H&Y Infinite Open Table Session 34 (Arthur and the Undercutters)
Characters:
Houtgrout (Wheezl)
Arthur (Punz)
Tanzy (Duress)
Autumn 43, 6023
Houtgrout awakens from nearly a full season of slumber. They get a magical tattoo from Tanzy and drinks 12 of his mutation potions, becoming almost unrecognizable as a dwarf, much less a humanoid.
The party heads east down river to the town of Loomswell, hearing that there's a gold rush currently happening in the town. Arthur resolves to take over the town, him being a jumped-up thug-turned-prospector-turned adventurer himself. He throws some coin around and finds that there are 3 main power players in town: the Looms family, who own many of the businesses and existing debt in town; Prince Groucho Redmountain, here at the nearby temple chasing after a lost lady love; and the United Miner's Association, who is not united in anything except ensuring that they can continue robbing other miners and nobody else can rob from them. The party decides to head to the nearby temple to investigate Prince Groucho first.
The party discovers that the Prince is a bit dense and inexperienced, and is chasing a lady that left the area several months back. Eydis Redmountain is currently at the camp attempting to convince the prince to return back to Mon Skirt with his retinue, freeing them up to perform more useful activities (anything else). Tanzy disguises herself as the runaway bride and fools the naive Prince Groucho into believing that traditional orcish intimacy involves wrestling with a strong orc woman empowered by powerful magic tattoos imbuing her with the strength of a bulette and covering her head to toe in half an inch of steel. Prince Groucho flees in terror, taking his retinue with him.
Autumn 44, 6023
The party returns back to Loomswell. Arthur gathers some mercenaries and he and Houtgrout perform a hostile takeover of a local business, Houtgrout utilizing his Bag O' Stinking Cloud and monstrous visage to terrify the inhabitants away.
Arthur begins to gather disgruntled miners and mercenaries, promising them cheap drink and a mining site safe from theft in exchange for fighting under his banner ("The Undercutters"). He extorts some of the nearby businesses in a protection racket, hoping to fly under the radar of the Looms family.
Over the next 2 weeks, he gathers 15 mercenaries to his cause.
Autumn 58, 6023
Arthur hears of a joint crackdown on his activities by the UMA and the Looms family. He does battle with both, utilizing the magic of himself and his companions to triumph at the end. Houtgrout captures Eliott Looms, patriarch of the Looms family. He force-feeds Eliott a mutation potion in an attempt to force him to negotiate with Arthur, turning the older man into a 1" thick version of himself. Eliott Looms agrees to work with the Undercutters to crush the UMA and split the racketeering profits from the miners 60/40, an agreeable split to Arthur.
Arthur retires to a life of luxury in Loomswell, confident that his new crime organization will be able to easily support his lifestyle. This turns Loomswell into an Outpost (allows sessions to begin and end there).