The PC’s should have a few missions under their belt. They should have done well enough to inspire confidence in other matters.
At least a few weeks of time will have passed, if not months, to show Grak the caliber of skills and their character – enough to inspire trust.
At a certain point, Grak will send for them and say he has another job for them… if they are interested in it.
They have done well so far and he believes they may be able to help in another matter. He (Grak) has gotten word from an associate merchant in county Faer that they are having some troubles – a direct attack on them by a rival. Grak says he’s never met this person himself, but that they are very successful in terms of monetary contributions to the Surefoot Merchant Coster Association. He says that they have indicated they are willing to pay an additional 200 silvers each person for their help, and about 2 week’s worth of travel and work. Grak says that the Volkmann family rewards well…
The Real Issue: Tessa Volkmann is a ruthless, vicious, evil woman who, up till now, controlled the local gangs with an iron fist and managed to run a tight operation of legitimate trade and slaves as well as drug trafficking. A local gang named the Iron Brummies refused to pay her and she had one of their number killed. In reprisal, they raided her headquarters (she had grown lax in security, trusting to fear to keep the locals in check) and stole a lot of personal items from her quarters. One chest in particular had a false bottom with 10 years of records of slave trades – this could ruin her if it got out and was made public. She needs some outside help so as not to start a gang war, to get the chest back before the documents are found. The gang knows she traffics in slaves, and this is the ground they refused to pay her on – the ‘hostages’ they took were actually to free them.
This requires that the characters be somewhere near the south and east sides of the Riverdans – it take place in county Faer.
He gives them directions to the town of Bethelhorne about 3 days ride away, and he says to ask for Tessa.
He will not go himself, and he has his reservations about this agreement – but he is not supposed to set foot in county Faer – it would violate a trade agreement.
Do not take orders from anyone but Tessa, he says.
Bethelhorne: Population 6500, in county Faer of Dunstrand
Bethelhorne is a good town, but its got its share of crime like any other. Times have been tough, and so i thought maybe we should try and work with the less discriminating elements to bring in some extra money. Its tough to keep up a reputation, my father founded the Volkmann Merchant House on supplying the mines with local food stuffs and tools. Others have taken bites out of business, but father diversified and we keep a smooth running business and it makes good money. We became part of the Surefoot Merchant Coster and those connections allowed us to expand more. But business has been falling off, and i was embarrassed and felt i needed to do something. I contacted a man named Ed – the local leader of the gang who go by ‘Iron Brummies’. I guess i just trusted them too much – we had a meeting and as he was leaving, his men burst in to the office and sacked the place. My personal quarters are above the store and they stole from that as well – killing two guards. The last guard managed to get me out and run for help – they tried to burn my shop down as well! I don’t want to start a war – i need outside help to help me retrieve some items. First they stole my fathers rod – he was a wagon driver and its got sentimental value beyond all measure, its the tool he started with and i want it back. Also, there’s some papers – business records and such. They are private and contain payment schedules i need to run my business. They were in a locked chest – a chest my mother had and had been in her family for 400 years. I want that chest back – all other things being equal – that’s the one thing i want back the most. You can’t miss it – its very beautiful. It contained the shawl the was married in – the finest knitted shawl in all of the county and what caught my father’s eye initially. They also grabbed a couple of stable workers as hostages – that’s not right. They may be sold to the mines or something horrible – i could not bear it if they were to suffer for my stupidity. Find them, get them back. Please… will you help me get these things back and right the wrong that has been done?
Tessa’s Warning: Wearing of orange sleeve collars will symbolize you work for me, my colors are well known in the area. When you confront them, you must make sure you are not mistaken for my own employees so do NOT wear any orange.
Chest Documents – Records of slave captured and sold to the mines, of child slaves and sex slaves. Implicates about a dozen people, some in local businesses.