A new plan, done by blackmailing creatures

[waerth]

Well the evil Orc won the election and here he is at it again.

I got a threatening letter telling me to co-operate with him or otherwise he would tell other creatures to boycot my goods. I do not take lightly to blackmail and threats so I am really leaving this time. By the time you are reading this I will have finished my last piece, I hope, and then I will be on my way.

Wheretoo? I do not know. Maybe I will return as soon as the evil orc is no longer a mayor.

W

[Silence]

Well, that was fourty days of work down the drain. Alder had gone to Cork, haggled with their merchants and managed to come away with enough broccoli stems to have about four people finish this if they were turned into buttered veggies, as well as enough buttered veggies for one more, enough body paints for one more, enough wood to create enough crates for one more and some other smaller things that probably weren't important, but that would be of use in the earlier stages. Well... all of that hadn't been cheap or easy to collect. The idea was that with that, he would be able to give the citizens of Widu a small edge since he didn't need any of those items. And admittedly, he had made a small profit while he was there.

However, that craftsman had been the blacksmith who had made the items after he had sold what he had, and that craftsman had been the person who had taken those body paints and the crates... and now he was taking that advantage and giving it to some other place. Well, there wasn't going to be any convincing him this time. He was taking one of Widu's greatest assets and all of the items it had created and... this was not going to end well for Widu or for the people within it.

[Bridget]

Argh. This is not okay. Waerth, as I said in my letter to you this morning, I'm terribly sorry you've been threatened and blackmailed. At this moment I'm still sorting through things (( okay, I just woke up and it's Saturday and I have other things to do... )), but I will be thinking on this today. I am on your side though. I do not feel you must - or any of us must - lower our prices for this event. Myself, I've already lost money and time because of it. My cows are not getting milked because no one is working fields, as I see other creature's fields aren't being worked.

Blackmailing our citizens is not acceptable. Waerth has been working hard for our viceroyalty. He's reliably checking his office and he's producing much of the goods our town needs to flourish. I am saddened, and most frustrated, at the thought of losing him.

Anyway, I need to sort out my words and my thoughts now.

[Texas_Knight]

I did not threaten him... but you be the judge and see

waerth,

I would like to ask you nicely to bring the prices of your event items down to a reasonable level. In particular when you pay no more than 2f per butter and want to charge way too much for this:

1 Buttered popcorn 60.00Freznics waerth Buy Buy for Town Hall
16 Buttered popcorn 60.00Freznics waerth
(Via Steward)

Among your event items is way too much. If you do not bring them down voluntarily, I will put out a mail telling citizens to not buy any of your items, event related or not.

The choice is yours.

TK

That is neither a threat, nor anything close to blackmail. That is simply asking him to lower his prices on event items. I did receive a very short and curt reply from him..

Re: Prices of items Sat Oct 18, 1654
12:26 am
From: waerth (In Character) Message Status: Read
I do not like being threathened.

W

The items required to make Buttered Popcorn are:
Blacksmiths make Buttered Popcorn from Popcorn and Butter
Blacksmiths make Popcorn from Corn
Butter found during milking of Cow

He is a blacksmith. He did not raise animals. He has completed the Second Phase of the event. He was overcharging everyone on the event items and I called him out on it. He acted like a youngling and decided to take his toys and go elsewhere rather than lower the prices and not fleece everyone needing the items for the event.

IF anyone is happy with his overpricing of items, then get him to make them for you at his prices. But before you do, get a reliable source and find out what those items are going for in OTHER towns.

And yet he calls me the evil mayor. *shrugs* Whatever.

[waerth]

I do not overcharge people. I base pricing on what I have paid for the articles that I have made. Which is much higher then the 2f butter I bought lately. At one point my buttered popcorn was 40 frezs when the prices were lower. I still have 20 popcorn that I bought for 10f in the beginning of the event. Butter was 20 in the beginning of the event yet I sold buttered popcorn for 70f a huge loss. My cost then was 110f in produce and 10f in labour for a total of 120f yet I sold for much lower.

So far I have made a loss on Phoenix items. I have spend many more Freznics then I made. I had 5000 freznics before Phoenix. Now I have 300 freznics. I had a huge stock of items that I bought that will be totally worthless after Phoenix ends.

End yes you blackmailed me. The message clearly states if you do not do what I do I will hurt you.

Also it is not up to you to decide what people should charge for things they do.

Plus it is very funny that it seems Phoenix items that a blacksmith makes appear on the market after I left! Which means that you have prepared for me to leave and have deliberately chased me away knowing that now I cannot sell my items anymore. And you are making a handsome profit yourself now.

You are a swindling Orc. Using blackmail and threats to get your way done. As long as you are mayor of Widu, I will NOT return.

W

[Texas_Knight]

I do not overcharge people. I base pricing on what I have paid for the articles that I have made. Which is much higher then the 2f butter I bought lately. At one point my buttered popcorn was 40 frezs when the prices were lower. I still have 20 popcorn that I bought for 10f in the beginning of the event. Butter was 20 in the beginning of the event yet I sold buttered popcorn for 70f a huge loss. My cost then was 110f in produce and 10f in labour for a total of 120f yet I sold for much lower.

So far I have made a loss on Phoenix items. I have spend many more Freznics then I made. I had 5000 freznics before Phoenix. Now I have 300 freznics. I had a huge stock of items that I bought that will be totally worthless after Phoenix ends.

End yes you blackmailed me. The message clearly states if you do not do what I do I will hurt you.

Also it is not up to you to decide what people should charge for things they do.

Plus it is very funny that it seems Phoenix items that a blacksmith makes appear on the market after I left! Which means that you have prepared for me to leave and have deliberately chased me away knowing that now I cannot sell my items anymore. And you are making a handsome profit yourself now.

You are a swindling Orc. Using blackmail and threats to get your way done. As long as you are mayor of Widu, I will NOT return.

W

black·mail
ˈblakˌmāl/Submit
noun
1.
the action, treated as a criminal offense, of demanding money from a person in return for not revealing compromising or injurious information about that person.

I did not blackmail you. I did not threaten you either. I told you what I would do. That was a fact, and a promise. You are right, it is not up to me to decide what people should charge, but it is up the the citizens as to what they will pay for ANY item. As far as the event items that have appeared on the market AFTER you left, I have had traders scouring the lands looking for cheaper items, and they just arrived in town with the events. And they are being sold, not by the Town Hall, but by the creatures that brought them to the town.

Get your definitions straight. Get your facts straight. And get your prices straight.

You call me a swindler? And yet I am trying to help the citizens complete what you have already done without being overcharged. Let me help you with that definition as well. By overcharging for your goods, YOU are the swindler.

swin·dle (swndl)
v. swin·dled, swin·dling, swin·dles
v.tr.
1. To cheat or defraud of money or property.
2. To obtain by fraudulent means.

You are a liar. Here's the definition for you since you seem to be uninformed of the two things you have accused me of being.

lie
n.
1. A false statement deliberately presented as being true; a falsehood.
2. Something meant to deceive or give a wrong impression.
v. lied, ly·ing (lng), lies
v.intr.
1. To present false information with the intention of deceiving.
2. To convey a false image or impression: Appearances often lie.
v.tr.
To cause to be in a specific condition or affect in a specific way by telling falsehoods: You have lied yourself into trouble.
Idiom:
lie through one's teeth
To lie outrageously or brazenly.

[waerth]

The FACT that you have asked other creatures to provide the products we produce ourselves means you preplanned to chase me away.

W

[Wyllow]

News always seems to travel fast... Especially with their is discord among the ranks. Something she isn't surprised about. She pens a letter, a third one in the last few days, which is a surprise to her, in all honesty, because she swore to herself to just stay out of the mess that the officials seem to be creating for themselves, yet, they can't even see what is happening to the town and VR that so many of us loved.

Hello everyone!

I am writing an apology for this mess. This whole mess. Why? Well... many of you probably are not aware that I responded to the mass letter that was sent out to the creatures of Widu. This letter:

She includes the letter that everyone received

	Citizens of Widu, I'd like to thank you for your support and allowing me the honor of being your mayor for a second term. If there are things you need, want, or have any ideas to share I'd like to hear from you. During this term I'm going to propose a new way to get each of us to complete the Phoenix Event. The idea I have is that everyone makes the items needed right here in Widu. We make them for the cost of materials only. No labor charges, no markups, no extra costs at all. We do it only to help one another. We do it without trying to get rich or even earn a frenzic. This helps all citizens and we can complete the event levels much more quickly. I'm going to put a poll up about this proposal and I'd like to see all of you vote on the poll. Also, if you have excess items and would like to get rid of them, I have towns asking for regular items at a fair price. Contact me and there's a chance that the TH could help you and help others. That's all for now. Once again, thank each of you for your support and if you need anything I'm always just a messenger away. Your Mayor, Texas_Knight

This is a copy of a letter that I sent, as.. best my recollection can recall it is a pretty good duplicate.

	Hello! That is all great and everything, but when things take 24 hours to make, it is kinda hard for people to just not charge for their work. Considering there has been a considerable amount of work put into certain things to produce them.. I am not sure that will work. Also, not everything can be produced in Widu only, as some ingredients can only be gotten elsewhere. An example being Strawberries, Pears and broccoli stems (Unless we pay 500 silver for them off the caravan which places them at a cost of near 50f) when we can get them in Paz for 4-7 each. Trade is what needs to be happening. Not the ridiculous trades we saw where things were brought in from other places and marked up clear to 125 each, such as the buttered veggies were, when their cost plus a 50f a day wage, was only 75 each. So, I would say we need a reliable trader that isn't going to mark items up so blatantly ridiculous. That would be the starting point. A trader from our town that is willing to work on a wage basis rather than a reaping wage. That would be my suggestion in getting prices down to where they need to be for items we can not make in Widu, as it has been much easier for people to just travel and pay a reasonable price. Hope things are well back there in Widu. Oh, and down pillows here in Paz for 20 each. So yeah, there is a good deal of greed going on in Widu. I am bringing back some stems that I picked up for 4 each. I will be happy to sell them at 5 or 6 when I get back. Wyllow

I have highlighted the section that I think, is my responsibility and the reason this may have come about? What TK wasn't told straight out, was that the trader I was talking of was Alder. I didn't expect.. I would Never expect... a Town Mayor to ever attack a town citizen like this. So please, explain how one town member is allowed to reap the benefits...? And blatantly over charge, yet others are not?

This letter sent to waerth was a threat. No matter how you want to spin it, and it was plain wrong. The fact that anyone in their right mind went after someone for selling their goods at 60 for that particular item is mind blowing, But again, I think I should take responsibility for bringing up the price of buttered veggies.

Even after I paid the following:

Oct 3, 1654
7:49 pm [Widu Town Market] You have bought 7 buttered veggies at 85.00 each from Alder

Again, who is to say what an item costs to make? Maybe Alder paid much higher than we all thought? Maybe he paid.. well 75 for each? Which I justified my purchase by looking at what the base items should have cost. I figured then a 50 wage was being generous, and considering they were imported, 10 each extra, and that would pay for the time spent in bringing the items back. The fact that the price was dropped from 125 to 85 in about a day, told a huge story though.

I am also sorry, but I have to commend waerth for taking a stand against such horrible treatment. It isn't right, and shame on anyone for even attempting to justify it. In the end, it seems someone needs to take the blame, but I will for the greater good. As it seems the specific item I spoke about was the one used to target someone that has always provided dependable inexpensive goods. So much so that over time I have purchased said goods and donated them from time to time to the TH.

I can't support a TH or a VR that I don't have faith in any-longer though. So if you see any sarcasm in this letter, there is absolutely none... well, maybe a little. I just know how it feels to be ostracized for having forward thinking and a different thought base than the people in charge and believe me, I understand every bit of what waerth is feelings.. It is preferred that no one stands up for themselves here. Even a question for our 'Awesome' town mentor landed me with what felt like snide reply for asking why the same people for the last 8 weeks were the only ones being suggested for SP's, rather than giving a mention to other people of our town and spreading it out, to make it more fair. The first words stated she didn't have time to find people. I was mentor for a good long while for Widu, I know the job, in and out. It doesn't take much time to look at who you have been promoting and choosing others to promote to make it more even and fair.

This is just another example of what is going wrong here, to pile on to the last.. well I am going to say, at least three months of madness. I know that when I left Town Council on or around August 21st, that outside thoughts and opinions were not wanted, unless I fit their ideals.

At anyrate, be well, Widu. Perhaps a revolution needs to be had in Kiene as well.... Unless we like living under these conditions? It isn't going to change and people are going to continue to leave.

Wyllow



((Please forgive the format as it is a letter, but the letter format would just be so very annoying to read all of this.))

[Silence]

"Alright, this is apparently getting personal. I paid 100 each for those buttered veggies and made a loss on them by sellin them at 85 each via a deal with Waerth. I also bought 26 broccoli stems at 20 each just to resell them in Widu at the same price. Broccoli stems are not going at 6-7... they were not even going at 20 until I practically begged people, but apparently this is how it's..."

Alder trailed off and calmed down.

"Sorry... I shouldn't be getting worked up like that. What happened with the buttered things is that Waerth bought all of the broccoli stems and then told me that he was going teh start producing for lower than I was selling. We worked out a deal and decided that I'd make a loss on them since I had been overcharged myself for em apparently. The fact here is that nobody has done anything wrong, but we're all seeing what everybody else has done wrong... I spent about fourty days gathering together those items for people in Widu teh use, and I have already sold all of the things that I was going teh use because I don't think everybody can win this, so we might as well get some people winning rather than have all of us clutchin at the early stages or something."

"Look people, the guy was not overpricing squat, and I wasn't going teh waste my time over there for nothing... I at least had teh cover my costs, even though I actually made a loss overall."

Alder realised that he was raising his voice again and so took out a coin which he proceeded to violently fiddle with for a short time. Afterwards, he proceeded in a calm and calculating tone of voice.

"If we're pointing fingers, I could comment on how yeh hated the old trader for underpricing his goods and making it so that you couldn't sell your stuff... now yeh aren't overpricing yer things here, yer apparently having a go at people pricing things too high from outside areas... just something teh consider. The fact is that nobody is doing anything wrong, but we're all being very quick teh go pointing fingers at each other as teh why we aren't getting far enough in this event or why we don't have enough money, just because that's the sort of creature we are apparently, ain't it?"

"By the way, I ain't got nothing against yeh and yeh putting things on the market back then, or about yeh trying teh get that law put in place. Frankly, the way I see it, yeh can put whatever yeh like on the market. It's not like yer forcing people teh buy it... and since that law got put in place, I did notice that people from this town have been putting work in themselves, so maybe it did some good... I just had teh give that as an example or me saying all of that wouldn't actually mean a thing to yeh, would it?"

[Gorm]

Locking this topic since it is being addressed in two other topics - remember folks there is no reason to use mulitple posts to talk about one thing , that is considered Spam and is against CoC.

B. Spam: It may be your dinner, but please don't do it here. Some types of spam may include: opening up multiple topics on the same theme either in the same or different topics; posting several times in a row; posting comments that have no relevance to the topic or resurrecting a thread that has had no post in over a month; reposting a message/edit that had been moved from the thread by our moderation. An RP event announcement (such as weddings) may posted in the towns and vicergeal inns if it is Role-played as an announcement or letter to the people of the town/Viceroyalty.