of beforehand and most of all would take up way too much space. So camping supplies weren't the way to go either. So one then went off into battle, fighting a foe. Their weapon might break, but that was addressed earlier. They would get wounded and............................. they would get wounded. Hugo's eyes opened.
"I got it." "You got what ? Pneumonia?" This caused Hugo to send a brief glare at Bertrand but it did not stop his smile from getting wider. "No, I got an idea about what we are going to sell. Medical supplies." Bertrand's face then rapidly shifted into several different expressions. First, it was surprise, then disbelief and finally a thoughtful look. "You know, you might have a good idea there. How did you come up with it ?" Hugo resisted the urge to shrug and look humble. His father had taken more than enough effort to get that habit out of him. A noble should be supremely confident and should appear wise and in control at nearly all times. "I came up with the idea because it is inevitable that in battle people will get wounded. Those wounds need to be treated. We will of course not be doing the treating, but the friends of those wounded adventurers will want to help their friend. Even if they have little to no medical experience. We provide those people with the supplies necessary and will rake in profits."
Bertrand then nodded again. "Good, you know what to sell. But now you need something to carry those supplies. Because whilst I can carry some extra supplies I won't carry a whole load of medical supplies. " Hugo's ever-present smile remained, but a light frown appeared on his face as well. "Then how do you plan to transport the supplies?" Bernard got a cocky smile. "Well it is simple really."
-------[Scene shift]-------
"A mule.... really ?" "Yes"
Hugo's face was scrunched as he and Bertrand stood in the middle of the day, at a livestock/animal market. All around them were sounds of chickens bawking, pigs oinking and any other myriad of creatures making way too much noise. Something which was not eased by the vast amount of humans loudly calling out for people to buy their livestock. At the moment Hugo was looking unimpressed at a mule. A look which the mule in question wholeheartedly returned. "Yes they are trustworthy creatures, are good in rough terrain and can carry a large number of supplies. Really it is ideal for our purposes." Bernard then gave Hugo a shoulder pat. "Don't worry, I got a good deal lined up with the guy. Only 300 denari." "300 !!!........ alright. I trusty you know what you are doing Bernard." This seemed to shake Bernard's cocky smile for a moment before it returned. "Oh trust me, this can only work out well."
