March 11th

A new day dawns...

First major action: I'll follow up on my leads to recruit the Foreman, some Coordinators and Mid-Levelers. I'll blow a Persuasion use on this action. I will also hire these un-noteworthy bureaucrats who resigned if I happen to pass by them and they seem useful. I am still willing to pay a starting fee if required.

Second major action: If I succeed on my first action, I'll assign my new employees their jobs. The objectives are the same as before:

• investigate the four pieces of paper I found in my office (which was previously Bonebreaker's office) that talked about trade routes which might be profitable;
  
• find supplies chains;
  
• form contacts with the merchants of Holtburg;
  
• find clients;
  
• map the Veil;
  
• and move the food to the Hidden Veil.
  

As always, I'll coordinate my employees with these tasks.

Third major action: Two possibilities.

If Rory agrees to search for Sareth, I will contact the companies that are selling these large bulks of mundane goods to the military to sell them our food. I want to make a significant net profit without asking too much so the companies will still be willing to buy our stuff. I'll gather info on the prices of food, ask Van for counsel on this matter and go meet these companies. Let's blow two uses of Persuasion on them and the non-combat action point. I imagine it will take several major actions to make this happen.

If Rory doesn't want to search for Sareth, I will spend my third major action doing so.

EDIT: I'll contact the companies while Rory searches for Sareth. Thank you again Rory. I'll also abandon my current task if Sareth's predicament requires my presence.

First action(locked): guard training(Combat AP)
Rory likes to teach by demonstration rather than talk and hope the recruits get the gist of it. To lift the burden and teach with this method more effectively, he will begin training alongside a few ex-adventurers. Rory will inform ex-adventurers of what life was like for humans on Vesayen in contrast to Dereth, so that they will properly gauge their approach, and follow his lead.

Second action: look for Sareth(Non-Combat AP)
Rory will gather information on Sareth's whereabouts via name and description, then try to track him down and direct him to the Veil meet with Zeiss.

Third action: Rory will visit the Country Riders with a sealed letter addressed to Kezrinthka of Worker. He will ask that they deliver it to her if they know where she is, otherwise get it to Central and have their mailers/couriers sort it out.

Zeiss helped Rory proof it for errors, so he inevitably reads it as a result.

Other(remaining time and energy and throughout the day)
Move food.
Keep an eye out for promising candidates among recruits, possessing leadership skill or talent, for consideration to assign command over daily patrol units, as well as a guard captain for the Veil. Sergeant ex-adventurers will be the superiors above said future patrol leaders, below the future guard captain.

Actions:

• Continue traveling to Ritholme
  
• When arriving, go around Ritholme and talk with people. Get a feel about their general needs, fears and hopes, keep an ear out for other Blocs' movements, do not get involved with such discussions. Depending on the receptiveness of the people there, look for candidates for his merc project, also making sure said candidates understand his primary objective with this is helping others while gold is just an necessary evil.
  
• If there's time left and nothing Javan can help the people of Ritholme with, prepare to continue traveling, although I expect Javan to do at least one or two acts of good will (not involving money) before leaving. Write down everything of importance he found out in Ritholme during travel.
  

Rough route:

First Major Action: Ask Gretta who her contact with the Olthoi is and see if she has a plan for implementing her suggestion.

Second Major Action: If she doesn't I'll begin implementing the negotiations. If the Olthoi don't have any representatives in town, and I know they probably don't, I'll write a proposal for selling them food and mail it to the appropriate Olthoi official. I'm hoping Gretta has some idea of who that is. If she doesn't I'll ask around to see if I can find out.

Third Major Action: If that doesn't work, I'll send it to Kez with a note requesting she forward the proposal to the appropriate Olthoi authorities and ask how she's doing and how her work is going.

If this action is unnecessary or not a full action I'll ask Gretta if she wants to have dinner before I go back to Holtburg (not in a date kind of way, but the kind of dinner you'd have with a respected colleague you don't know very well). I'll see what I can learn about her.

1st Major Action: Send a letter to Zeiss, reporting on the sorry state of the town (not too sure how i can send a letter in a town that's been reduced to rubble, i hope i don't have to send one of my people. If i do, i'll send at least a pair. No sense any of them having travel these parts alone.)

2nd Major Action: Keep clearing rubble and salvaging what we can. I'll make sure to have everyone stop for lunch at the appropriate time, and take the occasion to gauge my people's mood. Also, scout for reliables. I need reliables. Then keep salvaging.

As for 3rd major action... i'm not sure. I did come here expecting to to do some work for the next few days and, well... i guess we're doing it. I could go ahead and GI on what places are also in bad shape, that i can have a next target to go to after this, but it feels like it'd be kinda insensitive to do that here in the midst of all this misfortune.

Zeiss recruits a Half-Dwarf, Gerald of Thundermar, as his new Foreman from amongst his list of candidates, blowing his Persuasion to make this happen. He manages to recruit 3 other people to be placed as he sees fit. He then spends the rest of his morning trying to find the bureaucrats who recently resigned, but despite his best efforts cannot seem to find them at all, nor figure out where they've gone.

The ex-adventurers Rory is working with find the very concept of fighting not to kill and the other more 'backwards' notions of Vesayen Lassel to be bewildering and amusing, but agree to consent to whatever style of regime Rory assigns so long as they get their pay each week. Rory has to hold back significantly to not clobber the others, being a few levels higher than them.

Javan, en route to Ritholme, happens by a group of several dozen Order agents. Even a cursory examination shows that they seem to be taking a sort of census and offering aid to the various Stoneholders camped alongside the road. Whether Javan bothers them or not, they will notice and take an immediate interest in him, wondering who and (more importantly) what he is. What, if anything, Javan says to these is something the GM would like to know.

Gretta of Firebeard normally worked through an official Olthoi embassy member named Flrizxkhk of Gardener, though she's been having trouble getting ahold of him lately. As for implementing her suggestion for the town, right now her plan is to strongarm and outright steal the supplies necessary to build the residential and commercial areas while paying out of the company coffers for the refugee workers to build. Obviously she's already stolen at least some supplies, since construction has already begun.

Higaide, realizing that the only way to send a letter would be to either take it himself or send someone else, sends two of his people back to Holtburg, reporting on the rubble-fest.

Actions further paused until I hear back from Javan.

"Huh? Who and 'what' I am? I'm clearly a wanderer and dragoon, a faery blessed by the Air itself! I'd think the massive shield and spear I wield would give it out. No? Huh. Well anyways, is there anything I could do to help these refugees? That's partly why I'm wandering after all."

The Order members initially disbelieve your statements about being a Fairy, though after a moment go silent on the matter. Upon being asked for further aid, the Hezhit steps forward and mentions that if the... Fairy would be willing to give him his address, the Order would be happy to send for him on future expeditions to give out aid and supplies, as they're planning a run southwards towards Rithwic soon.

Javan nods once and, maybe foolishly so, gives the address of the inn he frequents when he's in Holtburg, together with his name. He adds he's not going to be there for weeks, as he's aiming for Glenden Woods, taking the scenic route.

Edit: If allowed, he'll attempt to talk to the Hezrit a bit more privately and say, "Let's be honest to each other, ok? You guys seem pretty doubtful of my faery nature, which I guarantee you is nothing but the truth. So, what DO I look to be in your eyes? Never really had the chance to ask that to other people, you see."

The Hezrit, curious, admits that the 'Fairy' by all accounts seems to be a form of Aspect. While rogue Aspects are an unproven rumor, given these turbulent times the Order has put out statements that any possible rogue elements or Elementals should be watched and contained immediately to ensure no harm is done to the populace.

Zeiss spends his noon time working on the food supply, looking into trade routes, forming contacts, and otherwise paperwork issues, while his new employees take to their new jobs and receive their respective assignments.

Rory blows an AP looking around trying to find Sareth. He hears a few sightings of him near his domicile and heads there to drop a message off, but no one answers the door.

Javan arrives at Ritholme, and spends several hours moving with and through the people in the market district and at a local tavern, keeping an ear out. Most people give him odd looks as he moves, though this is unsurprising given his appearance. He does come across a few ex-military folk in said tavern who are having a discussion that he happens to overhear about whether or not to sign back up given the war, arguing that they want to help defend their home and lands but don't really want to be sent off to die in the desert. If Javan approaches these men (there are 4 of them) they will be hesitant and want to discuss any possible merc work extensively, likely eating up the rest of Javan's day.

Kolson coordinates with Gretta and prepares a letter asking if Central would be interested in purchasing food from the Exchange. While there is no Olthoi representative in the town itself, one of Gretta's subordinates has no trouble informing Kolson that the town further to the north, Wildeash, traditionally has had an Olthoi presence regularly stationed there. Of course there's always the option of the Olthoi Embassy in Holtburg proper, she offers.

Higaide finds himself a bit comforted in the hard labor of clearing rubble and salvaging what's left of it. Already some of the former residents and refugees have setup piles for glass, wood, stone, and the like to have debris piled onto. Though the occasional thief nicks some, the piles themselves slowly grow as Higaide and his people help sift and sort through the wreckage. The people he's brought with him seem dour and glum, though it's hard not to see why.

Zeiss' third action will be the same as before; I don't know what Kolson is doing after all.

Javan will approach amiable and explain to them exactly what he has in mind with the merc corp thing, noting that there's already enough people in the army going to war, and expects a spike in the criminality all around Aluvia in the next weeks to months, specially in the smaller villages.

The faery believes keeping the flow of commerce in the region going is probably their best bet to keep their own people safe and should at least soften a bit the blunt of the damage that is going to happen as the war goes on.

And along these lines, Javan is going to negotiate with them for the rest of the day, even paying them some beverage or juice of their choice.

3rd Major Action: I'm taking my people back to Holtburg. I'll explain to Radnall, with some regret, that this newly hired force of mine is all made up of civillians who've been having it rough for some time now, and i'm afraid i'm gonna break their morale for good if i keep them going like this. I need to give them a chance to rest for a bit (not being lost on me how much worse the residents right here are having it, but i gotta see to my people's needs).

There's a conditional, though. I need to know roughly the travel time, on foot, between here and Holtburg, before i decide whether to leave today at the end of the "shift", or tomorrow at daybreak. I don't want to impose a long march on my party if they're already exhausted.

As Zeiss is looking into several of the local companies selling bulk product to the Aluvian Military, Ursolan of Prowler finally gets back ahold of him. He states that on behalf of the Lord of Holtburg he'd be happy to arrange a deal to procure it, and wants to know what type of compensation the Exchange is looking for, as the kind of hard capital that such a thing would be worth is not actively lying around and would take time to gather.
Each Major Action taken to get the contracts signed with the companies will involve a dice roll, and the length of the negotiations will vary but Zeiss quickly realizes he's looking at a minimum of a week of work.

Rory, nonplussed by Sareth's absence, continues about his day's endeavors and heads to the Country Rider to mail the letter to Kezrinthka. Fortunately the Olthoi, as Rory is informed, are quite good at knowing where their own members are so any letters sent to Central almost always reach the intended target. Rory then spends most of the rest of his evening continuing to move food, eyeballing other various recruits as he works.

Javan spends the remainder of his day discussing the matter of the new Javan Is Awesome mercenary company with the four individuals, the time and attention he's willing to spend on them seems to be the key element that ends up convincing them to go ahead and sign up by the end of the night, prior to heading back to their homes and rooms.

Higaide knows, based on the fact that he's moving slower with his troop in tow and how long it took him to reach here last time, will take roughly 2 Major Actions or otherwise most of a day to head back to Holtburg.

Very well, then. We stay the night, then head off at daybreak.

Actually, it just occurred to me that i may as well make the most of this, considering i didn't actually get to spend my

3d Major Action: From the time we stop working to the time we go to sleep, i'm gonna walk among my crew again (and hope they don't want to kill me). Listen to their concerns and all, but most of all, check for which people are holding up the best against all the fatigue and gloom, and generally seem to have it together the most, and i'm gonna make note of that.

Zeiss will ask this in exchange of the Leycite:

1. A discharge for Rory's family, if they are still alive. Their service will be considered "complete". Zeiss will also send them a letter which details what happened to their mother and how to reach her. I will also ask to investigate whether Higaide's friends are in the military and do the same for them if they are.
   
2. Experienced personnel we would borrow for at least two weeks, preferably for a month. They are to help the Exchange get set up, hire the employees who will eventually replace them and train those who need it for the duration of their "contract".
   
3. Access to the information network with no name. Zeiss heard about it and would be surprised if Lady Lightmane didn't have access to it
   
4. Some equipment: a powerful focus for a red mage, a new armor fit for a human barbarian who somehow possesses grappling feats, a pair of gloves that enhances a monk's abilities, a materia ideal for Dragoons and a woven tattoo (transferable) which strengthens an Aspect through their summoner. Feel free to choose the stats Arch.
   
5. Money. Mostly Writs with some pieces of platinum and a small amount of gold. It will be calculated like this: Estimated price made by Zeiss, Kolson and Van (see OOC thread for details) minus the estimated price of these previous favours. This is OOC knowledge, but if Ursolan says the amount of money asked must be reduced because of the third favour, Zeiss will agree to this after a few rolls to determine whether he is telling the truth, knows what he is talking about, etc.