 |
 |
- "I am very glad, but let me warn you. I have been in this business for a long time, and I know how to get my money back. So if you have any intentions of pocketing my money, forget that!... I don't want to offend you, it's just a friendly warning."
- ―Diarmuid Sargent to Nathaniel Hawk
Diarmuid Sargent is the local loan shark of Oxbay town. He works in a three-story office building just in front of Alan Milds' store.
Diarmuid offers two kinds of services as a money lender; one can loan for gold from him, or deposit some wealth to him.
One can borrow three different amounts of money from Diarmuid; "not much", "quite a bit", and "the more the better", at a small interest rate. Borrowing a large amount would mean that the client would need to repay a larger sum within the agreed time period of the transaction. If the client fails to do so, his reputation decreases.
A client can also deposit three different percentages of his wealth to Diarmuid; a quarter, half, or all of his wealth, at a small interest rate. The client can request for the money back any time after the transaction.
Within Diarmuid's office, almost just beside him, was a small wooden chest, which would contain some jewelry. Interestingly, Diarmuid would probably have overlooked its possible flaw; any client could open it, hide his gold, pretend to have none, and ask again for a loan. Diarmuid would not complain; however, he would still expect the client to pay back all the money he loaned.
Background[]
Sometime before 1630, Diarmuid established a three-story building within Oxbay as his main office. He has since been in charge of a loaning business, carefully watching over clients whenever they loaned money from him. Through this enterprise, Diarmuid seemingly gained large sums of money from it, being able to store some jewels in his office's chest, as well as purchasing elegant-looking clothing.
When Nathaniel Hawk arrived in Oxbay after a storm heavily damaged his ship, his boatswain Malcolm Hatcher suggested that Nathaniel borrow some money from Oxbay's loan shark (Diarmuid, of course), then purchase goods from Alan Milds' store nearby to import to Redmond.
Personality and traits[]
A highly frugal man, as any loan shark was in the archipelago, Diarmuid would not be too eager to loan large sums of gold to his clients. For him, the lesser, the better. Whenever a client would request for a large sum of money to be loaned from him, Diarmuid got slightly nervous, calling it a "risky" process.
Diarmuid was always quite happy to accept an investment from his client, calling such an individual "intelligent" for deciding to do so. Used to, and seemingly enjoying the presence of money around him, he would be a little disappointed when his client would ask for the money back.
Very particular about the trustworthiness of his client, Diarmuid would regularly warn him not to "pocket" his money - as a "friendly reminder", claiming to have longtime experience in his field. Indeed it would be unwise for the client to "pocket" the money - in other words, not pay back the loan within the alloted time period - as Diarmuid may have been prone to spread unpleasant rumors about the client's transgression, lowering the client's reputation in the eyes of the archipelago's inhabitants.
Equipment and skills[]
Seeming to indicate that he was a well-moneyed man, Diarmuid wore elegant clothing, consisting of a fine-looking green undershirt, over which he wore a sleek blue coat with frills. He had long, black hair, and a top hat. Visibly plump, it is possible that Diarmuid would enjoy good meals with the large amounts of gold his clients probably invested to him.
Behind the scenes[]
Interestingly, the player can actually treat Diarmuid the loan shark like some kind of infinite money supply; ask for a sum of money, and then before talking to him again, hide all his gold in the chest just behind him, within Diarmuid's office. Then, if the player speaks to him again, he will not ask for the money back; in fact, the player can ask for another loan! This process can be repeated for as long as the player wants. However, watch out - for if you cannot pay all that money back, your reputation will decrease terribly!
One way to easily mend this problem is to donate large sums of money to the Church, to raise back one's reputation in case it has plummeted due to not repaying the money on time. It is important to have one's reputation up, as having an extremely low reputation normally leads to store owners, loan sharks, and perhaps even key figures in the game's storyline to avoid your presence.