Player Characters
Alykacha
Haagan and Haagan's Ritual Book
Happy Angel
Moonscale and Moonscale's Ritual Book
Pontuus
Rangrim
House Keeping
So, having returned triumphant from our adventures we are invited to meet with the Lords of Fallcrest, which we should have seen as a sign right from the start: before we left we had been made Burghers, or possibly Bergers or, most likely Burgers. This apparently gives us some say on the Council of Fallcrest. Great. Alykacha and Happy Angel deciding how a city should be fun. I'm not sure there is enough Wisdom and Intelligence in the rest of the party, possibly not in the rest of the Nentir Vale, to balance that one out.
Anyway, before we know it we have bought a boat. This is turning out to be like one of those timeshare deals. Apparently we'll own it and everything, but the halflings and other assorted porters of the Swiftriver Clan will sail it up and down the River Nentir or, to give it its proper name, the Nentir River. Well, I say "sail", it is a barge so pole is probably more the speed of things. I'm sure we'll turn a tidy profit after, you know, wages, wear and tear and import and export duties, local and national taxes and compensation because of damp cargo. I can hear the money pouring in.
Ah well, investing in the local economy.
If only it had stopped there.
Then Haagen gets practically pressed into taking over a gentleman's gym, scale polishing (which just has to be a euphemism) and tanning operation. Well, I say "taking over", in fact he'd just been called in to advise on redecoration, oh and pay for the redecoration. Lots of gold brocade and pictures of huge sweaty men straining and, well, sweating, I shouldn't wonder. That and quite a lot of polishing,
Well, I say "gentleman's gym, scale polishing and tanning operation", it is in fact a temple to Kord, Bahamut and Pelor, but we all know what they get up to.
Meanwhile, our own dragonborn mage was pressed into kicking the arse of Nimozaran The Green, last apprentice of the great High Mages of Fallcrest who all contributed to giving the Bloodspear Wars their name by, you know, getting stabbed with spears. Go Mages.
Apparently Nimozaran considers himself High Septarch (he lives in a seven sided town and smells rank), but the Lords of Fallcrest consider him a bit of an embarrassment and about as much use as a wax fireguard and would like him gently persuaded to step down in favour of someone much younger, more puissant and the proud bearer of some really shiny scales.
Well, I say "step down"...
Oh, and the old place probably needs a bit of doing up as well. Ka-ching!
What else? Oh yes, we bought a party house. Take "party" whichever way you like. It is on the clifftop (or cliff edge if you are an insurance assessor, or drunk) and is nicely centrally located. We've got a bedroom each, all the usual amenities and a large garden. I'll be at the Blue Moon Alehouse if you need me...
So, I think that is about it. No, hang on, we also spent a wagonload on a new stabby stick for Alykacha. I'm sure they will be very happy together.
All in all we have spent over half our accumulated wealth, but easy come, easy go. Well, I say "easy"...
Right, then we got a polite invitation to go and see Faren Markelhay, the Lord Warden again and, mugs that we are, we went. Lord Warden Mularkey (sic) informs us that there is a bit of an orc problem around the Gardbury Downs and it is rumoured that Gardbury Abbey, home to generations of good, decent, honest, insert noun of your choice, is occupied by orcs. This wouldn't be any kind of a problem if they had not set up some sort of caravan inspection operation. When an honest urge in our viridian cousins to ensure that trade goods are properly inspected for quality and those falling below a certain standard – pretty much all of them as it happens – are removed from the supply chain, well, certain vested interests, as well as a few brocaded ones, get a little shirty, but, rather than actually doing anything themselves, or, heaven forfend, spending any money on the problem, the best way to deal with it is probably to send a horde of violent sociopaths on a scouting mission in the area to sort out the green skinned bastards.
Well, I say "scouting", but I can't exactly see this being a stealth mission, going on past form, and I say "horde of violent sociopaths"...that would be us then...
Still, I for one am glad of the opportunity to get out there and do violence in the name of sorting out the black hats from the white hats. Perish the thought that the colours should mix, eh?
To be honest if I'd stayed much longer there would have been a lot more vacancies in the upper echelons of Fallcrest society, and a lot less beer in the cellar of the Blue Moon.
Expenses
0600g - Buying a River boat.
2000g - Purchasing a rather large house in a desirable part of Hightown.
1800g - On Haagan and Moonscale enchanting a +2 Short Sword.
0135g - On transferring the Lifedrinker enchantment to it from the scimitar to the short sword.