I seem to recall that in Kazmojen's loot hoard, there was a letter to him from Vervil Ashmantle, warning him to slow down the pace of his kidnappings...
I was wondering if any of you actually wrote out that letter (and would be willing to share it), for use as a player prop/handout.
I don't remember seeing it in my SCAP handout bundle, but am at work and may well be incorrect.
I whipped something simple up, be glad to send it to you if you'd like.
That would be wonderful!My players love handouts, and I am on short notice tonight.
You can send to me at matthew (dot) everhart (at) cox (dot) net
Thanks again!
I whipped something simple up, be glad to send it to you if you'd like.
please, post it on the SCAP resources page
Can you upload the letter to the RPGenius-Shackled City website?
Thanks in advance
Consider this post irrelevant (all things were said in the previous one) mumble, grumble
I guess great minds think alike, right sir ollie?
(well, they log on at the same time anyway, which is pretty much the same if you ask me).
thanks for uploading it Don. I see the file has been posted allready.
Here is my version of this letter. But as you can see, I used the letter to drop some hints specific to my campaign. See, in my campaign, the reason Zenith Splintershield went off into the Underdark with most of his army was to find his wife or at least get revenge. She was among the victims of a raid against the Malachite Fortress by trolls in the service of a drow transmuter from the Underdark who likes to conduct strange breeding experiments (this drow is on friendly terms with Dhorlot the Dragon Father, as they like to compete in their "scientific" progress of breeding new races). Kazmojen was actually the product of this drow's experiments. The half-troll was the son of Zenith's wife or some other captured dwarf woman and a troll, magically bred in the Underdark. The surface clients that Ashmantle trades slaves with are pirates and Scarlet Brotherhood ships who dock at the port in Sasserine.
My dear, dear Kazmojen,
I hear you are becoming ever more successful at plucking
unsuspecting fools from the streets of Cauldron. Beware that it is easy to become too successful at this little business of ours!
While I do appreciate your good efforts and clever business plan, you best ease off of the snatching of slaves-to-be from Cauldron for the time being. The time will come soon enough for us to be able to legitimize our trade in Cauldron, and then we won't need to resort to secrecy and black markets, or to the dangerous trade with the deep realms.
Though your maker does fascinating work creating such interesting beings as yourself, and has created some interesting merchandise in the past, I'm sure you'll agree it is not good for business to have to pay the outrageous tariffs charged by the others of his kind for transporting merchandise through their trade routes.
It's highway robbery, I tell you!
And all too often they simply confiscate the merchandise for no
apparent reason, probably to sacrifice to their House demons for some small favor in their never-ending squables. Ridiculous how those demons allow themselves to be treated like pets! In their place, my grandfather would devour them all, sacrifice and sacrificer alike. Ha, ha!
It is much better to trade with our surface customers. Especially since this will get much easier after things change. But if you don't slow down on the abductions, you are bound to attract the wrong sort of attention, and you-know-who won't like that.
But I tire of trying to persuade you with subtlety. I hope your
maker managed to put some intelligence in your half-breed skull! Though if all you've got for brains is a mish-mosh of troll and dwarf, I don't know where it will come from. I mean, those Malachite dwarf women he captured for his experiments were pretty easy prey, so no smarts there. And trolls, well, need I say more?
No one has ever expected the next great scholar to come from that race, have they?
So, in case I was too vague for your half-breed mind to comprehend, let me be clear. If you don't follow my advice, I will have you brought to my dungeons. I will then have your skin peeled off with acid. Following this, I'll have a swarm of trained fiendish ants devour your flesh over a period of several weeks with their tiny, viscious, acidic bites while I listen to the music of your screams.
You understand me now, I trust?
Then best of luck with everything. Ta, ta!
(The letter is not signed, but is sealed with a wax seal that shows a kingfisher bird with a message in its beak.)
Talon Stormwarden, I like your letter a lot. It contains all the information the SCAP indicates should be in the letter and is well written (and cool kingfisher at the end too). My letter might have been too much information. But for my players it worked o.k., since they love picking apart stuff like this and speculating on it. Some of the players were pretty far off with their speculation, but one of them actually guessed pretty close to the truth on all counts with my letter. For a bit they were hot on the trail of the author of the letter but then let it drop. I'm actually planning on dropping more hints so they can figure out who Vervil Ashmantle is before they meet him at Lady Thifirane's gathering of villains.