Open The Slups The Grand Crime Market

[Ivo Suresight]

OOC: This thread is meant for interactions between criminal and civilian population that are not necessarily hostile. Everyone is welcome to partake and mingle with those who visit the Grand Crime Market and shady facilities around it!

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Ivo fixed his coat and continued down the street. Now that he got used to clean and maintained cobbles of Zann's backyard, coming here, to the place he called home for most of his life, made him acutely aware of how poor it really is.

But changing it was hopeless. It would take dozens of years to achieve that, as well as lots of money no one wished to spend on the poor. Such was a life and Ivo was very aware of it. The rich and powerful used whatever the poors had for their own sake. Those who were poor and wanted that, turned to crime.

As he thought of that he now remembered again his current task. To map and prepare a new plan to rebuild a certain market in the Slups. One that at the first glance wasn't unique. Just a commonplace market with goods and traders trying to earn their part.

But Ivo still remembered it from his kithood. This was just one half of the gilder. The other one was hidden in plain sight.

Good part of the merchants here traded both goods and services. Primarily of criminal kind. Certain codes and signs were needed but you could've gotten illegal contraband, enslaved some beast, order to murder or get information on someone.

This was one of few hubs of criminal activity in the slups, for those more familiar with this 'trade' it was known as The Grand Crime Market. It was a place were various criminals exchanged services while ensured peace, for not one of them would try to break the balance of this place.

No one would do that, but it was Ivo's job to do so. His task was simple, to prepare a plan of a new market, more organized. In theory it was a good thing, making slups anymore organized served their inhabitants greatly.

But Ivo knew it wasn't the true reason. The city needed a valid pretext to bring in guards en masse to the place. Evicting people for public works was great at that without causing too much of a pushback. And for such cheap price The Grand Crime Market would be gone for good.

And to be fair, he didn't mind it at all. He felt sorry for all those who would suffer from it, but crime was an issue. One that city was right to resolve.

If only he wouldn't be forced to do that, he would probably even be happy he can contribute to the cause.

He stopped now as his eyes registered that he was already there. right behind the corner he found himself on a long space that looked like widened street. This was it, the place he came to seal its fate.

Taking a quick look around he found it charming this place hasn't changed at all. many of the same faces, the exact same shady pubs, gambling and sporting houses, pawnshops of ill repute. It was surely one place of its kind even in the slups.

Ivo ventured in, glad he picked more toned and grimy coat for this day to not stand apart too much. Putting on a brooch that he still had from his crime days made him very recognizable by those dealing in crime and he quickly had to wave back to many 'merchants' he passed by, ones he knew well for being enforcers or scouts of various gangs.

He took out his sketchbook and a pencil and started drawing his surroudings. His keen sight and dexterious hand worked in tandem to quickly transfer what he saw onto the paper.

But lost in the process he failed to notice someone bumping into him. And then a gust of wind took the paper he was drawing on towards the nearby stalls. He of course, rushed after it.

 

[Marianna Furotazzi]

"C'mon, Anna, why're we here? 'S supposed t' be my poker night."

"Fal, look around you. What do you see?"

"...'Atta trick question? It's the Market. Same as it's always been."

"Let me reword the question. Who do you see?"

Brown eyes set in a golden-furred face scanned the marketplace. "E'eryone," Falun commented with a shrug. "Scorpos, Great Maw, Cloakers, Maudies, Maelers, Red Paws-"

"Do you see any Furotazzis?"

"What, aside from us? Nah, of course not."

"Why is that, Fal?"

A scowl landed on the todd's face. "If this is you raggin' on me-"

"We aren't here because it's a saturated market."

"Nah, it's open e'ery other day a' the week too, it's jus' busiest then."

"...Let me rephrase in a way you'll comprehend. We don't have a presence here because every good or service you could ask for is already represented by at least three businesses. Any service, that is, except one. Can you tell me which that is?"

Falun yawned a bit as he scratched idly at his cheek fur. He was at least doing an admirable job of pretending to think. "Taxidermy?"

"...I'll give you credit for even knowing that word. No, what you don't see here is banking."

Falun blinked, looking at his sister in surprise. Marianna was surveying the entire market with an analytical eye, as if she were mapping it out. "Why'd there be a bank here?" he remarked. "The Epicurean's just up the road."

"Do you know how most criminals get caught, Falun?"

Falun considered this before shrugging. "Probably by the pants. Easier to grab than the collar."

Marianna sighed dramatically, rolling her eyes. "This is why I let you do the brute work, brother. Beasts get caught because the Ministry of Commerce does regular vault audits. You see, they have profiles of all the businesses in the city - how much money they are expected to make, what their sources of income are, who their business partners are, and so on. This is all information that businesses are required to report, otherwise they don't get a business license."

"Yeah, I know," Falun said defensively, crossing his arms. "That's why we 'ad Creepy Sal forge us up a license las' month. What's yer point?"

"My point is," Marianna rolled her eyes, "criminals get caught all the time when they suddenly are depositing large amounts of gilders that they can't explain. It's not illegal itself, but it gets the Commerce auditors sniffing around, and before you know it, the Ministry of Justice is showing up with a warrant."

Falun yawned widely, not bothering to conceal his boredom. "Get to it Anna, what's yer big idea?"

"Stocks."

"Stocks? Like, the things beasts used t' get put in an' pelted wiv' fruit?"

"Not stockades, you idiot. Stocks, as in bonds. Investment shares. We might not be able to open our own bank, but we can sell shares of Obsidian Corporation to the beasts working here."

"But Obsidian's worthless now," Falun pointed out. "Dad drove the price of it righ' into the Harbor b'fore he died."

"Don't call him our father," Marianna rebuked tersely, "and yes, he made unwise decisions there at the end, trying to divest the company of its more... legally dubious assets. However, the basic idea of it remains sound. Beasts purchase shares of Obsidian Corporation, and in so doing, they own a small share of the company - a percentage of all shares in existence. They can then come back and purchase more shares later, or return and sell their shares back to us for gilders."

Falun scowled at that. "How're we supposed t' make money if we go buyin' back worthless pieces a' paper?"

"Simple: as we sell more stock, the price of buying it goes up, and the price of selling it to us also goes up. Each time, we take a small fee for each purchase - say, a half gilder - as a processing cost. Most beasts are going to buy low with us, in the hope of selling back to us at a higher price and, in so doing, making money. In the meantime, we're taking in money for trading them our stocks for their coin, and vice versa. And here's the real beauty of it, Falun: the merchants here can then start accepting our stock as payment."

Falun blinked, not sure he'd heard her correctly. "They'll what?"

"Beasts can trade our stocks to each other for goods and services. Then those beasts can take the stocks to us and, for a small fee, have them traded into legitimate gilders. This way, they can perform transactions that are completely untraceable - and they can hold their gold with us, while keeping our stock on paw to trade into gilders whenever they need to."

The doubt on Falun's face turned doubtful. "Ain' beasts gonna figure out eventually that it's all just worthless paper? An', I mean, eventually somebeas' in Commerce is gonna notice 'at only criminals are usin' our stocks, an' 'ey'll start watchin' anyone what 'as them fer anythin' illegal. 'Gates, we migh' get in trouble ourselves fer it."

Marianna sighed, rolling her eyes. "I'm not even going to bother explaining my plan for the rollout of ObCoin then-"

"Ob-what?"

"ObCoin. It's a small minted token that represents one share of Obsidian, in a convenient small disk form for use as currency."

"So, what, counterfeit money?"

"No, it's not a real currency, it's just a representation of an object that has value, and that representation can be traded back and forth in exchange for goods and services of equal value."

"...so, coin. Commerce really ain' gonna like that."

Marianna sighed irritably. "It's a curse, being ahead of my time. Look, just go around the market and count the number of vendors, alright? I want to get a good count of how many potential customers before I start printing stock or minting ObCoin."

Falun walked away, still shaking his head at his sister's schemes. Marianna shook her head, stepping forward to walk after him -

A piece of paper hit her in the side of the face. She blinked, putting a paw up to grab the paper that had landed across her cheek, and pulled it away, glancing at it. It appeared to be some half-finished sketch or diagram of some sort. Approaching her quickly was evidently the artist behind the piece, or at least someone with a vested interest in obtaining it. Marianna blinked, trying to clear her eyes and make sure she wasn't seeing things. She'd never seen another fox with a hue that approached her own for intensity of redness before. The Heartwood family were, according to their own lore, ancient transplants from some distant realm, but their signature dark-red fur had died out slowly, generation after generation, until seemingly Marianna and her birth mother, Julia Freedom, had been the last ones left. Perhaps some strain of the coloration had survived elsewhere in the population, to judge by the violently red coat of this beast.

"I believe that you may have lost this," Marianna indicated, gesturing with the piece of paper. "Either that, or you've just had a very successful first test of a new wind-born message delivery system."

 

[Ivo Suresight]

Ivo stopped right in front of the vixen, instantly cautious as one reasonably should be at this place. "Yes that's mine. Thanks... Madam?" He wasn't sure how to properly speak to this beast. They looked waaaay to rich to be here, normally those who had interest in The Grand Crime Market were inconspicuous or sent someone who could be.

"If ya could 'give it back, that'd be kind." He asked with friendly face while crossing his arms. He ensured to put both his paws on the view, parting fingers but hiding thumbs. Ivo tested if this vixen was familiar with this place with this unassuming but clear message to those who knew the codes. This one was quite universal opener to the secret world of the codes. And the tone of further interaction will depend on the vixen's response.

 

[Marianna Furotazzi]

Marianna raised an eyebrow at the use of the word 'madam'. She knew that she tended to dress oppulently; after all, a mafiosa, especially a book keeper, had to project a certain image of success. Still, she wasn't that old. Granted, this was much younger todd, by the looks of him; even a ten year age difference could look like a lot to the young. Then again, she reflected, she'd been with todds that much older than her at his age, and no one had batted an eye then. Societal perceptions of age were different for femmes than for males, it seemed.

Her brow raised further as the beast made a common underworld sign, a simple test to see if she was a beast in the know. She handed back the slip of paper while discretely making a countersign with her other paw. "Best to hold onto what's precious to you," she advised. "Such things tend to disappear around here."

 

[Ivo Suresight]

Ivo relaxed internally at both his work being returned to him as well as seeing a familiar sign. Knowing he could speak to them as equal was putting him at ease. He took the piece of paper and slipped it into his sketchbook again, examining it for any damage. Yet the presence of the vixen was intriguing and appealed to his curiosity. "Heh, I know. But luck's on m'side it seems today. I haven't seen a lass like you 'round here since foreva'" He grinned and continued to sketch out the the surrounding while speaking to them.

"Yer new here? Or have ya came to riches in past few years o'so?" Ivo asked, his curiosity apparent with a gentle wag of his tail behind. Worst come worst he would be just told to go away in this place.

 

[Marianna Furotazzi]

Marianna relaxed as the sign was accepted, and the beast returned to his sketching. It was slightly intriguing that he would choose to sketch the market, of all places; it was hardly the most aesthetically pleasing of spots, after all, nor did it seem he was unfamiliar with the location. She briefly wondered what he meant by 'lass like you'; was that meant to be a compliment?

Marianna adjusted her boa to rest more easily across her shoulders. "It has been a long time," she acknowledged, "since I came to the market myself. Normally I keep behind a desk. I do bookkeeping for the Obsidian Corporation." That Obsidian was a front for the Furotazzis was an open secret in the criminal underworld. Granted, since its financial implosion with the death of its chairman, there weren't many books to keep there anymore. For some reason she didn't feel inclined to tell him that, with the death of Vito, she was now co-leader of the organization. Most beasts tended to react poorly to hearing that, and it was nice to talk to a beast as an equal for a change.

"If I may ask," she inquired, watching him work, "why are you bothering to sketch the market? Surely there are more pleasing locales through the city that an artist might choose to memorialize."