Lexent

Continued from Back to Treborg.

The DM: Setting out at 9 a.m., you’re frustrated when an hour out of Treborg, the wind dies. Completely. You row for two hours, when the wind finally picks up at noon, in the wrong direction. Nadia raises the sail and you begin to crawl your way south to Stavanger; by three you’ve made 8 knots, about a third of the journey. The wind improves, spins around to the east and you make 2 knots an hour for the next six hours, putting you 4 knots from Stavanger. The wind increases, swings to the southeast – directly in your face – and it begins to rain. Bailing, you tack the last four hours, arriving in Stavanger at 1 a.m. on the 10th of July. It is pouring rain. Nadia shrugs. She got you here. Malady checks come to naught. Embla’s parents will put you up for the night if you ask.

July 10th

Lexent: Very kind of them, I beg their hospitality and thank them for it. I collapse exhausted into whatever sleeping accommodations they provide.

Pandred: "I hate boats."

Lexent: Is there a particular gnomish deity of water, ships, or travel to whom I should be making appeals? (or cursing?) ;)

Marcule: Also hate boats.

The DM: Nicer when they’re bigger. Besides, it was the weather, not the boat. Would you have rather slogged 24 miles in these conditions? Anyway, in the morning, it is a moderate to heavy rain, with more than a quarter inch falling every hour. There is little wind and it is a “warm” rain, as the temperature is cool and nearly pleasant.

Lexent: If I calculate correctly, it is Sunday. Does that mean the market and shops will be closed? Is there a gnomish population of any note in Stavanger?

Vafrandir: Many thanks to Nadia for the crossing and Embla's parents for a roof.

The DM: What's next?

Vafrandir: If it is indeed Sunday, will Embla's parents be attending services?

Lexent: If shopping is a viable option, I would like to head first to the Weaponwright. Otherwise, I am interested in getting to know the gnomish community in Stavanger (if any) and making sure that their spiritual needs are being met.

The DM: There is shopping on Sundays. Embla's parents will be attending services.

Vafrandir: I will accompany them and meet the party at the market afterwards.

The DM: Sorry I can’t give you an updated price list, but please ask me about anything that seems suspicious.

The DM: Vafrandir make a wisdom check.

Lexent: I head to the Weaponwright. Once there I show him one of the pieces of adamantium and ask if he is able to work it for me. I am firstly interested in repairing my Godentag with some amount of the adamantium used for the spike.

Vafrandir: I roll a 19.

The DM: You get nothing from the service, I'm afraid. It occurs to me that a wisdom check could get you a +1% bonus on experience in your next encounter, or perhaps for the next 1,000 x.p. you earn (though that might be difficult to calculate). Perhaps a flat +100 bonus if you're in an encounter from which you take damage.

Stuff like that would encourage players to attend church. Hm. 50 x.p. bonus per level. With a 7-day deadline.

Lexent: What would be the gnomish practice for regular spiritual fullfilment?

The DM: Was thinking about that. The rules have to be different for clerics; something others can get that clerics can't, but in compensation there are things clerics can get that others don't. Your attending a shrine for your god, for example, would be meaningful to you but not to them. And it would matter where you put your sage abilities.

Lexent: I'm looking in the more general sense too, wanting to know what I can do FOR my community around me and how I can more meaningfully react to the world, not just benefits I can receive.

The DM: In any case, Lexent could reach out to the gnome community in Stavanger; there would be one, of several hundred. This wouldn’t give you the enlightenment Vafrandir missed out on, because as a cleric it is all old hat to you, but it might give you prospects on places to visit to shed some scales from your eyes.

The DM: What you can do for your community comes out of your sage abilities. As a physician, you could see while you’re here if there’s a call for your services in that regard.

Lexent: If permissible, then, I would like to spend the time in which the Lutherans in our group might be attending services getting to know the gnomish people here and seeing how their spiritual needs are being met.

Vafrandir: I'd very much use a rule like that even though I'm not benefiting from it today.

The Gnomes of Stavanger

The DM: I’ve nothing prepared Lexent, but I’ll draw out an outline, hopefully one not too cliche. Writing off the top of my head. The gnome community here is a group of bookbinders and scribes, committed towards the collection of works on (rolled randomly) medicine, prospecting and music.

Narina is the head of a medical school, with knowledge in your own subject and with instruction. Her school has 20 students.

Part of the community are a group of miners who venture out at this time of year and return when the light dims in autumn; they are mostly gone, but there is one aged engineer named Glinner; he is drafting plans to rework and replumb a mine north of Sauda in Ioglefeld.

There is also a small musical college dedicated to gnomish music and poetry, run by Pumbar; there are some 25 attendants.

On these three subjects there are regular books being written and two printing presses in operation.

Lexent: Excellent. Thank you. With the time I spend among them today do I learn of any of them that are in need of healing or medical care?

The DM: If you’re up for it, you can relieve a nurse in her hospital and care for as many patients (aid rest) as you’re able. But that will mean you’ll have no time to buy at a market today.

Market

The DM: Anyone here not have the Stavanger Market file?

Lexent: I have access to a copy of it here . Once the time for services is past I turn my attention to shopping and proceed to the weaponwright.

The DM: you’re giving me conflicting actions, Lexent.

Lexent: Sorry, I missed your response above. I assume that Vafrandir will only be at Lutheran services for part of the day. My intention was to spend that part of the day getting to know the community and providing whatever small comforts (or even a cure light wounds if warranted) I can, and then meet the others in the market.

The DM: Not needed, as it happens. Very well, let’s say that you meet Narina, hear about the others and that the invitation to volunteer is left open for another day.

Lexent: Thank you.

The DM: Let me know when you'd like me to continue, having bought your goods. We can retcon a lot of the purchases. Vafrandir, selling the ale, without Embla to barter for you, the best price you can get is only 40% the value of the ale & barrel.

Marcule: ooc:sorry out for the rest see you all Friday.

The DM: Marcule, if you wish to sell the harness when you this, you can get 320 g.p. for it.

Lexent: What is the Weaponwright able to do with the adamantium, how much of it will it take, and what will be the cost in both time and money?

Vafrandir: Also interested in the weaponwright's response. Would, say, a longsword have the same properties as the shortsword I have now?

Vafrandir: The ale sells for 89 gp, 7 sp, 3 cp. I'm not sure who among us will have access to Barter studies at some point but it'd be good to have in the bag.

Lexent: Recorded

Lexent: Is the Carpenter's hammer the correct type for Marcule to work with? Would the blacksmith have tool grade knives for sale? (as opposed to weapon, copper, or silver)

Lexent: "Vafrandir, What did we decide about purchasing more chests?"

The DM: Hm. Assumed you’d sell it. Adamantium has to be alloyed with another metal; usually in weapons, it is alloyed first with copper and then with iron, so that the adamantium mix takes up 15% of the weapon. Takes time, say one day per pound of weapon you wish made this way, with a start-up time six days, so that one pound of weapon could be produced on the 8th day. This measurement of “pounds of weapon” means the traditional weight of the weapon. So a 6 lb. long sword on the table would need six days of working to make, plus the six lead up. But if you ask for multiple weapons, the six days starting time would only have to be paid once.

The DM: I could go through and give you the approximate metal weights of all weapons (vs. wood, say), but that will take a little time; I can get it ready for you by Friday.

Lexent: Did we determine a cost for the bunk beds? (both normal and gnome size)

The DM: I didn’t; I guessed 4 by 2, but the exact size is up to you.

Lexent: Yes, assuming the 4x2 size.

The DM: She actually needs a more precision tool. I’ll have to make one. A moment please.

Lexent: He. ;)

The DM: A "tinker's hammer"; there's something wrong with table at this point (I said it's pulled apart). Call it 1/2 lb. and 2 g.p.

Vafrandir: We have two free chests for you to use. As we eat up our supplies, more will become available.

Vafrandir: What would the properties of such a long-sword be?

The DM: The long sword would be 6 lb. iron; so to forge it with adamantium would need 14.4 oz. of your adamantium. The adjusted weight can be seen on the stavanger market list: there’s a listing for adamantium long sword there. It would be a +1 weapon just like your short sword.

Pandred: I'll offload my gems and 2 swords today. There were 3 small agates and 2 plum sized agates. How do I handle that? Do I treat them as the value of xp they accrued, or is there a value I should be looking at? The same with the adamantium swords, for that matter.

Pandred: For reference, that means Lexent and I have officially divided the agates between us, leaving Vaf and Marcule with the hematite/cairngorms.

Lexent: I sell my sword, gems, and 2 of my adamantium nuggets. It looks like the rest of it will go a bit farther than I had anticipated.

The DM: Pandred, “small” isn’t a size. “cherry” or “marble”? I believe they were cherry. A cherry –sized agate will get you 1 s.p.; the plum-sized will get you 10 s.p. Those are their “sale” cost, not their purchase costs.

Ask for the value on any gem sold please.

The DM: Lexent, I’ll give you 12 g.p. for the sword. 20 g.p. for each adamantium lump. I don’t know what your gems are.

Lexent: They are cherry-sized agates, so answered above.

The DM: same price for your swords, Pandred. Did I miss anything?

Pandred: I think that does it for me.

Lexent: We are purchasing bunk beds, correct? Should we deduct that from party expenses? Do we need any other supplies? (Holy Water, Salves)?

Pandred: I tell a lie. I also sell my three adamant lumps. Then that does it for me.

Lexent: Would you like us to list any purchases here, or just account for them in our own records?

Lexent: I think that other than deciding on any additional party supplies, we should decide if we want any adamantium weapons made. It doesn't seem worth it for just my Godentags spike, but a spike and a longsword and...

The DM: Just account for them on your sheets. I trust you.

The DM: You can just BUY the longsword.

The DM: It will make your godentag +1. Okay, till Friday. Lexent, you want to identify your staff? Out.

Lexent: Ah, yes, but what will that take?

Vafrandir: Good deal, I'll buy the longsword, and sell my metal.

Vafrandir: I have two hematite gems, cherry sized. What's the price on these?

Vafrandir: Out.

Lexent: In.

Vafrandir: In.

Lexent: "So, as we are looking to acquire more assistance to deal with Grond, what are our current recurring expenses, both in money and in food?"

The DM: In.

Wages & Hiring

The DM: for the record, I am perpetually unhappy with numbers for wages paid. This has always been a sore place in my side regarding my trade tables; I’ve never quite been able to establish a consistent across-the-board cost for wages, for all persons. I was just getting started on this with the beginning of the year, but I got distracted with first rebuilding the pricing table, then using that rebuild to create a poster.

2 s.p./month for your houseservant and 4 s.p. for the pilot are ridiculously low; I cannot find the number paid to Oddsdrakken, because it is located in the old Juvenis wiki and blogger can’t search comments. These numbers can stand, but there is a plan to drastically up these amounts, once I work out a few ideas I have to establish consistent numbers. For the present, if you hire any men-at-arms, I’m going to charge you 6 g.p. a month for them. You may assume that your other servants are all making more money as well, except that through the power of the universe the money is appearing in their pockets without my billing YOU.

Vafrandir: Understood. It's a tricky thing - the prices for other "items" are pretty well linked to availability - do you do the same thing for labor?

The DM: At present, I don’t “do” anything. Since the “availability” of a miner has no consistent total to do with how much product is mined, and isn’t consistent with the ratios for butchers, potters, herders or woodcutters, how do you base anything on the unknown numbers for each? At the moment, I more or less pull these numbers out of the air.

Vafrandir: Yes, I was thinking it was based on the relative amount of labor rather than the product. So if there are so many "references" of miners here, the price per month is calculated accordingly. But still, you need to have a few more variables that are as yet unknown.

Vafrandir: I have two hematite gems, cherry sized. What's the price on these?

The DM: I'll give you 20 c.p. for each.

Lexent: Are we able to start the search for more hirelings the same day as the market, or do we need to wait until the following day?

The DM: Depends. Each vendor you’ve purchased things at will cost you ½ hour; how many vendors have you visited between noon and 6 p.m. Ah, but it is Sunday anyway. No one can be hired on a Sunday.

Lexent: That makes sense. How much did we calculate for the cost of the 4 bunk beds (1 gnome sized at 4x2)?

The DM: Answered that already. Size of bed is up to you. When you tell me the size of the bed, I’ll tell you how much it costs.

Vafrandir: The 3 non-gnome bunk beds I think will be fine at 6x4. So that's what I discuss with the carpenter.

The DM: You can no longer find ready-made beds wider than 3 ft. wide (I'm using my own updated table for direct questions). 6 x3 will cost 7 s.p.

Vafrandir: Not a problem.

Lexent: So a total of 21 s.p. for 3 human(ish) size bunk beds. Have we verified that we will be able to transport these in the boat?

The DM: The beds weigh 67.5 lbs. each; the boat will haul up to 2 tons I think; I said elsewhere, do I need to find it? The boat is pretty big, so even though the beds are bulky, they can be lashed in place.

Lexent: The bulk had been my concern. Thank you.

Marcule: In.

Vafrandir: I have the boat's tonnage listed on the Cargo sheet, I believe. We should be fine assuming no inclement weather.

Lexent: I know Vafrandir decided to simply purchase the adamantium sword, was anyone else still interested in commissioning a weapon with their adamantium?

Pandred: Would a head for my battleaxe be significantly cheaper than a whole sword?

Pandred: I like sprucing up the house, but what I really would like to dive in on is what our assault on Grond is gonna look like. Are we going to move the supplies from the airship to the cairn campsite? How many men do we want in camp, and how many coming into the dungeon with us? A cook seems smart. I wouldn't mind some heavy infantry or at least sappers. At 6gp a piece, I've got funds for 5 men for two months, which seems like a reasonable amount of time to tackle this thing even if it all goes sour.

Vafrandir: What are you meaning by a sapper in this context? Overall, I agree. Hm. The airship supplies don't have much left: a few more barrels and some lutefisk, but not enough to make a huge difference. We can pay for additional men from party funds and supplement with personal if necessary.

Pandred: Our original hirelings in the distant past were classified as "Sappers". Alexis can call out my definition, but basically it's lightly armored infantry specializing in siegeworks, both the construction of and dismantling. A soldier with a shovel and pick, if you will. They helped us crack the original barrow.

Identifying the Staff

The DM: Guessing at this point that I’ve already been ignored four times on this point, but I’m going to try again: identifying the staff will cost 23 g.p.

Lexent: Sorry, I must have missed your response when I asked what that would take.

Lexent: I do not have the personal funds to identify the staff, would we like to spend party funds to get it identified?