Town Business (Vaul) - III

[Scott308]

Dorvar pays 6 sp for lodging, bringing him up to April 28.

[AleBelly]

42sp deducted from Varas' account to cover stabling and Varas' food through the 27th

This should also leave Mustard fully healed.

[Keehnelf]

Yes, Mustard is just fine now apart from a slight limp with no mechanical penalties.

[MonkeyWrench]

Val buys 10 days of rations...

10 days rations =6gp 5sp

[Spartakos]

Before going to see the Duke, Rhodri pries one of the teeth out of the Black Beast's mouth for a souvenir. Let me know if there's any trouble doing this.

Rhodri arrives at the Duke's offices hauling a large, smelly bundle. "I need to see his lordship, at once. I bring him the hide and head of the Black Beast, the demon-wolf that has roamed this land, and I'm here to claim the reward he has promised for its death."

[Keehnelf]

No problem removing the tooth. In fact, the canines are long enough that a dagger could be crafted from one.

[Zorroroaster]

Orrin tags along with Rhodri and Kennit to see the Duke. His expression is tense, guarded. He's not sure what will come of the meeting, but he's not about to hide under a table at the tavern wishing he hadn't left his balls back at the mountain.

[Keehnelf]

Rhodri, Kennit and Orrin find an exhausted and wild-eyed Remus sitting in the waiting room of the Wooden Fort with a metal scroll case over his knees. He looks up in surprise and relief at the trio as they enter, but they are immediately ushered past him into the Duke's office where they find him seated at his desk looking over some maps with the tall, square-jawed man they had seen him with at Harrowing a month past. Tamerlin, folks around town say his name is. The Duke is wearing his usual relaxed-fitting silks, but Tamerlin is dressed like an off-duty soldier who could be called up at any moment. Light pants tucked into tall boots, a close-fitting jerkin of fine but simple construction, loose sleeves expertly cuffed. A sword hangs at his side and the soldier puts one hand to its hilt instinctively as the group enters, then relaxes as he stands, but only slightly.

The Duke greets the trio warmly, standing and crossing the office to shake their hands in welcome. "I heard the news when you arrived last night with the pelt of this horrible beast in tow! Truly, this is a grand day for our humble town." He motions for them to deposit the pelt on the floor and have a seat on the divans nearby, then sets to work unbinding the skin and looking it over carefully. "Interesting, interesting," he mutters as he touches the spiny fur, and he takes out a jeweler's eyeglass to look closely into its mouth and lifeless eyes. "Wonderful, extraordinary," he coos softly to himself. "This is a treasure indeed. What happened to the other tooth?" He inquires at last, looking up from the "treasure".

Tamerlin says nothing, instead standing idly by the window looking out at townsfolk passing in the street.

[Spartakos]

After the rigors of the last expedition, Rhodri is in no mood to mince words with the Duke, though he does try to keep some measure of respect in his tone.

"The tooth got pried out. By me. As I recall, you were offering a reward for the creature's pelt...the head, slightly marred as it may be, we offer at no extra charge."

[Keehnelf]

The duke smiles, sensing the elf's irritation "Don't worry, my friend! I was merely curious as to whether it had broken off during the fight to slay the creature. That would add a nice bit of flavor to such a tale." He stands and looks around the group. "Perhaps I'll get the full story from you another day, however. For now, accept my thanks and the reward."

He goes to his desk and pens a writ for 800 gold pieces. "Bring this to the Assessor's office. He will issue you coins or formal writs as is convenient for you. And please return when you are in the mood for talking!" He laughs, but his eyes remain cold as ever, making it hard to tell if he's being earnest or petty. Tamerlin, behind him at the window, seems suddenly impatient to return to their previous work.

[KingOfCowards]

Kennit bows awkwardly, "Most kind of you, m'lord.". He actually looks somewhat relieved that the Duke did not press them for a story on how the beast was slain, and is happy enough to walk away with a payday.

[Spartakos]

Rhodri manages to mutter some thanks and bland courtesies before offering a bow, and withdrawing with the piece of parchment...he proceeds to the assessor without delay and converts it to good, hard coin of the realm.

Hefting the sack, he says to Orrin and Kennit (out of earshot of the assessor), "Let's go divvy this up. Maybe I'll pen a letter to his nibs about Fangir wanting to kill him. I'd just rather not go into the details in his office."

If Fangir has any additional words for the duke, Rhodri is not sticking around to hear them. Nothing personal, Orrin.

[Keehnelf]

When the group takes its payday from the Assessor, he says blandly, "If any of you have retained the services of Southern mercenaries, they are scheduled to arrive tomorrow, so please be present to take receipt of them and to sign the appropriate paperwork for their contracts."

[Spartakos]

Rhodri plans to stick around town a couple of days, listening for word of Bertram being back in town...he wants to talk with his former traveling companion. He'd also like to see who else is hanging around the Briarbeard, and might be willing to partner up, but will not approach anyone just yet...the sole exception being Remus. If the old woodsman turns up, Rhodri will try to chat with him about what happened to him after the Great Orc Fight of '01.

He'll also do a bit of shopping: a new large sack, a bottle of decent wine, 4 flasks of oil, and 10 days of trail rations.

All that comes to 6g6s; with 20% markup, that's 7g9s2c. Adding in 5 days lodging (5 sp), that's a total of 8g4s2c deducted.
Query: can anyone tell me why a quiver of arrows for a longbow costs half as much as a quiver of arrows for a shortbow?

[Zhym]

Query: can anyone tell me why a quiver of arrows for a longbow costs half as much as a quiver of arrows for a shortbow?

Where are you seeing a difference? My copy of LL says both are 5 gp.

[Zorroroaster]

During the audience with the Duke, Orrin remains silent. He observes the Duke in his natural environment, sizing the man up and trying to get a sense of who he is.

When the Duke presents payment for the pelt, Orrin bows slightly and leaves without raising anything to do with Fangir. He's not ready for such a confrontation and besides, it would be ill mannered of him to jeopardize the payday for Rhodri and Kennit.

[Zorroroaster]

After receiving his share of the loot, Orrin will go to the provisioners and replace his basic adventuring gear:

1 Bedroll
1 Blanket
1 Flint and Steel
1 Rope, 50', Hemp
2 Oil flasks
2 Sack, lg
1 Waterskin
10 Trail rations (days)
2 Low soft boots
1 Cloth shirt
1 Light trousers
1 Backpack

With markup, 29g, 2s, 8c. I think did the math right. So tired.

After outfitting himself, he wanders out to see if a caravan is in town at the moment to see if there is anything worth buying like weapons or armor of better quality than the manky chainmail he scavenged or the nearly useless spear he's still clutching in his off hand.

[Keehnelf]

The next caravan is set to arrive on May 15. The smith has any kind of armor apart from banded or plate available at standard Vaul prices.

[Spartakos]

Query: can anyone tell me why a quiver of arrows for a longbow costs half as much as a quiver of arrows for a shortbow?

Where are you seeing a difference? My copy of LL says both are 5 gp.

*Shrug* My PDF of LL has 5 gp under shortbow, but 25 sp under longbow. I'll go with yours, though...thanks. Though after checking the Finger thread, it looks like I only actually loosed around 3 arrows the whole time, so why worry.

Rhodri will talk to the town weaponsmith about the possibility of setting the tooth he kept from the Wolf's head into a hilt, to make one heckuva stylish dagger (feasibility, cost, time, etc).

[Keehnelf]

The smith can make it into a sturdy and functional dagger for one gold piece and can have it ready tomorrow.

Twenty five gold pieces can get you a hilt of quality equivalent to a typical masterwork dagger (along with a +1 to hit) but will take a week.

If you want to splurge for more than that, just let him know how much you want to spend in gold and other materials like gems if applicable, and I'll get you a quote on time.