Welcome back home

Just a heads-up, guys, im having a ton of power trouble right now. I've been switching sockets around, to see if i can find the bastard that's shorting out my grid at random. Things are ok for now, but could go down again the second i click "post", for all i know. I'll probably be out of commission for a few hours later tonight if we get an electrician to come over.

Good fortune on getting that fixed K.

Thanks. I'm a bit more hopeful right now, since power's been going steady ever since i switched out a certain socket. It's still not guaranteed to be the problem, but it's nighttime right now, and consumption goes up, not down, so it wouldn't be that, normally.

Anyway, we'll only be getting assistance tomorrow morning, so it shouldn't interfere with RP anymore, should the power hold.

I feel for you Javan.

Zeiss, do you have anything to add concerning my first action for day 14?

Hmm. The recruits came out from the university, so they're not trained for that kind of thing. The only ones who are are the ex-adventurers and Mevrak, the Mosswart thief. Fell free to assign new tasks to them.

I'll search for the yellow mage to scan Sareth's home Rory. You can take your third action for something else, but thank you.

I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel for ideas, Zeiss. I need this. Suggestions are also welcome.

3rd action changed, post updated.

Just saying: I never was certain that Bonebreaker and Oghren just bailed like that. I thought about another possibility, but it seemed too far-fetched to me. Then I got into Arch's stream yesterday and by talking about something else, he also gave credibility to my theory (which I had previously discarded).

We'll see.

Oh yeah, Arch. I totally forgot to mention it last time, but the little girl who gave Zeiss the kitten doll? From the PM you gave me a long time ago, she was an elf, not a dwarf.

I did write it in my post, but you found her an dwarven name anyway. Just saying.

Well, I'm officially broke. Let's pay the yellow mage to find where the Exit spell leads to.

Arch, I also have an important question. Let's roll knowledge politics +13 for it. The debentures the Aluvian military are giving out, can you trade it in for anything else if you have enough of them? Like land? Or anything tangible?

Theoretically, yes. As ever debentures are a liquid asset just like currency, notes, or marks and so all you'd need to do is find someone willing to trade for them.

Roll knowledge politics again. I just want to know if what I'm going to propose sounds feasible in this setting. Okay, here's my idea:

I sell the food to the companies who are supplying the Aluvian military. With that money, I discreetly buy debentures at a lowered cost of what they're worth (I imagine that at this point, some companies might just be desperate to get rid of these to avoid a total financial loss). I then announce that I am selling shares of the Exchange on the open market (only 49% of them, I keep the 51% remaining but no need to tell people about this, not yet anyway), but I am asking for debentures instead of gold. The demand for these debentures should go up, so I start to sell those I'm hoarding, discreetly, at a higher cost than before.

Next part of my plan, when I have enough debentures, I go see the military and demand payment. I know they don't have any gold to give, so they should shoo me away, right? But they're an army, and I need soldiers. So I ask them to attack the other Undermarket Blocs, which I must have scouted by that point, so I can expand the Exchange there. Considering the debt they must have amassed, I imagine they would jump on this occasion. And seeing an Aluvian, namely Zeiss, take control of the underworld is certainly better in the long run for them.

So, how's this idea?

Well the first part of your plan sounds lawful evil. And selling shares of the Exchange on the open market is tantamount to telling everyone with a megaphone that the exchange exists. This scares me.

As for the military part of it, sounds good. Seems like the end-goal of what you're trying to do, and I like it. But that other stuff, I'm as sure it will work as I'm comfortable with it, and I am squeamishly uncomfortable with it.

I will decline to comment on the validity of the endeavor until you have obtained sufficient buy in from the other party members... or their declaration that they don't care about a fundamental reshaping of what the Exchange is.

Well I don't have a head for this bigger picture stuff, so I'd like to hear what Kolson has to say.

Kolson linked me this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1kndKWJKB8

Not really MY idea. Nor is it Kolson's.

Uh... so basically, you want to go public? I'm just a monk guy, but doesn't selling stock demand that your secret organization is well known first?

Either way, i'm not nearly business oriented enough (ME, not just my character) to yay or nay. Just saying there's kind of an itty bitty flaw there, from where i'm standing.

Well, what I'm hoping is for these companies that are stuck with the debentures to be owned by the noble families. Which means "going public" would mean telling these people I'm offering a share.

Also, that's also why I asked Arch to tell me if it was feasible. As of now, that's just an idea.

Seems like I was right on the money with "lawful evil". Maybe it would work, but I'm not willing to stoop that low yet, and I'd rather we keep our existence a secret to everybody for as long as we can. Until we are...just all over the place. As if the four nations going to war with us would be like going to war with the Shadow Broker. The point where even if we went public they would have to acknowledge us in the same way.

I can definitely understand why you would not want the Exchange to go public as I have some reservations myself. However, I don't really understand why you view this method as lawful "evil". After all, no one would die, not until I start throwing the Aluvian military at the other Blocs anyway (if it ever happens). And even if I don't do it, conquering the other Blocs will inevitably require some blood to be shed. With this plan, the Exchange could conquer many other Blocs without risking the lives of its soldiers.

Just in case, I'll say it again: I'm simply testing the waters here. I watched that video Kolson linked me and it got me curious. No risk no reward after all.

Edit: I guess we could swap "going public" by "plan B" and keep the idea of using the debentures to push the Aluvian military to attack the other Blocs. However, I would need some time to think of this potential Plan B.

Btw, i'm thinking of grooming the sales coordinator lady from my Crew as it's manager. If some other trustworthy NPC shows up, i'll consider it too.

This experience has cemented my belief that i'm not cut out for organizational jobs in the slightest, into a downright certainty.

I might be able to argue and placate and reason, but that's the limit of my skills in that area.

I'm fine with it, if it's even possible. The trick will be proving we are worth investing in and finding investors who's opinions and wants are compatible with our own. But before we can even start we need revenue coming in. Hopefully our pending food sales and Leycite deal pan out.

If they don't, I think the Exchange is finished. You all have no idea how much that pains me to say that.

I'll fight hard to keep the Exchange afloat.

As for my knowledge roll: 2 yay and 2 unsure. I guess Javan doesn't count since he's not part of the Exchange. We have no definitive nay, so I suppose we can follow through on that roll?

Also, I'm not planning to use that plan anytime soon. Not today at the very least. There are more important things to do first.