>Ed Tonry's campaign (could you present a bit more of it? I'd find it
>interesting to hear about ongoing campaigns, especially those with unusual
>settings, ...
Oh, gee, where to begin? I'll leave out all the early history except to
say
that the PC's are on the run from the Lunars. The Hank and Oswald Gang
have had to flee Prax and Sartar, but are eager to come back and
liberate
Sartar. They decided to go to Ralios because: 1) it was far from the
Lunars; 2) there were lots of high quality knights there; 3) the PC's
might be able to get enough money somehow to hire a mercenary army with
which to free Sartar. Actually, the players already had enough money to
hire a pretty good army, but they've never worked out the finances well
enough to realize this. And it's not _my_ job to tell them.
Anyway, once in Ralios, they hired 200 men and conquered Wut, a small
town
in Sentanos, near the borders of Naskorion and Helby. (What's the name
of that town? Yes.) The normal town taxes paid for the upkeep of the
troops, and everything was fine.
One of the Gang is an elf, and wanted to visit the elves in the Arstola Forest. While there, he and the humans who accompanied him were treated to a local beverage, jamoke, a brown drink made from beans grown on the nearby mountain slopes. The elves find it very relaxing and calming, but humans find it very stimulating. A trade deal was soon struck, and the Gang was in business.
They had a growing trade and were starting to make some money when the
Count of Naskorion decided that _he_ should control Wut. The Gang's
first
reaction was to defend the town, but that was before they saw the size
of
the count's army. Quickly cutting a deal with him, they abandoned Wut.
About this time, word came of a gold rush in Lalia. Why a gold rush?
Well, all fantasy games have gold and silver galore, but it's just
there.
It never seems to come from anywhere except somebody's treasure chest.
So I decided to have the first RPG gold rush.
The Gang decided that they could make a lot of money with their army in
a
land full of gold, one way or another. They sold their jamoke trade to
a local merchant in Drom for a cash payment and regular royalties. They
offered their army regular pay plus half of all the profit the Gang
acquired in Lalia. Naturally, the army agreed to follow them.
In Lalia, they met the ruler, Mengalar, who had recently succeeded the
late
Count Jongmar. Mengalar needed extra troops to put down the rebellion
of
Jongmar's niece, Marilar, who claimed to be the rightful heiress. The
Gang
didn't like Mengalar, and found Marilar receptive to their offer of
assistance. With their help, and Mengalar's own heavy-handed rule, she
managed to depose him and become Countess. Marilar has fallen in love
with one of the Gang, a Sartar nobleman.
The gold fields are mostly placer deposits along the upper reaches of the river going up into the mountains in the center of Lalia. Unbeknownst to the PC's, the dwarves in the mountains don't want humans digging so close to their home. So the dwarves cast a huge spell on a hill a day's travel to the east, turning it into gold. This attracted most of the miners, leaving the dwarves in peace.
Unfortunately, when the dwarves showed up to renew the spell, the miners
thought they were trying to steal the gold, and chased them off. The
spell
expired, and tons of gold turned to rock, causing a panic in Lalford,
the
capital. The miners claimed the dwarves had enchanted the gold into
rock.
The townsmen blamed the miners. The two parties almost came to blows,
but the miners convinced the townsfolk that the dwarves were to blame.
They all turned to the Countess, demanding war against the dwarves.
The Gang, despite all the clues I was throwing their way, had a
different
opinion. They decided that the only person capable of such a huge spell
was Argan Terror, the Nightmare Sorceror of Tinaros, a man they _do not_
want to take on. The Countess dipped into her gold reserves to appease
the people, and the Gang fast-talked everyone into postponing any war.
In addition to calming the fears of the ordinary people, the Countess also had to be sure of the army, so they got paid as well. That's when the Gang found just how bad a deal they had made with their troops. The Gang got one half of one percent of all the gold discovered. Out of this they paid their troops half as a bonus, plus their regular pay. The total was about 11,000 pennies _more_ than the Gang's income.
The Gang's solution to this shortfall was to get permission from the Countess to take over any abandoned mining claims, and work them with convicts. I haven't decided yet just how much this will improve their finances, but they will probably make some profit.
Just now, a few of the Gang have gone off on a quest to Wonder Wood. On
the
way, they decided to pick up their royalties from the jamoke trade.
Surprise! Surprise! Their partner has disappeared and someone else is
running the business, someone who does not intend to share with them.
Ed Tonry
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