1. Send out word that Comte Osir is hiring a professional cook/brewer skilled in both Adranic and Haegari dishes. Failing that, find two skilled in either.
2. Order several Adranic wines from the best wineries in the kingdom. Ask for a price before purchasing.
3. Scour the city for the most skilled jewellery in the city. Find out how many are willing to work for the Comte and at what price.
4. Send letters of interest to minor nobles around Windheath, asking if they would like to help in the embassy.
5. Send a letter to the castellan of Osport, and ask if there is any news amongst the Haegar populace and their kin in the North. Also ask how trade is going.
6. Send men to the port cities and find news of events in the Haegar lands as well as where the Haegar are currently raiding.
7. Finally, send a Haegari messenger to the North and request for a Haegari priest.
[4] You find a skilled cook willing to work for a reasonable price. [4] The best wineries of the kingdom send you a sample of some of their wine. They are willing to offer you a reduction, if you would spread the word that you bought wine from them. Of course, the exact price depends on the quantity you want. [5] A few talented jewellers accept to work for you. Once again, the price of their work will depend on what exactly you wish to be fabricated.
[3] The Haegars are as they ever were: poor and proud. [3] Their local economy has no improved in years, [4] but there was no disease nor starvation in a long time. [4] The slave trade goes well, [?] although you're not quite sure where they get their slaves from, since there is no talk of raids.
[?] No one seems to know where the Haegars are raiding. [?] Some people have noticed that nowadays most of the slaves are Haegars themselves, which happens whenever the clans start fighting each others. Apparently, there's something going on in their lands that changed their policy on raiding recently. Perhaps internal wars?
[?] A priest is sent to you by an Haegar clan, but he has no tongue. While this does not stop him from doing any priesting activities (there is precent: Alsgard the Mute was a mute High Priest in the old days) it is a bit strange that they chose to send him.
>Send Geoff around the city, organize a meeting with all major(ish) businesses within the city on the topic of a more reliable source of security than the current, no-doubt corrupt city guard.
>Also have him look around for some muscle to hire to provide security for said meeting.
>Arrange for, on the night of the meeting, all of the prostitutes to conduct their work upstairs, with patrons(not there for the meeting) remaining either at the bar or upstairs, so as not to disturb my guests.
>Also offer free drinks for merchants attending the meeting. (Switch out the cheap liquor for even cheaper if they go past five-or-so drinks, though)
>Habarre will head upstairs to his newly-furnished laboratory and begin experimenting with those drugs he acquired. (He won't take any himself, of course, for testing purposes off-duty whores will do) Try and work out ways I could improve these substances to provide a better product than that already available. Also test what amounts it is best packaged in.
[4-4] Geoff finds a merchant group selling slave guardsmen, renowned for their loyalty and their ferocity. They are all mute, which is useful if you have secrets to keep (they use whistles to alert each others in case of trouble). You can loan them for a few days, or hire them permanently. [If you chose to hire them permanently, tell me if you want them mostly as fluff - they'll act as guards and protect you if they're near while you're attacked, but you won't be able to send them on missions - or if you want them as a regiment]
The prostitues and clients are instructed not to bother you, and there will be free drinks for the merchants.
[1] The whores refuse to let you test their drugs on them. [4] Thankfully, they're slaves, so their opinion doesn't matter, but they will hate you if one of them dies in your little test. [6] The opium works like normal opium. The mushrooms appear to give hallucinations and to make whoever eats them extremelly obedient (you managed to convince your test subject to run naked in the street singing songs - and to stop her before she actually did it) although you don't have enough to check if the effects change from one person to another. [?] The green drink nearly instantly (in a matter of seconds) makes the test subject fall asleep. You're not sure if that's the intended effect, but atleast she's smiling in her dreams, so it's probably not painful.
[?] You feel confident you could mix the opium and the shrooms together to create something extremelly potent. However, you do not have any idea what the green drink is made of or does, apart from making people sleep.
Look into Zedderous' geneaology, inheritance and links to other major families, disgraced or intact. Use my historical knowledge if possible. Particularly look for anyone who already has power or stands to gain a lot from inheriting any of the land [i.e. PCs].
Investigate the identity and resources of the Arendalis lords whose daughters Duc Edgard is marrying - especially for loopholes and vulnerabilities that could be used to increase the extent of or likelihood of his inheritance.
Do Habarre a favour and ask around for bargers who might still be willing to smuggle goods (particularly arms or drugs) into the western kingdoms for the right pay. Negate my rumourmongery bonus for taking care not to attract attention.
Begin training Tier 2 Rumourmongery this season.
[2] Apparently Lord Zed's family was extremelly large; it's hard to know who can inherit and who cannot. [?] There is a very large number of potential heirs. Technically, the king should get the money through a marriage between their families two generations ago, but someone could argue that the link is too far and that a third-degree niece should get them instead. [5] This young lady is apparently very beautiful, but Zeddrous was very poor; even if she inherited what he had, she would have trouble marrying anyone above a knight.
[6] One of the daughters Edgar married has a relatively small family: two brothers and her father. [5] They live in a castle near the border; someone willing to get his hands dirty could hasten the inheritance process. Of course, it would take alot of care to do the work without letting suspiscions fall on Edgar, who married the young lady just a few days ago.
[1] No one is willing to go upstream. Both Arendalis and Donnerstein sink ships on sight if they cannot identify them, and the potential profits are not sufficient for the smugglers to take that risk.
[34124] 20/200