After the completion of the skinsaw murders. How would one of (or the party) gain ownership of the house and land around it?
I take it one of your players has a very gothic streak:)
Actually the thought of dinner at Foxglove Manor, Aldern present or gone, is nice and spooky. I just bet there's a creepy real estate seller somewhere...
...back to tormenting Old Korvosa...
did I mention that there would be NO Escape?????
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... Assuming that your players don't immediately burn the place down when they finish there... I suppose it would be as simple as going to a place of law and trying to put the property in their name, either by purchase or schemes.
... Why the hell am I eating Twizzlers? I hate Twizzlers...
Actually the thought of dinner at Foxglove Manor, Aldern present or gone, is nice and spooky. I just bet there's a creepy real estate seller somewhere...
Are there any more of the Brothers of Seven who may pop up later to lay claim to the land by virtue of a deed?
did I mention that there would be NO Escape?????
Oh please let one of my players make a Snake Pliskin ripoff.
"I thought you was dead."
I imagine that Magminar/Sandpoint will put a levy onto the property to recover back taxes, reparations to families of victims, possession costs, and costs recovery for government costs due the murders (1). I imagine that the government would sell the property via some form of auction (either public or to a limited audience - assume the PCs can get invited).
If the PCs are willing to enter the bidding, the entry price would probably be some reasonable fraction (say 1/3) of the above. Other people would see see this as an opportunity to buy. You could have lots of fun having various parties bidding on the property (see Gamemastery adventure J1 for an example of bidding).
If you don't like that, assume the PCs would win if they pay some fixed percent of the government cost. I'd base the percentage on a diplomacy check. For example, use the check result as the percentage off they can negotiate - roll a 26, get 26% off whatever price - this assumes that the governments are happy with the adventurers.
Note (1) - remember PC rewards for solving the murders would be part of this cost to recover - also salaries to members of the watch, death benefits to the families of killed watch, additional costs by the government to truly verify that the haunting is eliminated (assume several spells by clerics - the city would give "generous donations" to those churches in appreciation of their support), etc.
After the completion of the skinsaw murders. How would one of (or the party) gain ownership of the house and land around it?
I don't think they really can. The land is legally owned by the Floxglove Estate. My understanding of the Foxgloves left me with the impression that we are essentially dealing with a tainted branch of the family. Even if all the members of this branch are dead presumably their estate would shift back to another branch of the Foxgloves.
Eventually it passes on to a cult in Magmar but even here its not going to be up for grabs. Its either going to be owned legitimately by the cult, owned by some member of the cult and passed down to whoever will inherit his stuff or if the cultists are dispossessed (outlawed etc.) then presumably there is some kind of president for what happens to seized property in Magmar. Since the nobles are generally corrupt they have probably set up a system designed to co-opt wealth in place. VIP auctions or some such.
knock, knock...
Er, who's there?
Er, who's there?
You'll never know. BECAUSE THE DOOR DOESN'T OPEN!
Unless one of the characters is a member of either the Foxglove clan or the Brothers of Seven, they're out of luck. The place isn't even livable until you get a Hallow or Dispel Evil cast. Besides, they have to travel soon, why do they want a house on the lost coast?
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Unless one of the characters is a member of either the Foxglove clan or the Brothers of Seven, they're out of luck. The place isn't even livable until you get a Hallow or Dispel Evil cast. Besides, they have to travel soon, why do they want a house on the lost coast?
The part about ownership was discussed somewhere else, but I'm too lazy to search it and link it here. Basicaly, I'm not sure the sisters care (they have bad memories about the place and settled somewhere else), everybody else heard too much scary things about the place to want to live there, the Brothers of Seven might not want to associate themselves too openly with the manor, and the Lost Coast has so many empty places (and the manor is so far from everywhere) that I can hardly see why Magnimar or Sandpoint would care what happens with the ownership of the manor (let alone claim taxes from it). I could see problems with these authoritees if the PCs are trying to sell it to someone else, though.
For your concerns about why would the PCs want to live there:
Because the PCs are being greedy and want to own everything they can? (Evil DM grin)
Because they think living in a haunted house is more entertaining?
Because, they don't know they're going far away yet?
Well they could probably squat on the property. After all no one is really checking up on the manor (though come to think of it I think there is some one that does check up on it - the PCs will have to deal with him) but if they want the deed their going to need buy it off the Foxgloves.
I don't think the Skinsaw Cult actually has such a problem with making their eventual claim to the property. They have a front (Brothers of the Seven) that would be the actual owners. Its not the fault of (well actually it is but how you going to prove it) the rest of the Brothers of the Seven if a few of their members seem to be wayward souls and deeply evil mass murders.
Since the whole organization is based in Magnimar I can't see the rest of the members just giving the land away out of the kindness of their heart.
In fact I'd figure that gaining revenge on the PCs by contacting the legitimate authorities and having them look into the squatting PCs would be an easy and obvious step.
Come to think of it making up lies about what the PCs are doing in Foxglove Manor. Claim that "Not only are they illegal squatters, but those evil PCs are cultivating bad things - just look in the basement").
Having the actual law jerking the PCs around is such an easy way of making their life miserable and keep them too busy to bother the Skinsaw Men further. The PCs end up in a problematic situation as well since the tried and true option of just killing anyone that gets in their way won't work with actual legitimate authorities (one hopes).
It all depends on what the DM wants to do. As the DM, you could figure out a way to just give the house to the PCs as a reward and just blow off any details.
If you want to make the PCs work for it, there are a number of obstacles they will have to get past.
Aldern's sisters are far away (I think one is in Korvosa and the other is all the way in Absalom). They might not want the house for emotional reasons, but they still have a claim that needs to be taken care of. Otherwise, someone could try to make trouble for the PCs in their name. Even if the girls don't want the house, a husband / retainer / friend / relative could decide to push back if the PCs claim the house. It is implied that there are other members of the Foxglove family living in Magnimar, and there could be some in other towns too. So the PCs need to "settle" with the Foxglove family and pay them off to acquire the rights to the house and land. How much gold this costs might depend on the result of a blackmail attempt related to damaging the family name with the talk of liches, ghouls and plagues (oh my!).
The Brothers of the Seven have a claim that kicks in 20 years from now, but they may also have a more current claim because of all of the money Aldern was borrowing. How likely they are to follow up on this depends on how the end of the adventure played out, especially in relation to Justice Ironbriar. It's possible the Brothers of the Seven have been discredited and broken, and any claims they might have had could be voided. If the group is still intact or the DM decides that the paperwork is in the name of an "untainted" noble, then the PCs would have to pay them off as well. Again, some blackmail could reduce the price.
Anyway, if the PCs want a cool spooky place to live for a while, that's fine. But if they want to "flip" the house for huge profits, that's kind of lame. It would unbalance things. It would be funny if you let them sell it for a huge amount of gold and then rob them of it so they're back where they started. Maybe a dragon hears about how much money they have and swoops in to bolster his horde.