Dear Sir or Madam or Both or Neither,
I write to you with an incredible opportunity for adventure, patriotism and profit. London’s fortune has always been tied to the sea, and so it is we look to the past to see our future…
This is an idea that involves a fair amount of Sunless Sea mechanics merged with the personalities and purses of Fallen London. It is known that the Underzee is a dangerous place, full of death and dismemberment at every turn. It threatens lives, but also, most importantly, commerce. But surely the sea has always been such. The Docks of London have always played host to many a teary eyed widow and ruined investor alike. How did the people of London combat these losses in the past? In the heyday of piracy, it used convoys. Indeed it was nigh impossible to have your shipping line insured had it not traveled in a convoy to ward off pirates, ne’re-do-wells and, worst of all, Americans. The reason convoys came out of fashion was that individual ships became too quick to make it effective. But that’s no longer true in the Underzee.
So why are there no convoys active in the Neath? Moreover, why are there no massive convoys run by shipping magnates guarded by private warships? The answer is surely a lack of capital. Ships require a massive amount of start-up capital to purchase and most sea captains rarely survive long enough to buy anything more than a tramp steamer. Those that do retire, go North or sail a monkey blimp out East. Even if they didn’t, it would take one man far too long to gather the capital needed.
But not in Fallen London. Here, a small group of likeminded individuals could pool, say, an Ubergot’s worth of Echoes each and purchase a fleet of around 16 Merchant Cruisers and 4 Dreadnaughts to escort them; along with engines, weapons, crew and supplies. It would be a massive amount of money. But then you set them to trading. Wine to monkey coffee to Parabola Linen at first. The ships would pay for themselves in only a few trips. After that, money will flow like the Stolen River, all without fear of pirates, monsters or Khanates.
You the reinvest and use that money to buy more ships, as much as the London market can hope to handle. Then you expand to all the different ports of the Neath: Supplies from the surface, sapphires from Carnelian to Chelonate, dice from Palmerston to Shadow. You’d have enough capital for a massive fleet and, eventually, enough necessity to set up London ports throughout the Neath.
It would have to steer clear of any illegal trading, such as sunlight or red honey, and pay The Masters their due, but I’d imagine Wines would be happy to see the sheer, hitherto undreamt tonnage of his wine make its way across the zee.
Eventually you could have your own private navy of monster hunters, which could make a fair profit on their own, and fleets of Dreadnoughts to “deter” London’s enemies from interfering with her interests.
Convoys, Capitalism and Colonization: These are the things which will bring about our naval supremacy.
This is my idea to make London a power to be reckoned with once again and to overcome the horror that is the Dawn Machine without having to resort to Liberation.
…and it with this great hope that I look forward to not only your generous investment, but your tireless work n our noble endeavor.
Forever Your Servant,
Nigel Overstreet
Soon to be of The Fallen London Shipping Line