Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Dark Sun: Praetor
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Iron Sky" data-source="post: 5702457" data-attributes="member: 60965"><p><strong>22nd of Sorrow</strong></p><p><em>Crystal Gardens Forum, The Market Precinct, Balic</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em></em>And that's how you turn the dirty work that no one else wants to do into profit.</p><p></p><p>I was awakened late this afternoon by Praetor Ementius and his bodyguards letting themselves into my room. Ementius isn't the sort to play with formalities, so he just ordered me to handle the Reese/Arvos issue. Officially, he can't give me orders, but we're both pragmatic enough to know that's what they were.</p><p></p><p>The issue, in short, had to do with number of patrician families' long standing debts to Merchant House Reese, the primary moneylenders in Balic. House Arvos, owners of several of the best and largest gladitorial ludi in Balic, led the conglomeration of patricians disputing Reese demands that those families pay their ancestral debts.</p><p></p><p>A quick visit to Dephnical's estate for advice after meeting up with Mortuus and Darus led to a chance meeting with Rava, still appropriately attired in grieving colors after the loss of her husband. Unfortunately, my mind was elsewhere and my tongue was more like lead than silver. I forced myself to shut my mouth and politely excuse myself before I made a total fool of myself.</p><p></p><p>Dephnical had some useful advice. Nothing to do with which side had the more just claim, of course, but mostly as to which side would make the more powerful ally or enemy. His thoughts mostly aligned with mine - Reeve is a rich and powerful merchant house despite its relatively small size while Arvos represents a group of heavily indebted patricians.</p><p></p><p>He also thanked me for the Sand Deva slaves and mentioned that his daughter's mourning period would soon be over. There was little doubt in his mind that a "proper suitor" would be around when the time was right.</p><p></p><p>From there, Darus, Mortuus, and I went to the Reese compound to "listen impartially to all sides, searching for any extenuating circumstances that might influence the investigation, and to ensure the ruling is the most beneficial for <em>all</em> that are involved."</p><p></p><p>I left Mortuus behind to see if they got the message.</p><p></p><p>Similar at Lord Arvos estate and his gathering of lesser nobles - but with two hours of listening them go on and on about "false claims" "perjury" "Reese lies" "false ledgers" and every other complaint you could think of.</p><p></p><p>I used Mortuus' arrival as an excuse to slip away to a remote, overgrown, and unattended section of Arvos' garden - just in case Arvos had someone trying to spy on us. There Mortuus handed me the small purse a Reese valet had conveniently dropped and forgotten to pick up when Mortuus was leaving the Reese compound. He also informed me that he "accidentally overheard" some Reese agents discussing the "Jarko and Tomblador loans for Tyr."</p><p></p><p>Half-an-hour later we were at the Tomblador Compound talking with Kalius. The old adage "important business happens at its own hour" placated him somewhat - it was sometime past midnight at the time - and mentioning merchant houses Tomblador, Jarko, and Reese in the same sentence got us a meeting in a room at the top of a small minaret barely big enough for the three of us.</p><p></p><p>The problem: on the ledger, Reese had enough to loan Tomblador and Jarko a massive sum for a joint venture. In reality, much of that money was tied up in decades-old debts across the whole of Balic. While Reese was able to collect most of them, they didn't have enough clout to get Arvos and those smaller houses that hid under his wings to pay up. Enter the Praetors.</p><p></p><p>The solution: a tiny fraction of the profits might find themselves in a certain Praetor's pockets should the ruling be found in Reese' favor. The decision was simple. I now own a small but significant part of a massive venture to deliver hundreds of slaves to an unknown agent in Tyr. The fact that after Kalak's death slavery is illegal in Tyr doesn't seem to have deterred whoever this mystery buyer is - in fact, he's paying far, far above market rates.</p><p></p><p>After the usual mutual promises of secrecy and profession of aligned interests, we headed back so I could make the ruling. As a bonus, I found the Crystal Garden Forum's owner willing to pay me a small "agency fee" for having the Judgement held in his establishment that he might profit on a small host of merchant and patrician semi-notables enjoying his food, drink, and hospitality leading up to and during the proceedings.</p><p></p><p>Once everyone was convened, I went off by myself to "consider the evidence." What I really did was dice a few rounds over broy with Darus, enjoy one of the Crystal Garden's female slaves, and take a short nap.</p><p></p><p>My following speech was laced with "fairness", "justice", "difficulty", "heavy responsibilities", "hard decisions", and "extensive research" - essentially softening the blow for what I'd mostly decided before I'd even left Dephnical's estate. I finished with "any dissent will be taken as questioning the Will of Andropinis and his representatives that you <em>yourselves </em>called here to mediate after failing to reach accommodations on your own."</p><p></p><p>Then I left Darus to handle any further discussion. Have I ever mentioned that Darus hates politics, small talk, complaints, and being social in general? As such, he's a perfect choice for wrapping things up.</p><p></p><p>Speaking of, he just walked in.</p><p></p><p>This business is over, but again I find myself still awake an hour before dawn. Maybe when I get back to the Praetorium I can get some rest and get back to some sort of normal schedule. I've got more work to do.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Iron Sky, post: 5702457, member: 60965"] [B]22nd of Sorrow[/B] [I]Crystal Gardens Forum, The Market Precinct, Balic [/I]And that's how you turn the dirty work that no one else wants to do into profit. I was awakened late this afternoon by Praetor Ementius and his bodyguards letting themselves into my room. Ementius isn't the sort to play with formalities, so he just ordered me to handle the Reese/Arvos issue. Officially, he can't give me orders, but we're both pragmatic enough to know that's what they were. The issue, in short, had to do with number of patrician families' long standing debts to Merchant House Reese, the primary moneylenders in Balic. House Arvos, owners of several of the best and largest gladitorial ludi in Balic, led the conglomeration of patricians disputing Reese demands that those families pay their ancestral debts. A quick visit to Dephnical's estate for advice after meeting up with Mortuus and Darus led to a chance meeting with Rava, still appropriately attired in grieving colors after the loss of her husband. Unfortunately, my mind was elsewhere and my tongue was more like lead than silver. I forced myself to shut my mouth and politely excuse myself before I made a total fool of myself. Dephnical had some useful advice. Nothing to do with which side had the more just claim, of course, but mostly as to which side would make the more powerful ally or enemy. His thoughts mostly aligned with mine - Reeve is a rich and powerful merchant house despite its relatively small size while Arvos represents a group of heavily indebted patricians. He also thanked me for the Sand Deva slaves and mentioned that his daughter's mourning period would soon be over. There was little doubt in his mind that a "proper suitor" would be around when the time was right. From there, Darus, Mortuus, and I went to the Reese compound to "listen impartially to all sides, searching for any extenuating circumstances that might influence the investigation, and to ensure the ruling is the most beneficial for [I]all[/I] that are involved." I left Mortuus behind to see if they got the message. Similar at Lord Arvos estate and his gathering of lesser nobles - but with two hours of listening them go on and on about "false claims" "perjury" "Reese lies" "false ledgers" and every other complaint you could think of. I used Mortuus' arrival as an excuse to slip away to a remote, overgrown, and unattended section of Arvos' garden - just in case Arvos had someone trying to spy on us. There Mortuus handed me the small purse a Reese valet had conveniently dropped and forgotten to pick up when Mortuus was leaving the Reese compound. He also informed me that he "accidentally overheard" some Reese agents discussing the "Jarko and Tomblador loans for Tyr." Half-an-hour later we were at the Tomblador Compound talking with Kalius. The old adage "important business happens at its own hour" placated him somewhat - it was sometime past midnight at the time - and mentioning merchant houses Tomblador, Jarko, and Reese in the same sentence got us a meeting in a room at the top of a small minaret barely big enough for the three of us. The problem: on the ledger, Reese had enough to loan Tomblador and Jarko a massive sum for a joint venture. In reality, much of that money was tied up in decades-old debts across the whole of Balic. While Reese was able to collect most of them, they didn't have enough clout to get Arvos and those smaller houses that hid under his wings to pay up. Enter the Praetors. The solution: a tiny fraction of the profits might find themselves in a certain Praetor's pockets should the ruling be found in Reese' favor. The decision was simple. I now own a small but significant part of a massive venture to deliver hundreds of slaves to an unknown agent in Tyr. The fact that after Kalak's death slavery is illegal in Tyr doesn't seem to have deterred whoever this mystery buyer is - in fact, he's paying far, far above market rates. After the usual mutual promises of secrecy and profession of aligned interests, we headed back so I could make the ruling. As a bonus, I found the Crystal Garden Forum's owner willing to pay me a small "agency fee" for having the Judgement held in his establishment that he might profit on a small host of merchant and patrician semi-notables enjoying his food, drink, and hospitality leading up to and during the proceedings. Once everyone was convened, I went off by myself to "consider the evidence." What I really did was dice a few rounds over broy with Darus, enjoy one of the Crystal Garden's female slaves, and take a short nap. My following speech was laced with "fairness", "justice", "difficulty", "heavy responsibilities", "hard decisions", and "extensive research" - essentially softening the blow for what I'd mostly decided before I'd even left Dephnical's estate. I finished with "any dissent will be taken as questioning the Will of Andropinis and his representatives that you [I]yourselves [/I]called here to mediate after failing to reach accommodations on your own." Then I left Darus to handle any further discussion. Have I ever mentioned that Darus hates politics, small talk, complaints, and being social in general? As such, he's a perfect choice for wrapping things up. Speaking of, he just walked in. This business is over, but again I find myself still awake an hour before dawn. Maybe when I get back to the Praetorium I can get some rest and get back to some sort of normal schedule. I've got more work to do. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Dark Sun: Praetor
Top