Chapter One
"I need a hotter forge." was the thought of Eirikur Bjornsen, the blacksmith. He was a merchant and not a warrior but he was as strong as Ysgramor and could "hold his own" in a fist fight with an unruly drunk and he was able to chase off the biggest animals when traveling between Hold Capitols. "How is the forge today?" asked his friend, Arnoddur Myrkjartansen. "Not hot enough!" said Eirikur. "Dwarves might help." said Arn. "Really, why would they help a human? They even sell better weapons than us." said Eirikur. "I don't know any dwarves but perhaps I could talk to our miners guild?" asked Arn. "Alright, I will pay you 100 guilder if you can get me a Thaugmar engineer to help me increase heat in my forge." said Eirikur. "I'll see what I can do." said Arn. He walked off and some warriors came by Eirikur's shop to buy some new armor and swords. "The Orcs seem to be learning some new magicks, our armor is worse than shit now." said one warrior. "Sorry, I can sell you new armor and weapons but I don't enchant because the last time I tried to enchant, a wizard from the Enchanters Guild complained to the Yarl about license infringement and I had to pay a fine!" exclaimed Eirikur. "Ouch." said a warrior. "Yes, it costed me a week's worth of earnings!" said Eirikur. The warriors bought some armor and mumbled something about getting free enchantments off a hedge mage. "Ha, hedge mages don't know how to enchant armor." mumbled Eirikur as he went back to hammering at the sword he was making. It was the day before the top of the week, were everyone got a day off, so business was slow. He finished up the sword and closed the shop and wandered down to the Tavern. He walked in and saw the usual assortment of Vyir, Nords, kelti freedmen, lizard-men and katta sitting around, enjoying the grog and making contacts and drumming up new business. "Ssssssoooooooo. How iiiiiissssss biiiiisssssneeeeesssssss?" asked Gromgar the black-scaled. "Nice enough where I won't have to lend anymore money to you!" said Eirikur to the lizard-man. "ssssssss" hissed the lizard. "Why did you ever give your hard-earned guilders to that theif to begin with?" asked Oskar. "Hello friend." said Eirikur. "We should drink the dark mead tonight." said Oskar the One-handed. "Sure." grinned the blacksmith. "Barmaid, several black meads!" said Oskar. "Bjornsens or Thorensens?" asked the barmaid. "Thorensens! Bjornsens is like drinking water!" said Eirikur. "Aye, I remember when Bjornsen's was the only meadery in the entire Kingdom, the Yarl who owned that brewery was making so many guilders he was able to rebuild his Hall into the second largest in the Kingdom. Long and the short of it, Thane Thorensen used his father's old recipe and began selling it. After he made quite a few sales, he built a meadery and has unseated his rival in making the best mead in Vyirlund!" said an old warrior nearby. "That is the future you know, when this blasted war ends, everyone will be able to either farm or be merchants." said Oskar. "That would be nice." said Eirikur. "But the Thanes and Yarls would have to release their retainers, otherwise they would eat and drink the lords into the poorhouse!" said a nearby Nord warrior. Another merchant shook his head. "The changeover is going to be quite a shock. Everyone is used to fighting for a living, everyone will have to get used to a boring peace." said a kelti freedman, a wandering tradesmans by profession. "There are always trolls." suggested a boy of thirteen. "Anyone can brain a troll, even you boy." said Oskar. "I sure hope my other friend comes through on a fix for the forge." said Eirikur. "You honestly want to know the Thaugmar's secret to hot forges? Volcano salts." said a nearby Thaugmar. "Can you sell me some?" asked Eirikur.
"For the right price. I have five extra bags of them I can let you buy for 1,000 guilders a bag." said the Thaugmar. "Sure, come on over." said Eirikur. The Thaugmar (dwarf) came over and dropped five of the bags on the table. "One bag lasts 10 years." said the Thaugmar. Eirikur handed over the guilders and took the bags. "I'll drink one mead and refire up the forge." said Eirikur. He quaffed down a black mead and paid the lady and left. He ran back to his forge and tossed in one bag of volcano salts and fired up the forge. It worked. The forge was beyond it's original heat level and Eirikur could forge weapons so much faster. Word got out he improved his forge and several Yarls gave him large orders.
Chapter Two
The Thaugmar Kings learned that their secret of super-hot forges got out and they ordered that volcano salts be embargoed and not sold to humans. The High Yarl heard of the embargo because a Thaugmar Prince dropped into the Great Hall and told the High Yarl about the embargo. "Is that fair? Your kind hold prices so high that most of our Yarls cannot afford to buy from you." said the High Yarl. "Maybe if your Kingdom would sell timber to us, perhaps we would bring down the prices a bit." said the Prince. "The reason why we don't sell timber to you is that you ask 1 guilder a pound. We charge a minimum of 10 guilders a board-foot." said the High Yarl. "Fine! We'll pay you your price for the timber!" said the Prince. "So we have a deal? Stop overcharging for weapons?" asked the High Yarl. "And I suppose you want volcano salts thrown into the deal?" asked the Prince. "Would you?" asked the High Yarl. "Only if you sell us vegetables at half-price." said the Prince. "Deal!" said the High Yarl. The scribes drew up the trade treaty and the Thaugmar Trade Prince signed it as well as the High Yarl. Eirikur the blacksmith was surprised to hear that volcano salts were back on the market but realized that he would lose his edge as other blacksmiths would buy the volcano salts. He spoke with several wealthy thanes and started a new business: Buying up the volcano salt supplies and putting them back on the market for triple it's value. He called the purchasing company the "Volcano Salts Merchandising Company" (VSMC eventually became the biggest trading company in Vyirlund) The High Yarl also put a 20% tax on the purchase of volcano salts the next year, causing the VSMC to get into trading other things, like fish and furs. Eirikur built a large, new house in the Capitol and turned his forge over to his apprentice. Now that he was rich, he ran VSMC out of his house and spent the rest of the time writing verse and music.
Chapter Three
The storm of life was on the horizon. Arnoddur Myrkjartansen thought that he was left out of the company and he complained bitterly to the High Yarl. The old High Yarl died on a hunting trip and his son succeeded him to the throne, since no-one challenged the succession. The new High Yarl wanted to make as many guilders as possible and saw Arn's dispute as a means of making that money. The High Yarl allowed Arn to charter a dockside company that had a monopoly on all fees charged on goods and they could collect taxes on merchants. Arn Seaside Company then began to charge 800% fees on all VSMC goods moving on river boat and ship anywhere in the Kingdom. Eirikur was smarter than his former friend and he consigned all freight to wagons and even built private toll roads between the hold capitols to bypass the outrageous fees. The High Yarl then took all the toll roads from Eirikur and handed them to Arn. Always the Vyir gentleman, he went to see Arn with a gift, an enchanted sword. He presented the enchanted sword to Arn and they talked for hours and after some meads were qauffed, the two men came to an agreement. VSMC bought Arn Seaside Company for 5 million guilders and Arn retired wealthy. Eirikur "cut" the High Yarl out of the agreement by filing a request to stop being a State-monopoly. The High Yarl was angry but agreed to the seperation because he had gained fifty farms as a part of the agreement.
Chapter Four
Hiiiissdric the Slitherer (a lizard-man) was a fine merchant himself and decided to try to get money off of Eirikur's company. He founded a barrel-making factory with some other merchants and named it "Vyir Barrels" and went to Eirikur about storing his goods inside of these barrels. Here was the hitch; the barrels would remain property of Hiss and a fee would be charged for all goods riding in the barrels. Eirikur considered it and agreed to only carry fish inside of the barrels. Hiss also bought some land for a lumber mill and used the site to build a fleet of river-ships. He again went to Eirikur. Eirikur agreed to allow volcano salts to be transported in the ships within Eirikur's boxes. Eirikur signed a contact for a year and he saw that the fees were too much and secretly began to build a fleet of his own river-ships and shifted most of his freight back onto his toll-roads. When the year was up, Eirikur was sailing his merchant fleet with his goods and seeing that Hiss was near ruin, bought his company for 5 million guilder. The High Yarl saw the rapid progress of this company and laid a 10% tax on all goods moving by river-ship. Eirikur laughed and shifted the goods back to wagons, which he had several inventors improve the shocks and brakes of the wagons to make them less likely to break. The High Yarl then put a 10% tax on all goods moving by road and there was nothing Eirikur could do for awhile. He talked with several Yarls and they agreed to get a proposed law to abolish all transport fees and taxes within Vyirlund at the next High Althing. The High Althing abolished the taxes and fees, which left the High Yarl in a high state of agitation that a common merchant could best him. Finally Eirikur built a large house outside of the Capitol and grazed cattle around it, as a farm. The High Yarl sent word that "he could not help himself to a thane's priviledges." so Eirikur asked the Yarl of that Hold to make him a Thane. The Yarl quickly agreed and make Eirikur a Thane in exchange for several fast horses. The High Yarl saw that his own cousin had bested him regarding Eirikur and fumed.
Chapter Five
The High Yarl ordered Eirikur seized and his house confiscated, which the Chancellor refused to do because the law stated that a man could not forfeit life, liberty or property without a due trial. The High Yarl next stripped Eirikur of his Thanedom, and the High Althing reinstated it. The High Yarl ordered his clerks to look closely at the laws and came up with a brilliant law. The High Yarl passed a law saying that one company cannot own multiple means of transport. Eirikur simply broke his fleet off from his main company and put it under "Vyirlund Shipping Company" and his toll-roads he broke off and made "Vyirlund Toll-roads Company" and using these two companies, he remained within the law. The High Yarl then passed a law that no man can own more than one company. Eirikur placed all of his companies under "Eirikur Holdings" which he shifted ownership to his thirteen year old son, but since his son was his ward, the profits still went directly to Eirikur. The High Yarl was angry at Eirikur and called him before his seat and accused him of many things. Eirikur listened but said nothing. Finally Eirikur offered the High Yarl a gift of 20 fast horses and a brand-new hunting lodge. "Fine, my wrath is pacified for now but you are too powerful." said the High Yarl as he sent Eirikur from his presence. Eirikur needed to recoup his losses and he set up a lumber company that used the newest cutting blades. He quickly put that company in his daughter's name and reaped the profits by selling all the timber he cut to the Thaugmar. As one last strike against his enemy, the High Yarl nationalized the toll roads and paid Eirikur 5 million guilder for every road taken. Eirikur agreed to the terms but at his death, he had a huge burial mound built and his body was entombed under a Vyir warship, in the manner of the Yarls. Eirikur's son studied banking and finance in Nordlandia and came back and opened Eriksen Bank in the National Capitol. He convinced his siblings to sell their companies to Eriksen Trust Company and he resold them to private investors at a major profit to himself.
THE END
"I need a hotter forge." was the thought of Eirikur Bjornsen, the blacksmith. He was a merchant and not a warrior but he was as strong as Ysgramor and could "hold his own" in a fist fight with an unruly drunk and he was able to chase off the biggest animals when traveling between Hold Capitols. "How is the forge today?" asked his friend, Arnoddur Myrkjartansen. "Not hot enough!" said Eirikur. "Dwarves might help." said Arn. "Really, why would they help a human? They even sell better weapons than us." said Eirikur. "I don't know any dwarves but perhaps I could talk to our miners guild?" asked Arn. "Alright, I will pay you 100 guilder if you can get me a Thaugmar engineer to help me increase heat in my forge." said Eirikur. "I'll see what I can do." said Arn. He walked off and some warriors came by Eirikur's shop to buy some new armor and swords. "The Orcs seem to be learning some new magicks, our armor is worse than shit now." said one warrior. "Sorry, I can sell you new armor and weapons but I don't enchant because the last time I tried to enchant, a wizard from the Enchanters Guild complained to the Yarl about license infringement and I had to pay a fine!" exclaimed Eirikur. "Ouch." said a warrior. "Yes, it costed me a week's worth of earnings!" said Eirikur. The warriors bought some armor and mumbled something about getting free enchantments off a hedge mage. "Ha, hedge mages don't know how to enchant armor." mumbled Eirikur as he went back to hammering at the sword he was making. It was the day before the top of the week, were everyone got a day off, so business was slow. He finished up the sword and closed the shop and wandered down to the Tavern. He walked in and saw the usual assortment of Vyir, Nords, kelti freedmen, lizard-men and katta sitting around, enjoying the grog and making contacts and drumming up new business. "Ssssssoooooooo. How iiiiiissssss biiiiisssssneeeeesssssss?" asked Gromgar the black-scaled. "Nice enough where I won't have to lend anymore money to you!" said Eirikur to the lizard-man. "ssssssss" hissed the lizard. "Why did you ever give your hard-earned guilders to that theif to begin with?" asked Oskar. "Hello friend." said Eirikur. "We should drink the dark mead tonight." said Oskar the One-handed. "Sure." grinned the blacksmith. "Barmaid, several black meads!" said Oskar. "Bjornsens or Thorensens?" asked the barmaid. "Thorensens! Bjornsens is like drinking water!" said Eirikur. "Aye, I remember when Bjornsen's was the only meadery in the entire Kingdom, the Yarl who owned that brewery was making so many guilders he was able to rebuild his Hall into the second largest in the Kingdom. Long and the short of it, Thane Thorensen used his father's old recipe and began selling it. After he made quite a few sales, he built a meadery and has unseated his rival in making the best mead in Vyirlund!" said an old warrior nearby. "That is the future you know, when this blasted war ends, everyone will be able to either farm or be merchants." said Oskar. "That would be nice." said Eirikur. "But the Thanes and Yarls would have to release their retainers, otherwise they would eat and drink the lords into the poorhouse!" said a nearby Nord warrior. Another merchant shook his head. "The changeover is going to be quite a shock. Everyone is used to fighting for a living, everyone will have to get used to a boring peace." said a kelti freedman, a wandering tradesmans by profession. "There are always trolls." suggested a boy of thirteen. "Anyone can brain a troll, even you boy." said Oskar. "I sure hope my other friend comes through on a fix for the forge." said Eirikur. "You honestly want to know the Thaugmar's secret to hot forges? Volcano salts." said a nearby Thaugmar. "Can you sell me some?" asked Eirikur.
"For the right price. I have five extra bags of them I can let you buy for 1,000 guilders a bag." said the Thaugmar. "Sure, come on over." said Eirikur. The Thaugmar (dwarf) came over and dropped five of the bags on the table. "One bag lasts 10 years." said the Thaugmar. Eirikur handed over the guilders and took the bags. "I'll drink one mead and refire up the forge." said Eirikur. He quaffed down a black mead and paid the lady and left. He ran back to his forge and tossed in one bag of volcano salts and fired up the forge. It worked. The forge was beyond it's original heat level and Eirikur could forge weapons so much faster. Word got out he improved his forge and several Yarls gave him large orders.
Chapter Two
The Thaugmar Kings learned that their secret of super-hot forges got out and they ordered that volcano salts be embargoed and not sold to humans. The High Yarl heard of the embargo because a Thaugmar Prince dropped into the Great Hall and told the High Yarl about the embargo. "Is that fair? Your kind hold prices so high that most of our Yarls cannot afford to buy from you." said the High Yarl. "Maybe if your Kingdom would sell timber to us, perhaps we would bring down the prices a bit." said the Prince. "The reason why we don't sell timber to you is that you ask 1 guilder a pound. We charge a minimum of 10 guilders a board-foot." said the High Yarl. "Fine! We'll pay you your price for the timber!" said the Prince. "So we have a deal? Stop overcharging for weapons?" asked the High Yarl. "And I suppose you want volcano salts thrown into the deal?" asked the Prince. "Would you?" asked the High Yarl. "Only if you sell us vegetables at half-price." said the Prince. "Deal!" said the High Yarl. The scribes drew up the trade treaty and the Thaugmar Trade Prince signed it as well as the High Yarl. Eirikur the blacksmith was surprised to hear that volcano salts were back on the market but realized that he would lose his edge as other blacksmiths would buy the volcano salts. He spoke with several wealthy thanes and started a new business: Buying up the volcano salt supplies and putting them back on the market for triple it's value. He called the purchasing company the "Volcano Salts Merchandising Company" (VSMC eventually became the biggest trading company in Vyirlund) The High Yarl also put a 20% tax on the purchase of volcano salts the next year, causing the VSMC to get into trading other things, like fish and furs. Eirikur built a large, new house in the Capitol and turned his forge over to his apprentice. Now that he was rich, he ran VSMC out of his house and spent the rest of the time writing verse and music.
Chapter Three
The storm of life was on the horizon. Arnoddur Myrkjartansen thought that he was left out of the company and he complained bitterly to the High Yarl. The old High Yarl died on a hunting trip and his son succeeded him to the throne, since no-one challenged the succession. The new High Yarl wanted to make as many guilders as possible and saw Arn's dispute as a means of making that money. The High Yarl allowed Arn to charter a dockside company that had a monopoly on all fees charged on goods and they could collect taxes on merchants. Arn Seaside Company then began to charge 800% fees on all VSMC goods moving on river boat and ship anywhere in the Kingdom. Eirikur was smarter than his former friend and he consigned all freight to wagons and even built private toll roads between the hold capitols to bypass the outrageous fees. The High Yarl then took all the toll roads from Eirikur and handed them to Arn. Always the Vyir gentleman, he went to see Arn with a gift, an enchanted sword. He presented the enchanted sword to Arn and they talked for hours and after some meads were qauffed, the two men came to an agreement. VSMC bought Arn Seaside Company for 5 million guilders and Arn retired wealthy. Eirikur "cut" the High Yarl out of the agreement by filing a request to stop being a State-monopoly. The High Yarl was angry but agreed to the seperation because he had gained fifty farms as a part of the agreement.
Chapter Four
Hiiiissdric the Slitherer (a lizard-man) was a fine merchant himself and decided to try to get money off of Eirikur's company. He founded a barrel-making factory with some other merchants and named it "Vyir Barrels" and went to Eirikur about storing his goods inside of these barrels. Here was the hitch; the barrels would remain property of Hiss and a fee would be charged for all goods riding in the barrels. Eirikur considered it and agreed to only carry fish inside of the barrels. Hiss also bought some land for a lumber mill and used the site to build a fleet of river-ships. He again went to Eirikur. Eirikur agreed to allow volcano salts to be transported in the ships within Eirikur's boxes. Eirikur signed a contact for a year and he saw that the fees were too much and secretly began to build a fleet of his own river-ships and shifted most of his freight back onto his toll-roads. When the year was up, Eirikur was sailing his merchant fleet with his goods and seeing that Hiss was near ruin, bought his company for 5 million guilder. The High Yarl saw the rapid progress of this company and laid a 10% tax on all goods moving by river-ship. Eirikur laughed and shifted the goods back to wagons, which he had several inventors improve the shocks and brakes of the wagons to make them less likely to break. The High Yarl then put a 10% tax on all goods moving by road and there was nothing Eirikur could do for awhile. He talked with several Yarls and they agreed to get a proposed law to abolish all transport fees and taxes within Vyirlund at the next High Althing. The High Althing abolished the taxes and fees, which left the High Yarl in a high state of agitation that a common merchant could best him. Finally Eirikur built a large house outside of the Capitol and grazed cattle around it, as a farm. The High Yarl sent word that "he could not help himself to a thane's priviledges." so Eirikur asked the Yarl of that Hold to make him a Thane. The Yarl quickly agreed and make Eirikur a Thane in exchange for several fast horses. The High Yarl saw that his own cousin had bested him regarding Eirikur and fumed.
Chapter Five
The High Yarl ordered Eirikur seized and his house confiscated, which the Chancellor refused to do because the law stated that a man could not forfeit life, liberty or property without a due trial. The High Yarl next stripped Eirikur of his Thanedom, and the High Althing reinstated it. The High Yarl ordered his clerks to look closely at the laws and came up with a brilliant law. The High Yarl passed a law saying that one company cannot own multiple means of transport. Eirikur simply broke his fleet off from his main company and put it under "Vyirlund Shipping Company" and his toll-roads he broke off and made "Vyirlund Toll-roads Company" and using these two companies, he remained within the law. The High Yarl then passed a law that no man can own more than one company. Eirikur placed all of his companies under "Eirikur Holdings" which he shifted ownership to his thirteen year old son, but since his son was his ward, the profits still went directly to Eirikur. The High Yarl was angry at Eirikur and called him before his seat and accused him of many things. Eirikur listened but said nothing. Finally Eirikur offered the High Yarl a gift of 20 fast horses and a brand-new hunting lodge. "Fine, my wrath is pacified for now but you are too powerful." said the High Yarl as he sent Eirikur from his presence. Eirikur needed to recoup his losses and he set up a lumber company that used the newest cutting blades. He quickly put that company in his daughter's name and reaped the profits by selling all the timber he cut to the Thaugmar. As one last strike against his enemy, the High Yarl nationalized the toll roads and paid Eirikur 5 million guilder for every road taken. Eirikur agreed to the terms but at his death, he had a huge burial mound built and his body was entombed under a Vyir warship, in the manner of the Yarls. Eirikur's son studied banking and finance in Nordlandia and came back and opened Eriksen Bank in the National Capitol. He convinced his siblings to sell their companies to Eriksen Trust Company and he resold them to private investors at a major profit to himself.
THE END
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