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Grand Theft Arcana

hello friend

Arcane
Joined
Feb 26, 2012
Messages
7,847
Location
I'm on an actual spaceship. No joke.
A, as long as we take a good cut. Might be a good idea to build up some local opposition to the King's Men, might need them/need to betray them later on.

C
 

Esquilax

Arcane
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
4,833
Do you guys not know how favours work?

Glade, an up-and-coming bandit lord with a promising future, as well as a deep disdain for the hold's King's Men.
...
"Glade, I heard you've been making waves among the bandits. You've made many enemies, Glade, in the King, the neighboring barons and counts, your rivals. But you could make a friend, if you helped me rob information while you rob gold."

"Aye?" she asks mischievously. "'Tis quite a task, my lord. And as you say, I've many an enemy. Would you help a friend in need?"

We can't just get something for nothing. Asking Glade to find information for us for an unspecified return in the future probably means that we are unlikely to get repaid with any information on who tried to kill us. Also, unlike the King's Men, Glade's bandits are far more compliant and easily dealt with than the King's Men. Obviously, she is ambitious and could turn on us down the road, but I don't see how cementing a better relationship for the time being isn't a better idea.

As for which activity to pick, let's go on a date. What's the worst that could happen?

AB
 

hello friend

Arcane
Joined
Feb 26, 2012
Messages
7,847
Location
I'm on an actual spaceship. No joke.
It's risky for Glade to operate in direct competition with the King's Men. Because of our crystal ball (which we have no reason to reveal as the source of information) we could feed her safe/fat targets and help her avoid premature confrontation with other bandits. This is so massively useful to a bandit group that getting a commission on top of information we'd be interested in is a pretty reasonable arrangement. This gives us some flexibility in building up a good protection racket. Also, her group may become reliant/dependent on our intel, getting used to easy marks and help avoiding detection from the King's Men. This could be used to our advantage later on.

For Glade, this would be the golden ticket. She's be a fool not to take the deal.
 

Taliensin

Educated
Joined
Mar 30, 2016
Messages
78
Location
Secret Moon Base
we could have glade's merry men operate in other baronies while moving the loot through our channels and going with hello friend's plan perhaps? And when she starts getting too big for our arrangement well, its fortunate that the heroic baron and concerned locals wiped out the bandits plaguing the neighboring baronies.
And C , going old mafia style and having our pig farmers on our side only helps us.
 
Last edited:

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
I'm on board with hello friend's plan. AC
Been too busy lately to vote regularly. Almost done, though.
 

Cheesecake

Savant
Joined
Oct 7, 2015
Messages
137
A: Nevill, hello friend, Esquilax, Taliensin, Storyfag, Baltika9, 6
B: ERYFKRAD, Kz3r0, Grimgravy, TOME, 4

A. Say yes, offering to reinforce her men from your own gang, and turning a blind eye to her robberies. Though, business in the Hold is sure to suffer due to the bandits.

A: Kz3r0, 1
B: Esquilax, 1
C: Nevill, hello friend, Grimgravy, Taliensin, TOME, Storyfag, Baltika9, 7
D: ERYFKRAD, 1
E:

C. Minister your barony. A bit out of character, but perhaps it is time you grew up.

You gather your council, seating them in your great hall. The wind blows and flows in the open hall. Branches are woven into the stone, and flowers carpet the hall's center. You clothe yourself in noble, but comfortable, garments; a thin cloak of silk, dyed autumn-red. Tunic and vest, earth-brown, emblazoned with the fallen leaf of Autumn Hold. Your breeches and boots are mud-black. You nestle yourself in the high seat, a throne hewn from an ancient tree, and patiently wait for your visitors.

Your guests for the day are the town-elders of the outlying hamlets and villages, the guild masters of the town Wildhallow, and the mayor of Wildhallow: Lon Hollow. A crowd of peasants accompany them, some as retainers, many as sight-seers, awed at the sight of a noble hall and its noble occupants.

The greetings commence; most of it is inane, few of it is heartfelt, but fortunately there aren't many to greet. Twelve elders for the twelve villages seat themselves on the flower-carpeted floor of packed earth. The guild masters sit on wooden stools. The mayor seats himself at their head.

"Let us begin then," you say.

----

"Witchcraft is what it is, milord!" cries an outraged elder, his jowels quivering as he shakes his fragile fist.

"It's called love, you twit!" retorts the elder beside him. "Your son and my daughter, it's love, is all."

The first elder points an accusing finger. "Ah! You and your wicked spawn seek to take my village, eh? Steal my boy's heart, and when I'm gone to dust, kill him and ensnare my village?"

"Milord Autumn, you cannot let this senile fool break my daughter's heart!"

You know these two, if only in name and face. You've visited their villages before, as a youth, when your lord father took you and your brothers with him on his business. The first elder's village is old and wealthy, as far as villages are, and its lands are the few fertile plots in all the Hold. The second elder's village is hewn into the side of a great hill, newly-settled in the prospect of a great mine of, what they hope to be, mithril.

You decide to:

A. Favor the first elder and his fertile farms.
B. Favor the second elder and his new mine.
C. Favor no side.

----

"My lord Autumn, these bandits grow bold," says a plump merchant. "We guild masters fear for our businesses, and all those who work for us, due to these vile marauders!"

"This, my lord," says another guild master, "this is witchcraft! They know our routes, our schedules, even our cargo!"

"We've lost three caravans already! Wildhallow suffers!" says a third. Meanwhile, the mayor Lon Hallow nods grimly.

You tell them you will:

A. Do something about these 'bandits'. You will talk to Glade and order her to scale down her attacks.
B. Do something about these 'bandits'. Feign effort, and place the blame on something (or someone) else.
C. Do nothing. Autumn Hold placed their trust in the mayor to govern the town and its property. It should be the mayor to deal with this.
D. Do nothing. Punish them for incompetence and demand recompense!

----

Hours of debating, politicking, and name-calling pass, and finally only one man remains for you to hear. Lon Hollow, mayor of Wildhallow.

"My lord, aside from the bandits that plague my guild masters and my town, I ask for one more thing." He falls to his knees. "I beg sanctuary, my lord! I beg you!"

"Rise, man. Sanctuary? From what?"

He stammers and swallows his throat. He looks around nervously, and speaks in a hushed voice. "The Queen's Men, my lord, they seek to mount my head on a spike."

"Autumn Hold has no quarrel with the Queen nor her men. Why do they harass you?"

"One of those caravans carried something dear to her, a box of rings. One of my guild masters only spoke of it this morning. I know the Queen will send her Men to Wildhallow! I fear for my town and my family!"

You:

A. Offer him the safety and hospitality of Autumn Hold.
B. Offer men to safeguard him and his court in Wildhallow.
C. Refuse him, and tell him to weather his own storms.
D. Offer him to the Queen, to curry favor with her.

As for the rings:

A. Leave them be.
B. Set out and search for them, and return them to the Queen.
C. Set out and search for them, and keep them for yourself.

----

Amadeus Autumn, Baron of Autumn Hold, Gangleader of the Barren Fall. Known as the Barren Baron.

Fit for his age, and taller than most. His hair is the color of autumn leaves, his eyes as green as spring. His features are pale and sunken, like many users of mana.

His skill with magic is remarkable, owing to the fact that he has never had formal training as his brothers had. He is a crack shot with a wand. He can hold his own in a tavern brawl. He is unskilled with swords, and being armored is uncomfortable for him.

His lack of formal education means that he is unwise in the way of nobility, and of academics. However, he is a natural leader, and streetwise. He is a poor tactician, in matters of war, but quite the opposite in the ways of crime.

----

His holdings are Autumn Hold and all its lands. The land is infamous for its sterility, and few crops grow there. The peasantry live off the rivers and lakes, as fishermen and fishmongers. Some live off the forests, daring to go where bandits and beasts lurk, harvesting wood for fire and woodcraft.

On the whole, Autumn Hold is poor, with taxes of 20,000 gold pieces every month.

His criminal ventures are Mage's conglomerate of brothels. Fishermen coming into the Hold from their villages spend their hard-earned coin for a warm night. His profits average 10,000 gold pieces every month.

His total income is 30,000 gold pieces monthly.

----

He owes the King 30% of his wealth, and pays 20% in protection money to the Queen. He pays 1,000 in bribes to the local King's Men.

His dues are 9,000 to the King, 3,000 to the Queen, 1,000 to the local King's Men, and 1,000 in upkeep. His dues total 14,000 gold pieces every month.

----

His treasury currently holds 33,000 gold pieces. In his personal belongings, he has his father's armor, his eldest brother's sword, his elder brother's wand, and a contraband crystal ball.
 

TOME

Cuckmaster General
Joined
May 25, 2012
Messages
1,820
CAAB.

Favor from everyone, except those biggering village elders.
 

hello friend

Arcane
Joined
Feb 26, 2012
Messages
7,847
Location
I'm on an actual spaceship. No joke.
C. We want the people on our side.
C>B. Is it possible to feed Glade intel of King's Men's movements and raids on local caravans, allowing her group both to catch the King's Men when they're tired and to build up a kind of 'robin hood' narrative, not in the sense of giving to the poor, but being on the side of the people, marketing itself as a vigilante group for justice? While taking the spoils, of course. This could attract extra attention from the King's Men, though. Which doesn't have to be a bad thing, depending on the choices we make. This would reduce the total banditry while enriching Glade's people. Win-win.
C. We want to build up a culture of dissent (not toward us obv, to the royals), but we don't want to be directly associated with it.
B>C. Giving the rings would curry favour with the queen, while diverting suspicion. However! We should hold the rings for a short period and spend some time trying to determine if there is anything special about these rings - magical, political, religious, what have you.
 

Esquilax

Arcane
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
4,833
You know these two, if only in name and face. You've visited their villages before, as a youth, when your lord father took you and your brothers with him on his business. The first elder's village is old and wealthy, as far as villages are, and its lands are the few fertile plots in all the Hold. The second elder's village is hewn into the side of a great hill, newly-settled in the prospect of a great mine of, what they hope to be, mithril.

Cheesecake, I'm a little confused - do we know for a fact that there's mithril there, or does the elder simply hope that there's mithril? We have a real dilemma here, guys. We have an essential good that isn't particularly profitable (agriculture) and a luxury good that has the potential to be extremely profitable down the road. However, I feel like taking a risk on this venture today. Our hold will never really be an agricultural center because the land sucks, so we need to look to other ways to make money, and mining seems like a great avenue.

The big trouble I see is in alienating the farmer elder. We piss him off, we're gonna need some other means of obtaining food, and that probably means we'll be importing. Fuck it, I think the opportunity in mining is so good that I'm willing to take the hit in the short term.

And secondly, I have a plan. We already have a deal struck with Glade, that I do not intend to go back on right after we agreed to it. We will pin the deed on rogue elements of the Queen's men, intent on harassing townsfolk and stealing the rings that she seeks. To make things right with the Queen, because a newly minted Baron simply is in no shape to compete with someone at that level, we'll find the rings for her. This is win-win for everyone; townsfolk think that we've brought the bandits to justice and stopped the caravan raids, our arrangement with Glade remains as is, and the Queen is able to save face by getting her possessions back and using some expendable men as a scapegoat. Speaking of saving face - that's exactly why we can't offer him Sanctuary - it's too disrespectful a move IMO.

The downside, of course, is that there is a good chance that these rings have magical properties. But, for now, I'm looking more towards improving our power base than I am at magical ability (though of course that will change in the future once we are a bit more settled).

BBBB
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
The big trouble I see is in alienating the farmer elder. We piss him off, we're gonna need some other means of obtaining food, and that probably means we'll be importing.
:lol: It would be a shame if something happened to those caravans of his.
 

Taliensin

Educated
Joined
Mar 30, 2016
Messages
78
Location
Secret Moon Base
B, the old coot is nuts (even if he is correct as i suspect he is,being paranoid doesn't mean they are not out to get you ect ect)
B
A
B
 

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