+ Khiden Gaeldaire, more commonly called Khiden Brightbrow, is an old dwarven jeweler and runesmith originally hailing from Kar Karadonn. He arrived in Vessina for a business trip when he was about a century old, and ultimately decided to remain there permanently. His main reasons for deciding to stay was how much he came to love the artistic expressions in Marcandria, particularly theatre and music, and the amount of exotic materials he could get hold of there due to Vessina's position along busy trade routes all around the Wayfarer's Sea. Khiden would over the centuries since up his Brightbrow Company – a massive enterprise dealing with the making and selling of jewelry. Khiden, and the Brightbrow Company, would in time join the Fulcrum, and has served at the organization's Board of Nine for decades. Khiden himself is a jeweler of unparalleled skill, and as a runesmith, has such impeccable mastery over his craft that he's able to make items inscribed with magical runes or symbols that give them magical properties. He is, however, not a magic user himself, and thus needs an external source of magic to infuse an item with when making each item. Items made personally by him are highly sought after among the upper echelons of Marcandrian society.
+Khiden has a deep reverence and respect for artistry and craftsmanship. To him, a craftsperson's work is almost sacred. A craftsperson work should be an expression of their reverence to their craft, and they should only ever be willing to sell works which they themselves can take pride in. The buyer should similarly hold such works in as high regard as the one who crafted it: Not merely a pretty piece to show off, but something to admire. Khiden therefore absolutely despises charlatans, fraudsters, and those who try selling works which they themselves know are of poor quality – regardless of what reasons they might have for doing so. Khiden has little patience for people who does not properly respect and take pride in their own works, and the crafts of others. Khiden has because of this set it as his life's mission to rid the craft which he has practices all his life, the jewelry making craft, off fraudulent and poor-quality works. He aims to do this by getting such a dominance in the market that he can enforce a set of quality control procedures and requirements across the industry that would let the buyer have an easy way to verify the quality and authenticity of the goods they are being sold, thus making it impossible for fraudsters to survive in the market. He sees fraudsters as sullying the craft, diluting people's respect for it, and negatively impacting skilled craftsmen by them having to compete with typically cheaper goods that are advertised as being of the same high quality.
+Khiden is aware that his rather brutal methods of achieving market dominance will hurt some skilled jewelers. He ideally wants to recruit the other skilled jewelers into his company, but holds deep respect for those who are unwilling to relinquish their freedom to express their own crafts without a supervising body above them. Khiden ultimately wants to create an environment where high quality jewelry craftsmen can flourish, and while he sees the negative impact his methods may have on some skilled jewelers in the short term, he sees it as being worth it if he can achieve the market influence necessary to enforce his quality control procedures industry wide, in a manner where it will far outlast even his own long life.
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Brightbrow Company: All jewelry items sold comes with documentation on who made it, what materials it's made out of, and where they come from. They basically all come with a certificate that's meant to prove their level of quality. This does not mean they only make top-tier jewelry only for the upper echelons, but that even simpler brass and copper jewelry meant more for the general masses come with proof that the materials are real and that the craftsperson made then with pride and precision.
+Khiden is an old dwarven jewelsmith and runesmith, skilled enough to inscribe dwarven runes that are capable of holding magical enchantments into the items he creates. Seeking a bit of a change and new challenges in his older years, he moved from his home in Kar Karadonn to Vessina. Here, he started a company that specialize in trading jewelry. He still creates some jewelry himself, as it is still something he thoroughly enjoys doing, though he does so to a less extent than he used to. While he values the different styles of jewelry-making, he views the dwarven styles as superior. Though he does reluctantly have to admit that the elves have some good jewel-smiths themselves.
+Khiden is a gruff individual who enjoys a stiff drink, thrilling tales, and a good joke. He is the true form of a perfectionist, which has made him a ruthless businessman. Just like he has always sought to perfect his skills as a jewelsmith, so too does he seek to perfect his skills as a merchant. This means massively outperforming his peers and his competittors. Khaden means no ill will in this, but rather views the competition as a thrilling game, that he seeks to win (which means taking the whole market). When confronted about how this has caused smaller business to go bankrupt, he'll simply note that in business, the best win, and that he would hold no ill will if the roles were reversed. He would instead view this as a new challenge that he could overcome
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Has a reverence and deep respect for arts and craftmanship. Despises charlatans, fraudsters, and incompetent craftsmen who dares try sell low quality crafts. An apprentice making low quality goods is tolerated as part of the learning process, but to dare try selling it is another matter entirely. Can be outright callous towards people like this, even if it's just a low-skill craftsman trying to make ends meet. To Khiden, desperation is no excuse to disrespect one's craft. Khiden's primary goal in life is to gain such a firm influence and monopoly on Marcandria's jewelry-related industries and commerce that he can enforce what he sees as necessary quality control procedures and requirements to prevent would-be fraudsters from staining the jewelry making craft which he holds so much respect for.
+A ruthless businessman. He wants to eradicate charlatans and fraudsters from the jewelry business – leaving only those skilled and who truly respect and hold reverence for their crafts. His aims when trying to gain enough influence and monopoly on the jewelry market is not to push the skilled jewelers out of business, as that would to him be a terrible loss of artistry. He seeks to get rid of all the filth from the industry, and enforce a set of quality controls and
+Often attends theatrical and musical performances, particularly if done by crews that he views as especially skilled.
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+ Khiden is a slightly chubby but muscular old dwarf, with a height 1.35m. He has a mostly bald scalp with wide grey hair that reaches the bottom of his ribs. Most of the beard hangs straight, with a few thick braids bearing pieces of jewelry. Khiden's arms have a number of tiny burn scars that he's gotten from stray embers over the years. His scalp, shoulders, and upper back are all covered in dark grey Kardonni runic tattoos. He typically wears fine doublets in his attires, and is most often seen wearing a pair of glasses.
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Location: Vessina
+Race/Gender/Birthyear: Kardonni Dwarf, Male, 1004 (349 years as of 1353AD)
+Status: Alive
+Occupation: Owner of the Brightbrow Company. Jewelsmith. Board-Member of the Fulcrum.
+Affiliation: Brightbrow Company. The Fulcrum
+Primary Deity: The Dwarffather, though quite openly pays homage to other good- or neutral-aligned deities, such as the Marcandrians' Diostri.
+Abilities: Unparalleled jewelry-maker. Also a runesmith, capable of making jewelry infused with magical runes and symbols – though he needs an external source of magical power when making such goods, as he himself cannot use magic.
+Alignment: Lawful Neutral
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Brilliant and skilled jeweler - capable of crafting items that can be magically infused.
+Clever and clear-headed.
+Firm and forceful - will have his way.
+Hardworking - no one under his employ are to work harder than him.
+Meticulous - keen attention to detail. Careful and precise. Intense.
+Perfectionist. Scrupulous - thourough with extreme attention to details.
+Principled - artistry, such as jewelry making, is an art-form. A craft to be revered and respected. Charlatons, fraudsters, and the incompetent have no place in the craft.
+Resourceful - knows how to get what he needs. Well connected with suppliers and buyers,
+Shrewd - sharp powers of judgement. Unfoolable (and wise). Knows when people are trying to play him or distract him. Does not tolerate such behavior, and will quickly expunge them from his presence.
Stoic - very set in his ways and views. Incredibly hard to make him change his mind. Steadfast and determined in his goals.
+Stern - serious and unrelenting. Strict and severe.
+Stubborn - will not change his mind easily.
+Cultured - loves arts and crafts - be that jewelry, woodmaking, theatre, music, or anything else. He deeply appreciates and enjoys being witness to high quality crafts and performances. he likewise despises being witness to low quality.
Demanding - demands others treat craftsmanship and arts with the same level of reverence he does.
Callous towards charlatons, fraudsters, and incompetent craftsmen who dares sell inferior goods. Someone making low quality when they first start out is fine, but to dare put their name on it and try selling it is something else entirely.
Friendly and even mentor-like to those he deems to be skilled at their crafts, and who share his reverence and respect for craftmanship.
Can be insensitive towards those with lesser skill who just tries to make ends meet. To him, this is no excuse for disrespecting their craft.
+Money-minded. Values quality above all, but also places importance on finances in order to achieve his goal of claiming market dominance to the point of being able to set rules.
+Opinionated - about craftmanship reverence and respect. Disapproves of improper craftmanship.
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Ambitious - seeks to gain monopoly when it comes to jewelry making.
+Competitive - beating competition is to him a way of living. To him, winning above the competitors is a thrill to him.
+Determined.
+Outspoken - says what's on his mind.
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Dismissive - if you don't have anything of interest to him to talk about, then he's not interested in talking to you.
+Values a good joke.
+Ruthless when it comes to business.
+Highly values art and artistic expression, such as theatre and music, so long as they are of exquisite quality.
+Despises charlatans and fraudsters. His aim to claim complete dominion over the jewelry industry in Marcandria is to eradicate charlatans and fraudsters who defiled the craft which he loves so much. If you're among them trying to sell fraudulent goods then you're literal scum in his eyes.
+Prideful.
+no sympathy for sub-par craftsmen. they should get better
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