Your patronizing attitude is appreicated at last! (Mod please!)

[Lyssoryl]

Lyssoryl was not anything like an authority on the clans of Zinn'Sunn, but after a minimal amount of research she decided that Clan Gryphon was the best one to approach for funding of her new theater. Not only were they the family that controlled banking, but they also produced musical instruments.

The question now was how to go about approaching someone rich enough to be useful for her purposes. She supposed that such important people did not make themselves available to every Cether with a passing fancy for conversation. She decided to begin by writing letters. Selecting Clan Gryphon nobles more or less at random, she sent two letters per cycle, sending one letter and then waiting 5 brightenings for a response before sending the next letter. Her letters read:

His Lordship/Ladyship XXX,

Serale! I realize your time is valuable so I will get right to the point. I am seeking patronage for a project I am working on, and wondered if you might be interested in it.

I am working towards the creation of a guild of traveling performers. My plan is to establish a series of venues across the empire, and when enough of them are up and running will require that performers join my guild in order to perform in them. As your clan is famous for your fine musical instruments, I believe that such a guild will do you quite a bit of good. Making the musical arts a more viable job opportunity can only increase the sales of musical instruments, and perhaps the increased number of public performances will inspire more parents to send their sons and daughters to music lessons.

My proposal is this: in exchange for the loan of start-up funds for my first theater, I would make repayment from the profits of the operation. After operational costs of the theater and a stipend of 75 crowns per cycle for myself, all profits would go to you until 150% of the amount of the loan is repaid. In addition, the theater could feature any sort of statue, plaque or other dedication that you would like.

If you are at all interested in such a project, or have a counter proposal that would work better for you, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Lyssoryl Sunnybrooke

[Black Waltz]

OOC:Hope you don't mind me moderating your thread. Let me know if I should change the timestamp as well.

Early Melora, Era XV Post-Fractum

It had not even reached nine candle-marks, and surely enough, the entire house of Clan Gryphon had awoken. Lord Jerojima Riishi, stretching his arms from a far too pleasurable night's sleep, trudged his way out of his dazzling, emperor-sized bed. He slowly walked out of his gigantic room, making sure to fit himself to his finest hakama, and walked onto the lovely estate's outer rim. Winter had begun, and the weather was rather cool and fresh. Although the trees seemed to have lost their lives and the flowers as well, the fresh breeze that Zinn'Sunn always maintained still replenished the Lord Daimyo's mind. "Ah, another beautiful day in Zinn'Sunn." He reminded himself, slowly walking back inside his compound. He sat a rather large dining table, one that had previously been fitted by his servants for today's breakfast. "Goodmorning my brethren." His kinsmen returned his greeting and sat down at the table in unison. A fine portion of ham and only the finest eggs in all of Zinn'Sunn were layed before them, emitting a tasty smell catering only to those of the highest class.

As the clan devoured their meals, a servant reluctantly stepped through the main doorway. "I have news for s-s-Sir....I m-mean, Lord Jerojima." stuttered the servant, holding the letter in his hand.

"Ah, would you be so kind as to read it." Replied the lord, anxious to here about his mail. The story was fairly interesting, and piqued Jerojima's interests quite profoundly. He thought for a moment, reflecting on his previous partnerships and patronages. He then turned around to his servant and ordered, "Send someone to this lass' abode. Tell her to visit me at my estate in one hour precisely." The servant nodded and ran towards the stables. Fetching one of the stronger of the horses, he fled with full speed towards Lyssoryl's home. As he would close in on her home, the servant would call it to her. "I have a message for Lyssoryl from Lord Jerojima Riishi of the Gryphon Clan." He would have hoped for Lyssoryl's sake that she would have appeared.

[Lyssoryl]

oocSorry! I should have timestamped it. It should be early Melora

As the messenger approached he could smell the sweet scent of western baking on the heavy winter air. The scent emerged from a very small house with a good sized shed built to the side of it. A flat pastry in a round shallow pan cooled on the sill of the window.

The messenger's call promptly brought a face peering around the edge of the door. A small girl with an impressive pile of blonde curls on her head stepped forth to see who was calling from the yard.

Lyssoryl was at first puzzled as to who was sending a messenger for her, and then realized that Lord Riishi was who she had just sent her letter to. Goodness, she thought. That was fast. In fact, it was a little too fast for her comfort. She had been hoping that his lordship would consider it a minor diversion to entertain himself with some afternoon when he was not otherwise occupied, and yet here was a messenger arriving at full gallop, who was so anxious to get his message delivered that he could not wait until after he knocked on the door to announce himself. She cast her mind back to the text of her letter, trying to remember if there was anything in it that could be considered in any way offensive. She was fairly certain that there wasn't, but it was hard to be confident with other cultures. Perhaps to a Kemite lord, a "theater" was a place where a low-born person prostituted their mother or something awful like that.

"Serale!" she said to the messenger, a little nervously. "I am Lyssoryl."

On hearing that she was to meet with Lord Riishi, at the end of the candlemark, she at once appreciated the messenger's haste, as it gave her more time to get ready. She quickly threw on a nicer dress, and packed her pie to bring as a gift. She had baked it with the plan to give it to the Aedile, but he hadn't been expecting it so presumably he could wait. As soon as she was ready, she rushed so as to be well in time for her appointment.

[Black Waltz]

The messenger looked downwards towards Lyssoryl. A Cether huh? "Well then Lyssoryl, we must proceed with haste. Master Jerojima is not very fond of waiting long for these type of things. If you please, jump on my horse." insisted the messenger, waiting nervously for Lyssoryl to climb on to the relatively large horse. Should she have needed any help the messenger would have been quick to offer her a helping hand. As the messenger stole himself on to the black Zinn'Sunnese horse, he charged away with maximum speed, racing through the crowd with supreme elegance and finesse.

As he approached the Gryphon Clan Complex, Lyssorly would be a subject to only the finest of Zinn'Sunnese culture. Statues of gryphons and other mythological creatures adorned the grassy, organized, landscape of the Gryphon Clan's exterior. A beautifully crafted porch along with an architectural masterpiece of a pagoda welcomed both messenger and Lyssorly into the blasphemously large manner of Jerojima Riishi, the supreme leader of the Gryphon Clan. As they approached the stables, the messenger jumped fluently off of the horse, helping Lyssoryl get down as well. "Master Jerojima is currently in his study room. I'll escort you there as courtesy of the Gryphon Clan." implied the messenger. Hurrying onwards towards the door that lead to the daimyo's quarters.

The messenger knocked the large mahogany door softly, waving his hand through the marvelously crafted glass-window which was embedded within the door. Jerojima nodded from within, and the door opened. "Master Jerojima, this is Lyssoryl Sunnybrooke as you asked."

"Ah thank you Kitane, you may attend your own personal needs now." offered the leader of the Riishi family, rocking on his chair - which seemed fit for an emperor. "Welcome Ms. Sunnybrooke to my humble abode. I read your letter. Please take a seat and enlighten me." His presence seemed intimidating, ordaining the figure of a highly sophisticated, whimsical sage. He seemed to know much about negotiating, especially in the field of persuasion. Lyssoryl would need to word her offer carefully, for any unwanted jargon could spoil her chances for success.

[Lyssoryl]

"Well then Lyssoryl, we must proceed with haste. Master Jerojima is not very fond of waiting long for these type of things. If you please, jump on my horse."

Lyssoryl warily looked the horse in the knee, which was about at her eye height. "I fear that not only will you have to help me aboard, but you will have to help me stay on as well."

She was essentially right. Her choices for riding a horse were to do the splits or sit side-saddle, and either way her legs offered her little purchase on the animal. She did her best to cling to the saddle with one hand and prevent her pie from flying all over by absorbing the bumps with the other arm. She was glad for the rider's skill in handling his horse.

As they hurried through the streets, Lyssoryl had a chance to wonder why a man who was so disinclinded to have his appointments keep him waiting would set a meeting time so difficult for them to make. She suspected that it was a ploy to make her enter the meeting feeling overwhelmed and nervous. If this was his aim, it would probably achieve his goal, although she had learned to be a good talker even under stress.

Upon being ushered into the presence of Lord Riishi, Lyssoryl bowed low, in what she hoped was close to the proper Kemite Fashion. "My lord I thank you for troubling to take the time to hear me. I have brought you a small host gift. It is not much for one who is rich and powerful, but it is the best I could do. It is a cherry pie, a delicacy from the land I hale from. Perhaps you will find some amusement in it." She looked around for a servant to give it to.

She cleared her throat. "My lord, I aspire to be a bard, and wish to make music my life's work. I feel that the profession is lessoned by the lack of a guild. The empire does not have enough venues, and the ones that do exist rely heavily on local talent. Because of this, there is rarely anything fresh on the menu for the denizens of a given city."

"I would like to start a guild. In order to be taken seriously, I would like to own a string of theaters which will allow me to offer traveling performers a financial reason to be interested in my plans."

"My proposal is simple. If you lend me the money to start my first theater, I will endeavor to repay you from the profits to a total of 150% of amount of the initial loan. I would pay myself a stipend of 75 crowns per cycle for managing the business, and after performers and other necessary expenses are paid, all the revenue would go to you until the load was paid off. In addition, you will have the right to name the theater, and if you wish I would have a statue of yourself or person of your choice erected in it to honor your role as benefactor."

"Once the loan is repaid, I plan to use the proceeds to open other venues in other cities. In the long run I hope to make the profession of traveling performer more attractive and respectable. This, I hope, will mean that more people will buy the instruments that your clan produces, both in pursuit of careers and because the increase in musical entertainment will inspire parents to teach their children music."

"That is it, in a nutshell. I was hoping for an initial loan in the neighborhood of 20,000 crowns, but to be honest I have not had time to get all my costs together yet."

[Black Waltz]

"Ah a pie, how wonderful. Many thanks, Ms. Sunnybrooke." Jerojima looked at the pie, eying it carefully as if to inspect it for any poison. He ordered a guard to store it in his specific guest-given-pies storing cabinet. He then turned around back towards his guest, completely enthralled by her offer. "Lyssoryl, as you might know, I'm a very busy man. Offers such as yours are very hard to consider without given particular specifics. Although I do absolutely love the idea of adding yet another aesthetical asset to the wonderful city of Zinn'Sunn, I am not yet sure what will make your theatre different from all the rest." The lord crosses his legs in a gentleman-like, quizzical fashion.

"I am not quite sure whether or not I can accept your request as of yet. Your ambitious behavior certainly does bring about a spark to ignite this fire you so wish to commence, but without necessary details, I simply cannot detain from my own impartiality." He fetched a paper from a nearby desk and with a decorated quill, wrote on it. "Here is what I request of you. Answer these questions as detailed as you can. That's the focus I'm looking for, details. Write to me when you're finished, I will send a messenger for you again once more." With that, a neat parchment was given to Lyssoryl. It's contents read:

What is the exact amount in Crowns of the asset you are willing to build? Include the different sections of your asset and the cost of each section.

Who have you already hired?

What will your regular schedule consist of?

How do you believe this guild of the arts will differ from the other theatres and public halls of culture here in Zinn'Sunn?

What do you expect your average monthly income to be?

[Lyssoryl]

Lyssoryl took the parchment gratefully.

"Thank you my lord, and thank you for taking the time to hear me. My plan was to look into specifics when I saw what funding I able to achieve, but I see now that you are of course right that I need to know what I must pay for before there can be talk of funding. I shall have this back to you with all the speed good diligence can allow."

She bowed again, and began to withdraw from the room, although she did so ready to stop if Lord Riishi chose to speak to her further.

[Black Waltz]

Jerojima Riishi nodded his head as Lyssoryl made her way out of his room. As she progressed further outside, she would be subject to a guard, and another figure of rather comedic value. Next to the guard stood what seemed to be a Cether of a horse. "Here's a horse for you to ride on if you can. If not prepare yourself for another bumpy ride."

Regarding Continuing the ThreadOnce you've answered the questions, make up a time-stamp and we'll continue from there on.

[Lyssoryl]

Early Melora, 3 days later, Era XV Post-Fractum

After gathering a bit more information and confering with Amarillo, Lyssoryl wrote her letter to Lord Riishi.

His lordship Riishi,

After gathering some information and consulting with my colleague, here are the figures and specific proposal for the theater. I thank you again for taking the time to hear me out.

Sincerely, Lyssoryl Sunnybrooke.

Description of the building

Building- 10,000 square feet, phoenix district- 22,500 crowns
The building will be circular, and 90 feet in diameter. There will be two semi-circular balconies, and seating on half of the main floor. The other half will be the stage.

There will be 980 seats in the theater. The area underneath the stage will be dug into the ground, and provide room for dressing and costume storage.

Assorted furnishings- 4,000

This includes money for seats, curtains, and sundry items such as these.

Start up supplies- costumes, make-up, set building material, 2,500

This will be a general fund to get the first show up and running.

Total start-up expenses - 29,000 crowns. We would repay 43,500 crowns for this loan.

Who have I already hired:

Myself
Amarillo- Theater manager
I cannot hire any more people until I secure funds, but we plan to hire the following employees:
~50 performers. This is an average figure for planning purposes, the actual number will vary from show to show.

25 costumers, makeup artists, set designers, and other theater assistants.

12 ushers and ticket takers.

3 maintenance men.

1 director.

1 theater manager

1 musical conductor

Schedule

Our schedule of shows will be flexible, depending on circumstances. We plan to run large operas and plays, which after a suitable length of practice will run for at least a cycle, more if the show plays well. In between these shows we will run musical performances every other day, with the remaining downtime used for rehearsing the next show.

Thus, in a given month, we expect to run a play or show an average of at least15 days, with 17 days of musical performance. We hope to achieve an average audience of 750 people a show, at a ticket price of 8 crowns.

How will our theater differ from other local theaters?

Ours will be the only large well organized theater in Zinn’Sunn. The other large venues are available on a for-rent basis, but offer no regular program. We hope to instill the habit of visiting the theater regularly with our well scheduled venue. We also hope to establish a rapport with the audience by allowing favorite performers to appear regularly.

How much income do we expect?

We expect to sell 750 tickets per show at 8 crowns a piece, with an average of 32 days per month. This gives us a gross total of 192,000 crowns.

We expect to pay a crew of 50 performers 60 crowns per show, for a total of 96,000 crowns a cycle.

We expect to pay 25 costumers and make-up artists, 40 crowns a show, for a total of 32,000

We plan to hire 12 ushers and ticket vendors at 5 crowns a show, for a total of 1920 per month.

We plan to hire 3 men for maintenance, two at 40 crowns a cycle and one head maintenance person for 100 crowns a cycle, for a total of 900 crowns

We’ll set aside 2500 per cycle for maintenance and set design, or 12,500

Our director and conductor will be paid 200 crowns a cycle, for a total of 2000 per month.

The theater director and myself will draw a salary of 1000 per month each, for a total of 2000.

This leaves a net income of 44,680

A 10% tax would be 4,516

Net profit of 40,644 crowns. We would pay you a minimum of 75% of our profit to repay our debt, and reserve the rest to guard against hard times.

We feel that these cost estimates are conservative. In reality, our musical interludes between plays will probably not draw as heavily as the plays, but neither will we have to pay a cast of 50 at a rate of 60 crowns a night, so our profits should be higher, if anything.

[Lyssoryl]

OOC: Ooops! News from the Aedile seeps through fluid time and informs me that I might be able to get a better deal than the one I'm proposing here. Lyssoryl would hold off on sending this letter until she finds out how well she can do without it.