Welcome back home

Yeah, my long-term objective is to raise an army for my rebellion. We'll get the soldiers, eventually.

For now, we need some money.

*sings homemade song called Happy money*

Central does in fact have an embassy in Holtburg. Well, they did at least.

I have a letter for Kezrinthka. I trust there's someone reliable in the city who can get it to her, some Olthoi for that purpose? I just need to know who, and if they can get it to her.

Sure, but i spent all my actions for the day, unless that doesn't count as a major action or something. I'd hop on over myself and tell it to you in person, but i got a hundred people sitting in Janwall with nothing to do, and no command structure, so yeah.

Oh, I didn't think you should do it today K.

Hey Rory, would you mind taking a full action to search for Sareth?

I kind of have my hands full right now. You don't have to do it, but it would help me.

I could be mean but Rory might have heard by now that the Olthoi have actually pulled out of their Embassy in Holtburg, but Rory could theoretically mail it via the Country Rider's secure service (which sends stuff with actual bodyguards for extra money).

And the GM is totally ignoring any mention I make of Sareth. Something is up, I know it!

Sareth is secretly Garlic, Garlean's secret evil twin, probably disposing of a secret failure of his secret experiments with secret clones of the party. Zeiss' secret failed clone looks like an alien with psychic powers, Javan's and Rory's secret failed clones accidentally fused together and the right side is Rory and Javan is left one, Kolson's secret failed clone is just a giant frog with a red mage hat on and Higs' secret failed clone looks and acts just like him, but he just LOVES purple clothes to a fault.

What!? This can wait, we need to stop him! For the Masquerade!

I'll look for Sareth. I'll make that my second action, so that you can speak to him if you want before committing your third action. Can you spare a couple ex-adventurers to help train guards?

Sure, the ex-adventurers I got now act as sergeants. They ought to be able to to train our guys. Just make sure they respect this sanctity of life thingy.

Oh, and thank you for accepting to look for Sareth.

And I'm not as insane as Gaerlan.

Oh, Kolson is trying to see if we can sell the food to the Olthoi. I must have misread his post, sorry.

I guess I'll devote my third action to managing the Exchange instead.

Let's do some rolls Arch. I need to know what I could ask from Lady Lightmane. Here are the possibilities I thought of:

• A noble title. If I was to ever ask for one, is there any specific title that would be useful for me as leader of the Exchange? I'm thinking  of economic advantages first and political power second. Just as an FYI, I'm asking this because Kolson once suggested I contemplate this possibility. I have the feeling it would drag me down in the long term, but let's consider it at the very least.
  
• Economic rights. Something to give the Exchange an edge. I actually have no idea on what to ask for exactly, except maybe an unofficial exemption of "regulations", allowing the Exchange to smuggle products within Holtburg without having to pay for bribes.
  
• Experienced personnel to help me set up the Exchange. Give us a boost so to speak. These helpers would only be temporary until they help me hire people to replace them.
  
• A discharge for Rory's siblings from the Aluvian military. They would also get the Aluvian citizenship and the stipend they were promised. I will do the same for Higaide's friends if they were dragged into this.
  
• Access to this information network you talked about a long time ago and which hasn't any name given to it.
  

Except this, I don't know what else to ask for except money. Oh, don't misunderstand me, I will definitely ask for money, but this is my chance to get things I couldn't get otherwise. Feel free to share ideas Arch.

I'll have to think on anything else you could ask for, though I welcome ideas from the rest of the party. I will tell you something Zeiss wouldn't know though; that last favor, the information network one? That one's worth more than the rest combined.

... Really? It's worth that much!? I knew it was important when you talked about it (through Bonebreaker I think?), but I had no idea a "seat" into this secret club was so expensive.

Also, the rest of the party do have a say in what I should ask for. We found the Leycite after all. Just keep in mind that we can't trade the whole value of the Leycite in favors: we need some money.

Y'know, we probably should have gotten our fingers into that information network pie as soon as we heard about it. We might have been better prepared against certain threats. I didn't even remember it. Better late than never, I guess.

Well, we are going to need transportation if we start doing any real shipping throughout the nation and we'll be competing with the military for that resource.

Another thing, Arch dropped in passing during a previous post that reopening trade to Sho would be the biggest help for Aluvia in general. That could mean a huge opportunity for smuggling operations to fill that gap while the diplomats do their thing. Not that I'm looking forward to going back to Sho but securing the rights for semiofficial trade routes would be a huge boon. The trick will be acting as the middle men between the sellers and the buyers. I suggest an alliance with an established smuggler and then work at building up a smuggling fleet posthaste. This will mean getting other smugglers to join our banner.

FYI Be prepared for this to be a potentially bloody affair. We don't have a lot of time for pretty pleases and could you maybes; Anyone who competes with us will have to join us or be forced out of our territory. It's as "simple" as that.

If this is something you may be potentially interested in Zeiss you will need:

1. The capital to get this done. That means from us or investors (which means you need contacts in the aristocracy and industry).

2. An established smuggler that commands respect from other smugglers. Not only do we need their reputation but we'll also need their expertise and contacts in the smuggling world. It's likely you'll need to give them a seat at the table to secure their cooperation.

3. Start small. If you do a test run and it's successful, you'll have tangible results to show to investors, sellers, and buyers.

4. To that end, our food guy in Sho will be invaluable, if not as a buyer himself then as a means to getting the proper introductions to the people who will buy our goods.

5. You need to find a seller willing to give this idea a go. Focus on a lower mid-tier manufacturer desperate enough to take us up on our offer. Desperation is a powerful negotiation tool.

6. Be prepared to spread the wealth. Lightmane is our patron and as such deserves a cut. Likewise, keeping the money flowing to the various bureaucrats involved will also be key. The Undermarket worked because everyone benefited from it, not just the top people. We exist at the leisure of the everyday person, for if enough of them object the community itself will have no choice but to crack down on us any way they can.

*Me and Kolson are discussing this on Steam*

Just as a reminder to you guys, I still have that contact with the Blackbrine.

Kolson and me decided we would choose these three favors:

-Discharge Rory's and Higaide's families from the military.
-Ask Lightmane to let us borrow some employees to give the Exchange a boost.
-Let us join the Network.

You guys have any other idea?

I think now that my mother is safe in Colier, we no longer need the gold offered by Aluvia. You let them know that, and unless there's something bigger than the military at stake where they're concerned, they will likely take the discharge and bow out. Give my brother and sister two options: Either move to Colier close to their mother and fill productive roles there, or offer a spot in the "peace corps".

What sort of jobs do we need her employees for, exactly? Desk jobs, record keeping, pencil-pushing?

Everything. They'll help me recruit permanent employees for the Exchange and train them.

I think (for obvious reasons) I'll continue to wait on the 12th until you guys have conferred enough ooc on what you'd want to ask on behalf of the Exchange for the Leycite.

If you can get them to allow the use the Hubs freely for core members of the Exchange, it would also be a plus.

Do we know how much roughly we can ask for the Leycite?

The Hub is a separate thing from any political body (hence why it's been shut down in all of Aluvia) so that's off the table... unless you're offering it to the Hub Mites themselves.

As for K's question... the value of an ultra rare artifact that's almost never found to the point where some people aren't even aware of its existence is always going to depend on the individual. So no.