West Fiore Trading Company HQ [Area Info]

As you find yourself first approaching Divide island it is easy to see that the place has different ports, three in fact, now to the uneducated would likely be wondering what the point of this as it may seem like the trading company may not know what it is doing due to the illusion spreading itself so thin, and the answer is quite simple if the correct question is asked of course. They haven't...

The docks to the west are able to host up to forty large ships of any kind at anyone time. These ships are generally all merchant and fly the trading company's symbol and colours showing their allegiance and that attacking them would likely not be a good idea as everyone knows there are a good few strong mages within the ranks of the trading company. This being said however, it has been known that if weather has been bad that other ships have been allowed to dock (for a fee of course).

The docks to the east are able to host up to twenty medium airships, for those who are willing to pay a bit extra to get their cargo to their destination quickly for whatever reason. These docks are strictly for the use of the trading company alone, anyone getting to close to these docks without the symbol of the company have been dealt with harshly as trespassers since the company's flagship is located here. This dock also doubles as a dry dock allowing ten large sea baring ships to be in at anyone time for repairs and maintenance.

The middle dock is the dock visitors to the island whatever their business may be with the company. On occasion it has been people trying to buy shares, just wanting to camp in nature, to gain a job or there to put in a request something being traded for them. On the rare chance even those wishing to give mages jobs from the magic council or other individuals have came just to place the jobs on the job board in case someone is looking for some extra funds while they wait to be back on duty.

Regardless of which dock you end up at each well maintained with their own shielded path which are highly defended by guards most of which know some sort of re-quip or weapon magic. To become a guard is no easy task as you have to show your up to the task by fighting the president or one of his representatives and proving your worth and well lit by lacrima which no one but a few know double as secondary defence that uses elemental magic.

You can see the area closest to the headquarters for the West Fiore Trading Company is in a tropical climate. A mixture of palm trees, shrubs, and forests upon the nearby mountains mark it for a Mediterranean style biome with several sandy and rocky beaches fringing this edge of Tolgalen.

The distance between the docks and the trading company's headquarters all depends on which dock you come from, as one could imagine the distance from the sky dock only open to company members is closer to the main building than the supply or visitor dock. This being said no dock is more than fifteen minutes away from the headquarters. As previously stated the paths are well lit by lacrima (that also have elemental properties that will activate in case of invasion or intrusion) and guards who specialise in re-quip or other melee based magic for the safety for all who are there on business, pleasure or call the island home. Due to the path it's very  hard to get lost and a silent motion sensor will go off alerting nearby guards to anyone who decides to venture off the path to places they shouldn't be and will apprehend them to find out what is going on.

As you approach the main building the first thing you may notice is the giant diamond shaped lacrima floating above the headquarters of the trading company and wonder why it is there, the answer to this is quite simple, it acts as a guiding light to ships at night, what only a select few will know is that it also acts as an early warning system for the trading company in case of invasion and has also been imbued with elemental magic to help defend and slow down any would be enemies giving the mages of the company  (and guild) enough time to get innocent people to safety while mounting an attack and defence to get rid of the idiots attacking the island and those who call it home. (So attacking this place is never a good idea, but hay, they should feel free to try their best...)

As you get to the bottom steps you are met with a large white building, that you would swear was one giant block of white sandstone that has been made hollow. This is of course not the case just the illusion the architect went with as it makes it harder to see weak points and any flaws the building itself may have unless you are trained in what to look for. Just by the simple elegance of the exterior it would be very easy to see that the building very well maintained and may come across someone checking over things to make sure that there are no issues, taking notes on issues or fixing issues that have been found and reported. The steps leading up to the large double mahogany doors are made from white lime stone but if you look close enough you can see small twinkles almost as if stars have been caught within the stone helping with where each is in the darkness.

Walking up the steps you will see a large glistening wall of marble filled with names, at the top you will see the words 'Souls lost but not forgotten' to many this will seem like a memorial to those who lost their lives while while at sea or in the air, and their bodies could never be found so were remembered in the best way the company could devise; but to those who know both sides of the coin will know it has a deeper meaning. Doing anything that is classed as inappropriate to this memorial wall will not be tolerated and will instantly get you an armed escort off the island with whoever you are with. Your and those who were travelling with you names and images will be added to a book that allows everyone to know in the company that trade with them is forbidden. (Best advice be respectful to those who have passed and no issues will arise, remember chances are you need the company more than it needs you.)

At the top of the steps you will be met by large mahogany double doors that have been carved with images of the company's history. Right from it's humble beginnings all the way to how it ended up to be how it was that year. You will see no space for additional images but  if you were to ask a member you would find out this is not the case, the company has at least one mage that tends to the doors alone moving the images each year so more information can be added so the history is kept. (Be mindful of the  doors, they're old and though can be replaced the ones who do the work on them will be more than a little annoyed.) The doors are kept open during the day so trade and such can be dealt with, but during the evening they are usually closed and are only able to be opened by people with one of the two marks for the safety of all inside.

You're eyes will now likely wander to the white walls of the building once more now you're closer to it given that before it looked like nothing more than a hollow large white block. It's now you see large bay windows equally spaced, it is easy to see that each window regardless of it is stained or clear it is clear to see that all the glass is hand crafted and well tended to. You can throw things against the glass within reason and it will not get damaged, it however it's still not advised  because if caught the company will see it as an attack and you will be given a one way ticket off the island and told not to return in the politest way possible. Just by the sheer size of the place it's easy to see that the headquarters of the trading company is around four perhaps five floors tall. Each floor seems to have an extended roof allowing those who work or live within the rooms below able to go out on their balconies while keeping the one below slightly dry.

As you pass the set of large set of mahogany doors you are met with a large reception area. The first thing that would be seen was the floor that consists of the finest polished stone, at certain places such as from the front door to the main reception desk there is a regal red and gold carpet. It is now that your eyes would be drawn to the silk golden crimson curtains on each window held back by golden silk corded tassels, following them around it is easy to see a large grandfather clock but you would notice a faint glow coming from it; this is because if you where to ask the clock what time it was at a certain spot within Earthland it would show you.

The walls themselves are of flawless white marble but it is easy to see that a lot of love has went into  maintaining them due to the murals that have been painted upon their surfaces. These murals show both good and bad scenes, not all of which may seem relevant to the trading company; if asked why these were painted you would be met with a unanimous answer regardless on who you asked, this answer would be 'So we don't forget the past, good or bad.' Just by the wall on the way to the front doors, the mahogany doors themselves and the murals it would be clear to anyone that the trading company was very close and refused to forget things they deemed relevant though those outside the company may not understand why; to be honest it is hard to know if everyone within the company would be in the loop as to why certain scenes would be painted on the walls but they wouldn't tell even if you asked.

Continuing to look around you will see people constantly moving around picking up or dropping off items at the reception desk. This desk has at least five receptionists on at any time, if you go to the woman in the middle she will introduce herself as Alisha and welcome you to the the West Fiore Trading company. Depending on what you say to her depends on what would happen next, if the business is something simple then you would be taken to one of the offices to the left of the ground floor and be tended to by one of the junior members, if wanting to place a job request on the board you leave it at the reception desk and Alisha herself will deal with which board it will be placed on, if looking for a job you would be placed in a waiting area to the left of the reception area and one of the senior members will tend to you.

On rare occasions the company has been known to allow tours to be taken around the building but many areas are kept of limits for security reasons and there are always plain clothed members who tag along to make sure that no one is there to cause mischief or espionage on them. Doing such a thing has given many the desire to join the ranks and have even done so very do or if they have been children when they took the tour decided to join when when they became old enough as the company gives many different opportunities, as they have many different sections and specialised fields.

At the back of the hall there are three doors that seemingly stand separate from everything else but they are as elegant as any other door and don't seem to stick out other than there is a regal royal blue banner between them embroidered with gold thread showing the company's sign. These doors are only permitted to be entered freely by those of the company, others may only enter when accompanied by someone and even then a visitors badge must be worn at all times. Within this badge there is a small unseen lacrima tag in it that lets the executives and guards know where people are at all times. Taking off the visitors badge in any place past the allowed area will instantly send a signal to these people and it will be dealt with swiftly as will any detours.

Continuing to the back of the reception hall, if you where to take the door to the seemingly plainer door to the left your sense of smell would instantly be assaulted by the smell of different kinds of succulent meats, vegetables, freshly baked goods, while your ears would find that the hall was filled with laughter, music, singing and conversation. The kitchen of the company is never closed due to ships and personal coming in and going out at all hours, so the staff work on a router to compensate for this and are well compensated themselves for their playing their parts in the upkeep of the company as well as the moral of everyone within it.

The company understands that people have certain needs after being on a task for their home wither it was by land, sea, air or acting as a diplomat for whatever reason, so do stock alcohol within the mess hall. To make sure that nothing gets out of hand by order of the management there is a limit on how much a person may drink within the mess hall before they are cut off and must change to something softer, to prove that everyone must follow this rule the president has made it clear that he and his vice presidents will also only be able to drink to the cut off amount, which seems to make everyone happy as it is not one rule for one and another rule for another because they hold rank.

Now you have entered the mess hall you can see large bay windows like within the reception area, but unlike in the area before that had elegant curtains these windows have redwood shutters, though it would really be hard to tell if they where inside or outside the mess hall due to the magic that they where imbued with. The reason for this is the shutters will change to be internal or external dependant on what they are needed for; if a storm was to hit or in the evening they would find themselves outside to protect the glass and those inside, if on some rare occasion for some reason a fight was to break out or if the sun was to bright they would find themselves inside to protect the glass or be closed so the gaze wasn't so bright.

The walls of the room are two toned with the top being an almost ice crystal blue and the bottom being white being an antique white. The mess hall always seems to have people in it due to the working patterns of those within, but even if they have a normal nine to five work day they are able to come at any time and eat. The floor of the hall is buffed redwood that shows no scuffs nor damage of any sort, in the large hall there is eighteen large tables able to seat fourteen people at each. There are many tables on the outside that is filled with sandwiches and cold foods kept protected and chilled by the runes on the tables. To the left there is a window were the hot meats and foods sit allowing people to cut off or take what they want.

The tables are made of mahogany and covered in white linen cloth, on top of it there is the required cutlery, glasses, cups and condiments required for whatever maybe on the menu at that time. The chairs themselves are high backed mahogany upholstered with what seems like blue velvet allowing comfort during the downtime of those who are using it.

From the reception hall if you where to go to the right door, you would notice that this door was not made of any type of wood it was merely an illusion, what it actually is a door of runes. This may seem strange but you either walk through or are escorted through the rune door and find yourself at the beginning of a corridor that had a small window on either side. What you will see is that the windows themselves have runes etched into them and the walls have seals, if you were to enquire as to why there where runes you would be met with one answer “To do as little damage as possible.” now that answer in itself will likely have you thinking 'Do little damage as possible?' but you follow your guide or walk down the corridor on your own (if you are new to the company) the corridor brightly lit by light lacrima but one thing you may notice is that you can't hear your own footsteps on the stone floor no matter how much you try to make sound.

Instead of asking at the current moment you just continue to walk for what seems like five minutes until you come across another runed door, unlike the first door this door is exactly how it seems and will allow you though if you have the correct markings or being escorted. What you will see as you walk through would seem somewhat a disappointment given the grandeur that you have seen everywhere else, but nothing is exactly as it seems in the large empty room as you look around you notice like the hallway there where runes covering the walls. On asking about them you would be informed that this is the magical training hall, the runes do several things such as sound proofing, preventing damage to the walls or anything beyond them, preventing any true harm if there was a magical sparring match going on and most strangely that it acted as a room filled with multiple scenarios that could be activated for training purposes.

From the reception area if you take the door in the middle you would find a square that has a strange sparkling stone at both the top and bottom, this is something that the company themselves have developed to get from point A to point B with as much ease as possible. (After all carrying boxes up the stairs is a pain and not everyone has been blessed with levitation or flight.) You just need to say the number of the floor you wish and this will take you to the floor in an instant, it is as simple as that.

You however being new decide to go to the first floor to see if there is anything interesting there and much to your surprise you find yourself in a large lounge. The walls are of a pale sky blue where the carpet was of a deep azure blue making it almost seem as if you where out on the ocean. As you look around the room you see two sets of large double windows with white silk curtains held back by silver silk cords outside it seems as if there are the redwood shutters you seen in the mess hall and believe that they must be there in case of storms. You also notice five elegantly carved redwood doors but you decide to look around this room a little bit more first.

You notice that there are several reclining white sofas and chairs that have regal blue and gold silk cushions, a two large viewing lacrima showing the goings on or a movie on them, underneath them there is a large crackling log fire wither this is magical or not is not clear until you go closer and notice the same sort of barrier that kept the food protected and cool was there making sure the fire could go no further than the fire place. You would notice that there where several large tables with eight seats around them, some of them would have games half played but you notice that even if there was no more room for a game to be played instead of clearing the game away the new group would just start playing on the floor, when asking why they didn't clear away one of the other games you would be met with “They'll finish it when they get back, it's wrong to disturb an on going game.” before they start going about their own business.

It is also in this section if you walk further in that you notice that there's a section for pottery, painting and even crafting be it with wood or some other material. As you move to the door in between the two sets of large double windows and look through it you will see a thriving garden filled with all sorts of flowers, herbs, vegetables both day to day and more exotic. (They are a trading company, it only stands to reason that they would have more exotic things growing within their garden.) The strangest thing you may think about is that the garden is one floor up instead of the ground floor but given there is a garden much like it right under it's not overly odd. The garden you are looking at having what seems like a magical stream going through it with a bridge and a few trees giving it the illusion that it was on the ground floor. You would be assured that there was nothing to fear that the garden had runes around it to prevent anyone falling off.

From the recreation room if you take the door to the right that is closer to the window you would enter what would appear to be a room that you may find in one of the many books you could read in the library. This room has a comfortable shaggy white carpet and white walls, unlike the rest of the building this room has no windows or lacrima within it to create any sort of light. In the beginning you feel like you have stumbled upon a dark secret within the company but then you come to realise if it was really a secret why would it be on the first floor in an unlocked room that any member or visitor could open, wouldn't that kind of thing be kept in a basement lab.

Slowly moving deeper into the room you see a dull glow, proceeding with caution you find yourself amongst twenty-four capsules big enough to house one adult frame, now you think there is something dark going on so you go to one of the pods and feel around allowing it to open. As it opens you find it looking almost like a bed so decide to look around only finding the words 'Dream capsule', unsurprising you find yourself confused so go to the thing in the middle of the pods to see if it has any information on what exactly these things are used for.

It is then you stumble upon a lacrima tablet that holds all of the information on what this room is actually used for. You find out that the room is called 'The Dream Room' and is used for mental training for up to the maximum of twenty-four people and there is scenarios that can be placed into the podium in the middle, from there you set which pods take part in such a scenario. These scenarios can be anything from fighting to solving puzzles, while in the pods themselves the participants are in a dream like state and will awake refreshed feeling like they've done nothing more than shared a dream with guild mates, it also allows them and the executives know where they are lacking and what they need to work on.

From the recreation room if you take the door closest to the windows on the left you would find yourself in another training room of sorts, this time however you would see nothing is really special about it. This room is brightly lit and has a complete wall as well as the roof made of glass allowing the light to enter, when it becomes night however the glass once again changes to being stone but there are large windows allowing moonlight in as well as the light lacrima that keeps the place bright no matter what time it is.

Around the room there are all manner of machines to help with stamina, strength and speed not to mention spots to work on flexibility and acrobatics if you believe you need those. There are company members who on their off time even volunteer to be trainers, so if you believe you need a little bit of a push or some advice on what is best for you, there will always be someone there to help.

At the back of the room there is a door, to go through there you would find yourself in what seems like a spa. This place is pale green and white and smells of incense, it has ten doors, four of which are used for massages each room able to house up to four people for such a thing, a room that has a mud bath able to sit six people, a swimming pool and two saunas. (One for men, one for women.) Regardless on how a person likes to relax it can be found on the first floor of the company's headquarters.

If you go to the first door on the left from the recreation room you would find yourself inside what looks much like the magic training hall. There are windows etched with runes as are the walls, like the magic training room this is to prevent damage to the rest of the building and prevent the glass from being shattered by someone being thrown into it.

This room unlike the magical training hall however has practice and live weapons, a gauntlet that could do harm but nothing overly serious (will still hurt the persons pride though), training dummies that have a tendency of hitting back, you might be afraid of doing damage to these dummies but don't they have no qualms on doing damage to you, not to mention as they're imbued with magic they will fix themselves as they are damaged much like being under a permanent healing spell.

There are fire traps to help people work on their speed, and yes it will hurt if you get hit by the fire so be sure that you want to do that training before you go ahead and do it. Like the magical training hall, this hall is also equipped with scenarios that are like mock jobs or even physical exercises that can be used to help someone get better bearings on ship duties under stressful times such as bad weather or coming under attack so they don't panic and lose their head, after all all it takes is one person and a battle could be won or lost, or for a ship to sink.

Around the room, ropes can also be seen hanging from the roof, many members use this to find out who is paying when they go for a meal or even who is having to do overtime when it comes to guard duties. Also dotted around there are mats for people who want to improve on hand to hand combat or even grappling. At the far end of the hall there is an fire range that is magically enhanced so the target will move further away even though the room will remain the same size for those who specialise in projectiles.

From the recreation hall you decide to take the first door on the left and find yourself within a place you didn't think you would find so soon and that is the vast expanses of the company's library. You decide to walk in and look around but find that this place is bigger than what you expected given how big the outside of the building appeared at first but this is due to the magic of some of the members expanding the spaces of certain rooms where it is found to be needed.

You find that the floor is a polished marble and that there are many pillars encrusted with light lacrima keeping the place well lit as there isn't that many windows given the room is packed with shelves from floor to ceiling with books on all sorts of subjects some of it fictional for those who just want to let their minds wander of things that were nothing more than a fantasy or wanted a scare. When looking around you find that there is a section of books that seem unpublished, on opening one you see it is hand written and suspect that every book in this section is the same way. These books are left as reminders of those who have left either to find a new path or through doing their duties to the company. They like the other books cover a vast selection of subjects, some of them even even starting in one persons handwriting and continuing in another's as if trying to finish the story or research in the absence of the one who started. These books are not permitted to be taken from the library by anyone and willingly defacing them is an immediate dismissal from the company, not to mention whatever punishment that comes with it.

You will notice three marble and light lacrima staircases, two at the bottom, one to the left, one to the right and a spiral on in the middle of the room that has a path leading to each side of the upper library. On the bottom there are comfortable, elegant lounge chairs with their own lights so people can read without becoming sore or bothering others, there are also several different tables around the place that can be used for studying or reading, each table has a single rune in the centre of it that when touched will create a bubble of silence that can be activated if a study group or discussion is taking place so as not to disturb anyone else that is using the area.

From the elevator within the reception or recreation area will take you to the second floor. This floor is unique as it seems like a well decorated room with two doors on each side. The polished granite floor having an elegant red carpet going down the centre, at the end of the hall there is a window covered in netting with red silk curtains pulled back with golden silk tassels holding them back allowing light to get in. At the side of each door there is a hovering light lacrima that will automatically light up as the hall becomes darker. The walls of the hallway is in two parts, the top of the wall is white where the bottom part is varnished oak giving it an almost office look. Here and there you will see different kinds of plants and some seats to allow people to wait until they can be seen.

To the left you would see a sign that reads 'Item's in' while on the right the sign would read 'Items out'. The door closest to the window on the left is where end of assignment reports are handed in and dealt with. It is unlikely that you will ever go into this room due to it being the only office with a small post box that allows for people just to post it in and go; if for some reason you did go in the room you would that it was staffed by a dozen people. There are eight tables each manned by one person while four people do the leg work putting things where they should be for future reference if information was needed.

This is also the section that deals with any expenses that the assignments would have needed while away from the company. Every jewel is accounted for and if they believe that the expense isn't something that shouldn't be on the company account, they will make sure it comes out of the pay of the one who was in charge of the assignment. In addition they make sure that a black mark would be put next to the persons name, gain three of these and you are receive disciplinary action, a forth removes you from command of assignments permanently and perhaps even dismissed completely. That falls however under the the discretion of the president and the vice presidents that work directly under them.

The other door on the left has a plaque on the door that says 'Auditing and Banking' in there there are a around two dozen people dealing with the expected finances of each expedition or job, if there is any discrepancy within a task these people will know within a matter of hours and will want to know why. It is also with these twenty four people you would want to speak to if you wanted to put some of your wages aside, needed an advance on your monthly wages for whatever reason or if you needed financing for a project. Just remember like all accountants and bankers they are beyond strict on things so you best be upfront with them or it could turn out bad because at least two of them knows gravity magic and four of them know some sort of restriction magic.

The furthest door on the right is a plaque that says 'Assignments' this office housed all jobs accepted by the company and ready to be designated to a specific crew or person. It's this office that decides who gets what task and if you screw up they're the ones you deal with given they're also the internal affairs for the company though this is only known by the CEO and their VP's.

The door beside that has a plaque on it that says 'Personnel and Appointments' it is within this room that job applications are looked over; given just how many people apply for a job on a day to day basis there are around twenty people working within this room weeding out those who would be less than desirable before handing them to Alisha to dwindle it down further before handing it off to the CEO and VP's to give the final decisions. It is also this section that does scheduling for trips, tours, festivals, parties, entertainment and the liked when such things are called for.

The third floor is a strange one indeed, at the entrance the place seems bright at least at the beginning of the corridor. The white carpet inlaid with beautiful and delicate golden thread, the walls themselves had white marble pillars with golden veins. The walls themselves was of a crystal blue  colour an intricate arch of white and gold painted on the top in an arch design making it seem almost like a person was inside a gazebo with a dangling light lacrima. Under the arch beautiful cherry wood doors would be found, each side having five doors, within these doors large store rooms for records, stationary and other things vital to the organisation can be found.

As you near the end of the hall however it darkens to a pitch black, no light is able to penetrate the magical darkness, stumbling around you would finally find the handle to the door, within it you would find a converted storeroom within it a single futon bed and nothing else. There would be no window, and no light. This room is off limits to everyone but the CEO themselves and the one who occupies the room.

As you exit the elevator on this floor you will walk into a wide open space, at first it will seem like the reception area with how open it appears. In the centre there is a large cherry wood reception desk with a single employee behind it taking calls and who directs clients to where they should be when the higher management is ready to see them. This floor has six rooms on it, four of them are for meeting clients, each of these rooms looks like your standard office with a window looking out over the nearby area, the fifth room is a waiting room, this is brightly coloured and has several different newspapers and magazines sitting for people to read while they wait for their meeting; within the waiting room several refreshments are on hand for clients also. The final room has a long table with nine chairs and is used for when decisions are being made or when a client wants an audience with the entire management.

Even though the rooms allow those on the outside to look in, when in use the glass becomes frosted so that full confidentiality is kept, To add to this so that no one walks in the doors are sealed and can only be opened by those inside of them. It of yet has never happened, however the company likes to have all bases covered for the protection of their guests and themselves. This is why all rooms are classed as anti magic areas, all weapons are instantly sealed thus unusable and if any fists are thrown then lacrima crystals activate and begin recording what happens, added to that though people may not be able to use magic a gravity seal appears below the trouble maker bringing them to their knees until security can make their way and apprehend them.