May 7th until caught up

I'm writing down our actions so we don't forget what to do.

Please confirm

• I am assuming the ex-Hlaalu Lord and half-elf half-banderling cut-throat managers have accepted their promotion? If so, the human will be named Canderous and he will be the Superintendent in charge of the Exchange's expansion, while the nice pragmatic woman will be named Kreia and will be Superintendent of the Clandestine operations (Black Butterfly, Shadow Depository, and Headhunter Task Force).
  
• The Blades are made of four squads, which includes Zeiss' personal guard, right?
  
• Except the Blades and the Queen, no one else knows about the "undead", right?
  
• Upcoming profits are...? If any?
  

100 souls lost

• Zeiss will address his employees to confirm the rumors; 100 people have died in a recent attack against the Exchange. A stipend will be given to the families of the deceased (as a reminder to the GM, it was 2500gp total), and a memorial will be erected at the entrance of the Exchange headquarters, with the names of all the victims inscribed on it (unknown cost). Zeiss has already taken measures to ensure the security of all Exchange employees, and he promises that he will make sure to bring these merciless assassins to justice, personally.
  
• Respectfully ask the General Tollar of Anvilmar to post Aluvian soldiers throughout the Veil to protect our employees.
  
• Have the Blades make a last sweep at the location where the "undead" came back to life and the surrounding areas, just in case we missed a body.
  

The Blades

• Order our squads not to tell anyone about the "undead". Nobody would believe them anyway, so best to keep quiet about it. We already have a new ally who is looking into the matter, so rest assured, we're investigating this.
  
• Canderous: make sure the Walls of Holtburg won't recede now that millions of humans left the city. Ask people who are knowledgeable about the Walls.
  
• Canderous: once this is done, plan to create a new bloc/district where we will build the Blades' HQ (urgent).
  
• Canderous: hire people who will handle the paperwork of the Blades mercenary company and, very important, help our soldiers to get situated in Holtburg.
  
• Canderous: I want our soldiers to develop a sense of fellowship with one another and loyalty for the Exchange. So help them find good accommodations, medical care, education, etc. For now, refer a few places for our soldiers, but as our influence grows, I want the Exchange to provide these things for them.
  
• Kolson: make Wedge our first Elite.
  
• Kolson: training with the squads.
  
• Kolson: finish the last preparations for the expedition to Marae Lassel.
  

Superintendents' tasks

• Middle Management( Visas of Wolfrunner): unify the Blocs of the Holtburg Province through trade deals without their knowledge (we were told it would take at least a week to get the information necessary before it would get going, and that was three days ago). Coordinate with Qui-Gon, from Diplomacy. As a reminder, here's an example of how I envision this system working: Block A wants 1 Food. Block B wants to sell 1 Food. Block C offers caravan protection for goods shipping. We hire Block C to ship the Food we bought from Block B, which we sell to Block A. We'll use secondary agents, coordinated by Middlers, to set this up.
  
• Relief efforts (Bail of Feeder): set up a new front which will act as a subsidiary for the Exchange, and call it the Relief Agency. Set up a public office, then hire managers and employees. Once this is done, ask through our diplomatic channels if the Olthoi would be willing to donate funds to help us in this endeavor.
  
• Diplomacy (Qui-Gon): Gather information on Warlords, mutual business partners, exclusive business partners, influential people in Holtburg, Mayors and Guardians of the Holtburg province. Coordinate with Visas, from Middle Management, and use the three ambassadors you hired.
  
• Clandestine Operations (Kreia): accelerate the Black Butterfly's construction (that's the inn). Coordinate with Qui-Gon, and propose to the Warlords of the Holtburg Province the services of our Headhunter Task Force (and using them to get new employees to shuffle around as well as information). Gretta of Firebeard gets good rates on these services.
  
• Intelligence (Sareth): Organize our "spies" into cells, and deploy them throughout the city to infiltrate the numerous institutions of Holtburg. Then find at least three prospective recruits, preferably from outside the Exchange, who could make good spies if we trained them ourselves. We want people with a clean slate who could become loyal to us personally if we helped them in some way.
  
• Intelligence (Sareth): tons of organizations and small groups are buying information from our own spies, right? Here's 1000gp Sareth. I want to buy information about the location of these organizations and groups, as well as the identity of who is leading those, starting from the smallest groups who are the closest to our headquarters. Then, coordinate with Qui-Gon from Diplomacy, and propose that they join the Exchange instead, with interesting employment benefits attached to the offer. Also use misinformation to make them believe we bought the information from rival groups within the city, since the next action might unite them against us.
  
• Military (Kolson): Recruit new members for the Blades. Use the Blades to raid the groups who refuse to join us. Zeiss and Advoc will join the raids when they can. 25% of the loot will go to the Blades. We do not want to bite more than we can chew, so limit the number of "enrollment" offers to what we can face in case no one accepts. One wave of offers at a time.
  
• Accounting (Dulvi): check the numbers, make sure Dulvi is doing fine, and invite her to dinner to develop a platonic friendship.
  
• Expansion (Canderous): find possible front companies to buy, in relation to the initiatives written above.
  
• Expansion (Canderous): Make construction plans to expand the Veil into the new "district" (mid-term goal), and erect new residential areas (mid-term to long term goal). Real estate is becoming a rare commodity, which gives us a rare opportunity. With Qui-Gon's help, seek investors who would like to join us in this effort.
  

Connor of Whitemoon (second identity)

• Participate in a Magic the Gathering tournament!
  
• Buy 10 card packs!
  
• At the after party, get a little drunk, and try to flirt with an attractive female humanoid who is around Connor's height. Also make sure she's not trying to steal from him (not that he has much anyway).
  
• Make a commemorative photo of the party!
  

Kolson

• Take one day to weave that subcommunicator for Zeiss and Kolson.
  
• He will help weave the Shadow Depository defenses to accelerate the progress on it.
  

Expedition to Marae Lassel

• Kolson and Zeiss brief Wedge on it. We were told by someone in power (the Queen, but we don't say that) that the organization which is studying the facilities is not to be feared, so no need to antagonize them. Secure the area, map it, and establish diplomatic relations with the organization found on the island, as well as these mysterious inhabitants. Then get ready to bring back the Blades to Holtburg once the rotation shift gets there (which is sent by the Queen, like she told us she would do).
  

"Directorate" plot?

• We'll make preparations to bribe the guards at X district, and everything else required for the attack to succeed when the signal is given. We're not planning to pull the trigger, but the Queen did ask us to lead "them" on.
  
• As for strengthening the Queen's influence, as well as weakening the Lords' position, the players still need to think about it. The next point might give us a clue as to how to do that.
  

Encounter with the Tumeroks

• Once we're done with our actions, we'll go see the Queen and ask her to teleport us to the Dryreach Zone.
  

I'll improve the communicators by making them not work for anyone but Kolson, Zeiss, and Advoc. When anyone else tries to use them all they hear is static, occasionally interrupted by a French woman saying "Number two" in broken English.

New policies

• The Blades now receive 25% of the loot they acquire during their missions. Make sure our potential recruits know about this.
  
• The Superintendents must hide the objective behind each of the policies we introduce, the schemes we concoct, or the deals we make, even from our own managers. Tell them only what they need to know; how to do their job, and not why. Better yet, give them a false explanation, to confuse our enemies.
  

100 souls lost

• Zeiss will address his employees to confirm the rumors; 100 people have died in a recent attack against the Exchange. A stipend will be given to the families of the deceased (as a reminder to the GM, it was 2500gp total), and a memorial will be erected at the entrance of the Exchange headquarters, with the names of all the victims inscribed on it (2g cost) *Takes notes*. Zeiss has already taken measures to ensure the security of all Exchange employees, and he promises that he will make sure to bring these merciless assassins to justice, personally.
  
• Respectfully ask the General Tollar of Anvilmar to post Aluvian soldiers throughout the Veil to protect our employees.
  Inside or outside? Both have their own issues.
  Inside please.
  The General has no issues with the orders, though he does question why the added security is necessary. There will be future conflicts in this regard.
  Tell the general about the recent attack on the Exchange (the Puppets). We'll roll back the increased security within the coming week. If he wants to know the identity of the attackers, Zeiss will reveal what he knows, and let the Blades confirm the story. Don't talk to anyone else about it.
  
• Zeiss is going to personally investigate that house where we found the strange equipment to make the undead; who owned it, who really owned it, when they moved in, what other safehouse they might have, where they've fled to, if there's any neighbour who knows anything (bribe them if necessary), who else might have asked about the house, whether they've seen a man fitting the description of Zeiss' father, what kind of supplies was taken to the house and who it came from, etc. Just trying to find a clue where to go next.
  
  

The Blades

• Canderous: once this is done, plan to create a new bloc/district where we will build the Blades' HQ (urgent).
  A... .... .... what?! You want to build an entire District? That's... colossal, and incredibly obvious, and also insane. The entire Atlanta area is the size of a District, for comparison.
  My bad. I meant a bloc, like you might find in your neighborhood.
  For a degree of future terminology, a Bloc refers to a given section or area, which is also the term being utilized to refer to the pieces of the Undermarket left over in-setting. A block is a small section of a city, only a few acres large. Anywho, I need to know which District you want to build the block in.
  How about the same District where the IGA recruitment office is. Might as well use the traffic they might bring.
  
• Update on the Exchange branch in Sho. Give a few orders to make sure not to antagonize the cartel, and when you invariably lose trace of the other adventuring party, recall Biggs to Holtburg and let Canderous manage this branch for now (with Sareth's help since their culture is particular).
  Given the nature of the civil war going on right now in the Sho, the criminal elements have locked down harder than ever, since power is so easy to grab at the moment. Also, for some strange reason, you've lost contact with the other party, go figure. Within this time frame, Canderous will be (politely) asked to either leave or submit.
  Leave.
  
• Canderous: I want our soldiers to develop a sense of fellowship with one another and loyalty for the Exchange. So help them find good accommodations, medical care, education, etc. For now, refer a few places for our soldiers, but as our influence grows, I want the Exchange to provide these things for them.
  This will be slightly more likely to succeed if recruits are non-Aluvians.
  Let's focus on hiring non-Aluvians then, and Aluvians with a different philosophy than "Money money money".
  These efforts will bare some fruit, mostly from the Sho region as there are some ex-adventurers, explorers, and the like who are dissatisfied with the rather sudden loss of jobs happening due to the civil war.
  We'll make a deal with the Blackbrine to bring these people to Holtburg so they can work for the Blades. Along the soldiers, other kinds of specialists are welcome, such as scouts, ranged support, and especially mages. Just get as many mercenaries as you can.
  

Superintendents' tasks

• Middle Management( Visas of Wolfrunner): unify the Blocs of the Holtburg Province through trade deals without their knowledge (we were told it would take at least a week to get the information necessary before it would get going, and that was three days ago). Coordinate with Qui-Gon, from Diplomacy. As a reminder, here's an example of how I envision this system working: Block A wants 1 Food. Block B wants to sell 1 Food. Block C offers caravan protection for goods shipping. We hire Block C to ship the Food we bought from Block B, which we sell to Block A. We'll use secondary agents, coordinated by Middlers, to set this up.
  Visas believes this effort would be helped by operating at a loss in these specific trade deals to enforce the Blocs only utilizing Exchange trade, thus undercutting their own deals, and over time enforcing a dependency upon the Exchange. Though if instructed to do otherwise, it will be done.
  For how much would these losses cut into our budget? We have funds we can rely on for now, but my final answer will change depending on what she says.
  This depends on how hard you want to make the sell, and how long. To give an idea though, right now with the added funds going to other special projects, this would put you at a deficit each period no matter what.
  Okay, let's do it, but I would prefer that we don't get more than 1000 gp in the red per week. If it costs a little more than that, please ask for my permission and I'll answer you after some consideration. I also want to be informed when a majority of the Blocs do rely on us for these deals, so I can implement the next phase of my plan.
  
• Relief efforts (Bail of Feeder): set up a new front which will act as a subsidiary for the Exchange, and call it the Relief Agency. Set up a public office, then hire managers and employees. Once this is done, ask through our diplomatic channels if the Olthoi would be willing to donate funds to help us in this endeavor.
  The Olthoi will meet with Bail personally to ask what the relief is going to specifically, as well as also insisting that if they do offer relief effort that the output is tracked for their purposes. You get the impression it's not the first time the Olthoi have been asked for money for a good cause as a scam.
  The Relief Agency will focus on providing basic supplies to the more needy first, helping the refugees to find a place to live as well as a job, then emotional support. Basically, we plan to eventually do everything the Order does, but we're starting small for now. The Olthoi would have full access to the Agency's ledger, and the Exchange will never use this money for itself.
  The Olthoi, puzzled, ask why they should bother with this since the Order and the Olthoi both are already doing their own relief work.
  To make a statement; that everyone should contribute to the betterment of our society, and not just the goodie buddies from the Order. The Exchange aims to lead such a movement through example. Regardless of what the Olthoi choose to do, I'll make a starting donation of 250 gp to the Agency.
  
• Clandestine Operations (Kreia): accelerate the Black Butterfly's construction (that's the inn). Coordinate with Qui-Gon, and propose to the Warlords of the Holtburg Province the services of our Headhunter Task Force (and using them to get new employees to shuffle around as well as information). Gretta of Firebeard gets good rates on these services.
  As mentioned above, progress cuts harshly into income for this operation, but it proceeds. The 'marketing' side of the Inn is mostly spread through word of mouth via the many agents traveling during this turn. The Warlords of the Province, however, are extremely hesitant to use the Headhunters.
  Have Diplomacy try to convince a small group of Warlords at a time to give it a try, pointing out how beneficial it could be for their business.
  How much time before the Black Butterfly is ready? Would investing more funds into accelerate the process?
  The GM admits he can't think of a way the other Warlords would be benefited by the use of the Headhunters, feel free to sell him on it. I'll do the Diplomacy roll then. As for the Black Butterfly, more funds would not accelerate it at this point since you have reached a bottleneck. We'll say about May 16th ETA right now, without outside construction help. At some point I'll need to do Kolson's Weaving rolls for the various magical protections.
  The other Warlords must have had difficulties recruiting any kind of mercenaries; our reach goes beyond Aluvia and makes it possible to find such skilled people (thanks to our Hub access). That's all I can think of. Otherwise, just a simple diplomacy roll. If they do accept, the Exchange will use this new tool to keep the military power of the Blocs in check; if someone becomes too powerful, the Exchange will arm their nearest competitor. My superintendent Kreia is in charge of the Headhunters, so I'll let her deal with the details.
  
• Intelligence (Sareth): tons of organizations and small groups are buying information from our own spies, right? Here's 1000gp Sareth. I want to buy information about the location of these organizations and groups, as well as the identity of who is leading those, starting from the smallest groups who are the closest to our headquarters. Then, coordinate with Qui-Gon from Diplomacy, and propose that they join the Exchange instead, with interesting employment benefits attached to the offer. Also use misinformation to make them believe we bought the information from rival groups within the city, since the next action might unite them against us.
  The majority of the groups Sareth finds are neither criminal nor intelligence related, but the usual smattering of companies, houses, individuals, soldiers, and merchants that populate the Metropolis. He does find a few people who's entire jobs are information brokers, however, which might be amenable to this purchasing, but he wants direction on which type of group he should direct his efforts towards.
  Make an offer to these brokers. Focus on small criminal groups (like bandits or thieves guilds) or sharkloaners (that we don't already control), as well as that "competition" the Vasmora lycanthropes were talking about (if they're even in Holtburg). The idea is that we take control of the small criminal players left in Holtburg which are still independent, except people like the Blackbrine who we just do business with.
  Sareth firmly believes most of these people, who were both eager and amenable to being bought out, would not honor being bought out and would keep doing business as usual. Only a small few, in his opinion, seemed worth the effort of actually expending, all small time bandit gangs and brokers.
  Yeah, recruit those worth it.
  
• Military (Kolson): Recruit new members for the Blades. Use the Blades to raid the groups who refuse to join us. Zeiss and Advoc will join the raids when they can. 25% of the loot will go to the Blades. We do not want to bite more than we can chew, so limit the number of "enrollment" offers to what we can face in case no one accepts. One wave of offers at a time.
  Waiting on previous decision.
  Do not raid anyone who cannot defend themselves, like the brokers. Only little bandit groups and the like who "enforce" their will through violent means just to get their immoral business going.
  Many raids happen, with the aid of Zeiss and Advoc these raids will succeed with few losses, without it will be a bit more slanted against the Exchange. To make things simple, you get gold instead of the ridiculous list of equipment you'd get normally, plus 'supplies'. The first five waves generate about 500g.
  I forgot to mention it since it seemed so obvious to me, but alongside Zeiss and Advoc, Kolson is also there, taking command once battle starts. He's the Blades' commander after all.
  There's got to be a few in a city as big as Holtburg. As for small groups of thieves, if they refuse, we'll just force them to pay us for "protection" since they are operating on our turf.
  Several counter-raids happen in response to this, which cause some losses but are repelled. Fortunately the various small groups don't seem to be organizing with each other, or this would be an issue. The recently added military forces help some times, look the other way for bribes other times.
  If Sareth feels up to it, use secondary agents to organize these groups so they work as one unit against the Exchange, and make sure our spies know nothing of these plans. In fact, our spies will be working against the small bandits groups to make sure they stay disorganized. I will let Sareth use my Bracelet of Concealment to change his appearance if his presence is required at some point; he can pose as an upcoming criminal ringleader who wants to become the warlord of the city, and would be willing to help these groups strike back at the Exchange and their arrogant leader. If the small groups question Sareth's motivations, he will admit that he is in fact a representative of another bloc (*cough cough* Naverre Raiders *cough cough*) who are soon going to make their move on the Holtburg Province, and they should immediately side with the obvious victors. In exchange, they'll be paid and keep their independence when the other Bloc takes over. While this happens, Kolson will design with the General's advice a kill box where we can take out these small groups in one swift ambush. Everybody on our side that can fight will do so, including Kolson, Zeiss and Advoc, then we will loot the groups' locations that should be abandoned by then.
  
• If Sareh doesn't feel up to this plan (though I would be surprised considering the silver tongue he possesses), make sure that these groups do not organize with each other, and act like we don't plan on attacking them anymore if they don't mess with us or our business. No more attacks for now, but be on the lookout for other counterattacks.
  
• Whatever Sareth chooses, we will let our forces take a rest once the thing is done, after which Kolson will review our tactics with our troops to iterate and improve our methods.
  
• Expansion (Canderous): find possible front companies to buy, in relation to the initiatives written above.
  Sorta also related to the previous decision, so waiting.
  Anything that can help with the unification of the Blocs? Like a business which would have information about a group of Blocs, or such.
  The most likely area to succeed here, within your limited budget, would be to try to grab up several transit and shipping companies that do ground trade across the region. The downside here is most of these companies are already owned either by the Aristocrats, are holding companies for the Lords, or are owned by the PTC.
  *Sigh* Let's see if the PTC would be willing to sell one of those companies, but I expect a no.
  Kolson wonders if we could asks the Lady of Holtburg to take possession of the Aristocrats companies and sell them for us at a discount. May be a way to cash in our goodwill?
  
• Expansion (Canderous): also hire new employees to replace those we lost recently, using our Headhunters if need be, then be on the lookout for new managers. We will need more of them for the upcoming expansion phase.
  
• Expansion (Canderous): Make construction plans to expand the Veil into the new "district" (mid-term goal), and erect new residential areas (mid-term to long term goal). Real estate is becoming a rare commodity, which gives us a rare opportunity. With Qui-Gon's help, seek investors who would like to join us in this effort.
  Still need clarification on the District thing.
  Yeah, a bloc for now. More blocs if we have enough investors.
  Again, need that District. Either way this will be an expenditure but I can't say how much until I know where. There are many investors interested in assisting for a piece of ownership on the new real estate.
  Same district as the IGA headquarters.
  
• Diplomacy (Qui-Gon): How much time, resources and favors would he need before we can call all the Warlords of the province for a meeting in Holtburg to discuss the future of our Blocs?
  We'll say he can succeed at this by about May 15th, assuming nothing goes wrong in the interim.
  Let's not have that meeting until May 16th, when the Black Butterfly will be ready to receive these Warlords.
  
• Mission from the Queen to earn her trust?
  
  

Expedition to Marae Lassel

Kolson and Zeiss brief Wedge on it. We were told by someone in power (the Queen, but we don't say that) that the organization which is studying the facilities is not to be feared, so no need to antagonize them. Secure the area, map it, and establish diplomatic relations with the organization found on the island, as well as these mysterious inhabitants. Then get ready to bring back the Blades to Holtburg once the rotation shift gets there (which is sent by the Queen, like she told us she would do).
Remind me, are either Kolson or Zeiss going along?
Would the Queen agree to teleport us there, and then back home when the island is secured, once the Blades reach their destination? It would save us a lot of time, time we need to keep our affairs in order before we leave for Dryreach.
The reply from the Queen's office on being a personal teleporter will be 'No.'
Then Zeiss and Kolson won't go. If Biggs comes back from Sho in time, we'll send him alongside Wedge on the expedition. If they do get information about the Tumeroks on the island, and how to contact the others in Dryreach, I want to know.


Encounter with the Tumeroks

Before we do commit to meeting these people, we need to confirm a few things.

Let's buy an Exit 2 Materia (Exit 3 if Advoc counts as one person in relation to this kind of magical device).

Would the Eleven be willing to let us borrow one of their 8 sided gem/communicator in case we do survive and need a ride back to Holtburg? Or anything really to let them know we're still alive?

Can the Eleven give us any sort of visual equipment or clothing that identify us as "ambassadors"?

Also plan to buy a Togepi for me, and a Pikachu for Kolson, so we can hold them when we teleport over there. Tumeroks wouldn't shoot creatures that are so cute, right? Also, a white flag for Zeiss which he can wave around, and two mini white flags for the pokemon, so they have something to wave around too.

The destination we would prefer is where a city used to stand 30 years ago.

Uhm, shoot. This is a daily thing, not a weekly, right?

Well, you said over in the OCC thread you were okay with us doing a weekly thing instead of the daily. Me and Kolson were planning all those actions over many days, and we would leave the order of those actions to you. We actually don't know what date the live campaign is at, so consider these actions as catching up to them?

In short, this thread is a weekly thing.

Let's pull some time altering shenanigans. We're going to do a separate thread shortly to cover the Tumerok incident, and then I'm going to shove you forward to the 14th. Also, Zeiss, I'd like you and Kolson both to do a Charisma check for me. I trust your rolls, but I'd like you guys to make them.

Well, I rolled a 13, so total is 16 for my CHA check. Can I also burn a Persuasion or Stall ability for whatever this is?

However, we kind of really wanted to have the confirmation about the preparations we made for this Tumerok meeting before we do commit to this action. Some precautions are necessary, and without them, we might not go.

Right, the precautions. Lemme just copy paste here a sec.

Before we do commit to meeting these people, we need to confirm a few things.

Let's buy an Exit 2 Materia (Exit 3 if Advoc counts as one person in relation to this kind of magical device).
You fail at this task. Materia isn't normally available for sale, and even through your underworld connections you fail to find any Exits available.

Would the Eleven be willing to let us borrow one of their 8 sided gem/communicator in case we do survive and need a ride back to Holtburg? Or anything really to let them know we're still alive?
We'll say yes.

Can the Eleven give us any sort of visual equipment or clothing that identify us as "ambassadors"?
YOU can make such a thing happen, but if you're asking for something the Tumerok would identify as ambassadorial, they have no idea.

Also plan to buy a Togepi for me, and a Pikachu for Kolson, so we can hold them when we teleport over there. Tumeroks wouldn't shoot creatures that are so cute, right? Also, a white flag for Zeiss which he can wave around, and two mini white flags for the pokemon, so they have something to wave around too.
*stare* You... can do this.
The destination we would prefer is where a city used to stand 30 years ago.
Which city? There were several dozen.

No materia, huh. I shouldn't be surprised, with the war and all that. Demand must be through the roof. However, let's ask the General if he "knows" someone who could make it happen. Come on No Name network, you can do this.

How about an average size city located towards the middle of the Dryreach Zone? Far enough from artillery fire.

Have the Eleven ever tried to establish communications of any kind or teleport over there?

After perusing some options and contacts, and spending a few days and some gold just to get ahold of people, you find someone willing to smuggle some in (Materia is a protected resource right now) for you. It will be one Exit 2 Materia and it's going for a fairly high price, 350g.

We'll pick a random city in the middle then.

The Eleven have never attempted to do anything with the Tumerok.

Materia is bought, and the cost has been noted down. Thank you.

The Exchange will make note of that Protected Resources' contact, but only our Superintendents will know about it.

As for the final decision as whether we go to the Dryreach Zone or not, we'll have to wait for Kolson. I chatted with him, and he should give his answer tomorrow. Meanwhile, I have a few last questions.

We're Aluvians, right? And Aluvians have an habit of bringing a gift whenever they go to visit a friend, so this is what we'll do if we go meet the Tumeroks; we'll buy the best strawberry cake we can find, and transport it in a small woven container to keep it fresh. How much would that cost?

How much for the Togepi, the Pikachu, and the white flags?

Why have the Eleven never tried to communicate with the Tumeroks? I can understand why no one else did, but the Eleven? I'm kind of surprised.

The pokemon, flags, and cake will cost less than 1 gold.

The Togepi is rather energetic. The Pikachu sleeps a lot.

The Eleven will be evasive in their answers, but will effectively state that they had difficulties contacting the Tumerok.

For my Cha check I rolled a 5 for a grand total of 8. Hopefully those pokemon are giving a bonus because if not I'm S.O.L.

Okay, Kolson has made his decision; we're going to meet the murderous Tumeroks.

As a reminder, my CHA roll was 13, which adds up to 16. Add the Persuasion or Stall abilities if it helps. Kolson just posted his result, so that's also done.

We'll take some proof from the Queen that we are acting as official "ambassadors". You never know, the Tumeroks might be picky about paperwork.

Once we appear in the Dryreach Zone, Advoc will be waving around a white flag, while the Togepi and the Pikachu (who are in Zeiss' and Kolson's arms respectively) do the same. The pokemon will be happy to help, since they're going on an amazing trip! We'll keep the cake in our bag of holding as a diplomatic gift.

If it appears we'll die, we'll be ready to use the Exit materia to get the hell out of there. I also got 10 days worth of Olthoi rations left, so we should be good on that front.

Also, if we're not back in a month, Sareth can keep the Exchange for himself.

So, are we dead or what?

I've been trying and failing to get the creative oomph to push forward. That's all.

*rubs eyes* Okay, let's do a new thread for the Tumerok thing. This is too immediate to do in a daily format.