Is the plot line with the Scarnetti Mill and the burning of all the other mills in the area going to be explored any time soon?
If not, it sounds like an excellent side-quest I can develop.
Creative Director
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Is the plot line with the Scarnetti Mill and the burning of all the other mills in the area going to be explored any time soon?
If not, it sounds like an excellent side-quest I can develop.
It has elements that are further explored in Pathfinder 2. It may or may not have more elements in Pathfinder 4.
It has elements that are further explored in Pathfinder 2. It may or may not have more elements in Pathfinder 4.Is the plot line with the Scarnetti Mill and the burning of all the other mills in the area going to be explored any time soon?
If not, it sounds like an excellent side-quest I can develop.
I'll just wait and see then. #2 will be out before the party would pursue it anyway.
I'm wondering if there's a tie-in here?
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I blame explosive wheat. Lord Scarnetti is a gentleman above reproach. He has always kept the best interests of this township at heart and I am offended - no, shocked - that you would even insinuate that his esteemed family would be involved in such scandal. People have been flogged for less, good lady.
::huff huff, vapors!::
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I blame explosive wheat. Lord Scarnetti is a gentleman above reproach. He has always kept the best interests of this township at heart and I am offended - no, shocked - that you would even insinuate that his esteemed family would be involved in such scandal. People have been flogged for less, good lady.
::huff huff, vapors!::
And how many gp did that little speech earn you, sirrah? ;)
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I serve in the official capacity as steward of the Scarnetti Coaltion for Upstanding Men, thank you. Did you know that Lord Scarnetti is the largest single pre-tax contributor to the construction of the cathedral's south chapel and it was his idea to cart in prisoners from Magnimar to expedite the raising of the buttresses? Oh yes. Hadn't the Deverins meddled, we could have celebrated its completion a full year earlier. Why great men like Lord Scarnetti must suffer the tides of the small minded, I shall never know.
I serve in the official capacity as steward of the Scarnetti Coalition for Upstanding Men, thank you. Did you know that Lord Scarnetti is the largest single pre-tax contributor to the construction of the cathedral's south chapel and it was his idea to cart in prisoners from Magnimar to expedite the raising of the buttresses? Oh yes. Hadn't the Deverins meddled, we could have celebrated its completion a full year earlier. Why great men like Lord Scarnetti must suffer the tides of the small minded, I shall never know.
I'm glad to see the S.C.U.M. always rises to the top on occasions such like this...
It has elements that are further explored in Pathfinder 2. It may or may not have more elements in Pathfinder 4.
I was looking through The Skinsaw Murders and the only element I saw where this was mentioned was on page 12 where it says:
The Scarnettis, the noble family that owns the lumber mill, have a reputation for being ruthless—there are rumors that they’re responsible for burning several competing lumber mills in the region...
But my reading of the Sandpoint chapter in Burnt Offerings:
Mysterious fires have claimed the Soggy River Mill, the Biston Pond Mill, and most recently the Cougar Creek Mill, leaving this mill the only functioning grain mill in the region.
places the fires at competing grain mills.
Which is more supported by you folks at Paizo? Were the Soggy River, the Biston Pond, and the Cougar Creek Mills lumber mills or grain mills?
James Jacobs answered this already. In Burnt Offerings it says in the Sandpoint chapter that the mills that you name are grain mills that have burnt down, and that the rumour is that the Scarnettis were behind it. In Skinsaw Murders it says that Ibor says that there are rumours that the Scarnettis have been burning down rival lumber mills. These are not inherently contradictory statements.
In my game, the Soggy River Mill and those others are grain mills that have burnt down recently. There are rumours about all sorts of stuff, blaming the Scarnettis for a whole whack of things. They're rumours; they can say anything. :)
Thanks tbug, I'd already found his answer by the time I got back to this thread. Here it is.
Rumors are like that! The truth of what mills the Scarnettis may or may not be involved with will be revealed soon enough (in Pathfinder 4, in fact). They could even be innocent! Or they could just have some sort of hatred for ALL MILLS OF ALL KINDS!
But yeah... rumors. They're good sources of info, but you can't always trust them! :)
Only thing, from my reading of the Hinterlands map, none of those three mills are more than 4 miles from Sandpoint, and the locals (and certainly the DM) would KNOW what kind of mill each was.
There might be all sorts of speculation and rumor about the fires and who set them, but people would know whether they got flour or lumber from them before they burnt down.
In my campaign, this could go either way. The PCs have already picked up on the arson rumors as a plot hook and I've embellished (like telling them that no, the Sarnetti's haven't been making a killing in the grain market, but that lumber prices have shot up dramatically because of the competing demand for timber between the Valdamar shipbuilders and the Carpenters, who need lots of lumber to rebuild the burnt mills.
If two of the mills were grain and one lumber, that would actually fit what I told them just as well as if they were three grain mills.
Only thing, from my reading of the Hinterlands map, none of those three mills are more than 4 miles from Sandpoint, and the locals (and certainly the DM) would KNOW what kind of mill each was.
That's a really good point. Maybe Ibor is suggesting that if they're willing to burn down those three grain mills then they'd be willing to burn down lumber mills, too. Maybe he's hoping that the PCs aren't locals, and he's making stuff up. Maybe he's grasping at straws since he's panicking at his partner's murder.
I guess Pathfinder #4 isn't too far away. I'll vamp until then, I guess. :|
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Creative Director
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Good point about the lumber mills; I could have been a bit more specific on that matter.
Basically, the grain mills mentioned in the farmlands WERE burnt down. Rumor holds that the Scarnettis are responsible. The only real lumber mill in the hinterlands region is the one in Sandpoint. There are others further out along the Lost Coast, and the rumors about grain mills has spread to these lumber mills as well. To date, these additional lumber mills (which are much farther from Sandpoint than the grain mills were) have NOT been burned down, but the rumors that they were persist to the point where those involved in the lumber trade half believe them.
If folk want me to reveal the truth behind the various burning mills before Pathfinder 4 (and perhaps put in a spoiler as to HOW the PCs can figure this out before then), let me know and I can post it. It's a pretty minor part of the adventure path overall, in any event, but I can see how in some games it can get to be more important.
If folk want me to reveal the truth behind the various burning mills before Pathfinder 4 (and perhaps put in a spoiler as to HOW the PCs can figure this out before then), let me know and I can post it. It's a pretty minor part of the adventure path overall, in any event, but I can see how in some games it can get to be more important.
I, for one, vote 'yes, please post the spoiler'. More info is always better.
I was curious about how the mills in Sandpoint are powered. Historically, waterwheels, tidal mills, and windmills are all realistic, and the mills are well positioned for tidal or other water power.
In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, conflicts between different mills were a common source of lawsuits and other conflicts. Mills that shared the same waterways would often dam off their water sources, causing the water level to rise (reducing the power of the mills upstream) or to fall (reducing the power of mills downstream).
It was also common to license mills at the time, limiting the problems caused by competing mills. Politics between the prominent local families may become an issue, as the Scarnettis try to control the available water power, while the other families oppose their ambitions.
Are the burnt ruins of these mills going to appear in future Pathfinders? If not, my PCs are visiting one as a side quest.
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Creative Director
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Are the burnt ruins of these mills going to appear in future Pathfinders? If not, my PCs are visiting one as a side quest.
They are not. Basically... the PCs discover the mystery behind the burnt mills almost accidentally, and what they do with that info is left up to them. The mill burning is a side plot that has no real impact at all on the main plot of the Adventure Path.
If folk want me to reveal the truth behind the various burning mills before Pathfinder 4 (and perhaps put in a spoiler as to HOW the PCs can figure this out before then), let me know and I can post it. It's a pretty minor part of the adventure path overall, in any event, but I can see how in some games it can get to be more important.
I vote a big yes on this please. My players keep coming back to it. They smell a mystery and they're at least as interested in this as they are in the main quest. And I don't feel like railroading them away from it, since it helps solidify their feeling of belonging in the campaign and the town.
Any chance to get that spoiler now that Pathfinder #4 is out?
Thanks :)
I'm sure it is, but I'm not (yet) a subscriber so I don't have access to the 4th book yet.
I'm sure it is, but I'm not (yet) a subscriber so I don't have access to the 4th book yet.
Thank you!
IMC, one of the PCs is actually the miscreant who is burning down the mills!
The party rogue is a halfling who has been contracted by the Szcarni to burn down the Soggy River Mill. Next week, he will be approached again by Gressel Tenniwar to brun down Cougar Creek, and so on. He doesn't know who he is ultimately working for, or why anyone would want to burn down a grain mill, but he will probably figure it out when the Scarnetti mill is the only one still standing. It will be interesting to see what he does at that point, since he's basically a good guy who's not above causing a little property damage for a bit o' gold (he made sure the mill was unoccupied before burning it down, for instance), and reading this thread has further inspired me to throw the murder of the wheelwright's daughter into the mix. I imagine the poor rogue will feel terrible when he notices that he's been spotted by someone at the scene of the crime and then the young girl shows up mysteriously dead. That's good drama!
O
Thanks for connecting the dots on this info. I'm about to start my campaign, and I've set up the female fighter in the group as having previously worked for the Scarnettis. She was there for the Cougar Creek Mill torching and left their employ soon afterwards (although Titus had a quick heart-to-heart talk with her before she left).
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Hmmm ...
I love this thread. One of my players who is more perceptive than the rest, has started to worry about these mills burnings ...
He has no clue yet, but will soon hear rumors.
At the same time, to improve its popularity in town, and to annoy mayor Deverin and the heroes, I have decided to have Mr Scarnetti hire of token force of iomedae knights to "protect" the town. (We have only started skinsaw murders).
Among their security job (which they will take very seriously), they will have received pretty unfavourable descriptions of the PCs.
This is all a front of course, the paladins are straightforward and honest, but are basically dupes in the story.
In my games, the Scarnettis were very friendly and positive toward the party. They offered their help if the party needed anything, and the Scarnettis' relatives in Magnimar helped provide information (and an alibi) to PCs when they dealt with Magnimaran authorities.
Since I hummed the theme from The Godfather as their background leitmotif and did Al Pacino and Marlon Brando impressions when the party spoke with them, the players were soon convinced that they had accidentally befriended powerful underworld figures.
"Didja ever notice that these Lost Coast aristos seem kinda sinister? The only normal one is that nerd, Aldern Foxglove."
Thanks tbug, I'd already found his answer by the time I got back to this thread. Here it is.
Rumors are like that! The truth of what mills the Scarnettis may or may not be involved with will be revealed soon enough (in Pathfinder 4, in fact). They could even be innocent! Or they could just have some sort of hatred for ALL MILLS OF ALL KINDS!
But yeah... rumors. They're good sources of info, but you can't always trust them! :)
Only thing, from my reading of the Hinterlands map, none of those three mills are more than 4 miles from Sandpoint, and the locals (and certainly the DM) would KNOW what kind of mill each was.
There might be all sorts of speculation and rumor about the fires and who set them, but people would know whether they got flour or lumber from them before they burnt down.
In my campaign, this could go either way. The PCs have already picked up on the arson rumors as a plot hook and I've embellished (like telling them that no, the Sarnetti's haven't been making a killing in the grain market, but that lumber prices have shot up dramatically because of the competing demand for timber between the Valdamar shipbuilders and the Carpenters, who need lots of lumber to rebuild the burnt mills.
If two of the mills were grain and one lumber, that would actually fit what I told them just as well as if they were three grain mills.
That could work very nicely in my upcoming run of the AP... my other campaign party has completely ignored the burning of the mills. They never even scented it... apparently it smelled strongly of Red Herring.