Jack City: Three plot divergences from Kora Darsanti and the Dragon

THREE OPTIONS PRESENTED AT BREAKFAST IN THE SOLAR:
Pay will be 30-40 gold (from now into second year), plus any bounty found on thet trip (save the goal).

THE LEAD-UP

[Burgga Kreff has foreseen the Heros' success; Kora may call upon this to motivate the PC's]
Over omelets in the sun-room table, with potted plants, checkered tile floor, and paintings of black and white and red abstractions, light coming through a sun-window above.
Now, my dears, I have a proposal for you. I'm making simple and direct appeals to your skills, abilities, and bravery. Hear me out; I think these will be of interest, one or more...
There are a few "tasks" that our organization need to undertake. I've flagged you for all three of these, but just one would be greatly beneficical, both for you and for us. Hear me out...
For the completion of one task, you would be handsomely rewarded. We have money up front for each project, along with a handsome payoff at proof of completion. We have no qualms about paying you at the top. We don't worry about such things. And all wealth aquired along the way, save the target, is yours to keep. We have eyes only on our own goods.
My own intuition tells me that these tasks would be well undertaken by your group. I see a strength here that perhaps you are to new to see. You are an odd bunch, but therein lies a good deal of your strength, your effectiveness.
One thing: It is imperative that you not mention the Darsanti name in the work you do for us. It is important to us, I'm sure you'll understand, to keep our organization anonymous. You will know that we are your employers, but others must not. I'm sure you can understand this...
Particularly in the case of any Imperial interruptions, please keep your mouths closed... about all of this. Mouths closed. You must also remember that we have a presence throughout the areas in question, and at some times we might be available to help when you need it.
Payment is 50 gold a piece, with double that upon return of the arks, and any treasure you can accumulate along the way; as much as you can carry.

THE TASKS

NUMBER ONE: JABBA DARSANTI

Jack City Adventures 2.1.1 Jabba Desranti's Dive
We seek seven arks of gold and two of blue crystal ore. These are dwarven goods, and they have been wrongly stolen by a man named Jabba Darsanti, a distant cousin of ours, a cousin gone greedy and miscreant. He holes up in a mid-city bunker, protected by a bar-ful of disgusting cronies, organizing his own route to wealth, by intercepting ours. Jabba is a danger to us, indeed to all of our family, and he must be dealt with, and soon.
We seek the nine arks in question, and the head of Jabba Darsanti. All other riches found are yours to keep. In addition, we can pay 30 gold up front. Kill Jabba, clean out his nasty den, and then come let us know. We'll take the rest from there.
Remember, you do nothing to reveal yourself in our hire. Things will go quite wrong for you if you do. Just find the gold and take out Jabba; that's it.
As a post-script, I will mention as welll... Our spies have seen a strange fellow, even in their appearance, sneaking around the compound and sometimes entering. Their movements are suspicious. If you can figure out this piece of the puzzle, we will triple your rewards.
LAUNDERING: THE DESRANTI KNIVES
The entrance to the bunker is a knife and dagger store, very fine and fancy, done up with magic globe lights, mirrors, and a checkered-tile floor. The knives are all under glass. After a good look, it seems as though there is something similar about all of them. A close look discovers that they are really fairly cheap, even made of tin.
"We have a lot more in the back. We only sell in bulk. Very expensive, you see." Just yesterday a man brought in a sum of gold, and he bought 1000 knives; can you imagine? It cost him a pretty penny, I tell you.
TO DO (canonize all):

• Description of Lower Jack City
• Description of Jabba's Den
• Jabba Stats
• Jabba Guards' Stats
• Monster Stats
• Jabba's Maze

NUMBER TWO: THE E'IN

This is more complicated, as we have no directions except the general. This would be a handsome payment up front, of 50 gp or more, and who knows what other riches you might find in the Vastness beneath the Gutter of Terralus. And upon return, a truly epic reward woudl be in order.
The E'in are an extinct people, ancient dwellers in what is now Tellarus, on the northern slope of the valley there. Buried deep beneath that portion of our city are their temples, their monuments that they worked so hard to create, showing their skill with the universal elements, their mastery of earth, wind, water, and fire.
The E'in may have stepped out of the Pink, or come in through some other dimensional door. As far as I know, it's lost to history.
But getting to the point: These people, the E'in, made four staves. This is how the legend goes. They made a staff for each of the four elements. Why? We really don't know. I must say there is a possibility that it's all made up, but I have sources who came close to the answer. I don't know where they've gone, but their messages came back, saying the cause is worth following.
Our best source says there are two left. Under contract, you woudl find your way into the Vastness beneath the Gutter of Tellarus, retrieve teh two staves, and return them to us here in Jack City. You would obtain them quietly, not under our name, with no fuss, with no invitation to fuss.
Granted you would need to figure out much on your own. This is not a straightforward task, but you woudl keep every shred of loot along the way, and receive handsome recompense upon your return, or rather the return of the staves. All else aside, this would be the most lucrative venture of the three.
2.1. TO DO:

• E'in History
• Gutter Encounters
• Specifics of the Northwestern Gutter
• Map(s) of the Northwestern Gutter
• Vastness Maps and Ecounters

NUMBER THREE: ASSASSINATION OF THE KOBOLD QUEEN

The third task is basically to take and defend a stronghold in north-eastern Tovvens, a place taken over by filthy red kobolds. The location has certain... strategic value to our organization. It seems that the creatures have taken up residece and blocked all traffic through the area. The stronghold needs to be back in our hands, and soon.
The easiest way to do this, as I see it, is to penetrate the stronghold and murder the kobold queen, Dakka-Menarra, and thus scare away all of her followers. That is the way of kobolds.

• This job insists that you ask no questions. Take the fortress back, guard it and keep it, and summon a Darsanti contingent to come and inhabit it again, and profitably. The payment up front here is less, and perhaps also the final pay=out, but kobolds like shiny things, and queen Dakka is known for her love of gold and jewels, and magic too. All of it will be yours; we just want the trade-lanes open. And soon.
  
  TO DO:
  
• Description of Road going through northern Jack City: @jack
• Description of Tovven:
  The Eastern Way through Tovvens
  2.1.3... Kobold Queen Assassination
  Tovven, Land of Bounty
  
• Kobold Encounters

• Fortress high on a hill
• Map of Fortress
• Stats for Kobolds

WHICH ONE WILL YOU CHOOSE?
Kora gets up from the breakfast table and nods pointedly. I'm sure you'll want to talk it over with each other. Please use the solar here for your discussion, and I'll get more refreshments while you discuss. Take your time. We'll put down anchor in Copper Harbor this afternoon, discuss your decisions, and go from there.
Links: 1.4: Post Battle, as the Greyswift Sinks - - Approaching Jack City description, towards the bottom of the article
Jack City Jack City Adventures 2.1.1 Jabba Desranti's Dive 2.1.2. E'in Ruins 2.1.3... The Chateau: Kobold Queen Assassination

Heading in to Jack City:

"Drogo's shining longship cuts through the steely morning waves with the powerful rowing of the orcish men, to their rhythm of growls and grunts. The salt wid blows across the ship as it cuts forward. The sail is full, and the ship makes good time in towards land.
As the ship nears land, the ediface of Jack City looms larger and larger. The city cits within a large basin of land, its lower districts sprawled about its base, a kind of brownish smear from this distance.
At the far end of the city however, there rise tall, sleek spires of palace and castle. Even on this dull grey day, the towers and spires seem to glisten and shine, kept safe inside the ediface of their walls and keeps. Some of the larger ones rise twice as high as the city itself, looking out over the ocean and the land all around.
Coming closer, the divide between the lower basin and the upper could not be more stark. The castles and keeps, and their great towering spires, rise high above the squalor and dull-brown shanties of the lower districts.
It is these poor districts that fill the view now as you pull up to the docking area, the wharfside. There are shady characters milling about the docks, along with the hard-eyed dockhands and the odd sailor here and there. Some of the docks play host to amazing caravels like the Dragon, and these ships are utterly out of character with the squalor of the wharfside.
There are efficient processes at work here though--places for the cargo to be, and soon. The ships are guarded heavily and unloaded onto carts and wagons, all under the cool supervision of black-clad persons. Ships come to port and are unloaded within a matter of minutes. The Jack City Wharf is apparently not a place to hang around, especially if you sail a caravel like these.