Eloise of Bral

Eloise of Bral

Eloise of Bral, a wildspace trade insurance
underwriter association, is located in a tea house

set on the corner of Dock Street and Dragon Street.
Though Eloise is situated at the edge of Shou

town, it is frequented by different races who have
business in the tea house. The main business

in the Eloise's tea house, aside from serving tea and
drinks, is the insuring of wildspace

trades, reliable shipping news and other hospitality
services. Eloise herself is involve in the

day to day business transactions of the underwriters
and provide the premises where business is

conducted.

The "underwriters" insure the ships and cargoes that
ply their trades on Bral. They are called

underwriters because they write at the bottom of
another signer their name and amount of risk

they will cover. A committee of 18 members are elected
once a year to provide leadership and

settle disputes among members and traders. The Eloise
of Bral have a royal charter giving it

permission to insure wildspace trade with the blessing
of the royal court.

The traders and speculators would talk to these men
and women to sponsor an independent trade

venture. Independent ship's captain or speculator seek
sponsorship outside the regular trade and

merchant houses. Depending on the business and the
risk involve the underwriters would provide

capital with the understanding that they would  share
in the profit. The ship's captain would

have to show that the business venture is profitable
and the risk is worth it. Trade house would

seek the underwriters to share the risk and profit of
a trade venture. A trading house or

merchant house can insure their cargoes for a nominal
fee against lost to disasters or piracy.

The amount charge by the underwriters to insure
cargoes and ships depends on the amount of the

items being insured. The higher the amount of the
transaction insured, the higher the amount of

fee they would charge. Also pirate activities on the
trade route, how many times a certain

captain or trade house lost ships and how much assets
does the insured owns could raise or lower

the insurance fee.

The underbarons used underwriting as a way to launder
their ill gotten loot. They have

representatives the secretly invest their funds into
safe ventures. They also keep an open ear

where competing syndicates invest their money and pass
the information to their secret societies.

Information on competitor's ships are leaked to
several pirate's agents, who are here to gather

information on fat rich trade ships.

The standard transaction would be that the amount
needed to insure a cargo and/or ship would be

divided into shares of risk and profit. The
association would hire adventurers, mercenaries and

privateers if their investment need protecting or
recovery. A bounty, percentage of the recovered

goods, would be awarded to the finders of the goods.
Salvaging of lost goods on ship wrecks is

another growing field and a lot new companies searches
wildspace or the flow for lost ships. The

underwriters does not insure black ships or treasure
ships. Black ships can find sponsorship with

a government body that hired them.


SOME OF THE MEMBERS...

- Eloise Brahm - Owner of Eloise's Tea House and one
of the underwriters of Eloise of Bral. She

is a 9th level Bard and retired from adventuring life.
She started the tea house as an

investment. Her first underwriting happened when her
friend Captain  Dumar needed seed money to

start a newly found trading route. Eloise gave him the
money and the trade route prove to be a

money maker. People of influence and wealth started to
show interest in investing and insuring

wildspace trades. The underwriters association was
founded under the royal charter giving it

permission to do business in Bral.

- Red Silk Company - This is an investment group
secretly run by the yakuza. They invest the

money they received from other ventures and funnels it
here to be laundered. The investment is

proving more of a money maker than first anticipated.
The 9 member council rules the group (

taking orders only from Shou Thieves' Guild underbaron
Ozamata Ku Murawa) and have agents running

the operation in the tea house. They would fund
ventures that other underwriters refused to

accept, under the agreement of higher percentage of
the profit. Captains who crossed the Red Silk

usually find their ship unable to find safe ports in
Bral, their men attacked, and their cargo

looted.

- Shire Trading Company - This is an investment group
specializing in insuring cargo, ships,

items and even person. This group is secretly run by
the Halfling Thieves' Guild to insure that

the Yakuza does not control the underwriters
association. Insurance is more stable than wildspace

trade investment, since the captains pay to insure
their goods. The captains or speculators pay

for their goods and ship to be insured as a hedge
against losing it from misfortune or pirates.

It is usually a percentage of the perceived cost of
the insured that the captain pay the trading

company. The higher the perceived danger or risk
associated with the items/person to be insured,

the higher the percentage to be payed.

- Tenderfoot Investment Club - The club open as a way
for ordinary citizen of Bral would invest

their money. The growing wildspace trade prove to be a
good way for people to invest their meager

money for a better future. Because there are a few
hundred investors, the club can absorb a bad

investment without wiping out a person's personal
portfolio. There is a 12 members fund manager

council who are voted by a members only wide election.

- Empire Club - The Empire Club is an exclusive club
catering to adventurers and wealthy people.

The club invite adventurers of extra ordinary caliber,
who's's exploits and deeds exceed those of

normal men. The wealthy members funds the club in it's
exploits, sharing thrill and danger in the

exploits of it's adventurer members by proxy.
Surrounded by these extra ordinary gentlemen give

the rich a bragging right of association. The club
invest in highly speculative ventures,

especially in search of ancient civilization and
artifacts. As a contract rider, they reserve the

right to attached one or two of their members as
observers to make sure their investment stay

safe.

- Lord Reefa - Lord Reefa, a gold elf, is a new
arrival into Bral society. He is rumored to have

become rich from being a captain of an infamous pirate
armada in a distant unknown sphere. He

likes to invest in normal wildspace commerce and try
to avoid highly speculative ventures.


BUSINESS IS BUSINESS...

* Investment - When a new trade route or an expedition
to a lost treasure horde needs funding,

these people tend to visit and request sponsorship
from the underwriters of Eloise of Bral.

* Insurance - When a ship, cargo, person or item need
to be insured against lost through disaster

or misfortune. Pirate attacks is not considered a
disaster, but a man made event and is not

covered by the insurance agreement. Insurance is
usually considered for high price commodities on

established trade routes. Unlike investment, the
insurer is paid by the captains or speculators as a

hedge against lost in a disaster.

* Commodity Market - The speculative investment on
future prices of commodities. People who

invest in this ventures gamble that their buying price
is lower than their selling price. In

Bral, commodity market is a healthy business since all
the goods are needed to be imported. Food,

wine, metal and finished goods are a few of the
commodities available to the investors. Farmers

and product makers sell their wares and investors buy
them with the hopes of selling it for a

higher price. The underwriters provide the funds for
speculators to invest in the commodity

market for a percentage or a fixed fee.

* Barter System - A system where goods and services
are exchange. It is common to barter for

goods and services needed, but can not pay for because
lack or insufficient funds. Adventurers

usually barter their service in exchange for goods or
services.

Typical Contract Components

1) background information on the trade venture
1) length of the voyage
3) prize division between owners and crew
4) prize division among the crew members
5) stipulations about wages including whether the
owner offered them to the crew
6) worker's compensation for injury and sickness
7) incentive pay for outstanding performance at sea
8) owners' expenses that were to be deducted from the
prize money
9) penalties for moral misconduct
10 penalties for disturbing the prize and its crew

[Private Warfare In The Age Of Sail -
http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~sauerr/seminar_papers/

privateer_cu.pdf]


ADVENTURE HOOKS...

1) The adventurers need their new trade route,
artifact recovery, or search for a lost

civilization funded and they try to talk the
underwriters into sponsoring it.

2) A grand magical item is being shipped and the
underwriters hired the adventurers to guard

their investment.

3) The adventurers needed to place their new found
wealth in a "safe" investment.

4) One or all of the adventurers are being considered
for membership in the Empire Club.

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