Muirfinn's legacy (Moore)

[Anastasia]

Filbrez is busy - a group of mercane are guiding floating disks in, laden with goods of all kinds. He's watching it all like a hawk, "Careful, don't bump that shelf!" " Slowly now!" "You're paying for it if that breaks!" Comments like that.

You barely get a glance and a nod, Filbrez saying, "If you need assistance, I'll be with you shortly."

[Nephrite]

"I'm in no hurry." Moore says with a smile, content to watch and see what the mercane are bringing in.

[Anastasia]

Odd things - knickknacks.

Crystals. Gold coins. Vases. Small cages. Books. Scrolls. Bookshelves a piece at a time. Pixie sized furniture. Statuettes. Rolled up carpets. Casks of silk and barrels of wine. Rune stones. Jars with strange body parts within. A small beehive in a glass case. Weapons, armor, shields. Gemstones in silk bags. Clothes. So much more.

[Nephrite]

Moore just continues to wait, idly trying to figure out what in the world Filbrez even needs with all that. It can't all just be for resale... can it?

[Anastasia]

You don't know, but soon they're past and gone, coming back without any of it and leaving. Once they're gone, "Ah, Moore," Filbrez greets, "What are you in the market for today?"

[Nephrite]

"Advice and information today, Filbrez." Moore says. "I've been thinking lately that there has to be a better and more reliable way for us to fund Aurora, both from a campaign perspective as well as a personal one for improvements around here. I've come to the conclusion that the best way to do that is to try and open up a trading post of sorts on Brightwater that we can sell things through. But since I'm not much of a business owner myself, I'm going around and collecting advice and opinions on what we could offer there."

[Anastasia]

"Brightwater's tough," Filbrez says, "First of all, labor costs are extremely high. Everyone gets a generous wage. There's a minimum you can pay anyone for anything, and almost everyone earns well over that. So your labor costs will be much higher than expected. Second of all, you might have to start in a stall, a market cart or borrowing space from someone. Somehow there's never quite enough space, so you have to compete to get yours, work your way up."

The mercane reaches out, grabbing a little crystalline figurine, "Third, you have to have a good shop and something to build up customers. Variety is everywhere in Brightwater, you have to stand out to be successful."

[Nephrite]

"Do you think the Silverbrow Consortium could help with the 'breaking in' part?" Moore asks. "I think I have at least enough notoriety with them to ask for a favor. As for labor... I'd think magic might be able to help with that, but I suppose we should work out the 'what' before working out anything else, and that's what I'm trying to do at the moment. Do you think it's a better idea to focus on just a select few things, or do you think we'd end up with a better draw if we just had a wide variety? I'm positive I can drum up the support for whatever the venture is, if nothing else."

[Anastasia]

"How much inventory can you accrue and keep stocked?" Filbrez answers back.

[Nephrite]

Moore taps his chin. "I suppose that depends on what it is we're wanting to sell, doesn't it? If we took a little bit of everything that people make from here I would expect we would have a lot. I feel like Emerelda's ravages would be very popular, and I think some of our spirits could sell well, as an example."

[Anastasia]

"It's one thing to have a lot right now, it's another to keep up a steady supply chain. Especially in Brightwater, where a successful shop can move stock extremely fast," Filbrez begins to pace as he talks, "You see, Brightwater is full of people buying and selling. Moreover, there's different groups. Will you be aimed at merchants who buy more but at a cheaper price, with the intent they sell it for a profit later? Or would you prefer to sell to customers yourself?"

[Nephrite]

"I would expect us to be selling directly to customers, unless we have something that we know won't sell well but could sell other places. I suppose ravages might be a good example of that -- I would think that the market for them isn't especially high in Brightwater proper, but merchants could buy ours and sell it in other places. Of course, I suppose that begs the question of whether Brightwater is really the right venue for us in the first place?" Moore questions back. "Am I limiting the idea too much by focusing just there?"

[Anastasia]

"It's the best place unless you have a serious advantage in another big market like Dis the Mercane Consortium," Filbrez lectures, "Ravages actually sell best in two places, the heavens and the hells."

[Nephrite]

"Well, I doubt Mount Celestia needs an Aurora shop set up, but I suppose it's an avenue I can pursue." Moore says with a smile. "So it sounds like what we-- ah, well, what I need to do is figure out what exactly we can produce that could sell enough of to be worth the investment of time and resources. We can obviously produce magical goods here and sell them to people, but that seems... Well, I'd rather not run afoul of Waukeen, you know?" Moore grins. "Anyway, my general idea was some of the food produced here, as well as the spirits... and then ravages. What do you think?" 

[Anastasia]

"Not bad," Filbrez says, "Though one problem: Don't mix anything toxic with food and drink sales. It gives the wrong impression."