[X] Plan: Need more Minerals!
[X] Gold Coast Quarry: The Gold Coast Quarry used to be a valuable mineral and
gold mine in
Westfall for the
Alliance until the Defias took it over. Now it's a valuable mineral and gold mine for the Defias. Or at least, it should be. Best to make sure no one feels like contesting that claim. DC: 30 Time: 1 Turn
[X] The Riverpaw Knolls: Ever since Hogger was taken to the stockades, Jango Spothide has stepped up as leader of the Riverpaw Band, running deliveries from Jerod's Landing all the way to the Tower. Make sure they know that you're the one to talk to. DC: 10 Time: 1 Turn
[X] You No Take My Gold Mine: The Goldtooth kobolds have been mining in the Jangolode mine for years, giving the ore to the Defias in exchange for being otherwise protected and left alone. You need to head over there, make sure they're still working, and divert the gold from Moonbrook back to Klaven's Tower. DC: 5; Time: 1 Turn
[X] Counter- espionage: The minute you start making moves, Van Cleef's target will appear squarely on your back, right along with the glaring red sights of a sniper rifle. You should probably up your defenses. DC: 0; Time: 1 Turn
Note: Will increase the needed dc of an assassination roll taken against Saphira.
-[X] Assign Ellery Blythe
[X] You haven't even seen Van Cleef's body yet, but what's the use of burying a body when you're sure the adventurer's have taken his head. What's the use... but the same thing that drives you to oppose the undead also makes you unable to give in here. Van Cleef will have a funeral. A proper funeral, with a priest and a gathering and everything. So first thing first: Finding a priest willing to give it. DC: ??
[X] Stonework: A long, long time ago, Van Cleef took you on as an apprentice because of how good you were at working with stone. It's been years, but... you could try working on a little project. Maybe. Where were your old tools, again?
[X] Cyphered Receipts: You'd thought you'd know about every stop on the Red Silk Road, but some of the notes you've been finding in Klaven's Tower are making you think otherwise. But other than the Gnolls, the goblins, and the kobolds, who else was there to be trading with? You really need to know. DC: 40; Time: Turn 1
Turn One Results
Martial: (1 Action)
The Defias are scattered and fearful, and you barely know where they've gone to ground, let alone what they're doing. That needs to change, fast.
Gold Coast Quarry: The Gold Coast Quarry used to be a valuable mineral and
gold mine in
Westfall for the
Alliance until the Defias took it over. Now it's a valuable mineral and gold mine for the Defias. Or at least, it should be. Best to make sure no one feels like contesting that claim. DC: 30 Time: 1 Turn
Rolled: 76
-You were unsure what state you'd find the Gold Coast Quarry in when you got there. Completely deserted? For the People's Militia to have already taken the opportunity to set up their own patrols around the perimeter? Thankfully, none of that is true. A Defias patroller greets you with a nervous smile and sweat stained on his red bandana, and explains to you that they'd managed to scare off the inquisitive murloc or so, but it was just so reassuring that they were still on the payroll what with the rumours and all, and---
Reward: Gold Coast Quarry remains under Defias Control. Stewardship Action Unlocked.
Diplomacy: (1 Action)
Klaven's Tower is a key part of the Defias smuggling route, which is something you'd like to keep running far into the future. The first step is reassuring all of your trading partners that this isn't the end.
The Riverpaw Knolls: Ever since Hogger was taken to the stockades, Jango Spothide has stepped up as leader of the Riverpaw Band, running deliveries from Jerod's Landing all the way to the Tower. Make sure they know that you're the one to talk to. DC: 10 Time: 1 Turn
Rolled: 41
-Jango Spothide is a very distinctive gnoll, the cheetah spots on his hide making him easy to pick out from the crowd of Gnoll bodyguards that surround him. He nods along as you explain the situation, only relaxing when you clarify that you still have the means to pay his band for their continued services. But the true break comes when you bring up the fact that Hogger was taken to the Stockades-- eyes flaring with anger, Jango tells you that if you ever intend to break some of your own out of that slaughterhouse masquerading as a prison, he'll be pissed indeed if he doesn't get to come.
Reward: Diplomatic Ties with the Riverpaw Gnolls. Lowered DC on Stockade related actions.
Stewardship: (1 Action)
Westfall has lain fallow since the end of the Second War, about 18 years ago. It's a good thing you're not a farmer, or this would be your problem. Instead, your problem is the same as it's always been: Keeping the gold flowing.
You No Take My Gold Mine: The Goldtooth kobolds have been mining in the Jangolode mine for years, giving the ore to the Defias in exchange for being otherwise protected and left alone. You need to head over there, make sure they're still working, and divert the gold from Moonbrook back to Klaven's Tower. DC: 5; Time: 1 Turn
Rolled: 14
-The Kobolds aren't very happy with you. They're cowards, and they hate change. But none of the adventurers that rampaged through the Deadmines have touched the mine, which technically means the Defias upheld their end of the bargain. And on top of all that, you're pretty sure that there's something they aren't telling you. Extremely grudgingly, the gold resumes its natural flow into the Defias coffers.
Reward: Jangolode Mine (Productive)
Intrigue: (1 Action)
The shadow games played by Van Cleef and Matthias Shaw were those of Defias legend, but you'd have been very happy to leave that to other people's legends. You don't think you've ever hated someone the way you hate Shaw for what he's done to you and your Brothers.
Counter- espionage: The minute you start making moves, Van Cleef's target will appear squarely on your back, right along with the glaring red sights of a sniper rifle. You should probably up your defenses. DC: 0; Time: 1 Turn
Note: Will increase the needed dc of an assassination roll taken against Saphira.
Rolled: 49+19= 68
-Ellery gets to work. You operate out of Klaven's Tower now, so all the windows on the top floor are closed and shuttered. They trap the stairwell, they trap the walkways, and they leave chests with slightly incriminating evidence just out of reach of the careless adventurer on the crown's payroll. Just the sort of thing that (Rolling... 92) would make someone regret being born. Overall, you feel as safe as you can be-- though you don't think Ellery agrees.
Reward: DC raised. Traps set.
Piety: (1 Action)
Light help you.
You haven't even seen Van Cleef's body yet, but what's the use of burying a body when you're sure the adventurer's have taken his head. What's the use... but the same thing that drives you to oppose the undead also makes you unable to give in here. Van Cleef will have a funeral. A proper funeral, with a priest and a gathering and everything. So first thing first: Finding a priest willing to give it. DC: ??
Rolled: 27
Failure
-You'll just have to keep looking.
DC revealed: 30/50/70
Learning: (1 Action)
You're not a bad hand with the books, if you say so yourself. But.. what the hell is this?
Cyphered Receipts: You'd thought you'd know about every stop on the Red Silk Road, but some of the notes you've been finding in Klaven's Tower are making you think otherwise. But other than the Gnolls, the goblins, and the kobolds, who else was there to be trading with? You really need to know. DC: 40; Time: Turn 1
Rolled: 27
Failure salvaged by Personal Critical Success (see below)
-It galls you that you couldn't break the code. It's not even that unfamiliar: you thought you'd known every variation that Van Cleef used! But not, apparently this one. It continues to bother you as you give up for the moment, turning your attention to a more personal project....
Continued in Interlude: We Built This City
Personal Life: (Optional. Choose one from here or take another action from any category above. Be Careful: doing that too much will result in negative traits such as Burnout.)
Stonework: A long, long time ago, Van Cleef took you on as an apprentice because of how good you were at working with stone. It's been years, but... you could try working on a little project. Maybe. Where were your old tools, again?
Rolled: 98
Critical Success!
Interlude: We Built This City
Saphira grimaced, staring down at the hammer and chisel she'd managed to find. They were shoddy work, not even fit for the journeyman she'd been when the Stormind nobility had disbanded the Stonemason's guild. She'd let her skills rust ever since, as Van Cleef had said: the Defias would be building nothing until they gained back every single copper coin they were owed.
But... she stares around her, the crooked stone of Klaven's Tower and the quality of her tool a gnawing, ever present reminder of the distance between Westfall's dusty plains and Stormwind's proud gate.
She built that city, damn it. She'd traveled as a young woman, taken the ship all the way down from Menethil Harbour so she could work for the Stonemasons. She was talented, driven, and promising. She would make her family proud.
Her family died five years ago. Could she have saved them from the plague of undeath had she been there? Of course not. But what would she know? She couldn't have been there. Defias don't abandon the cause.
Before she knows it, her hands have flown to work, hammer and chisel cracking over the loose quarry rubble until something.. Strange takes shape.
Van Cleef had had a terrible sense of humour. Sometimes he'd get to drinking, and he'd heft up a small rock.
"You see this?" He'd say, tossing it up and catching it. "This is the rock that killed Tiffin Wrynn."
It's not that rock. It's a different rock every time, but that's not the point.
"It's small," Van Cleef would continue. "Insignificant, really. But--" He'd throw it against the wall, shattering it into dust. "Someone threw it. They threw that rock, and in that moment they caused more harm to Stormwind than every. Single. Riot. We ever had."
She still remembers his smile.
"One day, I'm going to find whoever threw that rock," he'd said. "And even if it turns out they are a demon-- I'm going to shake that sinner's hand."
The symbol of light, inverted. That's the piece she was missing! That's what she didn't understand about the cypher! Tucking her work away into a lockbox, Saphira returns to her desk, eyes burning as she once more looks at the mysterious receipts and letters.
E.V.C,
I'm glad we could come to an agreement. The stone will be shipped from Jerod's Landing to Stonewatch Keep. In return, I've provided several reassurances: Blacknails will oversee the Jangolode mine; the mithril and salt peter you've requested will be set at the drop off point in Three Corners to be picked up by a designate of your choosing.
Yours in Enmity,
O.
-------------------
E.V.C,
Arrangements have been made with our mutual friends in Dustwallow Marsh. I've taken care of my side of things. Now it's your turn. There's only one way to earn a king's ransom, as you rogues know.
Yours in Enmity,
O.
------------------
There are other messages and careful accountancy of the transference of stone, whiteoak, and saltpeter between Elwynn Forest, Redridge, and Westfall, but Saphira can find no other letters written from the mysterious O. And Blacknails? Who is that? She scowls down as the papers, confused and frustrated.
"Ellery?" She finally asks. "Did you know anything about.. Stonewatch Keep?"
The assassin shifts out of stealth, peering over her shoulder to stare down at the deciphered scrawl.
"Stonewatch Keep is black rock orc territory," Ellery says, clearly uninterested. "I didn't know we had deals over there."
Saphira has to fight down her urge to scream.
Rewards: New information on the Defias Smuggling Operations. New Diplomacy and Intrigue Actions. Saphira earns +1 Learning!
GM Note: I decided to just tack the interlude to the results post because it wasn't very long. If you'd prefer it had a seperate post, I can change that.
