Capítulo 99: Chapter 99 - Artican Trade in Westeros 26 (Reach 06!).
[Chapter Size: 3000 Words.]
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Thrid Person POV
Westeros, 295 AC.
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The room fell silent for a while; Jon did not want to interrupt his hosts, even though the situation seemed quite odd at that moment.
Arya looked at Jon for answers, while he just sighed and looked toward Willas, who was the most talkative. But before he could respond, his grandmother interrupted again.
"Well, all right then. We've heard about your business and we would like to hear it," Olenna turned to Jon again with a knowing look.
"Alright," Jon said as everyone settled in. There were a few chairs, and Mace ended up sitting in the main one, but without saying much, looking just like a puppet to fill the image of the place as a Lord.
Joe remained standing at the entrance, looking at everyone waiting for him to start. He took a step forward and began: "Well, let's begin then. As you know, my name is Jon Artica and I come from a kingdom beyond this one, built in the north of the Wall, and I am here for business."
"We've heard a lot about it, it's impressive, especially what we've heard about what you trade, mainly your ice sales, that's quite interesting. But I heard some rumors about you having strange boxes to be able to transport them, being the only one who can do so," Lord Hightower asked immediately, after all it was good to know if they could copy this business and Jon knew very well of their intentions, as he came to Westeros knowing he would encounter greedy people everywhere.
"Don't be so hasty, Lord Hightower. Let the boy speak for his own products." Olenna intervened, although she seemed to provoke Jon by calling him a boy. Jon could not take it as an offense, after all, she did not call him a bastard and did not seem to have the look that the other Lords had towards him, and with his age, it could justify her calling him that due to their age differences.
"Well, we have unique boxes and you might consider them a magical item," Jon spoke calmly looking at the man who looked at him surprised. "Only we can undertake this venture, as these boxes can only be recharged in Artica. After all, without the magic, they would become useless after a while," Jon said, making Hightower furrow his brow at the word 'magic', while the others raised an eyebrow, as many there found it a bit absurd.
Jon did not hide this; everyone present would soon see the boxes and realize that they could not use them as Jon did, therefore he was very confident that he could monopolize the ice. After all, he already counted on many thefts of his own lots trying to copy his business, but it was impossible without having the great Weirwood tree in Artica, since, as he said, the boxes that carry ice can only be recharged through its roots.
"Well, anyway," Jon continued, "Selling ice is our main business currently, but we have other things that I ask you, gentlemen. Are you interested in seeing our products?" Jon asked.
"No, please, we would like to see your entire portfolio," Willas said.
"Alright." Jon said and looked at one of his royal soldiers who was with him, coming in with a box, approaching in front of the seated group and opening it for everyone.
The box was finally shown to everyone and they saw samples of various Artican products, among them cigars, other alcoholic beverages, and textiles and other items made by the Ice Spiders among other things that Artica has been trading.
The Minister of Commerce from Artica stepped forward, as he did with Dorne, he began to present the products in place of Jon.
"A drink beyond wine..." Mace seemed to express interest for the first time seeing something that interested him.
"Vodka, whiskey, and even sake from Yi-Ti." Minister Junly began to answer their questions, while the products were seen in the hands of the Lords.
"I've never heard about these drinks... but sake from Yi-Ti? If you allow me, can you tell me about these drinks and how you got a product from the other side of Essos?" Lord Redwyne asked.
"Vodka is a cheap drink, good for warming up in the cold, although we believe it will not be popular in this part of Westeros, whiskey, a more premium product, is preserved for 5 years in Artica, we intend to have stock of 12, 20, and 30 years in the future. The longer it is stored, the better the taste," Junly commented and turned back to the sake.
"It's not an imported product from Yi-Ti, but we've taken the recipe and are producing it in Artica, it's also a low-cost product, aimed at the common folk, selling it in inns," he concluded.
"I'm curious how you could have such a recipe..." Willas asked, intrigued.
"We got it through some contacts..." The minister spoke openly, but hid the true reason for having it; after all, it was his king who introduced it and Jon got it through greensight, watching various alcoholic beverage manufacturers in those eastern lands.
"You have some secrets, I like that, maybe in the future you could even take the glass recipe from Myr... It would be quite useful to buy cheaper glass than to buy from Essos, I believe," Olenna spoke again, not without her usual sarcasm.
'This woman knows we take large amounts of sand and she imagines that it will be used for glass production, after all, many know that Myr uses sand for their factories despite never discovering their recipe.' Jon thought calmly.
"Anyway, try our whiskey with ice," Jon then suggested.
They took the box with ice, showing it to everyone with considerable interest, distributing the best 5-year-old whiskey, in a glass accompanied with ice.
"It's different..." Garlan took a sip and felt it much stronger than traditional wine.
"Really, but it's not bad..." Willas commented as he drank beside him.
Lord Redwyne, Lord Hightower, and Lord Tyrell drank with some pleasure, although the latter almost choked on the first gulp. The two women, meanwhile, drank a glass of wine, preferring a softer drink but with ice, after all, they wanted to experience what their drink would be like with it.
"My goodness, I must say in all my years, I've never experienced what a Northerner would feel being in the ice, but this ice... It's fantastic!" Olenna couldn't help but exclaim, feeling the pleasure of drinking a chilled beverage for the first time in her life. "It's really refreshing!" she commented.
"It's very good indeed, grandma," Margaery commented at her side while turning her gaze back to Jon and the others.
"I'm quite excited to do business with you, Lord Artican," Lord Redwyne commented, thinking about the profit it would entail.
"Thank you, as long as we stick to the policy of 40% of the final product, we will always have business," Jon spoke, after all, he would not be different from the cost in Dorne, even if the journey was longer, there were plans to create a port in the region beyond the Fist of the First Men, in the western region beyond the Wall, this would facilitate the journey between the west coast of the kingdom.
"What is this thing?" Mace asked, looking at the box and picking up a cigar.
"This is a cigar, a product for you to relax and enjoy the taste, something with a high price," Junly presented again in place of Jon.
"Interesting... I heard that in Essos people smoke in some sects," Willas said.
"It's not for religious acts, it's something you use like the wine you drink, something to relax," Jon replied, taking a cigar out of his pocket. "It is used in this way." He took it and lit it, before beginning to draw in the smoke and release it, surprising the people beside him.
"This seems harmful..." Garlan couldn't help but comment.
"Actually, no, we use natural herbs and even give flavors, you can taste strawberry, orange, apple among other flavors," Jon said.
"Let me try!" Mace exclaimed while his wife looked a little worried beside her father, after all, she was a Hightower, daughter of Lord Leyton Hightower himself.
The man looked at the burning cigar and took a puff, only to start coughing like a dragon the next moment. "Are you okay!?" Alerie approached, asking worriedly for her husband.
"That Mace, you're embarrassing us, if you don't know how to use a product, don't do it in front of everyone!" Olenna had to grumble.
The man coughed like a condemned man, before calming down. "This is good... but I can't stop coughing!" He complained.
The Articans behind had their mouths glued shut to not laugh at the man in such a miserable state. "This is common for the first tries, my men were in the same state," Jon spoke and he didn't fail to look at his men with a severe gaze, so no one would laugh, after all, we're in business and although he wanted respect, he also respected the other party.
"You're not going to end up dying before me, are you, you idiot?" Olenna spoke again in her way, she did not seem to hesitate in front of everyone, even if it embarrassed her son.
"Mother, don't speak like that," he said as he calmed down and gave up on continuing to smoke the cigar, realizing that he would have to do this alone to avoid embarrassment until he learned. He looked at Jon smoking his cigar and seemed to want to mimic that behavior.
Meanwhile, Lord Redwyne looked at Jon with genuine interest. "Well, I see that you have many products, but is that type of armor that you wear not for sale?" he asked, curious. After all, the armor of the Artican soldiers was a dream for many, far beyond ordinary metal, perhaps not as much as Valyrian, but certainly beautiful, not to mention designed by dwarf smiths as art or even by Jon, to make the main armors for himself and his wives, which were certainly designed by artists, envied by anyone there.
"Well, the armors are not for sale. We are not trading that type of item, keeping them exclusively for ourselves," Jon said despite the disapproval in the older men's gazes.
Meanwhile, Olenna looked at Jon more than anyone else, her eyes fixed on him, even letting people notice. Jon, although a bit surprised by the intense look of the lady, remained calm without letting it shake him.
"I understand, we like the products you've brought us, but do you have something more?" Olenna asked directly to Jon, as there was a box they had not yet touched.
"Yes, we have a few more," Jon said and asked a royal guard to bring the last box.
"As we want to negotiate with you, we brought exclusive products especially for you," Jon said as the box was opened.
"For people of the Reach, we brought flowers and perfumes." Jon showed flowers that were not found in this region because they were very rare, but also could survive and thrive in this climate.
"That!!" Margaery was immediately enchanted by what she was seeing. "What is this!?" She approached a special type of blue sunflower.
"This is a Moon Sunflower, found in some regions of Sothoryos, you don't need to worry about diseases from the place, as these flowers were bred in Artica many years ago," Jon said, as he had taken all the seeds from that grove he found many years after leaving Winterfell and started cultivating everything in Artica, there was a region in the farm area dedicated to plants and flowers.
"Sothoryos?! This seems really incredible..." Olenna had a look of fascination, like a Hightower flower, her youth always involved tending to the castle roses in her leisure times.
"Are there perfumes like those of Lady Seryna and Lady Arya?" Alerie approached with an enchanted look, still remembering how the perfumes of both ladies had a pleasant and distinct smell.
"Yes, we produce perfumes with our wide variety of plants and flowers," Jon said, and both the mother and daughter seemed enchanted by this, picking up the products and spraying them on their wrists to smell the pleasant scent.
"This is certainly very good!" Willas said, seeing the products. He was not as fascinated by flowers as his younger sister, preferring horse breeds and even dogs, but it would certainly be very good for Highgarden with these acquisitions.
"We will leave the products for you to try all our samples, I know we need some time for you to get familiar with them before we start our business," Jon said, looking at Olenna this time.
The lady cracked a small smile with her mouth closed and nodded. "Very well, let's start our business from tomorrow. We have prepared some rooms for you at the castle," she said, but Jon shook his head.
"I am very honored by the hospitality, but I cannot accept, I will stay with my people in the camp that is being set up, if that does not offend you," Jon said, for several reasonable reasons. First, he did not quite like doing this in Sunspear; second, he did not trust the maesters and did not like how the Lord of the Citadel looked at him; third, he knew it could bring dissatisfaction among the nobles in the camps outside the castle, after all, a foreigner took a place that in their minds should be theirs, even with the promise of good trade for the kingdom. Jon knew how petty people could be and although he was not afraid of them, he certainly did not want more headaches than he would already have in this place in the coming days.
"This is certainly no offense, Lord Artican," Willas said respectfully.
"Let's take a closer look at your products, I would certainly like to have a meeting with you later," Lord Redwyne spoke, although Olenna did not like how her blood family had become greedy, proposing a meeting before even the Tyrells; after all, everyone there was greedy, if someone could make a large amount of money from this, of course they would act on their own.
"I will be at my camp, so if you need anything from me, moreover, it was an honor and I hope for fruitful outcomes from this first meeting." Jon took the lead and spoke diplomatically while the nobles nodded.
"Willas, could you accompany our newest trading partner to the camp?" Olenna asked, after all, she had to give importance to Jon and also looked at him with a peculiar gaze, searching for something on Jon's face.
"Yes, Grandma..." He said and asked Jon to follow him, with Jon holding his wife and sister, as they followed behind Lord Tyrell.
Once the last of the Articans had left the area, only Lord Paxter Redwyne, Lord Leyton Hightower, Olenna, Mace, Alerie, Garlan, and Margaery Tyrell remained. They looked at the products in front of them with some interest.
"What do you think of our guest?" Garlan asked Olenna curiously.
"A big surprise," Olenna simply said.
"Surprise? I thought you were already aware of his products," Leyton Hightower said, intrigued.
"It's not that, you idiot," she spoke without caring to offend the noble who looked at her frowning, though familiar with her personality. "Other things... other things..." she said mysteriously while no one knew exactly what she was talking about.
"This whiskey is strong, but it's very good!" Mace said, drinking the beverage.
"I must agree with Lord Mace, although the drink Vodka is intended to be a beverage for the common people, the taste is very strong and not pleasant," Lord Redwyne commented.
"The products are very good, so it's a business opportunity," Lord Hightower commented.
"Look at this fabric, Daughter, you would look beautiful in this color! Let's make a dress for you!" Alerie commented, picking up the sky blue fabric made from ice spiders.
"Yes, it's a very good material... Made by ice spiders... I never imagined they actually existed," Olenna commented as her granddaughter examined the soft fabric. "I never said I would see giants... and look at our lands, full of their footprints with their enormous bodies..." She also couldn't help but grumble.
"And the flowers... let's put them in our garden immediately," Margaery exclaimed, picking up some that Jon had brought.
"Ah, many seeds here, this is good for enhancing our collection, products from Sothoryos are rare, even more so one that is clean of disease," Garlan spoke and went back to thinking. "This makes me wonder... How can they cultivate such things beyond the Wall? It shouldn't be a temperature that any plant could survive," Garlan said.
"This makes Jon Artica all the more mysterious... I must admit that the boy really knows how to behave, he acts as he says he is," Olenna spoke.
"He is a bastard," Hightower commented.
"Yes, born a bastard. But don't forget that he commands creatures that could destroy any of your warriors, Lord Hightower. We must be careful not to offend him, after all, I still want to enrich myself with what he can offer," Olenna warned.
"But what about the other nobles?" Garlan asked, knowing that Jon and his group would not be very well received.
"Let's put some Tyrell soldiers to keep the situation under control around his camp, I want you to invite him whenever you can, Margaery, I really liked Arya Stark, the girl has really become a beautiful woman, invite her to talk and bring her to me, I also want Seryna Artica," Olenna requested immediately, her mind beginning to work on everything she saw and heard.
'This visit is becoming more interesting than I initially thought, you may surprise me even more, Targaryen bastard...' she murmured, imagining that Jon was the result of an illicit relationship initially, after all, he had no idea that there were documents saying otherwise.
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