QuestWright BK2 C31: Orla, the Lioran Merchant Wonder (Patreon)

First chapter of the day, late one for the second. Also, ReaderQuest! Expect the next series of ReaderQuests to follow a different route.

Quest ID: JDM-0001-F-EA

[Tier 1 Resource Quest]

Assignment: Start From Nothing

Many people say they would make money if they only had more resources.

This Quest removes that excuse.

Your Task

Start with one object you already own that you do not currently use.

Your goal is to turn that object into ten dollars or more.

You may:
Sell it
Trade it for something more valuable and sell that
Use it to perform a small service
Bundle it with something else to create value

But you cannot spend money to begin.

You must start with what you already have.

Rules

No borrowing money.
No gambling.
No asking someone to simply give you the money.

The ten dollars must come from value you created using the starting object.

Completion Condition

One unused object converted into ten dollars or more.

Timeframe: One Week

Reward: 8 XP

Value is rarely created from abundance.
It usually starts with whatever happens to be lying around.

—
J D Mullenary Sr
The Original QuestWright

Chapter 31: Orla: The Lioran Merchant Wonder

Orla…

In a seedy bar that also served as a restaurant within the Fifth ring, a sixteen-year-old merchant slid a silver Crest across the table.

“I want the paperwork greased.”

Blanching, the young Compliance Clerk looked around nervously, “Who says that part out loud? Just about anyone can hear you.”

“Oh, please. This is Liberty. It took me all of five minutes after arriving to know how things work here. If someone heard that, they’d just write it off, thinking, business as usual.”

The Clerk who’s name she didn’t care to remember protested slightly more until two bits slid across to meet their larger, more powerful brother, then took his leave. Orla pulled out her journal and marked off the expected subtractions, while adding a single bit back to her ledger.

“Cheaper than I thought he’d be.”

I saved money due to incompetence! Thank you, Liberty.

Ten minutes later, an ornery old man and a bespectacled woman sat across from her. Maggie adjusted her glasses as Noah reached his side and plopped down a bag on the table.

The sound of Crests jingling was music to her ears as he said, “Here’s ya money, girl.”

Money!

Calming down her mind, she gave him a deadly serious look, “All of it?”

“All of it.” He said with finality.

Orla lifted the bag and jiggled it twice as The Value Weighed took effect. 

Fucking liar.

She gave an unladylike snort, “That’s 794 Crests, not the agreed-upon amount of one thousand. I’ll remind you that the original cost was 150 a day for seven days, making the sum owed one thousand and fifty in total. I felt I was being reasonable when I allowed you to talk me down to an even K.”

Noah glared at her, “Who shortens a thousand to K?”

“Merchants do,” Maggie sighed, rubbing two opposite points on her forehead. “Give her the other bag, Noah.”

“But-”

“I looked at her Charter. It’s ironclad, with the full backing of the Guild. We either pay her now, or are forced to pay her later without gaining restitution from the Sovereign after the fact.”

As soon as the second bag touched the table, as if queued, a waiter came by with three items. Two clear drinks with frothy edges were dropped off in front of Orla and Maggie, while a dark amber liquid in a snifter was set in front of Noah.

Orla lifted hers first, “Pleasure doing business with you. This is on me, of course.” 

Less money! But dad says, always give the loser a positive outlook as they walk away. 

She took a sip, then scowled and put the drink down. “How do you enjoy that?”

“I’m guessing you have an ability to know what your customers,” She said the word with a scowl, “enjoy as refreshment.” Taking a sip, her cheeks took on a faint glow as she murmured appreciatively. 

Noah did the same, knocking back half the whisky, then pounding his chest twice in a brutish manner, which Orla thoroughly enjoyed seeing.

Strong arms on that one.

Looking at the Auditor, she cleared her throat, “Not an ability, no. Just research.”

“Ya’ve been here for only three days.”

“And you’ve been here for a week,” Orla reminded him. “Or don’t you recall heading to the gentleman’s club in the south?” She looked at Maggie, “Both of you.”

“Oh-hoh,” Noah barked a laugh as he pointed a thick finger at the furiously blushing Maggie. “I didn’t know ya was a gentleman.”

“I think we’re done here,” Maggie said in a high voice, tipping back the entirety of her drink, then placing the glass carefully back on the table. She looked at Noah, tapping her foot as he grinned at her. He waited just long enough to make the moment uncomfortable, then drained his glass and stood up. Just before they left, Orla called out to him.

“My partner, Pellin, is very interested in taking an in-depth look at your weapon.”

“Which one?” He said with a laugh, then sobered quickly when she pointed at the one on his hip. “Bah, he can take a gander. Least I can do after zappin him. Tell him to call on me at the Tower.”

“That won’t work; he can’t get in.”

“Well, ya know where the Gentleman’s club is. Send ‘em to me there tonight at the break of darkness. That’s when Ren takes my spot.”

Ohhh, that’s going to be hilarious.

Orla confirmed with him, then they left, Noah badgering the poor Auditor about which girls she liked most as they moved out of earshot. Orla took another sip of the drink, scowled, then placed it on the center table and out of reach. Taking the smaller bag, she shifted forty-four crests over from the larger one, then secreted it away.

Not ten minutes went by before a fat man in an apron sat down across from her.

“You got it?”

“I do.” She slid the heavy bag across the table.

The man lifted it up, jingled it, making her heart skip a beat at what was soon to happen, then dumped it gently across the table. He counted every silver Crest, nodded, and put his hand out.

“It’s a deal.”

Yes!

“Excellent.” They shook, and she pretended not to feel the grease layered on his fingers. ”Thank you, Jamir. You’ll stay on as the cook, I hope?”

“Of course,” He said with a smile. “This’ll help my kids get an upgraded Calling, but I still need to make some money for me and the wife.”

“I hear you, brother. Money makes the world turn. Also, I think a name change is in order, don’t you?”

He shrugged, “It’s your place now, do what you want.”

Orla grinned, “I will. I’m waiting on some paperwork for my enterprise charter, but it should be along in a hurry. Continue business as usual, and I’ll collect the day’s profits at the end of the shift.”

Yes! Consistent money!

Standing up, he reached across and shook her hand again with a ‘you got it, boss,’ then headed to the back while whistling a merry tune. Orla pulled up her ledger and crossed off another mark on her checklist.

Common Solutions Charter progress:

Submit Enterprise declaration  25 Crests

Register Common Solutions  50 Crests

Grease Compliance Clerk  13  -12 Crests

Pass Guild compliance check  -12 Crests

Register with Liberty Tax Authority  -25 Crests

Grease Tax Authority Clerk -40 Crests

 Gain licensure and final seal- 200 Crests

Crest Additions and Subtractions:

Starting total: 142

Initial sales, barters, and upselling upon arrival: +321

2x horse sale: +246 (ripped off)

Seed money from Alan: +500

Kidnapper’s legalese swindle: +1000

 Expected cost of charter: -365 -364

Cost of restaurant purchase: -750

Restaurant upgrading: -100

Restaurant marketing: -50 (use kids, they’re cheaper, earnest, and dumb)

Ending total: 944 945 Crests

Ongoing income:

Daily profit following restaurant upgrades and marketing: 50 Crests a day

Upcoming plans:

Begin bribery of the daily western patrol: 20 Crests a week expected

Note: Alan likely already has a bribe going. Attempt to attach yourself to his name for reduced costs.

Sale of monster parts to collectors, alchemists, and nobles with fetishes: Unknown

Purchase shop (Liberty Odds & Ends) next to Jamir’s Jaunt: 350 Crests expected

Deconstructed combination of back storage between Odds & Ends + Jamir: 50 Crests expected.

Long-term plans:

Take over the neighborhood around Jamir’s Jaunt, creating the Common Solutions expressway.

Make enough income to push Common Solutions into a Fourth Ring Charter.

Take over the city.

I’ve finally got things going! Not that three days is a long time, but to a merchant extraordinaire like me, it’s a lifetime. Dad always says, what others do in a day, Marrowinds can do in an hour.

As soon as she was done checking everything over, Orla pulled up the notifications waiting for her.

[SYSTEM NOTICE]

You made a grand deal

XP gained: +1,100

You purchased a business

XP gained: +385

Always, the System is unfair to the best Calling in the world. You’d think spending money, as a merchant, wouldn’t be half the experience value. Truly stupid. 

Orla took a deep breath at the sadness of losing over seven hundred Crests, “It’s all part of a bigger plan, Orla. It’s part of the plan.” She pulled up the last notification.

Bonus granted for gaining a grand sum of currency in a single deal:

One free minor ability token

Initiate Merchant Achievement progress: 

9/12

Orla rolled her eyes, then picked up the next ability on her list. Merchants weren’t truly Artisans, nor Administrators. Like System Engineers and even Guild Trainers, they were a special Calling that fell slightly outside of the System's normal thinking. As such, every Merchant had the option of selecting from dozens of abilities the moment they gained their Calling, with only a few paths they could travel down.

Luckily, the Marrowind family, including long-reaching Aunts and Uncles spread across numerous Central Guild cities, had condensed their knowledge and granted it to their kin. That’s why Orla wasn’t nearly as restricted in her abilities as other merchants who kept their lips sealed.

With a flick of her mind, she entered her abilities screen and picked one her cousin Ranush had suggested. The fact that it had appeared at all was due to a series of convoluted tasks she’d performed just to unlock it.

Minor ability token used

[Ability Choice Confirmed: Demand Sense]

Passive ability: You will now feel subtle market demand fluctuations for nearby goods.

Opening her eyes, Orla scanned around the room as a test of the new ability, then snorted when the mental picture settled. “Apparently, everyone enjoys that overly-sugared drink. Maggie got the market right with her tongue.”

Smiling at her own joke, she continued on through her day.

The third stop, after both breakfast and her meetings at the soon-to-be former Jamir’s Jaunt, only took moments to arrive. Waved past the line waiting, it was a fluid process to gain the Guild’s compliance approval after the Clerk she’d met with only thirty minutes ago pushed it through. 

After that, she followed her schedule: she sent a letter to the tax authority, met them 30 minutes later for their “lunch”, bribed them, then returned 30 minutes later. Step by step, Orla moved through the Enterprise process in hours, whereas it should’ve taken days to weeks.

I don’t understand why Cass likes bureaucracy so much. Form AB blah blah blah. Wait two weeks blah blah. It’s dumb when you can just pay them. People are simple creatures. You give them money, they give you speed.

Alan had been a big help here. First, she’d picked his brain, then Will, the Bartender’s. Will had a surprising depth to Liberty’s bribery sheets. He’d explained that 90% of his job was listening, with the remainder being making drinks. He even had abilities that improved his hearing and allowed him to read lips.

She’d been so impressed that she’d asked him out on a date. He was twice her age, but that didn’t matter much to her. Unlike the dour Adya, or even Cass and Pellin, she liked to have fun, and a man who could listen and get her drunk sounded like a perfect pairing. 

Will had turned her down, but she wasn’t done with him yet. He’d fold with time and the right pressure points.

A snag arose in her plans for the final step in forming Common Solutions. There had been a process change in getting licenses. The Guild had cut back on staffing, making it so the office only opens every other day. That meant she’d have to wait, putting a stiffness in her back at the lost time.

And lost Crests! 

She made her way back to the apartment. Pellin was holding up a piece of dark gray metal when she walked in. It took only a moment to explain what Noah had agreed to as the System Engineer began to bounce on his toes in excitement.

“I can’t believe you got Noah to let me look at his weapon. That’s so cool! I really owe you one.”

“Yeah, you do. You’re going to meet him at the Gentleman’s Club on the south side of the Fifth Ring. It’ll have a big red sign sitting on top of it. Also, here.” Reaching into her money bag, she pulled out dozens of bits and handed them over.

“The Gentleman’s club sounds fancy,” He said with a dumb grin, “What’s the money for? And why only in bits?”

“Oh, it’s what they take over there. Have a little fun while you can.” She gave him a dirty wink, but he didn’t take the message.

“Okay! Thanks again, Orla. I’ll pay you back somehow.”

Yeah you will, but not in the way you’re thinking.

Outloud she said, “Your joy is all the thanks I need.” 

The oblivious Engineer headed out early, even though he wouldn’t be meeting Noah for several hours. Without anything to do for the moment, Orla walked over to Caligula’s End to find a seated Alan staring morosely at a smoothie.

She joined him at a stool, “Hey.”

“What do you want, money girl?”

He gets me.

She looked around to make sure nobody was nearby, then shrugged, “Just curious. You haven’t mentioned us heading into the, you know, down-under lately.”

“It’s coming,” He waved her off, accidentally knocking over his smoothie. It disappeared and was replaced immediately by a fresh one. “God damn it, Will!”

“It’s good for you! And besides, I know you did that shit on purpose. Your coordination is too high to have a stupid accident like that.”

“Fuck you.”

“Your mother-”

“Was a saint,” He finished quickly. Will snorted and went back to cleaning a glass as Alan leaned closer to her, “My mother was really a vile, racist woman, but I can’t let him win.”

“Yeah,” Orla nodded as if that was natural. “So, anyway, how much do monster parts sell for? I honestly don’t have a good financial barometer for them.”

Teach me, wise one!

“You’ll have to sell them to a fence. Can’t be having the Guild look too closely into where it’s all coming from, otherwise things here will go tits up.”

“Do you know a good one I could approach?”

“Yeah. Names Jerry. She’s a real pill, which means you should get along like two fish in a stream. Works out of a hole-in-the-wall kind of place in the East Fifth. No name above it, and she’s tucked tightly and a little back between two shops. But once you find it, it’s easy to find again.”

“Thanks, Alan.”

“No problem. How’s starting up your little Enterprise going?”

“Big, big progress.” She slid off the stool. “You’ll give us enough warning before we need to head in, right?”

“Yeah, of course. You heading off to see Jerry already?”

“Money never sleeps,” Orla said with a smile.

“Neither will you at this pace. Far be it from me to keep you from earning a Crest. Have fun, and tell her Alan sent ya. Should at least open up a conversation with her.”

“Will do!”

Orla walked around the East section for a while, but never located Jerry. Just when she thought he’d sent her on a wild goose chase, she spotted an oddly wide indent between a bakery and a moneylender. As soon as she got closer, she realized there was a window in the gap.

“Jerry!”

A hand appeared from the darkness as an older woman pulled herself over to the window on a sliding chair. She popped up just enough for her eyes to look over the rim, 

“Watcha want?”

“Alan sent me.”

“Did he say when our next date is?”

“No, ma’am.”

“So how can I help you, then?”

“I was wondering if you could answer a few questions.”

“About what?”

“About everything you do,” Orla said with a big smile.

More ways to make money!

Pellin…

An incredibly uncomfortable Pellin sat sandwiched between two scantily clad women as Noah laughed in the chair across from him. He was telling a story about how he’d single-handedly saved Liora while a pretty woman bounced on his knee.

Feeling a natural pause that was normally outside the bounds of Pellin’s social understanding, he asked, “Mr. Noah, can I see the weapon now?”

“Which one!” Noah said with a laugh, one that the girls around him matched as the lady on Pellin’s left pinched his cheek.

I’m going to kill Orla.