Crowns and Stones - RPLOG
Participants
Date
21/5/477
Log
The usually active Quarry was surprisingly silent today, as it seems the tools and drills were left without workers. A plethora of rockspiders have since taken the opportunity to scurry about while the miners were gone, chewing and ruining things for their own natural habits.
Up near the living spaces, around the foreman's room, the silence ends rather abruptly as the Miners are all standing around yelling and grumbling. The three local guards are centered near the foremans door, with a Rabbit bearing a Gracefull clan's insignia, and expensive looking clothing in place between them. A stack of papers in his hands shaking as he raises his voice to meet the miners own, attempting to quell them it appears. "I'm sorry! There's nothing I can do, as the price was lowered! It was either lower the pay, or fire a good deal of you!"
The miners however, don't seem very moved by the argument, sneering and jostling the picks in their hands as they speak. "So what now? You just want us to get paid scraps and let our families starve?!" A heavy set rhino bellows, his lips pulled back in a snarl. "It was bad enough you started sending Apostates around to pick up scraps, now you just think we'll roll over for you?!" A large mastiff crows as the group nods in agreement.
Bite sways into the Quarry after hearing a call for help. A dispute over crowns? Maybe a rational answer would be feasible, although she doubts a fee will be taken kindly. "Hello there sssweeties, you're all havinig issue with pay, so much that you stopped being out there to earn it? What are you mining that the price went down on?" she quizzes as she waits, looking the rock spiders over before summoning a fire elemental to engage one.
Forgoing a lovely drink at the inn, word trickles into Dio's ear and soon he sets off for the troubled quarry. Just in case things get a little exciting with either the local wildlife or perhaps the workers themselves, the lion carries his tower shield as always. "Good day to ya all," he greets in a rather booming and excited tone of voice despite the mood of those around him. "Little bit o' trouble, eh? Freeswords 're 'ere an' ready to assist! Now then, best we get both sides o' the story if we're gonna 'elp reach any sort o' deal." Catching eye of a familiar snake, Dio heads up behind Bite and puts a friendly hand upon her shoulder.
Just passing through the woods on a nice walk and looking for a good tree to nap in, Cedric had heard the disagreement coming from the quarry. The loud arguement had threatend the possibility of his rest, so he decided to head for the miners to see what was going on. Approaching the scene, he says nothing for now, just giving a curious glance around the quarry and almost snooping around it seems.
Arriving quite quickly after the word had reached town, the nosey Cassidy arrived in her usual fashion: Dropping from the sky to land atop the foreman's roof. She takes a moment to adjust her mask before looking over the crowd with a soft hum. "Money problems are the worst, certainly," she murmurs, plopping down on her rump to dangle her legs over the edge without a care in the world. "Some sort of... Stone surplus causing the prices to drop? I suppose there aren't a lot of building projects going around that I've seen..." As the others arrive, she turns her eyes upward to see who would be in attendance today.
Yoko was standing guard at the gates as a request came in. She was being assigned to help with a dispute incase it came to blows as she sighs. "Always the small stuff." as she heads off to the mine.
A scrawny Iguana covered in rock dust turns to look at Bite, along with a handfull around him as he speaks. "We're having issues because we know where this is going... They reduce our pay, to hire more apostates to come out here from the shanty town? We can tell when people are planning to replace us, and we won't stand for it!" Thankfully and for the most part, the group just appears more irate than violent at this point... After all, throttling the people who pay you in a mob justice style, usually means you just lost your job.
The Rabbit jumps some as Cassidy lands on the roof, whimpering gently before he nods and grins. "Ah! Freeswords! Thank the good King Good! Y-Yes I'm afraid there's a bit of a tizzy now... You see, some of our usual stone and metal contracts were lost to merchants from Thera'dor who are offering metal and stone cheaper as they have a current influx. As if that wasn't bad enough, we've been pressured to start hiring more from the Shanty Towns to help provide more employment and well... Between that, and having to lower our own prices to try and get the buyers back, we had to lower the pay some I'm afraid..."
The Rock Spiders skitter off as Bite's elemental sears one, the crafty creatures making for the safety of the tunnels and shade while the burning creature was out and about.
Bite smiles and watches the spiders scurry off, then turns to the crowd and tilts her head. "Who is saying you have to hire more apostates? You don't have to hire anyone to make yourself look good, hire who you need and hire those who seem committed and good at the job. I wouldn't keep someone if after a trial period the only reason I felt sorry abouut letting them go was them being unable to feed their family, if it meant that much to them they would have performed better... so are the apostates living up to your expectations? Are they doing better than anyone here? Not saying I don't care about apostates but It's sound reasoning.
And you certainly don't need to hire more workers if you can't support your own in bad times.
Dio listens to both sides of the argument and nods his head. "I see..." he whispers under his breath, an idle hand rubbing gently at his chin in thought. "Quite a little predicament ya got goin' on 'ere. When people 're doin' things cheaper than ya, it certainly puts a damper on business." The lion takes his hand off of Bite's shoulder and begins walking towards the rabbit. "I ain't sure there's too much to do in this situation. 'ave ya tried gettin' an audience with the king? Perhaps the Good King shall see that supportin' the tried an' true quarry o' Sweetwater would be the best option fer 'elpin' support local beings and business?" Meanwhile, Dio takes out his soul pendent and swaps gems to something a bit more financially related.
Cassidy taps the chin of her mask in thought. "Sorry to startle you. It's a habit of mine, I'm afraid. Consider it an extra safety precaution if it helps! I'm no economist, but that's a rather sour situation... You'd think Thera'dor would have a higher cost, due to having to import them... The Shanty Town situation I can see, though. That's a fairly difficult situation to resolve. Maybe adjust the payment in favour of the laborers, if it's not already? The work itself should be receiving higher pay than simple scooping up scraps, I'd say. And it'd still help the Shanty Town people out."
Yoko finally arives at the scene, all clad in her Full-Plate armou, great lance straped to her back,as she takes her helmet off revealing that she is a lioness. A Insignia of the town guard on her armour. "Ok so whats this about? All i was told was to moniter a dispute and take care of things if things went south."
The Rabbit clears his throat some and tightly grips his papers as he speaks to Bite first. "They are not by any means poor workers... New to the operations, yes. But everyone is at some point. As far as being forced to hire them? No we're technically not required to, but the Shanty Council, and Dennris Good are both pressuring us... They want opportunities for the people of the Shanties to show they're capable at working and helping society. As an educated man I cannot say they could not be a lucrative work force, as many will work for far less than the others, and with less required benefits."
As the rabit speaks another loud round of yelling flows through the workers, before the Iguana points to Cassidy. "If you want to hire them so damn badly, then don't lower our pay for it! We've worked here longer, and we suffered the dangers of this mine -first-! I'm not going to lose my job because you had to give it to Charity, I have my own kids to feed!"
The Rabbit shying some at the Iguana before nodding gently to Dio. "W-We've sent requests to the courts of nobles, whom are attempting to try and persuade folks to buy more local... But the fact remains that we cannot rightfully force merchants to purchase -our- stone and metals if they are cheaper shipped..." The man looking up gently to Cassidy once more before glancing between her and Bite.. "N-Normally theirs is higher quality, and more expensive, but they recently struck a large vein of metal,and the quary workers there have been working over time at the advice of one of their representatives here. We weren't prepared when their barges started showing up almost overflowing with materials! I'd have been more than happy to keep the workers pay the same, but with the need to lower our prices as well... Well, we'd be bankrupt soon if we did that! We merely have to impose a time of strict budgeting for the moment, until the Shanty Town workers and the older Miners can both be on equal level..."
The three guards keep their eyes on the crowd before motioning Yoko over to join them around the Rabbit, causing some of the workers to narrow their eyes and mutter as one aggrivated cat speaks out. "Oh, so you higher more guards to come and help you show us all out then is it? We were told that the mine couldn't afford to many!"
As the time ticks on by, the information from Dio's newly swapped out for soul gem starts to trickle into his hind. More specifically, with the information of commerce! "I'm sure ya know what we re," he comments, pulling out his soul pendent and pointing towards the soul gem inside. "This 'ere is the gem o' a professional merchant! An' not only this, but my father himself was a merchant as well. If ya let me at yer financial papers an' ledgers, I bet I could 'elp ya out a little bit. It ain't easy runnin' a business: 'avin' to pay fer workers, tools, maintenance, shippin', an' other stuff that crops up. Perhaps I could save ya a bit o' money in some areas to lighten yer load. It probably won't solve yer problems, but I might be able to 'elp a little."
"Hmmm... I'm not particularly good with this financial stuff... haven't had many real jobs or work like this..." the snooping badger says, looking up from his examination of the area with a frown, stretching out his injured shoulder to get it to crack with a pained grimace. "Best I could do is speak with a... uh... noble Thera'dor contact at some point and ask 'round about it... but that's about it." he says, seeming quite apologetic at his inability to help much. He glances to the lion swapping out his soulgem, nodding in agreement.
Cassidy leans forward on her knees, frowning under her mask as she surveys the crowd. "It's a hard time, I can see that. You do have seniority, but we should all try to work towards a better future, I think... If you can persevere until the situation can be stabilized..." She rubs at her mask again, a sign of though more for the sake of the gesture. "Well. If any of you actually find that you and your families are in dire situations of food and property, go to the Solacious manor and ask for Cassidy. She will survey the situation, and try to ease the burden if it's been deemed that you need it. If nothing else, food can be provided for your families. All we ask in return is that you try to see this situation out." She's -fairly- confident she had deep enough pockets to at least cover basic living expenses for some people.
Yoko Walks over with the guards as she looks at the one who spoke up. "Im part of the town guard as reinforcements, dont like it? then go poke some rocks." as she puts her helmet back on, Greatlance now at her side, standing vertical in her left hand, The 6' Lance accenting the 6'3 Armor clad guard.
The Rabbit frowns and hugs his papers tightly at Dio's request, before frowning and holding it out to the Lion as he speaks. "A-All information contained here on in is private, and no writing anything... And for the love of the good king don't read it out either!"
The crowd of beings frowning as they look up to Cassidy and grumble gently, a few shuffling at the offer of help before a old Tiger speaks up. "We don't want Charity Lass, we just want our jobs. Those bumms were content with being bumms for the longest time, and decide that now we should sacrifice for them? If we do that, how much longer do -we- last? You heard the Rabbit yourself, they don't have to pay them as much after all, and I bet the nobles with their pockets filling from here would love to spend less on workers as well." A murmer of agreement flowing through the group, before the Cat spits at Yoko's feet in the dirt. "I've had friends get killed because it's a 'hazard' to work here, and the damn guards haven't seen fit to show up and help us. Figures you go to help them the moment we start yelling back at them!"
The serpent watches Dio and the group. She frowns and prepares to act in case of violence at the spitting, but says "May I ask what weight this group has besides royal assistance that makes you feel pressurued? That said, if they're doing a good job but you couldnt' afford them give some people forced time off until things pick up again. You need to keep going but maybe you should have a reserve workforce?"
"Don't worry, lad!" Dio tries to reassure the rabbit with a friendly and excitable voice. "I'm 'ere to 'elp ya out the best I can. After all, when I'm playin' 'round an' doin' some blacksmithin' an' the like, I'm usually buyin' some materials 'ere. Now let's see..." The lion begins shifting through the various papers with extreme interest, trying to pick out areas where he might be able to help lighten the financial burden of the business. "Hmm..." he murmurs under his breath, occasionally changing pages until he spots something of interest. "What's this?" The lion taps a claw on the area relating to the apostate miners, especially that of their pay. "I think we should talk 'bout this a little."
Cassidy smiles softly and nods. "Of course. I understand not wanting charity. But try not to think of it as charity. Consider it... A reward for not giving up hope. A reward for sticking to it. But if you really do not want it, then... Perhaps I can supply some aid to the quarry itself, to help with your payments."
Yoko shrugs at the one who spit at her. "Take it how you want. Im new anyways. im not here to negociate, im here to keep this from going to blows, no more no less.
The Rabbit gulps slightly before shaking his head to bite as he reaches into his pocket for a pair of spectacles. "What other weight? My lady it's part of the Shanty town... Needless to say, many of them are, or were former criminals, so saying -no- straight up can cause unexpected issues in shipment, or even our gear -missing-... Granted, this Gregor fellow leading them is a freesword like you, whom appears to disdain such things but... Well, he can't stop themall can he?" The Rabbit blinking some at Dio before he looks to the paper and nods as he speaks. "Well yes, they're a new workforce, and still learning the ins and out of the quarry... We'll not give them fifty crowns an hour for merely being new, fifteen is beyond generous for individuals whom haven't had work in years!"
Another rise of grumbling and bickering rises from the workers as one points to the rabit. "See!? They'll go and replace all of us soon enough!" The Cat scoffing some at Yoko before leaving her alone as another pulls him back. The Tiger shaking his head gently to Cassidy before pointing to the papers in Dio's hands. "Reward? Ma'am I'm meaning no disrespect, but if those Apostates stay, we'll soon be taking their spots in the shanty town. No matter how much we're given by you and your own."
"Right, I see..." Hearing the rabbit's explanation, he doesn't, give any input on the matter. Seems everyone else had enough to say on the matter. Instead, he keeps looking over the papers and scratches his head, trying to come up with any solution that could help out. "Well, stuck between a rock an' a 'ard place if I ever saw it. Suppose there ain't too many ways to solve this. 'ave ya considered that the apostates don't 'ave to actually be mining? Ya could use their efforts for other tasks that 'elp out an' possibly expand the quarry business. Fer example, it costs quite a bit o' crown tryin' to transport all these 'eavy stone blocks. What if ya took some o' those apostates to chop down trees 'ere in the forest an' make carts. That'll save some good money."
Cedric listens for a while, scratching his cheek in thought idly, and looking around at all the workers for a moment, trying to figure out if he can think of any way to resolve the situation.
Unfortunately, he can't come up with much himself, not being very good at this sort of thing, and just nods in response to the lion's suggestions. "That all sounds pretty good to me, yes..." he says, shrugging his shoulders and starting to wander away. The badger is not really all that interested in their financial squabbling.
Cassidy hops off the building and makes her way over towards the Tiger, tilting her head to take the man in. "You're a polite one! You don't have to move to Shanty Town, though. But if you were in their shoes, wouldn't you love to get out of there? I can certainly understand not wanting to take charity, though. I wouldn't either, but... If your family's happiness were at stake, would you be willing to put pride aside for their sake? I can't offer a permanent solution yet. No, I'm just offering to help keep things stable while a permanent solution is reached, you know? I don't like to see people suffering. If there's some other way I can help, let me know and I'll do whatI can!"
The Tiger looks down to Cassidy and shakes his head gently as he leans forward some. "Many of them did something to get -into- Shanty Town, and to be fair, it isn't right to force folks like us to give up and lose stuff for them. They made the Shanty Town their place to drown in, and now it seems they want those smart enough to stay clear to go and pull them out. In the most brutally honest opinion I can give to you lil'Ma'am, the best way to help is to keep Shanty Towners, in the Shanty Town. Not trying to be cruel, but they don't have a place out here I'm afraid."
The Rabbit strokes his chin some as he looks over the paperwork some with Dio, chittering gently before looking around and giving a gentle nod. "Well... Alright. I suppose we could try this route, but I cannot guarantee the current providers will be happy with it either... Thankfully though, we shouldn't have to worry about that too much here, those folks are headed up by a different organization."
As the Rabbit and Dio seem to be finally making headway, a few of the workers branch off to head back into the quarry or their camp... And as Cedric begins to depart, he sees the Shanty Towners in question, sitting around the outside of the camp. A few makeshift clubs in hand, as it seems they were prepared to defend themselves should the workers have struck out at them.
"Right then!" Dio hands the stack of papers back to the rabbit and nods his head with a smile. "I 'ope that works out fer ya. Ya can probably see 'bout expandin' other parts o' yer business as well, but I'm sure ya can 'andle that pretty well. And..." The lion leans over and gives the rabbit a little elbow into the side. "Maybe ya should see 'bout makin' the place a little safer, ya know?" He says with a dull whisper before leanining back up and tucking at his coat. "Anyways, 'bout time to get a beer o' five. See ya 'round." Waving towards the group, Dio heads on out for a lovely glass of alcohol.
Cassidy nods slowly, frowning under the porcelain. "I know why you might feel that way, sir. But what about the children and offspring of those that had been in Shanty Town? Those that never got the chance? Don't you think that those that want a chance for redemption, or just a chance to prove they are better than their fathers, should get that chance? All the same, I do know where you're coming from, and I hope it can work out." She offers a hand, giving a kind, but unseen, smile. "All the same... I know what you said earlier, but my offer stands. If you or any others really find yourself with no other means to provide for the family... My purse remains open to lend aid."
Cedric raises an eyebrow curious at all the Shanty Town apostates with heavy clubs looming around as he begins to make his way back to the forest to go home. Without another word spoken, he just moves past them without concern for their weapons, being dressed rather commonly himself at the moment he figures they won't really give him any trouble.
Yoko, seing that a solution was reached, talked abit with the guards befor heading back to the city, right through the mob, certain they wouldent want to assult a Full-plate, Great lance wielding wall of metal.
Bite seems rather happy a decent solution has been reached, nodding and hissing "Well that's great for all of you sssweeties, I think..." before she waves and moves off to the side, sending her elemental off after the rock spiders again. "I'll help out a bit."
The Tiger shakes his head gently and doesn't accept the offered hand as he speaks. "I never said it were a sightly thing Ma'am, but this world ain't fair for folks. I won't fault your care, but there arn't enough jobs for everyone." The older man turning then to trudge down into the quary back with the other workers.
The Rabbit jostling slightly as Dio nudges him, and flattens his ears slightly as he huffs. "Send more freeswords then, we cannot afford an entire guard detachment up here... But thank you." The man bowing slightly to Dio before slipping into the shack as the guards are soon all that's left with the freeswords.
Cedric remains thankfully unharrased by the Shanty Towners, though they do have that air of desperation that lingers about those whom have nothing left to lose...
