Kingmaker Solo Campaign

[Satin Knights]

"If I knew what to say, I would have said it five minutes ago. I'll have to think it over as I work." Kellermyre continues unloading the ship and carrying the cargo to the warehouse.

After the fourth load, he breaks off from what he is doing for a bit and goes and gets Thundar. Putting him on a rope, he leads the guard dog up on ship and and out on to the dock. As he comes to each worker that doesn't have their hands full, because they are going back towards the ship, "Come here a second, please." Making sure the rope is short and he has a good grip, "Down Thundar." The dog wags his tail. "I brought along Thundar here as a guard dog. He needs an introduction as to who his friends are. Approach calmly with your hand palm up and let him sniff it a bit. Just so he knows who you are. By the way, I am Kellermyre Stormforge. And your name is?"

Kellermyre repeats this process with all the workers outside, getting their names and introducing them to the hound. After all the people are introduced, he finds a post that is in site of, but out of the way of the foot traffic that is unloading the ship. Tying the rope to the post, he gives the dog a bit of play room and allows him to watch the procession. "Down Thundar. Stay."

With the introductions done, Kellermyre returns to unloading the ship and carrying the cargo up to the warehouse.

Kellermyre Stormforge
[sblock=actions]Handle Animal DC10 (1d20+7=20, 1d20+7=10, 1d20+7=10, 1d20+7=18, 1d20+7=19, 1d20+7=14, 1d20+7=21, 1d20+7=11, 1d20+7=8, 1d20+7=13) So, Thundar didn't obey once, but Kellermyre had a firm grip of the rope.[/sblock]

 

[Systole]

Peet says, "Well it's usually about levers, boss. She's loyal to Franco and she's protective of her workers, but she feels passed over. So tell her that you'll do right by Franco and that her men will be safe, and then say that you respect her expertise and that you want to work together so that she feels ... what's the word I'm looking for? Oh, yeah: Empowered. It's the whole honey and vinegar and catching flies thing. Otherwise, if you want to butt heads with a dwarf..." she trails off.

"You'll lose?" Uder finishes. "And here I thought you was beyond teaching, Red."

The tiefling bristles. "I was going to say, 'You'll find that they're mostly skull and pretty short on brains,' Grumpy."

Uder grins, knowing that he touched a nerve, and begins unloading the ship. Even for a dwarf, it's surprising how much he's able to cart around. Peet also helps unload, but the tiefling seems to spend most of her time chatting with the workers, while doing the fewest trips with the lightest boxes. After a few hours, the sun is almost set and the ship is unloaded. The workers and the crew begin heading to the mess hall. You notice Uder's hands are nicked and bloody, although the dwarf doesn't seem fazed. "Funny how the calluses you get from swinging an axe are diff'rent from the ones you need for hauling crates," he remarks. He sees you looking at his hands and says, "Don't think about healing 'em, squire. They won't learn right if you do."

. Wholesome Peet . . . Uder Gormengeist .

 

[Satin Knights]

As the workers and crew head on to the mess hall, Kellermyre nods that it is okay and their work is done for the night. "Okay Uder, practical works for me."

Gathering up Thundar's rope, he moves the dog into the guard dog and ties off the rope again. This time, the dog has a near full run of the building as well as enough rope to get about ten feet out the door. "Thundar, Guard." While the others are getting their evening meal, Kellermyre works at at figuring out exactly what he has to work with. Getting out paper and pen, he starts inventorying everything in the warehouse, the original supplies as well as the new stuff just carried in. On another sheet of paper, he also jots down the names he gathered during introductions of the workers to Thundar.

After an hour of counting and inventorying, Kellermyre has a good handle on what his supplies are here . "Thundar, Guard." he restates to the dog before going to the to the mess hall. Walking in, he quietly goes and gets a couple soup bones and a chunk of meat. Grabbing a bowl, he fills it with water as well, before returning back to the warehouse. Feeding the dog, he then goes to the workshop by himself. Inventorying the materials there takes another half hour.

Before returning to the mess hall, he goes to the dock. Looking out, he checks the sea for any lights, any ships on the horizon, any storm that may be brewing...

{{Now to deal with this storm.}} Returning to the mess hall, Kellermyre fetches himself a pate of food and a mug of ale. Taking his grub over to Varga and Phineas' table, he sits down opposite of her. "The ship is unloaded, the stores inventoried, all but the food, and the dog fed." If the next few moments are going to be an argument, he is going to let her have the first volley.

 

[Systole]

Varga looks at you with contempt, but there's slightly less contempt than there was a few hours ago. You suspect that your doing actual physical labor has improved your standing with Varga somewhat, although there's clearly a long way to go. "You've not done much stevedoring before, that's clear. You're placing your weight wrong, and if you keep it up, you'll wrench your back. But as first efforts go, I've seen worse." She looks across the hall at Peet, who is chatting with the workmen, and Uder, who is on the other side of the room having a drink with the sailors. "The tiefling's a shirker, but your one-eyed monkey has some promise. Which surprises me to no end, believe me."

. . . Varga Renlow . . .

 

[Satin Knights]

"Well, once you teach me what stevedoring means, I will try to work on doing it right. There are going to be a lot of jobs here. I am going to have to learn how to do them all." Kellermyre continues with his meal a bit, listening to her evaluation of his partners. "Yeah, she has some bad habits. I'll be working on breaking her of them, but it will be a slow process. But, if you need to know how the seedier folk think, she is a fountain of information. Uder, he's turning out better than I expected too."

Pausing a bit before continuing, "Sorry for barking at you earlier, but as far as I know, you knew I was coming and going to be the leader of this expedition. Those two were refugees of worse situations, but you knew what the bigger picture was. Everybody has their games and politics they are playing. Your boss put me in charge so there is a scapegoat if this fails. You are free from blame and get the "second chance". Gabbiano wants a greenhorn he can push aside once everything is profitable and the dangerous bits have been dealt with. The cardinal wants the temple built and the faith of Tanager to spread. If he gets to spend Franco's money to do it, he considers that a win."

"Well, I have my own game. I am going to make this work, despite the odds. I am staying here and in charge. WE are going to be profitable, but WE are going to control what we do. That is going to be done by hard work, safe decisions, and more hard work. Over time, I will be learning every job. One, to be seen doing it. Two, to know how to do it efficiently and profitably. Three, to see where the scams may be and minimize the loss. And Four, to show others they are replaceable if they don't work hard and fairly. I plan to earn my reputation as the hardest working man here. That's not something you can show off on the dock in thirty seconds to a sassy dwarf."

"You got a pass on the insolence and the night off because your brother is here, and likely leaving soon. But, I kept the men working to do what needed to be done. Then they got their rest and meal in reasonable order. I continued working, for like I said, being the hardest working man here is the way I will earn my reputation."

"But, there is not enough time for that. You need to make a decision. The deadline is coming with the tide. Do you stay and work hard? Or do you hide in your brother's cabin as you go home in disgrace, failing to even try. You don't look like a ditzy elf that I have to woo with poetry and crap. You are honorable and practical. If you have a problem, explain it to me and we will find a solution. But if you challenge me again like that, I will find a way to put you on your kiester, even if it takes three or four tries. If you try it, then somebody below you will think they can try it too. I don't need them going after my job, or yours. I need them to truly fear attempting to do either."

Kellermyre smiles deviously. In a quieter voice, "Yes, my temper will flair, when it serves a purpose, just as the tirade on the dock did."

 

[Systole]

"Stevedoring ... unloading and loading ships. If this settlement is going to be successful, we're going to need lots of trade, lots of ships, lots of stevedores. And if you want to learn, we start at dawn around here. The ship is unloaded, but those furs should go back to Venza and probably the more expensive hardwoods, too. I was going to send the mineral samples along to be looked at, but it looks like the gnome you brought might have that covered." She stands up and gathers her plate and mug. "And if you think you can put me on my keister, you're welcome to try. I'll not say it's never been done, but last one that managed it was a wizard with a grease spell. Didn't work out for him in the end, though, 'cause I walked away with a bruise on my backside, and he walked away with his teeth in a bag."

She turns to leave and glares at a few of the men. "I don't care if you stay up all night dicing with the sailors, but I'll thrash the lot of you if you're not bright-eyed and bushy-tailed come dawn tomorrow."

. . . Varga Renlow . . .

 

[Satin Knights]

{{That went well.}} he thinks to himself. Kellermyre finishes his meal. Not having a formal bunk yet, he returns to the warehouse. Here with the cargo is as good as any to sleep. He strings up his hammock, strips out of his armor, and carefully climbs into the hammock to get some sleep. It's not the best security, but Thundar has a good chance of waking him if trouble approaches.

Kellermyre Stormforge

 

[Systole]

The night passes without incident. Varga does keep a pair of men on watch, but they're not professionals, and they make enough noise to wake you once or twice during the night while they patrol. The following morning, Varga organizes the men into loading the boat, while your lieutenants report in.

Uder speaks first. "You heard them stumbling around too, did you squire? There's not enough guards, and the ones they have ain't trained. If it were up to me, I'd have at least eight on guard, but Varga's probably going to raise a stink if we take that many, because it'll cut into work time. We could also start putting the dwarves and half-orcs on midnight watch, with the half-elves on morning and evening, so as best to take advantage of everyone's night-vision. But that might cause some grumbling in the ranks about racism and such. And if we can map a few miles out, I'd start up some patrols farther out."

Shari delivers her report on the warehouses next. "First, we have some furs. The good news is, they're from super exotic animals and they would be worth a ton of money if they were cured the Landellian way. The bad news is, they weren't cured the Landellian way. Apparently, the Jiragan natives use a different process that makes them more weatherproof, but really, really stinky. As is, the furs are not going to be worth much without some sort of alchemical cleaning. Franco could probably contract it out to the Alchemist's Guild back in Venza, but it'll take a lot off the profitability."

Peet grimaces and grudgingly says, "It's something I could probably do, or get set up here if you want. I can't guarantee success, though. And I smelled those things, and holy crow, it's not something I'd look forward to doing. And it'll take money ... for the equipment. And, uh, stuff."

Shari continues. "In the longer term, if we ever open trade with the Jiragans, it might be worthwhile to bring over a Landellian-style tanner and just have him do it on-site. Moving on, we've got three cords of really nice hardwood -- they're species of mahogany and teak that I've never seen before. We could use it here to get things built quickly, if there's anything you urgently want done, or we can send it back to Venza to sell. The last thing is that some of the mineral samples had gold in them, but I have no idea where they came from. I only know that one of the natives brought them, who knows from where exactly. That's the bad news. The good news is that the samples probably came from the mountains inland, and we're near a river that comes out of the the inland mountains, so there's a possibility that there's a place we could pan for gold somewhere upstream, maybe even nearby. But it's a guess. It might be better to scout for it."

Peet speaks up again. "On the local front, the workers are generally pretty happy. Varga's one tough lady, but they respect her, and since the workers have been promised a share of the profits, they're working pretty hard. The native elves have been wandering by from time to time, but they prefer the mountains, and they don't seem to believe in money, so they're not that interested in us. There is supposedly a little frog shaman guy who's been hanging around, and I'd guess he's our best bet for local knowledge. Oh, and Cato's letter? The one addressed to 'Scout'? I think I found out who it's for. There's some wayang woodsy-type that wanders through every week or two. Apparently, he was here before the Gabbiano guys were. And he has a Sumbru accent."

Wholesome Peet . . Uder Gormengeist . Shari de Leye

[sblock=GM]Choices for you here:
1. Send or keep the furs.
2. Order alchemical equipment for fur-cleaning. (Good probability of success.)
3. Send or keep the wood.
4. Order gold panning equipment. (Probability of success unknown.)
5. How to organize the watches.

1-4 need to be decided before the ship leaves if you want money and equipment ASAP.

Optional goals: Find Scout, find shaman.

I'll work on getting some sort of rough idea of the finances later. We're not really into kingdom-building yet, so I don't want to go for that system right at this moment, although I reserve the right ot change my mind.[/sblock]

 

[Satin Knights]

Addressing the concerns. "Yes, we need more guards. Uder, I want you to train them. Select 24 for training. Use their abilities to our advantage, sight, etc. And then run them on a rotation of two to three weeks of guard duty. Then they have twice as long off guard duty and doing other jobs. That way, they won't get complacent or burned out. So, keep an active crew at eight. The others get rotated in on a staggered schedule. If someone is making the transition from night to day, schedule so they get an extra 12 hours of sleep or rest to make that transition." Kellermyre pulls out a piece of paper and a quill. After a bit of pondering, he writes down a schedule. "Eight hour shifts, and that should keep someone relatively fresh at all times."
[sblock=Watches]Watches: person A 12pm - 8pm, B 2pm - 10pm, C 8pm - 4am, D and E 10pm - 6am, F 2am-10am, G 4am-12pm, H 6am - 2pm
Times: noon-2pm HA, 2pm-8pm AB, 8pm-10pm BC, 10pm-2am CDE, 2am-4am CDEF, 4am-6am DEFG, 6am-10am FGH, 10am-noon GH[/sblock]
"As for Varga, I think she will understand the need for the extra guards. She's busy at the moment, but starting tomorrow, I want her in on these pow-wow sessions as well."

"As to the furs, send for the supplies and a tanner person to do it the right way here at the source. Get the supplies to fix the ones we can here as well. I don't want to ship back 'broken merchandise' to our patrons. For the ones too far gone to be fixed, seal them up in something and store them. I am thinking down the road, we may be able to use them in a situation where being 'mistaken for natives' can be advantageous."

"Send the wood. It is a good start to showing profitability for this endeavor. While we could use it here as well, I don't think right here is where we will be in a month's time. And if we can pull it off, I would rather build with stone anyways. Finding a good place to quarry from will be on the list."

"Send half of the mineral samples with gold in them and request both panning equipment and heavy quarry equipment. Specifically state we haven't found the source yet, but want the proper equipment on hand for when we do. Their greed will override their caution and they will send us the that stuff as a priority."

"Our priorities for what they are to send back is
a) A tanner person trained in the landellian ways with sufficient supplies to process new furs as well as fix our current batch.
b) The previously requested book.
c) A carpenter
d) some gold panning and mining equipment to start small operations"

"Shari, would you be so kind as to write up the reports and requests. You know the recipients better than I and my blunt words may not be the best to use. Also detail the help we have received from Mr. Cato and the Western Sea Syndicate. And while we have met the Forenicci delegation, relations with them are cautiously civil. We both agree the Boraga problem is where we should focus our attentions. Give them all the suspicions we have on the Boragas and that so far, we have not faced them directly."

"Well, get started on those things. I got a few others to attend to. We will get to scouting after the ship is under way." Kellermyre gets up and goes out to the dock.

Catching up to Varga, "Okay, we are sending the wood and half of the mineral samples. We are requesting a tanner that can fix the furs we have here and process new ones in our ways, and the equipment he will need to do those things. I am also requesting a carpenter to help with harvesting and processing the wood, as that seems to be our first profitable resource. I am requesting gold panning and mining equipment as well. We don't know the source yet, but I would rather have the right equipment on hand when we do. Do you have any equipment or other requests to add while Shari is writing up the reports?
I just had a meeting with the others to plan all that out. I would like you in those meetings where we make plans from now on as well."

"On other issues that are not going out with the tide, I am going to have Uder start training several of your, well, our men for guard duty. I am having him start with twenty four men to train. Eight will assigned to active guard duty throughout a day, but will be rotated out on a two to three week schedule for other duties. So, he will have three crews, but only one active crew for guard work at a time. The other two groups can do work you assign as normal. That way, we don't get people burned out on one job."

"After we get Phineas loaded and on his way, I am going to do a bit of scouting to see is I can find a better place to setup the permanent port. But before that, I need to talk to your brother." Having filled her in with the plans, Kellermyre moves on to Captain Phineas.

"Captain, if you got a minute?" as he points to the captain's quarters for a bit of privacy. Once behind closed doors. "We are sending the wood back on this shipment. We are requesting supplies to fix the furs before shipping as well as other supplies. Shari is writing up all the reports and paperwork now. While you are sailing, we will be looking for a new site. So, if you do not find us here," Kellermyre moves in uncomfortably close and whispers in the captains ear, "From the dock, 10 paces forward and 6 paces left, I will bury a stone six feet down. Carved on it will be directions to the new place. Rotate all directions on that stone forty five degrees counter clockwise. Paranoid preparations are best made in advance of when they are needed." Stepping back to a normal stance, "Be safe in your journeys and we will try to do the same."

Kellermyre Stormforge Wholesome Peet . . Uder Gormengeist . Shari de Leye. . . Varga Renlow . . . . Phineas Renlow . .

 

[Systole]

Uder chuckles ruefully. "So the peacetime isn't even going to last a day, is it? Okay, squire -- back to the usual business with me. Too bad, though. I think I might've been looking forward to laying stone. And as far as the lads go, I won't be the best teacher, but I've been in enough trenches to know what's what, and I suppose that'll have to do. It'll take time, though."

Shari nods. "That shouldn't be a problem, Kellermyre. I'll get that done now." The gnome excuses herself.

"There's nothing we need, besides more rations and more building materials," Varga tells you. "But I know that some of the men like to carve in their spare time and I've heard them talking about the quality of the wood. If you order some woodworking tools, they might surprise you." She looks over at a pair of half-elves that look like brothers. "Or not. Irno! Tellus! Quit your slacking and get those damned crates on the ship, or so help me I'll skin you both! Lazy sods."

She more dubious about the watch assignments. "We can do that, but it's going to cut into work time while the training and the patrolling are going on. A little less after it's just the patrolling. I suppose I can see the value in it, though. But I'm not sure I trust that circus monkey who claims to be a dwarf. If my men start showing up with bad habits from him ... you and I are going to have a talk."

When you explain about the buried rock, the captain gives you that same dubious look that Varga gave you, but dutifully repeats the instructions back to you. Not long afterwards, his ship departs with the tide. Peet stands on the dock watching it go, and you suspect she might be having second thoughts. "So, this is ... nature, huh? I've never been out of the city much. And by 'much,' I kind of mean 'at all.' But we'll have another supply ship in a month, and the tanner and gold mining equipment in probably three months, right? Not that long. Yeah, I can do this."

GM: Okay, you've got a month until the next shipment, and about three months before you can reasonably expect your orders to arrive. Please give me a rough idea of what you want for the next week or so. Building, exploring, hunting, crafting, etc.

Wholesome Peet . Uder Gormengeist . Shari de Leye. Varga Renlow .