Temple of the Fiscally Irresponsible Elves: IC

[Username17]

Temple of the Fiscally Irresponsible Elves
A D&D Campaign featuring Fiscal, Monetary, and Trade Policy



This is the In Character thread for the Temple of the Fiscally Irresponsible Elves campaign. Please only post in this thread if you are one of the players of this game. Other discussion should be done on the out-of-character thread, which is Here.

The Player Characters:

Drovak No-Face, Aasimar Druid by Avoraciopoctules

Hocus Runeshmitt, Drow Elementalist by Flare 22

Alexander Snapfuse, Gnome Assassin by Grek

John Bolton, Human Cloistered Cleric by Omegonthesane

Thane, Half Orc Warlock by Prak Anima

Silas, Feytouched Dread Necromancer by Whipstitch

The Prophesy in the Prologue:

The six of you are variously cursing your lives and wiling away time at a restaurant on the island of Snazk. It's nominally part of The Korbahl, but it doesn't see much direct investment from Korbahlian companies or the Directorate. Snazk has a nice climate, and wide beaches and usually gets tourists from all over. Since the crisis started, there has been a sharp drop in the number of people willing and able to pay money to spend a week swimming and lounging in a resort, so it has become wicked cheap.

You're munching on you're amazingly underpriced shrimp salads and sipping on your imported Nairhonian nectar when a blonde Elvish woman approaches you and announces that you are the destined champions who are fated to save the economy. This strikes you all as more than passing strange as you're all kind of selfish bastards and don't really understand how the theories of the wise men running the economies of Derpistan work, and you tell her so. She winks and says something inscrutable and oracular about that not necessarily being a problem and tells you that she has booked you passage to the mainland on a passing merchant vessel.

Lacking any obvious current plans and not being ones to specifically fight destiny when there isn't any money in it, you accept.

Arrival in The Korbahl Mainland:

You've booked passage for the final leg of the journey into The Korbahl on the merchant ship Tinkerdawdle under the stern eye of captain Fornswoggle. It's crowded below decks because the ship is running heavy with cargo from all over Derpistan. A Lolthwyran spider emblem marks a crate labeled “C L O Þ S”, another crate is marked as coming from Zundun as surely by the extensiveness of the description of its contents in small print as by the description itself, but many of the crates are either unmarked or marked with labels a dozen times obsolete from voyages months or years in the past. One of the sailors had remarked about how few of the crates were new this time around. Apparently in the past old crates and new shared space about equally.

The Tinkerdawdle gets ready to drop anchor at Thagport in the late afternoon on the fourth day of Malia. First mate Hanston Felblot tells everyone to come on deck – the captain wants everybody and everything off the ship inside of an hour. The ship is going to set sail again with the evening tide. A quick glance at the sun tells you that there doesn't seem to be enough time to take on cargo here, and Hanston agrees that there is not.

As crate after crate is unloaded from the ship, you can see that the Tinkerdawdle is riding higher in the water. Captain Fornswoggle hands his manifest to the Orcish harbormaster while the stevedores and sailors do their work. The harbormaster looks it over and after a heated exchange, produces payment from a metal box. It appears that the money is a bizarre mix of Thorigram coins, Zundunian Zlotys, and Lolthwyran Tals. Captain Fornswoggle seems upset about the composition, as does the harbormaster. The deal is ultimately accepted, and the captain stomps back to his ship.

Looking around the docks, it seems that there are no shortage of local products here. Warehouses have been filled to overflowing, with additional crates and barrels piled by doorways and covered by waxy tarps. Still, the stevedores make no move to transfer any of the goods on their docks to the Tinkerdawdle as the sailors prepare to cast off. Crates and barrels are used and reused until they are ragged splinters, so it can be difficult to tell how many days the cargo has stood idly by the loading docks, but it seems destined to sit idly for at least one more.

The main warehouses appear to be owned by (or at least have signs advertizing) Duraweb, Second Sun, and Grana. The lumber yard here has a crane that is currently unmanned – its sign indicates that something (possibly the lumber, but perhaps the crane?) is property of “Sons of Grom the Cutter”.

What do you want to do?

• Talk to the harbormaster.
• Get an audience with the Directorate (DC 20 Diplomacy or Intimidate)
• Visit Nuzrum the Fist (DC 15 Gather Information or Local Knowledge)
• Visit Thagurz the Thirsty (DC 15 Gather Information or Local Knowledge)
• Visit Shug the Beggar (DC 15 Gather Information or Local Knowledge)
• Go to the Duraweb offices in Thagport.
• Go to Duraweb spider plantation outside of town.
• Go to the Second Sun offices in Thagport.
• Go to the Second Sun distillery in the forest (DC 15 Wilderness Lore)
• Go to the Grana offices in Thagport.
• Go to Grana's drying house outside of town.
• Go to the Grom the Cutter's offices in Thagport
• Go to the harvest stands of Gom the Cutter (DC 15 Wilderness Lore)
• Acquire lodging
• Purchase provisions/engage in commerce
• Find expatriots (DC 15 Gather Information)
• Contact criminal elements (DC 20 Gather Information)
• Something else (specify)

[Omegonthesane]

John frowned with irritation as his zombie bodyguards shuffled their slow way down the gangplank and off the ship; yes, he could hardly blame them, but whose fault it was or wasn't didn't make them faster and he had new horizons to cross, a new province to research...

...and as likely as not new coin to acquire. The resort's price was small, but so was his currency reserve, even though he hadn't touched liquid pain since the omen. Maybe one of his other destined colleagues had an idea about that, but if not it wouldn't be the first time he'd spent evening prayers curled up in a ditch.

Stopping about a foot short of a wall, he turns to the remainder of the party. "If I remember right Thagurz the Thirsty's the closest to a vaguely sensible figurehead this place has, unless we've got better ideas we could do with his support. Sweland this is not."

He also racks his brains for what the academy taught him, if anything, about the Korbahl's recent and less recent history.
[ Knowledge: History & Knowledge: Local to recall the prior and current state of affairs: 1d20+9=11, 1d20+9=28 respectively ]

[Prak]

Thane turns to his destiny-bound compatriots, "Well, if we're supposed to fix this foul up, we need a better idea of what's been going on and what's going on now. We could talk to the various businesses, but they may not be too keen on telling random travelers their problems. Who knows though? We could also go talk to the common people in some bars, but that's more likely to give us the micro-view than the big picture, it is a place to start, however. I, for one, think we should start here on the docks talking to the harbormaster and nearby businesses."

[Whipstitch]

Silas adjusts the bridle on his dapple gray mare as they pause. "Don't knock the bar scene; I have a knack for running into people. Although I suppose I should look into feed and other necessities. It's been a while since I had a plan."

(@Group:Even untrained Silas's stupid high Charisma score should let him successfully take 10 on Gather Info for the purposes of finding either ex-pats or local pundits and Thane is even better at it. I wouldn't discount the value of getting to know ex-pats given that the Korbahl's export status is one of the worst kept secrets in the region.)

(@Frank: I'm calling in my country of origin freebie for "Before" Knowledge of the Korbahl and am shooting for "After" knowledge in the same via Gather Info. 1d20=13+6, for a value of 19)

[Grek]

Alexander nods along with the human and half-human and saying, "Both excellent ideas. I noticed quite distinctly that the ship we were sailing with didn't buy anything from these warehouses. I'll go ask the harbour master about that - maybe he can shed some light on the issue."

Gesturing to his ghoulish companions, Snapfuse mentions "I'll have the help go find us lodgings while we're out and about, getting the lay of the land. We can meet back here with them and our room keys at dusk."

(@Group: Isn't having intelligent undead wonderful?)
(@Frank: Rolls for knowing about my character's homeland: Before and After, taking the Analysis for free. People seem to have The Korbahl down pat.)

[flare22]

Hocus leads his red haired war horse down the gangplank the horse looks more indignant then scared about its naval adventure and has come through it very well its owner on the other hand seems still as a board as he decents to shore and bits of straw cling to his armor from spending most of the trip keep his horse calm.

"Suppose we should start by talking to some shopkeepers and such but eventualy we should look into how we can earn some scratch saving the economy is not for the week of wallet and id hate to get so lost destiny we end up forgeting to put food on our tables"

[Prak]

((I completely forgot about the auto-know one roll for homeland, so I'll take that for The Korbahl's "Before" and roll a Gather Info for "After", roll 7+12 mod=19, success; and Appraise for "Analysis", roll 10+3 mod, fail))

[Username17]

Meeting With the Harbormaster


The harbormaster is a wary man who wears a breast plate to work, though not so wary as to strap on a helmet or shield when no alarms have been raised. After introducing yourself to him, he introduces himself as Brogud the Whip, master of the harbor.

He is eager to point out that many of the goods here are owned by the port authority and he is empowered to sell some of them to you at reasonable prices. If you want, for example, Kerosene, he can get it for you at 2 Thorigram gold pieces to the hogshead. Or if you want Spider Silk, he can get you ten yard spans of 10 den strands for a single Thorigram gold piece a piece.

He wonders idly what it is you want to know.
[Now would be an excellent time to make a Diplomacy or Bluff check]

[Avoraciopoctules]

John frowned with irritation as his zombie bodyguards shuffled their slow way down the gangplank and off the ship; yes, he could hardly blame them, but whose fault it was or wasn't didn't make them faster and he had new horizons to cross, a new province to research...

...and as likely as not new coin to acquire. The resort's price was small, but so was his currency reserve, even though he hadn't touched liquid pain since the omen. Maybe one of his other destined colleagues had an idea about that, but if not it wouldn't be the first time he'd spent evening prayers curled up in a ditch.

Stopping about a foot short of a wall, he turns to the remainder of the party. "If I remember right Thagurz the Thirsty's the closest to a vaguely sensible figurehead this place has, unless we've got better ideas we could do with his support. Sweland this is not."

He also racks his brains for what the academy taught him, if anything, about the Korbahl's recent and less recent history.
[ Knowledge: History & Knowledge: Local to recall the prior and current state of affairs: 1d20+9=11, 1d20+9=28 respectively ]

Drovak spent much of the party's time aboard Tinkerdawdle poring over scrolls of market statistics and almanac entries he had his zombies copy while he relaxed on Snazk. The druid became rather irritable when he started sneezing halfway to the destination, and he seems quite relieved to step onto solid land again. His mask dangles from a cord around his neck, but both he and his zombies wear veils to partially conceal their faces. {Taking 10 for results of 20 on each Knowledge and Appraise check regarding national info if possible, otherwise 24, 17, 21. Drovak is a Korbahl native.}

The first thing Drovak does is excuse himself from the group long enough to buy some fruit from a port vendor. If he's lucky enough to find an orange, he bites right through the orange skin, chewing up peel and seeds with apparent indifference. Then he heads back, maybe with a few spares for other party members if the price is decent.

He is quick to agree with John. "Thagurz would be a reasonable starting point. Nothing stopping us from pursuing multiple leads at once, but we'll want to arrange a meeting point for later if we do so. I like this Thirsty guy because he's probably got plenty of ears to the ground, and we can truthfully present ourselves as potential investors in the diversification of local industry. Ain't got much reason not to enlighten us as to what some good and bad uses of our time and money might be."

[Username17]

[Note: there is no taking 10 on Knowledge checks, also Zombies can't effectively copy texts. Their tool use is minimal. We clap our hands at how clever they are when they manage to swing the sharp end of a sword instead of trying to grip it by the point.]

Orcish Foodwagon



The dock workers don't seem to have a market or restaurant that is readily apparent, but there is an Orc who operates a food wagon that the local workers seem to eat at. Most of the stevedores seem to go for the fried spiders, but there is also durian and pickled crabapples and eggs in a big glass jar. Orcs need some fruits and vegetables in their diet, but not much.

[Prak]

Talking with the Harbormaster, Thane smiles broadly, as one might to an old friend, "We're looking to invest in a few economies, try to help things out a bit, and we were curious as to your insight on the companies of The Korbahl. We know you see much on these docks and would not presume to ask you to go against any confidences, but if you were willing to tell us what you've seen, and perhaps whether there is more to the Directorate's bailouts of companies than is readily known, we could be quite appreciative." here he allows his hand to fall against a pocket and let a soft clinking be heard. (Diplomacy roll, 8+16=24)

[Grek]

He wonders idly what it is you want to know.
[Now would be an excellent time to make a Diplomacy or Bluff check]

"Quite, quite. It's just as Thane says here: We're hoping to find some underutilized resources that aren't selling well and need a market. Something that we can get on the cheap and turn into a profitable venture. And, perhaps to buy a few samples of your wares, for our associates to examine?"

(Bluff Check of 14 to BS my way into some lists of what's selling and, more importantly, what isn't selling. Spend up to 10gp on samples of silk, kerosene and whatever else is on hand and seems it could be profitable.)

[Username17]

Brogud the Whip seems to brighten at the prospect of foreign investors, and puts on his tuskiest smile. He is of the opinion that Korbahl is a good investment opportunity, and wants you to be of this opinion as well. "We may look weak now, but Korbahl is strong. The wood and webs are as strong as they ever were. For twenty years, people bought our products, and they will find that they can't really do without. As soon as the fuel reserves in foreign lands draw down, the ships will come crawling back. The Dwarves cannot burn stone."

When you ask about the bailouts, the Whip wants you to know that things are not as dire for the companies as it might look. "Sure, Duraweb was insolvent and weak, but that's just because they spent their warchest down to stubs upgrading their warrens before the crisis hit. Their cashflow is temporarily negative, but it's not very negative." The other bailouts draw an exasperated puff. "You didn't hear it from me, but I don't think all the companies even needed bailouts. They just saw the Directorate was willing to be a money tree so they shook it."

The Directorate, he says, was unable to turn away the bailout requests because it simply couldn't risk any of the major industries going under. "It isn't like the Directorate can just print up more money. If they are going to be able to do anything, they need to borrow or tariff the money to do that. They'd rather go into debt now than risk becoming permanently weak by having the export markets stay closed after the crisis is over. Giving the bailouts wasn't brave, but it wasn't stupid."

He wants it to be especially known that he thinks there are more agricultural products that The Korbahl can produce that other nations would want. Brogud the Whip notes that no one exports fried spiders, owlbear jerky, or other preserved meats. But Korbahlian preserved meats keep very well and would keep their pungent odors even after a long sea journey.

[Omegonthesane]

John nods along with the druid's argument, and thinks. "Our gnomish and orcish friends have taken it on themselves to pursue the harbour master, and Hocus has a point that the boat stops if the gold doesn't flow. Two beats one; how about you and I meet the Thirsty, and Hocus and Silas ask the shops for their take?"

He thinks a moment, back to what he got with the Knowledge (Local) check. "Things really went wrong here when Duraweb sacked a bunch of their workers, as they'd had to take a loan to pay them and weren't sure they could keep paying them. Surely there's a reason they didn't just cut wages." He glances to his zombies instinctively, reminded of the zero cost of unskilled labour back home.

[Avoraciopoctules]

[Note: there is no taking 10 on Knowledge checks, also Zombies can't effectively copy texts. Their tool use is minimal. We clap our hands at how clever they are when they manage to swing the sharp end of a sword instead of trying to grip it by the point.]

{Oops. Let's amend that to "paid some archivists or something", then.}

Orcish Foodwagon

The dock workers don't seem to have a market or restaurant that is readily apparent, but there is an Orc who operates a food wagon that the local workers seem to eat at. Most of the stevedores seem to go for the fried spiders, but there is also durian and pickled crabapples and eggs in a big glass jar. Orcs need some fruits and vegetables in their diet, but not much.

Drovak shrugs, wrinkles his nose, and buys a durian plus some of the pickled stuff. He mutters something about grabbing a fistfull of leaves on his way out of town as he rejoins the group.

Once he sees the harbormaster, Drovak listens carefully to his investor sales pitch. He nods thoughtfully "I agree that a lot of people seem be underestimating Korbahl's resources. And it would be a shame if this can't be turned into some kind of opportunity. What do you think about the theory that we should be starting our own factories and competing with foreign goods? Surely there are some local artisans with a better understanding of how to work silk than an elf who's never even seen the spider their material comes from.

He glances at Hocus. "No offense."

EDIT: [Drovak agrees with John's idea, provided they finish up interviewing the dockmaster first.]

[flare22]

"Sounds like a good plan how about we meet back here at sunset and head to an inn to pool our info" hocus hops onto his horse and wiats for silas to reply

[Username17]

Brogud the Whip seems dubious about factories. "We don't really have factories here. Sure, we have the alembics to turn the marsh tars into fuel oil. And we have the beetle mills and drying racks to turn beetles into powdered dye. And of course, there's the saw mill over around Gord the Lazy's place. And then there's the web washing and spinning reels. And there's the meat smoking houses. But proper factories? Wouldn't even know where to begin."

[Prak]

"Buildings aren't necessary, per se. People with the skills to turn raw goods into products, however, are. That's a great deal easier to accomplish. Buildings would come in time. Another idea occurs to me, however. Have you ever considered.. alternate mediums of shipping?"

[Avoraciopoctules]

Shrugging, Drovak thanks Brogud for the information. "I should probably talk to the Duraweb offices later today. If they have plans likely to put more people to work and make a profit, that would be worthwhile. And if anything funny's going on, that'll be good to know too."

If nothing else comes up, he heads to investigate Thagurz with John.

[Username17]

[Who all is going to meet Thagurz?]

[Omegonthesane]

John isn't very hungry, and the food isn't very appetising, so he politely declines. Listening to the harbormaster's speech, he makes a mental note of the idea of exporting strange foods - anything with a huge pricetag from far away would quickly become a delicacy be it fresh ambrosia or curried pig shit. Of course, that left the problem of needing a place that could provide a huge price tag, and the elite of Nodral were hardly going to pay for food - but, well, if the numbers didn't add up they didn't add up, as likely as not there was some happy medium to pull the scam off in.

The description of a series of small factories followed by a claim that they have no factories causes a snigger to escape John's now-smiling lips, but as he's not doing the talking he isn't too worried - and given his condition they might well take him for an actual child and thus show more lassitude.

[As far as I know, John and Drovak are the only ones visiting Thagurz directly.

Knowledge (Local) to find him: 1d20+9=14 ]

"Would help if I knew where to find him, however, and wandering won't get us very far."

[Prak]

(I'll go, I'm just waiting for Brogud to answer that last question)

[Grek]

Alexander smiles brightly at the mention of owlbear jerky. Perhaps not something that most people would enjoy, but definitely right up his alley. But, business before pleasure. "Let's see to finding Thagurz. Big name like him can't be too hard to find."

(Gather Information: 21 to figure out where The Thirsty is.)

[Username17]

Meeting with Thagurz the Thirsty



Thagurz's home is a wooden tower covered with sod. The grounds are surrounded with a rickety driftwood fence that keeps people out more with the occasional skull hung on it than actual strength of the fence itself. The gate isn't locked and barely hangs on its hinges, you have to lift it off the ground to push it aside. The door itself has a set of chimes next to it, and picking them up and shaking them appears to work as a door knocker of sorts.

The door is answered by an Orc you assume is Thagurz the Thirsty, and who identifies himself as such.



Upon telling him that you are foreign investors, and want to see his proposals, he invites you in. Inside, the tower seems to be mostly staircase, and he escorts you down into a cellar room. It appears from the hallway that there is much more below ground than above. From somewhere in the other rooms you hear a scratching noise punctuated by dripping water and an intermittent rusty squeak.



In the darkened room, Thagurz lights a kerosene lamp, which illuminates a map of The Korbahl and gives off a resinous odor. He gestures to it and proclaims "What we have... is an abundance of workers that is about to become very cheap. They are weak. And we can use them to become very strong."

[Make a Diplomacy, Bluff, Sense Motive, or Intimidate test and ask questions.]

[Avoraciopoctules]

Diplomacy: 1d20+11=20

Drovak is polite, indicating that he has been intrigued by Thagurz's writing and wants to know more details.

What kinds of manufacturing is the Korbahl best suited to start providing for itself, and are there any surrounding markets that might be interested in importing excess product?

Workers will likely require training. Does Thagurz feel it is better to look for local talents that can be channeled in a new direction or foreign experts?

Does he foresee opposition to new factories being developed? What is the risk that bad publicity for "exploiting" workers with low wages will outweigh the good publicity of combating unemployment?

Are any of the bailed-out corporations interested in diversification, or are they playing conservatively?