Character Creation for Trogdor

Just to clarify, Japik went off to chase a lead (he did not specify what exactly) when you were still very far from Terschelling, and you did not even know their involvement at that point. So you don't know whether they were involved in his disappearance or not. And Prochorus explains that the Bjornaer has encountered some sort of dangerous sea creatures before.

Technically, both of you should be safe, as magi, from Terschelling and their grogs. As long as you clearly identify yourselves as magi of the Order, they can't just murder you out of hand. Not legally and not without risking a Quaesitorial investigation. Nothing on the Baltrum would have identified it as belonging to an Hermetic covenant, so if they attacked and seized it, they may not have known that it belonged to other magi.

On the other hand, yours is not a registered covenant with the Tribunal. So you can't claim before Quaesitors that Terschelling has attacked one of your covenant's resources. Not without revealing the existence of your non-registered covenant. And if you just both disappear, only your pater might miss you after a while without hearing from you. Even you last covenant-mate, Herman of Bonisagus, doesn't know you found the Baltrum at Terschelling.

Hmm, that being the case, our actions might be different - though I don't tend to think that a pirate covenant is likely to stay any closer to the rules than it absolutely has to in order not to get Wizard Marched.

How hard would it be under current circumstances to stop at another covenant and let them know we were going to Terschelling? I was just thinking that our odds of walking out of Terschelling alive are much better if someone in the hermetic community knows we walked in. Whether our covenant is registered or not is immaterial; we're still magi. But we can always claim we did that and they wouldn't know for certain unless they scryed on us. Still, I'd rather have someone know.

Regardless, let's try and see if we can make a deal with the magi of Terschelling. I'm not so naive as to think they'll just give us our ship back. But we might get the ship back if we agree to pay them some protection against pirates ...

Well, the closest covenant is your own, about 3 three days of flying away. About as far away is the covenant of Irminsul, near the Teutoburger Forest. Your think there's a Quaesitor living there, but you're not sure. Then there are Oculus Septentrionalis and Triamore at about 4 days away.

Making a deal implies that you have something to offer them. Do you? Note that Japik hated pirates, so if he returns he might not be happy about making a deal with them. At this point, you don't know if he will...

We certainly have something to offer them - a steady stream of income in the form of protection money that they wouldn't have to work for. Really that's all we have to offer. If Konrad thinks that's unlikely to be persuasive, then there's little chance we have anything else they'd want. (Except for vis, and the moment we start trading away what little vis we have is the moment we should close up shop.)

No, wait, we have no sailors to man the ship. We can't even offer them protection money.

I also had forgotten that Japik was so against pirates.

This leads me back to where I was at the start. We have absolutely no bargaining position. We have little (or nothing) to offer, nothing to threaten them with, and no resources to speak of. I'd love to get our ship back (though again there's the question of who we'd get to sail it.) I'd love to get reparations for it's theft. That's really what we'd like most of all. But if we present that to the pirate covenant, they'll just laugh at us. This is looking more and more like a learning experience in which we learn, to our detriment, that the world is a harsh place, especially for people with no relative power. If it were mundane pirates, we'd have a chance. After all, compared to a mundane, even a starting magus is strong. But as powerful as a starting magus is, he's nothing compared to a covenant of older magi. The fact that our ship got taken by another covenant leaves us with no power to negotiate. Yes, we could walk into and out of the covenant alive. (Probably) But we have no way to convince them that they are in the wrong.

I'm beginning to see why the covenant failed.

In the end, I think we have to chalk this up to extremely bad luck and return home to desperately try and find a new income source.

At this point, Prochorus is pretty much as disheartened as Konrad is, though anger also shakes his small frame. He mentions that he could probably sail the ship, with a little bit of help. He also offers (not sounding like he believes it himself), that since they didn't find all of the sailors' bodies, perhaps the two missing are still alive.

So, after much discussion, you decide to return to the covenant. Which is now without a source of income, multiple buildings to maintain (some still under construction) and several mundanes to feed, what new sources of income do you try to set up?

(Konrad and Prochorus ended up spending several weeks investigating the loss of the Baltrum. That story provided 5 xp.)

Our secondary problem is that we're running low on grogs. It's hard to make money without grogs to help.

Konrad's servant is a knowledgeable apothecary. He might be able to set up an apothecary shop. It's not going to get us much, but we might get enough for food. Konrad's shield grog knows a little about making boats. He might be able to get a job with whoever makes boats on the island. Ultimately he might learn enough that he can make us a fishing boat and push us in that direction. I'm not sure what other marketable skills we have among the remaining grogs.

We might also look at getting a flock of whatever they have on the island (sheep, chickens, pigs, I'm not sure). But we have to start small.

We should also make sure we've planted gardens and such for food to minimize what we need to buy.

How about 5 xp in Intellego for trying to use spontaneous In spells to learn something about what happened?

I'm assuming Japik never reappears...

He is just able to make a living out of it, not generate revenue for the covenant. There isn't that much demand for it in such a small settlement and there are already others providing a similar service.

The agreement that was reached with the villagers on the plateau os that the covenant cannot have livestock there, since that would compete with what little grazing lands that they have to survive. So any livestock you want to own would have to be kept alsewhere on the island. And you would need covenfolk to take care of those. Not to mention the fact that you need money to purchase said livestock in the first place.

Intellego it is, then! :slight_smile:

As for Japik, still no sign of him.

Forgot about that agreement.

Hmm, we're pretty much screwed. No skills, no capital, and living in a tiny, tiny community that doesn't need much. Someone may need to invent Touch of Midas just to pay the bills. :wink:

Fishing seems the only real option. If we can use what little silver we have left to get a fishing boat or two, we can try and have any skilled (or moderately skilled) fishermen in the covenant try and bring in a catch. That, along with some gardens, might at least keep us fed. Right now I'm just looking at sustenance-level production to start. Extra silver can come later.

Ultimately, our fallback is to sell some vis to get money if we're in danger of starving. I'm loathe to do that. But it's really our only valuable resource.

Acquiring a fishing boat was checked into at some point. There aren't any boats for sale, as no fisherman would sell his livelihood (at least not at a price you can currently afford). But you can have a fishing boat made for the covenant, with a lead time of 2 or 3 seasons, but still at a hefty price due to the limited supply of wood on the island.

Only Prochorus has some basic skill (score of 2) with fishing. Hjalmar (Japik's grog) has professional sailing experience, but isn't a fisherman. He is also worried about the disappearance of Japik, as well as what it means for the well-being of his wife Yulia and their new-born baby. Yulia is considering going back to Crintera with her family if Japik doesn't come back.

Last time Bernhard sold some vis for the covenant, he was unable to get the full price you expected to get, because his 'discrete buyer' renegociated at the last minute. Sale of raw vis for silver has a tendency to attract attention, particularly when the seller is trying to remain anonymous. So your illegal covenant is taking a risk of being discovered (and another covenant claiming your vis source) each time you make a sale.

So what are Konrad's activities during Fall of year 2? You now have a working lab.

To recap again what has been done so far post-Gauntlet:

  • Year 1, End of Summer: Arrives at the covenant and makes a trip (story Chasing a Tale). 5 xp in Folk Ken
  • Year 1, Fall and Winter: Setting up his lab. 2 xp in Magic Theory in each season
  • Year 2, Spring: Studying Causa et Cura. 16 xp in Medicine (including Book Learner)
  • Year 2, Summer: Disappearance of the Baltrum and resulting story. 5 xp in Intellego

Good news all around. Try and convince Hjalmar that this is the best place for his wife and unborn child. Konrad is knowledgeable in medicine and has healing magic. That'll be important for the health of his wife and baby.

How about trying to hire some new grogs. New grogs have to come from somewhere. Is there any chance we could sponsor some fishermen? Find some young would-be fishermen who'd love the chance to get their own start? If available fishing boats are rare and expensive, there must be some men who'd like to be fishermen but can't for lack of a boat. It still leaves us with the trouble of finding the money to get a boat. But it's at least possible.

In the meanwhile we need to look into getting some land to plant or graze. Feeding ourselves is a big deal.

I totally agree with you. Selling vis is terrible for oh, so many reasons. But so is starving. At some point our backs are up against the wall and we have no choice. If the choice is between possible ruin and certain ruin, we'll choose possible ruin.

But surely if we're selling it at a discount, whoever is buying it has no incentive to ask questions. If the vis gets claimed by a covenant, then it won't be sold at all, or at least it won't be sold at a discount.

In the fall I think he'll study A Comparative Exploration of the Four Realms and How They Interact With Our Arts -- Vim Summa (L11 Q9) [9+3=12 xp Vim]. That'll give him passable CrVi lab total (22) for extracting vis, if that really is our likely source of income in the short term.

Hiring new covenfolks require some incentive, like money. Unfortunately, your covenant has trouble offering much at this point -- the last hiring was an older man to cook and he is proving to be less than reliable so far (far too fond of ale). In the same way, sponsoring fishermen implies having the money to have fishing boats crafted. As the season goes by, you are faced with the fact that you will barely have enough money to feed yourselves through the coming winter.
And you remember that the tax man will come by in the early days of winter. That's more silver coming out (2 pounds).

Seing this, Yulia and Hjalmar confirm their decision to leave. They don't want their boy (who is now over a year old) to starve. Medical care cannot replace food or a compensate for a harsh winter, Yulia replies. And their loyalty was to Japik, never to you.

Bernhard is very nervous at the notion of selling more vis. So far you've only been able to collect 8 pawns of Perdo vis for the covenant. Last time he was able to sell 2 pawns for 35 pounds of silver, but he fears that this time he will get even less. The shady Verditius to whom he is selling seems to have sensed the covenant's position of weakness, and he will surely attempt to take advantage of the situation. So Bernhard fears he will get an even lower price this time. If you can give him a few more seasons, perhaps he could discreetely try to find a different buyer.

You seem, however, to have very few options remaining. So how many pawns are you willing to sell? And how urgently do you need the money?

Herman, the other Bonisagus, would like to spend more time in the lab developping spells. But that also costs silver to purchase consumables. He's getting frustrated with the constraints placed by the lack of funds, as they are hindering his research. And his faerie has been causing some trouble with the neighbouring villagers.

Prochorus is depressed by the whole situation. He spent much of the season plying the drinking places od Medden town, singing for some money for the covenant. He hasn't brought in much, but at least enough to feed himself and his mundanes (Alruna and Dietlinde) with a little bit of extra. Not much, though, and he's been a bit short-tempered with Konrad and Herman both.

(OOC: It feels a bit like I'm piling up bad news upon bad news, but this is what happens when a covenant fails. So it's nothing personal. :blush: And after all, this is all just background to explain why Konrad finally left and went looking for a bigger covenant!)

Give them a couple of copper pennies for their travels. Even though we're poor, we still have our pride.

Have him look for a new buyer. At the very least that would give us better options.

We need the money urgently. See if he can sell 2 Pe vis to the Verditius for at least 25 pounds. 3 for 35 or 40 would be better, but he shouldn't push things. That should at least keep us fed, if not in lab supplies.

Konrad will do his best to hold things together, but like any good Bonisagus, he'll retreat to his books when things get real tough, staying in his lab and trying to forget how badly things are falling down around him.

Not at all. As you say, the covenant has to fail. That means bad things will happen. If nothing else, it will give Konrad good reason to suck it up and deal with what the big covenant dishes out. He'll know the dire alternative.

Bernhard departs with three pawns of Perdo to sell them, saying he should be able to return before the end of autumn.

On one day late in October, soldiers arrive at the inn in Medden to seize Alruna, Prochorus' female grog. She is accused of stabbing a member of Lord Knud's household in a tavern brawl and imprisoned in Ubbe Castle. She is to stand trial before Lord Knud.

Let's try and find out if she really did it, and the circumstances around the incident. Surely someone among the grogs will know what happened. (Really, I'd let Prochorus handle most of this because she's his grog. But since it's just me, I'll be a bit more proactive.)

Not likely that Konrad will try and do much in person about it, since the Gift would make him a terrible person to speak up for her.

Prochorus is in the same boat as Konrad regarding the Gift. He sends Dietlinde to investigate, as he usually does in such instances. The fat woman grumbles about the long walk to the castle but goes anyway. When she returns, she says that she was unable to see Alruna and was simply told that if she wants to testify at the trial she can do so.

The day of the trial arrives. Prochorus goes with Dietlinde to at least watch the trial. Does Konrad also go?

Konrad avoids the trial. Having two people with the GIft attend is only going to increase suspicion about our outpost and draw unneeded attention to us.

Prochorus comes back from the trial in a funk, Dietlinde trailing behind him. From what has been presented as evidence at the trial, Alruna got into a fight with one of Lord Knud's tax collectors at an inn while playing dice. Alruna claims the man was cheating and that she wasn't the one who stabbed him during the ensuing brawl. this was apparently unsufficient to sway the lord' judgment, as numerous witnesses (most of whom were other men in Knud's employ) attest that she had started the fight. And since someone has to be held accountable, particularly since the man has now died. So she's been sentenced to hang in a week's time, unless her relatives can pay the blood price of 5 pounds of silver.

That is barely more than the covenant currently has in reserve, and this is money put aside to purchase food for the winter.

What does Prochorus say about this? (I'm guessing you'd say that Prochorus is for paying and Herman is against it, making Konrad the swing vote. :wink: )

I'm of two minds here. The 'right' thing to do is to pay the money. Besides, morale is low enough that the covenant might not be able to survive allowing a popular member to hang.

Then again, starvation is even worse for morale. Even assuming that we could convince Lord Knud to accept less than 5 pounds, as you point out, that's our food money.

Then again, Bernhard is supposed to return before winter, and he should have silver with him (assuming the sale goes through, which is not 100% guaranteed). So we could roll the dice and hope that Bernhard comes back with the coin for us to eat with.

Again, I think it comes up to a question of possible destruction (Bernhard might come back with no money) or definite destruction (the grogs would abandon us if we let Alruna hang).

My conclusion is to pay the money (if Lord Knud will accept 4 pounds and some odd shillings) and hope that Bernhard returns with some silver.

If Lord Knud requires the whole amount, there's nothing we can do. We don't have 5 pounds of silver.

Actually, I miswrote. The covenant barely has more than 5 pounds.

Paying the blood money will mean that everyone will have to go on minimum rations and hope that Bernhard comes back soon enough so that you can make it through winter. The later you wait to purchase the winter food reserves, the more expensive they will get.

Prochorus is indeed in favour of paying.

As I see it, not paying will tear the covenant apart. Prochorus would probably leave and the morale of the grogs would be destroyed. So we pay the money and wait for Bernhard. With our luck he'll come back with even less money than expected. But it should be at least 5 pounds.

Worse comes to worst, maybe Konrad could fly to Lubek and borrow money from his father... :wink: