March 10th

New thread for the 10th of March.

First action:
Zeiss will go out [insert location Zeiss would know of; roll knowledge if necessary] to find experienced employees that would be the most useful to have around the Exchange right now. Priority on that foreman you talked about Arch (Leadership feat and profession skill) and then Mid-Levelers and Coordinators. Anyone who would be useful to move that food as quickly as possible and help the Exchange build up. I will pay the starting fee from my own pocket if necessary. Use Persuasion (three uses) and my non-combat action point.

Second action:
I manage the Exchange's employees with Van's help and help them with their tasks. I would like to assign the ex-adventurers as trainers (under Rory's command), but if they don't seem to have the correct attitude, we'll have them act as sergeants for our guards. If they're really too rough to command people (even though that's what I was looking for), they'll act as agents. I want a report from Sareth (please tell me you didn't turn him into a Rescue sidequest). I will also ask the few human human craftsmen I have to make black armbands with the Exchange emblem on it for our employees (I'll pay for the materials).

4 small actions:
Gather information:

• Why have so many weavers left Aluvia? I'm assuming they didn't want to be drafted into the military. It would be useful if I could negotiate with Lady Lightmane the right to protect weavers from that...
  
• Let's find an opportunity the Exchange could use to get some income. Quickly.
  
• What's happening in Aluvia right now? General headlines please.
  

I'll also check up on Ursolan of Prowler to see if Lady Lightmane wants to make an appointment to discuss the Leycite. And kindly remind him I'm doing Lady Lightmane a favor by going to her first. After all, Aluvia has a claim on only one active magicite nod right now (hint hint to show Ursolan how valuable the Leycite is).

On a side-note: Advoc will help Rory with the training (under his command) and find Sareth if he disappeared. If Sareth is safe and sound, Advoc will help Zeiss with his actions.

First action: training the guard(Locked)
(Combat + Non Combat AP): additional instruction on safety, to reduce possibility of injuries sustained in practice, esp. severe. Also, maintenance.

When he's not in the middle of helping the recruits train, Rory will make a speech, welcoming the opportunity for him to project while attempting to motivate the recruits.

Speech:

Second action: gather info on the stability of Osteth's economy, attitude towards the war, and towards the refugee situation. Additionally, inquire about other regions human refugees might have landed from across the sea. Finally, get an estimate on the refugees who remain disenfranchised, unemployed, or illegal, after our recruiting. There are going to be people who want nothing to do with us or the Aluvian military.
Note: time is on my side. I'll devote the rest of the day to this. I will abandon it if I am needed, though.

Actions:

• Continue traveling with Kolson to Irondell?
  
• When arriving, go around Irondell and talk with people. Get a feel about their general needs, fears and hopes. But since this is Exchange territory (at least for now), he'll not be looking for people to join his merc band.
  
• If there's time left, prepare to leave Irondell and travel to Ritholme. Write down all the stuff he found out in Irondell while talking to people.
  

Rough route:

First Action: Finish traveling to Irondell.

Second Action: Go see Gretta if I can, otherwise arrange a meeting where we can discuss the mission and make plans. If I can't see her yet for whatever reason, I'll go find lodging at an inn assuming she doesn't insist on putting me up for my stay.

Third Action: Withheld for now.

In general, i'll be keeping an eye on my party as much as i can, checking for people who seem reliable (good judgement, decision making, character, etc), since i'll need to organize some sort of command structure in order to manage a hundred people. I'm hoping to get some rough idea of who i can trust, in the course of this first assignment.

1st Action: Conclude the trip to Janwall.

2nd Action: Find Radnaall, tell him what we're about, get his permission to help, and his input on what areas need the most attention (i'm fine with RPing the conversation). I'm not gonna ask about his response to Zeiss - i figure that's between the two of them.

3rd Action: Organize with the party in order to distribute our efforts. Depending on what Radnaall says, i'll be asking for people within the party with experience in the areas we'll be tackling to come forward, so we can set up a structure and coordinate with each other. Then get to work (i'll be getting my hands dirty, just like everyone else, of course, but i'll try to balance that with the job of overseeing the whole team as best i can).

Zeiss hits up the local University of Holtburg to see about hiring someone to become a proper Foreman and some Coordinators for the immediate need. He has some difficulty finding anyone specifically but does get a few leads he can follow up on later.

Rory spends the first part of the day going over the most basics of training with his 'troops', doing well enough with an AP blown to impart upon them some of the more fundamental aspects of not injuring one's self and maintaining armor and weapons.

Javan, Kolson, and Higaide enjoy the remainder of their respective trips. Of note is the fact that dotting the landscape here and there, even now, are camps and tents with various races from the Stonehold region, having now become what are effectively squatters.


Zeiss gets lucky with the ex-adventurers and happens to find enough to act as sergeants as he desires. Some of the tailors agree, for a small fee, to go ahead and begin work on Exchange Armbands so that everyone can properly identify the Peace Corp--I mean the Exchange members. It will cost about 2g for this.

Rory asks around as quietly as he can about the Republic and learns that their economy has always been very self-contained, only really engaging in trade as a means to foster better relations with the other Nations. They have a very strong Airship mercantile fleet, the largest in the world actually, and a clear dominance of the southern coast of the continent. Most of this is devoted towards trade within the Republic however, not externally. He hears only rumors about the Republic's stance on the war, and absolutely nothing about the refugee situation. After having the first day of recruiting, Rory spends some time amongst his fellow Humans and figures about 44% of them are still effectively homeless, hopeless, or otherwise disenfranchised.

Javan and Kolson, having just arrived at Irondell, get a feel for what's going on in the area. As it happens Irondell has become something of a haven for refugees, mostly under the direction of Gretta of Firebard and her lot, and in fact while you look around you see plots of land being flattened and terraformed on the outside edges of the city to make room for more housing developments, most of which are being manned by the refugees themselves. Thus jobs are being created (build the new infrastructure) and while it's at a cost now, those will then be rented out and sold later to the same refugees to make up the difference and turn a profit. Kolson talks to Gretta herself to learn that this is all deliberate on her part, and she acknowledges that it's a short term solution but for now it seems to be working. In her estimation there's a lot of the Stoneholders (as the term is becoming popular) that don't want handouts, but do want jobs, and do not want to become embroiled in more mercenary aspects. Javan also finds out, related to this, that within the Stonehold Region itself it was very common for the wealthy individuals to employ large numbers of Stoneholders as their private armies, thugs, and enforcers, and they would regularly engage in faux battles with each other for the political or economic gain of their benefactors. While some still find this idea acceptable, most of those present here seem to find the concept aggravating at best and repulsive at worst.

Higaide, who arrived at Janwall earlier than now, has no real issues finding Radnaal (who is still coordinating with some of his ex-troops and hired-ons) and after a brief discussion, Radnaal mentions that the architects and engineers he's talked with believe the best possible outcome here is to basically sell the entire town for scrap, remove all the debris wholescale, and then rebuild on the already-worked terrain. Such a task would be incredibly expensive and the Marquess has already officially petitioned to the Aristocracy for financial aid in the relief efforts. There is hope that such aid will come, but even if a war wasn't currently waging and an economic crisis not looming it would take time for such aid to come.

Zeiss spends his evening Gathering Information. He learns that it seems most of the Weavers in the Holtburg region have left elsewise but with few notes as to where they are going, but Zeiss hears some rumors that they left for the more western lands of Glenden Woods rather than for another country. Zeiss also learns, thanks to a nice few bits of care and cunning, that while the Aluvian Military is offering large contracts on massive bulk orders of mundane goods (foodstuffs, leather, metal, wood, etc.) so far several companies have actually had trouble getting the Aluvian Military to actually pay their end of the deal up front. Though they have vouchers and written contracts, and no one's concerned that the Military will refuse to pay, it's likely such payment will come later rather than sooner. Zeiss also learns a few tidbits about what's going on in the city; While the refugee situation is on everyone's minds, a lot of buzz in the commercial district is in re-establishing trade routes and soon, as so much of the Holtburg Region's economy rests on external trade. Some people are hopeful that fences will be mended with the Sho soon for this reason, as well as to re-open the naval routes up and down the coast. There are rumors circulating about Desolates causing people to vanish from the frontlines in the middle of battles. A couple of otherwise un-noteworthy bureaucrats have resigned from their posts today. And a lot of people are buzzing with a bit of light resentment towards the Olthoi for the fact that they've effectively refused to directly deal with Aluvia on a national level now thanks to the war.

Rory spends the remainder of his day doing what he did previously.

Javan, as the sun is beginning to set, begins the trip northwest towards Ritholme.

Higaide spends the remainder of his day getting his hands dirty helping others gather things, sifting through rubble, and other down to earth work.