Competitors in the Market

While it is true that Acquisitions Incorporated is the Best-In-The-Business leader of the bold and innovative strategy to franchise out adventuring companies, it is also true that other copycat groups have arisen in recent years, seeking to carve up the market with inferior branding and less reliable services. As Acquisitions Incorporated employees may end up butting heads or cooperating with these groups during the course of their regular duties, a few of the most prominent organizations relevant to the D-Team have been listed below, along with Omin Dran's intelligence on them and some reviews left by consumers. It is advisable you familiarize yourself with these groups, as the healthy spirit of competition only gets stronger and more dangerous as money grows tighter.
Dran Enterprises A rival, mortal-run Adventuring Corporation
Omin Sez: They say acquisition is a family business, and it's certainly true for those of my house. I hadn't seen my sister, Auspicia Dran, for years—decades—and then out of nowhere she returns with fresh branding and despicably evil backing, trying to acquire Acquisitions Incorporated. Being acquired ourselves is definitely not on brand, and I have definitely refused this offer. But I would like to know what the dental plans are like there, for a completely separate and unrelated reason.
Supplied Reviews:
"If you are like me, you sometimes have need of assistance in a world that is spiraling out of control. That is not the wind, it is the beating of demon wings, so don't settle for the rest. I am posting this of my own free will." - Satisfied Customer
"No vendor more knowledgeable… about the Criminal Underworld." - Theft Weekly
Concealed Couriers:
The inevitable expansion of the Agents of the Eye into courier operations.
Omin Sez: When you think about it, there's very little PRACTICAL difference between sneaking into a building to deliver a message you don't want others knowing about and sneaking into a building to rob the place blind. This was the observation I made when meeting with their guildmaster back in the day when I was hired as a consultant, and I've regretted it ever since. The expansion of a thieves guild run by beholders into a service to deliver messages and parcels inadvertently created a competitor for our own Delivery Service, the D-Team, especially in and around Waterdeep. Popular among criminal groups for whom "sending a message" has a secondary meaning, they offer a full range of additional services we cannot for legal purposes offer. However, their branding is poor and they cannot publicly advertise. Advantage? Acq Inc.
Supplied Reviews:
"So their Guildmaster is some kind of moldy, rotting beholder? Ugh, pass." - An Average* Waterdhavian citizen.
"Descended into my abode to deliver a message from my niece who lives in Baulder's Gate. I was initially overjoyed until I realized they'd nicked the silverware on the way out. Two stars, not that I hired them..." - Reginald Winchester, Elf of the People
The Six:
An esoteric order comprised of individuals with questionable beliefs and unreasonable grudges against Acquisitions Incorporated employees.
Omin Sez: A new player on the scene, which, to me, implies inexperience. Do you want to entrust your next acquisition to an agile new team? Actually, don't answer that. They have some kind of beef with Acquisitions Incorporated. I know that because they hand out pamphlets with my face on them, and there's one of those circles with the slash through it. Seems bad. Also, there's something about their logo I don't like… I can't put my finger on it. People are saying they're weird and gross, and who am I to say otherwise.
Supplied Reviews:
"I had tremendous misgivings about The Six, until I tasted of their sweetest fruits. I am home now to a profound will that is not my own, and I burn with its dark purpose." - My Eyes And My Mouth Are Theirs To Command
"Part cult, part… Well, it's basically a cult, yeah." - Sammon Librus, Cultologist
Magist Messengers:
An arcane-enabled delivery company commonly known to employ young up-and-coming mages.
Omin Sez: Speaking from experience, young wizards will do almost anything for gainful employment, especially if they're so young that they're still going to Wizard High School or however it works. You'd think they would know better, but the lure of coin often entices practitioners of the arcane into signing contracts obligating them to part-time jobs in order to pay for schooling... Or to pay off those massive student loans they were burdened with after schooling, even if it means working themselves to the bone and not getting paid overtime. Acquisitions Incorporated condemns the Magist Messengers for such draconian employment practices, and assures our new employees that they will be treated better... except for contractors, interns, and freelancers.
Supplied Reviews:
"While I'll admit selling my first born child into indentured servitude was an enormous cost, it was worth it to teleport a care package to my sister in Mithral Hall containing his baby book." - Hendricks Stonesmyth, Dwarven Stonemason
"Has an only partially-earned bad reputation of hiring the desperate and inexperienced to do jobs their Managemages could do in a matter of minutes, such as hand-delivering audio messages, teleporting objects from one city to another, and summoning the darkest souls of the nine hells to deliver shipments of fruit to orphans." - Delivery News
The Silver Sliver:
Misguided zealots and self-proclaimed "allies of justice" who go around doing honest days work with no expectation of compensation.
Omin Sez: I feel like making your company's name a tongue twister is a bold move in this marketplace; I wouldn't have done that. I've told them on multiple occasions that I'm available for consulting on things like this—no response. Headed up by Glimmr Violente: a woman devoted to not just the cause of Justice in the abstract, but the literal application of justice via a scimitar. Her band of true-believers do the whole shiny mask thing and don't charge for their services… that's another thing I wouldn't do.
Supplied Reviews:
"Our small village–no more than a hundred souls–was under attack by bandits. As they descended on our main gate, their cries piercing the dawn, they suddenly fell silent. Peering over the wall, afraid of what I might see, I saw three figures in silver masks. One saluted me…me! And they left. No less than thirty lay dead." - Hypatia Jotun, Giant's Cross
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