Ah. He's probably supposed to read this. What does Understanding Contracts have to say about understanding contracts?

Understanding Contracts

A contract is an enforceable formal agreement between two people. This agreement can be enforced by a powerful third party who has agreed to enforce some agreements. It can also be enforced by Covenants magic. The Lunabellan government has some limited access to Covenants magic, so important contracts made on Lunabella are enforced by both!

You might wonder why people would want contracts when they could just agree to things without them. The main reason is that, without a contract, people might change their minds! Imagine if someone told you "I'll give you flying lessons for a month if you let me have your favorite vase", and you gave her the vase, and then she changed her mind. That would be frustrating. If someone else offered you a similar deal later, you might not take it, because you wouldn't feel able to trust her. With a contract, you could be more assured that people will behave honorably.

Covenants magic, at high levels, will enforce unfair contracts which parties did not knowingly enter. Doing this is extremely dishonorable, so even if you can do it, you shouldn't. If you do it on Lunabella or to a Lunabellan citizen, the government of Lunabella will not like it, and they will try to break the magic and punish you. The government of Lunabella is powerful, so they'll probably succeed.

Lunabellan law is made by honorable people. It does not enforce contracts it considers unfair. For big, important contracts, it even requires that they be signed with witnesses and kept on file.

Sometimes, it's not clear what a contract means, and the people who made it disagree. This is bad, and smart people try to avoid it when they write contracts, but sometimes it happens anyway. When it happens with a Lunabellan contract, the people go to a court, and explain what they think it means, and the court figures out what it means. Lunabella is old, so this has happened a lot of times. Many of these cases have records on file, and you can view those records at a library.

So, what should you do if you're considering entering a contract?

Firstly, you need to make sure you understand it. If any of it confuses you, the best thing to do is to have it rewritten in simplified language so it makes total sense. If that can't be done, but you can get an explanation of what a confusing part means that makes sense to you, you should get that explanation incorporated into the contract.

Secondly, you should make sure it seems fair to you. You could make a contract to do a lot of hard work in exchange for a bit of rock, but that would be a bad idea!

Thirdly, if the contract asks you to do anything you might have trouble doing, you should make sure it gives you backup options. What if you agree to do some work in exchange for some Kisses, but then you get really sick? You'd want to have agreed you could give the Kisses back instead of doing the work.

Fourthly, you should have someone you trust look at the contract, if you can. They might spot mistakes you didn't! If you can't do that, you might want to read the contract, take a break and do something unrelated, and then read it again.

The booklet goes on in this vein. There's occasionally some woodcut illustrations.

He wishes all books were written like this!

Yes, that makes sense. Not being able to trust people is bad.

Oh. That's probably why he got the advice to be careful not to agree to anything, or do anything that might resemble that. Because it might cause Covenants magic to trigger.

Hm. He might ask if he could go to the library and read case law later. Maybe.

That also makes sense. He is not going to enter into an agreement that he does not understand.

He doesn't know what things make things fair or unfair. What if you really wanted that rock?

Yes, he will ask to have exit or fallback options in the contract.

Sadly, everyone he trusts is dead! So he'll have to skip that one. In that case, he will take the book's other advice and read the contract, and then come back after doing something else. Like reading case law at the library. Or is that too related?

Pictures!!

"Lady Saffron, what powerful third party enforces agreements on Lunabella? Is it Madam Einodia?

What constitutes an unfair contract? What things make something fair or unfair?"

Saffron's still looking through her binder. "My matron, King Culicarius, Einodia, those sorts of people. And that's a bit of a philosophical question."

"The book says 'Secondly, you should make sure it seems fair to you. You could make a contract to do a lot of hard work in exchange for a bit of rock, but that would be a bad idea!'. I don't think I would take this deal, but I don't see why it's unfair or a bad idea necessarily."

"I'm reading. I was trying to help you by offering this book, but you're being annoying about it. Go bother Cumin or something."

Ah.

"I'm sorry, Lady Saffron," he'll say, and get up to leave.

"Well, you truly were essentially raised in a barn. I forgive you. I'll Send you when I'm ready, come back around then. Bring Cumin if you'd like."

"Yes, Lady Saffron."

He'll walk away from her, and then Send to Cumin. :Hello, Cumin. Lady Saffron suggested that I talk to you about contracts.:

«Ooh, contracts. It sounds like you're doing well. I'm brewing potions but I can talk, you can keep Sending to me or you can come to the alchemy workshop, just don't touch anything.»

:I want to get more practice in Sending, so I will Send to you. I will be slow, though.:

The next series of transmissions are Conrad sending his (very short) conversation with Saffron about contracts, and his question, and the passage from the book.

«Hmm. So. I would say the example contract is a bad idea because there are a lot of ways to get rock for much, much cheaper than that, and the story doesn't specify anything really special about the rock. Even if the rock was somewhat special to you, you might be able to find another rock you liked in less time than all that work would take! And it's unfair because of that, and because the person offering the rock probably knows that? Fairness is a bit complicated.»

:Oh, I see. So it's about how easy rock is to get. If it's easy to get rock, then that means what I offer should be easy too. Likewise, if I agree to do something difficult, or have a power that is difficult to get, then I should get something that is as difficult to get. Is that how it works?:

«Well, sort of? Sometimes people in a bad position might make compromises, and people debate whether that's fair or not. Say, if you needed food and you were starving, someone might offer you food at a high price if they were the only one making offers, even though the food might be easy to get for them, and it still might be wise for you to take the deal. You're dealing with a lesser version of that here: you'd probably get a better deal if you spent a lot of time going around collecting competing offers, but you need protection now, not in six months.»

:Ah, that also makes sense. I fended off Alphazon earlier, but I think a big reason for that is that the people who were supposed to be managing me were all on Mars, and I killed them all. So the people that they sent for the attack necessarily were weaker and less prepared. I'm not sure whether or not I would be able to say the same after another one, especially since I haven't reconfigured my technology yet.:

Hm. He should probably get back to Zamira at Chasmapolis during the time they set, to see if Madam Clothildis would make an offer. Then, he could compare prices.

:Aside from job scope, what other things can you negotiate for in a contract? Like, can I have it be in the contract that corporal punishment wouldn't be used on me?:

«Many other things. Your example is a good one. Saffron generally responds to sufficiently bad behavior with extra work shifts, anyway, so it shouldn't be hard to get her to agree to that.»

:I should probably think more about what it is that I want, aside from just protection from Alphazon. Can I talk to you about possible things so that you can tell me how much she would care about each one?

What does Lady Saffron consider 'sufficiently bad behavior'?:

«Damaging her things. Treating her guests or your fellow clients inappropriately. Telling a third party she's agreed to something she hasn't agreed to. That sort of thing. And sure, you can talk to me, though I don't know everything about Saffron and if I did I wouldn't necessarily share it with you.»

:Thank you. That's okay, what you have and are telling me is already very useful and helpful!:

Pause.

:I think I want to be allowed to wander. Mostly on Lunabella, but perhaps other places. Is it possible to change a contract once it's signed, if both people agree to it? If I learned Portal magic, do you think Lady Saffron would agree to change the contract for that?

I also want to have money to buy things with, like technology or materials. Or just be able to acquire such things in general.

The book suggested that I put in alternate clauses or escape clauses in contracts in the case I can't fulfill them. What does that look like for Lunabellan contracts?:

«It's possible for both parties to amend a contract after it's signed, but it'd be wiser to just put in a conditional clause. You should get for a share of the profits from work Saffron has you do, and you could ask for a starting bonus. These days, the standard alternate clause is that you owe her a lot of Kisses, and she'll put that in without you asking. You'd probably want to make those by selling gold or sculptures or such, not directly from your batteries. Or by picking up a different matron who agrees to cover it for you and offers you terms you like better.»

:Oh! So I'm going to make money by working for Lady Saffron!! That's great!! I've never touched money before.

I don't understand how I can make Kisses with my battery. Oh, you mean deconstructing the battery with Metallurgy and using that to make Kisses.:

«Oh, no, no. Kisses aren't made of metal, they're made of mana. You should be able to do it with Transmutation, or failing that at a mint, though they'll take a fee.»

:Oh! I read a booklet that said they're made with Transmutation, but it didn't say how to make them. Can you teach me how?:

«Not now. Maybe later, I am working.»

:Okay. Thank you for answering my questions.:

Conrad will wander and think about what other things he wants to put in the contract.

He wants to be able to use the empty bubble for magic practice.

He doesn't know what workshops or equipment Saffron has available. He wants an arrangement in place in the case he wants to buy, procure, or make equipment that takes up a lot of space.

He doesn't want to be imprisoned or locked in his room, or prevented from exercising or moving around. Being limited to the estate in limited circumstances, and having certain areas of the estate being off-limits is fine though, so long as it is not most of the estate.

He thinks that's it, actually. Maybe he'll think of more later.