The following transcript was published on page ten of the RhyDin Post, November the eighth.

Fenner: What is your full name and occupation for the record"

DeMuer: Alain Cavan DeMuer, Baron of St. Aldwin.

Fenner: Now I hope you'll be patient with me, but if it is all right with you, I'd like to go into your history a bit. For those that don't know, I wonder if you'd explain where your Baronial territory is.

DeMuer: Currently the Barony occupies two islands on an otherwise empty planet we've named Drasill. Thanks to the strange nature of cross-realms travel, it's a short trip there from the city of RhyDin by either land or sea.

Fenner: And how long have you been affiliated with St. Aldwin"

DeMuer: The title was revived and given to me approximately two and a half years ago. However, it was first granted to the DeMuer family about....eight centuries ago.

Fenner: Revived" Would you care to expand on that'

DeMuer: Several centuries ago, for various political reasons, my family lost the title, which at that time applied to another place, the city-state I hail from. When the new state of St. Aldwin was established two and a half years ago, here near RhyDin, the citizens wanted to grant me a title. Reviving my family's old one was the easiest solution.

Fenner: So that would mean you've been in RhyDin about two and a half years"

DeMuer: I've been in RhyDin for four years and three months.

Fenner: Where did you live before coming to RhyDin"

DeMuer: A place called New Brittany. It was on a version of Earth, I suspect not too different from yours.

Fenner: What made you decide to come to RhyDin"

DeMuer: Civil war. When it started to involve heavy aerial bombardment of our city, my cousins, my sister and I decided it was no longer safe to stay.

Fenner: Fast-forward four years, then. How did you make yourself busy in RhyDin at first'

DeMuer: Security work. It was only several months of that until I became a private investigator. RhyDin has never been wanting for security work, nor cases to investigate.

Fenner: And how did you go from private investigator to head of a corporate conglomerate"

DeMuer: A few years ago I wanted to find a more reliable source of income than contract work. A friend and I put together a store called Kaldi's Gourmet Coffee, which specialized in highly varied, exotic blends from all across the Multiverse. When some local customers began requesting bulk shipments of various blends to their home countries and planets, the business rapidly grew, and became DeMuer Exports. Later we moved on to spices, tea, sugar, sometimes chocolate....goods of that nature.

Fenner: And what kind of position did you and your friend have in DeMuer Exports"

DeMuer: My friend was not involved in the coffee store's transition to the wider import-export business. However, as the primary shareholder until very recently, I was Chief Executive Officer at DeMuer Exports.

Fenner: You just told me that you were looking for a better source of income besides contract work. Pardon me for being blunt, but a CEO for a business of D.E.'s magnitude wouldn't exactly be struggling in the same fashion that, say, a private investigator might. Now last July you rather abruptly stepped down from that position, correct' If your original intention was to make a steady living, why would you give up an opportunity like that"

DeMuer: Laughter. Because when I opened Kaldi as a coffee shop, I didn't foresee it becoming DeMuer Exports. Kaldi was part of a set of stable assets, including the Silver Mark Brewing Co. and Zeppa Soda Co., both of which have seen more....modest growth. As you can imagine, being at the helm of a very large company is time-consuming. The profits were and remain wonderful, but I couldn't give a company that size the attention it deserves with the other responsibilities I have. Namely the Barony of St. Aldwin. Also, I retain a number of shares in DeMuer Exports. Not the majority, but the company continues to provide me with a significant income.

Fenner: Who have you left controlling interests to"

DeMuer: I'll try not to get too deep into the dominant political practices in the Barony....but legislative bodies, both regional and national, typically generate their funds through corporate assets. I gave many of my shares to the townships of Esperance and Sainte-Ouen and the Baronial Council, and sold another part to Dib Jaster Aurene, who was previously the Deputy Executive Officer. A majority of shareholders have elected him as the new CEO, and I'm sure he'll continue to serve the company very well.

Fenner: Let's talk about the circumstances of your retirement, then. An article recently published in RhyDin Business Review addressed your aggressive stance on fair trade - an interesting position for a notoriously cutthroat enterprise. Would you tell our readers a little bit about that"

DeMuer: I remember the article well....Their angle was hard, but it was a fair assessment. Currently Mr. Jaster is negotiating with Governor Driscol's trade officials about a trade seal given to goods guaranteed not to involve slave labor in any way with the manufacture, preparation, or transport of those goods. Not for a tax break, not to mandate fees....merely as a means of empowering the consumers to know what they're buying and what goes into it. Whether or not the Governor's office approves a seal for other companies to use, as a stipulation of my 'retirement' DeMuer Exports must guarantee that all of its goods do not in any way involve slave labor. I hope it will set a positive example for other companies, one I intend to emulate at Silver Mark and Zeppa Soda.

Fenner: Now you're talking about regulation, aren't you? While I realize that every company has the right to regulate where and where not their products come from or how they are produced, you have to admit that slavery has, for a very long time, been an integral part of RhyDin society. Do you honestly expect employees to inspect every last aspect of your company's stock before it hits market shelves"

DeMuer: That's the benefit of buying bulk - even if 'bulk' is a smaller amount for companies like Silver Mark, it's not a matter of inspecting every bottle of beer, for example, but each farm and plantation we buy hops, wheat and barley from, and the glass factory that supplies our bottles. I know that there must be limits, that you can't guarantee every little indirect connection, but the language of our guarantee right now covers the materials we are selling to the consumer - in the case of Silver Mark beer, the drink, the bottle and the cap, as well as the knowledge that no slaves work for the brewery in any capacity.

Fenner: Both DeMuer and the slave industry have been thriving for a while, Baron. If I may; Why now" Do you find it convenient to regulate the production and distribution of your commodities only after the success of your company is well-established"

DeMuer: It's been an unofficial practice of DeMuer Exports since its establishment. Honestly, there are two reasons I'm doing it right now - Mr. Jaster and I only came up with the idea this year, and I've been better equipped to negotiate with the other shareholders by tying this to the sale of my shares. While start-ups are often owned by one man, with larger companies it's much less common, and in the last two years DeMuer Exports has become very eager to grow up. Now they have that opportunity, and I have the opportunity to push the boundaries of business ethics in RhyDin to the practice of slavery and far beyond it.

Fenner: You're not just pushing the boundary of business ethics, Baron. You are pushing the boundary of ethics in general. How have the other shareholders responded to such stipulations"

DeMuer: I won't lie. A few have left. However, we've had new shareholders coming in as part of this deal, and most have embraced the changes. The major difference from DeMuer Exports is not in its practices, which were already unofficially in effect, but in its public face, setting an example for other companies and empowering the social conscience of consumers. You're right that it's regulatory, but as you pointed out yourself, it's internal regulation. Nothing at all is being forced on the outside world.

Fenner: This is a pretty big legacy for you to offer up and then suddenly walk away from, Baron. What do you plan to do with your time now that it won't be spent cleaning your customers' consciences"

DeMuer: Laughter. You've just said it yourself, Darien. I'm a Baron. Jaster is the new CEO of DeMuer Exports because I trust him with this legacy. My first responsibility is to my countrymen, the people I lead. As St. Aldwin grows and finds itself in an ever wider diplomatic circle, my role as its advocate will only become more critical, and likely more time-consuming.

Non-applicable portion deleted.

Fenner: I think that will work for me for now, Baron. Is there anything else you'd like to add"

DeMuer: ...Silver Mark tastes better than Badsider. More variety, higher quality. It's just better beer.

End transcript.