40d:Guild representative

xTATTEREDx  · +FINE+  · *SUPERIOR*  · ≡EXCEPTIONAL≡  · ☼MASTERWORK☼

v50.14 · v0.47 · v0.34 · v0.31 · v0.28.181.40d · v0.23 This article is about an older version of DF. More Info · V

The guild representative is a noble which arrives from Human civilizations to negotiate trade agreements. In the past, the guild representative would be replaced by the merchant baron and later the merchant prince, though this no longer seems to happen.

If the guild representative dies, you will never get a new one in order to establish further trade agreements.

Arrival and Departure

The entry point on the map for the guild representative is determined before that of the caravan wagons. This can result in the representative taking a different route to your fortress than the rest of the caravan if the route chosen is not suitable for wagons; the wagons will then enter from a different spot. This means the representative has to travel unprotected but this is really the only downside to forcing the wagons to use one particular route. The representative will then also leave without the caravan once the meeting is done. Providing your own armed escort for the guild representative is not a bad plan.

Interaction

The guild representative will only speak with your broker. His function is to ask which goods you would like to have sent with their next caravan (for a higher price), and inform you what goods they would like to buy from you the next time, which they too will pay extra to purchase.

Make sure to turn off your broker's labors and the "dwarves all harvest" order, as otherwise he will tend to walk away from the meeting, making it take far too long to complete. A particularly impatient representative may decide to give up and leave without completing the meeting, displaying the message "Diplomacy Stymied - A diplomat has left unhappy". A guild representative can also go insane if prevented from leaving; this can happen after as little as two months of game time.

If your broker is dead or injured, you need only assign a new one, but you must do this before the caravan arrives (since the lack of a broker will likely cause it to immediately leave).

If you are desperate to complete a meeting, consider locking the door on the meeting room until the meeting is complete. You don't even have to catch both in the office, the representative is so keen on his bureaucracy, he will happily shout through the door, or even a thin wall. A sleeping dwarf leader can be woken up by deconstructing his bed. Lastly, an easy way to force the leader into the meeting room is to draft him (this can cause an unhappy thought if he has no military skills) and station him in the meeting room. Undrafting him may or may not be necessary to force the meeting to start.

The meeting can take place independent of trading sessions - although the guild representative and traders arrive together, they are not tied in any other way.

Conducting a meeting in a public place can generate an unhappy thought. Conducting a meeting in the broker's private office can generate a happy thought based on the quality of the room.

Oddly enough, representatives don't need to eat, drink or sleep. There is a statement from one of our mayors on this:

Ironblood: "This damn human thingy keeps following me around, suckling on me when I pause for too long. I think it's a foreign custom, but I dare not emulate. He's all disgusting and clean. Though his clothes are almost completely rotted off..."

Requests

The meeting consists of 6 screens with breaks, the breaks giving your broker a welcome opportunity to walk away from the meeting. Don't think you are done until the representative confirms it and says farewell!

1. "On behalf of the Merchants' Guild, let me extend greetings to your people. There is much to discuss."
2. "What requests do you have of our merchants?"

   (decide which types of goods you want them to bring next year)

3. "Well then, we have finalized the import agreement. Feel free to go over the documents."
4. "Let's discuss what we are willing to offer for your craftsmanship..."
5. "Well then, we have finalized the export agreement. Feel free to go over the documents."

   (view whatever goods the Human civilization wishes to buy from you next year)

6. "Again on behalf of the Merchants' Guild, let me bid farewell to you and your stout dwarves."

Trade agreements with Human civilizations will allow you to request a wide variety of goods, including leather, cloth, wood logs, metal bars, alcohol, meat, fish, cheese, plants, and live animals. Each type of good can be assigned a Priority using the arrow keys. For each level of priority, the caravan will attempt to bring one "unit" of that good next year (a bin of cloth/leather, a barrel of alcohol, a stack of 5 meat/plant/cheese, one caged animal, etc.) and will also increase the price you must pay for them.