[X] Plan mines, money and mystery
-[X] Debt Examination (Determine more specifics of the debt, learn the exact amount and make it easier to consolidate) DC Easy.
-[X] Tour the Estate
--[X] The Laborium's Former Location
-[X] Make plans for mine expansion. (Spend Wealth to increase Profits)
--[X] Majordomo Bestwin Rusevault will do it
I'm very interested in that magical failed (or not) experiment.
Apparently we have ninja guards now. This is a thing. It feels almost a waste to have... Whatever these people are, as common guards, but on the other hand we need guards so whatever. We can just repurpose them later.
It isn't currently relevant but all possible guards Remial could have recruited had a stat distribution, a quirk which ranged from 'quirky' to 'constant issues' and a special trait. The Company of the Six were always the top choice even if you guys didn't crit but they got a stat buff from the crit.
Their special ability is that you can assign them as an adventuring party at no extra cost as long as you're willing to be guard-less for the duration of the adventure. Like I said not currently relevant but also no secret either.
[X] Plan mines, money and mystery
-[X] Debt Examination (Determine more specifics of the debt, learn the exact amount and make it easier to consolidate) DC Easy.
-[X] Tour the Estate
--[X] The Laborium's Former Location
-[X] Make plans for mine expansion. (Spend Wealth to increase Profits)
--[X] Majordomo Bestwin Rusevault will do it
I'm very interested in that magical failed (or not) experiment.
Yup, that works perfect. Hector would Tour and Paperwork while Bestwin looks into the mines, Vivian and Remial perform their usual jobs and thus can be deployed next turn with no penalties.
Ugh. I tried to get it out today, but this one was fighting me for some reason. Gonna sleep and try to finish it off after work.
I did go back and add some lore stuff to previous posts. Trying to world build and add a little funny into it in a Pratchett-esque fashion. I enjoy worldbuilding but I didn't want to info dump or block the flow of the writing. As always feel free to ask questions or whatever.
[X] Plan mines, money and mystery
-[X] Debt Examination (Determine more specifics of the debt, learn the exact amount and make it easier to consolidate) DC Easy.
-[X] Tour the Estate
--[X] The Laborium's Former Location
-[X] Make plans for mine expansion. (Spend Wealth to increase Profits)
--[X] Majordomo Bestwin Rusevault will do it
It seems, that despite your, that is to say: Hector Emperoza de Richards Osvaldio Inigo Cavilrestora VII's, best efforts to clear your desk you still find yourself trapped in your office. At the least you have some sum of good news to go with the work you've set out to do.
Namely, it seem that your... sternly worded letters have bore fruit. Over the course of the last month you've seen returns from many of your debtors. Not the full amounts owned unfortunately, but a recognizable portion of it and enough to keep yourself afloat for a while yet. You get the impression though that unless you spend quite a bit more effort you won't be seeing the rest of the repayment, it's something to contemplate when you have some more spare time. Still, when combined with the other incomes provided to you it makes for a nice pile of links. Your mines have proven to be as profitable as expected, and while it would be a lie to say you resent how little your mills provide you it's at least covering the expenses of running them with a small bit extra.
As nice as it is though to enjoy the feeling of money coming in, you find yourself going over the many reams of parchment that have begun to litter you desk once again. (Your noble spirit quivers a bit at the sight. Didn't you just clean your desk off last month? Where does it all come from!?) Some of them inconsequential such as the letters of report from the Captain Remial (Which you bin, there's only so many ways to write 'All's Well' even with Remial's... creative interpretation of spelling.) some are important but easily dealt with like the payroll for the the upcoming month (Already done, it was a small thirty page document where all it needed was your signature in four places, your initials in three, two applications of the family signet ring and a quick going-over from a minor magic item to prevent forgery, standard stuff really.) and some are important and annoying: All the update letters regarding the Cavilrestora debt.
You sigh, rubbing one oversized palm down your face and cursing Davi's name for the... you check your mental tally... thirty seventh time today. If you didn't know better you'd say he went out of his way to borrow money from people with the worst handwriting. It'd be just like him to enact some stupid plot like that only to fail to account for something stupid and obvious like owing the Black Collegium money being bad for your health. Still, you're beginning to assemble a clearer picture of what exactly the shape of the debt looks like.
Smarts Roll: Debt there be light DC 25: 1d100+9(Smarts): 77+12= 89 (Success!)
It requires borrowing an abacus from Bestwin in addition to your own personal abacus. Additionally nearly an entire pot of ink (almost two after you nearly took a drink from one, you hope no one notices the dark streak down your beard.) a ream of parchment and another dozen tallies added to the 'Fuck You Davi' counter but you have a much better approximation of what the whole hole your Greater Brother threw you into is, and how deep. It's a bit discouraging but could be worse you suppose. At least you have a handle on it now since according to the deciphered agreement you have until the End of Fodis before it's going to start accumulating interest at a rate of...
Variable. It differs for each and every creditor.
Grudger(1) take you Davi! Is your mental cry as you reach for the abacuses again and try to calculate how that is going to affect things.
You owe approximately 152 Wealth to aaaaaaaall sorts of people.
Interest will begin at the end of Eulyis (2 Months from now), where the debt will increase (on both principle AND the interest) by ~15% per month at current rate.
DC for Debt Consolidation has been reduced.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
You are, as you have always been Bestwin Rusevault, Majordomo to the Cavilrestora family. And you have a mission! Something, for once in the last twenty odd years that isn't 'Make sure everyone is paid', 'Make sure I have enough food to eat', or 'Godsdamnit, find out what that Guard's got up to now'.
Your new (and hopefully permanent) lord has ordered you to look into the Adamant mines, supplying you with a list of ideas he had and perceived inefficacies he's found in order to get them fixed and making him more money. Lady above knows the family is going to need every scrap of it that can be grasped. Though you aren't certain if the fact that you've been sent off without any further instructions than 'Make the mine better', a parchment full of ideas and a sack of coinage means Duke Hector has a great deal of trust in your abilities or a complete lack of knowledge on how to proceed.
Smarts Roll: Oreable Directions. DC 30: 1d100+9(Smarts)+10(Lived here for years): 82+19 = 101 (Great Success!)
...or he may be more informed than you thought. You decide to take it as a complement as you guide your pony towards you destination in Garland's living quarters. It's a relatively large tavern knowns as the Bloody Bulette, the traditional miner and also you old stomping grounds.
You toss the stableboy a chip and take a deep breath as you slam through the front doors only to release it in a great bellow.
"Where's that good-for-nothing, lying, Gur'nzek(2) that calls himself the mine chief around here!"
There's a silence as every eye turns towards you as all noise in the tavern drops to low whisper. Out the corner of your eye you see a few of the bouncers reaching for their clubs and the bartender conveniently needing to duck under the bar to retrieve something.
Then a voice (dwarven of course) calls back out.
"Is that my sku'vak(3) of a brother? Tell him to get the hells in here!"
The tavern quickly relaxes as you head in to where you can see your brother waving a metal stein in your direction and take a seat the grin on your face matched with his.
"So what brings you back down to the realm of us dirt-movers Best?" your brother starts wiping the foam from his beard "Did you lose another nob?"
Shaking your head as you signal to a nearby wench for a beer of your own "No, Gregor. We've got a fairly solid one this time, remember the half-giant that snuck out so many years back? He apparently left to go study abroad and now that he's been installed he seems determined to fix the issues presented to him out of a sense of noble pride."
"I suppose that's better than the last one. I'm still surprised the fat fuck made it out of down without being run down." your brother chuckles "Even more-so after he got the arrow suck in his fat-ass."
"Mmm". You hum in vague agreement as the wench returns with your beer. "Yes. This one, Hector by-the-way, seems at the very least to have his head screwed on straight, but I suppose time will tell for sure."
Gregor snorts into his beer, throwing foam into his beard. "I suppose you've got something for me and my boys to do then if you aren't drinking away your stress."
You nod, and pass Gregor the list of theoretical improvements you were provided and sit back enjoying your beer as your brother begins reading through them, mumbling to himself as he reviews the notes Duke Hector wrote out.
"...inverse bellows pumping... pre-emptive gas ignition... inverted strut design... canaries..."
After a fair few minutes Gregor pulls himself from the lists to look you in the eye. "If this is the kind of direction the new nob is going to be giving I wouldn't be surprised if Garland drags him back if he ever tries to leave."
You blink. "I'm sorry?"
You brother gesticulates with the papers "This is a compilation of mining techniques from across the entire country. Drow, Dwarven, Human, Giant, Greenshite, even Elemental! And Hector apparently just collected them as an idle side project! If we can implement even a quarter of these mine production is going to soar! How much has the Duke set aside for this?
As you take another mouthful of beer to collect your thoughts you realize the tavern has gone quiet again.
How much are you willing to implement? (Estimated returns are listed due to Bestwin's GS)
[]Import Canaries for the Drow isles (-2 Wealth, +1 Mine Wealth/Month)
[]Invest in Shock-Resistant Mining Helmets (-5 Wealth +2 Mine Wealth/Month)
[]Commission No-Flame Torches from Magticrafters (-8 Wealth +3 Mine Wealth/Month)
[]Arrange for a hunt of Mega-Camels for their bladders to use in bellows (-10 Wealth +4 Mine Wealth/Month)
[]The whole lot (-25 Wealth, +10 Wealth per turn for the mines, ??? )
One of Bestwin's traits have been revealed: stereotype for a reason
+10 to rolls involving mines, ores, and/or beer.
Additionally pick one of the following traits to add to Hector for his Critical Success:
[] JUST AS PLANNED: +5 to other's rolls when they're carrying out plans according to your written instructions. ++HAM
[] Anecdotal Advancements: have a 50% chance to add +10 to Smarts rolls due to incidental knowledge you picked up ++Snob
[] I've been everywhere man: Gain +2 Stronk and +2 Smarts. Of travel You've a'had your share, man. ++Poetic
You take a deep breath, filling your lungs with the scent of the forest and the vaguely tingly sensation of magicks-past. Vivian guided you to the location of the former Laborium and from what you, Hector Emperoza de Richards Osvaldio Inigo Cavilrestora VII, can tell is that this Laborium is in fact former.
Very very former.
It still has three-ish standing walls and a solid foundation, but that's about all you can say. The spellbunker has been totaled and warped beyond recognition, anything remotely fragile has been rendered into a hazard for those without shoes, and there's a vague sense of... displacement throughout the ruins. As though your depth perception was off, or you were gazing through the world with a not-quite-correct prescription of glasses. Vivian doesn't seem to notice it but you definitely do.
SHAZAAM Roll: Good Evening Off-ish sir DC 25: 1d100+4+9(A Wizard Did it): 82+13 = 95 (Success!)
You tilt your head to one side, leaning back and forth as though on the deck of a ship. You don't care that Vivian is looking at you funnily from the corner of her eye as she departs to return to her duties. There's something here and you intent to find it. Every lean and swaying motion you make causes the feeling of displacement to shift and twist. After some time and a great deal of peculiar movement you realize that the shifting has a focal point and once you determine where it's only the work of a minute to follow it.
It leads you past the remains of a spell circle, past a small pillar of warped stone, and into the spellbunker itself. Originally the spellbunker was made as a safety precaution against the possibility of magic making a sudden decision to no longer cooperate. Or a human walking in. It was meant to be as magically inert as possible as well as physically strong to protect the casters in case of issue. Now, as far as you can tell it being torn asunder from the created rift has impregnated the entirety of the bunker with magic rendering it useless for it's original purpose.
But it's that residue that's interacting weirdly with the leftover magic. Without thinking, you reach into the focal point of the magic and nearly puke as the distorted sensation that goes through your body before your hand grasps hold of a tangible object not present in the normal world. With a yank you pull your hand and the object back out of the focal point before examining what you have.
Resting on your hand is rather nondescript wooden box, perhaps a foot by half a foot by half a foot and sealed tightly. There are not outward markings on it and the whole thing weighs less than ten pounds. You also realize that there's no obvious opening to it as you rotate it. Odd.
Smarts Roll: Look for anything else of interest DC20/60: 1d100+12: 50+9 = 62 (Success!/Bare Success!)
Other than that the only thing within the spellbunker is a pile of refuse, cloth scraps, stone chunks and the like. Giving it a quick kick to spread it across the floor you look though it and spot the familiar navy color your mother preferred her journals in. As you bend to pick it up you smile to yourself. It stands to reason she would have something left.
Satisfied with your explorations for now you return to the Castile. Only to almost literally trip over another thing of interest: Hidden amongst the remains of what you presume was once a work bench is a wooden staff, banded in a metal that you can't current identify due to the corrosion and general filth. It obviously used to be a magic tool of some type from how your toes are tingling but it's a tool that you have no idea what it might do. At least what it might do once you get it cleaned and maybe repaired.
Something to look into once you've returned, and perhaps washed your hands.
Gained another journal to read.
Gained a mysterious box, spend some time to look into it.
Gained a Magic ??? Staff.
Examined the remains of the Laborium, perhaps you can do something with it. At least, once it's cleaned up.
Current Wealth: 26
Current Debt: 152
Current Rumors: You've heard literally nothing. (87)(24)(73)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Please vote by plan. Remember Hector has 2 actions and each retainer can perform 1 action. Bestwin will be taking a -10 'Overworked' penalty to all rolls unless unused. Remember to vote for the level of mine investment and Hector's Critical Success trait.
Hector Only:
[] Debt Consolidation (Begin to make it easier to pay the debt owed) DC Meh.
[] Free Funds to pay the debt (Work to free some liquid capital so you can pay at least some of the debt back.) DC Challenging.
[] Read your mother's journal DC Medium
[] Investigate the box. DC ???
[] Just open the box, by any means. DC Meh
[] Tour the Estate
-[] The Estate Itself
-[] The Libraries
-[] The Commons
-[] The Vaults
-[] The Woods
-[] The Laborium's Former Location
[] Tour the City
-[] The Markets
-[] The Industrial Area
-[] The Slums
-[] The Living Quarters
-[] The Temple District
-[] Wander
[] Focus your efforts. (Pick a choice from the 'Rule Others' above, you gain a re-roll to the choice unless the result is a Critical Failure)
-[] Pick What?
[] Meet With Someone (Meeting With a specific persona such as Retainers or other notables has a variety effect, it could affect stats, loyalty, possessions, reveal traits or do nothing but let the GM worldbuild.)
-[] Who With and about what?
Rule Others:
[] Personal Studies (Costs nothing but time at current levels)
-[] Travel toughens the body, best not let that go to waist (haha). DC Hardish.
-[] Stepping lightly never really helped you before, but maybe it will now? DC Hardish.
-[] So. Many. New. Books. DC Meh.
-[] Between your father's notes on how to do it and your Greater brother's notes on how not to do it you might learn to savvy. DC Meh.
-[] Press the flesh, schmooze with some movers and/or shakers here in Garland. DC Hardish.
-[] For some reason you have a desire to read the dry journal of your mother again. DC Meh-ish.
[] Make Arrangements (If failed most of the wealth is retained) -[] Arrange for repairs to the Castile. -1d6 Wealth for +1d20 to Castile State. DC Meh. (No new Stone until Durkis)
-[] Hire additional servants. -1d6 wealth for +1d20 to Staff State. DC Meh.
-[] Arrange for Staff Amenities. -1d6 wealth for +1d10 to Staff Loyalty and Morale. DC Meh. -[] Hire. Some. Godsdamn. Guards. -1d6 wealth for +1d20 to Guard State. DC ??? (Resolve The current issues with hiring first.) --[] Castile Guards
--[] City Guards
-[] Guard Training Maneuvers -1d6 Wealth for +10 to Guard Quality. DC ???
-[] Find retainers. -1d6+2 wealth to find worthy people to hire on with random stat focus, -1d8+2 if a specific stat is desired. DC ???
--[] Somebody Stronk
--[] Somebody Sneeki
--[] Somebody Smart
--[] Somebody Savvy
--[] Somebody with some SHAZAM
[] Get the Laborium cleaned up and properly dispose of any contaminants (Expensive)
[] Get the Laborium cleaned up, the contaminated stuff has been fine so far (Cheap)
[] Examine the unknown staff... and for the God's Sake get it cleaned.
[] Look into the possibility of a shadow enemy (or perhaps even enemies!) Savvy/Sneeki DC Hard
[] Make plans for new windmills. (Spent Wealth to Build Grain Mills) [] Make plans for flax mill un-conversion (Nope. No back-ups)
[] Do Nothing
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Lore Mentions:
(1): Lesser god of petty vengeance, oaths and blue speech. Often used as a catch-all in swearing at/with/against something/someone. He thus far doesn't seem to mind. His priests and priestess are...colorful folk who are more likely to swear you straight than preach at you.
(2)Dwarven for Head Thinker, a traditional name for a mine architect or leader. Literally translates as 'Head Furthest Up Their Own Ass'.
(3)Dwarven Explicative implying someone is soft in the head. Literally translates as 'Having little mental foundation'
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A/N: This was fighting me to get out. At least you guys got some good rolls out of it. Enjoy your profit... for as long as it will last
Also, re-iterating it here, I'm adding lore bits. Let me know if they're distracting or something and I'll see if I can find a better way of doing it.
Edit: Due to a correction on Hector's Smarts stat the roll you made got to the second threshold on the Laborium searching roll. It's a staff of some sort.
[X]Plan Invest
-[X]The whole lot (-25 Wealth, +10 Wealth per turn for the mines, ??? )
-[X] Anecdotal Advancements: have a 50% chance to add +10 to Smarts rolls due to incidental knowledge you picked up ++Snob
-[X]Debt Consolidation
-[X] Make plans for new windmills. (Spent Wealth to Build Grain Mills)
-[X]Get the Laborium cleaned up and properly dispose of any contaminants (Expensive)
--[X]Get Vivian to do it
[X]Plan Invest but get more stats
-[X]The whole lot (-25 Wealth, +10 Wealth per turn for the mines, ??? )
-[X] I've been everywhere man: Gain +2 Stronk and +2 Smarts. Of travel You've a'had your share, man. ++Poetic
-[X]Debt Consolidation
-[X] Personal Studies (Costs nothing but time at current levels)
--[X] Travel toughens the body, best not let that go to waist (haha). DC Hardish.
-[X]Get the Laborium cleaned up and properly dispose of any contaminants (Expensive)
--[X]Get Vivian to do it
[X]Plan Invest but get more stats
-[X]The whole lot (-25 Wealth, +10 Wealth per turn for the mines, ??? )
-[X] I've been everywhere man: Gain +2 Stronk and +2 Smarts. Of travel You've a'had your share, man. ++Poetic
-[X]Debt Consolidation
-[X] Make plans for new windmills. (Spent Wealth to Build Grain Mills)
-[X]Get the Laborium cleaned up and properly dispose of any contaminants (Expensive)
--[X]Get Vivian to do it
And if the debt repayments were a one-time thing until we can poke at it again, we have an income per Turn of 5 Wealth. Might be enough to build Mills, but it'd leave our checkbook very tightly balanced.
Still, it's the only way to free up our far more profitable flax mills, and as QM just told us, building stuff takes time. Hmmm. It's definitely a gamble, but we might be able to afford taking it? We definitely can't afford not to take it, at any rate.
QM, since you're already here, quick question: How much Wealth could a group of adventurers be expected to generate if we turned them loose for a turn? Obviously, it'd be roll dependent, but rough estimates?
If the debtors are a little slow, perhaps the Company of Six could drop round and remind them of their obligations. Just a simple knock on the door and friendly smile should be enough...
Question on debt consolidation: I know financially it's a good decision, but are there politically safe enough institutions to consolidate it with?
I'm worried that Hector will manage to get all his debts consolidated with only a few individuals/factions, and will end up with greater susceptibility to outside pressure. While having the debts scattered around would be a harder financial burden, none of the creditors will have a big enough lever to strong arm him.
To answer in short: Debt consolidation goes as far as you want it to go, it's a multi-turn action with increasing DCs every time it's taken. Any actions taken to give you trouble in this regard are operating on the same mechanic any others are. I wouldn't list it if it wasn't possible. Trap options are either obvious or not actually traps.
To answer in long: Right now it's easy to consolidate since there's lot and lots of people willing to have their debt 'bought' so to speak since the debt isn't worth much due to low likelihood of payment. As the debt consolidates it gets easier to pay but that very thing also increases the debt's value meaning who ever has Cavilrestora debt will be less likely to want to trade it off, meaning consolidation is harder. Of course you can't refuse to have a debt paid off, if someone has the money to pay you can't not take it. There's also a limit baked into this particular loan: It's very hard to call the debt in. The Cavilrestora's are a Ducal family, this is a type of rank held by such people as the King's Brother, the General of the Army/Navy, and Heroes of Legend. It's difficult to call in a debt on someone who has more power, land, influence et al than you; you would need to have some level of approximate power to the family to think of being able to cash everything in at once rather than taking the payments as they come. In fact, now is possibly the only time in history it would be possible for a non-ducal or non-royal to be even remotely able to call a ducal debt in due to how weak the Cavilrestoras are.
So someone trying to influence you would need both a large portion of the debt and:
A: Approximate power due to their rank/position/sheer wealth
B: Enough influence to be able to appeal to the higher authority (aka royalty)
C: Enough martial power to enforce their own collection abilities either though their own abilities, magical power
D: Enough soldiers or other servants to enforce their own collection abilities
or
E: Some combination of the above.
