Carlosa di Salsa, Wine & Olive Oil Importer (SH17)

The offices and warehouse of Carlosa's Importing business are located on Hightower Isle in a small, well maintained building. It is an unusual location for a warehouse - most are concentrated further west down the Suiddock, mainly on Stoessel or the South Bank, but the quality of the goods imported demands a slightly more salubrious location. Carlosa imports Wine, Port and Olive Oil from vineyards and olive groves in both his native Tilea and more recently, Brettonia. He has a shop in the Centralwijk for those that don't want to sully their shoes by treading on the wrong side of the Hoogbrug Bridge, and also has several outlets in the Empire (Notably Altdorf, Nuln and Middenheim). However, it is to this warehouse that servants and restaurants will come to to buy in bulk, and it is also where one would have to come to meet Carlosa himself.

As mentioned before, the warehouse is both small and well kept, having little of the grime that is ubiquitous in the Suiddock. During Trading hours (6:30 in the morning to 7:00 in the evening) the large double doors leading onto the ground floor are thrown open, guarded by two burly labourers. The building swarms with servants from Merchant Houses ordering wines for lavish dinners; Chef's dogsbodies picking up a regular delivery and Labourers unloading new stock onto the already packed floor. The flags are well swept, and boxes are neatly stacked up as high as the ceiling, held in place by sturdy scaffolding. The second floor is dusty and bare, apart from the basic desks and chairs of three clerks who work here industriously from morning to night. Several boxes are scattered around this level as well - mainly defected products - bottles that have been broken in transit and so forth. The clerks have a lot to do - they record all billing and transaction, and organise transport with the coaching and barge companies. They only handle Carlosa's legitimate business, although they obviously know of his other operations.

On the Third floor is Carlosa's expansive office. It is luxurious in contrast to the floors below, but not outlandishly so for a successful merchant. There is a rather weathered desk, with papers stacked in neat piles, thick carpeting, several paintings on the walls and a small bookcase. In the corner of the room is a small safe, mainly containing contract details.

The Labourers that run the warehouse are a mixture of Tileans and Bretons. The two races don't get on, and although there are rarely fights, snide insults and threats snipe across the floor all day. If any confrontation blows into a fight, Carlosa storms out of his office and beats both offenders to the ground, after which both sides remain subdued for the next couple of days. The tension is mainly due to the fact there are less Bretons than Tileans, and because of Carlosa's origin, they assume they are being discriminated against. All of them are from the Stevedores and Teamsters Guild (SR5), and if the squabbling continues much longer, Carlosa is going to complain.

Carlosa di Salsa: Merchant, Ex Artisan (Vintner), Ex Artisan's Apprentice, Ex Labourer (SH17a) Social (B10)

Carlosa is a large, heavily built Tilean Man, with short black hair and beard. He is not that muscular - in fact he is almost slightly flabby - but his size makes it clear he is strong. He moves quite gracefully for all his mass, and his overall impression is of one who is both self controlled and used to control. He smiles little, but has expressive eyes - usually they are the only part of his face that move. His voice is soft, but he is easily angered if he doesn't get his own way.

Carlosa is bright, and this enabled him to advance from being a labourer in the vineyards, to learning how wine was produced. He seemed to have an instinct for grapes, knowing almost intuitively how the soil and weather would affect any particular vintage, and how long wines should be aged for. Although his family were not rich, they had some land, and Carlosa left his employer to start his own enterprise. His knowledge of the fruit coupled with his shrewd business sense allowed him to make gains in land at a slow but steady rate, so that now he has several large vineyards scattered over Tilea and Brettonia. It is rumoured that owners were persuaded to sell by less than legitimate means, but these have been unsubstantiated. Carlosa moved to Marienburg primarily because it was a large city, and for farm workers city living has always been seen as a sign of success. He is proud of what he has become, but hasn't lost any sense of his common background, and for this many that work for him respect him.

Carlosa operates a moneylending business in addition to his Import business. He will lend to anyone who asks him, always being quite upfront about the consequences if they don't pay him back. His integrity and simple threatening nature ensure that he rarely has to enforce repayment, but if he has to he does it personally rather than involving an outside debt collector. He doesn't see anything wrong with this side of his business - after all many that come to him desperately need the money. Most people on the Suiddock know that you can go to Carlosa for a loan. Because of this, his size and the fact he is a Tilean, many people are afraid of him, and whispered half truths and gossip about Carlosa are common.

Carlosa spends most of his working day at his office, and can usually be found there. He travels to both Brettonia and Tilea at irregular intervals, meaning he is out of Marienburg for several weeks, but usually he remains within the city, letting servants run the estates. He eats his lunch at The Bun Shop (SH5) like many Hightower professionals, although he doesn't know of its true nature. He is a member of the Merchant's Guild, an Infrequent figure at the Marienburg Import-Export Exchange (SH4), although he only goes there to sell excess stock he cannot handle.

He makes collections personally, in the evenings, but on free nights he can often be found at The Curfew, where he finds plenty of people who need a loan. Carlosa is not part of the Guild, but he is permitted to operate by them, so long as he passes 5% of the profits along. This figure is very low, mainly because the Guild appreciates that Carlosa is an important and influential individual, who could cause them a lot of problems if he so chose.

M 4; WS 62; BS 49; S 5*; T 5*; W 8; I 55; A 2; Dex 48; Ld 66; Int 50; Cl 49; WP 52; Fel 55

Age: 38

Alignment: Neutral

Skills: Bribery, Disarm, Drive Cart, Evaluate, Haggle, Identify Plant, Magical Sense, Numismatics, Read/Write, Ride Scroll Lore, Secret Language - Guilder, Secret Signs Artisan, Speak - Tilean; Bretonian, Strike to Stun, Super Numerate, Very Resilient*, Very Strong*, Viniculture

Possessions: Fine Clothes, Pouch with 20 Gu, Short Sword (Magical +10 WS), Knife, 4 Darts tipped with a mild poison (causes temporary paralysation - from 30 mins to an hour) concealed in an expensive hat.

3 Clerks (SH17b)

o all fairly young, tilean academic figures.
o loyal to Carlosa, conscientious, hard working
o do a good job
o "I'm very busy at the moment, sorry."
o Most eat at The Bun Shop (SH5) and live in the Tilean District. They purchase theri writing materials from The Sign of the Quill (SL20). Know other clerks from the Excise offices and most of the transport companies in Marienburg, whom they have to arrange contracts with.

M 4; WS 29; BS 30; S 3; T 3; W 6; I 30; A 1; Dex 32; Ld 30; Int 36; Cl 25; WP 40; Fel 33

Skills: Numismatics, Read/Write, Speak Tilean, Super Numerate

Possessions: Writing materials, a little money, simple clothes, knife

9 Labourers (SH17b)

o large, tilean or breton men, most speak only a little Reikspeil.
o loyal to Carlosa, fractious
o ensure that they are seen to do a good job.
o "Heh! Wot ... do ... y... goaway."
o Most live in the Tilean district. Frequent many of the rough inns and taverns along the suiddock, frequently visit Red Lantern Square (R1).

M 4; WS 36; BS 31; S 3; T 4; W 7; I 29; A 1; Dex 30; Ld 33; Int 25; Cl 28; WP 30; Fel 29

Skills: Scale Sheer Surface, Consume Alcohol, Drive Cart

Possessions: Leather Jack, Short Sword, 2 Gu