TRADING (Commerce) and other Revenue - Fornice

The Far Trader "Athelstone" is at Fornice Downport 2-A, the feeder port for the large Arcology-city of Port-au-Prince. It supports frequent shuttle flights from the main orbital Space Port, and infrequent sub-orbital flights from other cities on Fornice's surface. The ship currently belongs to the First Bank of Fornice, and until ownership is transferred...well, best get that done first! When the ship is re-commissioned with the Starport Authority you could choose to change its name.

Trading Facilities at Port-au-Prince are relatively limited. The main 'exchange' and public trading boards can be found on the main starport. However, the chances of finding off-board trades and passengers are good, as this port is not regularly serviced by any of the major shipping companies or passenger lines competition for local goods is somewhat lower.

The public trading boards are dominated by offers of freight and priority freight. These are goods owned by someone else, and that someone needs a ship to move them from point a to point b. The price-fixed rate is 1,000cr per dTon. Priority freight is usually paid at double that, but with a time limit with penalties for late delivery. What speculative cargos show up on the public boards tend to get snapped up quickly; so better act fast or lose out! Same with passengers on the public board.

There are six star systems at Jump-1 (J-1) and Jump-2 (J-2) distances from Fornice:

Jokotre (J1) port B yellow zone - coreward
Mora (J2) port A
Grille (J1) port E - rimward
Maitz (J2) port A
Catuz (J2) port C yellow zone - spinward
Moran (J2) port C

Are any of the new Brokers (Alice and Lu-Yam) going to assist in finding cargo?

ANYONE can help find cargo. Streetwise, Carousing, High Social Status, Good Contacts, Steward, and other skills (and roleplaying) all can have positive effect. The Broker skill can be useful in finding cargo; but local brokers will always have the edge over traveling brokers.

BUT, we are getting ahead of ourselves and I'm certainly not yet ready to start posting "goods available" yet. I mean, we still haven't even gotten the whole crew settled in, nor a Merchant-Charter agreed to, or really anything else.

Steward can help find passengers, especially High Passengers, but so can most of the things posted above.

BEWARE; you do need to do this is some sort of coordinated way. If you have 7 characters out there getting cargo and you end up contracting for more tonnage than you can actually handle, or more expense than you have credits to cover, well you're in a pretty big jam.

I know we all want to get rolling on this. So do I. I admire your enthusiasm! But lets at least get the crew on board, a hierarchy decided on if you decide to go that route, accomodations sorted, etc.

To Dabaggins

BIC
LC, "we can only go to J-2 so there are J1 worlds nearby, the profit is with risk so I suggest Amber zones and seek out all the profit. It is risky, but where is the fun in staying safe?"

"Yes," Mama agrees, "Minimal risk? We might as well be in the union... I for one like a little excitement..."

OOC: Mama can reroll later. That was to assist Dave should I not be able to respond timely. With more qualified seekers of treasures now included in the crew, she will assist rather then lead .

Tharrok looks at the charts and thinks carefully for a moment. Then he says, "I will fly wherever we decide, of course. But I’d like for us to consider going rimward instead of going back the way we came."

"Agreed. Make money, have some excitement." Tharrok’s tail wags a bit. "If I wanted boring, I’d have stayed in the Merchants."

A suggestion, "I was wondering if we could find something that is hard to move, that we might be able to transport in a rather unique way. Something that we can get at no upfront cost, and get paid the transport fee upon arrival at our destination. Should the destination fail to pay transport fee, we sell it to recomp the fee. Thoughts?"

Mama will continue to use cabin 4B as her cabin, as she is already acustom to it and it is closest to all medical based equipment and cold storage units.

I agree with Dave doing a hand wave and granting all new arrivals (and old arrivals without sufficient funds) the additional amount of funds needed to be full share members. This would be completely fare to me as we are still just starting out. We can justify the extra (unnecessary) staffing because of full share holder status and consider that one of the major factors in agreeing to their acceptance as part of the crew.

This would require minimal adjustments to what LC wrote up..

We still need to identify a chain of command. This is necessary in the event of emergency or crisis. The chain of command can be changed by a 51% vote, but should not be changed during jump...
Only while out of jump space and once safety is established.

We elect a ship's captain prior to departure and the elected captain identifies his/her appointed persons the chain of command from highest to lowest. The bottom of the chain of command, still retains full authority as a full shares member, it just clearly establishes who is next in charge should something happen to or incapacitates the current group leader.

The elected captain, through the assistance of the group then decides on the next port, thus giving the purchasers direction in locating goods and services. The purser (whom ever that is) approves the purchase, based on available funds, after consultation with the Steward, and approval by the captain and/or second in command. If all agree, the funds are dispersed and the purchase is made. The Steward continues to ensure that the purser knows how much cargo space remains so that an over purchase of cargo does not occur. All speculative personal purchases must be approved by the Steward as well, for the sole purpose of allocation of hull space. These transactions should be completed through the use of ships communication devices set at urgent. This should assist with rapid transit of information and prevent the loss of a good deal due to "red tape".

Thoughts?

There are plentiful means of acquiring information about the Jokotre system. Going to the Spacers' Guild or the Travellers Aid Society are 'top-of-the-list' sources. Using contacts is a good idea, too. And the public "info-web". Local brokers would have such knowledge, surely, but only at a price. Starport bars and other social gathering venues frequented by traders might get the most current low-down.

As you've already determined, Jokotre is a "Yellow Zone" based on the rather nasty law level associated with its Religious Dictatorship. Ground-side laws are extensive and Byzantine in their complexity and its essential to have a local guide if one is going to set foot off Imperial extra-territoriality (ie, spaceport facilities).

It has a good starport, rated at "B" with both orbital and ground facilities. The main world is 'medium' sized with near Earth like gravity. Its thin atmosphere makes it hard on Travellers until they can acclimitate, but poses no particular hazard otherwise.

It has a population of 800-million, a sizeable consumer base. Tech level of 7 makes it pre interstellar. The religious dictatorship is known to limit imports of higher tech items and there is a thriving market for contraband high-technology. Severe penalties for smuggling such cargo, of course!

Public records reveal recent shipments to Jokotre from Fornice of medical technology and pharmaceuticals, industrial pipes for water/sewage, partially refined iron, copper, and other metallic ores, fruits and fruit-syrup, fusion power-plant spares and components, consumer appliances, untrained guard animals, insulation materials...

Tharrok grins and says, simply, "I am the pilot. I fly the ship."

Mama gets to work on the computers (+2), starting with the public records.

Identifying recent shipments to Jokotre from Fornice of medical technology and pharmaceuticals, Mama gives them more in depth research. Pharmaceuticals can pack a great profit and take up minimal space. Using her knowledge in the medical field and computer expertise, Mama researched the greatest needed items for Jokotre with the lowest purchase price in Fornice, identifying the Pharmaceuticals with the greatest profit margin.

Next, she placed them in order from greatest profit to lowest profit, then researches the net to determine the availability of freelance shipments.

This information is then passed to our Steward for final determination.

After pharmaceuticals, Mama repeats the process for industrial pipes for water/sewage, partially refined iron, copper, and other metallic ores, fruits and fruit-syrup, fusion power-plant spares and components, consumer appliances, untrained guard animals, insulation materials...

Hopefully this effort will assist with what others may have found.

Assistance from another is welcome

When appropriate, Mama asks to join LC in a search for lucrative black market items, items that may be legal here, but will bring a good profit on Jokotre... Along with delivery contacts.

(Mama is looking for personal purchases here that she can make with her personal funds. Items that don't take up much room, items of higher tech.)

Mama brings her streetwise and higher education to the table.

Mama smiles, " I figure you did .. As for me, I'll go off the books completely for the right treasure. For me this is about adventure and fun. I have spent my life following the rules (well, for the most part) and am now interested in spending the rest of my healthy life on one giant great adventure. I want our ship paid off giving us maximum ability to travel non stop as far as we desire. I have no family of concern and nothing to hold me back "

"Tamm here about religious nutters. You can't seem to miss a "missionary". They are the off-world nutters who saw the Light and want to believe that everyone wants a part of Ram spying, Tamm means, watching over them. Blithering fanatics can't handle things on their own and have to have a Big Daddy watch over them all the time. Big Daddy Tamm watch over a missionary and a doggy for a few hours!" Tamm flashes a grin but the grin never reaches his eyes.

The old crew may be surprised by Tamm's comments. This might be the longest Tamm has ever spoken in public!

Mama (with Alice's assistance) finds a pharmacuetical supplier that services the Jokotre market. They usually ship via a scheduled 'Subsidized Merchant' but have occassional over-flow that they sell to traders. Currently they have 5 dTons (1 ton pallets) of standard Painkillers @ 5,000cr/ton. Expected return is 7,500cr/ton, but of course this cannot be guarenteed.