Completed A Business Woman

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Center of scholarly knowledge and shipwrighting, Zeltiva is a port city unlike any other in Mizahar. [Lore]

A Business Woman

Postby Alija on May 27th, 2015, 11:32 am

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86th Spring 515
Alija took a deep breath, running through what she had to do that day. It was simple really: meet with the merchant at the docks and discuss prices and metals, sorting out whether or not that merchant would be the one to supply them. It was a simple job, but one that Alija was unaccustomed to, one she knew very little about. No, that shouldn't bother her; Alija would come out as a smart, educated young business woman, and she would make the correct decision. She smiled gently. That seemed like a good plan. She could see no faults in it. Apart from the problem that she doubted she could execute it.

She washed her face with a little soap, preparing for the day. It stung her eyes a little, but any soot left from the day of work before was now certainly gone. Alija then started to brush her hair, tugging at the knots she would have left if it had just been a normal work day. There was no point brushing her hair properly if all she was going to do was work on hitting metal, since it would just go back to that state anyway. However, today she had a reason.

Once she was satisfied with her hair being knot-free, Alija picked up one of the ribbons she had bought the day before, pulling her hair round her shoulder and attempting to braid it. After the first few attempts weren't neat enough, she gave up with the braid, just pulling it into a side ponytail, securing it with a dark blue ribbon.

After that, she picked out her new pair of sandals, feet slipping comfortably into them. They were tailored to perfection, no discomfort or time for them to mold to her feet needed. Alija then changed out of her chemise, which she wore to bed, and put on a dark blue skirt, the same colour as the ribbon, and a plain white silk shirt. The material was cool and light against her skin, perfect for the warmer spring weather. She smoothed it out, feeling business-like already. Her outfit was simple but precise, everything new and fresh. She had the look and feel of an upper class woman, but it wasn't complete.

She had a fresh pot of kohl and another of lip pomade, which she applied slowly and carefully, not wanting to waste any or mess it up. First, the kohl went over her eyelids, a faint line just above her eyelashes. Then the lip pomade, a light red colour that faded with her lips. With just this little amount of makeup on, she felt her confidence rise, and she truly entered her role of an upper class business woman. Now, to that business.
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Alija
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A Business Woman

Postby Alija on June 28th, 2015, 12:11 pm

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It wasn't as early as her usual start, so the sun was surprisingly bright when she left the house, and her eyes had to take some time to adjust. When they had, however, Alija hurried to the dock, not wanting to be late to the meeting. She scanned the busy dock, unsure exactly where to go. Rals hadn't told her much, just the name of the man she was supposed to be talking to, and the name of the ship.

She stopped a nearby sailor, who was clearly still a young boy. He smiled politely, acting more mature than he looked. "Is there anything you want, ma'am?"

"Yes. Could you please direct me to the ship called the Night's Pearl?" she asked politely, trying to keep her voice positive and clear. The sailor thought a moment, before replying with a rather confused look.

"I know where that is. Are you certain you are looking for that ship though? What role do ores and metals play in your life, may I ask?"

"I am a blacksmith." The boy looked at her as if she was joking, but her expression conveyed to him that she was not.

"Pardon me ma'am, you just didn't look like one. In that outfit I was certain you were one of the upper class, the ones who don't work at all," he said quickly, before turning towards the ships, "That one is the one you want. The only one with its sails down - the others are all leaving soon. And so am I, so I would like to bid you farewell." He smiled, tipping his hat at her.

"Thank you for your help," Alija smiled back, giving him a a gold miza in gratitude. He nodded at her once more, before hurrying away. Alija turned towards the ship, starting to make her way there. Deep breaths. Deep, slow, steady breaths. The encounter with the young boy had built her confidence a little, glad to have been mistaken for upper class. People were less likely to argue with the upper class, and paid them more respect. To their faces, anyway. People spoke behind their backs a lot of the time.

Luckily, Alija didn't care what people spoke about her behind her back. They didn't know half the story anyway, so what they said wouldn't be right. Let them make up stories - the truth was there for those who seeked it, and those who didn't would have to be content with lies.
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Alija
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A Business Woman

Postby Alija on June 28th, 2015, 12:12 pm

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There was a long plank leading up to the ship. That was all. Not a sailor in sight, but then again, if they weren't leaving soon, the sailors wold most likely be spending their time drinking or gambling. However, it was a little odd. There should have been someone around to welcome her and bring her in.

Eventually, Alija decided to board the ship and take a look around. As she started to slowly climb up the plank, arms out for balance, she heard light voices, most likely in an office or something similar. Did ships even have offices? Alija had no idea: despite living in Zeltiva, she had never really been aboard a ship before.

It appeared that this ship did have an office. It was located towards the back of the ship, slightly lower than the deck. At the stern, a word she had picked up from often visiting the docks. She knocked on the door politely, answered by a rather confused "Come in?" The blacksmith pushed back a strand of hair that had come loose, taking a deep breath. Once she had gathered enough courage, she entered the room.

A chandelier hung from the ceiling, swinging slightly from side to side. Other candles lined the room, the reason why they were lit unknown, as daylight shone through the large windows on three sides of the office. Directly in front of her was a large table, covered in charts and maps and tables, depicting things such as tides and currents. Similar maps were pasted on every gap on the wall, detailed maps showing all of Mizahar, annotated with arrows and notes.

A young man sat behind the desk on a richly upholstered chair, hurriedly scribbling something onto the paper in front of him. He cast a quick look at his visitor, stretching out a hand to offer her one of the chairs opposite him, before returning to his writing. Alija hesitantly sat on the chair, trying not to pry to hard at what he was doing. It wasn't like she understood the charts anyway.

A few moments later, the man finally finished, and started gathering the papers, still not greeting Alija, but ignoring her presence. He rolled up the maps and charts, shoving them quickly and randomly in the drawers of his desk, before putting others in a back cabinet. The few that remained seemed relevant to Alija's arrival: notes entitled "Trade Prices" and a table in which Alija could see the titles of steel, and bronze.

The buying and selling of metal was little more than a mystery to Alija. To her, all she ever knew was getting the material from the store room in the shop. Perhaps this would help clear things up. However, even Rals had been unclear on exactly what happens in the process. All he had instructed her to do was get good prices. She didn't even know what metals they needed.

The man finally came back, taking Alija's hand in a firm handshake. "Greetings. I'm Edward Mine, captain of this ship. I've only recently acquired it, and I've begun to transport metal around Syrila and neighboring regions. I heard about the Armed Scholar, and wrote to Rals asking if he desired any extra metal. I buy and sell whatever I can, no matter what it is. That includes ready made items, for melting down, or modifying, or just straight out sale."

Alija rose to take the handshake, a little surprised by the strength. It was incredibly uncomfortable, and, searching for a reason for that, she opened her eyes to his aura, which flooded from him in violet blue shades, tumbling from him. He was excited, but nervous. The nervousness was hidden, unclear to see at first, but after a few moments of focus, she started to make it out.

Alija stopped there, not wanting to appear rue by staring at him for a long time. She sat quickly, trying to appear business like. "My name is Alija Piper, I work at the Armed Scholar as a blacksmith there. I apologise if I miss something out, or mess something up, but I am rather new to this side of blacksmithing." She immediately regretted her words. Edward was hiding his nervousness as she could have been able to use that against him. Now, she had revealed her lack of knowledge to do with this, and Edward might try to exploit her.

"Nevertheless," she added quickly, trying to fix her mistake, "I have been working as a blacksmith for a long time, so you'll find me rather knowledgeable about the metals themselves, including things like pricings, so you don't need to worry about having to inform me about them."
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Alija
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A Business Woman

Postby Alija on June 28th, 2015, 12:12 pm

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Edward nodded, shuffling through the piles of paper. "Well then, to begin," he said softly, more to himself. He didn't appear too nervous, but now that Alija had seen it in his aura, she spotted slight movements. His finger tapped slighty, at irregular intervals, and only very slightly, but she could see it occasionally. His breathing was heavier than it should have been, and as he flicked through the pages, she could see his mouth slowly curl downwards.

"Well, Edward, perhaps you can tell me the sort of things you discussed with Rals with the letters," Alija said, trying to help him out. He looked at her, confused expression at first, before quickly nodding and pulling them out of his drawer.

"My first letter simply announced my business and interest in dealing with him. Then we discussed when to meet. He told me he would send you."

"Nothing about the type of metals, nor the quantity?"

"Simply inquiring to what I had, but he implied that you would know what you need."

Alija bit her tongue quickly, realising that once again, she shouldn't have said that. She was here to buy, not browse. "I was simply checking for any prior arrangements. I do have an idea on the desired metals, although that is very flexible. Perhaps, Mister Mine, you would care to suggest what you expected and prepared?"

She instantly let djed reach her eyes again, watching his aura carefully. There was a spike of something, a sudden change of colour as the mist turned slightly more violet, before returning to its original shade. It told Alija exactly what she wanted to know: Edward had nothing prepared, no idea on what metals she would need. He was, after all, a merchant not a blacksmith.

"You see, I do not know exactly what the Armed Scholar specializes in, so I didn't prepare anything, and, um, I don't really know what you would want."

"No problem." If only she could change the sheet of paper which he held tightly, the one listing the prices. "I'd expect a good quantity of steel, as well as a similar amount of iron. Smaller quantities of other metals are also preferable, but they vary on demand."

Edward, deep in concentration, jotted this all down. "And exactly how much of this do you want?"

Alija smiled. "150 pounds of both steel and iron for every season. I'll check with Rals about the rest."
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Alija
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A Business Woman

Postby Alija on June 28th, 2015, 12:13 pm

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Edward nodded, "So that would be 225gm for the steel and 150 for the iron, correct?"

Alija frowned. "Those aren't the prices. Steel is 7.5 sm, and iron 2.5. That doesn't amount to that much." Of course, what she had just said were lies, but Alija spoke confidently and smoothly, trying to not show her guilt. Anyway, Edward had the prices wrong in the first place.

He shook his head, "It clearly states here that steel is 1.5 gm and iron 1. I may not be as experienced as you, but I have something to refer to."

"Which is wrong. Where did you get it from? The prices for the metals have never been that high!"

"Well, that is what it states here. I won't stoop as low as what you suggested."

Alija sighed. It looked like she would have to pay what the correct prices were, at a minimum. "Listen, I won't pay as high as you say so either. Just like every business, the Armed Scholar wants to make a profit, and at prices like those, we won't."

"Perhaps we go half way? 1.2 for a pound of steel, and 6 sm for iron?"

"1gm for steel, 5sm for the iron, or the deal is off."

"As you say," Edward gave in, jotting down the selling prices, "I'd be able to get these to you by the end of the season, with regular deliveries. Three per season sounds good? Then if you need something else, you can request it then. I'll require payment now, but for the rest you can pay me on delivery. Here, sign this."

Edward scribbled on a piece of paper before handing it over. It was a large contract, with an incredible number of terms and conditions. At the bottom, the orders and prices were listed: "Three Per Season: 50GM for 50lb Steel, 25GM for 50lb Iron, Additional Stock on Request, Payment on Delivery", and under that was Edward's signature, a neat cursive E.Mine.

Alija took the quill of him, signing beside his name with a much messier signature of her own. Beside it, she added "(representing the business of the Armed Scholar and is in no way responsible for any lack of payment or broken terms)". She would hate for Rals to suddenly stop paying and for all the blame to go to her. This seemed like a reasonable thing to put.

She handed it back, and he glanced quickly at her note, smiling a little. "Thank you for this business. I hope to see you soon."

Alija nodded, rising, "I will send a young man, Donovan, with the required money, as well as any additional orders for the next delivery. He should come later today, by the latest of tomorrow noon. Will that suit you?"

"Perfect. Pleasant doing business with you, Alija," he repeated, before staring at her expectantly. She smiled, before disappearing out of the office and onto the boat, which soon turned into the dock. Rals better be proud of her!
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Alija
Blacksmith and Aurist
 
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Joined roleplay: November 11th, 2014, 6:35 pm
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A Business Woman

Postby Sayana on December 5th, 2015, 2:29 am

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Don't forget to edit/delete your grade request. If there's anything I may have missed, please PM me and I'll be happy to look into it.


 
Alija
Skills
  • Planning: 1
  • Cosmetology: 1
  • Observation: 3
  • Land Navigation: 1
  • Disguise: 1
  • Socialization: 2
  • Investigation: 1
  • Acrobatics: 1
  • Auristics: 2
  • Rhetoric: 3
  • Tactics: 2
  • Business: 3
  • Intelligence: 1
  • Negotiation: 2
  • Mathematics: 2
  • Subterfuge: 2
  • Acting: 1
  • Law: 1
  • Writing: 1
Lores
  • Looking the part of an upper class business woman
  • Cosmetology: Basic application of khol
  • Cosmetology: Basic application of lip pomade
  • Land Navigation: Asking directions
  • Edward Mine: Captain of the Night's Pearl, trader in ore
  • Business: Acquiring a steady supplier of raw materials
  • Acting: Projecting confidence
  • Law: Reducing personal liability
  • Business: Signing a contract
Miscellaneous
  • - 1 GM for asking boy for directions

Comments: Great thread. I loved the haggling back and forth and the attempts to seal a good deal. I also liked the attention to detail, like how she made a point to limit her own liability despite the contract. Hence the point in "law".

Your Grader,

Sayana
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