| Current Turn? | No |  | Subject: | Seeking a Ransom Master |
| Campaign: | Spelljammer | | Turn Start Date: | 5/17/606 |
| Adventure: | Archeron | | Turn End Date: | 5/17/606 |
| Adventure Number: | 7 | | Characters: | Barnas, KC , Martin Vane, Morty Crystaltouched, Pellanistra Xarann, Shaarilla, Syllivarrna Obanghall, Tyra Stellastrom |
| Turn Number: | 6.9 | | Send To: | bluemountain@championsoftheempire.com; kc.starsprite@gmail.com; mghaught@gmail.com |
| Greyhawk Campaign? | No | | Combat Turn? | No |
| Name | Lethal | NL | Current | END | PROT | LOW | DEF | ROF | Flash | Heal | Luck Pts | Fate Pts | |
| Barnas | 23 | 0 | 38/61 | /0 | 8 | 2 | 34 | 0 | /0 | 1/day | 2/2 | 1/1 | |
| KC | 15 | 0 | 38/53 | /0 | 6 | 3 | 52 | 4 | /0 | 1/day | 1/2 | 1/1 | |
| Martin Vane | 30 | 0 | 30/60 | /0 | 10 | 3 | 55 | 12 | /0 | 1/day | 3/3 | 1/1 | |
| Morty Crystaltouched | 2 | 0 | 49/51 | /0 | 5 | 0 | 49 | 0 | 1/1 | 1/day | 2/2 | 0/1 | |
| Pellanistra Xarann | 19 | 0 | 41/60 | 8/8 | 9 | 0 | 79 | 16 | /0 | 1/day | 1/1 | 0/0 | |
| Shaarilla | 0 | 0 | 45/45 | /0 | 4 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 1/1 | 1/day | 2/2 | 1/1 | |
| Syllivarrna Obanghall | 9 | 0 | 63/72 | /0 | 6 | 2 | 51 | 12 | /0 | 1/day | 2/2 | 1/1 | |
| Tyra Stellastrom | 7 | 0 | 74/81 | 0/10 | 10 | 3 | 69 | 14 | /0 | 2/day | 2/2 | 1/1 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Mage/Psioncist Name | Psionic Pts | Spell Pts | Spell Pool | Miscellaneous Information |
| KC | / | 2/11 | 9/9 | |
| Martin Vane | / | 13/13 | 9/9 | |
| Morty Crystaltouched | / | 8/15 | 9/9 | |
| Shaarilla | / | 5/23 | 11/27 | |
| Syllivarrna Obanghall | / | 10/15 | 12/12 | |
| | | | |
| Barnas | Cleric Pool (11/11) |
| KC | |
| Martin Vane | |
| Morty Crystaltouched | |
| Pellanistra Xarann | 25% DR vs Slash, Crush & Elemental |
| Shaarilla | Mage Armor (PROT 4 for 48 hours or 3 hits) |
| Syllivarrna Obanghall | |
| Tyra Stellastrom | |
| Didamia | |
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Didamia, Vikru, Balzeda, Syl, Morty and Lani depart the caverns to seek a ransom master. The rescued drow also depart to go their own ways back into the city of Erelhei-Cinlu, leaving only the rescued humans remaining.
GM: That means that a total of 13 drow depart, 9 female and 4 male. There are 7 humans remaining, 4 male and 3 female.
The group leads the rescued drow up the spiral staircase, through the teleportal to the top of the interminable stone steps, up the final stairway and out the door to the alley. No one seems to be paying any attention as the 18 drow and 1 gnome depart the building, closing the door behind them. The rescued drow head off in both directions down the alley and are soon lost to sight. Some depart individually and others depart in groups, perhaps determined to stick together for mutual protection for a time.
Didamia leads the way out onto the main cross street and turns right. She leads the group through the dark and twisting streets and eventually stops in front of a door. No windows flank the door. She tries the door and it opens to stone steps leading up into darkness. Two male drow are descending and Didamia asks where the ransom master might be found. Her tone is arrogant, but no less so than the reply she receives that indicates the ransom master can be found through the third door on the right.
The two drow depart and the group heads up the stairs to a wide hallway. With infravision, they can see half a dozen doors on either side of the dark corridor. She leads the way to the third door on the right and knocks. After half a minute or so, the door is opened by a male drow wearing armor and carrying weapons. He asks their business. Didamia lets him know that they seek the services of the ransom master in a matter concerning one the noble families of Erelhei-Cinlu. The man stands aside so they can enter and then closes the door behind them.
The waiting room is dimly lit but brighter lights peek out from under a couple of doors leading deeper into the office. The man welcomes them to sit until the ransom master can see them and then takes up position by the door.
A few minutes later, an interior door opens, flooding the room with a brighter light and a female drow accompanied by three bodyguards storms out. She is clearly unhappy. She does not even look at the group as she storms across the waiting room and exits to the corridor. The armored drow closes the door behind them and continues to stand there while the group continues to wait.
About five minutes later, the same interior door opens and an unarmed male drow steps through. He tells Didamia that the ransom master will see her now. He leads the group into a large interior office that is brightly lit. Sitting behind an ornate desk is a drow woman of indeterminate age. The office is luxuriously appointed. In the far corners are full size statues of demons though some in the group wonder if they are really statues. Maybe they are real demons standing still as statues.
The woman behind the desks waits until the group is seated and then says, "Well?"
Didamia responds and explains that they have captured Phaere Despana and want to ransom her back to her family. The conversation that follows is somewhat long as the ransom master (mistress?) asks probing questions about the manner of her capture and detention. She seems completely unconcerned by the details of the torture chambers. She is a bit more interested in the Temple of Lloth. The the conversation turns to compensation. Her share will be 25% percent of the total but Didamia barters this down to 19%.
GM: Does the group have any idea of some of the things they want to ask for as compensation, other than the Amber Key of Spelljammer? Are they going to mention the Hammership and ask for the value of that, plus 19% to cover the ransom master's commission? Let me know what you are thinking. If you are unsure, then I will make some die rolls and resolve.
GM: You could have discussed this prior to departing so even characters who are not in the ransom master's office can respond.
KC: first of all where does house Despana rank among the noble houses of the city Erilhei Cinlu specifically and Archeron as a whole?
GM: From what the Knights of Lore know, it ranks as one of the more powerful noble houses among the drow both with regard to Erelhei-Cinlu and Archeron.
KC: a new Hammersmith is 50,000 silver. The damaged one is 25,000 silver. The trade in of the Star Sprite was quoted at a estimated 10000 silver based upon a positive inspection of it. Then Morty estimated that it would take 5000 silver to repair it.
KC: So that is 25000 - 10000 = 15000 silver to buy it without any bartering. (Barnas keep raising that skill.. its at skilled level right now.) Than another 5000 silver for self repair, but in the interest of getting the critical repairs down we may want to look into being able to hire some skilled helpers to finish that work as quickly as possible. Oh and I almost forgot the 19% to the ramsom master. So I think that we should target getting at least 25000 silver.
KC: so If we give her a of 30000 silver that will give the ramsom master a 5700 silver cut and us at 24300 silver. Or we should still be able.to do this if he target number is 25000 silver. Than it would be 4750 silver for her and 21250 silver for us.. We will have the amount received from the sale of the Star Sprite to make up any short fall and then on top of that the party members pooled resources of roughly 8000 silver estimated.
KC: One thing that I am thinking about maybe we can add some incentive for the ramsom master to do better is add some bonus to a job well done. Say that we set a amount with the Ransom Master at 30000 silver and than offer a 1% bonus for every 5000 silver she succeeds in negotiating above the base amount up to her original 25% max.
KC: So in the least I would love to have the amount set at 30000 silver minimum take ofter negotiation are finished. That way all the funds to fix up the ship are there especially with the sale or trade in of the Star Sprite.
KC: (GM) so to get 30000 would this work like bartering where we would have to set a higher price and work it to our price or would we just tell her we want 30000 silver and you get 19% of it but for every 5000 silver above that you get a 1% bonus up to 25% maximum fee.?
TYRA: Definitely the Amber Key and 19% commission. Tyra would love for us to get enough to get the Hammership but she doesn't know what's typical in a ransom offer so she'll defer to the natives. KC's idea to see if the Ransom Master would take a higher cut if she can negotiate more than what we need is intriguing. 40,000 silver + the Amber key seems like a reasonable starting place. We're definitely at a disadvantage not knowing what is typical but ultimately if we get enough to get the Hammership and the Amber Key, we're golden. Tyra is fine with taking the honest approach but knows that in some cultures that may be viewed as naive or weak.
SHAARILLA: Shaarilla agrees with the others, we need to get the Amber key. Money towards a bigger ship will help. Deferring to those who some idea what is customary is also good. At one point that has been brought up yet, do the drow that helped us get a share of this reward? It seems reasonable that they would get some of the cash since we couldn’t have done it without them.
GM: So I am hearing that you want to go with an initial demand of 40,000. As Shaarilla brought up, what do you envision as the share for the Knights of Lore?
KC: I was NOT factoring that (the Knights of Lore) into the demands just our needs. It was mentioned earlier that they would be keeping all of the magical drow weapons and armor, as it would get ruined after we left as it got exposed to sun light. Then there is what we found in elaborately furnished room. By the way GM what was it that we found? So if they are going to get a cut we should probably double the ransom demand.
KC: what is the estimate for the items we gathered on this outing?
GM: For all of the treasure you gained in the invasion of the torture chamber and temple areas, you would estimate you found about 5,000 silver worth of items. This includes coins found in the torture chamber office, drow armor and weapons that no one claimed, and items found in the temple.
KC: factors to consider
1) House Despana is one of the more powerful and influential house in the city and county or state as a whole.
2) Our captive is a female in this matriarch society.
3) She is also a priestiest of Lloth in charge of a temple, although small, but still a temple.
TYRA: Tyra feels the Knights of Lore should get some cut as well so anything they feel they would like should be worked into the ransom deal.
SYL: Do Didamia or Rhandos (or any of the Knights of Lore for that matter) have any idea the worth of a scion of a Drow House would be??
GM: They do not know.
SYL (GM): Luck Roll or Knowledge roll for those with appropriate Lores?
GM: Courtesan would be the most appropriate skill but no one has it.
SYL: What about the other magic items Phaere had on her when captured? Do we include those in the ransom or start with them off the table and then add them if necessary?
GM: Right now she is still carrying them but you can certainly include them in the price of the ransom.
SYL (GM): any way she can get a feel from the Ransom Master what we should/could ask for? She does have diplomacy and conversation and some XP to raise them as necessary
GM: Right now I am kind of assuming this discussion is occurring before you left to meet with the ransom master. Once everyone is done lending their input and ideas, then I will get back to the ransom master and those there can deal directly with her. Just remind me when we reach that point.
KC: (GM) going off of Sharilla's idea, what would Didamia and the Knights of Lore like to get out of this? I will go ask her .
KC: "Didamia. Now that we have Nakilla and the Key in sight. There is the question of your augury you cast before we met. Three problems can be take care of.... two have been found and solved or almost solved, but the third one is still unknown. Do you have a third problem that could be solved with the ransom reward or with us somehow?"
KC: "The Knights of Lore should get something out of this. The armor and weapons would be an obvious part as they are really only good here in the underarm. But beyond that?" He shrugs. "Do you need funds for a better place or a way to get away from the city or Acheron? What do you think you part of the reward should be for this?"
DIDAMIA: "We got Nakalla back, which was our main concern. Our long range goal is to depart this city and find a better place to live. I know that you and your team want to buy a spelljammer and depart. If you will let us travel with you to a civilized location then that would satisfy our long range goal. Beyond that, maybe some money to get started in a new location."
GM: After further discussion with Didamia, Aressa and Rhandos, you conclude that 2,000 silver would be the minimum to meet their needs to set up in a new location as long as they can get a ride there with the group. 5,000 silver would be a more ideal amount for them.
KC: With that information from the Knights of Lore. I think that the 40000 silver demand is good. I still personally like the idea of giving the negotiator some incentive to get more if she thinks it is possible. As for the magic items I am happy with just the key. The other items that the priestess is wearing might be nice but if we leave those alone I think we will have a better chance to get our goal and maybe even more. < Shrug>
TYRA: Yeah, on this point, I would say that the priestess is likely to value those items much more than we're likely to. No reason to be 'greedy' here. Allowing her to keep them would make the rest of our offer stronger.
TYRA: It seems like 30,000 silver is our target 'do not drop below' to get all that we're after (damaged Hammership cost, Knights of Lore new life fund, 19% commission). I'd suggest we start at 42,000 so there's a decent amount of buffer in the expected back and forth. Marty didn't go back to check on the numbers so hopefully, Morty or other sharp characters will know that the math is accurate IC.
GM: It sounds like discussion about ransom is about over and the group is going to try to get 42,000 silver. I will send the next turn tomorrow or Friday with this assumption unless someone wants more time to discuss.
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