Wealthy greetings to you, Rurin.


Perhaps this may come as a surprise to you, considering this post is
coming from me, and the relations between you and my Lord, but there are
few things in your recent public correspondence that have caught my
attention, and which I would like to address here.

The subject of the Crystal Leaf Inn, and your reaction to Buckthorn's
reasonable and logical request for compensation regarding your use of
that Inn for commercial purposes, during the lengthy period of over one
hundred years, brings up the question of your monopolistic and
privileged position among the merchants and shopowners alike, that,
apparently, exempts you from paying any sort of compensation, taxes or
fees for the businesses you conduct, or have conducted in various cities
throughout Sapience.

In essence, that position brings you larger profit than any other
merchant can gain, since your expenses include only the cost of the
basic essentials, raw materials and even herbs, that you obtain at
presumably, discounted prices, wages for your employees ( you do pay
them, don't you? ), and of course, the expenses for maintenance of the
locations you use to sell your goods in. The majority of merchants, all
of them being adventurers like me, however, have to keep in mind not
only those expenses, but also the shop taxes that vary in amount from
city to city and from one market area to another, and are also the
subjects of restrictive policies in some of those cities, in order to
make any profit from their businesses.

It may even be upsetting to you that now you are being asked for that
compensation for the use of the property in the Crystal Leaf Inn,
especially since Buckthorn was perhaps naive at the time, and did not
make an effort to make any sort of agreement in written form with you,
to protect his interest in that deal, if needed ( and now we see such
record was indeed needed ), and are bringing up the subject of
retroactive and future fees for other denizen merchants as well,
apparently in an effort to point out that such requests towards all
denizen merchants are not logical, unreasonable and even shocking.

In the art of Trade, which is the realm of the Lord I serve, however,
there are at least two sides that form the market, the supply and
demand, the providers of various goods and services and purchasers of
said goods and services, and both of those sides enter into that
exchange to fulfill their needs, achieve their goals and for interests
specific to each of them. If either of those sides does not obtain what
they are looking for from such exchange, that does not constitute a fair
trade, based on the teachings of my Lord.

You do have the right, like you have already done, to close your shop
and look to make your business elsewhere, if you were not satisfied with
the terms of your business relations with Buckthorn, but that again
places you into privileged position, since not many adventurer
shopowners are in position to follow your example, without any financial
loss to them from such action.

It seems that you have chosen to take the same course of action, first
displayed sometime during the month of Phaestian, in the year 292 AF.,
when you closed your shops that were selling various commodities, since
you were not willing to pay more for the commodities that the various
villages have been supplying you with.

It is perfectly within the spirit of the Trade to choose who you do
business with and at what prices, while trying to look for the best deal
that offers the maximum of income to you, but your actions then have
caused a halt in the supply of commodities, that was resolved only when
the villages that produced said commodities offered to sell them
directly to interested buyers, rather than to sell them through your
shops, and thus, cutting you out from the calculation.

Like then, we may now choose to do business with other denizen
merchants, who are perhaps more open to negotiation and not only looking
for their own interests when doing business. That perhaps may not be
financially logical choice, since you manage a lot of shops that provide
different goods, in almost every city, and even provide some essential
goods, like inks, but I am sure you are aware that there are many
variables that make a difference for customers making a decision where
to buy and how much they are willing to spend for the goods they need or
desire.

Because one if the more indirect factors that is part of the Trade, is
the reputation of a merchant. The quality of services and goods that
merchant provides, and even the manner in which said merchant does his
business, makes his reputation. Thus, even when there is no written
record of an agreement between the two sides in the exchange, the verbal
agreement , if disputed, should be made in good faith, for the exchange
being qualified as fair trade. Since you have denied any existence of an
agreement between Buckthorn and you, I do wonder how did you become the
proprietor of the shop in question in the first place, and for that
reason I feel your reputation as merchant has been somewhat tarnished,
indeed.

However, I do hope that both of you will be able to reach some sort of
an agreement that would be of mutual benefit to all sides, and thus
restore my faith in you as one of the wealthiest and by far most
experienced merchants, as well as return some of the customers that were
disappointed by the manner you have chosen to conduct your affairs, to
your shops.

On a side note, do you ever wonder if you can do something useful with
all the gold you have raised through your business ventures, and shops
that have been operating even before the time I was born, aside from
storing it on your bank accounts and perhaps even in your socks?


In the service of the Merchant Lord,
Aecius Pyroboreus.

Penned by my hand on the 7th of Scarlatan, in the year 458 AF.