Member
The Illesian Kingdom
The Chief Engineer of a fairly small machining company, Northman Machining, quietly strode through their small machining shop. The employees were hard at work creating parts necessary mainly for farm equipment maintenance, as agriculture was big business in the Illesian Kingdom and mechanization of it in particular had really taken hold in the past years. As he looked on at the parts of a steam engine being built, a younger engineer stepped next to him and handed the Chief a newspaper, excitedly pointing at the front page, "Look at this Charles, there's a government-sponsored contest that wants contestants to submit prototypes for an automobile in a year."
Charles Amlore, the Chief Engineer, took hold of the newspaper and read it carefully, the slight wrinkles on his face moving ever so subtly before his eyebrows arose in amazement, "Really? And the prize is.... ten million cesars as seed money to make an automobile company? Good Lord. That seems rather excessive."
The younger engineer ignored this critique, his blackened face smiling, "I bet if the engineering team got together and asked Señor Ernan to help fund us, we could definitely submit a working prototype in a year!"
"Robére, relax. There's plenty of time. I'll go ask him about it as well. You tell the others about this contest and get a consensus on who wants in." Patting the younger man's shoulder, Charles chuckled a bit, "Even if we don't win, it'll be a fun exercise."
Twenty minutes later, Charles was standing in the office of Señor Ernan, presenting the news article to the grizzled old man, "I do believe in the capabilities of the Engineering team, sir. This new creation, the automobile, is extremely interesting and we have all the tools we need in the shop to create parts for a prototype. Within a year, we can absolutely pull this off, and if we win, that's a ridiculous sum of money to create our own automobile company."
Señor Ernan considered the article for a few minutes from behind his glasses before looking up above them at Charles, then setting the newspaper down and leaning back in his seat that protested heavily of the heavy man sitting on it, "How much do you want, Charles?"
"Enough funds to purchase two Forino 4HP motors, two Segaso Modello 1's, and two Karqasia Model V's, as well as to get them here to Illesia. We also need the materials and tools to produce our own parts and such, but the engineering team will do this on our own time."
Ernan took a slow, deep, nasally breath as he considered the numbers and risk involved. It wasn't a particularly large amount of money, but it was a fair amount considering Northman Machining wasn't that big. And even if it failed, Ernan could always just resell the purchased automobiles. Finally, he smiled but tapped his desk twice, "You'll have your money, Charles, but I want 51% ownership of the company that results if you win. The remaining ownership can be divided between the engineering team as you all see fit. Also, if you fail, the automobiles are mine to do with as I see fit. Understood?"
Charles took a deep bow, thanking Señor Ernan, "Thank you very much sure. I'm sure the team will greatly enjoy this challenge."
Later that night, Charles and the engineering team of five others sat together in his Charle's parlor at his home, smoking cigars and bandying about names for their little group.
"Illesia United!"
"Farin Express."
"What the fuck does Farin even mean?"
"Piss off, Samuelle."
"I've got it, King's Express."
"To hell with that, we're not owned by the King."
"Well then, you suggest a better name."
"Uhm..."
"How about this: Yorvagr Motor Company."
Everyone seemed quiet for a few seconds, before Charles asked the young man who proposed the name, Harold Yngold, "That name sounds familiar, what does it mean?"
"Yorvagr was the old God of Lightning. Feels right to me," explained Harold, a great burly man with an enormous red beard who more resembled the Dwarves of legend than a human.
There was some small criticism of the name from one member of the group, but they quickly came to accept it. That night, they decided to pool their wealth together along with the funds given by Ernan to form the Yorvagr Motor Company, setting in motion the purchases and logistics necessary to get all six of the cars and engines they needed to Northman Machining. One of each automobile or engine would be left untouched so as to have a reference for how it worked in the first place, while the other automobile or engine would be disassembled and examined closely. With Charles Amlore at the head of the group of six total, together they began their journey towards the emergence of the Yorvagr Motor Company upon the world stage a year later...
OOC: +2 to Order 1