Odyssesus Isaias

For the discussion and analysis, and later development, of the character Odyssesus Isaias...

I am going to review the stats before I ask you to check it, but are you happy with the concept?

What is the best way to handle the proposed ship and crew? Would it be reasonable to man a ship owned by the House? Or is it better to let the covenant own it? In the latter case, would we just pay out of silver stocks for the ship? The skilled crew would be specialists or grogs I suppose, but I assume half the crew could well be unskilled!?

run it as a side business for the redcap (or his soldales) as a merchant, pirate, whatever works. Someone should have a social status to cover it- probably merchant adventurer.

How does that work wrt seasons of work and the like. Would he have to spend work seasons both on redcap duty and on merchant work? Or can he do both at the same time, trading along the mail route?

TBH. I do not feel like doing C&G book keeping :slight_smile:

He can do his trading and redcap work at the same time, provided all the covenants are coastal. Otherwise he might have to have one season where he is away from the ship for redcap work. You can also have a merchant adventurer grog who works with the redcap to maintain the business...

I was hoping to take the ship up river and find more covenants there. Is that likely?

BTW. Is there a Mercere House in Novgorod at all?

Another question. Is Ways of the Waterways ok as a virtue? Would it cover only rivers and lakes or also the coastline?

the question of a mercer house in Novgorod is actually a plot point, but at the start there is not one in the southern region

how far from Castra Piscis to the MH in the North?

to the closest one is about 650 miles. Also there are no mercer portals in Novgorod.

I see I underestimated river travel. I thought it would be faster than travelling on foot.

It seems to take a season to go to Priper Maior North of Kiev and back. Connecting to a Mercere House in Thebes would take less time, and could be combined with visiting other covenants, but they would not be in Novgorod. That makes two seasons of work per year. Reasonable schedule?

Going by river means that he could serve Priper Maior with heavy goods as well, if they are interested, like labware and ingredients from the Mediterranean ports. The river does not go all the way, but relatively close.

actually according to google maps it does go all the way, or should have before the hydroelectric dams were built... of course upriver can still take some time, you might want to be pulled by draft animals from the shore...

I think Odysseus is ready for review.

approved
some points for notes:
ways of the waterways extends to the banks as far as remains wet, or to amphibious creatures which depend on the water. So a water snake on a bank will not harm you, but the wolf that is next to it will.
Mercere house is also your major investor as a trader as well as being the owner of the ship.
Ways of the waterways does not apply to seas, just rivers and lakes. Water must be flowing downhill, however slowly. It only applies to canals which are enhancements of natural waterways, not ones that have been dug by hand (or magic) unless they were done so long ago as to have been reclaimed as wilderness.

I realise you can't have approved the magic items of Odysseus ... since they include Olav Tryggvason's chart which was not approved as it was at Flåm. I need to fix that up now.

It is very tempting to make the ship flying ...but I guess that's too boring.

same notes apply, the cloak is fine

Enchanted Items

Does the porter's glove as specified for Flåm suffice to lift the ship, or does it need another size magnitude?

Similar to the Enchanted Porter [Cov] but unlimited uses and increased size. (Base 3, Conc +1, Touch +1, +1 Size, Maintain Conc +5L, Unlimted Uses +10L)
Holding the glove against an inanimate object lifts it and pushes it around.

That would leave seven levels. I think I am going to say that I have placed a request for a ring of Ennobled Presence (conc/maintain conc Level 10) which I expect to receive in two years. That should be about right at two levels per year. In the meantime, I have on lone, a lighter which does Palm of Flame (CrIg5) 3x/day for level 7.

If I need an extra size magnitude on the glove, there is only two levels to go, which would mean that I expect the ring in four years.

Side Business

On a different account. His side business as merchant sailor.

  1. Would it be common practice when going up river after a coastal stretch to buy draught animals only for the river stretch? And then sell them either inland before going downstream? Or would it be more common to carry them on the ship? Which approach is normally most practical?
  2. How do we do the accounting for the side business? What level of detail? He will obviously trade at every stop, but most of the time this is going to be narratively inconsequential. Possibly, when he goes inland, it is going to be more consequential.
  3. I suppose we have the C&G rules for developing the business, but being supported by the covenant, his personal wealth and status is not really being improved. Instead, what he wants to develop, is a network of agents running outposts and subsidiary trade routes, to support permanent redcap routes. Can this be done with a similar mechanics?

for something like the ship which is predominantly wood it would require a herbem requisit, as noted in the unseen porter. Base for the terram guideline is 10 cubic paces- with +1 magnitude this is 100 cubic pace, which would be essentially 4 1/5 paces on a side, or about the size of a rowboat. For a ship like what you have would require 2-3 more magnitudes of size.

That does not work then. I flying ship would be cheaper :slight_smile:

A magic detection sense granting item would be nice.
Just playing with sketches at the moment.

Let's see, base 4 +1 Touch +1 Conc +3 hearing +5L maintain conc = L30
Would that be warping as a powerful effect? (Of course it warps if he wears it constantly, but he is not going to do that.)

Would that be the same if it is +5L for 24 uses instead of maintaining conc? I mean, in that case the effect is only L25 but potentially applied more often.

Base 4 is Detect magic of third magnitude or higher. BTW. And should detect vis as well.

I think it is going to be either such a L30 effect, or a similar L20 effect to detect vis only, combined with a ring of ennobled presence. Depending on your ruling on warping.

detecting a level 3 or higher magical effect and detecting vis are separate effects, not rolled into one. Warping would occur if the effect before charges/day and maintaining concentration (in other words the level of spell the item casts) would cause warping, so base4, +1 conc +3 hearing is level of effect:20 so no warping.

What then, does the following sentence from [core:158] mean?

Raw vis will show up as magical, simply as raw vis, under any magical detection.