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brrr...
The CSSC: the
Combined Secomber Shipping Companies.
The
CSSC is another project by Kelvin Thyrst, this time together with Theronsten
Llothar.
Thorensten
Llothar is a mage merchant with a disputable past, about which he doesn't
like to talk. Sometimes his buisiness methods lack style, but they always
improve his position or gain.
Theronsten
used to own three boats that travelled along the Delimbiyr, and off the
cost up to Waterdeep, but several unforeseen events took out two. (One
was Theronsten's own fault, though he will never admit that.)
Kelvin,
looking for ways to improve or forward his harbour plans, saw a possibility
and offered the old Merchant a partnership. It's a loose partnership, with
both partners keeping a weary eye on the other.
All
boats operating for the CSSC (one is fully owned by Theronsten, three are
semi- independent) use the CSSC for administration, coordination, and repairs.
The CSSC has a small office in Waterdeep and representatives in Loudwater,
Zellbros and Daggerford. The merchant captains of the boats have to carry
all goods the CSSC asks them to, on fixed routes set by the CSSC, but are
allowed to do their own bit of trade or transport with the free capacity
left.
CSSC Ships.
The
four ships of the CSSC are:
The
Theronsten Two, captain Baldur Lothar (a nephew of Theronston). A heavy,
slow vessel used to transport large amounts or heavy objects. You're not
in a hurry when taking this ship. A lot of the work of the Secomber stone
cutters is transported using the Theronsten Two. The ship is big enough
to travel all the way over sea to Waterdeep, although Theronsten doesn't
like to risk his ship in the (infamous but overrated) Lizard Mash.
The
Unicorn's First, under captain Joanna Dassault. A slim, rather small vessel
with just six sailors. It's small enough to be men (or elf) powered. This
is the ship that takes care of most 'special' transports, and it has visited
the High Forest, Orlbar and Llorkh. Note that the Unicorn's First
is the only ship known to have travelled into the High Forest, and return!
This ship is too small to take on the Sword Coast.
The
Dragon's Breath is owned and run by a gnome family FromWayDownUnder. It
is relatively new and powered by two Steam Dragonettes (a kind of steam
engines build by the priests of Gond) but has run into a lot of problems.
The Dragon's Breath is noisy, but the new technology means it doesn't care
about faltering winds. Only about failing machinery... Kelvin's plans for
Secomber's harbour were exactly what the gnomes were looking for: a place
to repair their ship. The Dragon's Breath has done a few Waterdeep runs,
but only when accompagnied by the Sailor's Dream.
Sailor's
Dream is a midsized ship under the command of captain 'Slick' Moander.
It's the most profitable ship with the worst administration. Actually,
all the penalties keep Moander's profits low, but he doesn't seem to care
much. Moander doesn't care much about the Lizard Marsh and travels on a
regular base to Waterdeep. 'Skinning some Lizards' as he calls it. He sometimes
looses a few sailors on these trips, and adventurers get reduced rates,
especially archers and priests...
Daily
control of the CSSC ships is in the hands of the merchant captains themselfs.
Routes, business deals, and general company decisions are made in the Secomber
office. All captains have 1 vote, the Secomber town council has one, and
Theronsten and Kelvin have each 3 votes.
Anybody
can 'transfer' his vote to somebody else, who can vote in their place in
the CSSC meetings (this is especially important as the captains normally
can never attend.). Joan Dassault and the FromDownUnder family have transfered
their votes to Kelvin Thyrst, and Baldur Lothar (ofcourse) transfered his
vote to his uncle.
'Slick'
Moander transferred his vote to the daughter of the Mayor, and sometimes
a six year old girl upsets the CSSC meetings by claiming that all of this
is so boring, and can she go outside and play now and get that icecreme
that somebody promised...
Under
normal circumstances, the Secomber town council refrains from voting, and
doesn't even attend the CSSC meetings. (Neither does the mayor's daughter,
but sometimes the Mayor has had enough and needs to enlighten his day.)
The
CSSC is growing... Theronsten Llothar is considering buying another ship,
a new Theronston One. And Kelvin Thyrst is talking to more 'independent
operators', and hopes to bring them under the CSSC flag. The problem is:
there is just limited demand on the Delimbiyr, so further expansion is
almost impossible, unless ships go outside and travel to Waterdeep...
You
will find the CSSC office on the second floor of The Knee (19) overlooking
Big Leg. Kelvin Thryst is known to sleep overnight in his office, sometimes.
Nobody dares to disturb him the next morning, when this happens... he has
something of a (rather bad) morning temper when he wakes up on his desk...
Magic.
Those
looking for powerfull magic have come to the wrong place. The major wizard
of Secomber (Amelior Amanitas) is known to be aloof of visitors, and often
out of town. His small house and tower are warded by spells, and the locals
take a very dim view of anyone bothering the mage or disturbing his property,,
especially when he's not around himself.
(Part
of the deterrent is Amelior's reputation. Regardless if he's around or
not, his creations have a tendency to explode.)
However,
there is some magic that you can run into.
Guardstones.
Everywhere
in and around of Secomber you will find small, pink colored boulders. Most
of them are roughly ovoid without any specific markings, but the surfaces
are smoothly polished. These 'Guardstones' are made of leftovers by the
Stonecutter's Guild.
A
warning is in it's place! The inhabitants of Secomber take a very dim view
of (unauthorized) people messing around with their Guardstones!
Using Guardstones.
Guardstones
are used to mark areas belonging to a certain owner. The stones relate
to the owner, and alarm him when 'something unwanted' is happening, such
as a house on fire, a thief breaking in, and similar events.
(There
is no exact description of 'unwanted'. Warnings are given on a case by
case basis, differing from person, guarded area, any objects in the area,
etc. In general: events that the tuned person does not like. Often: damage
or theft of property, tresspassers, etc....)
Guardstones
have several limitations. In pite of this, almost all houses or gardens
in Secomber do have Guardstones. The limitations are:
1.
They guardstones can only be linked to one person at a time (only one person
receives the warning).
2.
A person can only be linked to one set of guardstones at a time.
3.
Their reach is limited (about two miles, further away you won't receive
a warning). Hoewever, if you are linked to the stones, you will notice
it when you enter or leave this range.
4.
The area they guard may not be 'fragmented' (so you can't guard two houses
in two different parts of town).
5.
The guarded area cannot be too big (maximal size depends on the number
of stones, and the shape of the area, but a small house plus medium
guarden can be covered by four stones).
6.
They guardstones don't tell you what is happening.
7.
Bringing otherGuardstones into 'guarded' areas blocks both warnings (after
sending out a last alarm)..
8.
All Guardstones must be of the same 'batch' (they must be created or tuned
at the same time).
Ofcourse,
when something happens that would stop the working of the Guardstones,
change the tuned person, a dispell magic, etcetera, the guardstones will
send out a warning just before they stop working.
Tuning Guardstones.
Tuning
a Guardstone to a specific person is remarkably easy: first you collect
the stones you want to tune, and cast the first level spell 'Tune Guardstones'.
That's all.
Amelior's
Tune Guardstones.
2nd
level wizard spell, Abjuration / Evocation.
Range:
10 yards, touch
Components:
V,S,M
Duration:
permanent
Casting
time: 1 round per stone
Area
of effect: 2 stones + 1 stone per level caster
Saving:
none
This
spell tunes a number of guardstones. (The 'tuned' stones will send their
alarm to the specified person.) The material components needed are the
stones. These must be roughly round, made of granite or marble, with a
smooth polished surface. A good guardstone weighs about eight pounds. The
first person touched by the spellcaster, after completion of the spell,
will be the person the stones 'tune' to.
Guardstones
can be any size, but larger stones take more time to enchant.
All
Guardstones must be tuned in one 'batch'.
Creating Guardstones.
The
process of creating Guardstones is simple, yet not completely without risk.
The original spell was devised by Amelior Amanitas. His original version
created 'exploding' guardstones, something his gardener didn't like.
Amelior
managed to tune down the nature of the alarm, yet during creation the stones
still may go 'boom'. (This is why most mages prefer not too enchant too
big stones, or too many stones at once, or even create Guardstones at all...)
Only
the normal Create Guardstones spell is well known by the mages in Secomber.
Both other variatons are only known by Amelior himself, and perhaps some
of his apprentices.
Amelior's
Create Guardstones.
4th
level wizard spell, Alteration.
Range:
10 yards.
Components:
V,S,M
Duration:
permanent
Casting
time: 1 round per stone
Area
of effect: 1 stone per level caster
Saving:
special
This
spell creates a number of guardstones. The material components needed are
the stones. These must be roughly ovoid, made of granite, with a smooth
polished surface. Guardstones can be any size, but larger stones take more
time to enchant.
All
Guardstones must be created in one 'batch'. After creation, they still
have to be 'tuned'.
There
is a 5% chance per (normal sized) stone that the spell fails. If this happens,
each stone in the batch explodes, causing 1d4 damage to a person within
20 yards. In other words: enchanting 4 stones means there is a failure
rate of 20%. If the spell fails, each (normal sized) stone inflicts 1d4
points of damage. Spread the damage if more people are within range of
the exploding stones.
Milestones.
Amelior's
Create Milestones.
5th
level wizard spell, Abjuration / Evocation.
Range:
10 yards.
Components:
V,S,M
Duration:
permanent
Casting
time: 1 round per stone
Area
of effect: 1 stone per level caster
Saving:
none
This
spell creates a number of Milestones.
Instead
of warning a 'tuned' person, these stones explode when something 'unwanted'
happens, each stone causing 1d4 points of damage to individuals within
reach (spread damage over multiple characters).
Although
the damage is not extremely large, the explosion can be heard for a mile
around (hence the name).
You
cannot 'tune' Milestones. Only the creator can move the stones around.
Obviously, the stones will only explode one time. Milestones are not 'linked',
and a person can set up as many milestones as he likes. Milestones can
be dispelled.
Further
details as in the Create Guardstones spell.
Rollingstones.
Amelior's
Create Rollingstones.
6th
level wizard spell, Abjuration / Evocation.
Range:
10 yards.
Components:
V,S,M
Duration:
permanent
Casting
time: 1 round per stone
Area
of effect: 1 stone per level caster
Saving:
none
This
spell creates a number of Rollingstones. This is a variation on Amelior's
Milestones.
Instead
of exploding, all stones involved start rolling around for four rounds.
Anybody stepping on a stone (throw an ability check for dexterity every
round) will fall down. (Make saving throws for all items carried, spells
will fail, etc.) If large boulders are enchanted, these will roll over
the targets, causing additional damage.
During
the first three and a half minute, a wave of noise will sweep over the
area. During the last thirty seconds of the spell, you will hear a lot
of people applauding and cheering while the stones return to their original
positions. Nobody knows why.
You
cannot 'tune' Rollingstones. Only the creator can move the stones around
without triggering them. Although the stones will return to their positions,
they will only roll one time per day. After 'rolling', the stones can be
destroyed, moved, or the magic dispelled. Further details as in the Create
Guardstones spell.
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