The Three Refinement Companies

Super summarized due to headache.

Saxony: Nation-wide smelting organization.  Guarantees alloy, polices and guards both smelting and shipments, used to doing mass orders.  Probably the most expensive.

Anhalt: Smaller organization that does smaller orders, does not smelt mundanely but instead uses a group of trained Weavers to Weave ore directly into alloy.  This tends to produce good alloy, and is fairly cheap, but there is a chance that the ore might be lost due to failed Weaves.

Thuringia: Small, elite smelting organization that exclusively works with the Aluvian Military.  They will smelt for other companies who also work for the military, providing ore to alloy to them.  The alloy that comes out is top notch quality, as they take their time and use unknown trade secrets to process it, but they will only sign contracts with those who supply the military.  Because of the streamlined production process, while the refining itself is costly, the net costs are somewhat lowered.

I personally think Thuringia would be the best bet at the moment, although Snarg will vote for Saxony if he is considered. He doesn't really want to fund weapons right now, especially after he has finished reading a certain letter.

Oh, I forgot about that letter. Did you tell the party about it? Cause that will change my plans. Wiping out Wildpaw is not one of my goals.

Snarg doesn't really want to manufacture weapons to fuel a war just in general principle. However, if this does come up, he'll let everyone know that the Wildpaw tribe he's from and the Kobolds are holed up as volunteer militia. Any weapons they're manufacturing could potentially go towards fighting them and other fractured parts of Naverre trying to get along without their military.

I understand. It's just an easy cash-in right now. I'll do some legwork then and figure out an alternative to weapons manufacturing.

Arch, how would I figure out what the top 5 most in-demand pyreal products are right now? Gather Information?

Yes, and I will have to think about the third through fifth so gimme a little time.

I vote for Saxony, if we can afford it.

The Exhange should only offer the best in terms of materials. And providing materials for only one nation is bad for business when an organization wants to expand across the whole continent.

So yeah, Saxony.

Then we get our crafters on it.

Archengeia wrote: but there is a chance that the ore might be lost due to failed Weaves.

Is there ANYTHING that can be done with the lost ore or is it just garbage? Maybe use/sell it as road fill or something, or is it destroyed in the failure?

I'm sorry I just realized two tidbits of info I need to share.

First, Kolson, I've been assuming your interest is in relative price per poundage of alloy, right?


Second, the only smiths who can work with Pyreal are the skilled Lugiansmiths.  While such do exist in Aluvia, none are employed by the Exchange.  Now, yes you can still Weave with Pyreal, but it is immensely difficult to Weave with, especially if it hasn't already been shaped and primed and whatnot.  What this boils down to is you might need to add a step in the production chain (either shipping the alloy down to Osteth to have it formed and smithed, or finding someone nearby who can do so) or simply accepting selling the raw alloy in bricks.

Rory will vot Thuringia. If the contents of Gnawbone's letter are made known to him, he'll suggest having them relocated to Osteth, or the Exchange in Aluvia.

If a logical argument is made against that suggestion, he'll change his vote to Saxony.

What is the price difference between the three options, and when/how are they going to expect payment?

And can we pay them with a portion of the ore with get from the mine?

None of the companies will accept ore as payment.

Reiterating my answer to Gwydo that I did in vent: Payment is always expected at the beginning of the month, allowing the contract to continue for that month.  Contracts can be virtually any length of time, but the smallest increment of time available is a month (aka 1 month, 18 months, etc.)  As for what type of payment, gold or platinum is acceptable but there are also Holtburg Promissory notes which haven't really come into play yet, which are effectively the equivalent of money orders from real life.  These can be purchased directly from the government and are backed by the state.

We'll need to figure out who to speak with and how to get the Promissory notes, as there is NO way we can cover this kind of expense on our own.

I suppose this is relevant if you want to follow up on this thought process; there are no real banks per say, not like we have in real life, but the idea of going to a group or individual for a loan is a possibility.

Might not be a bad idea. We'll need to find investors, get the numbers squared, and get a presentation ready.

Lucky for us we have Zeiss, Master Orator.

I think it would have a pretty good chance, so long as we come to any potential investors with a solid plan. Probably want to contact the ore processor of our choice and get something in writing that says if we get the money, they will do the work.

I'm fine with Saxony, by the way. Who knows, the contacts we make with them through this project could be very helpful in the future.

*Waves at Kolson from afar* "I'm an Orator!"

Can't we go see Oghren (the Exchange's accountant for those who forgot) and ask him to fund this little project? He did loan us 20k of gold... We can even use the Leycite as a guarantee if it proves difficult to convince him. 

Or maybe the Exchange just doesn't have that kind of money right now? If not, what groups could we go beg to? I use my knowledge politics +11!

Ironically you would need to convince Bonebreaker AND Oghren of whether or not they would agree to fund this the same as any other investor.  It is a possibility though.  You still owe them 20 grand of course.

Other investment opportunities include, based on your roll:

Aluvian Military.  Pros: Almost guaranteed investment in full of what you need with low interest.  Cons: Will flat require contracts stating you export solely to them.

Aluvian Nobility.  Either one particularly wealthy individual or multiple all pitching in.  Pros: Plenty of money to be flung around, and zero interest on the loan AND possibly no need to pay it back at all.  Cons: The Nobility will require a controlling interest in the Exchange, and a regular stipend of profits.

The Provincial Trading Company.  Pros: Will probably agree to invest with little effort, to whatever amount needed.  Cons: Aside from the possibility of a high interest rate, the PTC has plenty of underhanded going ons as is, so this is a generic, if very real, risk.

The Order of Summoners.  Pros: Once convinced, will probably offer the funds with almost no interest and at whatever amount needed.  Cons: Very difficult to convince, and they will require oversight on the production line as per their mandate.  Also might require a contract for a percentage of the alloy to be siphoned off for their own use.



Also, been meaning to post this for a bit now.  A simple way to vote for which company you prefer to go with.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1FRiHZYd6Z3ruNh_VNstsRiNuP4iY3wipNBRAM1CcoU8/viewform

Aluvian nobility? No, they are not going to control a part of the Exchange. Just NO. Go make your own criminal organization guys.

The PTC? The company that has a sign above them with "Bad guys" written on it? Nope.

The Order? Zeiss would not mind doing business with them, but having them come in Marblebush to check up on the mine, near of where we got a Scion airship, on a regular basis? Sounds like a bad idea.

The Aluvian military? Maybe. It would certainly smooth things over with Lady Lighmane.

Bonebreaker and Oghren? A lot more comfortable with that idea. Yup.

Bonebreaker and Oghren: owed 20k. At this point, it's going to be like convincing a shark to share its dinner.

The Order: same reason. Bad idea.

PTC: rivals and douches. Thog smash.

Nobility: of course they would, but no thank you.

Military: if we ever pay them back on the loan, can we opt out of the contract? If not, there's the rub. If so, great!

@Rory "Military: if we ever pay them back on the loan, can we opt out of the contract? If not, there's the rub. If so, great!"

No, you cannot opt out of the contract.  Or rather, you can't LEGALLY, you could of course stop and have them seize your assets.

When you say "contract" couldn't we do a short term contract in the short term until we have enough capital to contract the services of a more agreeable group?

The minimum length of contract people are willing to accept varies, of course, but the Aluvian Military accepts no less then a year long contract.

Which I'm guessing would be about the minimum time it would take to pay back the loan(s) and build the capital we need.... so it's something to keep in mind.

I suppose I would be remiss if I did not point out that there is another option to doing this legitimately... opening the mine illegitimately and trying to work under the table.  That involves its own headaches (primarily keeping the operation a secret and securing a refiner who's willing to work with you) but otherwise is valid.