Warehouse 4
IC date: Winter 51
OOC date: 08/02/13
Location: Portside
PCs: Cornucopia Rising-Chaos Daisychain
NPCs: N/A
GM: N/A

A nice afternoon in the Harbour! Now that it's not raining, ponies are out and about, working and living their daily lives. There's the general feeling in the air, that it will all be over soon. The town feels new again, and gangs of workers bustle about constantly, going to and from construction project. Houses rise by the day, almost, thanks to their dedication and efforts.

At the constantly moving center of the work efforts, strides Rising Chaos. Clipboard ready, pace confident, she strides through town down towards the docks. Foreponies are given orders, schemeatics, letters, and sent on their way. There she is, the perfect symbol of efficiency, or so she would have you believe. Closer inspection would reveal a very stressed out pony, so many minor disasters that must be handled. The next stop is the key to many of her headaches: Warehouse #4

Daisychain follows alongside the somewhat overwhelmed unicorn. Her feet are off the ground, wings slowly flapping to keep her hovering. "I…I think we're almost…there…" the goggled pony mentions.

Cornucopia usually had a lot of work to catch up on, having to take advantage of the good weather when she can and forced to sit at home and not take care of her duties when bad storms hit and docked ships can't unload or load cargo to their destinations. She took is checking off things as she uses her trained nose and eyes to determine the freshness of perishable goods being brought in and out of the warehouse. Sometimes her magic as well if she can't be sure. If something is a little spoiled she can also use her magic to restore it to its fresh and edible state. Stuff that seems too contaminated she knows was in a poor state to begin with and refuses to have it stored with the other goods in the warehouse. Most of the dockhands here refer to her as 'Miss C', though behind their backs they usually call her the 'Ice Mare', considering how she never takes a moment for idle chatter or socializing, even when its during lunch break. She only speaks when something needs to be said and she keeps it curt, concise and to the point.

The door of the warehouse opens up as Cornucopia's assistant opens the door. The two large main front doors have a lot of traffic going in and out of them as stuff is rapidly being moved to and from the warehouse. He looks like a young stallion in his mid teens, and by his manner of speech and posture not the paragon of productivity that was used to describe the one running this operation, "You lookin for somebodys?" Suddenly a loud shout is heard, "You've had this crate of cider here long enough, this isn't your private cellar for you to keep this stuff here! There's an extra fee for storing these things beyond the alloted time! You either pay it or take it out!" Some muted conversation is heard once more before another round of shouting begins, "How dare you try to cut a deal with me! Asking me to sell this stuff for you and cut me on part of the profits!? I'm a busy mare! I have no time to play salespony, that's not in my job description, I work only for this warehouse. So now are you going to pay the extra fee or do I have to have this crate sent to the bottom of the pier!?"

Rising-Chaos nods again. "I had to ask around myself. Most ponies aren't worth knowing here, the ones who are typically verge on insane. At least you found good company early." Good being a relative term, in this case. Rising eyes the pony who opened the door condescendingly. "I am here for Cornucopia, you will take me to her." It's not a request. Before the stallion can even react, Rising is in the warehouse, pushing past him. The wares are given a cursory, bored glance. Already, the unicorn looks impatient, giving every indication the stallion is wasting her precious time, and he will pay for it. The flash of naked steel he saw in her saddlebgas as she walked past probably healp reinforce the threat implied in her posture.

The young Stallion was about to speak, but Rising-Chaos was already in the warehouse before he could respond fully, "Miss C is busy dealing with some lout who….umm….you can't just…uhh." He seems a little dumbfounded, not to mention entirely interested in handling the situation he goes off into the back of the warehouse with a perplexed expression on his face. He'll let his boss vent at him later. Cornucopia meanwhile is finished speaking with the gentleman as he annoyedly pays the extra fee and leaves in a disgruntled state as Cornucopia turns suddenly towards Rising-Chaos' direction, wasting no time, "Yes? What business do you have here in the warehouse? I really don't have time for an introduction…if it's important enough I'll see to it." She says while walking away towards a spot where the goods are being brought to a point for inspection as she looks them over and takes a whiff of everything before writing it into her notebook sitting on a small stand or having it put aside once the owner of the goods arrive, making note of why it did not pass inspection.

Daisychain hovers along still, staying fairly close to Rising's side. Her head looks all around, getting a good look at everything in the warehouse. She gives a brief apology to the stallion as they walk past, "Sorry!"

Rising-Chaos adopts a scowl, and whips her clipboard like the most dangerous of weapons. "I was told that if I needed large amounts of perishable food, you would be the pony to contact? Am I correct in that assessment, or are you as incompetent as the rest?" Her tone clearly indicating that Cornucopia doesn't look incompetent. She lowers her voice to talk privately with Daisychain. "I'm going to have to be unpleasant. You take any opportunity to be nice, or keep other ponies away."

Daisychain blinks a few times, looking back and forth between the two ponies a few times. She gives a few nods to Rising, "Right…got it." Idly, she hovers around nearby.

Cornucopia had listened to Rising-Chaos immediately become demanding of her as her rebuttal was equally stern, "We STORE large amounts of perishable food in this place. It is my job to see that it's kept in an immaculate state for those merchants and traders who TEMPORARILY…" Shouting off towards the direction of the owner of the cask of cider who was in the process of leaving, "…store their goods here. Though seeing are you've never been here before I can direct you towards whatever you need and if we have it here in large amounts I'll have my ASSISTANT." She calls towards the back of the warehouse, the Stallion immediately hurrying towards her, "Bring the merchants and traders over here right away who own the goods and you can negotiate with them on what you'd be willing to pay for them. If you agree to that I can get to work on it right away." She says before quickly jotting down a few things in her note book before going back to inspecting some crates filled with exotic fruits while waiting for Rising-Chaos to make a decision.

Rising-Chaos smirks, perfect. "That will suffice. If you could take care of that right away." Indeed, the mare turned out to be just as efficient as promised. "I will need food and drink, I have the exact amounts and items in question here." She floats over a list, with some pretty ridiculous numbers on it. "Of course, I would prefer to deal with as few merchants as possible. Price is not an issue, this is a government concern. That also means it is not optional and your full assistance is not only valued, but expected." More than anything, Rising sounds bored, unimpressed. "I would appreciate your FULL attention, miss Cornucopia."

Cornucopia swiftly does a 180 turn toward you and takes the list, looking at it as her eyes rapidly scan over everything before setting the list aside with her own magic, "You're in luck. With the way the weather has been a lot of cargo has been backed up in here and unable to get out to where it needs to go, you should find the traders more than obliging. Thankfully my magic ensures everything here is kept as fresh as the day it was originally shipped out, and sometime even more so." She quickly writes up her own list and hands it to her assistant who also looks at it and takes it in his mouth ( being an Earth pony ) and putting it in a satchel on his back before taking off, "You'll have to excuse me for being so busy, the storms occurring here as of late force me to be as efficient as possible, I can give my full attention to both you and the flow of goods in and out of this warehouse." She states in a more calm, even tone.

Rising-Chaos sniffs, as if none of this was quite enough. "You'll forgive me for being less than impressed. If we can keep round the clock construction, albeit slowed, during the worst of the storm, warehouse work can't be that hard. Still, I am sure you have your reasons. Perhaps you need more help here?" While she waits for merchants to arrive, she may as well establish herself. Having the other pony be a little bit in awe of, or dislike her, would be a good place to start. That way, this 'ice mare' will either be ruthlessly efficient, or punished. Perhaps they may even become respected acquaintances, which is a nice thought.

Cornucopia hrms, "Well, at least construction teams know the definition of urgency and take pride in their work, as do you I see." She then gives an exasperated sigh, "I on the other hand have to bear under the burden of a plague known as Organized Labor, or else I'd be flogging this worthless lot of them for complaining about wind and rain making working conditions unsafe." She says, barely able to hold back her contempt for the ones she works with. Soon enough the assistant returns with three merchants, "I rounded them up, Miss C." She says towards her as Cornucopia nods, "Well, you may speak to them now, once you are ready I'll have some of my workers cart them out to wherever you need it."

Rising-Chaos doesn't let the slightest hint of the sympathy she feels show. "Indeed, I could arrange for more, dedicated help, to be arranged. Should you desire. It's important for the warehouses to be run efficiently, or the entire town is in trouble." A piercing look is given to the other mare, a potent reminder of just how important this is. "Very well, let us meet these merchants. You may take me to them at once." YOU are helping ME, she clearly says, with posture and everything. No, it is not a choice, it was not a question.

Cornucopia nods slowly, before turning towards the warehouse in general, using a refined yet dead serious tone of voice, "Has this reached your collective ears yet? If you don't start shaping up I'll pay to have all of you Shanghai'd. So if I hear any more talk about lack of lunch breaks and hazardous conditions then you best keep an keen eye on what taverns you settle in at after hours." She said while giving an icy stare to the workers in the warehouse. She then turned towards Rising-Chaos again as she led the two over to her office where the Merchants were waiting. She then looked towards her assistant, "Have several workers hitch up some carts to have the goods delivered once we finish conducting business here." She said as the assistant quickly left to round up the carts.

Rising-Chaos watches the display of mastery carefully, learning a lot. Following the mare has proven to be nothing short of an adventure, so far. Is this seriously how these are run? "Indeed, workers who refuse to work are more useless than not having workers at all." The unicorn gives the office a critical look, before walking in.

It doesn't take long before she's out again. The only sounds that had come from the office were some muffled yells, then utter silence. Any attempts to follow her would have been met with a magically locked door. "We're in business," she says once outside, and the door is closed again. The others get a glimpse of some very confused, frightened merchants. "The workers are fed. You're co-operation has been useful, miss Cornucopia. You are more competent than I had expected. Perhaps I will be contacting you if I have business in the future. Tell me, have you ever thought of maintaining your own warehouse?"

Cornucopia nods as she quietly waits til the business is conducted before turning towards Rising-Chaos as they speak to her once again, "I'm glad you have settled things, I was gravely concerned that with the issues the weather had presented that those ships wouldn't have been able to deliver the goods, which were already past due meeting their intended destinations and at least have somewhere to go now in Horseshoe Harbour." She looks away for a moment, barely offering herself half a moment to recall something before looking back to Rising-Chaos, "This used to be my Aunt's. When she grew too old to maintain a proper hold on it she had to sell it to some investors and it changed hands several times over the years, things had not been the same since." She said in a grim tone of voice, "Having it back in the hands of a blood relative would please her, and it would please me as well."

Rising-Chaos hmms to herself, checking something off on the clipboard. "It's always a shame to see such things fall out of the family and fall in such times. Perhaps the situation can be rectified. As well, I will be needing these supplies often, so I will be sending runners, or myself down here often. We can both profit off of the business, I feel." It wouldn't be a challenge, after all. Getting a warehouse indebted to her would be exceedingly useful, especially if she plays it right. From the sounds, bribes are a bad idea, and Rising would never stoop to such levels anyways, she has some respect. "I would see this warehouse run well, you seem to be the mare for the job." Her business done, Rising starts to walk back towards the entrance.

Cornucopia leads her back towards the entrance, "Thank you, it would be a golden opportunity to be fully running this warehouse as it originally was." Once she has left the warehouse she goes back to her own work, looking over several crates of pineapples and inspecting them along with some spiced rum that she quickly examines as she never likes to get too close to the stuff as she never liked the smell of alcohol. She writes down the cargo in her log and then turns towards her assistant who has the carts ready, "We will be shipping out the goods soon, so make sure these carts are road worthy." She assistant nods as Cornucopia returns to her task of managing the flow of goods.

Rising-Chaos steps out of the warehouse and adjusts her cloak. "Well, I think that went rather well. Come, Daisychain." With that she strides off in to town. Soon, she's lost in the crowd of workers and others who gathered around the warehouse while she was inside. A pair of trusted ponies are sent to find out just who owns the warehouse, their names, and their addresses, they will be receiving visits.

From the government, of course