Re: (TFT) TFT town --> Hiquet --> part 4

[Rick Smith <rsmith@lightspeed.ca>]

	(C) 2004 by Richard W. Smith

List of Characters:
-------------------
Ossateem LaForque, Med attr. Hated ruler of city, semi retired.
Maqut LaForque, Med att. Active ruler, smarter and more competent.
Airquet, Med High att. Excellent spy master, poor fighter.
Quemm, Med low attr.  Chief of guards, evil incompetent.
Klimcate Med High att.  Capable young guard, incipient rebel.
Sliver, High. Master of House staff, torturer, VERY good at Detect Lies
Mrot, Med.  Competent man in charge of stables, kennels & misc.

Jarre, Med.  Semi competent wizard, supports LaForques.
Ston, Med High  Best Merchant, hopes Maqut will take over & be nicer.
Reetantai Med Low. Cruel Madam & slaver.
Sookie Low attributes.  Mad woman, creates god touched carvings.
Hogan and Sotai Quett both Med Low. Poorish nobles & rebels
Marquet LaForque, Med Low.  Evil rich youth, plays at being gang leader

Rustmel High Att, Very tough adventurer leader & scum bag.
Morrej Med Att..  Soft hearted tax collector who hates Marquet. 
Esourett Med Low. Semi-retarded merchant.
Sun's Shadow High.  Priest & rebel.  Hunted by Airquet & Patient Man
Mama Bear, Med High.  Leader and tavern keeper.

Very high--> 60+ attributes
High att --> 50 - 59 attributes
Med High --> 45 - 49 attributes
Med att  --> 40 - 44 attributes
Med Low  --> 35 - 39 attributes
low att  --> 30 - 34 attritutes
very low --> less than 30 attributes


	More influential People
	-----------------------
	These are those who have prospered despite or 
because of, the LaForque's cruel rule.


	Rustmel - Semi-retired adventurer.
ST 18 +5 fST, DX 20 (18), IQ 14 +3 memory MA 12 (10)
Running, several fighting talents, charisma, new followers,
tactics, business sense.

Ring:	Iron flesh costs 1 fST / 3 turns     - 6 hits / turn.
	Self powering reverse missiles
	Immunity to Flame & heat.
	Limiting / Expunge.

Armor:	Fine scale mail. (including below:) -12 hits / turn.
	-5 wa/e protection
	Self powering Spell shield.
	-3 armor granted by bound demon
	Limiting / Expunge.

Fine Greatsword (+1 DX, +2 damage):	4d+7
	+1 Charm (vs breaking & for damage only)
	Flaming 
	People damage by weapon are thrown back and stunned
	  for several turns (roll 6vsST to over come the 1st
	  turn, roll one less die to overcome each successive
	  turn until victim saves.)  Granted by bound demon.
	Limiting / Expunge.

Couple of dozen small magic items for specific situations,
(walk on water, climbing, breath water, dark vision etc.)  
Also a good number of one shot items, powerful healing potions 
and summoning gems.  Over sized long bow with some carefully
padded arrows with exploding gem heads.

	Additionally he has 5 to 10 fighter followers who
are ~45 attributes with a fair amount of magic.

	Rustmel is the leader of an adventuring group /
bandit gang.  The might makes right philosophy of the town
appealed to his nature and Hiquet has become his unofficial
base.  A couple times a year on average, he feels like 
having fun and goes off to collect some more loot.
	When he first arrived Quemm sent some guards along
with a tax collector to harvest Rustmel and his men.  The
entire group was slaughtered, and Rustmel sent back a 
message saying feel free to tax the people that he gives
his money to.  In exchange for tax free status, he would
fight for the town in dire emergency.  (This is a lie, no
emergency will be dire enough, if Rustmel and his men are
to fight for the LaForque's they will have to be paid.)
	Quemm afraid that he would be expected to lead a
group to kill Rustmel talked Ossateem into accepting this
deal.  Since then, any people that Rustmel or his men 
murder or rapes have been officially ignored.  He and his
men kill about 3 people per year on average.
	It would not be difficult to convince Rustmel to 
support the town, the official ignoring of his lawlessness
is attractive to him.
	Rustmel demands subservience to the minor verbal
bullying that he does to all whom he meets.  If PC's stand
up to him, he will whip out his weapon and chop apart who
ever has the most 'mouth' as a warning to the rest.  Anyone
in the poorer section of the town can warn the players
about him providing the poor people like the PC's.
	The Patient Man considers Rustmel a threat and has 
managed to poison Rustmel's two smartest men,  significantly 
reducing his effectiveness.  (Rustmel does not realize how 
badly he has been damaged.)  Rustmel would slaughter whoever 
killed his buddies, but figure it was done by some angry 
husband or father and does not know where to look to start 
his revenge.  He would pay $10,000 for knowledge leading to 
the one(s) who killed his men.
	He has promised his soul to the bound demons in his 
items should he die while using them.  Should he be killed, 
the demons will shatter the items and fight over his soul, 
(and anyone else in the area).



	Friend Morrej.
ST 11, DX 14, IQ 18, MA 9.  (Limp).
	A couple fighting talents, many charisma and business 
talents, detect lies.
	Handful of weak magic items for protection & detecting
immediate attacks.
	4 tough bodyguards / buddies to keep order.

	Morrej is a 'Friend' one of the hated class who tax
the poor people for the use of water.  Morrej is reasonably
popular (as much as tax man can be) for he is actually a fairly
warm hearted men who does his best to help those in his charge.
	Unlike most Friends, he collects the minimum amount of
tax to keep his overlords happy.  Known as a soft touch, he 
allows the very poor and sick to get water for tiny payments 
or sometimes even for free.  He keeps a minimal amount for his
own comfort and safety.  
	He explains his lower tax share to the authorities by 
claiming that he has been given the absolutely poorest section
of town.
	His relative popularity can be measured by the fact
that he pays for only 4 bodyguards, most other Friends have 3
to 5 times that number.
	Morrej, hates the LaForque family, and would risk much
to help overthrow them.
	A disproportionate number of Marque's victims come from
'his neighbourhood' and Morrej hates the rich young criminal 
more than any one else.
	He has secretly organized a band of tough men and 
armed them hoping to ambush Marque's gang and kill them, but 
lacking strategic skills and any intelligence on his quarries
movements Morrej has so far not been able to get his squad 
organized and deployed in time to stop any of Marque 
occasional raids.
	The Patient Man knows of Morrej and would help him a
bit if Morrej gets in trouble.  However Morrej is no general,
and the Patient Man knows that the Friend is as likely to 
stir up trouble for him as help him, so the Patient Man for
the most part stays well away from the good meaning water
controller.


	Esourett	
	This is a struggling merchant who moves supplies &
water to a number mines or outposts too small to interest
more powerful merchants.  
	Esourett was brain damaged as a child by poor diet
and poverty and has a maximum IQ of 10 (which he has reached).  
He has managed to pick up something much like Business Sense 
by spending double memory for the talent.  He had a loving 
wife Jem who died during a water riot precipitated by the 
cruel Friend Okrempt (now dead).  
	He badly wants children, but his wife died before
they had any, and since he is not good at socializing with 
women he knows he is unlikely to attract a mate at his age.  
(He is still deeply in mourning for Jem.)  He has unofficially 
adopted a number of orphans and does his best to help them,
giving them food, water and helping educate them as best he 
can.
	Two of his "children's" playmates have been captured
by Reetantai and he would kill her if he could.  He dreads
what will happen to any of his adopted children, as they move
thru the ages where they are the most attractive victims for
the authorities.  He encourages all of his children, especially
the girls, to make themselves look as unattractive as possible.
	He knows he is stupid, but if given enough time to
think about something he can reason at IQ 10 level.  He has a 
few smart friends (IQ's 10 to 13) which he goes to advice if 
he needs to make a fast decision.  If he must think quickly
on his own, play his IQ at 7 to 8.
	He has traveled enough to know that most places are
not run like Hiquet, and after thinking deeply about it, has
decided that the LaForque family should be overthrown.   (He
has not talked about this to any of his friends not wanting
to put them at risk.)
	Esourett has begun buying up weapons and caching them
in a abandoned hermit cave far from where anyone but he 
travels.  He figures he will need at least 1000 weapons to
make a difference but 5000 would be better.  Over the last 5
years he has collected more than 1200 quality weapons.  (He
is now broke, and the rate at which he can accumulate weapons
has dropped.)
	He has built an illegal secret cistern in his basement 
and has been caching water.  He has 1600 liters saved in case 
of an emergency.  
	He has traded for a petard, which he figures someone
will find a use for.
	He has befriended Rat, (a young street scum) and has
encouraged Rat to learn even more about the tunnels and rooms 
under the city.  Thus in case of trouble Esourett will have
one of the top 3 experts in the town for guiding him thru the
under ground.  Rat has taken Escourett on tours thru the 
tunnesl and Escourett has found a number of underground places 
where he could distribute weapons to the poor.  (Escourett's 
mental ability to find his way about is unimpaired.)
	Lastly Esourett has befriended a gang of toughs by 
helping them dispose of a body of a guard they have murdered.
By smuggling the corpse out of town in his small caravan, he
has become respected by the 'Disembowellers' one of the most
dangerous street gangs in the lower city.  He has allied with
them and gives them part of his trade water.
	The Disembowellers give him money that they have 
stolen for him to buy weapons for him.  He charges them three
times the regular rate (which they are happy to pay), he uses
the profit to increase his weapon cache.
	Considered a retard, Escourett is unknown by both the
authorities and the Patient Man.  But when the revolution 
comes, his slow preparations will result in a far more bloody
and violent confrontation than any that has occurred in the 
past.  



	Sun's Shadow
	This is a weak angelic being sent to Hiquet by the
god(dess) of XXXXX, to succor the worshipers in the town.
Taking the form of a an old man with mystic powers, Sun's
Shadow is believed to be able to pass thru walls, read minds
and kill with a blow.  These rumors are deadly accurate.
	Sun's Shadow is not permitted to directly attack 
those in the city, save in self defense.  But Sun's Shadow
instead advises a handful of rebels.
	Pretending to be an arms master, Sun's Shadow teaches
politics, weapon's training, unarmed combat, history, counter
intelligence, political theory, religious rites and leadership.  
He has more than 20 students, all bright men and women 
worshipers of XXXXX and determined to over throw the LaForque 
tyranny.
	Sun's Shadow does not permit his followers to 
associate with the Patient Man.  "Do not overthrow one tyrant
to put another in his place," is how it explains this advice.
	Sun's Shadow knows of Escourett and tho he is not a
worshiper, it has helped Escourett in subtle ways and fed him 
a small stream of money.
	A few thugs think Sun's Shadow has a ring of 
Insubstantiality or something and have tried to waylay it, 
but the angel has easily eluded them.
	Sun's Shadow is on Airquet's most wanted list.  The
spy master has many men and much money searching for the rebel
leader.
	The Patient Man is also an enemy of Sun's Shadow &
would kill it if he could.
	Having become too notorious, Sun's Shadow is planning
to allow the Patient Man to kill its body (making sure that
the crime will be correctly traced back to the Patient Man).
Then it will take a new form (a friendly matron) and continue 
its resistance.	
	
	
	
	
	Mama Bear
	This is huge overweight woman who was abused by 
Ossateem's as a girl and was lucky to survive.  She was 
discarded to a crib after he was done with her, but she
escaped and fled the city with Quemm's guards in hot 
pursuit.  (Quemm was a young guard leader at that time and
not notably more competent.)
	She has dedicated her life to getting revenge on
the LaForque family.  In the near by city of XXXXX she has
run several business, and now owns a tavern where 
mercenaries and adventurers congregate.  People looking for 
fighters can come to her place and negotiate with the
captain's of these little bands of fighters.  She has a 
half dozen healers and makes additional money by running a
aid station.  However poor people are treated for free so,
of late, this part of her business has not made a profit.
	She is very protective of 'her boys' and gives
them free food, healing and a place to recover when things
go badly.  She advises her boys on the fine points of 
business and has sample mercenary contracts for them to 
use when they need to spell out the fine points of their
wages and duties.
	When some 'rich scum' cheats one of her boys, she
investigates to make sure the complaint is justified.  If 
she thinks so, the rich bastard is blacklisted by her and
none of the groups hanging out at her place will work for
the rich scum bag again.  Since most of the cities' fighters
are based out of her tavern this results in a fairly 
effective boycott.
	She uses a fine longsword (or cudgel) and shield to 
keep order.  In a fight she is a fearsome warrior but lacks
expensive magic (all of her money has been used to 
improve her businesses.)  
	On two occasions she and her boys have helped the 
local king.  He appreciates her loyalty and effectiveness
giving her a lifelong immunity to taxes and granting her a
sinecure and made her a Lady of a tiny village of pig farmers.  
"Mama Bear's a bleeding pig noble now!" was the only time she 
referred to this honor.  Secretly she is very proud of this 
ennoblement and has a bit of a crush on the young king.  (He 
is engaged to be married within the year so this is an 
impossible fantasy.)
	Trading on her friendship with the king, she has
bought out of jail a few of her boys who have broken laws 
promising their good behavior and paying their fines.  Those
so helped are expected to pay back the fines with interest
and keep their noses clean in town at the cost of her rage
and revenge.
	Many of the patrons of the Bear's Cave have a fierce 
loyalty to her.  
	With tax freedom, she is beginning to accumulate 
some real money.  She plans to buy some fine armor with some
enchantments for herself.  If Hiquet were to go into 
revolution she would sell her tavern, and hire all of her
boys that were willing and would march to the city to help
out.  She likely could bring 40 to 55 experienced fighters
plus a dozen newbies.  This would be a significant force in
the fighting.


	Rick
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