EvilJoe1 said:
"I am (Insert character name here) and I am the leader of the Stone Dogs, we have come to trade for Cold Rocks Hold. I am honored to meet you and as I said I, and my fellow dwarfs, are here to set up trade with the great settlement of Hammerfell, we have several fine wares to offer, the most prominent being good quality granite, tin, copper and bronze. But we will soon, with some work, have access to meat, skins, fish and, if you wish, live animals that you, most likely, haven't seen before." I say showing the wares as I introduce them. "At the moment what we need is some better equipment, some work animals, preferably some that can work underground, and other crops."
I will press hard but not to hard about 7/10 and as a trick to get a good trade simply show respect and show that it is logical for our two settlements to trade and hopefully in time become friends. I would also like to speak to the mayor about which other clans have left the Mountain Home and if he knows where they have set themselves up, and put up signs offering anyone who is willing to work and wants adventure a place at Cold Rocks Hold, and listing that we need someone to train a militia and a good blacksmith. Also ask around town to see if anyone knows anything else, and if there are any private trading companies in the town in which to also set up trade.
You get to name your own dwarves. If I must name every one of the 39 dwarves in all the clans + all the dwarves you meet, I?ll have created a ?popular names for your child? compendium for dwarves within this game world ? I have no intention of going quite that far. That is part of the reason I haven?t named everyone.
OT: When you tell the rough location of Cold Rocks hold, interest in the granite seems to vane. It is a good quality stone you brought, but the distances involved would make trading for just granite needlessly difficult. After all, there are sources of good stone nearer.
It is the bronze that seems to attract most attention and you can see the Broker is interested at well. Iron (and steel) and well and good for weapons and armor, but in everyday items and some luxury ones, dwarves tend to favour less expensive and more colourful materials. Steel is after all, quite dull to the eyes.
The Broker is not too pleased with your somewhat aggressive bartering, seeing you as a bit impudent considering the size and importance (or rather, lack of them) of your clan. She does concede that trading partners are rarely a disadvantage.
She does demand a show of proof for your ability to benefit Hammerfell in long term before any permanent agreements can be made: A caravan representing Hammerfell will be sent to Cold Rocks Hold at the end of next spring, and if individuals or clans wish to send their own they may do so at any time. You must, before the year is over, trade to Hammerfell 70 bars of bronze, or at least 30 bars in combination with other items, to a total of equal worth. Any trade after you leave, traded via the official caravan or by independent ones, counts towards this total.
Naturally, the degree heavily favours Hammerfell: the Broker has places you into a proverbial stranglehold. While tradition and honour demands your goods be appropriately valued, you are essentially forced to trade your goods away. And if few caravans arrive, the official one may dictate prices quite freely if you have not traded enough by that point, for if you do not sell at the prices they demand, you might not get a permanent agreement. And unless you become an officially recognized trading partner, the individual clans at Hammerfell will be reluctant to send their caravans.
But, with a long-term deal, you?d receive at least two caravans a year and with them would come a representative of Hammerfell to visit you. And trough them, you?d have access to information, rumours and be able to present your own wishes and needs in regards to trading. The agreement would also greatly simplify the inter-clan politics and rules governing trade by individuals or non-ruling clans of either side. It would also be a precedent for other settlements: the acceptance of Hammerfell would indicate that you are a reliable trading partner.
As you expected, the negotiations were though and lasted several days, and now you can either agree to the deal as presented by the Broker, or forgo it.
A pair of brothers, Dunmar and Dwer of clan Macgragge seek permission to join you. They are young, only in their 30s, and find Hammerfell to be too predictable and safe for them. They already have permission from their clan to join you and declare Stone Dogs the ?minor? clan-name. That would mean that their loyalty would belong to clan Macgragge first (but not Hammerfell), Stone Dogs second, and Cold Rocks Hold third. Should they stay and father children at Cold Rocks Hold, the children would traditionally and lawfully by default be members of the Stone Dogs with no allegiance anywhere else. Along would come the elder brother?s (Dunmar) equally young wife, Vetter. The borthers have no particular specialities, but Vetter does say she has worked the loom for some time, and knows how to handle both plant- and animal based threads (such a pig-tail, or spiders silk) in weaving proper cloth.
An elderly dwarf has also approached you. He is old, and has retired from all but clan politics, but has found inaction to not suit him too much. He is a veteran shield-dwarf, and claims to have defended Hammerfell for over five decades, and having held the post equivalent to a squad leader. He can?t fight full-day anymore, he is too weak and frail for that, but the experience and knowledge he can offer you and promises that he can create a militia worthy of being called full-time solders. He does have demands: a spacious and furnished room of his own, three meals a day, and to be treated as if he were a full member of your clan in all matters, for as long as he stays alive, with no other obligations to him beyond training a competent militia for you.
You are a bit unsure of what to make of him, as he seems to have taken some measures to be the only dwarf to offer militia training services to you. Nothing violent, or obtusely forceful, but he does have words with every potential candidate that seems somewhat interested, whereupon the candidates usually suddenly head somewhere else entirely.
No one else has talked with you in regards to joining you, but there has been talk of trade. The samples you brought with you, specially the tin and bronze, have seen interest. You?ve received several offers, and you judge them all to be of good value:
A pair of healthy, young dogs for the bar of tin. One dog is male, one female.
Another offers for the tin, an adult mule that seems to be in good health.
Third offers for that, and the bar of copper, a set of surplus (to her that is) and somewhat worn iron tools to equip a decent sized butchery.
For the bar of copper you are offered two sacks of seeds: one is pig-tail, one is cave wheat.
Another offer would give you a set of mechanical plans for a watermill. You are in no position to judge the efficiency of the plans, but it does seem a functional installation and from your memory, the river flows rapidly enough to be of use. A watermill might produce enough power to turn a millstone or two. Of course, without an engineer and an architect, the construction isn?t likely to be as simple as just following the plans, not to mention to construct the power axle from the watermill to whatever you wish turned or powered.
For the bar of bronze you had many offers, but three top them all.
First one is three sacks of seeds. One is cave wheat, one is elven Longland Grass that must be farmed aboveground (can be processed into flour and beer), and one is filled with Plump Helmet mushroom spawns. Each sack is enough to cover a fairly large farm plot.
Another offer for the bronze is a pair of brand new copper picks.
The last one is a pair of donkeys, and a small sack of the elven Longland Grass.
For the granite slab and all bars of metal: two fine steel picks, and a set of leather armor.
For the granite alone, the set of leather armor, or alternatively three small iron daggers.
For the small diamonds you had with you, you are offered two bronze-leather helmets, or a well-constructed bronze crossbow.
On the rumour front, mayor himself is too busy to see you. You do however hear that the clans Blood Helmets and Bold Steel for certain have been exiled from Mountainhome, and the clans Hammer Steel and the Outcasts have either left, or been exiled. No one seems to know for sure where they are, but they all headed westwards, with Bold Steel going for a more northerly route and Blood Helmets apparently heading towards the marshes of the south. Of the Hammer Steel and the Outcasts, the tracks seemed to enter the arid plains proper.
So, what offers do you accept and do you agree to the deal/demand made by the Broker?
