"Peri, do you think Lankus might be able to set up a private area for us at the Goat if he was so inclined." He asks as he pats the purse he was handed in the meeting.
The four of you make your way back to the Wicker Goat, where Peri and Qivys are staying. A small but rowdy late lunch crowd is evident in the tap room - a lot of Town Guard, drinking a fair amount of ale, and a couple of dwarven miners. Lankus has no private meeting room - just the kitchen, the stockroom, the root cellar, and his and his staff's quarters. So you squeeze into Peri's modest, sparse bedroom. It has a window with a wonderful view of town.
Questions on your collective minds: • Will you accept this mission on their terms? • How might the four of you board and defeat a ship full of smugglers? • What equipment do you need?
'So what say you all?" he asks "It's a bit of a tall order for just us 4. Can we do this and Why does a town look to outsiders to handle a smuggler problem? My suspicious nature nags at me about that one." Dwal finishes.
"I agree with your suspicious nature. I can understand how the Guard might be ill-equipped for boardin' a ship at sea, but you'd think they could get some help from the Kingdom. And then they want us t' do it on the cheap. 400 gold? By rights, if we take a pirate we should be able to sell it in a prize court. The ship itself is worth thousands, and the cargo may be thousands more. Doesn't seem like they're all that serious about gettin' these smugglers."
"And then there's Butter." He turns a skeptical eye on Missy. "Why does Farbern insist on pushing that dolt on us? Y' can't convince me there's not another guard with basic sailin' experience? Does Farbern have a reason to want t' be rid o' ya?"
"Aye, ye both make a valid point. It seems a little out of our league. I mean, I barely made it out of that house the first time, 'n' there was four of us then. Granted, I have felt power inside of me that I ne'er felt before, but I doubt it's enough for me to hold my own on a pirate ship. Plus, the water ain't no place for a dwarf. Well, this dwarf anyway. I had my fair share of the brine during my introduction to this forsaken town. P'rhaps there be some land based trouble we'd be better at round here." He pauses to add weight to the next part "no matter the decision, I'm with y'all. Thick or thin, I'll be your shield, so long as you'll 'ave me."
"As for Farberns insistence on sending that oaf with us, I think he's of the opinion that everything is better with Butter around. I don't understand it."
One additional question arises - how to spend your days (maybe two weeks, they said?) waiting for the ship to arrive. Missy and Dwal have jobs they are expected to attend to. In addition, Missy has an invitation to see her former employer this very evening. There appears to be an opportunity for some "downtime activities". You have collected some unusual items that you might examine further, use, or sell. You know of temporary, modest-paying work on the docks, fishing boats, mines, and with the Guard. Qivys recalls a job Brinehald at the temple was pushing on them to salvage a sunken vessel off Crabber's Cove. Peri recalls there was a reward out for a band of marauding goblin in the marshes. There are things to buy and sell, shops and landmarks to visit; people to talk to; bars to carouse; things to craft, research, or train for.
But first, it seems you should decide how to respond to the Town Council, and then make any preparations you need.
"You don't like butter? What do you put on your toast?" She can't help but joke before turning serious. "I don't know, they're not really fond of giving out information. No matter how helpful it would be. Though, they are very eager to accept volunteers. It may just be that they don't really have anyone else to send?" She shrugs.
"We should go ahead and divvy up the take from the mansion." Peri puts the 28gp and 60sp from the footlockers, plus the 6 golden ribs from the skeletons, in a pile in the middle of the room. "Obviously Missy should get a share, and much as I think Butter should be hangin' from a yard, I won't begrudge him a share of you all think he deserves it. Oh, and here's the math book I found if you're interested," he says, handing Nystul's "The Metaphysics of Mathematics" to Missy. "There's a couple by a fellow called Tenser too. I'm readin' the one on flowers, but there's one about gems our dwarf friends might find interesting."
"Aye, then it's settled? We hang around and play house hound till the ship arrives?" he asks.
"I'd like to get a bit more "seasoned" as it were, before trying to board a ship and take on a bunch of smugglers.'
Dwal strokes his beard a moment.
"I mean to set roots here for the short term and even start a business venture or two of me own." he says thoughtfully. "I say we make part of our pay a place of our own. Not just to sleep, eat and meet mind you, but to do a bit of business on the side for ourselves. I'm a skilled smith, mason and carpenter me self an I probable make a nice living here on just that but, I got the "Dwarves Curse" on me it seems, along with a bit of dragon in me blood, so adventuring is in my blood now. Plus as a Priest of Moradin, I need a place to hang me apron and set me hammer and anvil."
Dwal strokes his beard again.
"From all the tales I heard over the years all good adventuring parties have a title or name they go by. I say we do the same." he says as he grins big and the sides of his cheeks flair making his beard rise and spread a bit on his face.
"I'm up for that Dwal. A base of operations sounds good. Much better than the mess hall at the Mariners. Although the Goat is a step up it'd be great to have our own place. We will need some coin for backing though" he says as he flips the reward coin purse onto the table along with his own. "There's the 200 plus mine as well. No point holding back."
1. City Gate 2. Barracks and Jail - where Missy stays and works 3. The Wicker Goat - where Peri and Dwal are staying 4. 5. The Mining Company Headquarters - where Qivys stays and works 6. Keledek Tower - Missy's former employer 7. Faithful Quartermasters of Iuz (Captain Xondros) 8. The Empty Net 9. Green Market 10. The Bridge 11. Kester’s Leather Goods 12. Hoolwatch Tower 13. The Snapping Line 14. Council Hall 15. Weekly Market 16. Primwater Mansion 17. The Dwarven Anvil 18. 19. 20. Salomar House 21. Mariners’ Guildhall 22. 23. Carpenters’ Guildhall 24. Crabber's Cove 25. 26. Temple of Procan 27. Saltmarsh Cemetery 28. 29. Sea Grove of Obad-Hai 30. Standing Stones
So, in addition to formally responding to the Council, the party considers the following activities as they wait for further developments:
- Peri - will go see the druid Kastilar at the Sea Grove, and maybe consider attempting the goblin mission or the salvage job
- Dwal - will go back to work at the docks, registering and directing imports and exports for his employers at the mine; meanwhile, checking out the local real estate for a new base of operations
- Missy - will go back to work with the Guard, and go see her ex-employer about her book
The afternoon winds down as the four of you hash out ideas in Peri's cramped room. You stare out the window at the excellent view of town under the grey, overcast dome of clouds that never seem to break. Distant seagulls wheel over the waterfront. At one point Missy spots a fat red spider watching you from the ceiling, but it quite literally disappears before your eyes.
Eventually, unable to come to a consensus, you wander back downstairs into the taproom, which is full, as usual, with half-drunk town guards and loud dwarven miners.
Dwal and Qivys start asking around about real estate - especially around Primwater Mansion in the center of town, but come up rather disappointed. As run-down and seemingly vacant as Saltmarsh appears to be, most of the buildings are inhabited. (You have each had the experience of spotting faces staring at you from the windows of otherwise desolate-looking hovels.) The only vacant homes that Lankus knows about are the dilapidated cabins built along the shores of a secluded bay known as Crabbers Cove (#24 on the map.) The buildings are weathered, abandoned by the residents of Saltmarsh years ago. Since then, thousands of crabs have taken up residence in the crumbling remains. Crabbers from Saltmarsh are cautious about the cove, as more than one overeager fisherman has disappeared into the clacking darkness, never to be seen again. The good news is that there is more than one adjacent cabin available - you could probably acquire two or even three under a lease with the city. But they will need some significant work.
Dwal will head to those cabins specifically. Upon arrival he will inspect the exterior of each, how the carpentry and masonry has faired. He will also visit the blacksmith shop and after the pleasantries he will ask.
"So, what is the deal with the cabins down here? Why were they abandoned?" he will inquire.
As the others stay behind in the tavern, Dwal wanders across town.
The road dead-ends in the dunes past the Carpenters' Guildhall at four run-down, abandoned cabins. They're not in good shape, but their bones seem strong.
The first cabin past the carpenter's guildhall is in the worst shape - in fact it's mostly collapsed and in need of demolition. The others are in better shape, with intact walls and floors made of stone and huge, ancient timbers. The thatching on the roof is in need of replacement, and there's plenty of rot that needs attending to. They are all small and one-story, with three rooms each, and a stone root cellar built into the shallow foundation. The cabins have been well picked through by kids and vagrants, even as unsettling stories have evidently kept others away. They all have a nice waterfront view of a sandy cove down a modest bluff.
The most alarming thing is the crabs– ordinary crabs which swarm the cabins and the beach around them. They are especially concentrated around the last, fourth cabin at the end of the road.
Dwal concludes that the middle two cabins are probably the most practical - they are intact, and have the least crab infestation. A small retaining wall could be built to keep the crabs out, the thatching on both cabins repaired, and some other repairs made, for maybe 50 gp in materials and two weeks of skilled full-time labor. Dwal is quite skilled at these sorts of tasks, but his job at the docks will limit how much time he can commit. The nearby Carpenters' Guildhall might be able to provide materials, and perhaps laborers as well.
Returning into town, Dwal stops at the Dwarven Anvil, where he finds Maffera and Jasker hard at work. Maffera looks up and recognizes you. "Ah! Now you show up! I thought you were coming 'round the other night?"
Peri will leave the loot he gathered in the party pool (is Missy keeping it in the Bag o' Holding?) but take his cut - 40 gp - of the reward money, lock his room, and head down to the tavern. He flags down Lankus when he sees him. "I think I might take that firkin of ale we talked about a couple of days ago, providin' you'll throw in a couple of flagons for enjoyin' it. And do ya know where I might go t' rent a donkey or th' like? I'll not be luggin' that thing out to meet th' druid on my back!"
((BTW: Peri is also a skilled ship's carpenter, so he can help with the restoration work.)
Maffera replies to Dwal, "Them families long gone. You interested in those crab nests? Register 'em at Council Hall, pay yer lease, I'm sure they'll let you have 'em. Watch out for those crabs, though. A few people went missing out that way, a coupl'a years back."
~~
Meanwhile, Peri asks Lankus for a firkin of ale. It'll cost you one gold, and he'll lend you the flagons for nothing provided you return them. "I don't have donkeys, sorry. Boil over there will lug it for you for a copper or two." - he points to a half-drunken old human yukking it up with some buddies in the corner. Boil is a mountain of a man, in his mid-sixties maybe, generously covered in moles.
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Qivys
"Peri, do you think Lankus might be able to set up a private area for us at the Goat if he was so inclined." He asks as he pats the purse he was handed in the meeting.
Peri:
"Sure and he'd be willing; question is if he'd be able. If not we can talk in my room, though it'll be a mite cramped with the four of us in there."
Dwal
"I think we let them off light." Dwal states. "They want us to be their little reactionary force, they need to provide housing for us."
The four of you make your way back to the Wicker Goat, where Peri and Qivys are staying. A small but rowdy late lunch crowd is evident in the tap room - a lot of Town Guard, drinking a fair amount of ale, and a couple of dwarven miners. Lankus has no private meeting room - just the kitchen, the stockroom, the root cellar, and his and his staff's quarters. So you squeeze into Peri's modest, sparse bedroom. It has a window with a wonderful view of town.
Questions on your collective minds:
• Will you accept this mission on their terms?
• How might the four of you board and defeat a ship full of smugglers?
• What equipment do you need?
Dwal
'So what say you all?" he asks "It's a bit of a tall order for just us 4. Can we do this and Why does a town look to outsiders to handle a smuggler problem? My suspicious nature nags at me about that one." Dwal finishes.
Peri:
"I agree with your suspicious nature. I can understand how the Guard might be ill-equipped for boardin' a ship at sea, but you'd think they could get some help from the Kingdom. And then they want us t' do it on the cheap. 400 gold? By rights, if we take a pirate we should be able to sell it in a prize court. The ship itself is worth thousands, and the cargo may be thousands more. Doesn't seem like they're all that serious about gettin' these smugglers."
"And then there's Butter." He turns a skeptical eye on Missy. "Why does Farbern insist on pushing that dolt on us? Y' can't convince me there's not another guard with basic sailin' experience? Does Farbern have a reason to want t' be rid o' ya?"
Qivys
"Aye, ye both make a valid point. It seems a little out of our league. I mean, I barely made it out of that house the first time, 'n' there was four of us then. Granted, I have felt power inside of me that I ne'er felt before, but I doubt it's enough for me to hold my own on a pirate ship. Plus, the water ain't no place for a dwarf. Well, this dwarf anyway. I had my fair share of the brine during my introduction to this forsaken town. P'rhaps there be some land based trouble we'd be better at round here." He pauses to add weight to the next part "no matter the decision, I'm with y'all. Thick or thin, I'll be your shield, so long as you'll 'ave me."
"As for Farberns insistence on sending that oaf with us, I think he's of the opinion that everything is better with Butter around. I don't understand it."
One additional question arises - how to spend your days (maybe two weeks, they said?) waiting for the ship to arrive. Missy and Dwal have jobs they are expected to attend to. In addition, Missy has an invitation to see her former employer this very evening. There appears to be an opportunity for some "downtime activities". You have collected some unusual items that you might examine further, use, or sell. You know of temporary, modest-paying work on the docks, fishing boats, mines, and with the Guard. Qivys recalls a job Brinehald at the temple was pushing on them to salvage a sunken vessel off Crabber's Cove. Peri recalls there was a reward out for a band of marauding goblin in the marshes. There are things to buy and sell, shops and landmarks to visit; people to talk to; bars to carouse; things to craft, research, or train for.
But first, it seems you should decide how to respond to the Town Council, and then make any preparations you need.
Missy
"You don't like butter? What do you put on your toast?" She can't help but joke before turning serious. "I don't know, they're not really fond of giving out information. No matter how helpful it would be. Though, they are very eager to accept volunteers. It may just be that they don't really have anyone else to send?" She shrugs.
Peri:
"We should go ahead and divvy up the take from the mansion." Peri puts the 28gp and 60sp from the footlockers, plus the 6 golden ribs from the skeletons, in a pile in the middle of the room. "Obviously Missy should get a share, and much as I think Butter should be hangin' from a yard, I won't begrudge him a share of you all think he deserves it. Oh, and here's the math book I found if you're interested," he says, handing Nystul's "The Metaphysics of Mathematics" to Missy. "There's a couple by a fellow called Tenser too. I'm readin' the one on flowers, but there's one about gems our dwarf friends might find interesting."
Dwal
"Aye, then it's settled? We hang around and play house hound till the ship arrives?" he asks.
"I'd like to get a bit more "seasoned" as it were, before trying to board a ship and take on a bunch of smugglers.'
Dwal strokes his beard a moment.
"I mean to set roots here for the short term and even start a business venture or two of me own." he says thoughtfully. "I say we make part of our pay a place of our own. Not just to sleep, eat and meet mind you, but to do a bit of business on the side for ourselves. I'm a skilled smith, mason and carpenter me self an I probable make a nice living here on just that but, I got the "Dwarves Curse" on me it seems, along with a bit of dragon in me blood, so adventuring is in my blood now. Plus as a Priest of Moradin, I need a place to hang me apron and set me hammer and anvil."
Dwal strokes his beard again.
"From all the tales I heard over the years all good adventuring parties have a title or name they go by. I say we do the same." he says as he grins big and the sides of his cheeks flair making his beard rise and spread a bit on his face.
Qivys
"I'm up for that Dwal. A base of operations sounds good. Much better than the mess hall at the Mariners. Although the Goat is a step up it'd be great to have our own place. We will need some coin for backing though" he says as he flips the reward coin purse onto the table along with his own. "There's the 200 plus mine as well. No point holding back."
A reminder of the town:
1. City Gate
2. Barracks and Jail - where Missy stays and works
3. The Wicker Goat - where Peri and Dwal are staying
4.
5. The Mining Company Headquarters - where Qivys stays and works
6. Keledek Tower - Missy's former employer
7. Faithful Quartermasters of Iuz (Captain Xondros)
8. The Empty Net
9. Green Market
10. The Bridge
11. Kester’s Leather Goods
12. Hoolwatch Tower
13. The Snapping Line
14. Council Hall
15. Weekly Market
16. Primwater Mansion
17. The Dwarven Anvil
18.
19.
20. Salomar House
21. Mariners’ Guildhall
22.
23. Carpenters’ Guildhall
24. Crabber's Cove
25.
26. Temple of Procan
27. Saltmarsh Cemetery
28.
29. Sea Grove of Obad-Hai
30. Standing Stones
So, in addition to formally responding to the Council, the party considers the following activities as they wait for further developments:
- Peri - will go see the druid Kastilar at the Sea Grove, and maybe consider attempting the goblin mission or the salvage job
- Dwal - will go back to work at the docks, registering and directing imports and exports for his employers at the mine; meanwhile, checking out the local real estate for a new base of operations
- Missy - will go back to work with the Guard, and go see her ex-employer about her book
- Qivys - Helps Dwal look for a house, and ...?
(Did I get that right? What else...?)
The afternoon winds down as the four of you hash out ideas in Peri's cramped room. You stare out the window at the excellent view of town under the grey, overcast dome of clouds that never seem to break. Distant seagulls wheel over the waterfront. At one point Missy spots a fat red spider watching you from the ceiling, but it quite literally disappears before your eyes.
Eventually, unable to come to a consensus, you wander back downstairs into the taproom, which is full, as usual, with half-drunk town guards and loud dwarven miners.
Dwal and Qivys start asking around about real estate - especially around Primwater Mansion in the center of town, but come up rather disappointed. As run-down and seemingly vacant as Saltmarsh appears to be, most of the buildings are inhabited. (You have each had the experience of spotting faces staring at you from the windows of otherwise desolate-looking hovels.) The only vacant homes that Lankus knows about are the dilapidated cabins built along the shores of a secluded bay known as Crabbers Cove (#24 on the map.) The buildings are weathered, abandoned by the residents of Saltmarsh years ago. Since then, thousands of crabs have taken up residence in the crumbling remains. Crabbers from Saltmarsh are cautious about the cove, as more than one overeager fisherman has disappeared into the clacking darkness, never to be seen again. The good news is that there is more than one adjacent cabin available - you could probably acquire two or even three under a lease with the city. But they will need some significant work.
Dwal
Dwal will head to those cabins specifically. Upon arrival he will inspect the exterior of each, how the carpentry and masonry has faired. He will also visit the blacksmith shop and after the pleasantries he will ask.
"So, what is the deal with the cabins down here? Why were they abandoned?" he will inquire.
As the others stay behind in the tavern, Dwal wanders across town.
The road dead-ends in the dunes past the Carpenters' Guildhall at four run-down, abandoned cabins. They're not in good shape, but their bones seem strong.
The first cabin past the carpenter's guildhall is in the worst shape - in fact it's mostly collapsed and in need of demolition. The others are in better shape, with intact walls and floors made of stone and huge, ancient timbers. The thatching on the roof is in need of replacement, and there's plenty of rot that needs attending to. They are all small and one-story, with three rooms each, and a stone root cellar built into the shallow foundation. The cabins have been well picked through by kids and vagrants, even as unsettling stories have evidently kept others away. They all have a nice waterfront view of a sandy cove down a modest bluff.
The most alarming thing is the crabs– ordinary crabs which swarm the cabins and the beach around them. They are especially concentrated around the last, fourth cabin at the end of the road.
Dwal concludes that the middle two cabins are probably the most practical - they are intact, and have the least crab infestation. A small retaining wall could be built to keep the crabs out, the thatching on both cabins repaired, and some other repairs made, for maybe 50 gp in materials and two weeks of skilled full-time labor. Dwal is quite skilled at these sorts of tasks, but his job at the docks will limit how much time he can commit. The nearby Carpenters' Guildhall might be able to provide materials, and perhaps laborers as well.
Returning into town, Dwal stops at the Dwarven Anvil, where he finds Maffera and Jasker hard at work. Maffera looks up and recognizes you. "Ah! Now you show up! I thought you were coming 'round the other night?"
Dwal
"Aye, So did I" Dwal says "But, I got tangled into alot more than just working for the docks." he finishes.
"I an' me companions are looking to take over one of the abandon places near by and wanted to ask you, do you know who owns them?" he asks.
Peri:
Peri will leave the loot he gathered in the party pool (is Missy keeping it in the Bag o' Holding?) but take his cut - 40 gp - of the reward money, lock his room, and head down to the tavern. He flags down Lankus when he sees him. "I think I might take that firkin of ale we talked about a couple of days ago, providin' you'll throw in a couple of flagons for enjoyin' it. And do ya know where I might go t' rent a donkey or th' like? I'll not be luggin' that thing out to meet th' druid on my back!"
((BTW: Peri is also a skilled ship's carpenter, so he can help with the restoration work.)
Maffera replies to Dwal, "Them families long gone. You interested in those crab nests? Register 'em at Council Hall, pay yer lease, I'm sure they'll let you have 'em. Watch out for those crabs, though. A few people went missing out that way, a coupl'a years back."
~~
Meanwhile, Peri asks Lankus for a firkin of ale. It'll cost you one gold, and he'll lend you the flagons for nothing provided you return them. "I don't have donkeys, sorry. Boil over there will lug it for you for a copper or two." - he points to a half-drunken old human yukking it up with some buddies in the corner. Boil is a mountain of a man, in his mid-sixties maybe, generously covered in moles.