Garrick Estov always acted in the best interests of his employer. So he thought as he walked through halls of red carpets and tapestries. Only the richest for the richest halfling in Sorn, Cirithil Magnious. A man of surpassing affability, popular among friends and enemies alike. He always provided a good table and reasonable rates for his employees. At the same time, those who became superfluous were given new work.

He had many sheep farms and rented oxen out to villagers all over. His funding of trade fleets rivaled all the others put together. All save his enemy, Sen Kaba, who dwelled in a lonely, clean, and cheap hall. Kaba, Garrick knew, trained with a sword and knew the art of war. And he might have served more often had not Garrick's chief lieutenant hated him beyond words.

That lieutenant, Finn, was too valuable to part company with. His order, the Knights of the Coin, needed more money and finance to do otherwise.

Ethics, morality, honor, and justice were contracts made differently. The Knights of the Coin knew that, which was why he was here. This marble and velvet palace belongs not to a Lord but to a merchant. He preferred the halls of merchants to the ancient fortress of Gel Carn. The red velvet and paintings of various dignified ancestors were a refreshing change. There was Cirithil Magnious. A splendid halfling who founded the house was a shrewd manager of farmland. Yusuf Kaba was a great soldier and a dear friend of Cirithil's.

Both were long dead, but the memory remained. Carath liked the past and kept many records of it.

People in this place understood the value of money.

Walking unseen by a guard or servant into the living room, he saw Finn. The huge, bald man looked out of place within the cozy living room with its books and globes. His usual brown vest had been traded for the white tunic, simple and cheap but looking reasonable. Servant garb that could not hide his muscular frame or his knives. Standing over by the fireplace, he was a marked contrast to the other room resident.

That resident was a halfling of about fifty in a red doublet with baggy pants and a scarf around his neck. It was a relic of when he'd nearly been knifed in a temple during the prayers. Garrick had cut off quite a few heads that day. Most priests were priests, but among the dead was Carath's younger brother, Ablar. Carath had long suspected House Suvvest for the deed but had largely avenged himself by now. He did not use violence in the city when he could avoid it.

He had curly white hair and bright red cheeks. He had a pipe between his lips and read one of his favorite books. It was a biography of the Fish King, the Lord of the Sea of Power. Or so Garrick guessed by the thickness of the pages and long experience. I am an avid reader.

A man to be admired.

Eventually, the halfing shut the book and looked up. "Ah, Finn. Excellent to see you, as always. How have things progressed?"

"Better than we could have hoped for, Carath," said Finn. "The Empire of Dinis recently conducted a campaign against a rebellion in Zigilus. While it was successful, the fighting messed up whole legions. Better still, Typhos has returned. As a result, chaos manifests throughout Dinis.

"Monsters are returning and ravaging the countryside.

"The way I see it, Dinis isn't able to repel any invasion. And they're out of the game with the Babarassians in the east getting thrashed by Haldren. We've got an open shot."

"Excellent! Truly excellent!" said Carath, standing up and setting down his book. "I've been hoping for one of them to deal the other a bloody nose for some time. So now we proper businessmen can finally get new markets."

"So you want to invade the ports? Or just raze the competition?" asked Finn. Finn usually suggested violence for the simple reason that he was good at it. No one called him up for peaceful pursuits.

"Neither," said Garrick, knowing something of the plan. He emerged from the shadows, and Finn sighed.

"Garrick, I wasn't aware you were back," said Finn, rubbing his goatee. "How'd the tournament go?"

"Poorly," said Garrick, sitting in the third chair. "The only good news is that Antion has stabilized. But, I should warn you, House Magnious' military strength is too weak to confront Dinis. A prolonged conflict between us would see Calisha as the winner."

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"That much I know," said Carath.

"So what's the plan?" said Finn.

Carath drew a scroll from one pocket and set it on one of his mahogany tables. Then, rolling it out, he revealed a map showing Sorn and Antion's coast above it to the north. Then, there was Qor'Danas and Calisha, whose coast stretched from Dren to Kalthak. "We have a map of the sea of power here. Our colonies are in the southern islands. Meanwhile, Calisha has several in the eastern reaches. Last, Dinis has several islands that produce a great deal of sugar.

"They are the primary competitors with House Kaba."

"So you mean to take it from Dinis?" guessed Finn.

"Exactly," said Carath. "The fleet is already ready."

"What about Safara?" asked Finn. "I've heard Calisha is installing a new religion in Dinis. If they do that-"

"That is a gradual process," said Carath. "The Emperor will never ask for help from Calisha. Not unless all other hope seems lost.

"No, my young friend, we must do this slowly and steadily.

"Snap off a few islands from Dinis to get our foot in the door of the sugar business. Then, once we've done that, we can work our way out."

"What of the Council of Merchants?" asked Finn. "They may protest."

"Oh, the Kabas have made plenty of rackets about the horrors of war," said Carath. "But everyone else is all for breaking her monopoly. And if it brings riches to Sorn, so much the better."

"This reminds me, are we sure we want to enter the sugar market?" asked Garrick, voicing a longstanding problem. "Duke Vanion has been cutting into Kaba's profits a great deal."

"He's been cutting into everyone's profits," said Carath. "All those gangs wiped out. The criminal organizations that disrupted made many bribes for naught. So we're having difficulty finding replacements for them.

"Bribery is difficult."

"A few letters couldn't make that much of a difference," scoffed Finn.

"I'm afraid they can," said Garrick. "Vanion researched what House Kaba was doing. He wrote letters to all his friends describing it and asking them not to buy sugar. They wrote their friends and the word spread.

"It took a noticeable chunk out of his profits."

"Then why are we getting into a market that's not growing?" asked Finn.

"I'm not 'getting into' a market," said Carath. "I'm creating a new one. Kaba sells sugar. I am going to sell 'humane' sugar."

"Meaning?" asked Garrick.

"We'll spend a bit more money than he does on worker safety," said Carath. "We'll have priests on standby to heal the wounded. A few minor extra expenses."

"But then our prices will be higher than Kaba's," noted Garrick,

"True," said Carath. "But then we will spread the word of how much better we treat them. We'll write about how we plan to civilize the satyrs we work there. How our efforts are for their benefit as much as ours. We can introduce some missionaries to preach to them.

"Of course, in practice, we'll only extend their misery by a few weeks. But people will make a cause of buying from us. They'll be able to turn up their noses at others. They can say, 'I buy humane sugar' or something to that effect. Many people who swore off the stuff will be lured back to us and view the problem as solved.

"And since our sugar will have a smaller supply since we only have one island, we can charge far more for it than Kaba."

"You don't think Antion won't notice what is going on, do you?" asked Finn.

"He is right," said Garrick. "Vanion will send more people to investigate and publish the truth. The printing press that was recently created in Antion is a powerful tool.

"It's already clothed his house in glory."

Carath smiled at Garrick. "Never underestimate what the upper class will pay to feel smug.

"None of them care about what happens to those under them. But they also want to feel lordly and wise. Like they are somehow better than the people, they crush underfoot, as a matter of course.

"So they pick some arbitrary cause, whether sugar or chivalry, and devote themselves to it. But, of course, they don't want to change; that requires them to improve their behavior. So whatever cause they pick up revolves around pointing out other people's flaws. That way, they can demand change from the people they oppress instead.

"No one who fights a charitable cause believes in it. They do it to appease their ego. That, and to deceive the masses into believing they are something more than parasites."

"So what does that make you?" asked Finn.

"My dear Finn, I make no pretensions to righteousness," said Carath. "I simply wish to make a great deal of money, gain a good reputation, and die content in a bed surrounded by children." Bothering about all these false causes is just a waste of everyone's time and money. The world would be far better if everyone were more honest and practical about things."

"Define better?" asked Finn.

Carath paused. "...Well, I wouldn't have to attend nearly as many parties."

Finn laughed uproariously. Garrick thought this in poor taste.