"To clarify, I say we pay him for services rendered, not on retainer. I have confidence in him and think with that as an incentive he'll work even harder. Salaries make a man lazy and contented, but a commission keeps them lean and hungry, eager for the deal. He's already been fed enough Corpus to keep him hale, now he can take and sell my items, I estimate make about 12 or more pawns, and make a profit. With that as an incentive we all benefit." then he shrugs. "But I don't wish to lose him either, if we only can keep him by retainer, then so be it."
"So you're abstaining pending the outcome of the vote? Meaning you wish to be the deciding factor?" Talia says, attempting to pin Aodhan down. "You can't vote conditionally, but you can abstain and choose to vote pending everyone else's."
((Since you are the last PC, it's probably best you be decisive, and I won't take it personally as a player whichever way you vote. as I've said in Table Talk I'm OK with whatever result, honest. Ysebrand has contingencies for this. He's not stupid.))
((By the way, Talis is "dressed" like this. All the time. PB, you created a monster, you know that? I would've had no idea about doing this, and I think it's hilarious that Talia can pull it off effortlessly.))
"I say no though but make sure he knows he's welcome and will find good business with us. Please my sodales let us not lose him! I will offer a more generous comission on the first items he sells to prove it!"
Halie's face softens somewhat. "I don't want to see anyone sick or dying; I am simply appalled at the man's impertinence and audacity. Talia and I differ in our opinions of whether audacity is vice or virtue," she sighs.
"Aodhan, you are most likely to put Ysebrand's services to good use, and most likely to turn a profit from his endeavours. If we voted to allot you an extra four pawns of Corpus above and beyond your usual stipend, would you accept responsibility for ensuring that he earns his keep? If you wish, I would be willing to negotiate on your behalf for what percentage of your profits he would earn as commission. And if in the event anyone else wishes to use his services, it would be up to you to charge whatever you think fair. Would that be acceptable?"
"Well, I admire impertinence and audacity. Takes, what do the Jews call it? Chutzpah? Whatever. Someone needs to tell him what we've decided, and what we expect, and how we're going to move forward. Ysebrand is a skilled and valuable resource. I'm disinclined to make him work for any one magus, when we could all benefit from his services. Giving Aodhan the vis to to pay Ysebrand gives him remarkable power in deciding what he works on. If he decides to work for one of us, he gets credit for service, it's not like it will be a secret. If he's away trying to sell Aodhan's wares, we may be less likely to know, but Aodhan can easily confirm that. I would like to make one stipulation that while he may be away trying to sell, the vis he needs to subsist shouldn't be withheld in the event he fails to make a sale. We can accrue that against any commission he earns."
"Taking advantage of Eilid's compassion to try and fleece us is not chutzpah, it's mishegas. and anyway, only a Tytalus would see it as complimentary, being compared to reproductive glands.
"Giving Aodhan the ability to decide what Ysebrand works on also removes the need for constant council meetings to decide whether he is earning his keep, and decide what he should be doing. Less bureaucracy favours all of us.
"I agree that sustenance should not be withheld in the event of his failure, but we should maintain the explicit right to end the agreement at any time if his performance proves lackluster."
"It also means Aodhan becomes the effective gateway to having him assist in the lab. Is it so much trouble to say during a council meeting that Ysebrand helped me this past season, or he's going to help me next season? That's bureaucratic? I said I want to put down roots, but I don't want to become petrified, too. I prefer he be treated as a communal resource and he make his own decisions. I'm sure much of the time he will want to work for Aodhan, but besides the few things he has for sale now, how soon for anything else to make a sale? It's too variable for my tastes. Do we need an autocrat to handle the accounting? Ysebrand can inform him, and then the autocrat can confirm and then he gets paid."
"I am not going to quibble over insignificant details when you clearly love to do so for its own sake, Talia. If you seek to challenge me, grow some claws or incisors and do so properly. Motion to append four pawns Corpus to Aodhan's salary in the event that he hires a Venditore with aforementioned special needs is on the floor. Is there a second?"
Trimalchio pauses for a second, and then says, "I am concerned that four pawns of corpus is half our annual income, and my longevity ritual is still to come. Are we confident we shall have sufficient stocks between Creo and Corpus?"
"We don't have any other sources of Corpus or of Creo," Drystan says. "But it looks like have an abundance of Intellego and Animal that we can try to trade."
"We could amend the proposal to allot Aodhan four pawns of any sort to pay Ysebrand. If he is half the negotiator Talia claims, he should have no problems acquiring the type he needs."
"I have some vis I have acquired over the years. I'm not averse to trading. My ritual is due, if the ache in my bones is any indication, so any trades I entertain will be such that I have a sufficient supply for my own ritual. I'm just now in the process of determining how to make one, myself." ((Note, Talia,when she gets her MT up and given the common lab and having a Leadership of 2 actually makes a pretty decent LR given her Creo specialization. She's a convenient and possibly cheaper LR "specialist" than might be found otherwise. She'll either make it this year or next year, risking the roll for 35.))
"I also have a rather large supply of Herbam, if anyone is looking for that. I have enough Herbam vis to make 6 or 7 more ships identical to mine. I'm not averse to putting that to work for the common good. I know it sounds strange to hear a Tytalus say this, but as much as I can I'm intending to put down roots. Some of my crew are yearning to get back to the sea, but the moment they do they'll complain and whine about being at sea. I've a mind to travel back up towards Inverness, go a ways out to see and make the ship in the dead of night, leaving it in the Atlantic for them to crew and sail, and me to occasionally captain when I get the itch."
This note will have been sent to the magi sometime in summer, before the council meeting.
I discovered a new covenant, Orientali Litore not far from us. The residents that I know of are Godiva of Jerbiton, Actius of Bonisagus and a Robin House unknown. They indicated that they heard Insula Canaria had disbanded. I signed an agreement in principle protecting our registered vis sources and suggesting that new ones are the property of the finder. It needs to be ratified at the next council meeting, and should probably be reviewed by our esteemed Quaesitor. I signed it because i didn't see any technical or convoluted language. I attempted to arrange trades, but was rebuffed with the excuse that they were just getting settled. I also need someone skilled with Perdo magics to destroy any arcane connections my friend may have left behind on an extended stay. If you have the ability and knowledge to do so, please let me know. Until such time as those connections have been eliminated, I must also exclude her from being aboard my ship, since my ship is outside the Aegis boundary, I take precautions against scrying to the extent I can.
Warm regards,
Talia
((Talia would have forwarded the agreement onto Haile along with her copy of the note.))
Caoimhe doesn't understand what Talia is upset about. If she explains the idea of Arcane Connections, she laughs. "So if Godiva kept a few long red hairs, who cares? There might be a very pissed off merchant in Dublin. Not our problem."
Caoimhe reveals that her own hair is cropped nearly to the scalp. Her wigs adhere better and look more realistic when glued to a skintight scalp-cap, which she wears constantly.
"It's something you own, dear. It's still dangerous. If you leave clothing behind, it's dangerous. Before, I was less cautious, I didn't run into a lot of magi, and they didn't bother me. I'm being overly cautious because I am not protected by our covenant's Aegis, as of yet. I would hate to be responsible for secrets slipping past, if I could have prevented it. Magi can do something called fixing an arcane connection, which makes it effectively permanent connection to you. They could hear what you hear, see what you see, if they have the magic to do this. Or at least that's the theory as I understand it."
))
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