12 KiB
[RT][HF] A Practical Guide to Evil: Book 4: Chapter 60: Profiteers
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Author: u/Zayits *
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URL: https://practicalguidetoevil.wordpress.com/2018/09/24/chapter-60-profiteers/
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Score: 73
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Created: 2018-09-24T04:17:54
Post:
Comments:
u/RUGDelverOP [+18] (4 minutes later)
I wonder if it would have been correct to negotiate for Archer's bow here.
u/Zayits [+17] (an hour later)
Nah, that's probably a part of the package for assisting Catherine in killing Sve. I don't think they'll send her to Tvarigu with no intel.
u/CouteauBleu [+15] We are the Empire. (3 hours later)
Is it just me, or is it a little weird how easily Cat can break past the language barrier and have smooth, nuanced negotiations with people who would have had no reason to learn her language? Like, I can give the Seeker a pass, since he's described as a traveler. But how is the Herald that fluent? He explicitly has had no contact with the surface for over a century. His Miezan should be awkward and academic, he should be missing neologisms and tripping Cat up with his weird accent. Same thing for the drows, with the added malus that Cat hasn't had much practice in Chantant. (also it's a ridiculously painful language)
Also, while I'm nitpicking, is a weapon ban going to hamper the crusade that much? The troops are already mobilized, they've probably bought all the weapons they need.
u/Friedoobrain [+15] (5 hours later)
The languages difficulties are probably being somewhat glossed over, or their inexistence might be supposed to hint at something.
As far as the weapon ban goes. Cordelia has lost great chunks of her army and is going to have to raise new ones, to fight both Praes and Callow and now the Dead King. And now she can't even buy cheap, well made weapons. She's gonna have to settle for inferior and expensive human made ones. She might not be able to afford it. And even if she can, it's another small advantage. Stack enough of those...
u/IDKWhoitis [+3] (9 hours later)
Truly, she is Black's successor. Cat negotiating with Dwarves = Black negotiating with Dragon.
u/Zayits [+8] (7 hours later)
Well, Cat made a point of him being fluent in it, so there may be some meaning to that. Maybe he just lied: dwarves were shown to not be particularly concerned with being honest to the outsiders, and the Herald has good enough pokerface to not give away having a Name. I also smelled something fishy in how they started with some seemingly genuine emotional interplay, and then proceeded to speak their piece together, almost finishing each other's sentences.
Besides, it's called lower Miezan for a reason.
u/IDKWhoitis [+7] (9 hours later)
I wouldn't be surprised if the Herald has some Aspect or artifact, he is powerful in both Name and Rank.
u/Frankenlich [+3] Ankh-Morpork City Watch (22 hours later)
Probably isn't super difficult to learn a single language of your age can be counted in centuries.
Also, he's named. They has shenanigans.
u/swaskowi [+12] (12 minutes later)
Do we have a sense of how dwarves value imbued weapons? It occurs to me that Cat is, I believe, contractually obliged to Archer to get her bow back, and I’m unclear on whether it’s a trifle or sticking point in the negotiations. It’s value was around that of a palace and that seems in line with the amount of coin being negotiated for ......
u/ProfessorPhi [+21] (an hour later)
Since Refuge is considered a Kingdom Under protectorate, I'd be surprised if they attempted to separate Archer from her bow. Ranger clearly has a deal with them and this would likely extend to her pupil's and gifts from Ranger.
Given they've paid Callow enough to raise an army >>> non dread empire palace and also forgone profits for 5 years with the Crusade, I don't think they'll baulk at the bow - no artefact can be worth the simple economies of scale.
u/LordSwedish [+1] Q Continuum (a day later)
More importantly, you don’t take the weapons of the people you send to kill people for you. The weapon needs to be worth more than everything they’ve already agreed to and that can’t be the case.
u/rabotat [+10] (6 hours later)
The Herald calls her the Sve Noc, which means All Night, or Everything Night in some Slavic Languages.
u/Flashbunny [+4] (a day later)
Wait, so the Sve's power involves stockpiling the strength of other people, and its name is All Night? Is this a stealth My Hero Academia reference?
u/rabotat [+1] (a day later)
I never read that, so I wouldn't know.
Also, later in text someone calls her Sve Nocte, and Nocte is Night in Latin languages, possibly French that Chantat is based on?
u/MutantMannequin [+7] (16 hours later)
This was easily my favorite chapter since 38 (the start of the murder plot in Keter).
I can't praise EE enough (or the dwarves, in universe) for the elegance of the sudra ritual. It's a perfect way to ensure the meal and negotiations don't interrupt each other, since letting the sudra seep is the perfect time to talk, and drinking it ends both the meal and the negotiations. It also managed to convey that the dwarves were invested, since Cat is one of less than 12 humans ever to taste it served right, and even Balasi, a close friend of an important dwarven Named, reveres the drink. That's a lot of storytelling to fit in a bottle of booze.
I wonder about these bits:
“She is more monster than woman now,” Balasi said. “She devoured the Twilight Sages, it is said, and made them into the first of the Night. She has only grown since: her hand is on every knife, her lips wet with every red bite.”
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" Yet if someone killed the Priestess of Night,” I said. “The Gloom would end.
This description of the Sve sounds, to me, a lot like the Deoraithe gestalt, just with more of a guiding will to it. It also says a couple of important things about the Night--first, that it had nothing to do with the Drow Empire's original success, and second, that it's apparently some sort of sorcerous construct, not something that was just around, like the fae. That could be really useful, as a means of training and education (though I doubt, for narrative reasons, that they'll get that kind of boost.)
The second bit implies, at least by Cat's understanding, that the Sve is either inseparable from, or actively sustaining the Gloom. Especially with Cat's earlier observation that the Gloom seemed very much like a domain, it's a bit concerning for the upcoming battle.
u/TwoxMachina [+6] (6 hours later)
Personally, I would have asked for:
Callow can buy Dwarf weapons at 10% discount for 5 years with right of resale
Everyone else gets price hike: 2.5x current price for at least 5 years
Anyone at war with Callow can eat 10x price for the next 5 years
time limit not announced until it is over.
Then proceed to be an arms merchant, selling dwarf weapon to other countries at 2x price.
u/IDKWhoitis [+15] (9 hours later)
She kinda achieved that by proxy since:
The Dwarves aren't going to be selling to anyone else (Price has technically increased 10x fold, as any surfacepower with stockpiles of Dwarfish weaponry will note that the supply has been cut off).
Cat is the only one who can buy Dwarfish weaponry (which will quickly depreciate, as not every weapons maker will get the memo in time to stop current production lines. Suddenly there's a sudden stockpile of weapons with no buyers, except Callow. That stockpile is bound to be massive, since the Dwarves were planning the 14th expansion to take a century and be extremely costly in dwarfpower and weaponry. Suddenly the war ends in about 2 weeks with relatively no causalities, all those weapons will just be sitting around, doing nothing. Price has effectively 0.75x modifier.)
I kinda want to see Cord's face when Cat shows up with a stockpile of Dwarven weaponry right after the embargo goes into effect. Double points if the phrase "Just as planned" is used.
u/TwoxMachina [+3] (a day later)
There are some loopholes tho, in current plan. Too many people is NOT at war with Callow
Lets say, Cordelia stays at war with Callow. Praes could be a dick & sell dwarf weapons to her at 1.1x price, while not warring with callow.
u/IDKWhoitis [+3] (a day later)
Ok, so lets look at the players that have the resources and means of moving Dwarfish weaponry. Gnomes will not be considered because they have a defined role in "Technological Gatekeepers" and this would be several deviations from the norm.
Places AT WAR with Callow, thus disqualified (and have to pay massive markup from other powers):
Procer
Ashur
Levant
Neutral* Powers, we can evaluate on case per case:
Dead King - Is in alliance with Praes, and is actively planning on invading Procer. Nessy, like Black, doesn't seem to be in the business of fighting "fair" or giving his opponents advantages. Won't Sell
Mercantis - The moment they figure out what is going on, which is instantously since the annoucment is being exported via them, they are the ones who will immediately start price gouging. Will Sell at +2x markup (probs 10x)
League of Cities - Heirarch is making a point of being no friend to "Wicked Foreign Despots", so he isn't going to sell on principle, and the rest of the league will follow his example. Even then, Tyrant is probably going to invade someone, so he's probably going to be in the buyers market too. Won't Sell, will create demand.
Gigantes - It's been firmly established that the Giants will never do anything to help Procer. Also, Magicks is their thing, so they likely won't have large stockpiles lying around. Won't/Can't Sell.
Praes* - Tricky, Malica may try to contain Nessy by funding/supplying Procer soldiers to die on that front, but she is no friend to Hasenbach, and it seems unlikely they would even have the diplomatic channels to discuss such a thing (Malica had to send a delegation to Keter, who is a sort of ally, its less likely there is a mode of communication between Praes-Procer)
The thing that ultimately kills this supply is logistics. How can Malica even get weapons (in significant numbers) westward?
- Mercantis probably would outright buy then markup the weapons.
- All major naval powers are at war with her. Cordelia cannot weather the political fallout from making treaty with the enemy.
- Northern land route would require going through the Golden Bloom (LOL, no), or an extremely slow and costly route through the Everdark either Keter (if she somehow get Nessy to sign on, probably won't) or Chain of Hunger which is even farther logistics wise.
- Southern land route would require going through Waning Woods (Probably not happening) or going through Free City territory, which Tyrant may not let go through, or Heirarch outright ban.
Can't Sell, even if it wanted to
Friendly Powers, unlikely to sell weapons to Hasenbach:
Callow - Cat can either leverage this into forcing Hasenbach to sign the Liesse Accords, Pay a massive surcharge to fund Callow through the Crusade, or just let Procer burn (unlikely to let it completely let it burn down to ashes, but probably let fry on a skillet for a while). Will Sell under Heavy Conditions (might as well be 10x markup)