March 13th

A new day dawns as Kolson is making his way north to Wildeash when, suddenly... Javan hears rustling outside of his camp. A quick glance confirms it is several Mosswarts, Gnolls, and Goblins who are glancing through the makeshift faux camp and trying to find anything worth taking. A bit of soup that Javan left out on a pot over the firepit has been snagged already by the Mosswart, who is currently sniffing at what is left inside.

Kolson will travel, for justice!

How many actions am I looking at here?

Edit Because Arch answered on the stream:

First and Second Actions: Travel to Wildeash.

Third Action: I'll ask around to find the Olthoi representative but I won't approach them until I have the terms of the deal from Zeiss' return letter. Instead, I'll find a place to stay for the duration of the negotiations.

Javan motions to the other WS member inside the tent to bring out their nonlethal weapon, as he himself prepares his quarterstaff instead of usual tower shield and spear, aiming to overpower but not kill. The other 3 are supposed to spring the trap wielding either lethal or non-lethal weapons depending if Javan came out of the tent using his tower shield or not, as it is easy to spot.

"Stop! Stay still, and you don't get hurt!", Javan jumps out of the tent shouting out in a firm voice, quickly moving to encircle the bandits, expecting to the other WS members to do the same. "Now!"

OOC:

First major action: manage the Exchange. I think we both get the gist of it by now (move the food to the Veil, build up my influence, etc.). I'll also be on the look out for Radnaal's letter (I imagine he'll send me a letter anyway). As soon as I receive Kolson's letter, I will tell Van to sell only half of our food and keep the other half for the Olthoi. Then send a letter back to Kolson to tell him just that. Mevrak must have told me what he discovered about Sareth by now, so I'll assign him a new task: scout out potential recruits for my spy network. That's his new job until I say otherwise.

Second major action: Zeiss will discreetly explore Sareth's residence. If I'm discovered by anyone, I will tell the truth: I'm looking for my friend who disappeared and I need help (burn one use of Persuasion). I will then follow the bread crumbs, if there are any. GI roll if necessary.

Third major action: If I find a clue as to where Sareth is and I need my third action to follow up on that, I will do it. Otherwise, I will look up which nobles in Holtburg would be good business partners and how best to approach them. I will burn all my remaining uses of Persuasion and my non-combat action point to get this info.

1st Major Action: Get one of those Exchange Armbands and meet Ursolan of Prowler. Tell him i have the murder weapon from the assassination on the Ambassador, that was stolen from Zeiss during an operation in the Sho Empire, and that i'm looking to get it analyzed. Specifically, i'd like to know what happened to it between [Time Zeiss last knew it was in his belt] and [Time Zeiss recovered it] (Sho Standard Time, or whatever they call the region's time zone over there), if possible.

First action: guard training(locked)
Precision practice with dummies.

Second action: backup for Zeiss
Zeiss suspects Sareth may be in trouble. While not convinced, Rory offers to tag along and wait outside in case Zeiss requires assistance, and possibly in the worst case, finds conflict. He believes such an event to be unlikely, but someone like Zeiss should always accept backup support for when things go wrong. Current events make wandering and acting alone inadvisable.
(Combat AP pending)

Third action: inquire about the Riton shipping company(Non-Combat AP)
Rory will ask around the docks for ships or shipmates who export or import from the Hebian-To peninsula. If/when they have time to spare for a chat, he will ask said contractors if they have done such work for Riton. The plan is to find out they know about the company's reputation, and possibly members they may have met with. If they are not leaving tomorrow, Rory will ply them with smalltalk as far as whether they contracted for Riton before with "what was that like" etc, and no further. However, if they are leaving tomorrow, Rory may ask directly about the company's business practices and/or policies they may be aware of.

Last: check for mail.

Kolson soldiers on... for justice. En route he does notice the overall density of refugees lowers the further north he gets.

Javan tries to Intimidate, and springs out. The 'bandits' freeze for a moment, realizing they are facing fully armed people, and for a split second it looks like they're not going to budge, but then the soldiers with Javan, thinking he's under attack, burst forth and brandish their weapons. The bandits panic, and begin fleeing as fast and hard as they can into the woods in separate directions. Without prompting the ex soldiers begin running after several of them, splitting up. (Note: Javan is still on his first action)

Zeiss manages the Exchange but receives no letters.

Higaide spends most of his morning getting an audience with Ursolan of Prowler, finally arranging for the rapier to be analyzed. He promises he'll have it sent to the proper individuals as quickly as possible to be looked into, but he doubts he'll have results any time soon. He also advises Higaide to probably not get his hopes up on getting any worthwhile information.

Rory seems to be making some (small) progress by training his... trainees specifically to attack weapons to get used to swinging blades and clubs rather than trying to learn maneuvers and other more complicated affairs.

Javan shouts loudly "Capture! No deaths!" the moment he sees the 'bandits' panicking and running away. Understanding he would never reach anyone in his plate armor, he takes the rest of his gear, switches the quarterstaff for his tower shield and spear, and then cautiously tries to follow the trails left by the people who cannot be bothered to hide them.

Javan, deciding to follow one of the trails his people did not go after, spends a couple of hours wading through forests and meadows until he arrives at a make-shift encampment of tents and stick huts that has been set up in an artificial clearing in the forest, where the trail ends. There are a decent number of people here, all fairly scrawny looking with haggard gazes that, when they see Javan, look upon him with fear. A few people here and there mutter things Javan can't quite make out, but include the words 'Elemental" and "Aluvian".

Javan immediately frowns at what he can see, flashbacks of his Light Trial popping into his mind and stinging into his heart. The faery speaks just loud enough so that people can hear him, but soft enough that it'll not give them reason to run or attack out of desperation due the possibility of not understanding him. "Anyone here speaks common? We really need to talk."

After a small hesitation a younger looking Mosswart woman trundles forward and states, in broken common, that they have no more fit or able for service and that you would be best suited looking elsewhere.

Zeiss has abandoned his clan name. He will ask others to call him Zeiss of Dreamkeeper.

Javan raises an eyebrow and responds he's not with any army, but looking into recent robbery when people are asleep, which in fact he caught red-handed and while they escaped, one of their trails led him here. In a surprisingly blunt tone that betrays his own emotions, he explains how he'll deal with this matter.

"I'll not look into this any further, and while there's no one else looking into this officially, they are calling this 'banditry'. Tell the people attempting to survive out of other people's belongings that they are risking their and your whole settlement's lives, and that they should try to get help from the Order if at all possible. Sorry for bothering you."

Javan, if not stopped, will then attempt to retrace his steps back where he was before, break camp and wait for the other soldiers in a clearly bad mood, sitting on a big rock.

2nd Major Action: I feel real dumb writing this, but i haven't been able to devise a smart way to say it. I'm gonna see about finding someone who can instruct my crew on the economics and structure of Alluvia. Something to help them make their way and get settled while we wait for actionable information on where our efforts might be needed, and i manage to get these people trained into something cohesive.

3rd Major Action: I'm gonna look for specific education for a few of my people. Finding schools in Holtburg would be ideal, since i need them close by while they do their studies, for obvious reasons. Failing that, books (probably the best option too, since it'll be hard for them to keep a schedule if i keep dragging them from humanitarian crisis to disaster area on a regular basis or for long periods).

- The "female merchant who didn't do any work herself just managed other sellers." seems like a good candidate for administration, i want to see if i can find her some Upper Management or Business course or something.

- The "male herbalist who can identify tons of flowers that don't exist on this continent" could use some training on the useful flora on this continent, so i'll hunt some books on botany for him. Ditto for the "male alchemist who brews local remedies from herbs and the like.", though i'll also try for something more along the lines of chemistry for him.

- The "female carpenter who normally worked with medium sized jobs like desks, beds, and the like" and the "male construction worker who worked on large scale buildings for the Hlaalu" both need to learn crafting and construction techniques that don't rely on the Earth Leyline keeping everything stable, like it did on Vasseyan, so i'm gonna look for some literature for them on those areas. Same for the "male who is good with metalworking and jewelcrafting", i hardly think it would hurt for him to learn how they do it in Alluvia.

I got 350 Gold right now. I'll at least take references if i can't afford stuff.

Kolson continues to travel... for BURGERS.

Rory and Zeiss let themselves into Sareth's residence. After several Awareness rolls they discover that the entire place is seemingly untouched and otherwise unharmed, though a faint layer of dust has started to build up on all exposed surfaces. However, they do notice that there are pots with water in them in the kitchen, as if Sareth had been about to start cooking but never actually started. The front and back doors were locked when they got here. One final check reveals one thing amiss; a small stitched doll that Sareth favored from his childhood was laying carelessly on the ground, as if thrown there from the entrance to the kitchen.

Javan is squatting on his rock, brooding, when his ex-soldiers return. One of them is carrying a Goblin over his shoulder, who is trying in vain to struggle. The soldier seems pretty pleased at having caught him, admitting that the camp of refugees he went into didn't even put up a fight when he dragged the boy kicking and screaming for help out. He did, Javan notices, make a point not to hurt the Goblin, as he is lacking in bruise marks, cuts, or otherwise. And as indicated, the Goblin is clearly young, probably a teenager. The other soldiers managed nothing, but congratulate the one on his success as they return to Javan and await orders.

Higaide asks around about getting some education for the Humans and their backwater ways, but ultimately comes up with two real options; pay for them to actually hit one of the Universities, or pay for a private tutor for the lot of them.

Zeiss takes the stitched doll with him.

"Knowing him, I find it unlikely he would just throw this to the ground... We should get it scanned."

Third major action: Have the doll scanned. Going search for a yellow mage who could cast Scan (Praxis?). I have 378 gp on me, but if that's not enough, I'll try to convince the mage to lower their price by explaining to them it's the only lead I have to find my friend who disappeared (burn one use of Persuasion). If that doesn't work, I'll go see Ursolan.

Did i get prices? Also whether or not there are Universities in Holburg, or if they're all in the city we hit right before Karath? (can't remember the name for the life of me, and the search function in the forum seems to find nothing that i type whatsoever (i'm thinking Kheynth or Al-Korinth, but no certainty whatsoever on that))

The faery stared at all of them for a moment. He fully understood nobody here was to blame for this but himself for being the catalyst, and each and every one of them was trying their best with what they had. And he knew his next action wouldn't allow him to get a decent amount of sleep that night...

"Alright, great work people! Drinks are on me once we reach Lightmont.", said Javan in his usual tone, although the party members would have caught he was straining himself. The dragoon took his gear and motioned to the soldiers to do the same, so they could leave this place.

On their way back, Javan finally gathered to courage to approach the kid and talk to him, "Not sure if you can understand me, but might as well try it. Next time you think taking someone's possession, be it food or money or whatever, fully expect them to fight back and for you to go down at any time. I'm taking you to the authorities, and I'm hoping that by doing that, your friends will learn the lesson and try to survive by other means, because if they don't and the authorities here decide to hunt them down as bandits, it would be a massacre..."

Not expecting for the young goblin to answer or even understand, Javan proceeded to lead the way to the sheriff or equivalent of Ritholme.

Kolson arrives in Wildeash in the evening as the sun is beginning to set, probably more than a little exhausted from traveling all day. The first thing he finds out after a small bit of asking around is that the Order has been fully ejected from the city, at the request of the Olthoi. As it happens there are several Gardeners who work in Wildeash as representatives of commerce, communication, and diplomacy so Kolson finds himself spoiled for choice. Naturally, being so exhausted, he finds a rather nice inn (run by a Gardener named Ilkroxknik) which has a special tonight on Central Pasta, which is a semisweet form of noodles covered in carrots, basil, oregano, and a very light yet very salty sauce. They also have Aluvian Waffles, which is a foot-diameter waffle covered in chocolate syrup, vanilla cream, chocolate pudding, chocolate mousse, and a fruit selection of your choice. For those eating on a budget they also offer several smaller meals, including skewered baby potatoes on spinach, diced spiced hotlink sausage with thick Eastham Peppers, and of course the classic Shark Soup, which despite its name actually includes several different types of meat (mostly from Reedsharks), and a huge helping of tomatoes, peppers, carrots, potatoes, beans, and spinach. They offer plain coffee, Blood Ale, Disgusting Rotgut, Sunkissed Wine, and Sugarcane Dew.

Rory, having satisfied his efforts to aid Zeiss, heads off to look into the Riton Shipping Concern. He spends considerable time learning anything at all, as they are not a particularly large company and haven't made port in Holtburg in some weeks (though most Sho companies have stayed away for the obvious reason). From what he learns, Riton has an odd reputation for being fairly cheap and almost never on time with shipments, which led to them losing several contracts but making up for it by taking non-perishable work. They almost never ran anything as far north as Aluvia, only the rare one-off jobs, as most of their long-term contracts were ferrying supplies, wood, metals, and other base construction materials along the Sho Peninsula's coast.

Javan receives no reply from the Goblin teenager, though from his expression it seems like he simply doesn't understand. His soldiers are in high spirits, though a few voice concerns that the 'bandit problem' couldn't possibly be just a small handful of refugee youths, but it's the boss's call and they'll do as ordered. By evening Javan has arrived back in Ritholme and, knowing Aluvian infrastructure as he does, parades him straight to the local military branch to turn him over to the authorities, since the Aluvian Military functions as police and judicial in the Kingdom.

Higaide is of course uncertain but a few quick questions confirms that there are universities in Holtburg and several other places across the continent, that they are not solely focused in Al-Jalima. Of course getting to Al-Jalima right NOW would be more difficult than usual. Regardless a basic economics class would run about 6 months and cost about 50g per head. Books are another option of course.

It occurs to Zeiss that the end of the week is tomorrow, which means payday for his staff, workers, trainees, and anyone else working for the Exchange.

Having managed the Exchange for a week now, Zeiss knows how much he must pay his employees, which is...

Books sound great. I want to at least be able to do something good for these people, if nothing else.

...one... BILLION... MILLION... JILLION GOLD! But then Zeiss realizes that'd bankrupt the economy and instead he'll need a more concrete number, which means the GM needs some help remembering who all is working for him aside from refugees, ex adventurers, and university graduates.

If only Araiguna had given me the Gaerlans...

Here's something to answers your question; you only need to scroll down: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4pdKgiss7uFN2ZaS2p3MEhFblU/edit?pli=1

About 592g

After adding the group fund to his current savings, Zeiss still need 168 gp to pay the Exchange's employees. After having accomplished his third major action (the one about investigating the noble families), he will go ask Rory and Higaide if they could give him some money.