“Once again, a panicked letter from you brings news of stupidity and botchery.”

Sounds Like Yaple’s patience is running thin..

To Master Karn Dorfson
Care of the Stuttgart Merchant’s Guild

Once again, a panicked letter from you brings news of stupidity and botchery.  You ignored my insistence that you find a reputable captain and hand pick a crew.  Nothing can be further from reputable than a Vodacce!  In addition, when he tells you that he already has a crew, you should have quietly walked away.  The fact that he was willing to take your cargo to Germany for half the cost that the Dutch captains had quoted should have convinced you to run!  Instead, you blindly accepted his word and assurances without even a reference since he had only just arrived in the city.  You didn’t even think to take your bodyguard along!  I am surprised that the captain was kind enough to provide you with a launch, perhaps the heft of your purse put him in a generous mood.  On the other hand, perhaps the fact that you brought along suits of clothing for his entire entourage mollified his blood-thirsty mood.  While I can tell you that I passed word of your plight along to the Merchants Guild and they have sent several vessels of the Dutch Merchant Maries after the villain, even if they should recover the cargo, it will be confiscated to pay for the operation.

So now you sit, alone and penniless in Stuttgart.  I am certain that by the time you receive this missive, you will have exhausted the Merchant Guild’s goodwill there.  Fortunately for you, my investments have begun to pay dividends and I was able to scrape together a few guilders to help you in this time of need.  I have also purchased your debts, so you do not need to fret about mounting interest.  Imagine my surprise at discovering that when dealing with Master Carter, you made only the most feeble attempt at haggling over the interest rate.   If I had not stepped in when I did, the idiotic interest would have eaten you alive.  However, while you may be my nephew, do not think that I will simply excuse this debt.  I will allow you to work to pay it off over the course of the new few months should your efforts produce greater results than the past few weeks have displayed.  If you continue to make mistakes, I will add their cost to the sum you owe me.  If you continue to disappoint me, I will be forced to turn to your father to repay your debts.

Let us get down to business.  You are very aware of the situation in Kirtchen and the general state of the economy there.  I am assuming that you have spent your days in Stuttgart well, getting a feel for the mercantile situation.  One of the most important tasks of any merchant in a new place is to ascertain what goods are available and needed.  Spend a day or two investigating the area and discover what possibilities exist.  Its not enough to know that they have ore, you need to know what you can trade that ore for profitably.  Perhaps the food situation is getting dire, would they pay more for fresh vegetables or cereals?  What sorts of ore do they have in greatest quantities?  To a good merchant, information is one of the most valuable commodities.

Do not confine yourself to simply the merchants. You must speak to sailors, nobles, swordsmen and beggars.  They each possess a unique view of the world which can give you insight into what would be useful trade goods.  Often they will not even know what sorts of goods they desperately need.  Perhaps they desire a printing press.  While that may provide some profit, much more can be gained by delivering individual books for sale.  Of course, this requires finding bookshops able to pay for them.  Investigate everything you can as deeply as possible.  Ships mysteriously disappearing, large scale smuggling and dead peasants are all problems which may lead to more useful information.

Send me a letter on the situation as soon as you can.  If there are any trade situations that I can exploit, I will send a ship immediately and you can join that crew as my representative.

Your Employer,
Scrut Yaple

When on Guild charity or when in series debts, even the most honorable of merchants may begin to consider less reputable opportunities.  An offer to move an unknown cargo in the middle of the night doesn’t necessarily involve illegal goods…but it is the way to bet.  The merchant may also have to take opportunities that repay their debts, even those involving petty matters such as investigating a smuggling ring or reports of forged guilders or guild seals or even acting as a simple body guard or employed thug.  Such jobs may seem below their dignity, but it all comes down to a matter of how to earn the guilders they need.