>>5714849>>5714839>>5714832>>5714784>>5714769You might not be an economist or trader, but you have a keen sense for people, and for negotiations, cultivated in your two years of travel and dealmaking. The Baron’s nervousness belies his own awareness that the deal isn’t fair. You think hard on the matter, considering what you know: gold and silver, gems… these are stores of value. Even keeping in mind your relatively unequal bargaining positions, there is simply no weigh that a cow’s value in any precious metal should weigh as much as the cow itself—otherwise, people would simply transport the cow directly and dispense with the middle-men altogether!
You point this out, but the Baron merely frowns, hand lowering slightly.
“Have you considered the position you’re putting me in with the authorities in Hawksong?” he asks. “This is to help pay for THAT as well.”
“Have you consssidered that food—and lievsstock-are largely composssed of water?” you counter.
“What, lizards—and dwarves, and elves—suddenly don’t need water?” the Baron barks. “Or, what, you have some magical method to remove the watee from food without ruining it? Or from live cows and chickens?”
“We have underground sstreamss,” you note, suppressing a shudder at your rather unfortunate memories associated with those water-sources. “An even exchange in weight isss unreassonable. I am not a fool, Brunusss… Do not play me for one. We can come to more equitable termss, termsss which take into account your ‘inconveienccesss’, and you will SSTILL be a rich man.”
Ekaterine, who has been squinting in deep concern nitration, suddenly blurts out: “The going rate of a head of cattle… I think I read that it was two hundred cows… No, well, two hundred animals, cows and bulls together, maybe? I think it was… 3500 gold pieces?”
