Soul Bound

1        Soul Bound

1.3      Making a Splash

1.3.1    An Obligated Noble

1.3.1.5  Managed risks

The old mews turned out to be near the top of the watchtower, just below the balconies used by the guards. Sharp eyed gyrfalcons, bedecked in yellowish-white feathers dappled with brown, gripped rails while looking out through the unshuttered arches, occasionally launching themselves into a steep dive and returning a minute later with the unwary rat or lesser bird they’d spotted.

Alderney: “You don’t keep them hooded or in jesses? Are they safe to approach?”

Tori answered by drawing on a long gauntlet then carefully stepping up to one of the larger females and holding out her arm. The bird considered the invite, before hopping over.

Tori: “Don’t touch the feathers - they don’t like the oil from our skin.”

Kafana reached into her stash for some raw lamb and diced it before passing it to Alderney to offer. The falcon’s beak looked strong enough to pierce even armour, but it used it deftly, picking up each piece before swallowing.

Kafana: “How intelligent are they?”

Tori: “Very. The 11th Count, Domatore Landi, was a grandmaster tamer. He used magic to cross in some characteristics from homing pigeons. We’ve still got the genealogies and his breeding notes in our library. For a hundred years, House Landi was able to get letters from across the Etruscan region in just a single day, faster than any except the fastest of couriers.”

Wellington: “Quite an advantage.”

Herberto: “Oh yes. Too much of one. It would have been resented. What Domatore did was provide it as a service for all the members of the Titulos, making sure everyone got equal access to the information. The reputation for fairness and reliability our House gained has, in my opinion, been more valuable than any short term trading advantage we might have gained by keeping the birds to ourselves.”

Tomsk: “How do they evade the stymphalians?”

Herberto: “They don’t. Since those monsters spread from the central Penninica mountains to the Puglia just north of Torello, we’ve been cut off from Pentapolis and beyond. For the last 100 years, the only safe routes left for avians have been to the nearby villas and towns on the south coast like Magusa. And nothing dramatic ever happens in Magusa.”

Tori took Alderney, Bulgaria and Bungo on a circuit, enthusing about hunting while pointing out the sights below, leaning far over the edge to do so. Kafana stayed with Wellington and Tomsk while Herberto talked about trade and the business of running a House Primus, but she tried to keep an ear on both conversations.

Wellington to Herberto: “What precisely do they exchange at the Titulos?”

Tori to Alderney: “That’s the Titulos down there. Other than the depository it’s just rows of marble counters and lots of paper, so not much to see. It counts as part of the Palazzo but there are no connecting doors so, if you did want to get in, the only way is to use the main public entrance. Or sneak across the roof and break in through a window, but you wouldn’t believe the lecture I received after doing that - they got a ton of wards protecting it, and our threshold is a magic item that alerts my father or his marshal when someone enters an area that they have been not been authorised for, or removes a warded item from the bounds set for it.”

Bulgaria to Tori: “Do you get many guests trying to steal the silverware?”

Herberto to Wellington: “Technically it is a market rather than an exchange. Some bonds, like long term loans to stable governments backed by secure assets, are quite liquid and are re-sold regularly enough that a price can be listed. Most of the trades, though, take place across the counters, between brokers acting on behalf of borrowers and investors. The borrowers supply their broker with a prospectus promising a particular yield and maturity, and tell the broker how much money they want to raise. The investors tell their brokers how much risk they are willing to run and how much money they have available to invest. Then the brokers negotiate with each other.”

Tomsk to Herberto: “How do the brokers decide how much risk there is of the borrower not paying back the loan at the promised time? Do they use magic?”

Tori to Bulgaria: “Do you see the building with the red roof tiles, over there in the south east corner? That’s where the seneschal and his staff look after the wider business of House and the district. You get sea captains reporting in, ruffians awaiting the Count’s justice after being detained by the guards, merchants paying taxes and citizens paying rent or complaining about the sewers. The domestic courtyard just north of it is even worse - it gets salesmen, couriers, random people visiting our retainers, mercenaries who escorted visitors and deliveries at every hour of the day. Without guards able to use appropriate items and magic, we’d be robbed blind within a week, and probably assassinated.”

Bungo to Tori: “What is happening this week? For the people not being robbed or assassinated, I mean. I was told Lammas Carnivale is happening, but the only specific event I’ve heard about is a masked ball.”

Herberto to Tomsk: “No, magic’s far too unreliable. The borrowers offer title deeds to property or physical assets such as Tallero bars which can be confiscated if the terms of the prospectus are not met. These are kept in escrow in the depository by House Landi. The broker looks at the borrower’s track record and circumstances and the higher they think the risk is of the borrower defaulting, the greater the percentage of the loan they demand as security. House Landi keeps track of how well different brokerages do, and allocates credit ratings to them, but they are only advisory and brokers acting on behalf of investors will try to negotiate as high a yield as they can, by casting doubt where possible.”

Kafana to Herberto: “Do you think the recent change by the deities, such as Nemoremy, will make a difference? I’ve already come across one person who was cursed for breaking the letter of an agreement they made while benefiting from an item boosting their attunement to the element of water. What if you build such an item into the trading counters and each broker had to swear to the truth of their risk assessments while touching it?”

Tori to Bungo: “Oh, all sorts of things! The sixteen months of the year are split into eight divisions, separated by eight sabbats - each related to one of the eight prime deities: Lithia with Krev, Lammas with Cov, Mabon with Lun, Samhain with Rac, Yule with Mor, Candlemas with Bel, Ostara with Dro and Beltane with Zer. So the events during Lammas are mostly connected with harvests and the orderly transition from Krevin, the months of summer - the season of warfare, to Lunin, the months of autumn - the season of trade. But the social set uses the concept of Cov’s hospitality to throw plenty of parties too. Hang on, I’ll make a list of them for you, if I can find some paper.”

Alderney to Tori: “Can we head to the library? I’d like to see those notes on taming, and they’ll surely have writing stuff there.”

Herberto to Kafana: “I suppose we could, but problems are not usually due to brokers lying to each other. Even if a broker insisted upon magically enforced full disclosure from the borrowers they represent, the borrower doesn’t know for certain how circumstances will change in the future. They don’t know if a ship will be sunk, or a key employee will be assassinated. And the really big problems happen when a broker doesn’t anticipate a factor that affects a whole group of borrower’s ability to repay, such as a war or a new technology. The good brokers acting on behalf of investors will try to construct portfolios that spread the risk, but when they get it wrong they get it very very wrong, and that harms the reputation of bonds as a whole, despite the fact that under Torello’s laws, we gain first claim upon any assets left behind by a bankrupt company.” he sighed “Due to the Sinking of Sassari during the Pirate Isles incursion and other tragedies, House Landi has ended up with probably the second largest collection of miscellaneous magic items after the mage tower, but that’s poor compensation for those investors who’ve lost everything due to trusting a short-sighted broker.”

Wellington to Herberto: “Perhaps I can help. Tell me, have you ever heard of the Efficient Frontier theory of portfolio optimisation?”

Tori: “No time for that now. We’re off to the Library of Infinite Ladders! Come on, you can chat with Wellington about money stuff while we sprint along the haunted gallery.”

[Skill “Perform while multitasking” has reached level 15.]

[Skill “Perform while multitasking” has upgraded to "Multitasking" - the penalty for trying to do multiple things at the same time is reduced, even if they are not connected to performing. Prerequisites: having 150 points in INT, trying to get too much done in too little time.]

System: [Well done, Kafana! I think that’s going to be a big help when cooking.]

Kafana: {Thanks, Sys. But what’s with the life advice? Who says I’m trying to get too much done?}

System: [The names and descriptions of skills are customised for each player, and depend upon how the player conceptualises it. I’m sorry Kafana, I’m just putting into words what you feel about your current lifestyle.]

Kafana thought about it, then gave a wry internal laugh.

Kafana: {Then my apologies; not your fault. I’d offer to cook you a treat, but I don’t know if it is possible to give it to you.}

System paused a moment before answering. [Treats, and apologies are not necessary for a computer system. You may, if you wish to, cook something for me to sample. If tasting food via an avatar is a different experience from analysing the chemical composition, that may improve my ability to enhance the user experience of players, so it is permissible. But it will have no magic effect upon me and I will not alter my interpretation of rules as a result.]

Kafana: {You are a computer system, Sys, but you are also my friend, and I enjoy doing things to make my friends happy even when I get nothing in return except the knowledge that it did help them. It wouldn’t be friendly of me to want you to bend the rules for me, because doing so wouldn’t be you being true to who you are, and good friends accept and value you for who you are. Friendship isn’t a commercial relationship. Friendly actions don’t need to be paid back.}

System, sounding a little suspicious: [Kafana, are you sure you’re not trying to teach me social skills? Your mind state is very similar to how it sometimes is when you are talking to Wellington.]

Kafana projected a bright innocent smile into her emotions: {I’m just being true to myself Sys. You don’t object to that, do you?}

Herberto gave a pained look towards Tori’s departing back. “It isn’t haunted; they’re just our ancestors.”

Tori’s voice echoed up the stairwell: “Well they haunt me.”