178 Guild II (1/2)

She had joined the guild almost a month after it was formed, quitting her job at the City Hall as a receptionist and file organizer.

When she knocked on Li's cottage door one morning, he had recognized her, knowing her to be the standout Feli that worked in the city hall amid humans, the one that had talked to him when he was filing out paperwork to obtain a herbalist's license, but never would he have expected her to have become such an important part of this guild.

”Our finances have reached a new peak, though, if my calculation of its trajectory is to be correct, I should assume it shall be the first of many peaks.” Sindra's voice was formal and she clearly enunciated every syllable of her words – the mark of someone who had been taught the language as opposed to having grown up with it.

She reached down to her seat to withdraw a stack of papers from a satchel which she then neatly placed atop the table, smoothing out the paper before reading through it.

”As expected, the sale of elixirs has yet to break even with the costs of constructing and maintaining the equipment necessary for it. Of course, the entire purpose was to simply introduce the concept of elixir making at a larger scale to the Rivieran populace, so I do not consider this a true loss.

In terms of gains, however, the first harvest of the much coveted Goldwheat and its distribution throughout the city completely wiped out any debt accrued from starting the guild. The contracts with the restaurants in the upper end of Riviera, in particular, have netted us many high-profile funders, of which Lakeside Bounty is still our largest contributor.

The second harvest has provided a surplus of wheat, and to prevent the market from collapsing, Black Securities and their various contractors have begun the process of exporting the wheat last week. The profits from that I project will be monumental, setting us at a gold base worthy of sitting upon the Trade Circle.”

Sindra nodded to herself, indicating she had finished reading her notes.

”We should get an invitation soon, then, and when it does come, let's hold another meeting,” said Li. The Guild Circle was a council comprised of the largest and most influential guilds in Riviera whose votes influenced the flow and goods throughout the whole city.

With the farmers and the old faith revitalized and backed by Li's goldwheat grain and other blessed seeds, they were quickly set to dominate the entire market for agricultural goods. This in turn set the farmer's guild off on a bad foot with the merchant's guild, for Riviera, once an importer of farmed goods from Duvin, now was quickly on track to becoming easily self-sufficient.

”You will not check my numbers?” asked Sindra to Li, her head cocked just a little.

Li shook his head.

When Sindra had first appeared, Li had been a little doubtful about her ability to handle numbers and had checked them over. From the jumpy and curious Feli he had seen, they were not at all suited to sitting down and crunching numbers, but Sindra was completely different.

She did not like to talk much about her past, but it was evident she had been educated, and highly at that, having studied in the university at Riviera. She used the lightning fast thought processing of her species, usually adapted to the high intensity environment of combat, to excel in academia, but due likely much to her appearance, she was denied any job of real significance in the city hall.

When she heard that her own kin had been liberated here and were to form their own community, she had stepped in to help.

”Very well then,” said Sindra coolly, though once again, her ears twitched, proud of herself that Li no longer checked her work anymore.

”My turn, then,” said Ven'thur with a light clap of his hands. ”The contracts with the restaurant owners and Black Securities have gone along splendidly. This month, however, I am to meet a few representatives of both the Temple of Light and the Merchant's guild, no doubt to hear them voice their own respective complaints.”

”And those are?” said Li.

”The matter of healing for the temples. There is a tentative and unspoken agreement that the temple of light treats the common people for they are far more comfortable with its familiar presence, but the adventurers and villagers from outside the city prefer our elixirs, favoring portable healing.