Warburg’s lips witched, “The gods. They decreed long ago that the tax would deposit coin directly to a guild’s account at any officially sanctioned bank. This stops all sorts of minor issues like people not paying their fair share. It is the same with any other taxes you as guild leader can institute. The money from all taxes is deducted straight away and appears in the fund. We will be giving you a tome that shows your current funds as well as detailed records of all transactions. I would recommend hiring an accountant to keep track of them so you aren’t blindsided by anything.”
“Sounds like another thing to look into, then,” Alburet agreed. “What do we need to do for this to happen?”
Warburg turned the book he had been writing in to Alburet, “Just sign at the bottom and hand over the two hundred gold required to set up the account.” Alburet did both, noting that the coin he was using was the bridal money. “Welcome to the Royal Bank of Stormguard. Should you have need, we can transfer money to any other bank in the world for a small fee as well. So, if you end up on a different continent and need to tap your account, it can be done.”
Alburet nodded a little absently, wondering why Stacia had given him their bridal money to open the account. That had wiped it almost completely out. He would have to talk with her about that when he caught up to her and Fluff. He blinked, realizing that Warburg was holding out a book to him, “Sorry, lost my train of thought for a second.”
“It happens to the best of us when we are handing over so much gold,” Warburg replied with a chuckle. “I wish you a good day, Alburet. Oh, one more thing. Only people in your guild with rank of officer or higher or your accountant if you hire one, can access this book. Is there anything else we can do for you today?”
“No, thank you,” Alburet said, taking the book and shaking hands with Warburg, wincing as the dwarf squeezed.
“Sorry, about that,” Warburg apologized. “My hands used to hold axes in my youth. All of my strength is still there but sometimes I forget.” Warburg had eased up on the handshake when Alburet had winced.
Alburet paused as he finally realized Warburg didn’t have an accent like Grimgar. “I wonder, sir, why you don’t seem to have an accent, if that isn’t rude to ask?”
Warburg shook his head, “The accent you refer is how most of my kind talks. I have trained myself to speak more clearly since my job is so important. It helps prevent any number of misunderstandings.”
“Ah, that makes sense. Thank you again, sir,” Alburet gave a small bow before he left the room. He found the secretary behind her desk, she stood as he came out. “Thank you miss, for your assistance.”
“It is our pleasure to help people open accounts with us,” she said smoothly. “Would you like to open a personal account at this time, as well?”
“Not right now. I have things that need to get done today,” Alburet said, tucking the book into his bag.
“I wish you a good day then, sir.” She opened the door leading to the lobby for him.
Alburet just nodded as he exited the room. He pulled out his Guildstone as he crossed the lobby and let Fluff and Stacia know he was on his way back to the portal guild. He put the stone away as he got outside. The sound of rain on stone greeted him as he stepped out through the doors. A heavy downpour was soaking the street. Sighing, Alburet looked down the street towards the portal guild. Shaking his head once, he ran for the portal guild, the rain striking him and beginning to wet his hair and face as he went. He noticed a number of people using umbrellas and made a mental note to get one soon.
Chapter Seventeen
Alburet frowned as he pulled at the wet clothing and armor stuck to him. Maybe he wouldn’t get a cold from being caught in a downpour, but it still sucked. Hoping it wouldn’t take all day for his clothes to dry, Alburet leaned against the wall just inside the portal guild. He opened up the guild tab to check over what he could tax at what percent while he waited for the women. He could tax the usage of guild funds to use the portals. If he set it to max, it would deduct from a player the same amount that was used from the guild account for each portal. The net effect would be to give all of the guild members a fifty percent discount on portal use, while also keeping the guild portal fund topped off. He could tax the sale of loot sold up to half, and also tax all coin looted up to half. He set the portal tax to max and the coin tax to ten percent, just finishing up when Fluffball came through the door. She paused to shake water off an umbrella before she put it into her backpack.
“Sorry for the delay, Fluff,” Alburet called out to her as he came off the wall, pulling again at his wet clothes.
Fluff looked at him, her expression curling into a small amused smile, “Caught in the rain?”
“Yeah, didn’t think it was going to pour like that,” Alburet sighed. “I definitely need to get me an umbrella when I get a moment, because wet clothes and leathers suck.”
“You haven’t had wet fur, at least,” Fluff replied. “You don’t have to worry about catching a cold, either.”
“Yeah, Stacia told me about that. I didn’t even think about having my armor and clothes plastered to me, though. Now I know even without fear of getting sick, rain still sucks.”
“I brought ya an umbrella from home, asthore,” Stacia said, having snuck in the door without them noticing.
“Not my best color, but even that will beat being soaked.” Alburet looked at the pink umbrella for a moment before he took it. “Now that we are here, let’s head out. We can tackle the solo gnolls, I think. I set the guild taxes already, portals will cost you the same amount deducted from the guild fund and all coin looted gets a ten percent cut.”
Fluff nodded, “I have no problems with that. Means we get the portals at half the previous cost at least. Why a ten percent tax on coins though?”
“To pay the taxes on the guild house, mostly, but I think there might come a time when the guild might need coin for other expenses.”
“It can be adjusted?” Stacia asked as they started walking towards the stairs.
“Yeah, pretty easily at that,” Alburet replied before waving at Kim, who smirked at his wetness.
“Umbrellas are cheap, Alburet, you might want to look into getting one,” Kim called out to him.
“I’ve got one now, just didn’t when I was out earlier, but thanks for the warning,” he replied before the group got out of view.
They climbed to the correct portal room. When they arrived at the fort, the sun was out and no clouds were visible in the sky. The two guards outside the gate looked at Alburet with grins. One of them chuckled as he spoke, “So, raining in Stormguard is it?”
“Nope, I just love taking showers in my clothes,” Alburet deadpanned back.
The other guard snorted, “Well, good luck with your hunting today. Fighting in wet armor sucks.”
Alburet just nodded, walking towards the woods with the women in tow. “So only nine more days until the testing. You excited, Fluff?” Alburet asked before he summoned Tiny. He slapped Tiny on the back with a welcoming nod, “How are you today, Tiny?”
“Ready to protect you, master,” Tiny rumbled.
“I’m excited and nervous all at once,” Fluff said a moment later, grooming an ear. “The idea of being able to stay here for a solid month is amazing. I still need to tie up a few lose ends before then, though. I’ll be taking one or two days off before it starts so I can make sure everything is in order.”
“We will be glad to have ya with us more often,” Stacia told Fluff. “How goes the talks with me Ma’? How was the massage by Marian last night with Karen?”
Fluff blushed red, averting her eyes, and studiously grooming her ears. “Your sister can really work out a person’s tension. Karen teased me a little, but she was just happy to have me there. Lilith is making progress with me, I think, but she thinks it will be a while before I get over some of my more serious issues. I still don’t understand how she does it.”