Commerce: Miss Fortune at Jokotre

Miss Fortune has docked at Jokotre High Port and disembarked its low-passengers and one middle passenger. It's 5-days before getting clearance from the Religious Dictatorship to travel to the "Machines-are-Us" construction site on planet, but the company pays the fees and handles everything to do with getting the needed permits. (I don't believe anyone engaged in trying to sell your speculative cargo of non-prescription painkillers during this time?)

6 dTons of Freight was discharged to its owners at the High Port. 50 dTons of 'special' freight is off-loaded at the construction site. And the 4 'specialists' take their leave there as well. This side-jaunt takes the better part of two days.

Presumably the Miss Fortune will return to the High Port to take on passengers (if any) and load freight and cargo (if any).

MAMA has used all three of her actions. 1. She located a cargo-handler ROBOT for sale on a private orbital station. (But has not followed up.) 2. She used the computer to look for High and Low Passengers for either Fornice or Mora. There were no High Passengers travel requests found, but she sees that there are likely plenty of low passengers destined for either destination. 3. She used the computer to search for speculative cargo (very generally) and results of that will be "folded in" to the information in the following post. (Both the Mail query and the Standard Freight query can be handled without using up one of her tasks; no mail available and seems like plenty of standard freight available to either Mora or Fornice; other destinations freight available changes from day to day...)

ALICE was apparently working to network with local brokers and other "middle-men" to establish CONTACTS for the future. (Need at least a couple of dice rolls here along with what skills are being employed and whether anyone is helping.)

RIN & TAMM thought to upgrade "cargo droids", but since none such critters are yet aboard this action is voided. Both Rin and Tamm still have 3 possible actions.

Cpt Rains tasked Tamm, Rin, Leilani and Bronz to "Fan out into The Star port, since we're going to be stuck here for 3 to 4 days and find out what you can on cargo that could be shipped as far as cargo to Fornice. Look for the unusual and exotic. Try not to get set up by some shady Art collector dealer, looking to offload some religious artifacts. Use your common sense when evaluating these prospects." (Pending dice throws and skill application)

Cpt Rains personally visits the Commerce Department and tries to weasel in to see what's available but not yet listed on the public boards. He works the bureaucracy like he owns it, and finds a couple of VERY GOOD PROSPECTS (listed on the following post).

TAMM seperates from Rin, Leilani, and Bronz and hits the lower decks, walking the markets and ducking into a tavern now and again. He overhears some 'hot takes' regarding an over-looked stash of high value goods in an under-utilized warehouse space, and hears that the owners are trying to clear the place out before selling the space to another company. (more info in the following post)

Rin, Leilani & Bronz need to provide an idea of what they want to accomplish and make the appropriate skill rolls.



Wait For It! Further Information regarding potential cargo follows.

After leaving Sickbay after Said Ma’s examination and treatment, Tharrok will go with Alice’s character and assist her using his Streetwise skill. He will ask around about any local establishments that cultivate the kind of local brokerage talent that they will need. Then he will go to those establishments and talk with the servers and service personnel to get a feel for whatever brokers might frequent them.Tharrok’s Streetwise skill: +2 ( if including attribute, Edu +1)

[quote="playbydave"]Miss Fortune has docked at Jokotre High Port and disembarked its low-passengers and one middle passenger. It's 5-days before getting clearance from the Religious Dictatorship to travel to the "Machines-are-Us" construction site on planet, but the company pays the fees and handles everything to do with getting the needed permits. [i](I don't believe anyone engaged in trying to sell your speculative cargo of non-prescription painkillers during this time?)On selling the speculative cargo, you are correct, no one has accomplished this. I think with all of the confusion on my part I did not task anyone to do this and I must confess I did not know how to proceed or do you the GM make all the roles? LC can take on contacting a Broker and sell the cargo since it looks like we are losing Alice.

Question - how is finding the Broker conducted? I mean besides roleplaying 'LC looks up the lists of local Broker houses and conducts a search on the interwebs for repetition to select one and then contacts the Broker house to sell the cargo', do you you determine the Broker level?

Warning rules jargon
For instance Jokotre has a 'B' Starport and Brokers up to skill level 3 can be found (LBB 07 pg) or the 1982 201 TTB page 104 - it just states that
"Broker's Services: Brokers may assist in the sale of goods delivered to a world. Each must be paid his fee even if the seller decides not to sell his goods. Brokers may provide DMs from +1 to +4, at a cost of 5% of the sale per +1 provided (a +1 broker receives 5%; a +4 broker receives 20%). The DM may never be higher than +4. Only one broker may assist with a sale."

It seems a bit unknown on the skill level of the local Broker, is this how you want to proceed? I am down with whatever, I just need to know.

If your character is "helping" another, a dice roll is not needed. Help can be in any form, including moral support. Security. Bits and bobs of random knowledge. Another ear to eavesdrop on nearby conversations. So usually no specific skill is required to be of help. Although having an applicable skill certainly doesn't hurt!

YES, sorry. If you are going off on your own a dice roll would be indicated!

And Leilani could aid my roll right?

Goods Available For Purchase

notes: MISS FORTUNE docked at Jokotre High Port at 21:30, April 25, Imperial Year 1115. The ship remained there for roughly 5 days, to late on May 2. (28 day months) Then took 2 days to deliver passengers and special-freight to the "Machines Are Us" construction site 'dirt-side'. Then the ship would certainly return to the High Port to collect freight, purchased cargo, and passengers. (An extra 100cr is due for additional wharfage.)

Departure, assuming all goes as planned, should be May 5.
-----

Cargo that was located by various methods (excluding the public boards, but including the two outstanding successes);

BEST BET: 11 dtons of handcrafted furniture made from rare local wood and leather. Very stylish. 7200cr per ton. 1-ton pallets. 10 percent discount for purchasing all.

ANOTHER GOOD DEAL: 7 dTons non-petroleum lubricants from local organic sources. In quarter-ton barrels on 1-ton pallets. 4,000cr per ton

25 dTons of construction grade steel beams. 10x 2.5 ton standard containers. 3200cr/ton. 10-percent discount if all purchased.

40 dTons of high-quality wheat flour. 8x 5 ton containers. 2500cr/ton.

20 dTons of vacuum-tube tech high performance audio equipment. 8x 2.5 ton containers. 5500cr per ton. Non-negotiable.

12 dTons of hand-crafted leather-wear. Packaged in quarter-ton crates (48 total). 4,000cr per ton.

11 dTons of Jokotre Ceremonial Wine. Packaged in quarter-ton crates. (44 total). 3500cr per ton.

5 dtons of Locally manufactured blade weapons: knives, blades, swords, cutlasses. 2 2.5 ton containers. 8500cr per ton.

1/2 dTon of Ram-Blessed Lakefish (tinned). Single Lot on pallet. 3500cr for all.

1/2 dTon of pure (liquid) Mercury in 2 quarter-ton barrels. 4,000cr for the 2.

---
No potential High Passengers have yet been found. There are more than enough Low Passengers for either Fornice or Mora to fill the freezers...

YES. Whoever is 'lead' makes the roll, adding the 'help' as a +1 DM.

All found cargo purchase opportunities are in the post above.

(added: sorry, I was going to go into more detail on Tamm's "find". Presume it to be the 'furniture' as listed above. LC gets a lead on the lubricants and a couple of the other cargo-opportunities lower in the list...)

Reputable Brokerage Firms would be in public listings and LC has the background to tell wheat from chaff in that regard. (No need to roleplay, just say you are hiring a local broker. Trying to keep things simple at this point, but later on we might make this a bit more of a roleplayed process. A broker charges 5 percent per skill level, thus for a +1 DM broker you have to pay him 5 percent of the sale (or purchase) price. They can also be instrumental in finding goods, usually for no additional charge if the purchase is made or a flat fee otherwise.)

The skill level of the broker is an abstraction, of course, but by word-of-mouth and "business page" reputation you'd know pretty well up front what you are paying for.

Tharrok looks at LC when he talks about the non-petroleum based lubricants like they are intended for industrial use. With a wry smile he says, "Not all lubricants are used for the gears of industry, Captain. I am a little surprised I’m the one to point that out.". Tharrok gives LC a knowing wink. "Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge. Know what I mean…"

(: sorry, I was going to go into more detail on Tamm's "find". Presume it to be the 'furniture' as listed above. LC gets a lead on the lubricants and a couple of the other cargo-opportunities lower in the list...)"Tamm agree; the fancy furniture will bring in a good profit. Tamm already placed the bid for the whole lot."

actions/movements in plain font and speaking in bold

LC raises both brows at Tharrok’s comment, then gives a slow, theatrical nod as if a deeply profound realization has just dawned.

"Ahhh... of course. Not just for gears and pistons—but for... well-oiled interpersonal relations."
He taps his compad with a deadpan expression.
"Remind me to lock that cargo bay extra tight. Don’t need anyone slipping in uninvited and starting a social experiment."

He chuckled outwardly, but inwardly, LC filed that away. The lubricants might draw more than industrial interest, and with four technicians still aboard and an increasingly colorful crew, it never hurt to keep one eye on the manifest... and the other on the crew quarters.

Turning toward Tamm, LC gives a short, approving grin.

"Good work, Tamm. Moving fast on that bid shows initiative—and a nose for good furniture. Let’s hope our buyer on Fornice has expensive taste and a bad back."

Truth be told, LC hadn’t expected Tamm to move so quickly, but he appreciated it. The ship needed more of that initiative. Still, a little more heads-up would’ve been nice. It was a Free Trader, not a fast-track auction house. Then again, profit was profit—and Tamm had just secured a solid one.

He taps the edge of the table to refocus the group.

"So with the furniture bid placed, that’s one solid hold half-filled. I’ll follow up on the lubricants—no matter their... intended use—and see if we can corner a few extra tons without gouging our margins."

He made a mental note to triple-check the invoicing. Smugg's name floated behind some of these suppliers like a shadow. And the last thing they needed was a crate full of ‘machine oil’ turning out to be bootleg stimulants or worse, consecrated incense bound for a Ramite enclave. Again.

LC shifts his attention to Alice and Said-Ma.

"Alice, let’s run some numbers. Can we afford to split spec lots between Fornice and Mora? I don’t want to come up dry in one system trying to make both work. Ma, what’s your read on how much we can comfortably carry, while keeping everything above board and non-combustible?"

He trusted Alice’s gut and Ma’s pragmatism. Between the two of them, they’d make sure nothing ended up exploding or underpriced. Or both. Which was always a danger when running dual-system cargo. Still, this was what he signed on for—juggling logistics, profit margins, and the quiet chaos of independent life.

He looks around the room with a crooked smile.

"It’s good to have choices—and even better to have a crew that acts like shareholders instead of drifters. Let’s finish this port stop in the black."

Because one wrong deal, and this whole dream—the Athelstone, the ‘Miss Fortune’, the crew, the escape from his old life—could turn to ash in a loading bay. But for now? They were still flying. Still free. And that was worth something.

[quote="Muns"]"Okay that 18 tons of our hold out of 62 tons. We have bought Cr 99,280 credits of goods. We have 44 tons.

The "Miss Fortune" has cargo capacity of 61 dTons. 56 dTons plus 5 additional that can be used to 'hide' some of the goods.

Purchases so far:

11 dtons of handcrafted furniture made from rare local wood and leather. Very stylish. 7200cr per ton. 1-ton pallets. 10 percent discount for purchasing all. 71280cr

7 dTons non-petroleum lubricants from local organic sources. In quarter-ton barrels on 1-ton pallets. 4,000cr per ton 28,000cr

Note that ALICE has submitted her resignation, forfeiting her 'investment' in ship's shares, in order to take a less risky steady job aboard Jokotre High Port.

MISS FORTUNE can add any of the other cargo available without further dice rolls UNLESS you want to haggle prices.

You can collect 10 low-passage passengers with no additional roleplay or dice rolls.

Selling the pharmaceuticals requires someone to make the dice roll for the best price offered...

Have you decided on FORNICE as your next port-of-call? ie; return trip?

Expenses so far: 200cr Wharfage. Life support/supply replenishment 2,000cr x 13 staterooms = 26,000cr. 10 low berths @ 100cr ea =1,000cr.

99,280cr for purchased cargo.

I get total expenditures of 126,480cr.

Looking for High or Middle Passengers is pending...

Set aside for yearly maintenance should be done at your next port of call. (4400cr)

Mortgage payment needs to be made at the next port of call. (183,334cr.)

Tharrok chimes in, "Mora is better. Spent too long kissing the dirt at Fornice while the bank did its thing. Time to move forward.". The Vargr shrugs a bit. "Leastways that’s my thinking. But I’m just the pilot. I fly the ship. You say Mora, I’ll fly Mora. You say Fornice…" he lets the rest trail off.

Mama, answers, "Personally, I think standard freight should be last resort. Any double or triple jump freight should only be purchased if we are moving it in the proper direction. If we need to back track through here to get it to sale, don't get it at this time unless it is a 'you can't lose' deal.

A solid offer from a reputable supply-house on Jokotre High port offers 7,000cr/dTon for the lot of pain-killer meds. Not as much as the 'salesman' on Fornice thought you'd get, but profitable still.

Once you've decided on a destination and filed a JUMP PLAN with the Port Captain's office you can book passengers.

Any additional speculative purchases?

I am assuming you are now docked at Jokotre High Port after delivering passengers and freight 'dirtside'. Date is May 4, 1115. You don't have much time to finish business if you plan to meet your projected departure date of May 5. You can always extend your stay; however time is money and there could be additional fees involved.

My apologies everyone. It seems everything is coming to a head at one time here. The hole has just been dug, footings going in next week, deliveries being dropped off, trees being uprooted and piled, 4 vehicles all wend down with battery issues, two full sets of tires needed to be replaced, the electrician, cement folks, plumber, HVAC, septic and well, kitchen cabinet ladies, and flooring specialist all want individual meetings... some two & three meetings... local bar license and personal bartenders license had to be renewed.

While all this is being juggled, I took a three week trip to south Carolina to be there for the birth of my 22nd grandchild.

Just a lot to get completed. So, feel free to move forward without me, I will interject as I can

Oh,

And thank you for understanding.

Opposed roll against understanding…jk

Tharrok looks over the manifest. "Well, that looks like a full hold to me. Do we have any passengers lined up yet? If not, should we consider using the staterooms for non-standard cargo?" T-Jive raises his eyebrow questioningly. Not sure where the thought came from, he shrugs and says, "Just a thought that struck me. Not even sure if it’s a good idea, but thought it couldn’t hurt to ask."

Tharrok strokes his chin for a moment then says, "Well, things that might be better under more climate controlled conditions. Certain agricultural products or intoxicating spirits, maybe. Certain psychedelics, if there are any grown here, which is something I don’t know about, maybe…"

PASSENGERS:

You can fill the 10 low berths from the pubilic "want to travel to Mora" list with no difficulties. 1,000cr each, paid upfront, so 10,000cr revenue. All 10 are pilgrims-of-Ram making their way back to Mora or points beyond. They chant delightfully as they board "Miss Fortune" and have a sort of glazed look, the same on each face.

3 MIDDLE Passengers can also be picked from the public list without issue. A couple of starport employees headed to Mora on a vactation/shopping trip, and a scholar/philosopher returning to her home on Mora. 8,000 x3 = 24,000cr.

Decherrek pays his standard 10,000cr fee for his trip to Mora.

leaves 2 staterooms 'vacant' for the trip to Mora.

Tharrok looks at the options and scratches behind his ear. "Well, neither looks like particularly attractive options in and of themselves. So, a couple of things we should consider… First, where do we want to go beyond there? If we want to go further trailing, say on to Daumier, then Dojodo makes the most sense. It is also the system with the higher population. Both systems have Scout Bases, but they are wildly different experiences. Nadrin’s population is almost exclusively Jonkeereen and the Scout Base there is set up to observe that population. On the other hand, Dojodo’s base is considered the ass-end of the Scout Service. Neither system has a particularly decent market for much of anything. And I don’t know what, exactly, they have to offer in return."