AOP:Jolly Warrior POC

## Hoping it's Happy Hour...

The Jolly Warrior is a four story building with a hewn marble facade. Taking the prestigious end of the block, it's essentially across Westgate Boulevard from the City Clerk's Office.

Palatial by the standards of Westgate, it would be upscale even in cosmopolitan Waterdeep. The inn and dining caters to a more refined clientele. A number of pages are grouped outside, all wearing "Jolly Warrior" tabards while awaiting their rotation as valets (a mere 1 cp fee per mount).

Inside, to the left, there is a reception area and booking for the inn. To the right, an opening to a posh pub.

Various coats of arms hang on the wall, mostly local nobility, some of which the PCs may recognize.

DC 5 if the character is from either Cormyr or Sembia.

There are a few clusters of obvious aristocracy in the dining area, though the bulk of the patrons seem to be more merchant/business-oriented.

One obvious group of adventurers is already in a meeting in the back part of the room, and a second group looks to be cued up for the next meeting. That makes the PC's third in line (with no telling how many groups have already come and gone). That somebody is still interviewing appears to be a good sign.

As the currently-interviewed party leaves, a simple perception check indicates they probably weren't accepted.

As the party waits, another band of adventurers shows up behind them.

### "Next..."

A human female in her mid-30s, her hair tucked safely under a red tricorn hat, assesses you with sharp eyes as you approach.

She stands to shake your hands, and presents in a Rococo red embroidered 20-button dress coat, over a gold waistcoat (which looks like it's woven from actual gold), red breeches and black riding boots. She is decorated in combat ribbons on her left chest.

She's occupies a banquet table in the back corner. A closed briefcase takes up the chair to her right, a riding pack takes up the chair to her left. Strewn across the table are loose papers, scrolls, plates, some massive book, and a giant, near-empty goblet of wine on the table in front of her. A very short, charcoal-black club with a wrapped leather handle rests on the table near her right hand.

She bids you to take a seat across the table and introduces herself as ***Lieutenant Olivia Azirejann, Attaché to the Stonehearth Embassy in Suzail***.

* OA Q: How did you know to come here?
* Party A: [We read the post bill on the bulletin board]

1. Lieutenant Azirejann will slide the same bill across the desk and ask the party to read it.
2. If successful, she'll ask the party member to flip it over and she'll provide a writing utensil. She asks them to write a one-sentence description of the city gates. [DC 10]
3. If successful, she'll ask the PC to write the equation of 2 + 3 + 2 + 4 and write the sum. [**DC 5** for those with Nature or Arcana skill, **DC 10** for everybody else]
4. Do you have mounts?

If the PC is successful, and the party confirms they have mounts, she will assume the one who answered the questions is the leader and offer the party the job.

* **OA Q:** Do you know how to hold those swords?
* **Party A:** [*Sure, sorta*.]
* **OA follow-up:** We're not looking for heroics, but you are entering a war zone and we don't want to send the unprepared to their death.

* **Party Q:** What are we looking for?
* **OA A:** You're not looking for anything, you're telling the world that I am looking for something. That keeps the heat off of you... because if you *did* find it, that would put you square between a hammer and an anvil. You are messengers of a sort, and while that has its own hazards, only idiots shoot the messenger. The people I am looking for are definitely *not* idiots.

* **Party Q:** What are *you* looking for?
* **OA A:** A crate that was stolen from a courier.

* **Party Q:** What's in the crate?
* **OA A**: Magic. That's all you need to know. It won't explode if you drop it. It won't burn by normal fire, but it doesn't take much *past that* to release the magic. That would be bad. Or actually very exciting, but we can't risk that it'll happen with non-combatants around, savvy?

* **Party Q:** When are we leaving?
* **OA A:** Two teams were selected this morning and have already left. One is headed across the neck to work the Cormyr-Sembia border. The other is a low-mobility team; they worked Westgate today, then headed north this afternoon. The third team was selected a short while ago and they're preparing right now. They've been assigned a southern rote. You will be the western team. You have moderately higher risk than the North and South teams, and about the same as the East Team, but a better chance that one your bills will be seen by the right people. If that happens, you earn a bonus.

Lieutenant Azirejann pulls out pouches and lays them on the table. Half are unmarked, half have the blazon on Stonehearth on the side.

* The unmarked bags hold 22 gold coins a sack and they thud with the weight of soft, pure gold. That's 11 days wages for most skilled professionals, more than a month's wages for a laborer. The PCs *should be* aware that this mere retainer and first day's per diem is enough to get them mugged if they flash it in the wrong alley.
* The Stonehearth-marked bags are a little heavier, about 2 pounds each, containing 100 sp,

Next to each pouch is a standard contract, written in clear Common. She signs them first, places the individual pouches on each document, and slides them across the table. She hands over her pen, the one she just signed with, to whom she presumes is the leader.

All the PCs need to do is print and sign their name. Their *real* name*.*

 Do you have any questions?

### Q&A:

* This is not a geas nor any kind of arcane contractual compulsion.
* This *does* verify that they are who they say they are. Can't be representing Stonehearth if they're misrepresenting themselves.
* This also guarantees that nobody else can cash out on their completed contract.

If they sign the contracts, and they should, move on to "Contract and Details" (link below).

## What's Next

* **Contract and Details**
* **Overview review**
* **Westgate primer**