I have an issue/question -
In my game, shortly after the party discovered the link to the Feral Dog and Kullen, they ambushed and slew most of his crew under the orders of a death-aspect-of-Istus following cleric (who felt that they had sullied the dead by digging the bones of the Land family and deserved to die for their transgressions - he's an arrogant, self-righteous LN Cleric).
Not long after that, after interrogating Kullen but letting him live (taking his axe from him, however - they considered stripping him and leaving him naked outside the Feral Dog trussed and bound but couldn't figure out how to do that without getting caught), they took out the Observatory.
They now plan on using the Observatory as their headquarters and have even hired locals from the flophouse to clean it up and work for them as guards and servants (using a Zone of Truth and Detect Alignment spells to determine if people will be loyal or not).
My question is this -
Assuming Kullen doesn't go running to Smenk (which will likely get him either killed for incompetence or sent back to the mines - neither of which are palatable to him), what is likely to happen between now and the time the party discovers the diary in the mines? Filge was in the Observatory on Smenk's suggestion. Does that mean the Observatory is Smenks? Or does the party have "right of conquest" to it? Does Neff care? Will Smenk find out?
What should I have Smenk do in this case? I like the idea of throwing this out to you guys for suggestion, so I can then act in such a manner my party (who knows me fairly well by now) won't expect!
Thanks in advance!
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I remember reading in a previous thread that Smenk would have "proof of ownership" for the observatory. My players tried to strike a deal with Smenk for the observatory(clear out dourstone mine=cheap rent). Hopefully they can find enough evidence on Smenk in the Dourstone mine to give them an upper hand when they get back to negotiating with the greedy landlord. I am curious to see how others are handling this as well.
I never give out property to players for "free."
In the case of the abandoned mine office, the players paid a 50 gp fee to have ownership transferred to them, plus they had to sign an agreement to make 500 gp improvement on the property.
And that was for an abandoned mine office in the middle of nowhere.
In the case of any real property, like the observatory, I would have clear ownership. Some people have let it belong to Smenk. I had it belong to the city, with Neff loaning it out to the highest bribe.
In either case, I would have someone from the town go to the observatory with the proper authority to kick 'em out. Preferably after they spent some of their money to fix it up.
Or, if you want them to have it (it is a pretty sweet locale), have them pay a hefty fee to Neff.
I never want my players NPCs that they kill.
I covered some of my ideas for the costs and economic benefits of mine ownership in my Economics of Mine Ownership post, so check them out if you are interested. On the topic at hand, the observatory, consider all the beuraucratic possibilities.
Governments and land go way back, with much law written concerning land ownership and claims rights. It may seem odd to us today, we can buy a house, never really look at the property lines down at the county office, and assume that our neighbors will not infringe on our property. Back in the day that was not so. In fact the famous Daniel Boone was hired by lawyers and the rich to make claims on lands and survey them. He also became involved in land speculation. He so hated the legal actions involved and was so hounded by lawyers, that he spent much of his adult life constantly moving farther and farther away to the West for a large part because of lawyers hounding him!
In the case of Diamond Lake, if my players were interested in the property (which oddly enough they showed no interest in, instead seeking a mine to own and possibly the Whispering Cairn), I would make them have to pay the Surveyor's Office a fee of anywhere from 25-100gp to have copies made of the maps of the property line, have a auction date set up, and further copies of the property made to be passed amongst prospective bidders, and possibly file paperwork in the Free City to gain ownership of the property, especially if they were interested in the mineral rights of the property (ie. interested in mining) as those rights would not necessarialy be given along with ownership of the property. Anyhow, I would make it cost them at least 1,000gp, maybe more, and if they really ticked off a couple of the rich and powerful in Diamond Lake, have those NPCs arrive at the auction to try and push the bid up, forcing the players to really fork it out if they wished to follow their dreams of being observatory owners.
Remember, even if Smenk is in custody or wanted, he still has rich and powerful friends who could show up at the auction for him.
Anyhow there are my two cents.
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About Kullen:
Age of Worm needs more recurring villains. Have him run away, fearful of what Smenk might do to him. He could make his way to the Free City where the PC's will meet him as a contestant during the Champion's Games. Or possibly have him reappear at the beginning of "A Gathering of Winds" seeking revenge against the PC's for his misfortunes.
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In my campaign, Smenk is the real ruler of Diamond Lake with Neff firmly cushioned in one of his many pockets. Smenk will see issues coming as the PCs discover more and more of his dealings and will react accordingly. He is not dumb nor is he a waster of resources. As such, I would say Kullen will look to Smenk for help in getting his axe back. Purely on principle, "Lord Smenk" (as he is known in my game) will challenge the PCs in some way - obviously involving Kullen. How you do this is up to you but you have a variety of avenues at your disposal:
- Smenk gets mercenary help from out of town to join with Kullen.
- Smenk ambushes one of the PCs and holds them for ransom.
- Smenk pushes Neff to order charges against one of the PCs for stealing Kullen's axe - leading to the stocks for this player.
- Smenk puts a bounty up on one of the PCs with maybe one or two nasty travelling adventurers keen to test it out.
- Smenk lets the PCs "steal" the observatory so that they can be legally charged with trespass as well as a variety of other more heinous crimes.
- Smenk organises a meeting at his manse inviting the PCs but the PCs alone. Threatening one of the above may force the PCs to play ball - linking it in nicely with module 2. He might allow them to be the legal owners of the Old Observatory if they just complete this little job for him. However, his purpose is far more defined - kill the PCs; frame Dourstone for their "murder" and the death temples in his mine and then be in a position to take over from Dourstone.
Just some ideas.
Best Regards
Herremann the Wise
Good ideas Herreman!
This is how it worked out in-game over the weekend:
The morning after the party spent a day hiring layabouts from Jalek's Flophouse and then cleaned the place to make it liveable, Sherriff Cubbin and his cronies showed up and told them they were trespassing on property owned by Lord Mayor Neff and to "GET OUT!" They were given enough time to gather their packs and hit the road, at which point they retreated to the Moonmeadow residence (they're all elves but one and started the campaign as 'gophers' for Moonmeadow and his companions).
Shortly after that, they were contacted by a servant of Gelch Tilgast, who invited them to dinner and after a long, wordy evening filled with nuanced conversation, were told that he would back any play they might have against Smenk. Meanwhile, Velius Childramun told them (after they complained about being thrown out of the Observatory) that the Chief Cartographer was the man to talk to. Next day, they talked to him about purchasing the abandoned house in the hills (they decided it was cheaper to fix that place up than to try to purchase the Observatory). His response - I'll have to send a team out to survey it. He also had Melinde' (the paladin of Heieroneous at the Garrison) start to hang out with them on the pretense of "getting to know potential landowners in Diamond Lake."
Their attempt to actually get into the Dourstone mine nearly led to a dwarf-led riot as three elves and two humans tried to fast-talk their way in, but some quick thinking saved the day... That, however, is another story. ^_^
Thanks for your suggestions, gang!
Syrinx