Rufius Tiro

"'Iron, not gold, is the currency of war.'"Rufius Tiro was a Colovian magnate, reputed to be the wealthiest man in the Empire.

Summary
For five generations the Tiro family operated a mine in the highlands of Colovia, supplying the ironworkers and blacksmiths of Chorrol with iron ore and pig iron. From 3E 270 Rufius Tiro began to supply the armourers of the Imperial Legion, forging weapons and armour for the emperor's conquests.

Only a year later the profits from this contract allowed Tiro to purchase a second iron mine, directing its yield to the Legion. The following year he purchased two more. Within a decade Tiro owned no fewer than fourteen mines in the provinces of Cyrodiil, High Rock and Skyrim. Involved in the outfitting of the Far East Fleet – the largest armada in the history of Tamriel – Tiro's already substantial wealth tripled between 3E 284 and 288.

By the time of the the emperor's ill-fated expedition to Akavir, this highland miner was reputed to be the wealthiest man in the Empire. His own empire included mines, ironworks, granaries, vineyards and ships. These enterprises were never organised into a single company, but remained an informal conglomerate under the private ownership of Rufius Tiro. He established several banks in the provinces to safeguard his omnifarious incomes – an enterprise largely managed by his brother Alfius. These repositories soon began to accept deposits, issue letters of credit, and offer loans.

                            

The Cephoric History claimed that half of the Elder Council was indebted to Rufius Tiro, and the other half received his pensions. Tiro was indeed creditor to many of Tamriel's grandees, not least the emperor himself. As a result he enjoyed considerable political influence, particularly at the imperial court. Despite this Tiro himself never held political office – twice refusing the office of Imperial Treasurer – preferring to remain a  'private citizen'. His influence was instead exercised through his clients, debtors and pensioners. His most conspicuous proxy was his son, Orfius, who sat on the Elder Council in his father's stead.

  

Tiro proved resilient to the trappings of his colossal wealth, retaining a good measure of Colovian austerity. His attire, though finely made, was unostentatious to the point of drab. He disliked wearing jewellery, finding rings and necklaces uncomfortable. Tiro's cooks prepared hearty meals, rather than exotic or flavoursome, dishes. He was noted for his preference for Colovian brandy and spiced wine.

The magnate owned a great many houses, most obtained as collateral from defaulted loans. Tiro himself only maintained two residences: a townhouse in the Imperial City (occupied by his son Orfius) and a villa in the West Weald. The latter, a walled estate previously belonging to the winemaking Merula family, was his favoured residence. It was a pleasant and comfortable villa, albeit underwhelming as the abode of the continent's wealthiest man. The estate was heavily guarded by former legionnaires.

Biography
Rufius Tiro's great-grandfather, Alfius, was rewarded with thirty acres of land in the Colovian Highlands following twenty-five years of service in the Imperial Legion. His attempts to cultivate the land were largely unsuccessful; the Highlands were not celebrated for fecundity. After Alfius's death his son Orfius broke a plough on the outcrop of an iron ore vein, inducing him to open a mine to follow this vein underground. By the end of his life Orfius had procured a gainful contract with the ironworkers of nearby Chorrol, supplying them with regular wagonloads of ore. This operation was continued by his own son Orfius, and by his grandson Rufius.

Rufius Tiro was born on 7th Frost Fall 3E 244, under the sign of the Tower. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather had all served in the Imperial Legion. It was expected that Rufius himself would, at the appropriate age, serve a decade in the military before assuming a role in the family's mining operation. The death of his father, Orfius, in 3E 255 precluded this. The frail health of his mother obliged the eleven year old to assume headship of the Tiro family and mine.

Such responsibility hastened the boy's maturity, instilling in him the Colovian virtues of endurance, diligence and austerity. Rufius himself laboured in the drift with a pickaxe, hauling ore into wagons and driving consignments to town. Despite receiving no formal education, Tiro proved himself to be no yokel. When the ironworkers of Chorrol sought to swindle the adolescent, Tiro turned his wagon around and returned home. Only after the ironworkers agreed to a price increase of ten percent did Tiro resume the supply of ore to the town.

At twenty Tiro married Velia Caletus, daughter of a Chorrol blacksmith; the two families had traded with one another for several generations. A year later in 3E 265 their first child, Orfius, was born.

The conquering ambitions of the new emperor, Uriel Septim V, necessitated the equally ambitious restoration of the Imperial Legion. At the emperor's command thousands of new legionnaires, both volunteers and conscripts, were recruited. Legionnaires without swords and spears would be as little use to the emperor's wars as arrows without arrowheads. Steel was therefore sought as eagerly as soldiers. Imperial commissioners scoured the provinces to secure the supply of iron to legionary armourers.

In 3E 270 the twenty-six year old Tiro concluded an agreement with the emperor's factors. He drove a hard bargain, settling for nothing less than fifteen percent above his rate with the ironworkers of Chorrol. The Empire was willing to pay for as much iron as it was offered; Tiro hired additional miners to maximise output. Within a year the profits of this new contract enabled Tiro to purchase a second mine in the eastern Jerall Mountains. In the following year, 3E 274, he acquired two more.

By 3E 280 Tiro possessed the deeds to no fewer than fourteen mines located in the provinces of Cyrodiil, High Rock and Skyrim. His growing portfolio now included ironworks, farms, granaries and vineyards. Tiro never organised these enterprises into a formal company structure, preferring to maintain a conglomerate under his private ownership. This interprovincial operation nevertheless required an organisational structure, and Tiro handpicked foremen to oversee his affairs. These overseers – mostly Colovians – were highly paid but highly scrutinised. Tiro demanded quarterly ledgers from his foremen, personally studying them for any discrepancies. It was rumoured that Tiro contracted the Dark Brotherhood to dispatch a foreman caught embezzling trifling sums of gold.

It was necessary that the revenue generated from Tiro's multifarious ventures be safeguarded, although it was ludicrous that consignments of gold should traverse the long and dangerous roads of the Empire to reach his treasury. Tiro delegated this task to his brother, Alfius, who in 3E 276 established a repository – little more than a heavily guarded warehouse – in the Skyrim city of Riften. This was to be the first 'branch' of the Tiro family bank. Under the direction of Alfius (his brother's de facto treasurer) more of these repositories were opened (notably in the great trading cities of Wayrest and Solitude) and began to accept deposits, issue letters of credit, and offer loans.

In 3E 284, following the fall of Black Harbour on Estroniet, Emperor Uriel V ordered the construction of the Far East Fleet – the largest armada in Tamriel's history – to transport his legions to Akavir. Tiro, now enjoying a near-monopoly on the extraction of iron in the Empire, obtained another lucrative contract to supply the Imperial Navy with nails, bolts, hooks, anchors, and other fittings. This complemented, rather than replaced, his existing supply agreement with the Imperial Legion. By the time that the the Far East Fleet embarked from Black Harbour in 3E 288, Rufius Tiro was reputed to be the richest individual in the Empire – his wealth having tripled over the previous four years.

Tiro continued to supply the emperor's war effort until its disastrous at Ionith in 3E 290, when his contracts with the Legion and Navy effectively lapsed. Yet his fortune was not diminished; iron remained an essential resource throughout the Empire, and it was estimated that half of the continent's iron mines belonged to Tiro. This was to say nothing of his ancillary investments in grain and wine, nor the lucrative banking business overseen by his brother Alfius.

At the end of the third century it was said that half of the Elder Council was indebted to Rufius Tiro, whilst the other half received his pensions.

Quotes by Rufius Tiro

 * "Iron, not gold, is the currency of war."

Quotes about Rufius Tiro

 * "You cannot buy a man who has already bought you."
 * "He might have impoverished the whole Empire by stamping his feet." — The Cephoric History.