They reached Tinsdale shortly before dawn. The sky was still a deep blue when they entered the New Grog Inn, legs aching from the journey. It was nearly noon by the time they awakened. Amalthea took off on her own to "check out the shops," swearing up and down and on her pinky that she wasn't going to buy anything. Surprisingly, Rose almost told her it was okay to buy things, and even had half a mind to go with her, but thought better of it once she realized their adventure could get expensive.
Instead, she opted to stay behind with Solomon and spend all afternoon on logistical work. She counted the money everyone had in their wallets, listed every item they carried in the party, and calculated what supplies they would need for the journey to Midhaven and the estimated cost thereof.
When she finished, she put down her pen and turned to see if Solomon was still on the bed where they left him. Perhaps some of that promised training was in order.
The currency is divided thusly: 10 copper "cents" = 1 silver "sil" 10 silver "sils" = 1 gold "crown" The standard wage for unskilled work was around 1 cent, about the price of one loaf of bread. If that seems small, consider: one loaf of whole-wheat professionally baked bread will feed a man really well, maybe even two men, depending on their daily workload. 1 cent wasn't much, but it was a big deal for those who had nothing.
Solomon's courier work would be lucrative. While I can't speak to his own business model, I'd imagine many couriers would charge by the mile and tack on fees for risks or difficulties incurred. More experienced couriers who knew the land better could command better rates. The usual rates were 1 cent/mile on foot over easy ground, 2 cents/mile on horseback over easy ground, +1 cent/mile for difficult terrain, +2 cents/mile for dangerous terrain or bandit territory. Of course, prices and conditions vary wildly between towns; in Tinsdale, for example, couriers charge 1 cent/mile for horseback delivery because horse-care services are relatively inexpensive in these parts, but +4 cents/mile for bandit territory because they lack combat experience and can't defend themselves well.
A courier's expenses might include hay and stabling (if a horse is used), inn fees, clotheswashing fees, occasional item replacement, and of course food. Non-major expenses add up to about 3 to 8 cents per trip. If Solomon has been rigorously saving his money (and skimping on inns and washing), he should have a few crowns to his name.
Rose was paid a salary of 2 cents/day for her scouting and assassin work, which she augmented with odd jobs during her missions. Bonuses were granted for meeting secondary objectives, which she almost always accomplished. Expenses include weapon and armor repair, ration replenishment, and miscellaneous mission-related items. She has a tidy sum of 8 sils in her wallet. Her house in the outskirts of Northaven cost about 6 crowns, which is why she doesn't have much in her wallet depite a year's worth of excellent work for Lady Grey.
Princess Amalthea is given an allowance of 1 sil/day, but she tends to spend it as soon as she gets it, so if we don't count the value of all the property she acquired, she has 10 cents in her wallet.
As for the item list, Rose keeps the aforementioned pouch of 8 sils, a black robe, a light fur jacket with multiple pockets, cloth apparel, 5 steel daggers (1 was lost in the previous battle), a pack of rations with 4 days worth of food remaining, a change of clothes, a length of rope, a small coffee pot, flint & steel, fish hooks, needle & thread, gauze bandages, and Amalthea's pendant.
Amalthea keeps her pouch of 10 cents, the bow and quiver given to her, a single arrow left in the quiver, the clothes on her back, and nothing else. Most of her luggage was in the carriage, which is now in enemy hands. She'd been expecting her trip to be relatively short.
Rose would like nothing better than to acquire a Bag of Holding, but those things are expensive and only sold at Midhaven.
* For Dynasty Warriors-style battles, dice rolls determine how many enemies you kill in one turn. Your character charges in with the sword raised, I roll and spit out a number, and then you get to describe how you got there.
Ex: P1: Hero charges into a group of goblins with his sword raised high and courage in his heart. GM: [rolls a 3] 3 goblins charge at you. They look woefully unprepared to fight you. P1: Hero guts the first goblin. Two other goblins charge at him. Hero lifts up the dead goblin's body and hurls it at them, knocking them down. He follows it up with a clean swipe that beheads them both.
Caradras' rationale for his attack is actually well-known to me, and constitutes a major endgame plot point. The problem with using him as an antagonist is that his rationale is not conducive to ordering strikes on human settlements. As a Guardian, his ultimate goal is humanity's well-being.
I guess the reason I'm asking is because I feel that character motivation is in the tank right now. What are they all fighting for? They're only here because the Reaper dragged them here. At first, I thought the golem threat would help, but it's coming across as really lame, and I've been scrambling to salvage it. The Void threat would make more sense, but it's far too early to open the Portal. There's nothing I can think of that would motivate the player characters to get anything done. So player motivation, likewise, is suffering, and solutions aren't coming to mind.
In order to gauge where player motivation needs improvement, I need feedback on its current level. Just based on my own motivation, I need a compelling new villain, and fast.
Solomon wrapped the cloak around himself. "Thank you. And don't worry. The old outfit was getting a bit red for my liking," he joked. Rose chuckled with him. Solomon added, "Also, Rose, since Amalthea will most likely teach me how to use a bow, do you think it's possible for me to learn some of that healing magic you know? The more people in our little trio that know how to heal like that, the better."
Rose put a hand to her chin and pondered. "Becoming a healer isn't easy. In order not to kill anyone with healing magic, you'll have to have at least passing familiarity with human anatomy. Then you'll need practice - months, years of it. Most academies provide corpses to practice on. If I'm to teach you how to heal, you'll need to become just as good at killing so we have material to practice with. I hope you're prepared for that."
1. Keep walking. It's a straight shot from the market to the palace - you can even see the gates from where we're standing. 2. He has only to ask. ;) 3. With so much stuff overturned in the confusion, nobody really knows whose is whose. That said, looting during catastrophe is decidedly unheroic, so he may need to restrict himself to items found on the ground. Unlike most medieval towns, Midhaven has flush toilets, so the ground is relatively clean.
@AtomicNut The subspace transmitter crackled. Then a voice stammered: "What- what in God's name-" Silence for a few seconds. The voice became a whisper. "Sykes? Is it really you?"
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