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<blockquote data-quote="jdavis" data-source="post: 807732" data-attributes="member: 8704"><p>Holly’s Gilded Cage; Pleasure House</p><p></p><p>If you have a vice and you have the money (and it’s legal in Mor’s End) then you can probably find what you are looking for at Holly’s. Nicknamed “Holly’s Jollies” by its patrons, it serves as a high-class brothel, a gambling casino and a tavern. Holly’s even has a small stage for musical performances and short plays to entertain the patrons. Holly’s customers are the elite of Mor’s End and you cannot even get into the place without having a regular patron vouch for you. Holly’s is a non-descript mansion in the rich quarter of town, it has no signs or advertising and most of the common people in town do not even know of its existence. Holly’s caters its “entertainment” to it’s customers desires and make every effort to fulfill their request, the price is always negotiable but is never cheap. The warders of Mor’s End keep a good eye on the place and make sure that everything that goes on stays legal; many of the warders are long standing customers and are leery of giving their political enemies any leverage. While many things that happen in the house boarder on scandalous, Holly’s makes a point to sponsor very good bards and minstrels to perform on its stage and occasionally brings in acting troops from other cities to perform there, many patrons joke that “the only reason they go is for the wonderful theatre performances.” </p><p></p><p>Holly’s is run by Guilford Middling and his wife Elsa Middling; the name is a carry over from the former proprietor. Guilford is a bard of some talent and his wife is a very good administrator. Elsa runs the business while Guilford mostly hosts the nightly festivities and entertains the patrons. They have 20 girls, 2 door-guards, a bartender, a chef and a Half Orc bouncer named Garash who work for them. They will not tolerate trouble and are not concerned with how rich or noble the customers are, you break the rules and you are thrown out the door. The threat of being banned from the establishment is normally enough to calm down any problems with troublemakers they have, but if somebody persist Garash steps in. </p><p>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>The Secret of Guilford and Elsa Middling.</p><p></p><p>Guilford Middling and Elsa Middling are the made up names of Darius Longknife and Elise Von Batten, who moved to Mor’s End and established new identities to hide from their would be pursuers. Darius is an assassin by trade and a quite good one at that; he made a name for himself in the North as the minstrel-assassin, unfortunately for Darius becoming will known is very dangerous for a assassin. Soon it became obvious that it was time for him to “retire” and move on. Darius had made several powerful enemies so he decided to disguise himself as a wandering bard and head south. </p><p></p><p>During Darius’s travels he ran across a beautiful young daughter of a nobleman who was being transported to meet her husband to be for a marriage that had been pre-arranged. After luring the young woman into his bed Darius decided to he would rob the procession and steal the girls dowry. Before he could go through with his plan the girl, Elise Von Batten, asked Darius to help her escape from the pre-arranged marriage. It was little trouble for Darius to silence the guards and steal the wagon containing the dowry but before he left Darius went back and slew the whole wedding party to insure they would not be followed. After riding south with the girl Darius decided not to kill her. By this time she was very much in love with her “rescuer”. From there the two of them set out to find a place where they could hide out and start new lives.</p><p></p><p>After several months of life on the run the two came to Mor’s End. They decided to take over a high priced brothel in town after the previous owner retired (to the bottom of Lake Enoria, tied to a large stone). That was five years ago and Holly’s has flourished under their control, they are both very comfortable in their new lives. Darius is particularly fond of his retirement, he is much richer than he ever dreamed of being and playing gracious host to these backwoods yokels is a far easier life than living by the blade. </p><p></p><p>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>Guilford Middling: Male Human Brd4/Rog2/Asn2; HD 4d6+4 (Bard), 2d6+2 (Rogue), 2d6+2 (Assassin); hp 46; Init + 3; Spd 30; AC 18; Atk + 7 base melee, + 8 base ranged; +7/+7 (1d4+3, +1 Kukri; 1d4+1, Kukri, Masterwork); +8 (1d6+2, Sword, short, Masterwork); Class Features: Bard: Shield proficiency, Medium armor proficiency, Light armor proficiency, Simple weapon proficiency, Spells, Bardic Knowledge, Bardic Music, Proficiency: Sword, short; Rogue: Traps, Medium Rogue weapon proficiencies, Rogue weapon proficiencies, Light armor proficiency, Sneak Attack +2d6, Evasion; Assassin: Poison Use, Death Attack, Uncanny Dodge (Dex bonus to AC), +1 save vs. poison; AL N; SV Fort + 2, Ref + 13, Will + 5; STR 15, DEX 16, CON 13, INT 13, WIS 12, CHA 15.</p><p>Skills: Appraise + 4, Balance + 3, Bluff + 8, Climb + 2, Disable Device + 6, Disguise + 10, Gather Information + 4, Hide + 10, Jump + 2, Listen + 6, Move Silently + 10, Open Lock + 8, Perform + 11, Search + 4, Spot + 7, Use Rope + 5. </p><p>Feats: Ambidexterity, Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Kukri, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Focus: Kukri.</p><p>Possessions:</p><p>Weapons: Kukri, Masterwork; Sword, short, Masterwork; +1 Kukri: Wounding.</p><p>Armor: Elven Chain.</p><p>Goods: Thieves' tools, Masterwork, Musical instrument, Masterwork.</p><p>Magic: Ring: Mind Shielding.</p><p></p><p> Spells Known (Brd 3/3/1): 0 - Daze, Ghost Sound, Open/Close; 1st - Cause Fear, Feather Fall, Sleep; 2nd - Darkness.</p><p>Spells Known (Asn --/2): 1st - Absorb Weapon, Change Self, Detect Poison, Ghost Sound, Obscuring Mist, Spider Climb, Spring Sheath, Spring Sheath.</p><p> </p><p>Guilford Middling is the alias of Darius Longknife, retired assassin of the Brotherhood of Vipers. Darius has truly tried to change his ways and now concentrates on his singing and lute playing instead of his skills with a dagger. He doesn’t believe that there is any way to make up for the evil he has done in his life so he just doesn’t try, he thinks of himself as Guilford Middling and tries to forget he ever had another name. Darius does not sleep well at night and is often woken up by nightmares of those he has killed coming back for revenge. He has not killed in five years and hopes he never has to again, deep down he fears that if he ever killed again that he would revert to the man he used to be. He has slowly changed alignment from evil to neutral and can no longer gain levels as an assassin.</p><p></p><p>Alternate character concept </p><p>Darius Longknife has never wished to change his ways, every once in a while he slips out at night and kills a random person on the street, just to keep his skills sharp. After five years of hiding he feels a strong need to get back into the business, only the fear of being found out keeps him from going back to his former profession. (change alignment to Chaotic Evil)</p><p></p><p>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>Elsa Middling: Female Human Ari3; HD 3d8 (Aristocrat) ; hp 17; Init + 0; Spd 30; AC 11; Atk + 2 base melee, + 2 base ranged; +3 ( 1d4, Dagger, Masterwork ); AL CN; SV Fort + 1, Ref + 1, Will + 4; STR 10, DEX 11, CON 11, INT 13, WIS 12, CHA 17.</p><p>Skills: Appraise + 5, Bluff + 7, Diplomacy + 9, Disguise + 7, Innuendo + 5, Listen + 3, Profession (Bookkeeper) + 6, Sense Motive + 3, Spot + 3. </p><p>Feats: Alertness, Quick Draw, Skill Focus: Profession (Bookkeeper).</p><p>Possessions:</p><p>Weapons: Dagger, Masterwork.</p><p>Magic: Ring: Protection +1.</p><p></p><p>Elsa Middling is the alias of Lady Elise Von Batten. Elise was the daughter of a powerful baron in the north. She feels great remorse for the things she allowed Darius to do to the people she grew up with. But realizes it was the only way for her to escape being searched for. She is totally devoted to Darius and it was her idea that they pose as husband and wife. After acting like a married couple for nearly 5 years there is little distinction anymore between the ruse and them actually being married. Darius insist that they use the names Guilford and Elsa even in private and she rarely thinks of herself as Elise the baron’s daughter anymore. Elise doesn’t know that Darius killed the old brothel owner and knows very little about Darius past but she knows he is a very dangerous man and has very dangerous enemies. Elise is very protective of the girls that work in the brothel and was the driving force behind adding the theatre stage to Holly’s. She felt that raising the culture level of the place might make the girls that worked there’s lives a little easier. Elise enjoys when Darius performs for the crowds and could listen to him for hours, Guilford Middling the bard is the man she loves, Darius Longknife is a long forgotten stranger she hopes never returns.</p><p></p><p>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>Garash Half Orc: Male Half-Orc War4; HD 4d8+4 (Warrior) ; hp 24; Init + 5; Spd 20; AC 16; Atk + 8 base melee, + 5 base ranged; +9 ( 1d6+4, Club, Masterwork ); +10 ( 1d6+4, Scimitar, Masterwork ); SQ: Darkvision (Ex); Racial Features: Orc Blood; AL LN; SV Fort + 5, Ref + 2, Will + 1; STR 18, DEX 12, CON 13, INT 11, WIS 10, CHA 9.</p><p>Skills: Intimidate + 6, Listen + 4, Sense Motive + 2. </p><p>Feats: Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus: Scimitar.</p><p>Possessions:</p><p>Weapons: Club, Masterwork; Scimitar, Masterwork.</p><p>Armor: Chainmail, Masterwork.</p><p></p><p>Garash is the bouncer at Holly’s but he is also a spy for Lady Kelvin. Lady Kelvin has learned that Guilford Middling was once the assassin Darius Longknife so she has placed a spy in the brothel to make sure that the retired assassin stays retired. Garash doesn’t know how Lady Kelvin knows this and quite frankly he doesn’t care, the gold she pays spends just the same. </p><p></p><p>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>Plot Hooks</p><p>Members of the Brotherhood of the Vipers have been spotted in town by Darius, are they here on “business” or are they here looking for him? Darius hires the PC’s to keep a eye on the assassins in hopes that they will figure out what they are and take care of them before they find him out.</p><p></p><p>Styria Wolfgard may have recognized Elise, can she convince him that her resemblance to a dead girl that he had not seen since she was a small child is just a coincidence? If he figures out who she is then he will ask why she was not killed with the wedding party those many years ago and the answer to that question would cause all sorts of problems for her and Darius.</p><p></p><p>Darius has found out about Lady Kelvin’s spy, how could she of found out about him and why has she allowed him to stay in the city? Is the Lady Kelvin more than the kindly grandmother he was told about? Perhaps it’s time Guilford the Bard and the ruler of the city had a face to face talk.</p><p></p><p>Some local thieves try to muscle in on the buisness, the PC's are hired to protect the place from the Thieves Guild.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="jdavis, post: 807732, member: 8704"] Holly’s Gilded Cage; Pleasure House If you have a vice and you have the money (and it’s legal in Mor’s End) then you can probably find what you are looking for at Holly’s. Nicknamed “Holly’s Jollies” by its patrons, it serves as a high-class brothel, a gambling casino and a tavern. Holly’s even has a small stage for musical performances and short plays to entertain the patrons. Holly’s customers are the elite of Mor’s End and you cannot even get into the place without having a regular patron vouch for you. Holly’s is a non-descript mansion in the rich quarter of town, it has no signs or advertising and most of the common people in town do not even know of its existence. Holly’s caters its “entertainment” to it’s customers desires and make every effort to fulfill their request, the price is always negotiable but is never cheap. The warders of Mor’s End keep a good eye on the place and make sure that everything that goes on stays legal; many of the warders are long standing customers and are leery of giving their political enemies any leverage. While many things that happen in the house boarder on scandalous, Holly’s makes a point to sponsor very good bards and minstrels to perform on its stage and occasionally brings in acting troops from other cities to perform there, many patrons joke that “the only reason they go is for the wonderful theatre performances.” Holly’s is run by Guilford Middling and his wife Elsa Middling; the name is a carry over from the former proprietor. Guilford is a bard of some talent and his wife is a very good administrator. Elsa runs the business while Guilford mostly hosts the nightly festivities and entertains the patrons. They have 20 girls, 2 door-guards, a bartender, a chef and a Half Orc bouncer named Garash who work for them. They will not tolerate trouble and are not concerned with how rich or noble the customers are, you break the rules and you are thrown out the door. The threat of being banned from the establishment is normally enough to calm down any problems with troublemakers they have, but if somebody persist Garash steps in. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Secret of Guilford and Elsa Middling. Guilford Middling and Elsa Middling are the made up names of Darius Longknife and Elise Von Batten, who moved to Mor’s End and established new identities to hide from their would be pursuers. Darius is an assassin by trade and a quite good one at that; he made a name for himself in the North as the minstrel-assassin, unfortunately for Darius becoming will known is very dangerous for a assassin. Soon it became obvious that it was time for him to “retire” and move on. Darius had made several powerful enemies so he decided to disguise himself as a wandering bard and head south. During Darius’s travels he ran across a beautiful young daughter of a nobleman who was being transported to meet her husband to be for a marriage that had been pre-arranged. After luring the young woman into his bed Darius decided to he would rob the procession and steal the girls dowry. Before he could go through with his plan the girl, Elise Von Batten, asked Darius to help her escape from the pre-arranged marriage. It was little trouble for Darius to silence the guards and steal the wagon containing the dowry but before he left Darius went back and slew the whole wedding party to insure they would not be followed. After riding south with the girl Darius decided not to kill her. By this time she was very much in love with her “rescuer”. From there the two of them set out to find a place where they could hide out and start new lives. After several months of life on the run the two came to Mor’s End. They decided to take over a high priced brothel in town after the previous owner retired (to the bottom of Lake Enoria, tied to a large stone). That was five years ago and Holly’s has flourished under their control, they are both very comfortable in their new lives. Darius is particularly fond of his retirement, he is much richer than he ever dreamed of being and playing gracious host to these backwoods yokels is a far easier life than living by the blade. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Guilford Middling: Male Human Brd4/Rog2/Asn2; HD 4d6+4 (Bard), 2d6+2 (Rogue), 2d6+2 (Assassin); hp 46; Init + 3; Spd 30; AC 18; Atk + 7 base melee, + 8 base ranged; +7/+7 (1d4+3, +1 Kukri; 1d4+1, Kukri, Masterwork); +8 (1d6+2, Sword, short, Masterwork); Class Features: Bard: Shield proficiency, Medium armor proficiency, Light armor proficiency, Simple weapon proficiency, Spells, Bardic Knowledge, Bardic Music, Proficiency: Sword, short; Rogue: Traps, Medium Rogue weapon proficiencies, Rogue weapon proficiencies, Light armor proficiency, Sneak Attack +2d6, Evasion; Assassin: Poison Use, Death Attack, Uncanny Dodge (Dex bonus to AC), +1 save vs. poison; AL N; SV Fort + 2, Ref + 13, Will + 5; STR 15, DEX 16, CON 13, INT 13, WIS 12, CHA 15. Skills: Appraise + 4, Balance + 3, Bluff + 8, Climb + 2, Disable Device + 6, Disguise + 10, Gather Information + 4, Hide + 10, Jump + 2, Listen + 6, Move Silently + 10, Open Lock + 8, Perform + 11, Search + 4, Spot + 7, Use Rope + 5. Feats: Ambidexterity, Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Kukri, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Focus: Kukri. Possessions: Weapons: Kukri, Masterwork; Sword, short, Masterwork; +1 Kukri: Wounding. Armor: Elven Chain. Goods: Thieves' tools, Masterwork, Musical instrument, Masterwork. Magic: Ring: Mind Shielding. Spells Known (Brd 3/3/1): 0 - Daze, Ghost Sound, Open/Close; 1st - Cause Fear, Feather Fall, Sleep; 2nd - Darkness. Spells Known (Asn --/2): 1st - Absorb Weapon, Change Self, Detect Poison, Ghost Sound, Obscuring Mist, Spider Climb, Spring Sheath, Spring Sheath. Guilford Middling is the alias of Darius Longknife, retired assassin of the Brotherhood of Vipers. Darius has truly tried to change his ways and now concentrates on his singing and lute playing instead of his skills with a dagger. He doesn’t believe that there is any way to make up for the evil he has done in his life so he just doesn’t try, he thinks of himself as Guilford Middling and tries to forget he ever had another name. Darius does not sleep well at night and is often woken up by nightmares of those he has killed coming back for revenge. He has not killed in five years and hopes he never has to again, deep down he fears that if he ever killed again that he would revert to the man he used to be. He has slowly changed alignment from evil to neutral and can no longer gain levels as an assassin. Alternate character concept Darius Longknife has never wished to change his ways, every once in a while he slips out at night and kills a random person on the street, just to keep his skills sharp. After five years of hiding he feels a strong need to get back into the business, only the fear of being found out keeps him from going back to his former profession. (change alignment to Chaotic Evil) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Elsa Middling: Female Human Ari3; HD 3d8 (Aristocrat) ; hp 17; Init + 0; Spd 30; AC 11; Atk + 2 base melee, + 2 base ranged; +3 ( 1d4, Dagger, Masterwork ); AL CN; SV Fort + 1, Ref + 1, Will + 4; STR 10, DEX 11, CON 11, INT 13, WIS 12, CHA 17. Skills: Appraise + 5, Bluff + 7, Diplomacy + 9, Disguise + 7, Innuendo + 5, Listen + 3, Profession (Bookkeeper) + 6, Sense Motive + 3, Spot + 3. Feats: Alertness, Quick Draw, Skill Focus: Profession (Bookkeeper). Possessions: Weapons: Dagger, Masterwork. Magic: Ring: Protection +1. Elsa Middling is the alias of Lady Elise Von Batten. Elise was the daughter of a powerful baron in the north. She feels great remorse for the things she allowed Darius to do to the people she grew up with. But realizes it was the only way for her to escape being searched for. She is totally devoted to Darius and it was her idea that they pose as husband and wife. After acting like a married couple for nearly 5 years there is little distinction anymore between the ruse and them actually being married. Darius insist that they use the names Guilford and Elsa even in private and she rarely thinks of herself as Elise the baron’s daughter anymore. Elise doesn’t know that Darius killed the old brothel owner and knows very little about Darius past but she knows he is a very dangerous man and has very dangerous enemies. Elise is very protective of the girls that work in the brothel and was the driving force behind adding the theatre stage to Holly’s. She felt that raising the culture level of the place might make the girls that worked there’s lives a little easier. Elise enjoys when Darius performs for the crowds and could listen to him for hours, Guilford Middling the bard is the man she loves, Darius Longknife is a long forgotten stranger she hopes never returns. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Garash Half Orc: Male Half-Orc War4; HD 4d8+4 (Warrior) ; hp 24; Init + 5; Spd 20; AC 16; Atk + 8 base melee, + 5 base ranged; +9 ( 1d6+4, Club, Masterwork ); +10 ( 1d6+4, Scimitar, Masterwork ); SQ: Darkvision (Ex); Racial Features: Orc Blood; AL LN; SV Fort + 5, Ref + 2, Will + 1; STR 18, DEX 12, CON 13, INT 11, WIS 10, CHA 9. Skills: Intimidate + 6, Listen + 4, Sense Motive + 2. Feats: Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus: Scimitar. Possessions: Weapons: Club, Masterwork; Scimitar, Masterwork. Armor: Chainmail, Masterwork. Garash is the bouncer at Holly’s but he is also a spy for Lady Kelvin. Lady Kelvin has learned that Guilford Middling was once the assassin Darius Longknife so she has placed a spy in the brothel to make sure that the retired assassin stays retired. Garash doesn’t know how Lady Kelvin knows this and quite frankly he doesn’t care, the gold she pays spends just the same. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Plot Hooks Members of the Brotherhood of the Vipers have been spotted in town by Darius, are they here on “business” or are they here looking for him? Darius hires the PC’s to keep a eye on the assassins in hopes that they will figure out what they are and take care of them before they find him out. Styria Wolfgard may have recognized Elise, can she convince him that her resemblance to a dead girl that he had not seen since she was a small child is just a coincidence? If he figures out who she is then he will ask why she was not killed with the wedding party those many years ago and the answer to that question would cause all sorts of problems for her and Darius. Darius has found out about Lady Kelvin’s spy, how could she of found out about him and why has she allowed him to stay in the city? Is the Lady Kelvin more than the kindly grandmother he was told about? Perhaps it’s time Guilford the Bard and the ruler of the city had a face to face talk. Some local thieves try to muscle in on the buisness, the PC's are hired to protect the place from the Thieves Guild. [/QUOTE]
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