March 19th

Everyone except Kolson awakens to a new day.... except Zeiss who is still going on a few hours of sleep from the previous evening.

After he wakes up, Zeiss goes to Van to see how much progress he has made with the food they are meaning to sell to the small companies who will undoubtedly sell it to the military. He said it would take around a week a week ago.

After that, we'll see how the ship who brought this food in would like to make another delivery, depending on how much it would cost us.

I'll go see the place where Sareth was transported. When I see one of the Aluvian soldiers, I'll tell them one of my employees was kidnapped and I had a yellow mage trace him back here. Can they help me? Just in case, I'll prepare an escape route.

I also told Rory and Higaide I was doing this.

Van has been selling off food parcel by parcel, sometimes in pretty small chunks, and has successfully made about 842 gold off the sales so far. His initial estimate of a week has proven to be indicative of his lack of knowledge on how to run a business of this scale, as the amount of paperwork and red tape required is irritating him to no end. Regardless he is continuing to sell food, as directed.

The trawler that had been here some time ago has long since gone to greener pastures, but there are several ships that are effectively 'locked' in the dock unable to leave due to a lock-down of all mercantile traffic, something that's a very recent change and this is the first you've heard of it. It's probably not public knowledge yet.

Afterwards Zeiss wanders back towards the Warehouse District which appears, for all intents and purposes, completely normal... until Zeiss arrives at the specific building he had traced Sareth to several days ago. To be continued...

1st Action: Leave 20g with Jenna, for whatever expenses come up in my absence, and go with Zeiss to the Warehouse District.

I'm going to specify that Advoc is with me. Out of view, but there. Just in case.

Due to my being a total moron, i wrote "Gretta" where i should've written "Jenna". I edited it now, but i'm just marking it here so there's no confusion.

Zeiss didn't plan to write any letter to Kez. However, he can write a letter following Rory's guidance.

We'll secure a small quantity of food for ourselves. But not too much that it would get spoiled before it's eaten.

Since Higaide is with Zeiss, they both find the warehouse basically unguarded, albeit locked.  Zeiss has no real trouble picking the lock, a skill he hasn't used in some time, and the two enter to find a more or less normal looking warehouse.  Crates are stacked here and there filled with lord knows what, and otherwise the place looks mundane, until Higaide rolls a high enough Awareness to notice a series of marks and bloodstains hidden underneath it, like a chair had been scraped around here.  The blood is very dry, at least several days old by now.  And there is a small scrap of parchment there, which reads: "If you want your Warlord back, deliver 500 gold to the following address at Blackrust by the night of Thursday, the 19th, or we will return him to you in pieces."

Rory spends most of his morning combing over paperwork, his least favorite kind of work, muttering to himself.  Thankfully one of the guards comes by with a small bottle of Elven Whispershine, noting that he looked like he's been having a bad few days.  The work itself yields only a few tidbits, like the fact that most of the interviewees who mentioned they were interested in this job full time were also the kind of people who had pretty crummy lives overall before, especially the former Hlaalu citizens amongst the Humans.

First of all, isn't Zeiss called the Warlord, or could Sareth have introduced himself as such?

Is there any indication that the note was written recently? If so, or if i can't determine, Higaide is immediately gonna scan the surroundings for any spots we might be being watched from. If nothing comes up, he's gonna dash to the door, peek outside for any signs that we might be being observed right now.

Reasoning: Barring exceptional incompetence, coupled with some considerable luck on our end, this ransom demand would have flown right by us if we hadn't happened to have stumbled on it right now. Not only has the note not been delivered to us, there has been deliberate effort to conceal evidence that someone has been here at all - rushed at that, if this note is still here. Considering how professional they have been in the past in antagonizing us, this does not seem to be the work of the same people that have been pestering us since before Sho. If nothing else, because they want money.

Another option is that whoever was here has been stopped, but not by official Alluvian authorities, or this would not have been so haphazardly concealed.

The possibility that concerns me the most is that this is a diversion, only posing as a clumsy ransom demand. Wanting us to be at a specific place at a specific time, so close to a coup, could be an attempt to lure us off something important. To ensure that succeeds, though, someone would need eyes on the ground in order to ensure we took the bait, which is why i'm checking for any signs that we're being watched.

Higaide sees no signs of being watched nearby thanks to his Awareness rolls. As for the note, it appears to be at least a couple of days old by now, though that might not mean much. There was dust sitting on it when he picked it up though, just a little bit.

If we can't find anyone watching us, Zeiss will give Higaide five pieces of platinum.

"I'll stay in Holtburg in case you're right, but you get to Blackrust just in case. It's a town south of here. We still have the horses Rory bought us, so you could use one of those. Or you could ask Maia, that crazy taxi driver, to take you there. Assuming she gets paid enough and the taxi has enough fuel for the trip."

He will make a quick check of what's in the crates then go back to the Exchange's headquarters.

[writing other actions for another post; also waiting to see if Higaide accepts]

Second action: manage the Exchange. What I want from my employees is efficiency and professionalism, social prejudices being left at the door, and that shows through my attitude. Those who are untrustworthy are going to get it. Those who do their job correctly gets my respect and a pat on the shoulder from time to time. Also:

• Get two managers to help Van with the paperwork regarding the food deal.
  
• Get my ten best employees at Gather Information. I'll give them the task of finding specific types of managers which we could recruit: someone with military experience who could command soldiers, another one who could lay the groundwork of a spy network, an experienced bodyguard who specialized in managing the protection of merchant caravans, a good accountant who is trustworthy and a diplomat who could deal with the other Blocs for the benefit of the Exchange. Once they're found, I'll interview them personally. Be on the lookout for Radnaal of Highspring too, just in case they see them. Last thing: they have to keep looking until we found one of each of these types of managers.
  
• Tell Rory where Higaide went and why.
  
• I assume Gretta's messenger hasn't returned? A shame, these ex-adventurers were useful.
  

Third action: figure out why the docks are closed. I'll have three humans come with me and Advoc to help my GI check. They're bound to know some people at the docks. If that doesn't work, let's approach these small companies Van is dealing with to discuss the issue.

EDIT: Since Advoc is staying with Rory, he will check Rory's paperwork as requested. Zeiss and Advoc will keep the mind link as long as possible.

Zeiss will also do a quick check of the contents of the crates within the warehouse where Sareth was held.

"I'll take the horse, and my own money. We can talk finance later, no reason to be carrying more than i have to to a hostage exchange.

If this is a diversion, they'll be making their move soon. You might want to bring out Thog for the occasion."

Higaide leaves the building, takes a horse and makes for Blackrust.

"Whispershine? I'm not a big drinker, so I don't know. But if you plan to drink some, you should make sure there's no poison in it beforehand."

Zeiss listens closely about the matter of moving the humans to Osteth.

"Before we discuss with the Blackbrine how much it would cost us to move these people, you should ask your compatriots if they want to go there. Osteth is not a nice place to live in. Their military is entirely focused on keeping the wild creatures out of the settlements. And if they do get to their destination, we can't help them find a job. They have to know what kind of life awaits them in case they choose to leave the Veil. Don't worry about the Blackbrine, they're not going to leave Holtburg anytime soon. The docks are in lock-down and I don't know why. I'm going to go figure it out. Be on the lookout. I get the feeling today might be a bad day for all of Holtburg."

After leaving Advoc with Rory, Zeiss goes for the docks and resume his actions.

OOC:

Since Advoc is staying with Rory, he will check Rory's paperwork as requested. Zeiss and Advoc will keep the mind link as long as possible.

Some time in the past, Zeiss and Higaide checked the crates and found logs of various types of lumber, as well as a fair number of bugs.

Rory has a considerably more difficult time than normal trying to get his training session in gear, as the recently hired bandits are not the most disciplined bunch.  Rory has to personally break up multiple fisticuffs amongst them, most notably the bandits (which are predominantly Elven) tend to mock and cajole the Humans.  The whole exercise is something of a mess.

Higaide rides south.  How fast he's pushing his horse determines when he arrives, and in what condition.

Zeiss delegates and tries to inspire, by flashing his gold-encrusted teeth.  The results of the GI's are as follows:
No one is found with previous military experience, though they suggest (hesitantly) some exterminators who deal with small outbreaks of Reedsharks.
The 'spy' manager that the guy finds is someone who was fired from his job at a local unimportant corporation for being caught embezzling.  In his defense, it took them 3 years to catch him.
The third person has a moment of inspiration and checks existing companies, realizing that no one who is capable of defending a caravan is unemployed right now, and finds a few who might be willing to turncoat from their current corporations if the price is right.
There are a few dozen accountant applicants to go through.  Apparently there's quite a few of them compared to the others.
The last roll is a 20 so you actually find one of the recently unemployed diplomats who used to work for one of the Aristocrats in the Royal District.
Gretta's messenger technically returns on the third action, with a simple correspondence saying that if Zeiss is getting ambitious enough to meddle in politics she'll back him so long as she gets a good slice of the pie.  The tone of the letter states flatly that she doesn't believe there's any coup, and instead thinks Zeiss is just seizing power, but she's okay with that.

Rory does some social networking with the Blackbrine and figures out some statistics for food for the journey and how many ships they'll need to get people south.  If the trip is entirely by boat it'll be a long one, going around the peninsula and along the southern coast of Dereth.  By contrast the boat could dock somewhere in the Sho territories and have the refugees make the rest of the trip on foot.  Advoc also helps Rory with some paperwork for a few minutes before he goes braindead.

Zeiss has no problem figuring out why the docks are on lockdown as, while it hasn't been announced, it's not being hidden either.  At the moment the military has assumed direct control over the docks in an effort to ensure that only authorized boats get in or out, and they will inspecting all ships both ways once they have the posts and manpower in place.  It's a safety feature, they state, to ensure no saboteurs or warmongers sneak into the capital and try to hamper the war effort.

I need to get there by at least nightfall, maybe an hour or two earlier, if the horse can take it (i need it to be able to come back, and i'm an animal person).

You can Forced March or Hustle. Both require Constitution checks and, given the distance, Lethal or Nonlethal damage to the horse respectively. Both require Handle Animal checks too. Or you can go 'normally' which would involve getting there in the middle of the night.

I'm doing Hustle. If it seems like i'm gonna cut it too short, i might resort to forced march. Do Lethal and Nonlethal damage pile on?

Don't die Horse, don't die horse, don't die horse.

I write back to Gretta: I agree to giving her a good slice of the pie that is Holtburg on top of unlimited access to the Hub for her and three subordinates of her choosing. I will have to interview these three people to make sure they're a good choice. The letter is written in Dwarven and has my magical seal on it. I send Mevrak back to Gretta with Biggs and Wedge (the ex-adventurers) to protect him, just like before.

As for the potential recruits, I will interview them today if I have some time left. If not, it will be my first action for tomorrow morning. Also, here's my method with which I'm interviewing people: I speak through Advoc while I'm sitting at my desk, taking notes on what they say, and look at them only when necessary. I'll roll intimidate on everyone except the accountants to probe their reaction. It's mostly to test their mettle and after a while, I'll make it obvious that's the reason I'm doing it.

• For the "military" commander, I'm looking for someone who can manage people under their command with efficiency. If these exterminators are qualified in this field, I will add them to my list of interviews.
  
• The spy manager. I want to know how he embezzled (no need to explain it to me the player, I'm asking to make sure nobody tries the same thing on me). Could he find other people we could recruit as spies? After which, I'll ask the questions that will allow me to find out if he would be good at the job 
  
• We don't need dozens of accountants. Not yet anyway. I'll ask two of my middle-managers to handpick the most qualified and trustworthy ones. I'll interview those who are left. Roll deception, then roll it again.
  
• The diplomat. The interview will be a test in itself. I will be the one talking, not Advoc. I will be intimidating at times then suddenly switch back to being diplomatic. I will burn two uses of Stall (Orator ability) and one use of Persuasion (Orator ability again) to see how he reacts to that. I will also switch between the different languages I know (Elven, Common, Dwarven, Serpent, Lugian and Orcish) in the middle of the conversation to determine how far his expertise goes.
  

If the interviews must wait tomorrow, I'll post that again in the appropriate thread.

Going to specify that I am still going to interview those who might be willing to  turncoat their corporations, even if I didn't mention them.

After the first hour or so, the somewhat bored Higaide who is hustling (fatiguing the horse) does some mental calculations and expertly determines that it will be another 7 hours to reach his destination at the Hustle pace. Shifting up to Forced March right now would make the rest of the trip take 5 hours instead.

What time is it right now? Will 7 hours still let me get there on time?

Also, can i switch out of Forced March if i see i'm pushing the Horse too hard?