Crimson Discord(IC)

[Darth Ultron]

Morthos Gornthis "The master will see you now."

Morthos, an older pale skinned bald headed human male in a red robe opens the door to the room and moves out of the way.

Ulahkar Aldryssasdottir waits in the middle of the room next to a large glowing world globe image.

Ulahkar Aldryssasdottir "Yes, come in."


Ulahkar Aldryssasdottir, Red Wizard lord your character will be working ''for".




http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?571686-Crimson-Discord(OOC)

[Falco1029]

Calareth heads into the room, looking towards the globe a moment and then to Ulahkar, a bit of a half bow, half nod given in a respectful gesture.

"You wanted to speak with me?" he asks, straightforwardly enough.



Dunno if there's any etiquette specific to Thay. I'll do some reading on that.

[Darth Ultron]

Ulahkar Aldryssasdottir "Yes.

I want to do something about Aglarond, they have been too much of a thorn in our side.

Though, we did just sign a peace treaty with them....waste of a good scroll. But still we must keep up the sandstorm.

And that was when I thought of you. You are more then enough of an outsider and able to pass as...well...someone from anywhere but Thay. You might be the perfect one to slip in and cause some strife and discord.

What do you say?"

[Falco1029]

The sorcerer takes a moment to think about that, before giving a bit of a smile, "That sounds like a good idea. I was honestly surprised to hear of the treaty to begin with," he says with a nod. "What can you offer me by way of resources for this? Do we have anyone there already, or a place in mind for me to start?"

[Darth Ultron]

Ulahkar Aldryssasdottir "What ever resources you need to get started. Though to have a chance we need to keep this under the sand. Nothing too flashy and obvious. They already know you are coming, so you don't want to give them any help in finding you too quickly. It would be best if you could cultivate your own direct resources, maybe look somewhat natural.

As part of the treaty we did pull out our spies. Not that it mattered all that much as they were mostly known to them anyway. There are plenty of allies, but with great shifts in loyalty to us.

Where to start is a good question. I do think it is best to clam shell information. Maybe you can come up with a new way, some surprise sand.


Orthau Greylore knows the lore of the land and will aid you.


A reddish-brown furred cat-like humanoid in a simple scholars outfit fades into view.

Orthau Greylore "I am here to serve."

[Falco1029]

There's a slight frown, but Calareth nods at that. It makes sense enough, that they'll need to be careful about what's sent with him and how. "Of course. I can likely get by with little more than a bit of funding, if you think that's best, and can build up from there," he says, "Although I'll want to bring my assistant with me," the Artisan likely well known enough to them.

Looking to the cat-like individual, he offers him a slight nod as well, "Well then, where would you suggest we start, then? To settle and begin our efforts?" he asks.

[Darth Ultron]

Orthau Greylore "Well, I'm not tactical military strategist.

Aglarond is a scattering of small towns, and one city. So the capital city makes for a good place to start....but also the most dangerous.

But it would be the best place if you want to build some sort of cover. Some sort of legitimate business that people will fall for.

Though it does depend a lot on your skills and what you can and want to do."

[Falco1029]

He thinks a moment, at that, "With my assistant's help, it would be none too difficult to set up a cover running a shop of sorts, arms and armor or whathaveyou. That would also give me some insight into possible recruits that come through there," he muses thoughtfully.

[Darth Ultron]

Orthau Greylore "Up to you...but you might want to pick something other then weapons. They are a soft people."

[Falco1029]

He frowns at that, "Ideally I do want to attract the ones that aren't soft... but you still might be right, if I'm to make any real living there while doing my work," he says, thinking a few moments, "Leatherworking, perhaps," he suggests. "Or maybe just a more general store..."

[Darth Ultron]

Orthau Greylore "Well, if it's just a cover it does not matter if you make a living off of it. The underworld makes much more money if you want to make a living. And they are good people...or you know, they want to be good people...but they have vices just like everyone else.

Might be a good idea to set up something like that. "

[Falco1029]

"I've never been one to work too closely with petty criminals," he says with a slight sneer at that, "But I see what you're saying. We'll set up the store and then see about what else can be stirred up behind it..."

[Darth Ultron]

Orthau Greylore "Well, it does not have to be piety gutter vices...there are the more high end ones too.

I'm ready to get started when you are.
"

[Falco1029]

"Fair enough. As I said, we'll set up the main front and decide what might be feasible afterward," he says with a nod, "I'm ready when you are."

[Darth Ultron]

Orthau Greylore "If your ready now, we can simply teleport. I know a person who runs a daily passenger ship. We can just blend in with the rest."

Orthau pulls a small silver rob out of a tiny pocket.

[Falco1029]

"Sure. We'll need to pick my assistant up on the way. Or else send for him. He's back at my workshop," he claims.

[Darth Ultron]

Orthau Greylore "might as well send for him. It will give me time to send a message and get things ready. I don't need much more then an hour."

[Falco1029]

"Of course," he says, glancing to Ulahkar then, "If you'll excuse me, I'll be back shortly," he adds, heading off to find someone that can send a message back to his lab to get him there; failing that, he'll head back himself and return with Thaddeus.

[Darth Ultron]

With a whole hour you have plenty of time to walk back and get Thaddeus.

An hour later Orthau Greylore teleports the tree of you to a small sea side house.

Then it's just a short shoreline ship ride into a sea side city. The city is long along the shore, but not very wide inland. The city is built on many green hills. Forcing buildings closer and closer together on precariously steep slopes. It's not uncommon to see new stories built atop the old ones. The architectural styles of the different floors don't always match up, giving the city a unique patchwork look. And a couple minutes later the ship ropes into a dock.

Orthau Greylore "This is it, Velprintalar. The capital city....the only city...of Agarlond.

[Falco1029]

Calareth is pretty quiet for most of the way there, both the teleportation and the ship ride there. His assistant is almost always quiet, the very spacy seeming man always seeming to have his mind somewhere else, and it's often actually the case. His hair's a fair bit longer than Calareth's and he clearly doesn't take nearly as much time grooming himself each day, not looking quite unkempt but most would never mistake him as anything but a humble craftsman (Unlike Calareth's comparatively noble demeanor).

"Never actually seen it in person..." the Sorcerer murmurs, looking it over.



Knowledge (Geography) roll just to see if there's any interesting tidbits he might recall about the city:

[roll0]

[Darth Ultron]

Velprintalar is a very shallow harbor, preventing large heavy merchant ships or warships from docking.

The city has no traditional defenses like walls, siege weapons or a standing military force.

The harbor light is a massive stone tower, just about the only stone building to be seen other then the Green Palace. It serves as a lighthouse and watchtower.

[Falco1029]

"At least it shouldn't be too difficult dealing with this city down the line..." he quietly says to himself. Once the ship's docked, he moves to lead the others off of it.

[Darth Ultron]

Orthau Greylore quietly follows behind.


The docks are full of people and activity, but only from small fishing boats bringing in catches from the day.

Once your on land, the city still looks quiet an empty. The city has no solid built streets, everything is a dirt road..though most of the dirt is packed down well.

People move about the city roads, but not too many. Most roads are quite open. Almost everyone is on foot, and you see only a couple wagons, carts or even horses anywhere in the city.

[Falco1029]

Calareth keeps an eye out for any sort of building that looks like it might be up to purchase or be rented, for their purposes, preferably the former. He also starts noting any shops, taverns, the layout of the town, and anything else that they might end up interested in.

[Darth Ultron]

There are a couple of shops with 'for rent' signs on them.

The shops you see are small.

Most of the taverns are right along the docks, with only a few in the rest of the city.

Orthau Greylore quietly follows behind.

[Falco1029]

He looks to Orthau, "Scout out the shops that seem to be for rent, see what they'd cost and if there's ample room. Take Thaddeus," the artisan likely not native to Thay, with that name, ,"so he can discern if it will suit his needs," he adds.

"Ideally, one with living space so I don't also need to put my money into this squalid place's housing market," he adds. "I'm going to take some time getting to know about any recent local events, anything of note we might need, and anything that may be in the surrounding area we can make use of."

All of this, of cours,e is spoken quietly and primarily when the thankfully uncrowded streets have few people wandering by.

[Darth Ultron]

Orthau Greylore gives a low nod, and heads off with Thaddeus.

The city around is mostly quiet, as the few people you can see move about their daily lives.

[Falco1029]

Calareth heads towards the taverns, to start with, figuring that's as good as place as any to get up to date with things. If any of them are a little nicer than the others, he heads to that one, otherwise he'll more or less randomly choose.

[Darth Ultron]

All the taverns are nice, maybe even more ''restaurant" then tavern.

The Green Hill Tavern is large and with twenty two people in it, it's quite full. The wood of the tavern is all painted green, and long green ivy-like plants grow from puts and troth's everywhere inside the building.

The main room is round and two levels, with the upper level a deck that wraps around the room. All the upper deck tables are taken. There is no bar, just a simple counter in the back in front of the kitchen.

The tables and chairs are all wood, good solid wood, all painted green. Everyone you can see is drinking out of glass cups, and using silver spoons and knives to eat food.

A dozen green copper butterflies float around the room, each glowing brightly, making the inside of the tavern very brightly lit with almost no shadows.

There is a mix of men and women, of humans, half elves and halflings, sitting in groups of two or three. As most everyone is quietly talking in the enclosed space, it is slightly more nosier then outside..plus the occasional 'dig' of glasses or silverware hitting each other.

[Falco1029]

"Hmm," he says with a frown, not having quite been wanting something entirely this side of 'restaurant', but for now he imagines he has little other option, so he either waits to be seated if that's what's typically done, or else finds a table on the lower level.

[Darth Ultron]

A couple seconds latter two half elf woman come in behind you and simply walk over and sit at a empty table.

Once you sit down, a human female in a green dress half dances over to your table.

Lydii "Welcome to the Green Hill! I'm Lydii! Can I get you something to drink or eat?

Our special today is Smoked ****akes, Marinated and smoked Southern Creek shiitakes, served with cornbread, purple hull pea relish, and braised greens. Just seven gold."

[Falco1029]

Calareth puts on a charming, friendly sort of face with the serving girl, "That sounds lovely, honestly, and can I get a glass of wine with it? Whatever you'd suggest to go with that," he asks her. "I'm actually new to town, but I'm glad I stumbled upon this charming place," he mentions, gauging if she's apt to be able to converse for a few minutes or if she'll be too busy for that.

[Darth Ultron]

Lydii smiles and waves back towards the kitchen where a cook is watching the room

Lydii "One special with Green Tears" she says not too loudly.

then turns back to you

"Aw, thank you, we work hard to make this the greenest place on the coast. So not from around here? Traveler? Just passing through? Looking to stay? We don't get too many out of towners. Where are you from? what do you do? What brings your Green here?"

[Falco1029]

He smiles, even if not entirely genuinely, at her bevvy of questions, "Potentially looking to settle for a while, but a bit overwhelmed with the prospect. Is there anything you can tell me about the area? Anything going on a newcomer should be aware of?" he ask sher in turn, figuring she can't fault him for not answering everything she shot at him at once.

[Darth Ultron]

Lydii "Well, the area is so beautiful...and green. The city is beautiful and green...and the whole country is beautiful....and green. Everything is mostly safe and peaceful....but just watch out for fey...and dragons.

We have a simple rule, called the Green Rule: Do unto others or the land, as you yourself would want done unto you. Simple. Follow the Green Rule and you will have a happy life."

[Falco1029]

"Fey and Dragons? Have you had any actual recent trouble there, or is that just common knowledge for if one's traveling?" he asks her a little curiously, just nodding at the rest of that.

[Darth Ultron]

Lydii "Well, not like trouble. The fey are everywhere...like the whole country. Like most are sort of friendly...but you know fey. So they can be a bit dangerous, but you not like in an evil way.

And dragons, sure, they are around. And sure they are mostly good dragons...but even good dragons have a...well...different kind of good then human good.

But some dragons are so nice....like Criccetartinganihtinugai or Cricket...she is the most beautiful song dragon. She is making a jam down the coast, and has been here for the last couple days. She will be up there tonight on Music Hill. "

[Falco1029]

"I see," he says with a nod, "Perhaps I'll go and see her, then. Thank you for the information."

[Darth Ultron]

Lydii "Maybe I will see you there"

Lydii half dances away, and comes back in a bit with a plate of Smoked Southern Creek Shiitakes and a glass mug of green wine.

Lydii then smiles and half dances over to the next table.

[Falco1029]

Calareth starts on his meal as the server heads off in her flamboyant fashion, doing his best to listen to those talking quietly around the area, even if he doubts he'll pick up much of use.

[Darth Ultron]

You can overhear nearby soft conversations, that seem like typical common ones:

One-A man named Eaus has gotten himself a new pair of shoes that have high bottoms, making him stand three inches taller....now maybe he can get a date.

Two-Yena is still trying to figure out the secret recipe for Adora's cutcakes, but has had no luck yet.

Three-Goct was bailing hay..and lost his new wedding ring...half the farmers in the area had to look for the ''ring in a hay stack" all day...but luckly the ring was found before the sun set.

[Falco1029]

Frowning at the lack of anything noteworthy, he'll be fairly quick to pay for his food and head out afterward, to go and check on how the others have fared so far.

[Darth Ultron]

Orthau Greylore finds you on the road.

Orthau Greylore "not a lot to pick from...but we found one. A two story townhouse. Ground floor shop, and then four empty living areas above.

Rent is 120 gold a month if we want all five. It's a fine deal.

[Falco1029]

"We should see if we can talk them down a bit, but that should be fine," he says with a nod to him, "I didn't learn too much of use. The setup of the town isn't conducive to easy information gathering, but I've learned they have a dragon that performs in town, a song dragon, and that fey and dragon alike are far from uncommon in the area," he tells him.

[Darth Ultron]

Orthau Greylore "The people here don't really trade or haggle. Prices are fairly set. We can try though.

Fey are more pests, but really for more the common folk. A farmer is no match for a pixie.

And I know that they have more Amber Dragons, of the Gemstone Dragons, here then any other place. They are a lot like druids and protect nature.

Most folk are open and friendly....so you should find it easy to gather information."

[Falco1029]

"Go ahead and make the offer, then. I'd rather get that set up as quickly as possible," he says, then sighing, "I'll see about making another attempt at asking around."


Should I just go ahead and roll Gather Information? I'm really terrible at the minutia of where exactly to go and who specifically to talk to to learn about general info and such.

[Darth Ultron]

Orthau Greylore nods.


You could always make a skill check.

Do you really want ''general" Gather Information stuff? What are you looking for?

In general, Velprintalar is a happy, stable place.

[Falco1029]

He heads back out at that point, a bit of a frown on his face although he's quick to put on a friendlier face once he finds what he's looking for.


Basically, looking for anything of interest outside the city itself, but in the nearby area. Anything he might be able to look into or make use of, ultimately, since obviously he can't really build up forces in the city itself, I'd imagine.

Here's a roll for that!: [roll0]

For what little it's worth, skill unlock means I can gather info in half the time.

[Darth Ultron]

Velprintalar is a narrow city that hugs the coastline, and with no walls or fortifications it does not really ''end". But a short walk inland gets you away from the building that are grouped together and out to the farms.

Each farm is quite small, maybe one extended family or so. Each is basically the same with a farmhouse, barn, an out shed or three, a field or crops and a field of animals. Two farms on a hilltop have griffons , and another farm has a small ten foot long gold dragon in it's field.

The farms extend for a ways, and then stop suddenly and beyond them is just pure wilderness. A couple of packed dirt roads wind away from the city.




It does help if you narrow down what your looking for..specifically as possible. If your looking for X, just say your looking for X.

In RPGs in general, and more so online the ''browsing" is not very effective. For example, the classic shopping one: A PC walks into a potion shop and the player asks the DM what is in the shop. As even a small shop has like a couple hundred items, it's not too effective for a DM to take two weeks to list every item in the shop. It's much more effective for the player to just say what they are looking for.

[Falco1029]

Sorry, I wasn't entirely clear, what I meant was, effectively, he's looking for potential locations outside the city that could act as a secondary 'base of operations' for when he starts building up his Followers and whathaveyou. Whether it's something that would need to be cleared out first or otherwise.

[Darth Ultron]

Beyond the simple farms, is just wilderness. Rolling grasslands with scattered groves of trees and bushes. The land is quite hilly, and even rocky in places.

And while the wilderness is not untouched, you don't see any signs of large scale things like deforesting. You can even see sings of like packed dirt or small trees done to return the wilderness to it's natural state.




That is kind of my point.

You are looking for a base...ok, but what to you is a ''base". It's a big help to be lot more specific as to what your looking for.

[Falco1029]

Hearing nothing of anything pre-existing he might be able to work with, but feeling a bit more confident on the lay of the land, he'll head back to check out the store he's purchased through his intermediaries.

[Darth Ultron]

The store is a simple two story wood building. Window in front with two empty shelves. Front door and back door. Most of the ground floor is the shop, a couple tables and empty shelves along the wall. The rest of the ground floor is a small back room where the back door is.

The four apartments are on the second floor, reached by a wooden staircase the runs along the outside of the back of the store.

The store has no basement.

[Falco1029]

"Alright," he says to Orthau as he gets back, "It looks as if we're going to need to find a way to make something ourselves if we want a secondary place to build up a force of any kind," he tells him, "This useless country's too... barren to find anything worth building up that's already in place."

[Darth Ultron]

Orthau Greylore nods.


Orthau Greylore "I think it's always better to start from scratch. Then we can make what you want. Don't forget we also have the sea, if you wanted a mobile base ship."

[Falco1029]

He ponders that for a moment, "Do you think we could manage to commission a ship large and stable enough for that? I feel as if it would inherently be more 'fragile' than something on land," he asks.

[Darth Ultron]

Orthau Greylore "Ships are not that fragile, and mobility is a huge bonus. And if we make sure to keep it looking like a big merchant ship, we can go anywhere. Just about everywhere greets merchants with open arms. "

[Falco1029]

"Alright. A properly equipped ship will cost more than I have available, though. We'll need some way to scrape up some more funds until we've found a more reliable source of it," he mentions.

[Darth Ultron]

Orthau Greylore "Well, we have only been here a couple hours.

But it's a good question...what did you want to do about money? I can get a job scribing scrolls no problem. Maybe sell things in the shop? I can make scrolls and books and quills with some materials.

Or did you have something else in mind? "

[Falco1029]

"I was going to put Thaddeus to work dealing with some of that, he's a skilled craftsman as well," he says, "Though I'm certainly open to suggestions regarding other sources of income"

Sorry about that idle period, had a rough week!

[Darth Ultron]

Orthau Greylore "I don't really go for the idea of money. I just take what I need or want. The only thing of value to me in information and knowledge. That is worth something.

So, do we really need money, or can we do things another way? "

[Falco1029]

"I tend to want to fly beneath the radar as long as possible, but at the same time, I don't exactly disagree with you. Do you have any ideas for alternative means to create or acquire the sort of ship we'll need?"

[Darth Ultron]

Orthau Greylore "Pirates. That is what I was thinking.

This is the Sea of Fallen Stars. Right in the middle are lots of small islands.....The Pirate Isles.

Take control of just one pirate ship...maybe help them take out a cargo ship or two...and right there you'd have some good seed money. But even better, we could keep them around, on call, to get a steady supply of money.

And to top it off, they can even capture us a good ship to use for our base.

And it would be all out at sea...so it won't raise any red flags here. "

[Falco1029]

He considers that for a few moments, "I can't say pirates fit what I had in mind for initial forces, but..." he takes another second or two before continuing, "It might work as a start, if they can be kept in line."

[Darth Ultron]

Orthau Greylore "I know pirates are not ideal, but they are useful. At the very least they can be counted on to be greedy.

They should be easy enough to keep in line...they do have an odd sense of honor.

I'll send out a spell spy to see what I can find."

[Falco1029]

"Sounds good. I'll settle for the evening, get Thaddeus started setting up the shop, so we have a backup and a front either way, and do a bit of probing of my own," he says with a nod.


Going to use my Divine Epiphany, per the Sanctified Rogue, to predict if working with pirates will work out well for us or not ( https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/rogue/archetypes/paizo-rogue-archetypes/sanctified-rogue/ )

I figure Thaddeus can just start getting the store set up and maybe doing some very basic crafting to start to fill it up (I can make some rolls if you want, but I imagine he can take 10 to make just about anything a common shop would have, at this stage).

[Darth Ultron]

Orthau Greylore nods.


Divine Epiphany: Nothing.

Setting up a shop and crafting things does not really need any rolls. Once it's running you can make the business check each week.

[Falco1029]

Once the augury's done, Calareth will help Thaddeus with any remaining setup before retiring for the evening to wait for the results of Orthau's spell.

Sounds good

[Darth Ultron]

It's night of mostly cleaning and preparation.

Orthau Greylore comes back after several hours.

Orthau Greylore "I think I found a good one. The Treasure Wolf. It's a ship crewed by goblins. They were part of a large goblin group of pirates, the Low Eyes. Their ship is a merchantman coaster and the captain is new and hungry to raid. "

[Falco1029]

Calareth gets up as Orthau comes back with his news, nodding at that, though there's another frown, "Not only pirates, but goblin pirates," he grumbles. "No matter. Where are they right now?"

[Darth Ultron]

Orthau Greylore "North east of here, in the open sea. "

[Falco1029]

He frowns, "Outside of flying distance, I assume?" referring to the spell, of course, "Were you able to discern their current destination?"

[Darth Ultron]

Orthau Greylore "Outside of a short flight distance, yes. I'm not sure they have a set destination. They are heading south with the trade winds. My guess is they are looking for a good ship to attack right now."

[Falco1029]

He nods, "Perhaps we can see about trying to find our way aboard another ship heading that way, if there are any?" he suggests, "Use them as bait, and deal with the pirates when they get close enough."

[Darth Ultron]

Orthau Greylore "Good idea. The trade route is full of such ships we could slip on board. Most captains are more then happy to take a couple passengers for some coin. How soon did you want to do this?"

[Falco1029]

"I was thinking first thing in the morning, if we can find an appropriate ship," he says.

[Darth Ultron]

Orthau Greylore "sounds good. Finding a ship should be easy enough. The sea is full of them. So, first thing in the morning." He gives a nod.

[Falco1029]

"Good," he says simply, and will go to relax for the evening, planning to be ready first thing.

[Darth Ultron]

The night passes quietly.

Orthau Greylore is ready in the morning. "My squeak found a good ship for us. The Gold Horse. It has a hold full of metal trade bars. It's a slow and easy target, and it's heading right into the main shipping lane where the goblins are.

And the Gold Horse captain is open to taking passengers too."

[Falco1029]

"Sounds perfect," he says as he gets himself ready and put together. "How much does he want for two passengers?" figuring that Thaddeus isn't likely well suited to the potential combat that may come into play. Plus, someone needs to finish getting the store ready.