Nepoleon Marques Oste

> "*I am a lord of the undead. I view the dead as tools to better both myself and the environment in which I live. For those that find themselves conflicted at this revelation, I make one guarantee and one request. I can assure you all that I am a man of law and equity and I will ensure my minions do no harm that is not earned in some way. I beg your understanding moving forward, toward taming these unchecked and hostile lands.*"
> ― Nepoleon Marques Oste
>
>

## Attributes

### Notable Skills

Appraise +8, Diplomacy +8, Heal +6

Nepoleon is a half-elf merchant cleric from Hellonde. Constantly followed by a very quiet man named Louie.

### First Expedition

#### Astrus 19, 824

* Fight to the death over a Corpse plants boots. Profit: Twenty gold pieces
* Trading weapons with a guardsmen. Less five gold pieces.
	+ Inspiring a guardsmen to follow his dreams of dual wielding. Priceless.
* Saving the same guardsmen from a giant territorial beetle in the middle of the night… less my beauty sleep.

#### Astrus 20

* Cheering up the poor boy over breakfast. Less one silver.
* Summer Draconic lessons as a boy. Less 56 hours of leisure and forty-seven gold pieces.
* Being able to side with five Kobolds in an argument over territory with five Goblins. Profit: Gems and potions worth 180 gold, and the respect of Yip Yap Yup.
* Yip Yap Yup showing us where they live and telling us the location of the Goblin camps. Potential returns TBD

### Second Expedition

#### Astrus 24, 824

* Picking a fight with three wayward arsonists. *Profit*: Thirty-two gold pieces in arms and armor.

* Saving an old man’s life from the ensuing blaze. *No value.*
* Liberation of goods made forfeit by the aforementioned blaze. *Profit*: one-hundred gold pieces in jewelry and heirlooms.
* Louise’s insistence on helping the unfortunate man rebuild in the future. *Losses:* to be determined.
* Forgoing my beauty sleep yet again to ensure the following day goes smoothly. *Less* my happiness, good humor, and at minimum a week off my lifespan.

#### Astrus 25

* One full day spent stomping through vermin infested woodlands only to find that my two companions had gotten us irrevocably and hopelessly lost. Doomed, in fact, to a short miserable life lived as a savage, scavenging for nuts and berries in this endless forest. *Less:* my faith in my companion’s sense of direction and what little restraint I may have shown in regard to the exaggeration of current circumstances.
* A mercifully long and peaceful night of sleep.

#### Astrus 26

* We arrived in the morning to find the graveyard adjacent to the church haunted by a large ornery beast. It seemed wholly content to lounge on its haunches, alas a man is only wealthy until he is dead, and it seemed prudent not to antagonize the beast. *Potential returns* likely but ill-advised.
* Initial exploration of the undercroft found little except two unfortunate Goblins that had seemed to be crushed and stabbed respectively, likely done by the locals. *No value.*
* Potential Goblin den marked for future ~~exploitation~~ exploration.
* Finding a sarcophagus filled with valuables behind a barred door (likely only barred as a suggestion) *Profit*: twenty-seven gold pieces.
* Discovery that the next sarcophagus was occupied by an angry zombie. *Profit*: one-hundred-fifty gold pieces
	+ Note to self: Knock in the future.
* Waging a valiant pitched battle in a narrow corridor against nine Skeletons. *Profit*: twenty gold pieces and a pack full of building materials.

P.S. further expeditions into the undercroft will be both treacherous and unpredictable. Thorough planning and exploitation of terrain required.

### Third Expedition

#### Astrus 28 through 30

* The first two days were spent traveling to the church to the south.

* Upon arrival on the second day we found the church occupied by a group of Goblins. We attempted to lure them out into the open, but we miscalculated and the Goblins simply dug in, creating barriers and readying their weapons. The battle was hard fought, and the Goblins were led by a particularly nasty fighter with a scar across his face. It took four of us to bring him down. *Profit*: Full set of chainmail armor and a masterwork halberd from Scarface.

#### Marus 1

* After resting in the church, we continued to clear the first floor of the undercroft, killing four Goblins and two Hobgoblins. Caution is advised when proceeding deeper into the undercroft. *Profit*: contingent on market value for Goblin-made garbage.

P.S. For those of you who may be reading this ledger want to get something off my chest. Simply put, I can no longer justify keeping my secret any longer. As it stands, maintaining this ruse has cut into my productivity far too much. I am a lord of the undead. I view the dead as tools to better both myself and the environment in which I live. For those that find themselves conflicted at this revelation, I make one guarantee and one request. I can assure you all that I am a man of law and equity and I will ensure my minions do no harm that is not earned in some way. I beg your understanding moving forward, toward taming these unchecked and hostile lands.

Additionally, I will be starting a change in medium. On
occasion I will be releasing pamphlets entitled *Monsieur Oste’s How to Maximize Profit and Mitigate Losses*. In each pamphlet I will review my recent experiences, and pass on the little nuggets of wisdom that come to me naturally but that have almost certainly escaped your notice.

## Monsieur Oste's How to Maximize Profit and Mitigate Losses

### Pamphlet 1

*Published on the Fifth day of Marus*

When given the option to take the road less traveled, it is imperative that you take the well worn or easier path to ensure the least amount of energy is expended in the process.

In this case, this was applied by having Louie, my skeletal friend and companion, cut down trees for two straight days while I committed myself to leisure. This enabled the construction of a raft allowing me and my party to travel twenty-four miles down river without having to do much of anything.

During this journey we passed three opportunities for profit:

#### Number One

When you discover two groups fighting amongst themselves, in this case three Kobolds and six Goblins. If you are confident in your victory over either side, ally yourself with the weaker of the two. This gives you two advantages, three if you have the ability to speak their language.

The first of these advantages is that the weaker side will distract a portion of the enemy, giving you a numbers advantage. The second is that after you have finished off the stronger group, the weaker group may not expect their newfound allies to turn on them so quickly, giving you and edge against them. The last advantage is that you then have the opportunity to leverage you "selfless" act against them, either endearing them to you for future exploitation, gaining temporary disposable allies, or simply convincing them to lower their guard for a sneak attack. In this case we sent the Kobolds home, grateful to the courageous longlegs that defended their territory froom the filthy Goblin hordes. Profit is the trust you've built with an otherwise uncooperative group that may present lucrative opportunities later.

#### Number Two

When you discover a small domicile in the wilds, it is imperative that know what lurks inside before you act. In our scenario we passed a cottage with a warning sign and boarded windows, we could hear laughing and lewd jokes from inside. After sneaking up and peeking in through a slit in the window we surmised they were bandits due to both the objects inside and the gruesome décor. We stormed the door and with surprise on our side triumphed easily over our unprepared foe, netting us a hefty profit in goods and jewelry.

#### Number Three

After several more days of travel we found a large skull-shaped rock, that we marked on the map table as Skull Rock Cave. It’s a bit of a misnomer because it is in fact a tomb. I will keep this simple. Tombs are banks that are easier to rob. They are guarded by mindless, unfeeling automatons that are both recklessly inept and easily manipulated to your advantage. Which is only the first similarity between the two. The second is that they’re filled money and goods that are easy to steal both physically and morally. Banks are insured, and the dead can’t own property, so you have very little to worry about, really.