Season 2 - Episode 1: Bertie's Boys

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JoeCarr28
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NPC Clarification

Post by JoeCarr28 »

Just to clarify, as it sounds from some of the posts that there may be a slight misunderstanding with a couple of the NPCs ...

- Abraham Hall is a business associate of Kitchener's in Westport and your primary client for this job.

- He is distinct from the merchant you will be travelling to Westport with and from whom Paladin poached his retainer Benoni.
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_Silveredged
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Re: Season 2 - Episode 1: Bertie's Boys

Post by _Silveredged »

OOC: I might have missed it, but did Bertie identify the merchant the group is travelling with? If so, does Leo know him from the days his father was a caravaner?

Leo watches all else leave and nods to Bertie, "Thank you for contacting me about this job and for believing my talents can help these people." He smiles his odd 'not-quite-used-to-people' smile and heads downstairs with the others.

After a few moments to see what the others' plans are, the half-elf sits back down at the corner table to go over the trip to Westport and consider the terrain, flora, and fauna along the way. As a man with no home, he already has all his gear ready to go.
Marketstone CampaignImageLeolannan Fletcher, Half-Elf Ranger
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Re: Season 2 - Episode 1: Bertie's Boys

Post by Iain_IF »

Paladin corrals Benoni and introduces him to Mandross and whomever joins us for food and free drink. Thanks Mandross! says Paladin, ordering a triple whiskey with extra beer chaser and a full rack of ribs. Watch out for the stew today, I saw what went in it.

Paladin has some questions for Benoni.
1. What's the name of his former employer?
2. Why, generally, did he leave him?
3. What was he being paid to guard the merchant's caravans?
4. What does the merchant generally ship?

Beyond that, Paladin directs Benoni to answer any questions from the others that seems reasonable to him. If it isn't reasonable, just tell me the answer later, he whispers to the bright lad.
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Arehzo
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Re: Season 2 - Episode 1: Bertie's Boys

Post by Arehzo »

Gannicus joins the table and listens quietly to the conversation. He finds the job and company agreeable, he just wonders why such a simple job requires such a large group to accompany it.

OOC: sorry, I misread one of the previous posts, I thought we were all leaving the room. I wouldn't have left otherwise.
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Re: Season 2 - Episode 1: Bertie's Boys

Post by Iain_IF »

Benoni sidles up to the table nervously looking from right to left. He carefully takes a seat facing the door, knocking over an empty glass as he does so. Sorry about that, he mumbles. Benoni smells as if he's been drinking heavily, but it might just be the big wet patch on his arm. Boss told me you wanted to talk to me? he asks.

Paladin leans in and nods. Mandross here is buying for you tonight in exchange for what you have in your head, he says encouragingly.

Benoni looks a bit nervous. You aren't going to crack my head open to get at it are you? he asks. Mandross favors him with a smile. Benoni looks like he might cry.

Benoni orders a small salad and a cider, watered, from the bar maid and then yelps in pain. He stares at the nonchalant Paladin who audibly whispers Free food! Benoni revises his order. A rack of ribs, a triple whiskey, a small salad and a glass of cider, he corrects. And a glass of water.

Where to begin he wonders. I came to Marketstone as a guard for a merchant named Shaw who was shipping goods to Westport. I don't know if that's his first or last name. He offered good pay on the surface, one silver a day, two if we fought, but he was a nightmare! First, he had four wooden wagons of goods, but he wouldn't tell us what was in them. How can you protect something when you don't know what is in it? Can't hide behind a wagon full of oil, can you? Plus, he wouldn't let us use the wagons for cover. What's the point in having box wagons if you can't use them for cover? On top of all of that, he hired only one other guard, Gregor, a big scary dude. You ever try to guard four things with only two of you? It isn't like you can divide yourself in half.

Benoni pauses a moment as food arrives. Paladin makes the whiskey disappear and digs into the second set of ribs while Benoni spills oil and vinegar onto the table, himself, and part of the salad. Benoni's next few words are unintelligible until he remembers to swallow. He starts over and drops his fork.

Gregor and I ran ourselves ragged getting everything ready and us out of Marshfoot, to the east of here. Then the hidden terms of the contract started to come out. We had to pay for our food and water daily! Any damage to his wagons came out of our pay. Firewood? Sure Shaw had some, but only if you ponied coin up. It ended up we made coppers a day if you ate cold food, drank almost nothing and froze! Benoni's arms shoot out and upend his cider. Paladin saves the glass with a quick grab.

Shaw was coming from Haverhill through Marshfoot, only a few days east of here, but he took the most circuitous route I have ever seen. I don't know if he was lost or what, but it was no fun. Benoni shakes his fist at the bad navigation and hits the corner of his now empty salad plate with his elbow. Paladin lifts up the plate of ribs and the empty salad plate shoots right off the table. If we had come straight here, I might have made a handful of change, but with all the delays and bad weather, he claimed I owed him silver, and Gregor even more!

Benoni shivers at the recollection. But Gregor and I fixed him good. When we got here, we up and quit! Would you believe that Shaw had the nerve to go to the Reeve's man and sue us for breach! He got my arms and armor, for debt and damages, but we stranded him good in Marketstone. No guard in half his right mind is going to sign on with him for any trip. We've told every man in the town that Shaw is a terror. His cargo is just going to sit, he'll have to pay the teamsters out of his own pocket, and ...

Benoni trails off. He looks around the table and a small tear appears in the corner of his eye. His shoulders slump dejectedly. Did you know that twenty percent of zero is zero, he asks the bar maid. I'll have an imperial stout and that man Mandross will take your best bottle of port.

Benoni settles in, having knocked all of the things he can off the table. The bar maid gives him a bottle that he gingerly holds in both hands. She also places a rather dusty, wax-sealed flask before Mandross. Paladin's eyes gleam. Four carts with high wooden walls and tops, like a circus. Four drivers plus Shaw. Shaw would always be nervous about rain and wagon number two. He'd throw oiled tarps over it. I think it has salt in it, though it would be a big load to fill the wagon. Wagon four makes clinking sounds over rocks, like bottles.

What else can I tell you?
He asks, bottle to lips.
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Arehzo
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Re: Season 2 - Episode 1: Bertie's Boys

Post by Arehzo »

Gannicus regards the information the guard brings to the table somberly. It looks like this won't be as easy of a job as he had imagined.
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JoeCarr28
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Re: Season 2 - Episode 1: Bertie's Boys

Post by JoeCarr28 »

Does anyone have any futher questions for Benoni - Paladin's new retainer and a former employee of Shaw, the merchant that Kitchener's lined up to give you a ride to Westport?
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Re: Season 2 - Episode 1: Bertie's Boys

Post by JoeCarr28 »

_Silveredged wrote:OOC: I might have missed it, but did Bertie identify the merchant the group is travelling with? If so, does Leo know him from the days his father was a caravaner?
Leo hasn't come across a caravaner by the name of Shaw before.
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Re: Season 2 - Episode 1: Bertie's Boys

Post by Birthright »

We're under no obilgation to stick with this guy (the merchant, Shaw), are we?
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Re: Season 2 - Episode 1: Bertie's Boys

Post by Joe the Rat »

(OOC: Arehzo - it got us moving, and brooding off after he'd learned what he needed to know seems in-character)

As the food and orders come, Mandross tries to keep track of the growing tab. With the sum of teh party, plus Paladin's exponent, it quickly develops into its own branch of mathematics. Mandross quits before the computations accidentally send the Wheatsheaf aloft.

Mandross begins to protest at the third round, but at the appearance of the delicious-looking port brought by the lovely bar maid (or was that a lovely bottle and a delicious-looking maid?) his focus leaves the money entirely, and he accepts the bottle graciously. "Ah, this looks like a fine vine..." >pop< "Mmm, yes, very nice. I think this may need a bit of sharing. Care to sit with us a bit, miss? A quick nip? Mmmm? No? Ah, they do keep you hopping... perhaps... Ah, she's gone. Here, glasses, You've got to try this one." Mandross pours a modest share to any who wants, but seems intent of keeping some back for later. He's also keeping it out of reach of Paladin (who might do in the port altogether) and Benoni (who might do in the bottle altogether). Returning to Benoni's tale, "Anything else odd - odors, other noises, nervous drivers? He does sound an odd fellow, or perhaps a bit hard on his luck. Maybe he's here for the owl droppings... What? Oh, they're supposed to be good luck or something. Was he looking a bit shabby? Is he here by any chance?" Speaking more to the group in general, "Any of you more local fellows know of him? Do I know of him? No, silly question..."

He also tries to get some more out of Leo and Gannicus "Come now, fellows, we'll be travelling together a bit, and it'd be good to know a bit more about one another. How'd you end up here?"
Birthright wrote:We're under no obilgation to stick with this guy (the merchant, Shaw), are we?
Assuming Tannen actually mutters something to that effect "Now, now, a case of poor management doesn't mean he's a bad fellow altogether. I'm open to alternatives, but its two days travel, and personally, I'd rather ride than walk."
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