Sword Coast Rambling

As the two men get to work, Serak checks through the wizards paperwork. Alchemy orders... Letter from the BlackSpider... no signs of any property deeds.

As the party empties the hideout the sun sails slowly closer to the western horizon. Within a few hours of work the cart is packed full with crates and barrels of weaponry and beaver pelts as well as redbrand, nothic and bugbear bodies. "All done Mr Sirk. Anything else you need us to carry? Or can we head back?" Ander cries out as he throws the last redbrand onto the back of the cart. Thistle, emboldened by his tiredness calls out, "Yeah! We're getting hungry!"

Serak: While the men work, Serak fashions two wooden signs out of the supplies that say, "PREVENT YOUR OWN DEATH! GO NO FURTHER!" and posts them at the cave entrance and the door to the Manor.

Nodding his approval to the men, he says, "Excellent work, gentlemen. Thank you. Let's bring this gift to the Town Master first and then the weapons to The Lion Shield Coster."

Serak stands atop the pile of bodies as they ride back into town, rapier drawn and charcoal grey cloak blowing in the wind. He instructs the men to start dropping the bodies in front of the Town Master's Office.

Entering the building, Serak greets Sildar with a bow. If the Town Master isn't there, he'll seek him out and say, "We have slain your enemies and freed this town. By right of conquest, our party claims the Manor house on the hill and offer Sildar it's use to station his reinforcements there. What say you, Town Master?"

The townsfolk gasp and stare as the triumphant figure of Serak rides through the town. As the oxen come to a halt outside the townmasters hall, the bard leaps off the cart and bursts through the front door calling for the townmaster. Inside, Sildar and Harbin sit around the desk in a deep discussion. As Serak bursts in, Sildar hauls himself up out of his seat to face the half-elf.

"Greetings Serak. Gentlemen. We were just talking about you. This news is welcome. What do you reckon Harbin? Do you as townmaster accept this parties claim?" The old warrior smiles at the directness of Seraks request, nudging the townmaster with a pointed elbow. 

Shocked at Sildars sudden jab, the townmaster lets out a weak cry, "Um.... well Sirs.... The manor house has been derelict for some time now and it .... it requires alot of work. I suppose if you... um... you were to pay for repairs yourselves.... you and uhh...Sir Hallwinter here would be able to station yourselves there?" Harbin Wester cowers behind the desk, intimidated by the sudden appearance of the party. The prisoners in the jail below have made him more nervous and edgy than usual. 

Turning back to his friends, Sildar looks triumphant, "Well Serak, there you have it. Feel free to use the manor house as you wish. I have written to the Alliance this morning and they should send along reinforcements any day now. Although I'm not sure your little project will be finished by then."

"Awesome we can build a fortress!!!" Beetle says excited...."We can protect the town and run missions to to surrounding areas from our home base... can I have a space for a shrine to Tyr" Beetle gets even more excited...."Maybe it can be a small grotto outside incase others or travlers want to use the shrine they don't have to tramp through our base!!"

"I would like to build a hut in the back into the ground. I'll live there!" Brots says, imaging a hobbit looking hole.

Serak: Waving his hand dismissively, Serak takes Sildar aside and says quietly, "Fear not, Sir. The basement has everything you will need to garrison your men. Feel free to use the space as you see fit. There is an armory, jail cells, and living quarters for at least a dozen men or more."

Turning to leave, Serak moves very close to Harbin and bows low. Face-to-face with the halfling, he holds the bow and winks at the Town Master, whispering, "An one-eyed friend of mine had some very interesting things to say about you, my friend. I've left you a gift outside"

Intimidation: 18

Not waiting for a reply, the bard whips his cloak behind him and quickly strides from the room. He heads back to the cart and says to Barthen's men, "Almost finished, men. Deliver these weapons to Linene and your work is done." He hands them each a gold piece and says, "That's for helping with this grim business without complaint. We'll be doing a lot of work up at the Manor and will need workers, if you or any of your friends are interested."

Looking very worried and confused, the townmaster watches the party leave as quickly as it had come. Nervously he turns his head towards the now laughing Sildar beside him. The old man rises and heads to the doorway, "Come on you old fool. Let us see what they have left us."

For a final time the cart slowly trundles off, this time making the short trip across the dusty street to the Lionshield Coster. A carts wheel clumsily bumps over a lifeless bugbear arm that has fallen into the road. The barrels of bladed steel rattle violently as it lands. The towns square is slowly beginning to clear as the evening begins to fall. A gentle song settles into the air as Thistle hums absent mindedly to himself. Ander breaks through the tones and speaks to the bard, "Many thanks Mr Sirk. It'll depend on whether Mr Elmar says we can help you though. Nevertheless, theres always plenty of folk around here though looking for coin."

A few seconds later the cart grinds slowly to a halt before the sigil of the Blue Lion. A patchwork of exposed fresh wood is evident on the steps of the Coster where Linene has been scrubbing, taking her anger out from the previous days events. Not bothering to have seated themslves on the cart this time, the party head inside to speak with the stores proprietor.

Linene stands with her back to the party stacking a pile of small boxes labelled for Yartar. The floor creaks slightly with each lift as she struggles slightly with the weight. As she hurls the final crate into position, she turns to see who has entered the store, wiping a trickle of sweat from her brow with her wrist, "Ah! And what distresses have you brought to me this time?"

"No problems this time Miss Linene," Beetle says.  "These are the weapons from the Redbrand hideout, we thought you might have an idea how best to utilize them."

Beetle then says to his companions, "We probably best get adventuring if we are going to fix up that mansion we will need a lot more coin than we have now."

Serak: Removing his pack, Serak dumps the assorted valuables, gems and teeth they've collected onto Linene's counter and asks, "So, my dear shopkeep, all this and the weapons - what sort of special price can you give the plucky band of heroes that just saved your fair town?"

After concluding their business, Serak says, "I agree. It seems our road leads east, to seek out Orcs, Banshees, Drow and almost certainly our deaths!" 

The bard laughs and continues, "Shall we rest tonight and leave at dawn? Might I suggest we lodge at The Sleeping Giant this evening? We've yet to visit the Inn and we should make sure there are no rats left before we leave. Also, the supplies in the basement are enough to get started while we're gone and labor is cheap. I'm sure Morthen, Barthen or one of the 'thens can find us workers tomorrow before we leave."

"Sounds like a plan, as excited as I am for the fortress to be repaired, I am itching to hit the road.....lol..." Beetle says..."I will meet you guys at the Inn, I am going to stop off at the shrine and speak with Tyr..."

Syna: "It seems as good a place as any, and should there be any which lair their at night we learn of it.  I would not want to be responsible for townsfolk getting hurt by something else that attempts to move in."

DM:  You don't perchance a sketch of the environs and a map of the house?

Brots will have left before they went to see Linene. He'll have gone to the grass near the town square and just lay down, taking in the fresh air, the quietness of the town and look up at the stars.

(OOC: If we choose to sleep, he'll of fallen asleep here.)

OOC: I’ve a map of the Manor half finished but won’t be able to post it until later today. Off the grid a bit today bear with me

OOC: No problem

OCC:  No problem

Zyltris will meet them at the inn as well. 

Linene sifts through the treasures dumped onto the counter by the party. Some pieces hold her interest more than others. “Well well haven’t we been busy boys? First you give me money now you’re back to take it away. Look.. I won’t start by touching this magical stuff so you can take that nonsense elsewhere. Everything else though.... I’ll be honest you’ve brought me more than I can afford to take off your hands. Most I can afford to give you for all of this is 200 Gold Pieces, even that’s a stretch for me. And I’ll need some time to get that much gold together. This little towns not exactly drowning in gold right now.”

Looking a little embarrassed the shop keeper draws out a small pouch of gold from behind the counter. “I can give you 50 Gold for now, I can pay the rest in a few days time once I have this all shifted. Unless you’re interested in a line of credit of course?” Tossing the small pouch onto the counter, Linene separates the scrolls and potions from the pile and pushes them back to Serak. 

Serak: Placing the scrolls into his shiny new scroll case, Serak says, "That seems a fair price. Thank you, Linene." He the proceeds to hand 10gp to everyone.

A look of inspiration crosses Serak's face as he says, "Perhaps we can work out another arrangement for the remaining 150gp? We plan to rebuild the Manor on the hill and need workers. We must leave on another quest and cannot oversee the repairs." 

Scrawling a quick business agreement and map, he asks, "Would you be willing to hire a foreman and workers from men you trust in town? As payment take whatever percentage you think fair from the remaining gold. If you agree, here is a map of the Manor and basement. All the building supplies they'll need are marked. Have them begin by simply removing debris and tearing down the portions that cannot be repaired, salvaging what materials they can. That should keep them busy for a couple days."

Linene looks over the map and agreement that Serak has given to her and ponders for a second. "Well this all seems in order. I'm sure I can find you a few master builders with my contacts. And there's plenty of hands available for heavy lifting. They will need some sort of a plan to work from but theres plenty of time to draw some up. It'll take a few days for me to find a crew and another few days for them to clear and prepare the site. 150 gold should be enough to make a start with" She extends a handshake to the party and signs the agreement.

OOC: So I've drawn these up. Exterior and Interior views of the manor house. (These are built using Venatus maps parts - recommended if you guys ever want to DM. I'll be using them more often when we get into the wilderness) Each square is 5 feet.

The interior walls of the manor are largely destroyed so you have freedom to rebuild as you please. The stairs to the basement lead downwards from the kitchen area. There is also a large stone fireplace to the east of the property as well as a small outhouse to the rear. 

Rebuilding the site will cost around 11,000 Gold and take approximately 75 days if supervised - As the buildings foundations are still in tact the build time is significantly reduced. 

I'm looking into using the Strongholds Homebrew Rules from here: Strongholds v0-3