Application for Prince Kheldar (aka Silk), the Belgariad / Mallorean

[silkenspy]

((This Silk is post-Mallorean))

One big drafty castle is much the same as another big drafty castle, but Silk had visited Riva often enough that he was fairly sure that this room wasn't in the Citadel. For one thing, Garion didn't have any pens that stood upright with no hand to hold them and tapped themselves on the parchment, as if they were

Comments

[dungbombsrule]

"You'd kill someone based on what race they are?" Voldemort was a professor here once, and Ron had learned to keep a tight grip on his moral outrage. So his tone was more one of incredulity rather than anger.

Still, he knew that absence of the Death-Eaters was too good to stay true.

((David Eddings raised me. Well... not literally.))

[silkenspy]

"No, I'd kill someone based on whether or not they wanted to kill me," Silk replied calmly, eyes busily assessing the young man. "Given that there's been conflict between the Angaraks and the Kingdoms of the West for a few thousand years, the people who want to kill me are normally Angaraks, so knowing what race someone is does tend to be useful when determining the very important question of 'is this person likely to want me or my friends dead.'"

[dungbombsrule]

"Oh. So that's why you asked what race Barney and Carrottop are. Well, if it makes you feel better, they're both Muggle-Born, and Barney is a Muggle-Born dinosaur. So technically I guess Barney is more likely to want to kill you and your friends, though I hear that it's against his personality." He took on his 'instructor' tone, which largely could still use some work.

"And that's why you shouldn't judge people based on race. Because, despite not being a dinosaur, Carrottop probably has killed more people."

[silkenspy]

"Muggle? Dinosaur? I haven't heard of them. Are they among those little kingdoms that the Mallorean Empire's swallowed up over the years?" Odd, because he thought he knew all of them.

He chuckled at the young man's attempt at teacher-voice. He'd had Polgara use that tone on him for years, this redhead had nothing on her.

"Solely on race, no. But it's a good indicator when you look at a few other elements of the circumstances. For instance, when I'm on business in Mallorea I don't expect that every person I meet is going to want to kill me. However, if I'm in, say, Sendaria, I can be certain that any Murgo there is a spy and would gut me if he thought he could get away with it." He shrugged. "Or that used to be the case, anyway. Now that Eriond's their god and they no longer have lunatics on the thrones of Mallorea and Cthol Murgos, official relations have started thawing. They've even started approaching amiable in some cases."

[beets_r_god]

So Scranton wasn't anywhere near Drasnia, and it would have been an exercise in... well, cracky amusement for the mun... to see what the complex network of Drasnian merchants and spies would have made of Michael Scott. But Dwight liked to think of himself as the model Drasnian. Or he would have if he were allowed to break the fourth wall outside of this rambling narration. He had, after all, given a stand-up speech at the Northeastern paper salesman's conference after winning top salesman of the year. He was also on a secret mission for the CIA, which was currently, sadly, on hold on account of the fact that Jim Halpert was popcorn.

All that to say, the Drasnian prince was a kindred spirit.

"You're a merchant?" Dwight inquired. "What kind of things do you sell?" He produced a business card, written on Dunder-Mifflin's finest parchment, and offered a hand. "Dwight Schrute, Assistant Regional Manager, Dunder-Mifflin Scranton and Dunder-Mifflin Hogsmead. Perhaps we can find some arrangement that's beneficial to us both?"

[silkenspy]

"Pretty much anything, dear fellow," Silk replied, eying Dwight. Assignments to Tolnedra and business dealings in Mallorea had given him long experience with petty beaurocrats, which is what he immediately pegged Dwight as being. He shook the man's hand and took the card, which he glanced over with disguised interest and tucked away to properly examine later.

"If it's profitable, I probably deal in it," he added. His nose began to twitch. "I'm sure we can negotiate something satisfactory. What do you deal in?"

[beets_r_god]

"Parchment," Dwight answered. "We're a small company with friendly staff, and we believe in the quality of our product." Dwight was clearly better at this than the mun, sadly. "We've already begun negotiations with some of the important people from Shin Makoku, and Deathklok has agreed to let us sponsor them." OK, so technically, the trade negotiations with Shin Makoku hadn't happened yet, since Gwendal had given Dwight the exact same brush-off he was getting now, and Michael had been responsible for Deathklok, but still... Silk didn't need to know that.

[silkenspy]

"Anything like the parchment these questions are written on?" Silk asked, his nose continuing to quiver. Sourcing the stuff for importation to Tolnedra and Mallorea might be easier than he'd anticipated.

[chaotic_miles]

"I really like your Ravenclaw answer," commented the equally short, equally energetic, equally twitchy Professor Vorkosigan. "Though it seems sort of impractical for some places, given that so much stuff is kept online or on discs. But anyway, I hope you're not a fan of killing people because they know too much. Definitely a waste of personel."

((This app is full of so much win I had to send people in, even though I won't be around to tag much until tomorrow night.))

[silkenspy]

"Online? Discs? What are these?" What a fascinating place, albeit somewhat confusing. "And no employee of mine can ever know too much - in fact, my business parter and I fully encourage them all to find out everything they can and report it back to one of us. Knowledge is power, after all, and can come in tremendously useful in business dealings." He grinned. "When it comes to my business, employees who know a lot are valuable employees, and they're all aware that should any of my competitors wish to bribe them, they should come to me and allow me to make a far more generous counter-offer. I'm quite confident that my resources are greater than those of my competitors."

((Thanks! ^_^ I <3 Silk))

[chaotic_miles]

"That's an interesting business model," Miles said, his grin twitching up another notch. "If you can't keep 'em loyal, throw more money at them. I know some people for whom that applies. But then the question becomes: How many employees can you afford to keep in that manner?"

[silkenspy]

Silk chuckled. "Well, all loyalty is bought, isn't it? It's only the currency that changes. As for how many - the important ones. The ones who would cause more than a minor inconvenience if they felt the need to sell me out. Most of the others don't even know they're working for me - they work for a man who works for a man who works for a man, and I'm at the end of that chain." He shrugged. "When your business spans most of the world, that's how it goes. It's too impractical to employ everyone who does everything yourself."

[smaug_thegolden]

Wealth and riches were always of great interest to Smaug, who still wore a considerable fortune in gold and jewels crusted to his belly, all from his hoard. He sat up from his rather cat-like crouch, his coiling tail betraying his keen interest as he peered down at the man, head tilted so he could regard Silk with one burning eye.

"What is it that you offer, merchant?" rumbled the dragon.

[silkenspy]

Silk was somewhat startled at the appearance of a dragon. "Are you really a dragon?" he asked. "I thought there was only one of you left, and you are certainly not her. Well, well, well." He slipped back into negotiating mode, opening the pouch and removing a handful of coins to scatter across the table - heavy yellow gold. "Tolnedran coins, of course - I find them the most reliable, never shaved or adulterated. It's against Tolnedran religion to alter their money like that. Ah, and there's some Angarak gold in here, too." His fingers deftly picked out the few red gold coins scattered amongst that handful, and piled them neatly to one side.

[smaug_thegolden]

In response to Silk's question, Smaug arched his neck in annoyance, causing all the large spines along the back to raise and then settle, almost like a bird ruffling its feathers.

"Of course I am a dragon," he replied with a little more growl to his voice than usual. He was also the last of his kind, so far as he knew. Those lesser dragons that seemed incapable of intelligent thought and barely even qualified as sentient were, at best, very distant cousins.

He bent down and examined the gold intently. Quality and value hardly mattered to him-it was the weight and look that were most attractive to the dragon; he had no use for coins but to sleep on them, after all. He found the red gold particularly appealing, and carefully gathered the pile in one of his forepaws (along with several of the Tolnedran coins, no doubt-Silk was just lucky the dragon was leaving him with anything).

"And now I'm obligated to give you my vote," Smaug said as he returned his focus to the merchant. "What do you know of the Houses here?"

[silkenspy]

"You are a most handsome looking dragon," Silk assured him. "Your scales are a gorgeous gold colour. A certain young woman of my acquaintance would go into raptures of delight if she ever saw you."

Given what Ce'Nedra was like, that was a safe assumption.
"
At the question about Houses, Silk scratched his nose, not entirely sure what the dragon meant. "I assume they're the same as houses everywhere else - the standard four walls and a roof. Unless you mean it the Tolnedran way, as another word for clans, in which case I haven't had the oppurtunity to learn much about the ones here."

Wherever 'here' is.

[ostianespionage]

Matthew grinned, sensing a kindred spirit even if he didn't know that Silk was in the same line of work. "Occasionally even royalty marries without looking at politics - I think my liege back home had his eye on an Illian pegasus rider. Then again, Lord Hector was never much for foresight."

[silkenspy]

Silk chuckled. "It's true. I know of it happening myself - Zakath's going to marry Cyradis, and that's certainly not a political match. Then again, I doubt anyone in Mallorea's brave enough to object. Sometimes it is the case that they're able to not look at the politics, and good for them when it's the case. I hope that's the case for your Lord Hector."

He paused, then: "What's a pegasus rider?"

[ostianespionage]

Matthew nodded. "I don't think anyone'll object too much. Dame Farina's a nice girl. Tends to focus on the money side of things, but then, who doesn't?"

He chuckled. "A pegasus is a sort of winged horse, only found in Illia. Occasionally I get the feeling the things are more intelligent than they let on; why else would an animal only allow women to ride it?"

[silkenspy]

"Sounds like she'd get on splendidly with Queen Ce'Nedra. Lovely girl, but she's a Tolnedran, with all the obsession of money for money's sake that that implies." He grinned. "Ah, right, a monster. Haven't heard of them, but then again I do try to steer clear of Ulgoland as much as possible."