60 Vhalar 719
Not too long ago Abra had loaned out money to two up and coming businessmen who were rivals. They were students under the same deceased master who couldn’t come to terms so their solution was to take out risky loans and go to war, per say. Abra had been a good Sombran by being neutral to their fight. He had a suspicion that things weren’t going to just work themselves out, despite his faith in their business ideas.
He wanted to pay the two men a visit. Armed with the contracts they had signed and his winter clothing he made his way slowly to their businesses. Naturally the two hyper competitive fools had set up shop right across from each other on a busy street. Even at the crack of dawn they were both up and at it. “Impressive,” Abra said while huddling up next to a warm inn’s entrance. He would survive the bitter cold with the brief warmth that passed by him every time a patron left the establishment.
For about a break Abra took time to watch what the competitors were up to. It was obvious to Abra that their craft had something to do with needlework. Either alterations or maybe even just textile production. The fronts of their shops were full of remarkably fashionable jackets and hats to fit the season. He could barely tell the difference between the goods from a distance. He would have approached a lot sooner if it weren’t for the insults they kept shouting at each other every time they could. They were obtuse enough to repel any customers that might have been drawn in by their craftiwork.
Crunch crunch crunch. His boots put fresh footprints in the snow while he walked to the pair of shops. He didn’t want to talk to either of them when they were in this mood so he just walked up to the front of one’s store and started examining the clothing. He glanced behind him and saw an identical piece of clothing in the other’s store. “Good grief,” he muttered. They couldn’t possibly be identical, that would be stupid. He compared them again and again and found that the only difference he could possibly notice was that the buttons on one were slightly higher than the buttons on the other.
“I can’t believe I put my money on this stupid feud,” Abra moaned. Had Neutrality betrayed him?
The one named Reitn came out of his shop and shouted, “I’ll cut my prices lower than that worthless swine’s no matter what. Come to my shop all, open for business!”
The other one named Tethen popped his head out of his window and shouted, “Don’t listen to him, I’ll lower my prices yet! I’ll sell my wares for mere nels just so that son of a bitch doesn’t get your business!”
Tethen was standing right next to Abra, oblivious that his loan issuer was getting an earful of his shouting. Abra looked at him and waved his hand in front of his eyes but it was like he didn’t even exist. He recalled snowballs conveniently avoiding him last time he had found himself in the middle of a snowball fight. This must have been another facet of his blessing from Chamadarst.
“I can only guess that conflicts that don’t pertain to me make me a fly on the wall,” he said with a chuckle, “I’m not sure what to do Chamadarst. They are arguing so much that being neutral feels like the wrong move. Would it be better to take a side and be done with it? I’ll definitely lose money with the way things are going. I doubt either one will make a profit if they keep undercutting each other.” Abra was speaking out loud since apparently nobody within earshot could hear him anyways.
“How do I get them to stop being so stupid and just run their businesses? They probably could both flourish so long as they keep their prices respectable and customize their lineup so people don’t have to think so hard about which business to choose. Who would have thought encouraging new commerce was going to be such a headache?” Abra steeled his resolve and refused to think of a solution that didn’t revolve around taking a side. If the immortal of wealth could make his fortune without picking sides then he as his disciple could do the same or fail trying. It couldn’t possibly turn out worse than that time he built a statue of Chamadarst only for it to get destroyed.
Abra only whispered a plea for one favor before he set forward to break up the fight. “Bless me Chamdarst, for I really don’t want to have to use magic on these fools.” He knew Chamadarst wasn’t going to come to this very spot to bless him, but he did feel the familiar divine magic flowing through him again. He was so focused that he had entirely blocked out the shouting and even the cold wasn’t biting him anymore. The power of Isolated Calm gave him just the boost he needed to think of a plan.
“That’s enough!” Abra said, throwing himself into the conflict. “I’ve been watching you bicker for the past half break and it’s beyond insane what you two are doing! Would your master have ever told you to get into an undercutting war with anyone let alone each other? Do you realize that by shouting all morning you’re just telling everyone that you don’t have the professionalism to even qualify as merchants?” Abra caught his breath in the icy cold while stoking his own anger with Empathy. He wanted to be angry, more angry. He needed to scare them without using magic on them so he would use it on himself.
“Up until now I have remained silent in this feud but clearly this was the wrong approach to neutrality. If you both don’t smarten up then I’ll have to make things difficult for the both of you, equally of course.” Abra’s rage was so passionate that he was almost like an inferno in the blistering cold. “Now you both, come with me. Now!” He marched to the inn from before and reserved a large room for the three of them to sit down to work out the issues they were having.
Once they were all together by a warm fireplace Abra felt it appropriate to get rid of his excess anger. “Now sort this out right now. I don’t know which one of you is in the wrong in this relationship but I know for sure that I don’t give a shit. If you don’t come to an agreement that lets both of you profit nicely then I’ll have to resort to drastic measures to reclaim my money when you both inevitably fail. If that isn’t threatening enough, then I’ll remind you that you signed an agreement that lets me pass on your debt to a very shady organization who has no hesitations in forcing you into hard labor to repay your debts.” Abra was calm and collected now but his malice was every bit as present as before. This was his one chance to drive home how important this was to everyone involved.
Both competitors looked each other in the eyes when Abra was finished. “How should we settle this then?” Tethen asked, “we set up right across from each other so there’s not an incentive to go to either of our shops.”
The other man said, “it’s simple. I’ll sell the upper wear and you sell the bottom wear. Then they have reason to come to each of our shops.”
“Horse manure, you know full well the upper wear is more profitable!” Tethen seethed back. Abra gave them both a distasteful look and waved them along.
“How’s this then? We alternate by the season until we pay off our debts to Abra here then we renegotiate.” Reitn said, “as a show of good faith I’ll take the bottom wears first season.”
“Yes, that could work. I feel like we’d be in the same spot an arc from now though.” Tethen said.
Abra threw in his two cents, “How about you use the off season time to help make your craft unique? There’s no reason why either of you should be making the exact same clothes as your master. Have some creativity boys!”
They looked each other in the eyes and shook on it. “Deal,” they said in unison. They all left the inn room but Abra piped up one more time.
“Oh, and since I saved you boys a ton of money, I’ll be charging you a mediation fee. Pay up.” He smirked and held out his hands. They looked at him and saw that he was serious. Neither was happy about it but they paid up all the same. “Good, now be nice to each other. I would have to have to come down here and charge you again. Good luck boys.”
