The beer was received with exuberance and the content of the four crates was quickly distributed to each and every member of the Guild. As Miguel had predicted, Susan complained about the allocation of further contribution points to Ryan’s account but, after he insisted that it was a gift to the Guild, relented and accepted it in the spirit it was given.
The diminutive woman vibrated with impatience as she waited on Ryan to finish feasting on the seemingly bottomless bowl of fatty snake-stew that was deliciously spiced, well balanced and at the same time utterly unremarkable except for the fact that the meat came from a friggin massive snake. Ryan was pleased to see the notification for possible mutations populate the periphery of his vision but shelved perusing it and turned to Susan before she could explode. “So, explain to me how the contribution points work.”
The gist of the exceedingly long explanation delivered in a never ending stream of rapidly fired words was that the Guild had switched to a contribution system for the intra-guild economy to avoid the minimal tax payable on quantum crystal transactions. To avoid freeloaders and ensure that every member contributed a daily stipend of 3 contribution points was payable by every member for food and accommodation, unless said member actually wasn’t availing itself of those services. Tasks, such as guard or scouting duty, completed for the benefit of the Guild got rewarded with points. Services rendered, resources and knowledge contributed or products made for the benefit of the Guild were also remunerated. Transactions between Guild members, such as having armour made by a smith, could be handled through exchange of points on a willing seller, willing buyer basis. So too were services rendered by one member to the next handled. Susan kept track of it all with the help of a specialised quantum crystal lattice and a specific chat server set up by Michelle. The council was responsible for deciding the rate of remuneration for various services.
To Ryan it seemed like a neat and simple system, reminiscent of the dragon points that had been used in his earlier raiding days. That it’s reliability was predicated solely on Susan’s trustworthiness wasn’t a big issue to him. “So what’s the issue with my balance?” he asked her once she finished her explanation.
“You want the short version or the long one?” Susan asked to his surprise.
“Hit me with the highlights.” Ryan promptly decided.
“You’ve contributed quite a bit of knowledge and resources so far. You’ve also taken on some hazardous duties on behalf of the Guild such as scouting for a new base. Simultaneously, you haven’t been availing yourself of a lot of amenities during that time. Or traded with other member’s. So your pool of points is quite bloated. The issue stems from the possibility that you could decide to dump it on the market, so to speak. That would mess with the balance of value we have carefully arrived at. We really don’t want to change this to an inflationary system, hence the daily drain. Could you promise to not do that and massively overpay for services from other members or request a unreasonable amount of resources from the Guild coffers? I’d prefer it if I could manage your account until it isn’t a possibility if you’d accept.”
Even the highlight version was delivered in a continuous stream of words and Ryan had to take a moment to parse what Susan was trying to say. “So, what you’re trying to say is that you’d like to manage my spending? How would that work?”
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“Basically, you’d come to me or Liz with requests for what you need and we’ll sort out the payment side of things. Means you’d have to trust us to manage your funds in good faith.” Susan added the last part somewhat hesitantly.
“Can’t I just donate the funds to the Guild?” Ryan tried to find a different solution.
“Nope. We feel that would set a dangerous precedent. I’ve actually drafted a rule framework that disallows donations except to descendants, and then, only payment for services, goods or upkeep costs so that points cannot be ‘inherited’ by descendants.” Susan explained.
“Okay. To be honest, I wouldn’t mind if you guys managed my finances, provided I’ll receive a monthly report and sufficient funds are kept available in case of need.” Ryan assented.
“Those are available from Michelle’s server in any event. You can draw them at any time you wish, actually.” Susan informed him. “So we’re agreed then. You’ll rely on Liz and me to manage your fund, sorta like trustees. You can interact economically as you wish, except for larger stuff and we’ll manage the payment side of things.”
“Sure. I’ll trust you’ll handle it fairly. So, what else do you need from me?” Ryan reminded her that his glut of points wasn’t the only reason she had approached him.
“Now that we’re agreed on the funds I just need to know what you need. Mike let me know you wanted some of the steel spines. What else?”
Ryan let her know that he was planning to craft a new bow. He also wanted training in leatherworking, if possible, and collaboration on designing and crafting a set of armour out of the snake skin. Stephen would also need to be involved in the process to do some runesmithing.
“Boy am I glad that I talked to you before you decided to dump a lot of points on the market. Fine, I’ll arrange for some training with Leah early tomorrow. She’ll be starting on processing the snake skin and while time-intensive will have attention to spare. I’ll see to it that Mike, Stephen and Paulus can consult with you tomorrow. I can’t promise you when they’d be able to assist. I’ll hold off on allocating the skin and spines to the various crafters until you’re done with them and have an idea how much you need. Since you’ve been instrumental on both kills you get first dibs anyway.” Susan assaulted him with another wall of words.
“Who’s Paulus?” Ryan queried the unfamiliar name.
“Oh, he’s a recent transfer from Resolute. Artisan, focused on leatherworking, smithing and crafting as a catch-all. He’s quite good at designing functional armour and a wizard with untested material. One of our oldest members, same age as Linda if I’m correct. Used to be a farmworker responsible for upkeep of machinery, the property and general handyman. We’re lucky to have him and he’s an enthusiastic tinkerer.” Susan seemed incapable of providing less than a complete breakdown of every topic.
By now Ryan was afraid of asking another question but, resigned to another verbal blitzkrieg, decided to ask his final question for the evening. “Mind if we speak to Leah, Mike, Stephen and Paulus together so I can plan my schedule for tomorrow?”
“Yes, let’s go.” To Ryan’s immense surprise Susan actually kept her reply as short and concise as possible and, having braced for another lengthy answer, he was left confused for a moment and nearly failed to follow the Quartermaster that was quickly stomping in the direction of the fire.
Arranging a meeting with the smiths at 1400 hours the next afternoon went smoothly with Susan’s help and Leah let him know that she’d start processing the remainder of the snake’s skin as soon as the sun was up. Ryan assumed that she would keep him busy for a couple of hours and with lunch and then the afternoon already spoken for his schedule for tomorrow was mostly full. So, with everything arranged to his satisfaction Ryan headed off to find his cot, leaving his friends to the meal that had turned into an impromptu feast.