“Honored ones, please,” said Asherzu of the Guz’Varda. “We must hear each other’s words if we are to move forward. There must be a way to solve this problem.”
“I will take the head of anyone who does not save his receipts!” Borpo produced an axe from beneath the table and held it aloft dramatically.
Asherzu sighed and rested her forehead against her fingertips. “Borpo…”
“Or her receipts.” The warrior shot the chairwoman an egalitarian grin.
The CEO’s unchanged expression suggested that mild sexism was the least of her concerns. Borpo quietly slid his axe under the table and eased back into his seat.
Asherzu let her breath out through her tusks. Not for the first time, she regretted ever thinking that leading a tribe would have prepared her for running a business.
In the early days, she had been enamored with the idea of a corporation. When the tribe split away from the Red Horde, they were joined by other tribes of Orcs, clans of Goblins and Gnolls, families of Slaugh, and other Shadowkin and monstrous people. These groups identified with the Guz’Varda Tribe’s cause and ethos and allowed Asherzu to advocate for them to the Lightlings. Yet tribes are—by definition and by nature—tribal, and the elders of all gathered knew that it was only a matter of time before differences—cultural, political, or petty—fractured their alliance. Shadowkin customs offered no way to merge or centralize ancient family designations without losing more than was gained.
Yet the Lightlings had invented structures for people of any ancestry to work together in common purpose and share rewards based on contributions: the corporation. At Asherzu’s suggestion, the tribes all sent wise-ones, shamans, and chieftains to join the Working Association Research Group, or the WARG. After six months of research and debate on the ideal way for the tribes to collaborate, the WARG had recommended forming a joint company for the benefit of all the member tribes and even produced a charter to launch the corporation.
Of course, finding and structuring leadership and employees for such a corporation would take time, and there was already a joint venture featuring each tribe’s top talent in the study commission itself. By a nearly unanimous vote, the tribes and clans converted the WARG into a corporation. The WARG rider was attached to the charter, deeds for tribal assets were drafted and transferred, and a new kind of company was born under the name Warg Incorporated.
In theory, Warg Inc. was the top business talents of Shadowkin tribes collaborating to recapture wealth that had been taken from their peoples over centuries of looting by the Heroes’ Guild. Yet in Asherzu’s experience, every day was a reminder that reality is always much messier than theory allows for.
“I will ensure that we can see to the matter of the expenses,” Asherzu told the executives seated around the conference table. “Let us focus this time on our mission.”
“Do we have a mission?” asked Pogrit, matriarch of the Fub’Fazar Clan of Gnolls.
“No, and that is the problem we must solve,” said Asherzu. “Lightling corporations all have missions.”
“Such as the ones they give their heroes,” said Borpo, nodding.
“Like ‘kill twenty Bloat-boars?’” suggested Guglug.
“Or ‘bring me five Dire Muskrat spleens?’” Izek said.
“Our company does many things,” said Asherzu loudly, trying to steer the conversation. “Warg owns shares in two tanneries, four blacksmiths, an armor shop, thirteen corner grocers, three mercantile caravans, a grundant orchard, inns, breweries, and more. And that does not count our new investment banking group. We hold all these companies, but what do we actually do?”
The others at the table stared blankly. “The finances?” croaked Guglug.
Asherzu nodded, watching the gears of understanding grind into motion. “That is our day job. But what do we do?”
An uncomfortable silence bloomed in the room.
“So we’re not talking about the muskrat spleens?” said Izek.
“No, we are not.”
“Well, that is the sort of mission I have heard the Lightlings speak of,” said Borpo.
Asherzu tried to force a smile as she stared at some of the most respected Shadowkin in the Freedlands. It struck her once again that experience can be a double-edged sword. Some people learned and practiced the fastest, most efficient way to get from point A to point B, which was all well and good until a company needed to get to point C. Her father, in his wisdom, had once remarked that the only difference between being on track and stuck in a rut is the intended destination. “I meant a bold statement that echoes our purpose to the ages,” she told the board. “A declaration of why we exist.”
“I usually leave that sort of thing to the shamans and priests.” Guglug waved a webbed hand dismissively.
“As a company,” Asherzu growled. “Why does Warg Incorporated exist?”
“We have the charter,” said Izek. “We wrote it not half a year ago. Is that not our mission?”
“Yes, correct!” Asherzu felt a glimmer of hope. “That is the sort of mission we are looking for. But it is too long. No one can recite the whole thing—that was not a challenge to do so, Borpo.”
Borpo sat back down, deflated.
“We need a mission statement that captures the spirit of the charter, but remains short enough that you could speak it to another on a trip down the stairs,” said Asherzu. “A quick way to say why we all come to work each morning.”
Izek stuck a hand in the air. “To make money so we can buy food.”
The Guz’Varda chieftain rapped her fingers on the table. “That is true, in part, but it does not inspire passions.”
“I, for one, am very passionate about not starving,” said Izek.
Asherzu sighed. “I meant that a statement such as that will not motivate people.”
“It will once they get hungry,” offered Freggi.
The CEO took a deep breath.
“Perhaps we should agree to let the agency of advertisements help us with this ‘mission statement,’” suggested Pogrit gently. “They say they are good at this sort of thing.”
“They say they are good at everything,” grumbled Borpo. “It’s just more expenses.”
“Your words are wise, Honored Pogrit,” said Asherzu, without even trying to hide her relief. “Let it be so.”
A rumble of agreement went up.
