Possible solution - make a "pool" of hunters and low-rank crafters that the Salarr and Kadius both draw from. It would give them something to compete over. It'd be a clan of its own, tied directly and exclusively to the GMHs as a whole. You would work for "The GMHs" and not for "Salarr" or "Kadius." Perhaps a third party would oversee this clan, or perhaps it would be jointly operated by both. It would also allow Kurac to make use of hunters who aren't their military units, without having to hire them outright.
Wouldn't a simpler and less contrived solution be for any group that needs unskilled, not necessarily loyal labor for some task...to simply ask for it, provided it is acceptable in their documentation?
"Sorry, but my House provides all I have need of." *snubs you to either stare at a wall or makes small-talk, never mentions, oh, I don't think we need those, but you should speak with my supervisor*
In this case, the group obviously does not need unskilled/not necessarily loyal labor, and therefore this situation doesn't apply (after all,
you are asking
them, not the other way around).
"We need large chunks of obsidian, we'll pay handsomely for them!" *so exciting!*
After much exhausting labor, terror, and heartache, grebber McGee drags his near bloody stump of a leg down the road, leaving an easily followed trail of blood, huge bag of obsidian chunks tinkling loudly with each tug. He weeps, and although covered in what look like tarantula and raptor fang marks, the way he keeps stopping and almost collapsing every time he looks at a ring on one of his still-attached fingers gives a clue the physical wounds are the least of his worry. He drags himself to the compound, a withered, bloody, simpering husk barely clinging to life, and finds the agent's mind, his commitment to the task at hand perhaps the only thing staying the icy hand of Drov.
"You have large chunks of obsidian? Great. We'll pay fifteen obsidian pieces per chunk. Well, no, we don't pay much because they take up a lot of space and aren't really used for much. Well if you want that much, why didn't you just go to the office of the mines in the first place? I'm sorry to hear of your loss, but quite frankly, I don't give a squat."
"If yer so poor ye gotta haggle like that, well uh, just take the shit free." and thus ends the tragic tale of grebber McGee, as he slowly drags himself to a nice, quiet spot to bleed to death.
So the group
does need unskilled/not necessarily loyal labor,
is able to ask for it according to their documentation or the allowance of staff for the group, and
is also willing to (on an individual basis) be a dick to said indie that doesn't want to commit to being part of the group, an indie that also has no backing anywhere else to keep him or her from getting screwed over...an indie that is unwilling to engage in haggling with someone that clearly holds the superior position.
Sounds like Armageddon to me. You aren't going to be able to dictate terms too well as an independent like that latter scenario. That grebber seems a bit like a dumbass anyway, seeing as how he'd give up a chance at getting paid even a paltry amount for his labor and wouldn't haggle with the guy, and the Agent seems like a run-of-the-mill GMH bastard that just got free obsidian from someone they didn't even have on the roster.
To pick on another example provided above about a hypothetical player:
They want to play a character that isn't involved IN a merchant house, but gets to also do merchant house type stuff as an indie, being involved with those merchant houses.
They want to be a hunter, but they don't want to get involved in the city-based plots or GMH-based drama.
They want to be indies but also not really be indies and not join a GMH.
So they want to play a unicorn.
I'm usually one to say "play what you want to play, where you want to play it, provided it fits the game/documentation," but when what they want to play is such a specific type of role, I have to question whether they could just deal with what is actually available. They don't like GMH drama (whatever that is)? Don't play in the GMH instead of expecting it to change to suit what you want. They want to be a hunter and don't want to get involved in city-based plots or GMH-based drama? I guess play a solo hunter role outside of Red Storm, no one will bother you. They want to be an indie? Be an indie. They want to not be an indie? There are several options (see: clanned roles). You want to do both, there are still maybe a couple of options (see: partisanship, or just plain out bugging x or y leader to let you do whatever without being on the explicit above the board payroll).
They don't like those options, and they are an actual player and not a hypothetical player, well, then there's something else going on here...and maybe that should be discussed instead.
