A History Through Blood

After a long day travelling, Modibo and his eldest son, Aadil, had been invited to the private quarters occupied by the Adze and her translator. With the door shut and the seasoned mercenary discretely watching people passing from the window's edge, few would know of the transaction they were currently making. When he had been initially invited to meeting with a discrete inference of profit, Modibo had asked to bring along his as part of his guidance. A quick glance toward Victoria to let her know that he could be trusted with anything supernatural was all that was needed to vouch for his son's integrity.

"Victoria has brought you here to discuss these." Kahina translated as her benefactor brought out three large animal horns from beneath the table. Both of them stared at the horns, mentally processing their value, if they were indeed what he believed them to be. "They belonged to a creature called a Shadhavar, something which is a myth throughout the region and whose remains seldom reach mortal hands. These were gathered from the nearby wilds, something which you can see based on the age of the horns. Try gently blowing into the side of the horns from each side, you will see why they are highly sought after."

Modibo carefully raised one of the horns to his mouth, carefully blowing into it. The resulting sound reverberated around the room, far louder than he had expected from such a shallow breath. Both he and his son were transfixed by the almost divine sound, only focusing back on the topic once the gentle hum had finished. It was most certainly the genuine article, worth far more than anything he would likely see in his lifetime.

"Victoria is aware that you likely do not currently have the funds for such an item on hand, nor the current capacity to secure such funds." Kahina stated, knowing that they would likely only have only a little extra on top of their current funds intended to cover their pilgrimage. Before she could continue translating, Kahina had pause to have a rather frantic discussion with the adze. Never had he seen Kahina break her usually calm and diplomatic composure, always receiving complements and insults in the same polite demeanor. It took a short moment to compose herself before returning her attention to the negotiations at hand.

"Victoria would like to use you as a proxy to sell a single horn with some conditions attached." Kahina stated, voice still faltering as she continued. "She will take only one fifth of the fair value you sell it for, on the condition that you provide me tutelage on matters of trade and offer Victoria general assistance with other matters. There are certain things which she is unable to teach, as her experience is mostly relegated to the customer transactions. So, she would like you to round out some of my short comings. While I have some background in management at a lower level, it was only internal and logistical in nature. Something that Victoria would like to build on." Her explanation was also affected by her growing emotions, holding back the appreciation she felt towards her usual mentor.

The potential profits from the sale of the horn were undeniable, assuming the occurrence of such an item was as rare as she claimed it was. Upon further inspection, the horn she was offering was far from ideal condition. There were subtle signs of weathering and a few small cracks along one face. Fortunately, its general form had remained. Thanks in part to both the lingering magic imbued into its length and the sheltered area from which it had likely lay. Even so, horn still was somewhat pliable and could still be utilized by craftsman to create something magnificent. While the horn was still highly valuable, it probably was unlikely to receive the astronomical price it might normally receive from a fresh carcass in pristine condition.

Victoria's primary motivation, outside of guaranteeing a mentor for her translator, was to obfuscate her involvement in the sale of such goods, while enjoying the profit from its transaction. Her selective tendencies regarding who she regularly associated with, and general avoidance of leaving anything which could be traced back to her, were likely the main reason he was selected as an intermediary. The nominal finder's fee was more than fair considering the disproportionate share was also buying his silence.

"Let me consult my son" Modibo requested, wanting to ensure that Aadil shared his understanding of the situation. They slowly left the room, arm guiding his eldest into the hallway. "What are your thoughts on this?" Modibo asked in a hushed tone, carefully scrutinizing his eldest's reaction. "If I were my uncle, I would attempt to pressure the foreigners into selling the other two. But... if she was able to acquire such an item, then surely, she could acquire more items of this nature. Personally, I am inclined to accept her offer without much argument. It is already in our favor and will bring healthy profits. The problem is Baru and the rest of the caravan."

By acknowledging Baru's existence, his son had raised something for which he had no clear answer. He was not alone in this trip to Mecca, and he was also there to prove himself to Abdoul. If they were to cut Baru out of an exchange of this size, he would lose all of the connections and trust he had spent his life accumulating. "We don't have much of a choice, we have to let him in on this." Modibo agreed, almost cursing as he did so. "I am sure that Victoria has foreseen this, but it's not something she would likely be pleased about. You know as well as I do that she does not like attention, declaring that we bought it from her would run counter to those wishes."

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Aadil nodded in agreement, knowing the preferences of their would-be source of fortune. His son liked the foreign woman, quietly nurturing unreciprocated feelings towards her. "Agreed." Aadil said, stroking his youthful beard. "We can delay reporting it for a few days without issue, helping to disguise the origin of the horns. The problem then becomes how we obtained it and why the sale would be short the full amount. That is if the other travelers take notice of it." One positive outcome of cutting Baru into the profits was that he offered a form of legitimacy and protection, dissuading others from interfering or trying force themselves into the transaction.

Quietly they re-entered the room, finding only the offered horn remaining in plain sight. "We are willing accept your terms." Modibo began, knowing that she was unlikely to change the terms on such short notice. "One fifth of my sale price and mentorship of Kahina, as well as personally assisting you when needed. However, you must know that I must report this to my seniors." Victoria nodded upon hearing the translation, likely already having calculated it beforehand. "She says that it was expected." Kahina translated, carefully listening to the foreign explanation. "Tell him a modified truth. We can be a silent partner in any public exchange, with the understanding that the source of such an item would be concealed where possible."

Both Modibo and Aadil were in agreement, content with the large profit they would likely receive. Aadil was still unaware of the foreign woman's true form, however his perception of her only grew to elevated heights. They both knew that she would leave their group before they reached Mecca, much to his son's disappointment. Modibo had saw his son sneaking glances towards the pale woman as they rode northwards, he did not wish to break his heart by pointing out that she had no interest in him beyond a reliable business partner. He returned his focus to securing the horn before someone, such as his brother-in law, could try and claim ownership from him.

-

It had been three days since they had settled their agreement and had notified Baru. While he had initially been dismissive of Kahina's presence, one glance at the horn was enough to suppress any negative thoughts. A brief moment of selfish greed filled his eyes; however, such intentions went away just as fleetingly. Considering that he would take a comfortable portion of the final price, taken from the allotted fee that was designated to their trading house, there was no need for underhanded tactics. While he disappointed that there was only a single horn, with the right buyer it would bring in more wealth than a year's worth of trading. Something which would only be favorable to his overall standing.

As they rode Modibo began his teachings to Kahina, focusing on conversion of assets. "While on a basic level: Trading is exchanging something of value for another, it fundamentally assumes that an object has a fixed value." As he talked, he dug through his bag and pulled out a nugget of gold. "From what I know of your background, you would most likely know of the basics handling of such goods. Traders will exchange goods or services for something of similar value, but most do not understand risks involved with speculative purchases." Kahina nodded along as she translated, mostly just conveying the conversation as both a courtesy and a way to pass time.

"When discussing any speculative purchase, you must first consider the risk." He continued, still holding onto the gold piece. "You are already aware of the basic risks when it comes to buying large quantities of an item, anticipating that there will be a future demand from where you can increase their price. A well-known example is buying large quantities of weapons and expecting a new political and military conflict. There are other risks, aside from forecasted events not manifesting, which factor into any purchase without an immediate buyer."

"Some goods, such as leather and wood, will begin to decay despite our best efforts. These goods have the additional risk that they will degrade to the point of becoming unusable scrap. This means that your business strategy should incorporate ways to mitigate the risks." Something he had seen frequently happen, under the watch of inattentive upstarts. "While you can recuperate your losses by selling them at a lower value than what you expect, any good held for long periods of time can equally lose value instead of gaining the value expected." He had recalled their bodyguard, Leo's, recantations on the various liquors he had drunk back home. Some casks of liquor only grew higher in quality the longer they were allowed to age, whereas others would gain a rotten taste when poorly kept. "While such things are considerations, we can also take steps to reduce the risk of losses by transforming it into another form. Excess fruits can be turned to liquor and high-quality leather can be converted to clothing for the rich."

"That also ignores having a dedicated trade in transforming components into new items." He again raised the gold nugget towards them. "This nugget can be crafted into something new, such as a neck ring, and increase the collective value of the item. It is the same with the item I acquired from your group recently. If I were able to fit it with the appropriate adornments, then the price would increase multiple times. This, however, adds a timely delay to when I am able to sell it and risk damage to my assets during the transformation process. In my case, I need to find a buyer in the coming months of our pilgrimage while having limited knowledge of the local markets. None of this is hidden information, as we both agreed to find a buyer on the way north. However, it is a risk that I will suffer a sizeable loss, if: I am unable to move an item which I know is worth a lot."

"It is this balancing act that one must account for when making speculative purchases," he summarized as his lesson transitioned into answering questions from his temporary apprentice. "Is it worth holding tight onto something which may have high returns only to see it disintegrate, or sell it short and miss out on the final payout? If you can consistently balance the scales and sell it at its peak, then you might be the greatest merchant of all time. Victoria may have centuries to accumulate wealth such that selling short has minimal effect on her pockets, but you and I do not have such a luxury."