[Other] Halforums Heist

Wahad

Wahad

Charity

Charity watches the crusader leave with a thoughtful expression. "I'm not sure," she finally admits to Martin. "I mean, you're right, of course. But she said other offers would come, and...I don't know if smiting evil is my calling, you know? I always felt like I should be helping those in need first, in a more constructive way. Sure, if I need to chase some bandits out, I will, but...I'll see if anybody else shows up. I can always join the Order if it turns out nobody else is a good fit."
 
MindDetective

MindDetective

Cleaning commences on the manor. Their undead resident has had a mischievous evening, writing "Last Call" on the walls and spreading around the piles of trash and broken furniture. One of the barstools is freshly broken, although easily mended with a spell.

After the noon meal, cleaning continues until a loud knock on the door alerts Ty, who answers the door.

"Ullo," the dwarf says. "I'm Gurstok Firebrand of the carpenter's guild. Let's 'av a look, right?"

The dwarf pushes his way in and gets a tour of the house. He is clearly practiced in examining such dilapidated places as he can also spot where the mason's guild and the glassblower's guild will need to be called in. "You've got some roof repairs and the sagging floor in the attic looks to be due to a rotting crossbeam. The floor and beam need to be replaced. Some cracked stonework and broken windows mean you'll have some water problems soon if they aren't fixed. I can't tell if the one bathroom has any problems with all of that mud and dirt in there. It could be fine but the mud has me a bit worried. Obviously you'll need to bring in the proper guild members to get their quotes but..."

"...I'd put your carpentry needs at about 350-450 gold. Your masonry and glass needs add another 150-250 gold. I'd say to get this place into working shape, you need somewhere between 500 and 700 gold."

( @HCGLNS since we haven't heard from him in a while.)
 
phil

phil

After hearing the estimate for the repairs Ran approaches the dwarf from the builders guild and takes him outside of the earshot of the others.

"Hiya, the names Ran, president and founder of Ran's home for wayward humans. Y'see my friend, I'm trying to provide a good home for these poor wild humies. They ain't as refined as us normal sized folk. The old man worships a god of relaxing oil scents. Between you and me I think he lost all his money in a pyramid scheme and it broke the poor fella. And she's just a small town girl, living in this lonely world. She's unwed and according to human tradition probably looking for a cat or three to look after. They're from a strange land that elected a wicked orange golem as their leader because it said it was rich and they'll probably do it again."

Ran wipes a single tear from his eye. With a brave face he looks Gurstok in the eye and continues

"Now I'm not asking you to help me. I'm asking you to help them. What can you do to help these poor unfortunate long legs? All of which can be written off as for charitable tax reasons."

[Persuasion 17]
 
MindDetective

MindDetective

phil said:
After hearing the estimate for the repairs Ran approaches the dwarf from the builders guild and takes him outside of the earshot of the others.

"Hiya, the names Ran, president and founder of Ran's home for wayward humans. Y'see my friend, I'm trying to provide a good home for these poor wild humies. They ain't as refined as us normal sized folk. The old man worships a god of relaxing oil scents. Between you and me I think he lost all his money in a pyramid scheme and it broke the poor fella. And she's just a small town girl, living in this lonely world. She's unwed and according to human tradition probably looking for a cat or three to look after. They're from a strange land that elected a wicked orange golem as their leader because it said it was rich and they'll probably do it again."

Ran wipes a single tear from his eye. With a brave face he looks Gurstok in the eye and continues

"Now I'm not asking you to help me. I'm asking you to help them. What can you do to help these poor unfortunate long legs? All of which can be written off as for charitable tax reasons."

[Persuasion 17]
Click to expand...
(For future reference, this is enough of stretched truth that a deception roll would be necessary. However...)

The dwarf waves away Ran's plea. "I'm not givin' ye a bid, my friend. I'm just providing an estimate of what bids I think you'll get. I'll write up the jobs ye need done and post them to the guild. You'll have yer pick of licensed carpenters to haggle with. ye can hire one to do the whole lot or hire several to each take on different jobs. I've no stake in it beyond determining how much ye need done."
 
HCGLNS

HCGLNS

(I'm still here and following everything, Erythro has just decided to remain silent and let Brad wheel and deal. Ready to use my portent if needed.)
 
grub

grub

Brad looks at the dwarf. Putting on his best smile he says "We have come into possession of a former tavern called Trollskull Manor. We intend to bring it back to its former glory. Unfortunately It is in need of some repairs and we are investigating sources of funding to facilitate said repairs. We were told that you might be able to help in that regard."
 
MindDetective

MindDetective

grub said:
Brad looks at the dwarf. Putting on his best smile he says "We have come into possession of a former tavern called Trollskull Manor. We intend to bring it back to its former glory. Unfortunately It is in need of some repairs and we are investigating sources of funding to facilitate said repairs. We were told that you might be able to help in that regard."
Click to expand...
The dwarf woman looks from Brad to Erythro and back again. After a moment, a toothy smile spreads across her face. "Yes, I may be able to help with that. How much will you need for these repairs?"
 
grub

grub

Brad looks up at the dwarf woman "If I could have a word with my compatriot before we set a price, it would be appreciated." He turns to Erythro and whispers. "There are six of us, so probably 100 gp each would be the most I'd like to owe anybody at this point."
 
grub

grub

Brad looks back at the dwarf, "I apologize for my friend, he seems to be having a bit of an anxiety issue. He is not used to meetings in regards to gold. I believe that between my 5 friends and I we would not feel comfortable borrowing more than 600 gold pieces, or 100gp each. I hope that is not excessive to ask for." With that Brad bows to the dwarf and waits for her response.
 
MindDetective

MindDetective

The dwarf's grin somehow grows wider. She scribbles on a piece of parchment as she fiddles with an abacus. Eventually she says, "It will cost you 120 gold in interest. You will pay 36 gold per ten-day for 200 days, at which point it will be paid off. Those are my terms."
 
MindDetective

MindDetective

Istrid fills in a scroll with the requisite numbers and has Brad and Erythro each sign it. "If you fail to pay, there will be consequences. Your interest paid will be forfeit and you will be given a not-so-gentle reminder to pay on time. I expect your first payment of 36 gold in ten days."

With that, she hands over a small chest of platinum pieces totally 600 gp. And then the pair depart to return to Trollskull.

While en route to the manor, a paper bird flies down to Erythro and lands at his feet. When he opens it, he reads the following:

Renaer tells us you are a good bet. He bought you all tickets to the opera tonight at the Lightsinger Theater in the Sea Ward. If you are interested, meet Mirt at intermission. Private Box C. Formal attire is required for admittance.
 
phil

phil

Would there be some kind of public records office type deal? I'd like to find out who used to live here so we can maybe figure out what the ghost wants.
 
HCGLNS

HCGLNS

The stone faced wizard breathes a sigh of relief when he exits the loan shop, grateful that they never searched them. Might have been a tight squeeze if the Zhents found he was walking around with 700 gp worth of treasure recently stolen from them. The missive puzzles him briefly, before he informs Brad, "Make haste to the manor and tell all within the bathe, urgently. I have a few more errands to run and will return shortly."

Erythro then makes haste to his criminal contact to safely sway the silver bars for gold and dashes off to the high end district to purchase high end clothing for himself and his fellow companions with his new fluid cash supply.

I had wanted us to end up somewhere where I could swap the silver as well as get a loan, but when you mentioned the Zhent tattoo on the thug, Erythro clammed up. Then some real life got in the way for a bit. Sorry.

If I need to make any roles to guess dress sizes and what not for the group let me know, and I will buy each player one set of finery. PHB says that's 15 gp each..., maybe I can bargain a discount.
 
MindDetective

MindDetective

HCGLNS said:
Erythro then makes haste to his criminal contact to safely sway the silver bars for gold
Click to expand...
This is fine but everything else you'll have to roll a d12 to see what the offer is.

Erythro returns to the manor as everyone is uncertainly still cleaning. They received Brad's message but were quite unsure what it meant and perhaps did not receive the urgency of the message. The wizard detective has purchased for everyone a fine set of clothes. Ran's fits quite well, as does Ty's. Brad and Charity, however, find the clothing too big and too tight respectively.

"What is going on?" Ty says.
 
grub

grub

"We borrowed gold from a Zhentarim loan shark to fix up the place, then we got a message to meet someone at a theatre. More than that we'll have to find out."
 
Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

"You did WHAT? Please tell me you didn't make a deal with those leg-breakers? I've cleaned up their handiwork more than once preaching on the streets."
 
HCGLNS

HCGLNS

Since it's straight tradeable currency, how could I ever get above market value for it? How about 600 gp for the bars and I skip the roll?
 
HCGLNS

HCGLNS

Oh, the paintings are still back at the bar, I expected to need a fence for those, but am leaning towards getting some frames made for them. So how much for the silver?
 
Wahad

Wahad

Charity

"...I look like a fool," Charity mumbles to herself, trying not to tear the fine clothes on accident but finding her movement terribly restricted, which makes her look even more foolish, "but at least I didn't go loan money from criminals that probably wanna kill us. What in the Great Mother's name were y'all thinking? We're adventurers, for goodness' sake. Could've gotten the money elsewhere. Marten and me got an offer only a few hours earlier!" She shakes her head. "But I guess what's done is done." A heavy sigh is accompanied by another gesture at her clothes. "The wizard could've at least gotten me a size bigger."
 
phil

phil

Ran thinks for a moment.

"Hey, so uh.... Outta curiosity who's all names do these people have? What if we, and by we I mean you, just go back and pay them what you took? Cause I gotta tell you, sweet as these dogs is I ain't sure if they're 'broken legs and hey has anyone seen Ran what happened to him' sweet. I mean, it is haunted which is something everyone seems to be weirdly fine with"

Ran takes a moment to reflect on the poor choices that have led him to this point in life and then wonders if he can catch up with those zelot types and if they operate in the places he's not quite welcome in.
 
HCGLNS

HCGLNS

"All is well my friends, tonight we meet with the aristocracy of Waterdeep, hence the upgrade in garments. We can certainly seek to get funds to repair this house from them in addition to our current funds. Sorry Charity but that is the current style for ladies of court or so I am told. Quickly, now all of you you, our carriage awaits. And fear not friends, soon the manor shall be restored and our revenue issues solved. And dear sweet Ran, darling little Ran you just defeated a mindflayer, finances are the least of your worries. What you need to worry about is finding favour with people who can protect you, perhaps you will meet one tonight."

Then checks on his slate and asks a new question "Will you help us restore the bar?"
 
MindDetective

MindDetective

The party is about to head out the door when Ran stops in his tracks.

In his head, Ran hears a voice that is not his own. It says, "I am Vajra Safahr, the Blackstaff. Come to Blackstaff Tower in the Castle Ward at 9am tomorrow morning. Bring your friends.”

The walk to the theater is a pleasant one, although the sky dims a little quicker than usual as thick clouds have rolled over the city. At the theater, Erythro acquires their tickets, which are being held for them, and they are seated in the center of audience. The opera is The Fall of Tiamat, sung entirely in Giant. It tells the dramatic story of
the evil dragon queen’s defeat at the Well of Dragons. To the bards in the audience, it is expertly performed, even to one that does not understand the lyrics.

At intermission, the party seeks out Mirt in his private box. He is a rotund man with mischievous eyes and an infectious smile.

"Ah!" he says. "There they are! I am Mirt, the face of the Harpers. How do you like the show so far?"
 
grub

grub

"The performance is great. You can catch the general inflection, but more importantly why did you want to meet us here?" Brad asks. "You could have met us at the manor, instead of somewhere unfamiliar. Or was your intention to keep us on our toes."
 
phil

phil

[sorry for the lack of participation on my end. Things were a little hectic IRL but I've got some things settled and will be posting more starting later today]
 
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