dia_gan_wazumo-farm_warden
- Dialogue
- dia_gan_wazumo-farm_warden
- Reached by
Openers (1)
The game picks one. They are alternatives, in the order it prefers them.
Can you not tell I have matters to attend to? The silk does not produce itself.
What the player can raise (3)
The game offers every topic whose requirement is met, in the order it prefers them.
I'll take my leave.
Yes, yes. And don't distract the slaves, they have work to do.
Who are you?
Tatsukomo Hakiya, warden and owner of this Wazumo plantation. We produce the highest quality silk in all of Aruden, as you can see. If you want to buy, I'll have you put on the waitlist. We should have a batch available by next month - until then, everything we produce is already taken.
We only sell in quantities from [measurement unit] upward, naturally. If you're looking to buy single bolts of cloth, this is not the place for you. My interest is in large-scale commercial partnership, not small-time shopkeeping.
The conversation ends
Only when the game's own check passes. The compendium cannot name what it reads (Graph Variable).
You produce silk? How is it made?
Interested in my business, are you? Of course, why wouldn't you be. The Wazumo are fascinating creatures, aren't they? Quite resilient. Ravenous. Dangerous if not managed right. That's why their silk is so expensive.
The beasts have to be crippled at just the right age to prevent them from growing beyond our control. Grisly business, but necessary. I do that myself, as the slaves can't be trusted with such a vital step. I can barely get them to operate the looms without crushing their fingers.
At the looms, raw strands of silk are woven into cloth that is then sold to clothiers across Aruden and beyond. If you ever purchased a garment of Wazumo silk, chances are the fabric came from our plantation.
Only when the game's own check passes. The compendium cannot name what it reads (Graph Variable).
The Wazumo on your plantation are crippled? That sounds cruel.
*He raises an eyebrow.* They're insects. Why feel pity for lowly beasts that lack our depth of feeling? The natural philosophers at the House of Wisdom agree that insects have no conscious thought, as they lack brains. They are like natural automatons, only performing the functions their biology wrote into their flesh.
They hiss when the acid touches them, yes, but that's only the sound of chitin getting warped as it burns, not a scream of pain like some claim. Truly, had the beasts any capacity for thought, they should be grateful, as we turn their nature towards a higher purpose.
Returns to the previous choices
You say your silk is sold across Aruden and beyond. Who are your buyers?
Naturally, the Arakasha are our most valued clients. My father did business with them and his father before him, and my family remains loyal to the clan and their cause. Wazumo silk production is a venerable Karu tradition, after all, and we are most eager to uphold our old traditions.
That said, in these days of peace brought to us by the Sazziad Empire, I have acquired many business contacts outside of Arakasha territory. As much as I disagree with the follies of Tsubaki vainglory, they make for good customers.
I have about twice as many business partners among the Tsubaki than among Arakasha, and they pay generously for quality products. Their willingness to agree to a price is refreshing - as much as I value Arakasha traditions, hours-long haggling becomes tiresome after a while.
The reputation of our Wazumo silk has even reached the courts of the Sazziad Empire, and I've had several Nayyar merchants travel all the way here to make a purchase. Of course, I charge them more than my Karu clients. House Arakasha disapproves of business with the outsiders, yet ultimately, if their money ends up in our pockets, it is we who become wealthier.
I am quite confident my silk will soon find its way into the imperial court itself, where perhaps even the Emperor and High Priestess will have their royal garments fashioned from Aruden cloth. Would that not be a grand triumph for us? *He shows you a satisfied smile, yet his eyes gleam with ambition.*
I noticed the smell outside. What do you feed these creatures with?
Ah, the slop. Unpleasant to a cultivated nose, but the beasts love it and the slaves don't mind. Their nostrils are used to stench, unlike ours.
Wazumo eat everything they get their jaws on. We collect leftovers from nearby farms and settlements, as well as the nomadic Gan herders. Any organic material they have no use for we gladly take off their hands. Rotten fruit, ganura chaff, even excrement will do. Wazumo aren't picky.
Of course, this mass of half-rotten organic material does not come with a pleasant scent. Luckily, the winds that pass through our little valley carry the fumes away from our manor and the slaves' living quarters. We don't have any buildings downwind for that reason.
If the slaves can't operate the looms very well, why don't you hire skilled workers?
We used to have skilled workers on our plantation before Arakasha implemented the new policy for civilizing the bone charmers. They did better work, that much is true, but with the Sazziad currency reforms, they demanded an adjustment of their wages which I simply wasn't able to pay.
These bone charmer slaves can be purchased for a handful of coin and all I need to provide them with is shelter and enough food to keep them from collapsing. Sure, the weave of our cloth used to be more regular when we had skilled workers, but the impact on its quality is marginal.
Besides, by teaching them to do honest work, we lift these savages from barbarism. A few years of hard labor and tough discipline will turn them into productive members of society. It's not an easy task, but what is burden to us will be boon to them. Perhaps one day they can live as free elves, no longer held down by superstition and savagery.
I can't help but notice that your use of unskilled labor keeps your business from reaching its full potential.
What are you implying, wanderer? I get more orders than I could reasonably fill. Diyuul flow into my coffers like water from the [river name].
Precisely my point. Skilled laborers who know how to operate the looms can put out silk that's not only of higher quality, but also quantity.
Yet their labor isn't free. The slaves cost me no upkeep, apart from a few sacks of ganura every month. Replacing them with skilled craftsmen would increase my operational costs exponentially.
That is correct. But if a hired worker slacks off, you dock his pay. Slaves slack off as much as they can. Craftsmen put in the effort so they get paid.
*He shrugs.* I motivate the slaves with beatings. Their work may not be the best, but they don't slack off under my watch. In fact, I can keep them working far longer than a hired craftsman would be willing to. The cost in wages wouldn't be worth the negligible gain in efficiency, trust me.
The conversation ends
Skilled craftsmen who know how to operate a loom can produce far more silk than your slaves ever could, even with years of training. It's all about the volume. For the small price of a handful of laborers, you can fill twice as many orders every month.
Twice as many? *He raises his eyebrows.* I'd have to check the numbers myself, but... certainly, it's possible. Didn't consider it before. As long as I keep the looms working, they'll produce volume, I thought. The quality may suffer under unskilled hands, but the quantity...
A skilled operator produces more regular output. You know how to use your own looms, don't you? Work one, time yourself, measure the cloth. Have a slave work for the same amount of time and compare. If I'm right, the difference in quantity should be significant.
Yes, perhaps. Thank you for the advice, wanderer. I'll have to spend a long night at my office and run the numbers...
The conversation ends
But the quality of your silk will be higher, and you can charge more for every bolt. Take the current price, mark it up ten, twenty percent, and you'll easily make up for what you have to pay in wages.
With all the Sazziad orders coming in, I can set my price as high as I want. They wouldn't even notice the difference in quality - Wazumo silk is an exotic fabric, and the flaws are part of the charm. Under the current circumstances, a marginal gain in quality wouldn't justify the cost of wages.
The conversation ends
Forget it, then. If your business already runs as well as it can, it has no need for change.
That's all I wanted to know. Let's talk about something else.
Very well.
Returns to the previous choices