Fritz Luncke

Seemingly alone among Falkensburg's commercial elite, the moneylender known as Fritz Luncke claims no affiliation with any guild, company, noble house or religious movement. While it is known that his father, the Guard captain Adrian Luncke, was heavily involved with the Divine Society, in addition to his official commitments, his son has pursued a policy of careful neutrality between the various power blocs of Falkensburger politics. This has made the question of exactly where he obtained his, apparently quite staggering, wealth one of the more keenly felt mysteries of contemporary Falkensburger society.

Possible Piracy Background

The most popular theory regarding the origin of Luncke's abrupt prosperity is that, during his documented absence from the city between the years 1147 and 1164, he captained a submersible - operating, as many such men do, as a sometime trader, occasional smuggler and frequent pirate. Many romantic anecdotes circulate among Falkensburg's upper class surrounding this supposed past of his, most of which conclude with him finding a great treasure in a sunken wreck, on a far-off island, or in the underclothes of an impressionable young heiress, who proceeded thereafter to die in some ill-defined, though no doubt tragic, subsequent affiar.

Luncke himself has never confirmed, nor has he denied, this theory, despite the obvious advantage such a background could bring him in his never-ending pursuit of Falkensburg's debutantes.

Current Business Activities

Luncke currently operates as a private, independent moneylender. While such an operation does bring with it obvious risks, it has also allowed him to sidestep much of Falkensburg's High Finance Code, particularly those dealing with ursury rates. While the rates Luncke charges are usually within the scope of the Code, he has been known to lend money, at exhorbitant rates, to high-profile individuals who have found themselves in abrupt need of significant financial assistance. One notable example occurred during the Jervetz Trials and associated Burgermeister election, when Luncke loaned money to the Jervetz family to fund their prosecution of the case, the three defendants to enable their proper defence, and the City of Falkensburg itself, to ease the strain on the civil courts.

Luncke is notable for his refusal to employ any visible enforcers of his loan agreements, instead relying purely on "the honour of my fellow Falkensburgers". This does not appear to have had any negative impact on his business, however, with no records available at the Falkensburg courthouse for any case involving one of his debtors defaulting. Indeed, many of the more ancient and venerable financial institutions of the land would do well to learn, and apply, whatever method he uses for selecting his customers.

- the Eclecticon

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