"But of course you can, Yogo-san!" The big man beamed joyously as he threw his arms wide in greeting. "Whatcha need?"

Kiuchi was thrown off for second before quickly recovering. "I was hoping to learn more about the Mantis Clan. My House, the Itoh, are merchants for the Yogo. While our distance from the coast prevents too much interaction, we have still heard of the heard of the business acumen of the Mantis."

"Oh?" Rioshida is a little relieved that he was going to get some straight talk, for once. "Well, alright! We buy low, we sell high, just like you. Half of it is about volume, and the other half is about having the right product at the right time. What d'you guys carry? Perfumes? No, that's the Shosuro usually. Hnn..."

"Mostly, we trade whatever is needed, though a few generations ago, we began breeding and raising guard and hunting dogs. Though that is an Itoh thing. Not a wider Yogo prerogative."

"Hunting dogs? Hmmm...a luxury commodity. Those can be dangerous markets, because so much is predicated on relationships, and relationships often mean that your customer wants a cut on price, and I bet those dogs are costing you guys on overhead. What's it cost to raise a dog from a pup to point of sale? Do you guys do training, too?"

"It depends on who is training. One raised by my father, for instance, is far more than one raised by one of peasants."

Kiuchi nods. "And you're right. They are not the most profitable product themselves. But it is the relationship that is the true value. It builds trust and increases trade in more profitable, if often more boring ventures."

"Ah. I take your point. Reminds of when we were running turtles out of Ginger Cove. Cheap turtles, but made a killing on the ornamental boxes and the special food. Tip for free: you come up with a name for the food that smacks of magic. Something like "Kappa kibble," people like the k-sound, and then they get the idea that that's the only food that'll do. It's a beauty of a deal."

Kiuchi considered this advice thoughtfully. Kappa kibble did sound interesting to him. One the other hand, his name started with "K" and no one really like him. At least in his family.

"I will remember that. Thank you, Gusai-sama. I will bring suggest renaming our kennels from Itoh Kennels to something new when I return home."

Gusai kennels sounds good to me, kiddo!

"An interesting idea. You could name them after me!" He looked back at the floor, where talk of unity and diversity was already sweeping the court. "Hnn...every crisis."

Kiuchi chuckled. "While it has a nice ring to it, I fear it may cause some confusion."

Lord Gusai tilted his head back and forth in a strange approximation of a shrug. "Maybe."

Kiuchi sees people filtering out of Court. "It seems Court is over Gusai-sama. I would like to continue this conversation later though. How about we meet tomorrow and discuss how our Clans can benefit each other?"

"That would be swell, Yogo-san. Come see me in the Banquet Hall in the morning. We'll talk over breakfast."