Safe Harbor Marine Guarantees

Safe Harbor Marine Guarantees, formerly known as the Safe Harbor Marine Insurance Company, was an insurance business in the city of Ravens Bluff in the 14 century DR, a type of business that was relatively rare and a new endeavor in the Vast around that time.
==Location==
This business was located in the Seaglimpse neighborhood of Ravens Bluff's Harbor District, across the lane from Maukshoun's Rope, Cable, and Chain.
==Structure==
Safe Harbor was housed within a stone building that stood two stories tall, measuring in width and in length. The choice of stone as a building material was made out of concerns for security against thieves and protection against fires, as the business involved a lot of paperwork. A square sign hung from the front of the building that depicted a ship pulled up to a dock. Over the front door was another sign, one bearing the name of the business.In the module The Fisherman's Tale the building is described as having a hanging sign, swinging in the wind, that bears the full name of the business in addition to the above slogan. This could be a case of a change in signage or a mistake by the author.
Flanking the building on its seaward side was a tall tower of stone, resembling an obelisk. A narrow, wooden staircase spiraled around the tower, leading up to a little observation room at its top. The staircase was covered, with steps made up of rickety and rotting wood. There a large signal bell was kept, along with a weathervane in the shape of a ship that squealed as it twisted.
==Interior==
The first floor of the building was made up of a waiting room, an office space for scribes, a conference room with a fireplace, and a vault in its rear. This vault, measuring square, was constructed at a great expense. Its floor, ceiling, and walls were all made of stone, with the walls measuring in thickness. The only entrance to the vault was a thick, iron-plated door, sporting a heavy and complex metal lock. Within this vault was kept the company's books, insurance contracts, and various finances.
The second floor of the building was occupied by the offices of Safe Harbor's two owners, Clark Pebble and Lyndon Golight, separated by a foyer. Each office was reflective of its owner, with the only similarity between them being thick wool rugs. Clark's office had was wood-paneled and had a nautical theme to it, reflective of his past as a sea captain. Among his hordes of nautical gear were a carved figurehead of some ocean goddess that rested in the corner and an anchor that was used as a doorstop. One wall was mostly taken up by a nautical chart, while others were decorated with various pennants from ships, floats, and a block and tackle. Above a large window was mounted a plank from a ship Clark previously captained, bearing its name Whale. There was also a desk in the room, with typical forms of maritime equipment used for paperweights and a tall ship's hourglass. Charts, contracts, and other papers were haphazardly piled up stuffed into his desk's pigeonholes. In front of the desk were three chairs for visitors and behind it was a single, large padded chair. The office was rarely ever dusted by the office apprentices.In the module The Fisherman's Tale the cleanliness of each office is mixed up by the author, with Lyndon's office being described as "cluttered and dirty" and Clark's office described as the "clean" one.
The walls of Lyndon's office were largely taken up by shelves, most of them bearing heavy leather-bound books on maritime law, though one was taken up by a tapestry depicting an ocean scene. The shelf overlooking Lyndon's large desk had many pigeon-holes for him to store various contracts and other papers, which were always neatly rolled up and tied with a ribbon. The office was otherwise populated with various pieces of furniture, brass lamps, religious paintings, and a few samples from cargoes that the company had ensured. Unlike Clark's office, the room was kept regularly by the office apprentices.
==Services==
As its name implied, this insurance company particularly specialized in ensuring against all manner of things maritime related, with sea captains and ship owners making up the bulk of their clientele. This included loss of ships and their cargo from shipwrecks, fires out at sea, or saltwater damage to durable goods (such as hardware or furniture). Theft insurance, in case of being robbed dockside or out at sea from pirates. And as of 1361 DR, the business also offered "spoilage insurance", to protect against losses of perishable cargo brought about by time delays. This included such circumstances as long periods without win, dockworkers striking, or delays brought on by harbor bureaucracy. And the insurance covered not only foodstuffs, but also precious cloth and furs.
Insurance contracts were individually tailored for and negotiated with each client. The fees of these contracts and their deadlines varied depending upon a ship's reputation and whether or not the client was a regular customer. Regular clients only had to pay their fees on a monthly basis, whilst infrequent shippers had to pay their premiums in advance. These premiums were typically 10% of whatever the estimated value of a ship and/or its cargo were, whilst up to 20% was charged for theft insurance. Though a given premium could also depend upon whatever pre-known danger factors there were to a given sea route. And finally, spoilage insurance was issued at 10% of whatever the value of the perishable goods was.
In addition to selling maritime insurance, Safe Harbor owned a number of nautical charts of the Inner Sea and Moonsea that they sold copies of, though anyone not part of their ensured clientele would be charged double the asking price. Unbeknownst to his partner Clark, the ever crooked Lydnon Golight altered the nautical charts that were sold to the non-ensured, moving the placement of map markers denoting rocks and outright removing map markers for obstacles and known pirate lairs.
==History==
In the , Clark Pebble was attacked at sea by pirates and during the confrontation had his right knee smashed with a shield. While recovering from the crippling injury he was offered a job opportunity by his brother-in-law, Samuel Barkdell, to work at the man's fledgling maritime insurance firm. After a few years Clark left that company, having grown restless, and traveled back to his home of Ravens Bluff to found Safe Harbor Marine Insurance. Two years after its founding, Clark was approached by his attorney Lyndon with an offer to become his business partner and he agreed.Port of Ravens Bluff (pp. 42, 45) states that Charles O'Kane became Mayor 20 years ago, which would set it in 1361 DR. Other dates have been extrapolated by working backwards from this.
==Inhabitants==
The Safe Harbor company was cooperatively owned by Clark Pebble and Lydon Golight, the latter of whom also served as the business's attorney. Beyond them the company employed a head secretary by the name of Tricia, a bookkeeper, two scribes, and a handful of apprentice office boys. Wary of taking risks, whenever Safe Harbor dealt with cargo the two owners knew little about, they would hire an outside appraiser more familiar with said form of cargo.
Between the two owners, Clark was the expert at appraising ships, rarely missing a detail on account of his own experiences as a sea captain. He was known for his tendency to refuse insuring ships that were in a subpar condition and for being quite demanding of captains during contract negotiations. Whenever business was slow Clark would ascend the tower out front their offices, watching the movement of ships in the harbor from the observation room, and ring the signal bell that was kept up there whenever he spotted the ship of an insured client pulling into port.
Lyndon Golight handled most case work, wrote up contracts, and offered legal consultation. However, unbeknownst to his partner, Lyndon was an accomplished rogue that ran an extortion racket with a small band of other thieves, indirectly coercing people into becoming clients of Safe Harbor. The actions undertaken by his accomplishes to coerce victims included sinking ships, destroying cargo through means of fire or unleashing rats, and tipping off pirates or any of the other rogues that operated around the docks.
==Appendix==
===Notes===
===Appearances===
===References===
Category:Businesses
Category:Locations in Seaglimpse
Category:Locations in the Harbor District of Ravens Bluff
Category:Locations in Ravens Bluff
Category:Locations in the Vast
Category:Locations in North Faerûn
Category:Locations in Faerûn
Category:Locations on Toril
Category:Locations