The Spinning Wheel

Sitting across from the boy, Hektor took the opportunity to study the young man before responding. Short red hair, and determined look in his dark blue eyes, his body language conveyed strength and confidence that belied his years, the discrepancy obvious between his youthful appearance, and his commanding aura, had the boy been older, he could have mistaken him for his father.

With a dry chuckle at Cassius's expense, Hektor asked, "You wish to forward our mutual interests? With no offence, Lord Cassius, I am sceptical how a child intends to do that?"

Cassius knew he had a bit of an uphill battle ahead of him, the sceptical merchant, although respectful, was not going to take him seriously unless he could demonstrate his ability.

He made a single request, "If you can describe to me the process of how your craftsmen produce yarn and clothing, I might have an invention that will rapidly speed up your ability to produce textiles"

Hektor sighed internally but acquiesced to humour the boy, he was paid to be here after all , "I will remain sceptical, but here is the rough outline, Lord Cassius." he said while retrieving a short parchment with records and calculations on it.

"I employ 22 weavers who can produce an average of around 10-20 yards of yarn an hour or roughly 1 bolt of 15 foot yard per hour, per weaver, we make between 2-5 silvers per bolt if we sell it raw, and between 15-40 and no higher if we weave it into raw cloth. Our daily production is normally capped around 130-140 bolts per day, each day they work for 6 hours across a 4 day period of work.

Cassius nodded at the scale of his business, appreciating the scale of it before starting his proposal.

"Hektor here has told me that you are using a 'hand spindle' to weave your yarn and textiles, but what if I could introduce a new textile machine that could help you produce 5-10 times that amount, reliably?"

Hektor sat up straight in his chair with surprise, thinking he had misheard the boy.

"While highly desirable… it sounds nearly impossible to achieve. How would you accomplish this?"

Cassius was internally pleased he had managed to hook the merchant but didn't allow it to show on his face. "The increased efficiency is due to the machine's ability to automate much of the spinning process, reduce manual effort, and produce more consistent yarn. The invention itself is called a spinning wheel, and if we can construct it, it will allow you to produce 100-200 yards an hour."

Cassius had initially planned to introduce Spinning Jenny, but was limited by his own time and money. Plus, without his system he was unlikely to be able to reproduce it given his limited engineering & design skills without a herculean effort. He knew it wasn't impossible, not by any means, but there were too many other things that demanded his attention to focus on something that he wasn't sure Hektor would buy at their first meeting.

Continuing with his explanation, "This means that you can either free up some workforce for other parts of your business, or produce around… 2,200 - 4,400 yards of yarn every hour, or… correct me if I am wrong… around 150 bolts of 15 foot yarn?" He paused for a moment to calculate,

"or in other words if you had 22 people using my spinning wheel, you could produce around 900 bolts of yarn in a 6 hour shift a day, and if we average your prices.. About 2,700 silvers a day if wool production can keep up so roughly….."

He paused to write it out, "10,800 silver a week, or 43,200 a month….. Or a large fortune every year assuming production stays consistent, and there's no sudden shift in the market where you are unable to make a return."

These numbers were astronomical to Hektor, whose production was started to stall out as most talented women who could spin yarn were unable to work due to other responsibilities; Thus his surplus of unwoven wool had increased dramatically in the past few months, as although the normal crops had suffered this past year, his sheep had done exceptionally well.

Hektor quickly quelled his excitement as he fell into deep contemplation. If this was feasible he would quite literally be able to take over the textile industry overnight, nobody would be able to outbid him in the short-term as he bullied his competitors into submission. He was likely to need to either expand his own sheep farms, or import more wool from elsewhere if he could not keep up with his own needs.

But first he needed to see a model of this 'Spinning wheel' in action. Or even a schematic… He could hardly imagine what the object could look like.

"How long would it take to see an example of this creation, Lord Cassius?" Hektor asked hesitantly.

"Well… given that I have just arrived in the castle not too long ago, I am not well known by the local craftsmen. However If you can bring a capable smith, and a carpenter to our next meeting, who both are highly skilled and well-trusted individuals, then please try to get them to come. The skills of the men you bring will dictate how long it will take us to make them, but I expect any skilled craftsmen to be able to produce one a week after they get comfortable with the techniques required to make it."

Cassius expected these machines to cost anywhere from 20-60 silvers to create, with a maximum cost of 100 if the craftsman making it ran into issues and had to craft replacement parts for the prototype models.

Hektor contemplated the request, he knew of a few skilled smiths who specialised in fine metalwork, he might have to bring on another family who specialised in wood-working however, highly sought after and skilled carpenters were difficult to come by, and the only one he trusted owned his own independent workshop.

Hektor decided he would try to get the men involved, he was sure both men he was considering "I will arrange for a skilled carpenter and a capable smith to meet with us then. Their expertise will be crucial in evaluating the feasibility of your invention and the overall construction of the spinning wheel."

Hektor & Cassius were both very pleased with this "Lecture". Hektor had initially been somewhat annoyed with the request, the Margrave could have hired almost anybody for what the boy was supposed to learn but… he was deeply grateful for the opportunity now, if his invention paid off, he would increase his annual earnings by at least a third. With that though he was almost jumping out of his chair in order to start reaching out to the craftsmen he knew, but Cassius wasn't done yet, and dropped another bombshell

"Hektor, have you ever thought about investing in the smithing and ironworks industry?"

This took Hektor by surprise, he brought up the forbidden fruit of all merchants. Typically the mines were all privately owned exclusively by Lords whose territories they sat on, with most Smitheries and Forges having exclusivity contracts with said lords to create their goods first, and to prioritise their orders.

With a great deal of anticipation he answered. "If any merchant could get access to the money flow of those industries, they would do anything within their power to achieve this… Why do you ask knowing this? Your father controls and regulates the mines carefully, and arms are hard to come by with how quickly they are purchased… how would you plan to execute this?"

In the aptly named "Ironridge mountain" the mineral could be found nearly anywhere, but was still highly controlled due an old proverb here: Those who controlled Iron controlled the Realm. At least once or twice a season there would be an invasion from the much larger Cross Kingdom, mostly small sorte's but every few years there would be a large push from a powerful lord to try and take the kingdom, with a crusade every few decades since the formation of the realm.

The demand was high for the material and with the lengthy process of armour forging and weapon smithing, supply was never enough to meet it.

"In the future I plan to revolutionise the industries of Sturm, but for now I want to get rich making cloth and wool."

Which brought Hektor a predicament, how would he pay the Lord for his contributions? Two-thousand silvers was a considerable chunk of change, and more so if the boy decided to take on the manufacturing of clothing as well.

"How do you propose we divide the profits, if your invention works?" Hektor was prepared for the boy to ask for the lion's share of the spoils, but was stunned when the boy came with a realistic proposal.

"If the market stays fair and we are able to produce as many bolts of yarn and clothing as we expect, I want 10% of the profit for six-years, but more importantly, I want your continued patronage and support moving forward with my future endeavours."

Hektor, while initially concerned about how to manage the financial commitment, found Cassius's proposal to be reasonable and strategic

Hektor broke into a hearty laugh "Lord Cassius, I have misjudged you and your youthfulness. Your proposal is indeed fair and considerate towards a merchant like myself. A 10% share of the profits for six years is manageable, especially considering the potential gains from increased production. I understand what you meant by 'mutual interests' now! My continued patronage and support for you in the future falls well with my long-term interests."

He paused for a moment to catch his breath, the large merchant jovial in both expression and demeanour now, "I will draft a contract outlining the terms, including the profit share and the support for your future projects. Once we agree on the details, we can move forward confidently, I can't wait to see this come to fruition, Young Lord!"

Horace and Carmen however were left feeling a mix of concern and astonishment. Horace, wary of the fairness of the agreement and whether Hektor might be taking advantage of the Yound Lord.

While Carmen… was generally confused by the rapid and seemingly smooth negotiation process. Both saw how quickly Cassius and Hektor had seemingly struck a bond, recognizing that their shared ambition for profit and success had created a strong alliance and despite Horaces reservations, they felt the partnership's long term growth was promising.