[pnpgm] Game Update #3 - File #23 - Mission details and group plans - Kell's Vote

[J Hooten]

<Warning: Long winded post! >

  Raban sighs and speaks up, "As much as I would love to travel as 
entertainers again, the point was quite valid. A troop of entertainers 
will work very hard to draw crowds everywhere they go and stay at each 
place as long as they can earn cash there. The stays also allow time for 
word to spread to nearby villages and surrounding areas and thus draw in 
more people that may have been missed otherwise. So the travel would be 
quite slow or it would be obvious that something is wrong. The constant 
earning of cash is part of why troops like that learn to hide things. 
Corrupt guards as well as local criminals see a troop as easy pickings, 
for the cash as well as for the people. So you must have cash you can 
afford to loose handy to find, some not so well hidden, but the majority 
where it will not be found. Quite often you need to hide people as well, 
especially younger women and children. A troop cannot survive if they 
constantly need to defend themselves, nor can it afford to give up to 
much, it involves a lot of sacrifices by other members to keep it going."
  "No, I do not think we can pass as a troop of entertainers for very 
long. We have the skills but not enough of the adaptability or morals."
  "Merchants will also run into quite a lot of the same problems. They 
will be expected to pay their 'bribes' in cash or goods or in other 
ways. I forgot to mention a majority of troops and many merchants also 
are involved with minor criminals as a means to work around these 
problems. That means we would be visited by such to arrange passage 
'fees' and transport of certain goods. Refusal would mark us as a target 
or worse."
  "And if guards or criminals disappear, it will alert others and our 
being in the area will mark us as the likely cause!"
  "Then there are the 'nobles' or other self important people who can do 
whatever they want because they control the guards or army or whatever. 
That type will take what they want, cash, goods or people. Frema dressed 
as a child would be one they would try to take, she is too beautiful. 
And it is not just women who are at risk. I have been required to 
perform for such people many times in private shows. But they do not 
give you a choice, nor will they let you leave until they are satisfied. 
If the troop is fortunate, the people can be recovered mostly unharmed. 
In my case, it was rarely a problem as jealous husbands, boyfriends or 
whatever tend to arrange my escape or I simply walk away when needed. 
Others are not so lucky."
  "So think carefully on how you would react to such things before you 
think you can act correctly."
  "Only special licenses can avoid much of that. If you are sponsored by 
someone powerful enough, you can pass through many places untouched. 
This is true for troops or merchants. But that same sponsorship draws 
attention."
  "A Noble's caravan can thusly avoid much of that trouble but for the 
same reason attracts notice. And of course more powerful criminal 
organizations could be tempted by the value of the caravan or its 
ransom. At least the noble is expected to defend itself and can be 
openly armed, though that too has its problems. A foreign noble is a 
target for criminals unless they think this noble will cause problems 
for them. Invasions are bad for business, but more likely it will call 
down local military to root you out as a political response. So the 
noble needs to be chosen to keep the problems in the range we can handle 
without drawing unwanted attention."
  "As much as I dislike it, I can help there. Dress me up as someone so 
dangerous it will scare them away! They will see me as a monster anyway, 
so take advantage of it. Give me a steel club larger than a man can lift 
or something else ridiculous enough to make them rethink their plans. Or 
fit me inside plate so I look like the Metal Man that few would consider 
fighting. That too will draw attention, but may keep it more focused on 
me and away from the others. And I do not need magic to be dangerous, 
though if they have the skills to see it, I am magic."
  "Otherwise you will be attacked at some point and you can make the 
massacre spectacular enough that word will spread and deter others. But 
that would need to be without magic use, just incredibly vicious and 
bloody. Likely I would need to rip arms or legs off people and strew 
them about. Or maybe someone else can think of something equally nasty."
  "No matter what method of travel you choose, you will have to address 
these or related problems. Strangers are always at risk because their 
loss does not effect the locals much, especially after they have left 
the village or town."