[SO-Syliras] The Thing About Business

[Shakune]

The Thing About Business.
33rd Spring, 502AV

Shakune could see... nothing.

Not a single thing lay in her eye line, and this amazed the young girl. Behind her, under her feet, The Lady Luck traversed across the sea, but beyond the sanctity of the ship, there was nothing. The sea met the sky in a haze of blue, green, pink, yellow. It was the most gorgeous sight she had ever seen.

And yet the child frequently found herself immersed in waves of homesickness. The sadness drowned her like she had an anchor tied to her feet, and in those very worse moments, she found herself even missing her mother. Shakune could see no reason why she would feel such things. Kinsha was a drug-addicted whore, who would have sold Shakune for a hit if the child hadn't been so useful in other ways. When the girl had announced to her mother that she was leaving, Kinsha had glanced up from the trail of white powder on their kitchen table and merely commented: "Well. Who will pick up my drugs now when I'm too busy working?"

After Shakune had shrugged in answer to this question, Kinsha's dilemma began to truly hit home. The woman began to beg her daughter to stay, she sobbed loudly and morosely. She promised to be a better mother, to stop the drugs and to try and find a better job that paid well. "Money isn't the issue." Shakune had replied simply, packing her few belongings into a bag. The girl had nothing of real value or sentimental meaning to bring with her, but she knew that once she boarded the Lady Luck, there would be no chance to purchase any extra clothes. Whilst Shakune surveyed her shit-hole of a home for anything else that she wanted to take, Kinsha rocked back and forth in her chair, sporadically sniffing up the powdered drug. She began to scratch her arms, a habit of her's that indicated she was beginning to panic that she would run out of drugs. Without Shakune bringing home whatever coin the girl could earn, money would be even tighter. Kinsha would have to cut back on her habit, or start sleeping with more men to feed her addiction.

Few other words were exchanged between mother and daughter. Shakune had planned to say a great many horrid thing to the woman, to really express her hatred and disappointment. You're my mother, you were meant to love me, to protect me. Not to fuck men in the bed next to me and then send me out to meet with strangers to collect your drugs.

But those words had seemed meaningless at the time. She'd observed Kinsha for a long moment before leaving. The woman twitched crazily every so often as her nerves and neurons exploded with drug-fuelled chemicals. "Don't die, mother." Shakune eventually stated, more of a casual comment that anything out of genuine concern.

And after that, she had left the home, boarded a ship, and departed from Zeltiva.

The relief had been overwhelming. For the entirety of her short life, Shakune had always been seeking an escape from her lifestyle. She had spent days gutting fish, playing with friends, trying to scrabble up enough coin for a hot meal. The child had done anything to avoid returning home, to her mother. But eventually, when the other children returned to their homes and nighttime closed in, Shakune would be forced to go back to her own home. There had never been a time when her mother was happy, as far as Shakune could remember. But Kinsha had not always been a whore, nor had she always been a drug addict. Those came later, when Shakune was older and not so happy to sit still and quiet as her mother demanded.

[Shakune]

The girl shook off the memories, refocused her attention back on her current situation. The Lady Luck was a ship whose captain was the enigmatic man called Pa Salt. It was not his real name, Shakune was sure, but it was what she and all the others called him. His crew was an assortment of men and women, most of whom he had collected from other cities, much like how he had saved Shakune. They were all escaping from their pasts, Pa Salt would say. They deserved sanctuary, and if they were willing to abide by his rules and respect The Lady, he was more than happy to provide this for them.

All the others slept in a large room under the deck. The room was slightly cramped, but Pa Salt enforced a rigorous cleaning schedule to ensure the health and wellbeing of all the crew. Shakune, however, had her own bedroom that came off Pa Salt's own captain quarters. The room was tiny, with only a single bed and a small chest of drawers, but she loved it nonetheless. When she asked Pa Salt why he had such a room that was unused, he had simply replied: "because I knew that someone would fill it, one day."

His answers were always vague and mysterious, which irked Shakune sometimes. When she asked where he was from, or where his family was, he would simply smile and say a string of words that didn't entirely make sense.

But despite his curiousness, Shakune trusted Pa Salt wholeheartedly. Somehow she knew he would never harm her, but would instead care and protect her like Kinsha should have. The bond between them was something that Shakune would never be able to describe, but she knew it had saved her.

"I've been on this ship for a year now." The feminine voice belonged to Rachael, one of the two other females aboard The Lady Luck. She was from Syliras and Pa Salt had met her the day after her husband had torn their baby in two during an alcohol-fuelled rage. He had also raped and beaten Rachael within an inch of her life. Pa Salt had saved her, too. "But I never tire of the view."

"It's better than Zeltiva, definitely."

The woman joined Shakune on the main deck for the ship. They stood in silence for a tick, but Shakune knew that Rachael had more to say. Eventually, the woman proved the girl's assumption to be correct: "Cap'in wants to see you. He's in the Quarters."

Shakune nodded and left Rachael at the deck. Pa Salt frequently called for Shakune, usually for a discussion, though the girl never quite understood why. The old man would ask a group of questions that Shakune could usually not answer.

A few days ago, he had asked several questions about her father, as if she could remember him! But she had shared as much detail as she could muster; He was a Svefra, met m'mum in Zeltiva. I were born on 'is boat, then he left us both in the city. It was the tale Kinsha had told Shakune numerous times, but minus all the tears and heartbreak. The girl held no resentment for her father leaving. How could she, when her mother had driven Shakune away as well?

[Shakune]

The Captain's quarters were by no means as luxurious as Shakune had first expected. There was a desk, three chairs, a small bookcase, and a bed that was cornered off by a tall swift of material to serve as a privacy curtain. And of course, right in the far corner, was the door led that to Shakune's room. Pa Salt sat at his desk, studying the large map of the seas that lay before him. A small wooden boat figurine stood in the middle of the sea, approximately parallel to Sunberth.

The older male glanced up from his map and to Shakune. His face, previously neutral in expression, broke into a warm smile. "Ah, Shakune. Take a seat."

This was how their meetings would always begin. Shakune obliged the offer, sinking into one of the leather chairs. The seat squeaked nosily as it took in her small frame. She watched as Pa Salt carefully moved the map leftwards, creating a small space on his desk in front of Shakune. He finally sat down with a exhausted smile. "So. How're you feeling? We're been at sea for a while now."

It was the same question as always. Shakune smiled faintly before answering. Whenever posed with a question from Pa Salt, she panicked. The girl wanted to be honest, of course, but she did not want to upset or disappoint Pa Salt. "I'm fine." She started confidently. His even gaze never faltered, but her brief lie did: "I feel a bit homesick sometimes. But I don't know why."

They had discussed Shakune's mother at length prior to her departing Zeltiva, so Pa Salt fully understood the situation. He gave a slow nod, eyes closed. "That's to be expected, Shakune. You're young, and moved away from home. When I was a boy, I was homesick well."

Shakune's perked up at this comment, this tiny snippet of Pa Salt's childhood. She knew better than to ask for further information; her questions would fall on deaf ears.

"But I want you to know that you don't have to stay with us, if you don't want to. Just say the word, and we'll take you back to Zeltiva. I don't want you to be here if you don't want to be."

Panic and fear surged up the child's belly. No, she did not want to return to her home, to her mother. There mere idea of this made her feel sick. "Do you want me to go back?" Her voice was timid, breaking.

Pa Salt's calmness did not falter. "Of course not, Shakune. I enjoy your company and I want you to be happy."

She nodded slowly, but the fear that gripped Shakune would not loosen its grasp just yet. Her few days aboard The Lady Luck had been the happiest in her entire life. She had freedom here, nothing to be scared of.

[Shakune]

"Anyway," Pa Salt pulled two pages of parchment from one side of the desk to another. The top page featured various numbers and words, some scratched out, others underlined multiple times to assumedly indicate their importance. "I'm surprised you haven't yet asked what exactly we do aboard The Lady.."

The statement hung in the air for a tick. Shakune was unsure how to respond, so she simply shrugged. In truth, she hadn't particularly considered what Pa Salt did, or why he needed a larger boat than other sailors. She knew he travelled all over the place, and had visited practically every city in Mizahar. "I don't know. I didn't think to."

The silver-haired male also shrugged, tilting his head to the side to show that he acknowledged her reply. "Well, fair enough. But if you're going to stay here for any length of time -- which of course I would like you to," those final words were said hurriedly, to assure the young child that her presence really was valued, "I may as well explain to you what we do."

He turned the pages around, so now they were upside down for him, but right way up for Shakune. She leaned in, briefly scanning the page. Her reading was not terrible, and certainly better than what one may have expected given her upbringing. The words jewels, material, art, among others, trailed down the length of the paper. Various numbers lay beside each word. When she glanced up confusedly to Pa Salt, he smiled and explained further. "Basically, what I do is trade goods and offer a courier service for businesses and individuals. This list shows the good that I've purchased in the past, and the prices I paid for them. See carvings, here? I purchased a small selection of wooden totems when I was in Zeltiva, and that number there--" He indicated to the last numbers in the row beside Carvings. It read 47GM, 4(s). "-is how much I paid, and for how many. The 's' indicates what size they are."

"Small?" Shakune guessed, earning a grin and nod from Pa Salt.


"Exactly. Now, the last time I bought small carvings, it was from Syliras..." His finger trailed backwards across the row of numbers, stopping at another group of numbers that read: 64GM, 3(s). "...and I paid far more for fewer carvings. Yes?"

Again Shakune nodded. She followed exactly what he was saying, but didn't quite understand why. "Yeah..." The word was slow, drawn out.

Pa Salt seemed to be rounding to the moral, or point, of this story. He leant back in his chair and rested both hands on the back of his neck. "Now, the crucial thing about a business is to make sure you make a profit - that when you sell something, you make money on it. There's a good chance that when we dock in Syliras next, I'll be able to sell those four carvings for a lot more than what I bought them for."

[Shakune]

The logic behind this made sense to Shakune, and she nodded slowly to convey that she was still following. "Right. Because you bought carvings from Syliras for a lot more before?"

"Exactly. But it's important to have an estimation in mind for when we sell them, otherwise it's too easy to barter and haggle the price down to something where the profit isn't worth the sale. So--" Now he produced a quill, rested it onto the parchment in front of Shakune. "--I'm going to tech you how you can tell when the profit is going to be big enough to be worth making the sale. Have you studied mathematics before?"

Shakune shook her head, and then paused. "I can count." She proffered, determined to not to come across as a complete idiot. When she worked as a fish gutter in the market, it had been her responsibility to make sure enough fish were prepared to be sold, but not so much that they would be wasted. This figure usually lingered around seven readily prepared fish. Counting to seven was her speciality!

The old sailor appreciated Shakune's enthusiasm. He began to explain the very basics of mathematics: addition, subtraction. Their progress was slow, and the girl made several errors - beyond counting to the number seven, she was quite hopeless. The girl was growing impatient and frustrated, but Pa Salt remained calm and enthusiastic.

"Try again. Add up the total amount I have spent on leatherworks."

"Leather...." She located the word and trailed her finger across the associated figures. "twenty, thirteen, forty-five, seventy-eight!" This was a big number! A glance to Pa Salt emphasised the girl's surprise and impression. He chuckled, and egged her on. "So... altogether that would be..." She scribbled the numbers on the second page of parchment, which by now had several of her scrawls across it. "one hundred and fifty-six?"

[Shakune]

"Perfect, well done. So I would need to have sold all those goods for more than that to make a profit. Now..." Yet another parchment sheet was placed in front of Shakune. This was much like the first, with titles of goods and associated prices. "This documents how much I sold them for. See leatherwork? Add those numbers up and tell me what my profit was overall."

This was another challenge entirely! Shakune licked her lips, preparing herself for the mental battle that would surely ensue once she began this task. She would need to add up the total amount that the leather goods had been sold for. And then...

She tried to think it through logically. The total sales figures would have to be subtracted from the costs... Or would it be the other way round? She scribbled a few numbers down, playing around with figures. "The total sales of the goods were --" She briefly scanned her notes before answering: "two hundred and thirty-two. So the profits would be..." Calculating the sold figures minus the purchase prices resulted in a final figure of: "seventy-six."

Pa Salt nodded excitedly. "Yes! Exactly!" His fingers tapped upon the table with enthusiasm. Even Shakune grinned, swelling with pride under his compliments and company. "So the basic profit I made was seventy-six mizas. This is called the gross profit, and it is exactly what she calculated as: the sold-for figures minus the costs."

Shakune nodded along. This world of numbers and profit was exciting. Whilst she understood the basics of selling things from her days on the fish market, Shakune had not realised the complexity of it all. It took a lot to run a business, let alone one that floated in the middle of the ocean! Her opinion of Pa Salt was only growing with every thing he taught her.

[Shakune]

"Gross profit is the most simple form of a profit. It gives you a rough idea of what you'll make. But--" His tine lowered now, and Pa Salt raised a single figure to accentuate his point, "-- it is not the only type of profit. Let's go back to our first example, with selling the carvings at Syliras." He stood to his feet, began pacing up and down the length of his cabin as he explained. Shakune's black eyes never left him. "If we sold the carvings for one hundreds mizas, let's say our gross profit would be seventy gold coins. But the great likelihood is that we would have to spend some of those mizas on other things. Food, lodgings, other purchases. Do you see what I'm getting at?"

"No." Shakune said honestly, with a hopeless shrug. She had understood the idea of gross profit, but now she was somewhat lost. "I thought you'd make money, not spend it."

He appreciated the bluntness of the girl's confession. "Unfortunately that's not the case. If we spent thirty mizas out of the original profit of seventy, we would be left with forty. It's still a profit, but a smaller one."

This was somewhat disappointing, and Shakune wrinkled her nose as she imagined an ever-shrinking profit. "So what's that called?"

Disappointing seemed to be as fitting a name as any, in her youthful opinion.

"We call that an Operatin' profit. It keeps in mind some of the costs of the transaction -- the buying and selling of that stuff. So when we sell the goods, we have our gross profit, and then when we leave the city, we have our operating profit." The titles of the profits were each exaggerated with a clap of Pa Salt's hands. Shakune nodded reverently, leaning forward to drink in every explanation he proffered. "This is the same for all businesses, even if we don't actually sell any goods. If I deliver a package, I've gotta make sure the cost I charge to my customer is enough to cover anything I have to pay for."

Numbers swirled in Shakune's head, as well as images of wooden totems and leather boots. She was hooked, sold for a profit (a gross profit, haha! she thought delightedly) to this world of business and numbers. Regardless of type, the profit was clearly crucial to the survival of any business. She wondered what gross profit the fish stall she had worked on had made at the end of each day. There always seemed to be a lot of leftover fish, which surely couldn't be a good sign. "I like it." She said eventually, brightly, "it's--" She struggled to find the right word. Fun or interesting didn't quite suit why she had enjoyed the lesson. Eventually, Shakune decided on: --challenging."

And with that, Shakune became impassioned in the world of business, profit and commerce.

[Sayana]

Shakune Skills: Skill EXP Observation +1 Socialization +2 Business +4 Mathematics +3 Negotiation +1 Lores: Escaping her home life Business: Principle of earning a profit Business: Importance of bookkeeping Negotiation: Know what your target price is in order to make a profit Mathematics: Addition and subtraction with three digits Business: Gross profit is sale prices minus purchase prices Business: Operating profit is the gross profit minus operating costs Comments : Great thread. It was nice seeing how Pa Salt took her under his wing. I also like seeing her initial inspiration for starting her own business. Don't forget to edit/delete your grade request in the grade request thread. If you have any questions or concerns about your grade please feel free to send me a message (like really, I’m all ears if you feel like I missed something). Enjoy.