Otto takes the slightest sip from his drink, wanting to avoid losing his sobriety too much with this woman.
Setting his glass back on the table he shakes his head once as he speaks "Mmm I would like to think justice takes on the form of custom or what is already established. What gets assigned as customary and established is whatever shows the most might. I would not like to think of it as this nebulous concept that you can't assign even a border to. You could say 'Well what is custom?' I like to think custom is what people can most consider agreeable.
Think about the people who have by and large ignored your desire to be radical with their idea of what should be customary. There hasn't been a revolt in Ul'Dah for some time, mostly because people have assigned antiquity to our ruling family and accepted them as just and fair, what they can agree to. What other reason would this peace remain?"
"I think I can further make my point with what you just said. 'Why does a man of my status need the Syndicate'?"
Otto rubs his eyes with both palms of his hands, tired and wishing he were elsewhere with this woman - not this city. "Well a man like myself has no status. I came to Ul'Dah as an outsider, selling everything my past life had in it to afford the move and to try to establish myself here. People chose to not ignore me because I offered generosity and fair and just pricing. I never gouged, even when I could. Even now you can buy one of my finest Ruby Rings for less than four-hundred thousand gil. I've personally held in my hand a competitors ring that had three times the asking price and one-third less workmanship. Despite all of that - making a large amount of gil was nothing in this city. Joining the Syndicate is what I needed to do to have status assigned to me - because that is customary, and fair for this city. Just like nobility is automatically assigned fair treatment. You have to belong to your societies norms for status."
Otto takes another, small and insignificant pull from his drink before setting it back onto the table "Forgive my rambling. You wanted to know specifics about the benefits of Syndicate?"
"Well lets start with the easiest - having access to force. It gives me might, something so obvious that you can't dispute it." Otto holds up his hand as he continues into his example "People do not touch me, did you know that? Do you know how many times I've had little half-men Miqo wanting for an excuse to hit me to show off? And then you lean into these people get face to face with them, with your arms behind your back - totally defenseless and you tell them 'Do you really want to touch a Syndicate man'?" Otto holds his hand to his face to show closeness. "You don't have to say anything else, their bravado evaporates instantaneously."
"Don't mistake me though. I am no bully. I mostly use Syndicate connections for business reasons. To trade favorably - to secure better interest rates. I very much view it as a club more than a political arm of Ul'dah'n governance - which it very much is. I refuse on a matter of principle to abuse the system like...so many other Syndicate people do. I don't break the law for the sake of it and smuggle, I don't twist peoples arms and get people out of their criminal charges. I view the Syndicate as a way to further my own business and I very much keep to myself. Its what makes me feel so superior to the rest of the louses running around within it - always scheming like children at the playground. They're so busy playing with mommy and daddies wealth that they can't run a proper stall - much less a business or even a collective of businesses."
A thought of particular Syndicate men that Otto loathes with a passion crosses his mind and he outbursts at the mere existence of such petty people. He would take one last sip from his drink and then sling it with force into the wall perpendicular to their table several feet away. "Want to know whats wrong with me? Everything this city has to offer."
Setting his glass back on the table he shakes his head once as he speaks "Mmm I would like to think justice takes on the form of custom or what is already established. What gets assigned as customary and established is whatever shows the most might. I would not like to think of it as this nebulous concept that you can't assign even a border to. You could say 'Well what is custom?' I like to think custom is what people can most consider agreeable.
Think about the people who have by and large ignored your desire to be radical with their idea of what should be customary. There hasn't been a revolt in Ul'Dah for some time, mostly because people have assigned antiquity to our ruling family and accepted them as just and fair, what they can agree to. What other reason would this peace remain?"
"I think I can further make my point with what you just said. 'Why does a man of my status need the Syndicate'?"
Otto rubs his eyes with both palms of his hands, tired and wishing he were elsewhere with this woman - not this city. "Well a man like myself has no status. I came to Ul'Dah as an outsider, selling everything my past life had in it to afford the move and to try to establish myself here. People chose to not ignore me because I offered generosity and fair and just pricing. I never gouged, even when I could. Even now you can buy one of my finest Ruby Rings for less than four-hundred thousand gil. I've personally held in my hand a competitors ring that had three times the asking price and one-third less workmanship. Despite all of that - making a large amount of gil was nothing in this city. Joining the Syndicate is what I needed to do to have status assigned to me - because that is customary, and fair for this city. Just like nobility is automatically assigned fair treatment. You have to belong to your societies norms for status."
Otto takes another, small and insignificant pull from his drink before setting it back onto the table "Forgive my rambling. You wanted to know specifics about the benefits of Syndicate?"
"Well lets start with the easiest - having access to force. It gives me might, something so obvious that you can't dispute it." Otto holds up his hand as he continues into his example "People do not touch me, did you know that? Do you know how many times I've had little half-men Miqo wanting for an excuse to hit me to show off? And then you lean into these people get face to face with them, with your arms behind your back - totally defenseless and you tell them 'Do you really want to touch a Syndicate man'?" Otto holds his hand to his face to show closeness. "You don't have to say anything else, their bravado evaporates instantaneously."
"Don't mistake me though. I am no bully. I mostly use Syndicate connections for business reasons. To trade favorably - to secure better interest rates. I very much view it as a club more than a political arm of Ul'dah'n governance - which it very much is. I refuse on a matter of principle to abuse the system like...so many other Syndicate people do. I don't break the law for the sake of it and smuggle, I don't twist peoples arms and get people out of their criminal charges. I view the Syndicate as a way to further my own business and I very much keep to myself. Its what makes me feel so superior to the rest of the louses running around within it - always scheming like children at the playground. They're so busy playing with mommy and daddies wealth that they can't run a proper stall - much less a business or even a collective of businesses."
A thought of particular Syndicate men that Otto loathes with a passion crosses his mind and he outbursts at the mere existence of such petty people. He would take one last sip from his drink and then sling it with force into the wall perpendicular to their table several feet away. "Want to know whats wrong with me? Everything this city has to offer."
