Editing The Wild Pines Group

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'''The Wild Pines Group''' is one of the fourteen original [[Revachol|Revacholian]] indotribes — companies awarded royal monopolies by the king (the suzerain) himself, centuries ago. The king is long gone, but several of the indotribes remain.<ref>[[Disco Elysium]] - [[Encyclopedia]]</ref> The precise start was over 250 years before '51, beginning as an exploration and cargo fleet conducting trade between the [[Samara|Samaran]] and [[Insulinde|Insulindian]] isolas, and exploring the [[Semenine|South-Semenese]] and charting [[Samara#Geography|Lo Manthang]]. Decades of effort and madness went into making it one of the biggest logistics conglomerates in the world.<ref>[[Harrier Du Bois]]: ''"Where does Wild Pines *get* all these billions?"''<br />[[Joyce Messier]]: ''"They started as an exploration and cargo fleet conducting trade between the Samaran and Insulindian isolas -- 250 years ago, when Pines' ships explored the South-Semenese and charted Lo Manthang on behalf of the suzerain. Centuries of care, deliberation -- and *madness* -- have gone into this endeavour. Vessels pass through the Great Unrest to re-emerge with apricots in tow. The logic of the system is totalizing... It's taken *everything* from its employees to build it."''</ref> Its primary business is logistics and shipping, though it has many other interests, including oil and gas exploration.

Wild Pines was responsible for developing [[Martinaise]] as a resort for their middle management. Unlike most of the Revacholian indotribes for whom Martinaise would be a fitting tombstone — they failed to adapt and were absorbed — Wild Pines evolved and changed to make the most of the changing circumstances.<ref>[[Harrier Du Bois]]: ''"It probably helps to start out with a royal monopoly.''<br />[[Joyce Messier]]: ''"You know more than you let on." She takes a sip and looks you over afresh. "Certainly it helped, but most of the original indotribes have failed or been absorbed. To survive Wild Pines had to grow and adapt. No suzerain did that."''</ref> By '51 it was one of the richest corporations in the world, controlling 22 cargo terminals responsible for shipping 8% of Elysium's cargo,<ref>[[Harrier Du Bois]]: ''"What does such a huge system want with a place like this?" (Look around.)''<br />[[Joyce Messier]]: ''"You mean aside from being the terminal's legal owners?" She gives you a little smile. "Who are responsible for moving *eight* percent of the world's cargo?"''</ref> employing 72,000 workers, and struggling to deal with the [[Dockworkers' Union]] strike in [[Martinaise]]. Unwilling to bend to their demands, the corporation resorted to using paid strikebreakers — scabs — and mercenary squads to try and beat the 2,200 workers at the striking terminal B into submission.<ref>[[Joyce Messier]]</ref>

Their revenue for '50 was over {{real|20 billion}}.<ref>[[Harrier Du Bois]]: ''"How much money does Wild Pines have?"''<br />[[Joyce Messier]]: ''"I'm not at liberty to discuss the company balance sheet, but I *can* tell you that last year the company booked more than 20 billion reál in revenue."''</ref> It was a good year, although there are years when it books losses that go into the billions as well, due to spending much of it on paying the salaries of its 72,000 families that are employed by the group.<ref>[[Harrier Du Bois]]: ''"That's *it*? I thought Wild Pines was supposed to be big time."''<br />[[Joyce Messier]]: ''"And to think -- there are years when the group books *losses* in the billions..." A wave hits the sloop, she grasps the mainstay for balance. "Wild Pines employs 72,000 people, all of whom have families that depend on their salaries. It is a tremendous responsibility."''</ref>

==Enforcement==
As a global logistics conglomerate, The Wild Pines are also a favorite vehicle for smuggling. It tries to clamp down on such business as best it can, but it is difficult to do at the best of times — and in lawless places like Revachol, it's doubly difficult. In '51, coinciding with the Union strike, the Wild Pines arranged for a massive traffic jam by pulling rank (or rather, capital) with the East Motor Tract and shutting down traffic, stranding dozens of lorries at the gates of [[Greater Revachol Industrial Harbour|GRIH]] and hoping to strain the resulting mass of drivers for smugglers. The losses were considered acceptable, as otherwise, several thousand liters of drugs — meth- and dextro-amphetamine, GBL, and other assorted psychedelics — would land on the streets of Revachol and destabilize it ''even further'', thanks to Samaran factories working overtime to pour this poison out.
==References==
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[[Category:Organizations]]