Suzette was preparing to open up the tavern for the day. The floor had been swept as clean as it would get. The old wood was stained from dirt and beer. A large amount of blood had been spilled as well. Most of it was Timmy's. She had little regrets over that. She had been warming to the annoying boy over ti, but that ended when she found out who he worked for, and what family he was from. Momco had hurt her badly, and then lied when she and thousands of others were suffering. She disliked corporations in general, as everyone did, but Timmy's family topped the list. One of the wood workers had said he could sand out the mark left by the blood, but she she wanted to keep it. Hearing what Ozzy had done to Timmy and Brandon had helped her deal with the mory. It was also good for business. Hearing that the local butcher had ripped off soone's arm and beat him with it was a story that both brought in custors, and made them behave.
Betty and Granya were in the kitchen just finishing up the baking for breakfast, and putting food in the ovens for the afternoon crowd. Both won were working harder than ever. Suzette was paying Betty for her work, which was beyond what she would have had to do for AC. The woman never seed to stop, and the food had been improving every month. She had been delighted when her cows arrived, brought from far south in the empire, and brought by teleporter to Rowan Keep.
That had caused a few blood vessels to burst. Transporting dairy animals wasn't sothing the mages had wanted to do at first, but after she had insisted on them looking at the records and seeing the huge amount of mana that Sedgewick donated each day to the system, they had apologized and one by the one the cows had been brought to her. Betty was just starting to make cheese and other dairy products. Runt had surprised everyone by offering to milk the herd for Betty. If they knew how many extra als Betty fed to him each day, they would have understood better.
Granya and Suzette had co to an agreent. Suzette was desperate to keep her in the Tavern, but she wasn't a contract worker. As the town got bigger, soone was sure to steal her cook and right-hand woman. Suzette solved the problem by offering to sell Granya one fourth of the tavern. As a part owner that gave Granya a vested interest in seeing things go well, and the authority to handle problems is Suzette wasn't there. The three won were working well together, each having their work and responsibilities.
One of Suzettes big responsibilities was the brewing. Before opening each day, she made sure that she had enough beer to take care of thirsty custors. As the workers gained levels and more CON, they drank several tis more than a level 1 player could. The strong beer helped, and the new recipes were getting popular because of their hefty alcohol content. Six large kegs were sitting behind the counter waiting to be tapped. Two were local ales made by other brewers, one was Bludgeon Brew. (Which often went the night without being poured.), two kegs were Bludgeon Dark (which often had to be replaced as they were emptied out), and the last was usually sothing fruity and very strong. Suzette was experinting with her applejack recipes. She hoped to be able to offer so harder drinks soon. The brewery in the catacombs was going full swing, producing Bludgeon Dark and beginning to make so brandy. Whiskey and vodka were on the way.
She started a small fire in the hearth since it was getting chilly most mornings. The muffins were on the counter for hungry workers to grab and go. She double checked that they were normal muffins. She had a class later on in the day on understanding poison and gaining poison resistance. She had special muffins for those. They were identical the regular groat muffins, but would do a few points of damage to soone like Ozzy, or incapacitate soone with a lesser stomach for hours. The workers in her class were gaining experience in Weak Poison Resistance, and she was advancing in Probably Poisoned Pie, Teaching, and Poisoner. She always checked to make sure that the special batch didn't get mixed up. The results would have been fatal to so people. Killing custors was bad for the tavern’s reputation.
Satisfied that everything was ready, she opened the door and saw that she had her first custor of the day. He was a well-dressed gno that she had seen a few tis in the village. He bowed, and seated himself at one of the tables. Suzette curtsied and smiled at him. "Hello, and welco to my tavern. Would you like breakfast?"
The gno smiled back. "Yes, please. I would like a pot of tea, strong as you can make it. A pot of honey, butter, and a loaf of bread. Additionally, I would like a mont of your ti to discuss how my business and yours overlap." He spoke well, and seed quite patient. Suzette wasn't getting any warning signals from him. "Certainly. Let get your food. The tea will take a mont to brew, and fresh bread is just coming out of the oven. Zephyr should be here in a mont and then I can sit down with a cup of tea and talk."
A half hour later she found herself sitting across from the gno, who introduced himself as Tiberius Longfellow Coppertwist. "But please, that's much too long of a na for such a small fellow as myself. I answer equally well to Tiberius or to Banker Coppertwist."
Suzette sipped her tea, and watched as Tiberius carefully cut another perfect slice of bread, then carefully spread butter and honey on it before carefully taking a bite. He also put honey into his tea, two tablespoons per cup. As he drank the dark tea and ate the honey, he spoke slightly faster. Suzette appreciated that soone else needed a boost each morning. Getting up so days was difficult for her. "Coppertwist is a na known to . Do you have an uncle or grandfather who happens to be a lawyer?"
He nodded, pleased she recognized the na. "I do indeed. I see that you have t my great-uncle. He recomnded that I take the opening here to start a bank. I've spent several decades working within the banks of others, and the family felt I was ready to get started with my own. I thank you and your village for sponsoring ."
"But, I so questions. Working on the assumption that you needed a bank, and specifically a gnomish bank, I am wondering why you have not co by to start an account and begin putting gold into the bank."
Suzette sighed. She really should have gone by. She went with the honest answer. "My apologies, but things have been busy lately, and we have had several ergencies. I'm running from one thing to another, and if not working here, I'm up in Gadobhra. Why don't you tell more about your bank. Have you had any problems? We have a lot of players entering the town, and many have taken professions that rely on redistribution of gold into their own pockets."
"It is always that way, miss. Which is all the more reason for you to use my bank. Based on your question, I know that you must know little about a gnomish bank. Your money isn't just secure, it is impossible to steal by any known ans. We don't even keep it here. When you deposit gold with , I place it into my vault, and it is taken imdiately and placed in a corresponding vault in Cinderstein, the castle of the gno king in the capital of Glickopolis. Your gold is safe from thieves, dragons, and armies of dwarves. Nothing and No one have made an unauthorized withdrawal in many centuries. And should such a theft occur, the king himself is responsible for replacing the funds."
He leaned back in his chair, holding the lapels of his coat, "Yes miss, I can say with absolute certainty that your gold is secure. And more! As my tally increases, so does my contribution to the king, and his contribution to . A gnomish king draws power from the size of his horde, and he offers a bit of that power back to in the form of banking services that I can offer you."
Suzette rembered when she had spent the points to buy the Gnomish Bank. The Great Kallvek had recomnded it highly. She understood why now. She smiled at him, making him almost drip so honey onto his sleeve. "Oh, wonderful. Please tell about what services you can offer ."
He recovered his balance, caught the errant drip on his spoon, and then refocused on the barmaid in front of him. She had a smile that glinted like gold on a sumr day! "Ah, yes miss. Of course. Our basic function is to keep your gold secure, and make sure you can access it when needed. My bank will open each day at noon, and close at 6pm. As the horde it has accumulated grows, hours will increase. So banks are open all day long, every day of the year. I will be bringing in more of my family to live here when that happens."
"I can also make it much easier for rchants of the town to do business. For instance, you have an account at my bank as the mayor of the town, but not a personal one. Would you like to have one for yourself? And how about one for your tavern?"
Suzette nodded to both. "That sounds good, what needs to be done?"
Tiberius smiled. "You just did all that is needed."
You have opened an account under the na 'Suzette, the Lonely Barmaid', at the Royal Gnomish Bank of Sedgewick. Your current balance is: 0
You have opened an account under the na 'TheLonely Lass Tavern', at the Royal Gnomish Bank of Sedgewick. Your current balance is: 0
Your existing account under 'Mayor of Sedgewick' has a balance of: 0
"You should be getting a notification now of your bank accounts and their balances. Would you mind telling how much I owe you for breakfast?"
Suzette looked away from the screen and tallied up the al. "Three copper is fine."
The gno smiled. "And of course, another coin for a tip. The food was excellent."
Banker Coppertwist has paid for his breakfast in the amount of 4 copper pieces to The Lonely Lass Tavern.
Current Balance: 0 Gold, 0 Silver, 4 copper.
"You paid your bill through the bank? Can anyone do that?"
The gno nodded. "Anyone with a bank account that is purchasing from a rchant with a bank account. Secure and convenient transactions. My current radius only includes the town of Sedgewick, but imagine if you could pay for purchases at Rowan Keep with money from the bank? Or that the Legion could deposit money to your account for deliveries that you made to them? My bank offers convenience and safety."
"That would be very convenient. But what about places further away? Like Northguard or the Capitol?"
"In ti, if the amount in my bank grows, people there will be able to use my bank as well. It's all just a matter of the size of my account with the king. Shopping becos much easier. Let us imagine you run out of that lovely tea, but rchant Kallvek has a pound of leaves in his warehouse in the capitol. You could pay him and have it shipped by teleporter to Rowan Keep."
Suzette was thinking. "You paid for your breakfast because my business has an account. Does that an if I sold sothing like a magical sword, soone could pay as well? Oh, wait? Is there a way for soone in the capitol to buy that sword?"
Tiberius wiped his mouth with his napkin, having finished the entire loaf of bread. He poured the last of the tea and sat back. "If the right businesses are set up, and my bank grows prosperous enough, yes, in theory. All the parts need to be aligned and present. Paynt for sothing is easy, moving the goods more difficult, and of course, there has to be a way for soone to know about your item. One way is to have the item listed for sale at a shop in the capitol. There is a fee associated with that, of course. And then you would need to have a courier deliver the goods within a day to Rowan keep for teleport, another fee. But if you rented out a store sowhere, and that place had a teleporter system, then your goods would instantly be sent to the store the buyer was at."
He sipped his tea as Suzette was thinking. The more soone valued the services his bank could offer, the faster they would deposit money. The little tavern couldn't have much business, at a few coppers a al, but she would talk to people, including the Baron. The Kallvek rchant family was already doing business with him, and a good amount of their assets would eventually be his. Especially if the coming chaos in the Imperial capitol was as bad as his uncle predicted. A few more custors as wealthy as the Great Kallvek and he would be able to significantly upgrade his bank and social status. He idly daydread of courting his first wife and was interrupted by the little barmaid pushing back her chair and racing upstairs.
Unsure of what to do, but having paid his tab, he prepared to go open his bank. He was surprised when Suzette ca running back down the stairs holding a small pouch, a bag with a sturdy handle, and a chest under one arm. Judging by the sll of gold, she had a significant amount on her person.
"It's nearly noon. Let's get over to your bank. I have a deposit to make, and people to talk to. And I'll be wanting to link more businesses to the bank soon."
Tiberius held the door for her. "Splendid, splendid. I am at your service. Let us go baptize your accounts with a bit of coin."
Suzette opened the small chest and poured out a mixture of coins that totaled to 512 Gold coins when they were all deposited to the account of The Mayor of Sedgewick. The large bag with heavy handles contained 4300 Gold coins that Suzette put into the account for the tavern. Finally, she pulled forth the small coin pouch she had been 'gifted' by the thief she had caught, McTeeth. It took a little ti to pour out the coins inside, but eventually she had 11, 610 Gold coins in her own account. Banker Coppertwist had an impressed look on his face.
"I must say miss, that I am very happy with how well you are doing in such a short ti. And don't worry, details about clients never leave my lips. You have reinforced the good advice given by my uncle and made happy to locate myself in your town. My bank is well on the way to having a respectable total."
Suzette shook his hand. "I think you will see more custors soon. I'm anxious to how quickly we can expand your bank's influence. Especially to the point where I can list my items for sale elsewhere." Suzette exited the bank and walked across the square to where a large building labeled 'Kallvek's Emporium of the Weird, the Wonderful, and the Mundane' was just opening.
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