[open] april influence jobs

[thedarkbond]

Who: Ren Suzugamori and you!
When: Early April
Where: The ports and wherever food distribution is happening
What: Influence jobs (Sharing is Caring and Rumour Has It) + catchall if anyone wants to plot anything else
Warnings: None right now, will update if they become relevant


[a: sharing is caring]

[Ren might have been there to save the guild's workers when the power plant exploded, but he's noticed a very disappointing shift in the attitudes of the landens this month, and it's making him very reluctant to be taking their side on anything right now. Particularly when the situation of the Blood in the city's slums is well-known at this point, and people are still turning a blind eye.

Diplomacy has always been a strong point of his, though, as has been identifying the weakest links. As such, in one of the food distribution areas where guildworkers are offering food out primarily to landens while harangued-looking Blood lurk in the background in hopes of getting a chance at it, he might be caught in the midst of sweet-talking them around to his side of things.]

...there wouldn't even be this much to offer around without that gift from last month, would there? To just keep that all for yourself seems like it's just taking while giving nothing back...

[And congratulations, random Stranger, you're getting dragged into this conversation too once Ren turns his head to offer you a smile and a prompt:] Isn't that right?

--

[b: rumour has it]

[While heavy lifting is definitely not Ren's strong point, the whole "dawn training" business that's been insisted on while he lives with the court has definitely done a little bit for his strength and stamina by this point. As such, while he still doesn't like hard work, the offer of information from the sailors is a little too hard to resist.

That said, lifting crates by himself is not quite as easy as he expected it to be, and as soon as he spots any other Strangers hanging around the port area, he'll lean his crate against something briefly to wave a hand.] Hey, hey, sorry to ask, but could you help me with this? It's kind of awkward to carry when I can't see where I'm going...

[It's definitely big enough to be obscuring his sight, and there's a lot of rope and net and such like here to potentially trip over.]

--

[c: wildcard]

[[If you want to plot something else (potentially with dawn training or Ren trying to train his craft up a little bit before something else nasty happens), feel free to hit me up by PM or at reviseleviathan!]]

Comments

[inducings]

[ Piper shrugs a little and nods since Ren is making an excellent point. She carefully makes eye contact with the other two landen. ]

And no one's suggesting you just give them the food. They have money. They should pay. [ And the price you set, would be her implication. So who's the one with the opportunity to take advantage? ] You don't need to be afraid, especially if you strike a deal.

[thedarkbond]

[Ren gives a slight hum of agreement to that, nodding along with Piper's remark. The holdout landen definitely looks a bit sour still, like they're trying to find an argument.]

A deal doesn't need to be money, either...a favour, or protection from other Blood who might cause trouble...there's a lot of options, right?

[While the other two are looking a bit more convinced, that just launches the third back onto the defensive, jabbing a finger towards the nearby Blood. "How do we know they won't just come back with friends?"

At that, Ren takes a moment to just look at their surroundings. Primarily landens, with any Blood in the area looking furtive and like they'd rather be anywhere else.] I don't know if you've noticed, but the landens have been lashing out a lot against the Blood recently...I don't think anyone wants to stir that kind of trouble over one food handout. Do you?

[inducings]

Especially not if you give them a good deal and make a profit. [ Piper adds, shifting her gaze to the hold out. She does not grab hold of her power, but she does smile at him. There's power in that kind of smile from a beautiful girl, the kind that says: You are so smart and clever and I just appreciate how amazing you are. ] Then you'd want them to come back, right? And bring their friends. But if you'd like, I don't mind standing witness to see you drive the bargain.

[ A glance at Ren. ] Do mind?

[ Come on, then you'd get to havetwo strangers as witness, that'd definitely count for something. ]

[thedarkbond]

[Ren shakes his head at Piper's prompt.] Oh, I definitely don't mind. Especially if it would put everyone's mind at ease.

[The combination of the two Strangers and Piper's charm tactic against the one holding out seems to have shifted things against him a bit, and the guy finally relents, still looking a little sour, but waving a hand like it suddenly doesn't matter to him for reasons that have nothing to do with this discussion. It's such a transparent attempt to keep his pride intact that Ren would almost laugh if he had less self-control.

"Fine, whatever...let them get in line, then. You don't have a problem with that, right?"

Even as he says that, the two other landens start waving the nearby Blood over, and though their motions are hesitant, they come to join the line.]

Well, first people first just makes sense, though I feel like some of them have been here for a while... [Still, at least they're getting a shot at it before any other landens show up.]

[inducings]

[ Petty power plays and keeping food from hungry people - Piper's liking this whole thing less and less. She's careful not to let her irritation show, but this was just ridiculous. Oh well, at least the other two were waving the Blood over -- and they might have jewels, but it seemed like they had little else to recommend them in terms of power.

It was definitely good that they were sticking around to make sure they'd be charged something they could actually afford.

She tells herself to reinforce the positive changes she sees and try to continue to ease the way. ]

Yes, it's good to have them join in line. [ A smile, a nod. ] After all, everyone is coming to you for help. It's a good idea to have them all join together.

[thedarkbond]

[Ren isn't impressed either, but making that obvious is just going to make them look biased when things are as sensitive as they are, and he doesn't want to end up complicating the situation further. As it is, he waves to anyone else who seems to be coming in this direction for food as well, and directs them to join the line regardless of if they look to be Blood or landen.]

Right, right, it's the easiest way to do it, isn't it? That way there isn't going to be any more of a misunderstanding.

[That said, most of the landens don't seem to be paying much for their share of the food, and Ren makes a note of that as the Blood get closer to the front of the line. He's curious how much trouble they're going to have preventing any extortion here.]

Oh, it looks like you've set a good price for your regulars~ [The smiles the two non-sour landens offer him at that are definitely a little bit awkward, like they're starting to realise the scrutiny this will be under.]

[inducings]

[ Yup. Piper'd brought up that they should be able to make a good deal, but making a profit and wiping the Blood out who are obviously in need are two Very Different things. It wasn't something she'd thought of immediately, put she picks it up now that Ren is hinting at it. So she smiles brightly, Interested and Impressed (and it's a little bit like nails clawing on a chalkboard to do it like this in the back of her mind, but she knows it works, and so...). ]

Yeah, that's really impressive. Do you make profit off of each item, or only when you sell them in bulk? [ And how much profit? What's a fair price here? ]

[thedarkbond]

[Ren is quietly thankful that he's lucked out on someone who doesn't need him to basically flash a neon sign to pick up on his cues, and smiles gently to join in with Piper's interested air. While the landen who'd been resistant earlier suddenly looks curiously tight-lipped, one of the other two pipes up.

"In bulk usually gets us a little less, actually...we have to at least make enough to get back what the farmers charge in the first place, which can be a lot when things are this scarce. But you start to learn which people don't have much to give if they come to you often, so we try to do what we can."

Definitely a good choice of initial target, Ren thinks, and he gives a bit of a bouncy nod.] Oh, that's nice of you to support them like that. Do you get to know all of the people around here like that, or just certain ones...?

[In other words, is it just the landens, but he feels like that would probably seem a bit too loaded.]

sorry, got stuck here for a bit

[inducings]

[ Piper nods at the landen's answer, listening attentively. The landens in line seem to be confident that they'll be able to get what they need, which is good. The Blood who've only recently joined are tense... she hopes they're not combative when their turn comes.

She understand's Ren's question, but feels like making it specific toward the Blood would probably just draw the wrong kind of attention, so she decides to affirm the Guild's helpfulness instead. The landen who'd been giving them 'reasons' to not allow the Blood access to food looked as if he was chewing something sour, and she didn't want to give him a chance to start talking again. ]

That is really amazing of you. And I'm sure they try to pay back what they can, I've noticed people here take that really seriously.

[thedarkbond]

[Direct or not, it seems like the landens run into the implication of Ren's question on their way to an answer, because it comes out somewhat awkwardly. "Well, naturally we tend to know the landens better because they come around here more...b-but I'm sure if the Blood come back regularly too, we'll know more about them! I don't think anyone here really expects to get anything for free, though, not with how scarce things can get."

They seem to be understanding the situation more with their own words, at least, and glance towards the Blood approaching the front of the line. The sour one looks like he might be thinking about opening his mouth again at that, so Ren jumps in first.]

Of course, only criminals and stuff are going to try and get things completely free in that situation, aren't they? Even if people are trying to get by with what they have, I think everyone understands what the situation is like here, whether they're landen or Blood. Nobody can make food from nothing, after all.

[Sourpuss bites his tongue with a somewhat sullen look and turns away, like Ren just stepped on a significant part of whatever his argument was about to be.]

[inducings]

[ Piper can tell that the sour one really isn't happy with how this is going, but he's willing to go along because the other landen are. Besides, the steady pressure and redirection Ren is applying seems to be working, and he's not being given a chance to try and spoil things. She can only try to keep encouraging the good choices. ]

And it shouldn't be so bad yet that people won't be able to give anything. [ Piper gives the landen an encouraging smile. ] Plus, it's only fair that you get something in return for all your work. I've been bartering working for people when I can't afford something here. It's been working out pretty well so far.