Embaral Commerce Venture

Through Hell And High Water

## History

The Embaral Commerce Venture was founded a year after the siege of Absalom that almost led to the return of Rovagug to the Material Plane. The temporarily-successful coup, led by foreign agents, inspired a new wave of imperialistic and nationalistic sentiments in the country's richer circles. The coup was a symbol of Cheliax losing its place as one of the world's mightiest countries, and this was a flaw that had to be righted.

An answer came in the form of a woman by the name of Scaevina Wilhelmina Denther. Seeing a chance to profit off this unrest, she lobbied with several influential noble families for funding of a new project. The Inner Sea had long traded with the countries further to the east such as Vudra and distant Tian Xia, but never with any true structure. The Embaral Commerce Venture would be an answer, a way for Cheliax to establish itself as a primary link between west and east. The ECV would become a channel for organized import between these distant lands. Exotic goods would be imported in greater amounts and sold at exorbitant prices in the Inner Sea, the profit of which would flow back to Cheliax through the Venture.

Though Denther had originally hoped to be the single figure of power within the Venture, the investors that would become the Venture's shareholders instead established the Lords Thirteen. These thirteen individuals, drawn from noble or wealthy families across Cheliax, would act as the Board of Directors for the ECV. Though Denther still ran the organization's day-to-day activities and had all the power associated with this position, it made her more of a figurehead than someone with true control over the Venture's comings and goings.

Over the nine years that followed, the ECV became a known name in the Inner Sea. Fine silks, foreign spices and Tian tea proved to be popular among the region's rich and powerful. Where before they were available only in small trickles from small companies, they could now be purchased more easily. The ECV kept the prices low enough to push these smaller companies out of the market, but high enough to continue making a tidy profit. The Venture was also known to import more questionable goods, but kept these dealings under wraps, never peddling these wares where they would be illegal.

Though Denther was never removed from her position, the composition of the Lords Thirteen did change over time. Rather than purely Chelaxian, internal politics and maneuvering among the investors and shareholders led to the appointment of five foreigners on the Lords Thirteen. While this opened up new opportunities for the Venture, it also led to friction within the Lords Thirteen themselves as the remaining eight Chelaxian members chafed at sharing their power with foreigners. Ultimately the cash flow still ended at Cheliax rather than the homelands of these foreign members, which meant the company's shareholders made no attempts to rectify this.

Nonetheless, it meant that the Venture's major business contacts and sources were no longer primarily within Cheliax itself, but were instead spread across the Inner Sea region. Eventually the decision was made to move the ECV's headquarters to the Isle of Kortos, as this central location would make cooperation with foreign partners go more smoothly. While it meant Absalom would get a small cut of the profits through different forms of taxation, the Lords Thirteen and the shareholders alike decided the new opportunities would be worth the losses. After acquiring a sizeable office building in the Coins district, the Venture made a full move to Absalom, leaving their old office in Egorian as their new Cheliax branch.

The organization's motto is "Through Hell And High Water". The ECV presents this as a heroic statement, a promise that the Venture will secure these foreign resources in distant lands for the betterment of the Inner Sea. Of course, the real meaning is hardly subtle. While the ECV would never publically treat the motto as such, Denther originally created it as a reference to Cheliax's infernal allies. Critics often see it as indicative of the Venture: proper on the surface, but insidious if you look deeper.

## Description

The ECV makes little mystery of its allegiance. Many of its officers and managers are drawn from Chelaxian high society, and are infamous for carrying themselves with a certain nationalistic pride. However, all of these individuals go through courses and training to improve their attitudes towards foreigners and members of other races. While the Venture does not discourage nationalism, the ECV is out to make profit. Members are encouraged to keep more radical ideologies to themselves. Even before moving its headquarters, the ECV employed numerous individuals of non-human races or foreign nationalities. While the ECV is certainly pro-Cheliax, the company also works like a meritocracy. Old members from when the ECV was a purely Chelaxian organization bristle at the idea, but it's not unheard of for the ECV to have non-humans in position of power, most commonly as ship captains.

Similarly, ECV crews are often colorful and vary greatly, as captains are given relative freedom in running their own ships as long as they remain within budget. ECV managers are trained to be ever-careful with which crew gets sent where, due to the numerous different races that make up the crews of individual ships. A ship with a half-orc captain will never be sent to a port known to be harassed by a local orc tribe, a ship with a slave-crew will never be sent to a port where slavery is illegal, and a ship with a tiefling captain will never dock at Cheliax itself. The ECV's loose grip on this goes both ways. Captains are free to run ships of jolly friends and grim cutthroats alike. Press-ganged or otherwise enslaved crews are allowed (and in some places encouraged) by the company. Even undead crews aren't grounds for dismissal.

The ECV also trades in more... dubious goods. While the company does accept such deals, headquarters is notoriously hands-off with them. The ECV is known to be highly apologetic when such a crew causes controversy, often paying more for fines than is requested, publicly condemning their employees' actions and even sending high-level managers from headquarters to handle these diplomatic issues. However, critics often note that these large gestures hide the fact that the ECV makes no real structural changes to prevent them, nor do they seem to punish the responsible captains and managers very extensively.

The ECV does not only trade from locals, also possessing a handful of mines and plantations around foreign ports where the Venture's more common products are produced. While requiring a high initial investment, these additional holdings eliminate the need to haggle with local trade magnates and magistrates and save money on the long term. Working conditions at these outposts are poor, often to the point of being inhumane, with the ECV providing extensive bribes to keep local lords and magistrates off their back. As these outposts are far from the Inner Sea itself, knowledge of these working conditions is almost nonexistent in the Inner Sea region, even among critics of the Venture. The expansion of these types of sub-divisions is currently a priority of the ECV.

The ECV's imports are greatly varied, in part due to the wide variety of ports its ships dock at. Its most common imports consist of:

* Silk, exotic leathers & other clothing materials, primarily those that are hard to acquire within the Inner Sea itself. These materials are popular among the rich and powerful. Sometimes ECV imports clothes of all different sizes tailored from these materials in larger amounts, primarily for crowds that like to flaunt that their clothing was hand-crafted in foreign lands.
* Spices & herbs, many of which are hard to grow in the climates of the Inner Sea and don't appear in the region naturally. Many wealthy individuals develop a taste for particular spices and pay high prices for even small amounts. The greatest of these imports is black pepper, a spice that has become ubiquitous on the tables of the rich and famous. Native to Vudra, many ECV ships carry nothing but this spice in their hulls as they return to Absalom.
* Foreign cuisine and drink, though mainly items that can survive the lengthy journey. The ECV does employ magical methods for importing food that can spoil, in the form of either magical containers or amateur spellcasters capable of casting Purify Food and Drink. Customers don't need to know their alligator meat arrived looking as green as a goblin's hide, only that it is now fresh and edible. This category also includes numerous foreign alcohols such as Minkaian sake.
* Precious minerals & gems, which in many cases are considerably cheaper in foreign ports. Many types of gems and metals that are considered rare in the Inner Sea are common if not ubiquitous in the eastern lands the ECV primarily trades with. By buying these at foreign ports at low prices and then shipping them back to the Inner Sea, the ECV can make massive profits.
* Occult reagents, commonly for the many different wealthy mages and magical academies scattered across the Inner Sea region. Those with an interest in foreign magics often find that they require material components that can't be found within the Inner Sea. While these components are usually imported only by order rather than en-masse, the ECV receives a steady flow of such orders from many different individuals and organizations. Even the Arcanamirium regularly employs the ECV to acquire large shipments of these materials. The ECV also imports reagents that are commonly used for forms of magic that are illegal in many places, such as the onyx gems employed by many necromancers. While the company is criticized for this, it maintains the stance that most of these items are not illegal by themselves, and that they are not responsible for how they are used.

The ECV also has a number of less common imports. The Venture either brings these to the Inner Sea in limited amounts, or sometimes even only on request, especially in the case of goods that would be illegal in many countries in the Inner Sea. Its less common imports include but are not limited to:

* Bones & ivory, both as an item of luxury and as a reagent. Though less common than jewelry and expensive clothes, some use ivory or the skeletons of entire beasts as part of their house's furniture. Certain alchemists, apothecaries and mages also require these items for use in alchemical items, potions or magic.
* Porcelain, mostly as a luxury item. Many Tian countries have unique styles of porcelain that certain collectors or connoiseurs love, but ultimately it is a niche item.
* Crude oil, a resource whose potential has not yet been tapped in great amounts on Golarion. Though certain types of animal and vegetable oils are already in use in the Inner Sea for things like oil lamps or lubrication of certain devices, true petroleum is only used by a handful of alchemists. As it's more common in the east than in the Inner Sea region, the ECV imports it in small but steady amounts.
* Slaves, while often considered amoral and unethical, are nonetheless a valuable commodity in the Inner Sea region. The ECV usually keeps its slave trade as one of its more hush-hush branches, not wanting to ruin its reputation with countries that value liberty. Most ECV vessels that transport slaves hop between specific ports where the trade is legal, rather than making stops as needed like many of the company's other ships. Additionally, it never joins in the slave trade in Absalom itself to keep these activities out of the eyes of its partners in the Inner Sea's biggest trade hub.
* Drugs, with similar methods as slaves. ECV vessels that transport narcotics almost always do so with carefully pre-planned routes and captains with experience in smuggling. These narcotics are often hidden among other trade goods. The ECV only handles import of these narcotics, and does not resell; they simply deliver these (often illegal) goods to interested parties.

## Members & Positions

* **The Lords Thirteen:** Thirteen wealthy and powerful individuals appointed by the Venture's numerous shareholders. Eight are Chelaxian. Three are from Cheliax's former territories: a Nidalese shadowcaster, a Korvosan, and a Molthuni. The other two are from the Inner Sea's two biggest trade ports: Absalom and Katapesh.
* **CEO:** Scaevina Wilhelmina Denther
Scaevina is the first head of the ECV, having secured the financial and political support required for the founding of the Venture herself. A former Chelaxian naval officer, Scaevina earned a reputation for possessing a combination of inspiring charisma and ruthless efficiency. Despite having considerable power within the Venture itself, most see her as a figurehead for the Lords Thirteen. It's not a secret she's frustrated by this fact, and seeks to expand her power further.