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Message: <blockquote data-quote="NotAYakk" data-source="post: 8369396" data-attributes="member: 72555">So the real trick is, just like Mammon lawyered it into ant generations (I'd basically have it be a grammarical trick; the "your generation" means "a generation of one of you present", and there was literally an ant in one of the contracting dwarves backpacks), the dwarves can lawyer back and make it ant scale gold pieces.An ant weights about 4*10^-3 grams.  A dwarf about 10^5 g.  So ants are 1/4 * 10^8 times smaller than dwarves.210,000,000 ant-sized gp is thus about half a gp in mass.The real trick is Mammon isn't about to tell them this.  Mammon won't even tell them that it was an ant that rules-lawyered them into being able to call in the mark.  Mammon just states the compact is up, that they owe 1% of the total wealth gathered plus 210 million separate gold pieces, as specified in the contract, by (suitably short period of time).The contract specified specific locations for each.Mammon is hoping that the dwarves don't realize that the 210 million gp is actually a tiny pile of gold dust.  Note that it must be 210 (or more) million separate pieces of gold, so a single gp won't work.The bit where the generations is based off the contracting parties, and the contracting parties are those who arrived with the dwarves and where present at the signing, and that the gold pieces are defined as customary coin size for the contracting parties of standard and reasonable size, is spread throughout the contract.So untangling the fact that one of the contracting parties was an ant, and that the gold piece definition is tied to that, and that the pile of gold dust fullfills the contract, becomes the game to play.Another twist is that the Dwarves, not being morons, got a Modron to audit the contract for "is there anything in here that would make it nearly impossible to fullfill".  The modron found it would be easy, as 1% of the gold mined plus a small pile of gold dust after 210 years wouldn't be hard at all.  The Modron didn't detail why it was a reasonable contract, that wasn't their job.The Dwarves, also not being morons, arranged for an arbitration via a Modron.  So Mammon's delivery of the demand comes guaranteed by said Modron, which should really confuse the Dwarves.  The Modron does not explain the contract or the interpretation that makes this valid, but what it does say should include some clues; to the Modron, the fact that the generations are that of an ant, and the like, are obvious.  It is written right there (in the huge complex contract).Mammon will have gone off and arranged for some red herrings.  But some of those red herrings will provide clues for the PCs to work this out.Some clues could include:1. The ant colony is still intact, and its continued existence matters.  Maybe the dwarves are using giant versions of the ants to do some of the mining, as underground beasts of burden; they use the ant forge to turn tiny common ants into large laborers.2. The death of the original contracting parties and all of their descendants is one way to avoid the contract.  They get consigned to hell, but the city gets off.  At least one faction of the dwarves should be doing this.  But if they miss the ants, it won't work.  Wiping out the royal family ... doesn't make it fail.  Include divination methods to find all issue of the original dwarves so the players realize they hit a dead end, and that there are other contracting parties that where not the original dwarves.  Another clue.3. Maybe the deal has multiple default clauses.  Like, after 1 week, the contract specifies a price of 1/1024 of the contracting and descendent body and souls to Mammon, which he turns into hell-warped dwarves ... who ride hell-warped ants.  This default doubles every week.  The ants being hell-warped is a clue.4. The Modron-judge will answer 1 yes/no question each day stated by one of the contracting parties representatives if there is a descendant of one of the contracting parties in the room as part of the deal during the "default" stage.   Any ant in the room makes this happen to the first question uttered.  This is another possible clue.Mammon can engage in red herrings.  Some of them should involve screwups.  Maybe the Fey are involved, paying off a debt to Mammon.  Maybe using magic to make more dwarves become blood relatives of the original contracting parties?  And one of their requirements is not to cause damage in the area where the ant hive is (not mentioning the ant hive by name).  Another fey sneaks in and tries to steal some ants as a backup plan (which the PCs can run into and get suspicious of).</blockquote>

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