Expedition: Baxtaw - Seeking Scatha's Lair - 23 July 2021

[Marullus]

Clauson (and all NPC Clerics of Baudh) always prefer Gold.

NPCs are willing to take objects d'art at full value. They don't doubt their own longevity as much as PCs do.

[Zhym]

I think this may work for the money equivalents. This assumes that we give the heirlooms to the dwarves, and that we sell the dragon parts to merchants.

• Baxtaw, Bremen, Lug, Osuna, and Piers: 1150 gp, 2 items of non-heirloom jewelry (500 gp ea.), 9 diamonds (1,000 gp ea.), 5 rubies (750 gp ea.), 5 emeralds (500 gp ea.). Total: 16,400 gp.
• Clauson: 3,650 gp, 11,250 gp in 3 months, 3 non-heirloom jewelry (500 gp ea.). Total: 16,400 gp.
• Stantz, Rowine, Crowgar, and Dorbeck's Estate: 250 gp, 937 gp in 3 months, 26 ep, 5 cp, 14 non-heirloom jewelry (500 gp ea.). Total: 8,200 gp.

I can recalculate that if people think we should split the heirloom jewelry instead of giving it to the dwarves, but getting four 10,000 gp suits of armor now makes more sense to me than getting 10,500 gp now and waiting three months for 31,500. That's assuming there are enough people who want armor, of course.

As for the magic items, here is the list, with some initial thoughts on who might want what:

• Dwarven hand axe (from goblin leader) [+1, 4001xp] - Stantz?
• Suit of red dragon plate (AC 1, +3 save v fire) - Lug really really really wants one. In case you didn't know.
• Suit of red dragon plate (AC 1, +3 save v fire) - Piers?
• Suit of red dragon leather (AC 3, +3 save v fire) - Bremen?
• Suit of red dragon leather (AC 3, +3 save v fire) - Baxtaw?
• Scroll: Ward v. Undead
• Scroll: Ward v. Undead
• Dwarven Clerical Scroll (Level 7: Holy Word)
• The Beer of Guldarim
• Smithing Hammer of Balthnoc
• Human-sized black silk robes - Osuna?
• A 16-inch wand of basilisk bone - Osuna?

[Jernau35]

I'm probably going to be really unpopular for bringing this up, but...

...way back on page 1, we seem to have come to an agreement that The Temple of Baudh and The White Tower each get a quarter share for their provision of healing. Sorry, Zhym, I know that's going to mess with all the math.

As for the other stuff, Piers would be ecstatic with the plate mail, seems like a good fit for the Holy Word scroll and would really like the Smithing Hammer, but thought it was going to be claimed by the dwarves?

[Zhym]

I see a recommendation, not an agreement.

Anyway, Clauson is already getting a full share of treasure instead of a half share, as is standard for NPC clerics of Baudh. And Bremen is getting as rich as the rest of us. I don't think we need to throw an extra quarter share that way on top of the shares the representatives of the White Tower are getting as their shares already.

Besides, the numbers work out so nice and evenly right now.

If we really need to throw half a share extra at Bremen's tower, he can argue that we should take it from the half share going to Dorbeck's estate.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Prior to the expedition, Baxtaw agreed to:
Reimbursing Bremen for the healing potions, etc. I'll look up the price in a bit.
A full share going to the church. Piers agreed with Bremen and Clauson that that could be the White Tower. (FYI, that does not go into Bremen's pocket. It sort of disappears from what I've noticed. )

[Rusty Tincanne]

Also, Bremen is going to try and grab the skeleton, and the Duke might give us stuff....

[Jernau35]

Fair enough. Piers did agree to that*, but then it went back to The White Tower taking a quarter, so I wasn't sure if it reverted to the quarter each deal. I just didn't want Piers getting dinged for agreeing to bring in a quarter, then not bring it back. Like i said, I don't want to mess up the math after all your hard work.

*You see what I mean about thinking that Bremen was unfairly accused at his trial? i thought he was a good(ish) guy back then

[Zhym]

And some of that was before Clauson agreed to come along, for a full share. Did Clauson come as part of that full share, or is he supposed to get a separate full share?

This is now officially a mess.

[Rusty Tincanne]

As to Baudh's healing touch, a quarter share to the White Tower seems fair enough.

Sorry. I hadn't meant that as "full share", just a share. You're right that it is a quarter share.

I'll keep looking for the price of all those potions.

Edit: if you think about the speed that the horses allowed us to travel at, and the load we carried, a quarter share is actually a good deal, I think.

[Zhym]

Edit:

A rough-looking man in armor locates Baxtaw and his group in the the Golden Tooth Tavern. Hey elf. The Lord Commander Bremen wanted me to tell you that, pending his chat with the Duke, he's planning on helping you out in your fight against the dragon.

just a place saver so you know I am hoping to have Bremen join you all. If nothing goes wrong, he'll be bringing a level 3 cleric (of Baudh), and a couple-three low level fighters that can, at the least, stand guard overnight.

Bremen should be able to come with a magical warhammer, a sword (+1 vs undead), a +1 scimitar, and a magical whip. Additionally, he's good at thief tasks. He can help pay for Clay's scrolls, if needed.

He will recommend a half share of the treasure be tithed to Baudh, via the White Tower. The local Temple is clearly corrupt and deserves no money. Being not directly affiliated with the local Temple, Piers shouldn't mind, as long as money is going to Baudh, right?

If Piers does care, how about a 1/4 share to the White Tower, then 1/4 share to the Temple in Gaul?

Clauson is that level-3 cleric, right? So I'd read all that as the tithed half share of treasure being the extra half of Clauson's full share.

There's another way to read that, which is that by "bringing along" a level 3 cleric and a couple of low-level fighters, they're free as far as the rest of the party is concerned.

If we have to give another quarter share on top of what Clauson is getting, I say we cut the gift to Dorbeck's kin in half. That way I don't have to reallocate anything.

[Zhym]

Oh, and:

As to Baudh's healing touch, a quarter share to the White Tower seems fair enough. The dwarfs are welcome to their hole. Their digging me a hole back at the Tower. My vassals require half-a-share each. I'll be bringing a couple of fighters and a cleric of my own. I think it's smart to keep our numbers small so we don't draw too much attention.

That definitely sounded like Bremen was contemplating that his vassal Clauson would be getting a half share, with an extra quarter share added on for the White Tower. So allocating a full share to Clauson is actually more than bargained for. With the quarter share to the tower and a quarter share to the Temple of Baudh, that adds up to the full share currently allocated to Clauson.

Since Clauson, the Temple of Baudh, and the White Tower are all behind the scenes, I don't know that I need to split up Clauson's share according to where it's going.

[Zhym]

Here's a revision that pulls 585 gp off the top to reimburse Bremen for potions purchased at the start of the expedition:

• Baxtaw, Bremen, Lug, Osuna, and Piers: 1075 gp, 2 items of non-heirloom jewelry (500 gp ea.), 9 diamonds (1,000 gp ea.), 5 rubies (750 gp ea.), 5 emeralds (500 gp ea.). Total: 16,325 gp.
• Clauson and/or Baudh Shares: 3,575 gp, 11,250 gp in 3 months, 3 non-heirloom jewelry (500 gp ea.). Total: 16,325 gp.
• Stantz, Rowine, Crowgar, and Dorbeck's Estate: 216 gp, 937 gp in 3 months, 26 ep, 5 cp, 14 non-heirloom jewelry (500 gp ea.). Total: 8,166 gp.

I can recalculate that if people think we should split the heirloom jewelry instead of giving it to the dwarves, but getting four 10,000 gp suits of armor now makes more sense to me than getting 10,500 gp now and waiting three months for 31,500. That's assuming there are enough people who want armor, of course.

As for the magic items, here is the list, with some initial thoughts on who might want what:

• Dwarven hand axe (from goblin leader) [+1, 4001xp] - Stantz?
• Suit of red dragon plate (AC 1, +3 save v fire) - Lug really really really wants one. In case you didn't know.
• Suit of red dragon plate (AC 1, +3 save v fire) - Piers?
• Suit of red dragon leather (AC 3, +3 save v fire) - Bremen?
• Suit of red dragon leather (AC 3, +3 save v fire) - Baxtaw?
• Scroll: Ward v. Undead
• Scroll: Ward v. Undead
• Dwarven Clerical Scroll (Level 7: Holy Word)
• The Beer of Guldarim
• Smithing Hammer of Balthnoc
• Human-sized black silk robes - Osuna?
• A 16-inch wand of basilisk bone - Osuna?

[Jernau35]

Yeah, I dont want to make this super complicated. Piers thought at the time, in good faith, that all the White Tower money was going to Baudh. He's going to tithe extra to Baudh anyway. Plus, aside from Crowager, I think he only healed Osuna, maybe Lug?

In fact if there never was a fully agreed deal in place beforehand, can't everybody just get their share and anybody who was healed make a small payment? That would seem to solve the "problem".

Added after seeing Zhyms new post: keeping it all behind the scenes seems a reasonable solution.

[Zhym]

We could pull another 515 gp off the top and spend it on a tribute of some sort. That would have each of the PCs getting an even 1,000 in gold, the NPCs (other than Clauson) getting 200 gold, and Clauson getting 3,500 gold, with everything else staying the same.

Not that we need the extra XP.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Treasure Split:
If Clauson gets a full share, that will cover the tithe to Baudh/the White Tower as well. Stantz gets a half share, as pointed out. If I was wondering about that, Bremen will make up the difference. I fully support using the dragon parts to pay the NPCs. Nice thinking there!

Marullus should speak for the NPCs, but I imagine Stantz vying for a suit of red plate (if no other PCs want one).

If it is left over, Bremen would take the beer to return to the dwarfs. His first choice is the dragon-leather armor, of course.

Quick question:
Is anyone interested in keeping any dragon parts? Because if folks don't speak up, it all goes south, out of the game.

XP:
Bremen is fine using coin of the top to pay the bard for a song.

Loose Ends:
Do we expect rewards from the Archduke? (I think Bremen is it of the running there, but that's okay.)
Who wants to visit the dwarfs?

[Marullus]

** 40lb Marble cylinder with dwarf runes

Forgot to add that.

Just to add to the above, Clerics of Baudh require full shares. Past precidence is that they pay the church from it, though.

[Zhym]

A suit of dragon plate would be an awfully fine reward for an NPC! I'm inclined to let it go to a PC. I'm assuming that the NPCs will take the miscellaneous magic items if PCs take all the armor. Those items don't have to go entirely out of circulation—the NPCs could put them on consignment in Fingers's shop (hint, hint, Marullus ).

This reward offer may still be valid. Lug can ask about it (with anyone else who wants to come along).

Since we're giving the heirloom items to the dwarves and giving a share to Dorbeck's family, we should definitely visit them. Can we get the dwarves to tell us what the runes on that marble cylinder mean? Or we could pay Fingers's shop 50 gp to read them, if we think that showing the cylinder to the dwarves will make them demand handing it over.

100 gp off the top for a bard. Sure. We definitely want this memorialized in song. Is there anything else we'd want to spend money on as a group out of the other 415 gp that would even out our cash shares?

[Rusty Tincanne]

That 415gp could be used to reconstruct the dragon skeleton (if we get it) - the teeth need to be replaced, and we need a scholar to run the operation. Bremen could pay the difference in cost. He needs to construct a building for it to go in, or find a mage that could enchant it to withstand the elements.
Just a thought.

As the party sits assembled, Bremen asks (in hushed tones) what they want to say about Dorbeck. His death wasn't entirely becoming. It would be easy enough to... Embellish the tale.

For example, he was our rear guard when Scatha came up behind us. Dorbeck charged the dragon, allowing us time to set the trap. It would be easier for his family, I think, than hearing he failed to see a pressure plate and was killed by his ancestral home. I think that such a take would ingratiate us, as well, making it more feasible to recover our skeleton, and to have them construct our armor. He raises a questioning eyebrow, then smooths his mustache.But it isn't all about us. He was a good lad. Let's have him remembered well. What every dwarf wants. What he would have done, we're it not for the circumstances.

[Jernau35]

I have a song written if you want to use that. Well, written up to the first round of the fight with Scatha, if you can give me a day or two to finish it.

As far as the Baudh payment goes, I think I'm making too much of it. As long as there is some kind of payment, it does t really matter. Being metagamey, it's just there to prevent clerics being healbots.

Im not comfortable embellishing the story to that degree, Piers says. "However, I do recall a volley of goblin arrows at that point also, so I will say, if asked, that he fell in battle with our enemies. But I don't want to stand there as another version of the story is told"

[Zhym]

As the party sits assembled, Bremen asks (in hushed tones) what they want to say about Dorbeck. His death wasn't entirely becoming. It would be easy enough to... Embellish the tale.

For example, he was our rear guard when Scatha came up behind us. Dorbeck charged the dragon, allowing us time to set the trap. It would be easier for his family, I think, than hearing he failed to see a pressure plate and was killed by his ancestral home. I think that such a take would ingratiate us, as well, making it more feasible to recover our skeleton, and to have them construct our armor. He raises a questioning eyebrow, then smooths his mustache.But it isn't all about us. He was a good lad. Let's have him remembered well. What every dwarf wants. What he would have done, we're it not for the circumstances.

"You wanna lie to dwaves?" asks Lug.

"Okay. I'm cool with that," he says with a shrug. "But keep it simple. And truthy. 'Dorbeck died trying to kill Scatha. His death allowed us to set up the ambush that slew the dragon.' That sort of thing. Not technically a lie, either."

That 415gp could be used to reconstruct the dragon skeleton (if we get it) - the teeth need to be replaced, and we need a scholar to run the operation. Bremen could pay the difference in cost. He needs to construct a building for it to go in, or find a mage that could enchant it to withstand the elements.

You keep trying to get more things out of the mountain.

I'm pretty sure that any further interactions with this location will be with the dwarves who now occupy it. As of our exit, it became a settlement location, not an adventuring location. I'll be filling out the "(IC) Settlement - Halls of the Dwarven King" as soon as Marullus and I get a chance to talk about what the threads should be.

IOW, the only way to get Scatha's skeleton now is to ask the dwarves for it. Maybe they'd be agreeable to that request, if they just want the dragon's carcass completely cleared from their home. OTOH, if they want to keep the bones set up as their own trophy, we could contribute something to the costs of cleaning, preserving, and holding the bones together.

Either way, it needs to be negotiated with King Drunil via Marullus. I can't sub-DM that discussion if Lug stands to benefit in any way.

As for the extra 415 115,* we could use 50 of it to read the dwarven runes, maybe. And we could possibly put the rest towards having items identified. Pierpoint is occupied through our fast-forward time, though, so we'd need somewhere else to have it done.

* I reduced the "leftover" fund in my next post.