The Emerald Spire Superdungeon [IC]

[lostsole31]

ADVENTURERS & THE LAW

While obvious monsters are fair game to all, the Hellknights do not recognize the right of any self-declared adventurer to kill “villains” and seize their belongings. That’s common banditry, and those who ride back to Fort Inevitable after committing such vigilantism can expect to be arrested—unless they’ve first secured a letter of warrant.

A letter of warrant is a license from the lord commander authorizing the bearer and her company to “act in the interest of good order and keep the lady commander’s laws.” That is generally construed as doing most of the things adventuring parties typically do—attacking outlaws, hunting monsters, surveying dangerous ruins, and investigating mysteries.

Adventurers operating from Fort Inevitable purchase a letter of warrant for 50 gp per year, and agree to turn over 30 percent of the coin, goods, and property they confiscate to the Citadel. The lady commander’s agents also require reports of just what actions were taken with a letter of warrant.

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THE RED SHIELD TAVERN

... and it is here that each of you have come and answered a job posting to meet in a specific larger table. The original job posting was interesting, but didn't have contact information, so each of you did what made sense, and that was to ask at the bar. But individually, you would find a parchment under your door after a day or two of inquiring about the offer, telling you to meet here at this time. Mind you, 3/4 of you have the money to purchase a license for your own, but 50 gp is still a hefty fee, and if someone is willing to foot the bill to sponsor you, it might be worth a listen.

You see a Taldan man at the table, hard to define in years, for he seems hale but he is at least in his upper 40s (if not 50s) with white hair and long, straight beard. One thing is for certain, though, whether he is health or not ... he isn't young. He wears good-quality clothing though nothing as ostentatious as one of your number, and he has a fondness for the colors of blue with white or black trim. His eyes are a piercing blue, expressing a mind that is always weighing, measuring, assessing, and analyzing. Standing behind him in a protective manner is a very short woman dressed head to toe in some type of foreign garb of black, and only a large swath at the top of her face shows exotic eyes not possessed by any human from around here. Even her weapons seem foreign.

He greets each of you, and a good meal and a conservative amount of drink is brought forth.

"I am Ezren, and I am a scholar of many ancient secrets. Rumors with my colleagues have brought me to here, Fort Inevitable, with an eye for exploration of what is called by folks around simply as the 'Emerald Spire.' Behind me is my partner-of-the-road - Reiko. Each of you have already talked to Reiko, though it is likely you didn't realize it at the time. She was the one who would observe or even engage you in a variety of guises to determine more about you to see if you might have what it takes to be useful enough to survive to bring me the secrets of the Emerald Spire. Absolutely everything to record, however boring that may be, but of course that should only be done once you have er ... pacified ... a given area of the Spire. No need for you to have your nose so close to the writing on the wall that you should have read the writing on the wall, if you get my drift.

"Reiko will go down with you, her expertise being in defeating security systems. She will give you what aid she can, but she is likely not a match for any of you here when it comes to skill in arms or brute magic force. She has some experience, but it is not her bailiwick.

"She and you are free to divvy what treasures you earn, but I ask you NOT to try to smuggle treasure and cheat the tax-man. If you need any reason why, go to the council offices and ask for an assessment of punishments levied on those that tried to do so and failed, many of them having used various mundane or magical legerdemain to try and abscond with more than their share. Much of that money is put back into the town to create a more secure home for its residents. And while we are here doing this, that means you.

"In the meantime, I will collect everyone's individual reports. Whatever drawings, sketches, rubbings, written reports, maps, macaroni-on-parchment ..... whatever you need to do to record, record, record everything you see and deal with down there. Meanwhile, on your end I will have paid for your licenses ... but not as lone individuals, rather as a collective mercenary company overseen by me. Also, anything you come across that you don't understand, I am a sage, and it is possible I know something that among the four - or, well, five of you - you've been able to determine.

"Are these terms acceptable?"