Guilliame is the legitimate first son of the recognised bastard of a Sorendenese official who worked for the emperor. His grandfather, Guilliame Marchant, came north to Engle as part of his duties. His grandmother, Naomi, was a Stemian servant woman who had a child by her master. In recognition of his affection for the woman, the Sorian official allowed her son to take his family's name before he returned south to Sorenden. This is indicated by the "de" prefix in Guilliame's name indicating that he is of the "Marchant" family, but not in line for any inheritance.
Guilliame's grandmother is skilled in the use of natural medicines and she passed on some of her knowledge to her son: Jon. Upon reaching adulthood, Guilliame's father started business as a merchant specialising in herbals and other magickal supplies which he collected from all over the country. Guilliame's mother, Nardia, was one of his contacts and left her home to marry Jon and live in Constantine. She became adept in preparing and storing the herbal materials that her husband brought back to Constantine, and with the founding of the School of Occult Studies in Constantine, this business kept Jon and his family fairly well off—if not rich.
Guilliame, their only son, grew up in the streets of Constantine and led a fairly normal life for a city kid until his mother died when he was twelve years old. With his father regularly away on expeditions, and his grandmother kept busy running the family shop, Guilliame started to run with a tough crowd learning some skills in fighting, something he has an aptitude for. At this point he had no interest in the family business. Like all children in Constantine, he had been tested for innate sorcery when he was very young and had lost all interest in magick when he learnt that he did not have the gift for it.
At the age of fifteen, Guilliame got into trouble with the city guard. Fortunately it was only a petty crime, but his father decided to take him on all future expeditions. Guilliame found that he liked the travelling and his father soon found it useful to have Guilliame along on the expeditions as his son proved to be a capable young man, when he had something to apply himself too.
For eight years father and son travelled to various parts of Engle to gather their goods for sale. At this time, Guilliame's father decided he was getting too old to go out in the field so Guilliame continued collecting alone while his father stayed at home doing the preparation and selling and looking after Guilliame's grandmother.
Last year, Guilliame's 27th, was a bad year for him. First of all, his father died of a sudden illness and then the School of Occult Studies—previously their biggest customer—began purchasing its magical supplies from a single provider. Guilliame was therefore forced to look into other ways of making a living for himself and his grandmother and took up with a group of adventurers trying to find their fortune in the ancient ruins in the north of the country.
Recent Personal Background for Guilliame de Marchant
It has been several months since Guilliame was discovered to be a latent sorcerer by the court wizard of Ilbarsis: Wamzut. The ageing wizard did not want to take you on as an apprentice, but he did give you a letter of introduction to the School of Occult Studies in Constantine, which he apparently had a strong connection with; unfortunately, recent news from Ilbarsis is that Wamzut has died and that Lord Vead, the ruler of Ilbarsis, now has a new court wizard.
Although given access to the School of Occult Studies by Wamzut, Guilliame needs to pay for his own tuition. This costs five golden Engles a month, payable at the beginning of the month. Guilliame's current magical knowledge and money in hand represent his costs and efforts to date, but to keep him and his ageing grandmother fed, clothed and homed, plus their jointly run business running, is currently draining his funds by about one silver Constantine a day.
Guilliame's magical supply business shop has recently lost more of its clientele to the Black Magick Shoppe; the biggest supplier of magickal simples in Constantine. This shop is owned by Negress Black, the twin brother of the current archmagus of the School of Occult Studies, Cyrus Black; Guilliame's business is suffering due to an obvious case of nepotism. Another cause for Guilliame's downturn in business is that his ageing grandmother, now in her sixties, is no longer able to keep up with the demands of both the preparation of goods and the running of their shop while Guilliame has been studying.
Although Guilliame has lost contact with his adventuring friends, he is aware of the activities of some of them. He knows that Alaric Brand lives in the city, but they have yet to catch up. He is also aware that Melitta Taloran recently visited the School of Occult Studies, which she graduated from as a journeyman magus. He also recently found out that Melitta was one of twins, but that her sister died several years ago. Of the others of his adventuring group he knows little.
Recent Events in Constantine
Ever since the death of Greft Tarantine, The king's warlord, in a tragic horse-riding accident, some very interesting changes have occurred in Constantine. These are given in bullet point below:
• Rumour has it that there was magic involved in the death of the warlord. • The Mithrans are, once more, pushing to have the worship of non-Mithran gods banned in Constantine. • The king is said to be ill and has missed some recent public appearances.
What is a typical study day - are there weekends off. How much study/meditation time in addition to class time?
Is the shop making a profit or loss? I am wondering whether to contact Negress and see whether (a) he is interested in buying up all stock (if shop is running at a loss especially) and/or (b) if there are particular components/preparations which he would be willing to purchase on an ongoing basis. Also whether he has an advertising jingle (That old Black magick).
Is the family shop rented (so save money if closed).
Do School of magic students have to provide their own supplies for independent study. (Do I think such a direct approach to supply such would contradict official policy - wouldn't want to break rules by mistake).
Is Wamzut at the school - does he have any suggestions re additional work that can be carried on in conjunction with studies.
What is a typical study day - are there weekends off. How much study/meditation time in addition to class time?
As an older, educated student, there are things they don't have to teach Guilliame (e.g., how to read and write). He also doesn't live in the School, which a lot of the younger students do. Therefore, he would only need to turn up for specific classes where magical techniques are taught, and are probably given a lot of project work to do (e.g., read this book, practice this spell, etc.) Also, as a self-funded student, they are willing to do things to suit his timetable more than others.
Guilliame is at a point in his education where he needs to decide on what to study next. The most obvious options for him are: learning herbalism to help with his business, or determining an area of specialisation (The following arcane traditions are available at the School: abjuration, conjuration, divination, enchantment, evocation, transmutation. You can find out more about these tradition at: https://www.dndbeyond.com/classes/wizard ). He might also choose to go in other directions, but those opportunities will have to come out in the course of play.
Is the shop making a profit or loss? I am wondering whether to contact Negress and see whether (a) he is interested in buying up all stock (if shop is running at a loss especially) and/or (b) if there are particular components/preparations which he would be willing to purchase on an ongoing basis. Also whether he has an advertising jingle (That old Black magick).
The shop itself is making a small profit. It is Guilliame's attending the School of Occult Studies that is causing the loss I mentioned in the recent background.
Is the family shop rented (so save money if closed).
No. Guilliame's family owns the shop and their family home. They are in the same building and are situated in the same region of the city as the School of Occult Studies; Guilliame walks to the School.
Do School of magic students have to provide their own supplies for independent study. (Do I think such a direct approach to supply such would contradict official policy - wouldn't want to break rules by mistake).
Generally no. More advanced students might have to source their own materials. Apart from his tuition fees, Guilliame's major expense has been his spellbook, which I have added to his character sheet. I shall add more detail to the notes section of his character sheet later about how this book is being used.
Is Wamzut at the school - does he have any suggestions re additional work that can be carried on in conjunction with studies.
As far as Guilliame knows at this point, Wamzut is dead. I wanted to play out the meeting between Guilliame and Tina.
Seek out Brand and Melitta re additional work.
[Out of Character] I have answered your general questions in situ above. As far as finding Brand and Melitta, that will have to be part of game play. And, before that, I thought we might try out using the dice rolling features of the forum and some of my homebrew rules (see the World Anvil site). [/OOC]
Guilliame has woken early and helped his grandmother, Naomi, open the shop for business. He notices how frail she has become and how she definitely now needs his help with some of the normal shop tasks.
"Are you going to School today?" she asks. "We need to get that Jartinal Weed off the drying racks on the roof, I can feel the coming rain in my bones."
[Addendum: As well as detailing the contents of Guilliame's spell book, I have added a component pouch to his equipment list and a detailed description of the components he needs to have in it for his spells to the 'Others' tab of the 'Notes' section of his character sheet. Currently, he has all his non-ritual spells as prepared spells (3) and his other spells are rituals, which don't need to be prepared unless you want to cast them quickly. If you want to change which spells he has prepared, use the 'Manage Spells' button on the 'Spells' tab of his character sheet.]
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Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist) Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon. The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
"Are you going to School today?" she asks. "We need to get that Jartinal Weed off the drying racks on the roof, I can feel the coming rain in my bones."
- If I am going to school then see if I can quickly get some weed of the drying racks and head off. Otherwise complete the job. If there is time then, otherwise later ask Naomi what she thinks about approaching Negress to sell stock directly. What are our specialties that might be possible to concentrate on that could prove lucrative (ask Naomi about this as well). Are there particular items that require more manual labour - is it possible to drop some of them from the stock or maybe increase prices so fewer sales could prove roughly as profitable for less overall labour.
How practical/helpful would casting a Floating disk spell for this roof work? If I have time give it a go.
At the school see whether Wamzut is available. If so ask him about possible extra work.
Also check out the gossip on the death of the warlord.
[OOC: This looks like a good opportunity to try out the die rolling aspect of the forum.]
It is still fairly early in the morning and so you have some time to help your grandmother.
Your understanding of the 'Floating disk' spell is that it would be useful moving the collected weed downstairs once it has been taken off the racks but not very useful in pulling all the dried leaves off the racks. However, as luck (and dice) would have it, you spent yesterday learning a new ritual called 'Unseen Servant' in the library at the School (for details, see here). You have written the instructions for it into your book and were planning to go to one of the practice areas today to try it out to make sure you had understood the ritual and transcribed it correctly.
However, this seems like a good enough time to try it out, so you go and get your spellbook and spend the ten minutes it takes to perform the ritual (read the section on ritual casting here) while your grandmother watches on with amusement and tries out some of the freshly dried jartinal weed in her pipe.
[OOC: Please roll an Arcana check for me using the die rolling utility on the far right of the tool bar above. Use the default d20 and put a '2' (Your Arcana bonus) in the 'Add to result' field and then click the 'Ok' button. You should see something like "[role]1d20+2[/role]" appear in the comment field with 'roll' spelt correctly. When you click 'Post Reply' this will be converted into a coloured number. Note that you can edit the comment afterwards, but leave the embedded code alone, otherwise it will come up with alert saying the roll has been modified.]
[OOC: Try not to put too many actions into a move, as it is unlikely that all of them can be actioned by me in one move. I would also recommend that talking with the NPCs is the best way to learn information about the campaign setting and what is going on, just as it is with the tabletop version of the game. Granny might have heard things about the death of the warlord that you haven't.]
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
8
Go up on the roof to cast the spell (do so out of sight of by-passers as much as possible) and have the unseen servant gather the herbs in a sack (if it works).
On the roof of their shared abode, Guilliame lays out the components for his ritual as well as he can based on his transcription in his spell book. Meanwhile, Granny Naomi is watching on with interest while she tokes on her pipe.
[OOC: Unfortunately, with that roll, the ritual doesn't work. However, under the rules for learning through use of skills, Guilliame has the chance to gain some experience points from his failed attempt, so please make the same roll again to see if he does.]
However, Guilliame's attempt to summon an unseen servant is unsuccessful, and he is partly expecting some disparaging comment from his grandmother about his wasting time.
"You're using the wrong type of wood," she suggests. "That piece of branch never learnt nothing about doing work. You should try using something like the handle of a tool, something that's used to be handled and used."
Naomi is looking very relaxed after her smoke.
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Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist) Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon. The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
[OOC: Having succeeded in the second roll, Guilliame has gained some experience points; I have adjusted his character sheet.]
Having not succeeded with his ritual, Guilliame begins to collect up the dried jartinal weed on the drying racks. Granny Naomi now seems to be beyond helping at this point, which in Guilliame's experience is a little strange; it's not like she hasn't smoked weed plenty of times before. Note, she does not appear to be ill in anyway, and in fact seems very lucid, just highly lethargic.
When he puts forward the idea of selling their goods to Negress instead of to the public, she initially seems ambivalent, citing that the profit margin would be less because Negress would want to get a wholesale price for buying in bulk. Then she goes to to say that Guilliame may as well approach Negress anyway so that he can find out what sort of deal can be made.
When all the jartinal weed has been collected up and moved downstairs to the preparation room for shredding, Guilliame has to help Naomi downstairs. As he does so, she comments that they will need to put some of this batch of weed away for themselves as it is some of the best she's ever smoked.
Guilliame has just heard the third candle call since dawn and Granny Naomi says she is going to have a bit of a lie down. What do you want him to do?
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Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist) Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon. The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Is there anything unusual about the source, growing or preparation this batch of jartinal weed? Has Naomi been acting strangely in any ways recently?
As far as Guilliame know, Naomi arranged for someone else to gather this batch of jartinal weed, most likely from the edge of the forest a little way upriver; sources of jartinal close to the city are rare to find these days. Apart from complaining more about getting old and needing help, Naomi has been her same old self. Mind you, Guilliame has been somewhat tied up with his studies recently.
Do I have any history with Negress. What is his reputation around the school? Has Wamzut talked about him.
Apart from what is written here, Guilliame know little about him. He does, of course, know what Negress generally looks like because he would have seen his identical twin—the archmagus of the School of Occult Studies—fairly regularly on his visits to the School.
[OOC: As yet, Guilliame has not met up with Wamzut in his new identity. As far as Guilliame knows at this point, Wamzut the Wizard of Ilbarsis is dead (I will add an article to the World Anvil site about this soon).]
With regard to what other people think about Negress, I would like you to roll an Insight check using the die rolling utility. Guilliame has proficiency with this skill, so you should add +3 to the roll.
Is there more work around the shop I would normally do? If so try the unseen servant again and get it to do some of those chores.
Here is a roll based on the previous stats5
While Granny Naomi goes to have a lie down, Guilliame looks to see what else he can help with in the shop. He finds many things that could be done and spends some time experimenting with his 'Unseen Servant' ritual without success (No roll for experience this time though). Clearly he needs to check he has transcribed the spell correctly, which will have to wait until he gets back to the library at the School.
He then spends some time working in the shop and is just thinking about checking on Naomi when a customer walks in. For a moment he is taken aback, this is someone he recognises, but not from his time spent in the business. This is someone he knew when he ran with a crowd of young bravos back in his younger days.
"Hello, Guilliame," say Alice, looking around the shop, "long time no see."
Alice is a short woman, who like Granny Naomi, is of Stemian descent. She has shoulder-length brown hair and similar-coloured eyes. She is dressed somewhat flirtatiously and her lips are heavily rouged, which is a little surprising considering the time of day.
I tried to follow the link here and got an access denied.
Hmmm. I got a message saying I was about to leave the D&D Beyond site. Is that what you got? If you click the button it should still take you through to the World Anvil site. Unfortunately, it keeps you in the same window, which is a pain. Anyway, if you go to the World Anvil site and look in the 'People' category, you will be able to see the article for Negress. Let me know if there are things you think should be there which aren't.
Roll for Negress 14
This roll doesn't reveal to Guilliame a lot more than you already know. Negress is about ten years older than you are and he is an alumnus of the School and the identical twin of the archmagus, Cyrus Black; he is in no way comparable to his brother in terms of his magical power or ability. He is a journeyman mage from a wealthy Sorendenese family who went through the School paying his own way, as you are, so he never did service to the country like those who take the king's patronage. Guilliame vaguely remember hearing a rumour about something to do with him while he was at the School, but can't remember any details and possibly never knew.
With regard to Negress's business dealings, he hasn't been in business as long as Guilliame's family, but he has had access to more wealth, so has had an advantage. For example, Guilliame knows that as well as his shop Negress has at least one warehouse where he stores his goods. As far as Guilliame knows, he is a legitimate business man with good connections.
What do I recall of Alice?
Your memories of Alice are of the tomboy younger sister of your then-friend Rolf. She is a few years younger than yourself, and definitely no longer a tomboy.
"Hello Alice. Good to see you again. How is it going?"
"Good," says Alice, still looking around the contents of the shop; Guilliame gets the impression that she is a little nervous.
"Hear tell you've been at the magick school," she says. "Are you learning to be a magus?"
She then produces a silver jewel from out of a pocket of her dress and says, "I was wondering if you could tell me something about this. Like, is it magical?"
At first sight, the jewel appears to be made of lots of ornate filigree made of silver (See 'Magick and metals' article).
Please make an Investigation check.
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Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist) Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon. The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
I can't see an article under People for Negress, just Cyrus.
That's odd. You should see if for two reasons. I'm going to try something, let me know if you can see it now.
Taking the jewel into his hand, Guilliame examines it carefully. It isn't very pretty, as it lack symmetry. But the complexity of the design and the quality of the workmanship suggests it would be very expensive to buy. As to whether it is magical...
Guilliame closes his eyes [OOC: the somatic component of the spell] and casts the [Tooltip Not Found] cantrip. When he opens his eyes he can see the golden particles of magic swirling in a complex pattern in an around the thin strands of the closely packed silver filigree of the jewel.
Make an Arcana check (at disadvantage; choose this in the dropdown menu immediately below where you add in your bonus number) to see if Guilliame can work out what school of magic the magic effect of the jewel might be based on.
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Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist) Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon. The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
In the above roll, while you did the disadvantage roll properly, you didn't add your +2 bonus for Arcana, which means you actually ended up with an 11.
I can see Negress and a couple of other people I couldn't see before.
That is really odd because I only did something with the Negress article.
Tell Alice that it looks magic and I'm trying to work out how and then do the Arcana check.
Guilliame believes the jewel has a spell from the school of enchantment on it, and is pretty sure it is not a spell he knows. His Identify spell would tell him exactly what the spell is, and can be cast as a ritual, but it will take 10 minutes to perform.
Having learnt what he can about the jewel using his See the Arcane cantrip, what does Guilliame do? What does he tell Alice? She is looking on fascinated.
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Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist) Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon. The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Tell Alice that I think the jewel has a spell from the school of enchantment but I don't know which one.
Is there a fellow student or (preferably) teacher at the school that I think would have the right skills to assess the spell it who trust. If so suggest to Alice that I could try to arrange a meeting to test the item.
Tell Alice that I think the jewel has a spell from the school of enchantment but I don't know which one.
Is there a fellow student or (preferably) teacher at the school that I think would have the right skills to assess the spell it who trust. If so suggest to Alice that I could try to arrange a meeting to test the item.
As I mentioned in the last move, the Identify spell that Guilliame already knows should be able to tell him what the spell on the jewel is without needing to consult anyone else.
Also, make another normal Arcana roll (i.e., not at disadvantage and adding your +2 bonus)
"So, it is magickal," says Alice in awe when Guilliame tells her that there is an enchantment on the jewel. "I thought it must be."
Then, before Guilliame can say anything else, she says, "That's brilliant. How much do I owe you?"
Guilliame gets the sudden insight that this piece of jewellery might not actually belong to Alice.
Background of Guilliame de Marchant (For information about the Engelian Adventures' setting see: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/magudonya-phillberrie)
Guilliame is the legitimate first son of the recognised bastard of a Sorendenese official who worked for the emperor. His grandfather, Guilliame Marchant, came north to Engle as part of his duties. His grandmother, Naomi, was a Stemian servant woman who had a child by her master. In recognition of his affection for the woman, the Sorian official allowed her son to take his family's name before he returned south to Sorenden. This is indicated by the "de" prefix in Guilliame's name indicating that he is of the "Marchant" family, but not in line for any inheritance.
Guilliame's grandmother is skilled in the use of natural medicines and she passed on some of her knowledge to her son: Jon. Upon reaching adulthood, Guilliame's father started business as a merchant specialising in herbals and other magickal supplies which he collected from all over the country. Guilliame's mother, Nardia, was one of his contacts and left her home to marry Jon and live in Constantine. She became adept in preparing and storing the herbal materials that her husband brought back to Constantine, and with the founding of the School of Occult Studies in Constantine, this business kept Jon and his family fairly well off—if not rich.
Guilliame, their only son, grew up in the streets of Constantine and led a fairly normal life for a city kid until his mother died when he was twelve years old. With his father regularly away on expeditions, and his grandmother kept busy running the family shop, Guilliame started to run with a tough crowd learning some skills in fighting, something he has an aptitude for. At this point he had no interest in the family business. Like all children in Constantine, he had been tested for innate sorcery when he was very young and had lost all interest in magick when he learnt that he did not have the gift for it.
At the age of fifteen, Guilliame got into trouble with the city guard. Fortunately it was only a petty crime, but his father decided to take him on all future expeditions. Guilliame found that he liked the travelling and his father soon found it useful to have Guilliame along on the expeditions as his son proved to be a capable young man, when he had something to apply himself too.
For eight years father and son travelled to various parts of Engle to gather their goods for sale. At this time, Guilliame's father decided he was getting too old to go out in the field so Guilliame continued collecting alone while his father stayed at home doing the preparation and selling and looking after Guilliame's grandmother.
Last year, Guilliame's 27th, was a bad year for him. First of all, his father died of a sudden illness and then the School of Occult Studies—previously their biggest customer—began purchasing its magical supplies from a single provider. Guilliame was therefore forced to look into other ways of making a living for himself and his grandmother and took up with a group of adventurers trying to find their fortune in the ancient ruins in the north of the country.
Recent Personal Background for Guilliame de Marchant
It has been several months since Guilliame was discovered to be a latent sorcerer by the court wizard of Ilbarsis: Wamzut. The ageing wizard did not want to take you on as an apprentice, but he did give you a letter of introduction to the School of Occult Studies in Constantine, which he apparently had a strong connection with; unfortunately, recent news from Ilbarsis is that Wamzut has died and that Lord Vead, the ruler of Ilbarsis, now has a new court wizard.
Although given access to the School of Occult Studies by Wamzut, Guilliame needs to pay for his own tuition. This costs five golden Engles a month, payable at the beginning of the month. Guilliame's current magical knowledge and money in hand represent his costs and efforts to date, but to keep him and his ageing grandmother fed, clothed and homed, plus their jointly run business running, is currently draining his funds by about one silver Constantine a day.
Guilliame's magical supply business shop has recently lost more of its clientele to the Black Magick Shoppe; the biggest supplier of magickal simples in Constantine. This shop is owned by Negress Black, the twin brother of the current archmagus of the School of Occult Studies, Cyrus Black; Guilliame's business is suffering due to an obvious case of nepotism. Another cause for Guilliame's downturn in business is that his ageing grandmother, now in her sixties, is no longer able to keep up with the demands of both the preparation of goods and the running of their shop while Guilliame has been studying.
Although Guilliame has lost contact with his adventuring friends, he is aware of the activities of some of them. He knows that Alaric Brand lives in the city, but they have yet to catch up. He is also aware that Melitta Taloran recently visited the School of Occult Studies, which she graduated from as a journeyman magus. He also recently found out that Melitta was one of twins, but that her sister died several years ago. Of the others of his adventuring group he knows little.
Recent Events in Constantine
Ever since the death of Greft Tarantine, The king's warlord, in a tragic horse-riding accident, some very interesting changes have occurred in Constantine. These are given in bullet point below:
• Rumour has it that there was magic involved in the death of the warlord.
• The Mithrans are, once more, pushing to have the worship of non-Mithran gods banned in Constantine.
• The king is said to be ill and has missed some recent public appearances.
What does Guilliame want to do?
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Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist)
Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon.
The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
What is a typical study day - are there weekends off. How much study/meditation time in addition to class time?
Is the shop making a profit or loss? I am wondering whether to contact Negress and see whether (a) he is interested in buying up all stock (if shop is running at a loss especially) and/or (b) if there are particular components/preparations which he would be willing to purchase on an ongoing basis. Also whether he has an advertising jingle (That old Black magick).
Is the family shop rented (so save money if closed).
Do School of magic students have to provide their own supplies for independent study. (Do I think such a direct approach to supply such would contradict official policy - wouldn't want to break rules by mistake).
Is Wamzut at the school - does he have any suggestions re additional work that can be carried on in conjunction with studies.
Seek out Brand and Melitta re additional work.
[Out of Character] I have answered your general questions in situ above. As far as finding Brand and Melitta, that will have to be part of game play. And, before that, I thought we might try out using the dice rolling features of the forum and some of my homebrew rules (see the World Anvil site). [/OOC]
Guilliame has woken early and helped his grandmother, Naomi, open the shop for business. He notices how frail she has become and how she definitely now needs his help with some of the normal shop tasks.
"Are you going to School today?" she asks. "We need to get that Jartinal Weed off the drying racks on the roof, I can feel the coming rain in my bones."
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Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist)
Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon.
The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
[Addendum: As well as detailing the contents of Guilliame's spell book, I have added a component pouch to his equipment list and a detailed description of the components he needs to have in it for his spells to the 'Others' tab of the 'Notes' section of his character sheet. Currently, he has all his non-ritual spells as prepared spells (3) and his other spells are rituals, which don't need to be prepared unless you want to cast them quickly. If you want to change which spells he has prepared, use the 'Manage Spells' button on the 'Spells' tab of his character sheet.]
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Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist)
Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon.
The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
"Are you going to School today?" she asks. "We need to get that Jartinal Weed off the drying racks on the roof, I can feel the coming rain in my bones."
- If I am going to school then see if I can quickly get some weed of the drying racks and head off. Otherwise complete the job. If there is time then, otherwise later ask Naomi what she thinks about approaching Negress to sell stock directly. What are our specialties that might be possible to concentrate on that could prove lucrative (ask Naomi about this as well). Are there particular items that require more manual labour - is it possible to drop some of them from the stock or maybe increase prices so fewer sales could prove roughly as profitable for less overall labour.
How practical/helpful would casting a Floating disk spell for this roof work? If I have time give it a go.
At the school see whether Wamzut is available. If so ask him about possible extra work.
Also check out the gossip on the death of the warlord.
[OOC: This looks like a good opportunity to try out the die rolling aspect of the forum.]
It is still fairly early in the morning and so you have some time to help your grandmother.
Your understanding of the 'Floating disk' spell is that it would be useful moving the collected weed downstairs once it has been taken off the racks but not very useful in pulling all the dried leaves off the racks. However, as luck (and dice) would have it, you spent yesterday learning a new ritual called 'Unseen Servant' in the library at the School (for details, see here). You have written the instructions for it into your book and were planning to go to one of the practice areas today to try it out to make sure you had understood the ritual and transcribed it correctly.
However, this seems like a good enough time to try it out, so you go and get your spellbook and spend the ten minutes it takes to perform the ritual (read the section on ritual casting here) while your grandmother watches on with amusement and tries out some of the freshly dried jartinal weed in her pipe.
[OOC: Please roll an Arcana check for me using the die rolling utility on the far right of the tool bar above. Use the default d20 and put a '2' (Your Arcana bonus) in the 'Add to result' field and then click the 'Ok' button. You should see something like "[role]1d20+2[/role]" appear in the comment field with 'roll' spelt correctly. When you click 'Post Reply' this will be converted into a coloured number. Note that you can edit the comment afterwards, but leave the embedded code alone, otherwise it will come up with alert saying the roll has been modified.]
[OOC: Try not to put too many actions into a move, as it is unlikely that all of them can be actioned by me in one move. I would also recommend that talking with the NPCs is the best way to learn information about the campaign setting and what is going on, just as it is with the tabletop version of the game. Granny might have heard things about the death of the warlord that you haven't.]
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Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist)
Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon.
The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
8
Go up on the roof to cast the spell (do so out of sight of by-passers as much as possible) and have the unseen servant gather the herbs in a sack (if it works).
On the roof of their shared abode, Guilliame lays out the components for his ritual as well as he can based on his transcription in his spell book. Meanwhile, Granny Naomi is watching on with interest while she tokes on her pipe.
[OOC: Unfortunately, with that roll, the ritual doesn't work. However, under the rules for learning through use of skills, Guilliame has the chance to gain some experience points from his failed attempt, so please make the same roll again to see if he does.]
However, Guilliame's attempt to summon an unseen servant is unsuccessful, and he is partly expecting some disparaging comment from his grandmother about his wasting time.
"You're using the wrong type of wood," she suggests. "That piece of branch never learnt nothing about doing work. You should try using something like the handle of a tool, something that's used to be handled and used."
Naomi is looking very relaxed after her smoke.
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Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist)
Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon.
The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
10
Do the work manually. Ask Naomi about if providing some goods to Negress directly could be an option while she is relaxed.
[OOC: Having succeeded in the second roll, Guilliame has gained some experience points; I have adjusted his character sheet.]
Having not succeeded with his ritual, Guilliame begins to collect up the dried jartinal weed on the drying racks. Granny Naomi now seems to be beyond helping at this point, which in Guilliame's experience is a little strange; it's not like she hasn't smoked weed plenty of times before. Note, she does not appear to be ill in anyway, and in fact seems very lucid, just highly lethargic.
When he puts forward the idea of selling their goods to Negress instead of to the public, she initially seems ambivalent, citing that the profit margin would be less because Negress would want to get a wholesale price for buying in bulk. Then she goes to to say that Guilliame may as well approach Negress anyway so that he can find out what sort of deal can be made.
When all the jartinal weed has been collected up and moved downstairs to the preparation room for shredding, Guilliame has to help Naomi downstairs. As he does so, she comments that they will need to put some of this batch of weed away for themselves as it is some of the best she's ever smoked.
Guilliame has just heard the third candle call since dawn and Granny Naomi says she is going to have a bit of a lie down. What do you want him to do?
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Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist)
Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon.
The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Is there anything unusual about the source, growing or preparation this batch of jartinal weed? Has Naomi been acting strangely in any ways recently?
Do I have any history with Negress. What is his reputation around the school? Has Wamzut talked about him.
Is there more work around the shop I would normally do? If so try the unseen servant again and get it to do some of those chores.
Here is a roll based on the previous stats8
While Granny Naomi goes to have a lie down, Guilliame looks to see what else he can help with in the shop. He finds many things that could be done and spends some time experimenting with his 'Unseen Servant' ritual without success (No roll for experience this time though). Clearly he needs to check he has transcribed the spell correctly, which will have to wait until he gets back to the library at the School.
He then spends some time working in the shop and is just thinking about checking on Naomi when a customer walks in. For a moment he is taken aback, this is someone he recognises, but not from his time spent in the business. This is someone he knew when he ran with a crowd of young bravos back in his younger days.
"Hello, Guilliame," say Alice, looking around the shop, "long time no see."
Alice is a short woman, who like Granny Naomi, is of Stemian descent. She has shoulder-length brown hair and similar-coloured eyes. She is dressed somewhat flirtatiously and her lips are heavily rouged, which is a little surprising considering the time of day.
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Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist)
Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon.
The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
I tried to follow the link here and got an access denied.
Roll for Negress 14
What do I recall of Alice?
"Hello Alice. Good to see you again. How is it going?"
"Good," says Alice, still looking around the contents of the shop; Guilliame gets the impression that she is a little nervous.
"Hear tell you've been at the magick school," she says. "Are you learning to be a magus?"
She then produces a silver jewel from out of a pocket of her dress and says, "I was wondering if you could tell me something about this. Like, is it magical?"
At first sight, the jewel appears to be made of lots of ornate filigree made of silver (See 'Magick and metals' article).
Please make an Investigation check.
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Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist)
Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon.
The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
17
I can't see an article under People for Negress, just Cyrus.
Taking the jewel into his hand, Guilliame examines it carefully. It isn't very pretty, as it lack symmetry. But the complexity of the design and the quality of the workmanship suggests it would be very expensive to buy. As to whether it is magical...
Guilliame closes his eyes [OOC: the somatic component of the spell] and casts the [Tooltip Not Found] cantrip. When he opens his eyes he can see the golden particles of magic swirling in a complex pattern in an around the thin strands of the closely packed silver filigree of the jewel.
Make an Arcana check (at disadvantage; choose this in the dropdown menu immediately below where you add in your bonus number) to see if Guilliame can work out what school of magic the magic effect of the jewel might be based on.
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Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist)
Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon.
The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
6
I can see Negress and a couple of other people I couldn't see before.
Tell Alice that it looks magic and I'm trying to work out how and then do the Arcana check.
Having learnt what he can about the jewel using his See the Arcane cantrip, what does Guilliame do? What does he tell Alice? She is looking on fascinated.
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Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist)
Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon.
The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Tell Alice that I think the jewel has a spell from the school of enchantment but I don't know which one.
Is there a fellow student or (preferably) teacher at the school that I think would have the right skills to assess the spell it who trust. If so suggest to Alice that I could try to arrange a meeting to test the item.
"So, it is magickal," says Alice in awe when Guilliame tells her that there is an enchantment on the jewel. "I thought it must be."
Then, before Guilliame can say anything else, she says, "That's brilliant. How much do I owe you?"
Guilliame gets the sudden insight that this piece of jewellery might not actually belong to Alice.
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Tyrus Mountson: Lvl 3 Dwarvish Bard; Waterdeep Campaign (Dragon Heist)
Nanoc the Younger: Semi-retired Lvl 2 Rogue / Level 2 Barbarian Human; The Knuckle, Mror Holds, Ebberon.
The Honourable Jaden Fellan: Level 3 Human Eldritch Knight; Band of Sunswall
AKA: Phillip Berrie: writer, editor and academic thrillseeker—a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.