tallyman

A door to door moneylender in the poorer parts of town.

Career

Qualifications

Whilst numeracy and an ability at arthmetic and basic record keeping are useful for a tallyman, many will succeed in the trade without these skills, relying on established forms of loans for the former and their memory of names, faces and places to covre the latter. A large and thretening physique is often felt useful (whether ones own or in an assistant).

Career Progression

Most tallymen operate alone (if you will excuse the pun) rather than in organised groups, though the Battocks Boys hve established a hold on the foorer areas of eastern Morton. Curiously, there seems to be more money to be made by lending to the poorer sorts so most remain servicing these districts for as long as they operate.
The poor social status that they aquire means they often operate in areas away from their homes and will often be reclusive in their habits.

Payment & Reimbursement

Tallymen's income is dependent on the loans they make and their ability to collect the interest. Much petty crime in the poorer parts is driven by the need to keep up with their demands and you will rarely find a poor tallyman - on average they make around twice the average income, though they can make much more (especially if they concentrate on the short term loans of a week or so).

Perception

Social Status

Tallymen have a very low social status - few will openly consort with them, for the honest see them as nigh on criminals and the criminals see them as competition. They will often look to get out of the trade but find themselves in an economic vice - unable to make an equivalent living in other occupations. A tallyman getting out of the business will often move to another town or area and attempt to shed their past even if they end up with a taint of low level criminality about them.

Now you want to watch Old Ma Pardo - she may look like a lovely old granny, but I'd rather be in hock to the Battocks Boys than her.

— Amry Amry Hallick, midwife, Tawley Ward, Morton

Legality

There are no las in the Duchy governing money lending and where the courts have become involved view has been that a contract entered into is the responsibility of the parties involved. Thus the primary activities of the tallymen are perfectly legal - their enforcement methods are anther matter.

Do I like the job? Nah, not really. But once yer drift inna't, ts'ard ter get out. But as I'm one of "The Boys" I've got me mates, unlike them lone guys.

— Allick Enna Connor, Battocks Boy of 20 years