[OOC] Elder Scrolls: Terror of the Padomaic

[The New Yorker]

Lucius Cypher said

Actually worth listening to

I could drum something up. Have Malakaus get out of the water and confront Noelle, cause a scene. Or maybe see that she left, calls off the operation, heads towards the forge to start working on making copies of his crossbow. Say Commander, how long did you plan to have the ship waiting in Khenarthi's Roost? I'd say it should take at least three days for the entire crew to finish up working on the ship, like the repairs, renovations, armoring, etc. During the mean time I also planned to have Malakaus talk to either Sharee or Noelle about their knowledge with explosive alchemy so he could try to create balista bolts with something similar to them. Or even invent the cannon himself if he can figure it out. I'm also thinking about upgrading the crew's equipment to something a bit more standardized; Chainmail made of elven metal for those who want to use light armor, Elven plate for those who want to use heavy. Also if he can get his hands on a lot of soul gems (Doesn't even need to be powerful ones) he could start making jewelry for waterwalking/breathing for everyone. Given that we would be operating mostly on a boat, I figure this would be important. Just be careful of you fall off the ship; I think you take fall damage if you land on the water while having waterwalking active. I'm also thinking of getting Fletcher to catch wind about a Dwemer Ruin; this is so Malakaus could get his hands on the dwemer metal and turn those into weapons. Of course, he'll need help bringing out all the scraps, and I don't know if the Dwemer ever had places in Elsweyr. Also I'll be having Malakaus create copies of his box-fed crossbow. By Skyrim's count, I'd say he'd would be making weapons around level 12 or so, Elven armor and Dwarven Weapons. I'll also have him or his Argonian's start inscribing some spell scrolls, that way even the magically inept can be flinging Ice Spikes and such.I'll also have Malakaus start training some of the crew with his skills. Which means more heavy-armor and shield-fighters. I definitely know that his Typhoon Warriors are going to be this anyways. He'll also be taking anyone with the interest to learn how to scribe scrolls and enchant as well. No sense in letting him get bogged down in menial work.

There you go! You'll be feeling the love too if you keep thinking like that.

Nevermind, EC, I got myself out.

[Lucius Cypher]

Ah, I see. I was just wondering because right now we are a stripped down Imperial War Ship. Attacking Merchant vessels does seem to be the only viable target right now.

Corollary: We should try to take over the ship if possible. You guys did talk a lot about how ours won't fit all the skooma we'd take from the smugglers, but maybe we could try to take over the other ships we raid instead of scuttle them? I mean, seems like you guys have your eyes sent on that slave ship. Slaves are good. If Sharee is a merciful sort, she could offer the slaves a chance to go free or work for her. Or just take over the ship and make them her slaves, though I suspect that this might not end well if no one keeps the slaves in line.

[EliteCommander]

I think you are overestimating how much skooma would be in these ships. It is very valuable per bottle, which also means you are not going to find that many bottles in one place. A large shipment would be several crates worth, but not all the crates in the ship. The skooma, combined with the more legitimate cargo, would still provide a large margin of profit, since they just stole it all.

Also, I think I am going to wait a bit to see if reganza posts. Plus, I'm rather tired.

[The New Yorker]

EliteCommander said
It all sounds like something that would take a while to accomplish. Right now, the ship is running on very little resources. They don't have much gold to spend, so anything malakaus does will have to be paid for by the proceeds from what he scavenged off the boat. Once they complete a job successfully, that will change.

Agreed, we need more temporary shields instead. The hull has armor in it, and the ship was designed with armor around it, we just need some metal sheets to deflect the ballistas and spells. Of course, we'll need mages on deck too,

Lucius Cypher said
Ah, I see. I was just wondering because right now we are a stripped down Imperial War Ship. Attacking Merchant vessels does seem to be the only viable target right now.Corollary: We should try to take over the ship if possible. You guys did talk a lot about how ours won't fit all the skooma we'd take from the smugglers, but maybe we could try to take over the other ships we raid instead of scuttle them? I mean, seems like you guys have your eyes sent on that slave ship. Slaves are good. If Sharee is a merciful sort, she could offer the slaves a chance to go free or work for her. Or just take over the ship and make them her slaves, though I suspect that this might not end well if no one keeps the slaves in line.

I want to clarify that Sarel is thinking about raiding the Miriam. Once he learns all the details he will still want to raid it. It is the best viable option.

As for the scuttling or the stealing: The only issue with taking the ship is that we would need more crew, I do not believe we have enough crew to adiquitely man both vessels. Besides, who would run it? And what's to say that person doesn't just run off with it, or is mutinied immediately. I think it is a bad idea, at this early stage, to start thinking of building a fleet. We hardly have one working ship, imagine the cost of two.

EliteCommander said
I think you are overestimating how much skooma would be in these ships. It is very valuable per bottle, which also means you are not going to find many bottles in one place. A large shipment would be several crates worth, but not all the crates in the ship. The skooma, combined with the more legitimate cargo, would still provide a large margin of profit, since they just stole it all.Also, I think I am going to wait a bit to see if reganza posts. Plus, I'm rather tired.

I disagree. Skooma is rather cheap, a couple of crates full wouldn't be much of a return for the smugglers, unless they stole it.

[EliteCommander]

I wouldn't consider the economics in game (especially in Skyrim) to be representative of its actual value in lore.

[Lucius Cypher]

What we need is more money. And of course, to make money, we need money. Well, so far I've only gotten Malakaus to purchase basic necessities. He does have a forge to himself though, so if I could figure out how to get him metal, I could have him churn out some equipment for gold. Hence why I wanted Fletcher to get word about a Dwemer Ruin; likelihood of getting good loot as well as being able to melt down the fairly useless scrap into more profitable weapons. And since Malakaus can't carry all that loot back, this would be the perfect chance for us (The players and their characters) as a group to adventure into a ruin, clear it out of any danger, and than have the crew (NPC's and such) coming in and clean the place out after the first group gets rid of all the danger.

[The New Yorker]

I'm just thinking logically, EC. Skooma is refined moon sugar, essentially what crack is to cocaine. It has to be cheap, by it's definition, especially if it's going to be used by poor people, whichit most certainly is.

There are no Dwemer ruins here, it's almost impossible. Perhaps a khajiiti burial ground? Maybe an abandoned Thalmor fort? This isn't the first time they've had sovereign control of Elsweyr. It could have been ransacked and never rebuilt. To make the encounter more challenging we could make it haunted.

[Lucius Cypher]

Well, Skooma might be cheap in Elsweyr because of the commonness of Moon Sugar. But if it's sold in other places, where it's illegal? Prices go up for it's exotic and illegal rarity. Risky, but that's what makes it valuable. And with Sarel knows more of it, we could always try to refine it into Balmora Blue. I don't know if he knows how it's made, but it's an option.

Speaking of options, perhaps there has been a recent excavation that some of the local natives have discovered? And upon further study, reveal that the ruins may be of Dwemer origins. Of course, no one wants to go down and check for themselves due to the inherent danger of dwemer ruins, and the location itself is too isolated to justify bringing Thalmor agents there. But it's only going to be a matter of time before their interest grows, and if we're too late, we won't be able to access the ruins without having to deal with Thalmor as well. I'd prefer if we don't just end up going to an abandoned fort, unless we get a good bounty for clearing it out for extra moolah. In that case, I wouldn't care if it was bandits or ghosts, though I'd prefer bandits. not only can you cut off their heads, but they usually stock pile a good bit of loot.

[The New Yorker]

Lucius Cypher said
Well, Skooma might be cheap in Elsweyr because of the commonness of Moon Sugar. But if it's sold in other places, where it's illegal? Prices go up for it's exotic and illegal rarity. Risky, but that's what makes it valuable. And with Sarel knows more of it, we could always try to refine it into Balmora Blue. I don't know if he knows how it's made, but it's an option.Speaking of options, perhaps there has been a recent excavation that some of the local natives have discovered? And upon further study, reveal that the ruins may be of Dwemer origins. Of course, no one wants to go down and check for themselves due to the inherent danger of dwemer ruins, and the location itself is too isolated to justify bringing Thalmor agents there. But it's only going to be a matter of time before their interest grows, and if we're too late, we won't be able to access the ruins without having to deal with Thalmor as well. I'd prefer if we don't just end up going to an abandoned fort, unless we get a good bounty for clearing it out for extra moolah. In that case, I wouldn't care if it was bandits or ghosts, though I'd prefer bandits. not only can you cut off their heads, but they usually stock pile a good bit of loot.

Wow, you don't see why an empire would want to build a fort on an island they are colonizing, but you think that a Dwemer ruin is possible in Elseweyr? Are we living on the same planet? The Dwemer were a very isolated people, they really only built things in Skyrim, High Rock, and Morrowind. Another thing, Balmora blue is, as I've said, herbal. It is my idea of what Marijuana would be like in TES lore. No moon sugar at all.

And while we're on that subject: While there may be inflation on the price when it is transported to the empire, have you thought about the difference in currency and cost of living between the two places. It's like taking Marijuana from Afghanistan, sure the dudes cutting it off the mountain are gonna hike the price a little bit, but only because it's coming to America, or Europe. Case in point, the Khajiits might ask for 5 more septims per bottle but that might just raise the price to, say, 15 for the smuggler. He sells it to the pushers in the Imperial city for almost double that and the bums are paying 50 (I used completely bullshit figures, but it doesn't change the logic). And by the way, how do you think those beggers in leyawin are affording skooma? It's gotta be cheap. That's just the way it is, dude.

[The New Yorker]

-

[EliteCommander]

The New Yorker said
Wow, you don't see why an empire would want to build a fort on an island they are colonizing, but you think that a Dwemer ruin is possible in Elseweyr? Are we living on the same planet? The Dwemer were a very isolated people, they really only built things in Skyrim, High Rock, and Morrowind. Another thing, Balmora blue is, as I've said, herbal. It is my idea of what Marijuana would be like in TES lore. No moon sugar at all. And while we're on that subject: While there may be inflation on the price when it is transported to the empire, have you thought about the difference in currency and cost of living between the two places. It's like taking Marijuana from Afghanistan, sure the dudes cutting it off the mountain are gonna hike the price a little bit, but only because it's coming to America, or Europe. Case in point, the Khajiits might ask for 5 more septims per bottle but that might just raise the price to, say, 15 for the smuggler. He sells it to the pushers in the Imperial city for almost double that and the bums are paying 30 (I used completely bullshit figures, but it doesn't change the logic). And by the way, how do you think those beggers in leyawin are affording skooma? It's gotta be cheap. That's just the way it is, dude.

The Dwemer did indeed only really settle in northern half of Tamriel. Morrowind has the most ruins, with Skyrim and Hammerfell also having some. As for the cost of skooma, though, a beggar might afford it the same way the poor in our world do. That is all they buy. Addicts tend to neglect other parts of their life just to get their next fix. It would be more expensive the farther it is from elsweyr, especially in the Empire. Moon sugar can only grow in Elsweyr.

Also, Balmora Blue does contain moon sugar. In fact, it is more potent than skooma. http://uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Balmora
http://uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:The_Dainty_Sload

[Lucius Cypher]

I wouldn't quite implement game play as an accurate representation of how things would work if put into a more narrative format. If that were the case, no one would be suffering much aversive effects from skooma, at least not for more than a short period of a few seconds or so (If going by Oblivion) or outright beneficial with no strings attached (Like how Skooma is just a cheap energy potion in Skyrim). Beggers in leyawin might not actually be buying whole bottles of skooma; it's likely either being watered down but paid for in full price, or even just given in smaller quantities. Bottles of skooma in Oblivion are tiny compared to what's being used in Skyrim.

Besides, we're not selling it to beggar's anyways. We will be, if only for that particular job, suppliers for the dealer, not the dealers themselves. Now I can't say for sure what Commander has in mind, but I'm going to take a good guess that Sharee didn't just have us take the Skooma because it seemed like the most valuable thing at the time. I'm sure she has a buyer who'd purchase it for a fair price, instead of say, just any old dealer at a dock in Blackmarsh. Who himself would likely profit larger from the sells with some trickery like spiking the Skooma or some such, but how he sells doesn't matter; only that Sharee gets the skooma to someone who won't give her a bad deal.

[EliteCommander]

I also need to go to bed now, goodnight.

[The New Yorker]

Lucius Cypher said
I wouldn't quite implement game play as an accurate representation of how things would work if put into a more narrative format. If that were the case, no one would be suffering much aversive effects from skooma, at least not for more than a short period of a minute or so (If going by Oblivion) or outright beneficial with no strings attached (Like how Skooma is just a cheap energy potion in Skyrim). Beggers in leyawin might not actually be buying whole bottles of skooma; it's likely either being watered down but paid for in full price, or even just given in smaller quantities. Bottles of skooma in Oblivion are compared to what's being used in Skyrim.

Besides, we're not selling it to beggar's anyways. We will be, if only for that particular job, suppliers for the dealer, not the dealers themselves. Now I can't say for sure what Commander has in mind, but I'm going to take a good guess that Sharee didn't just have use take the Skooma because it seemed like the most valuable thing at the time. I'm sure she has a buyer who'd purchase it for a fair price, instead of say, just any old dealer at a dock in Blackmarsh. Who himself would likely profit larger from the sells with some trickery like spiking the Skooma or some such, but how he sells doesn't matter; only that Sharee gets the skooma to someone who won't give her a bad deal. ?

True, but wouldn't that mean that what I said is accurate, the bottles would be cheap if they were being distilled even further, or only sold in "sip sizes", which is likely.

EliteCommander said
The Dwemer did indeed only really settle in northern half of Tamriel. Morrowind has the most ruins, with Skyrim and Hammerfell also having some. As for the cost of skooma, though, a beggar might afford it the same way the poor in our world do. That is all they buy. Addicts tend to neglect other parts of their life just to get their next fix. It would be more expensive the farther it is from elsweyr, especially in the Empire. Moon sugar can only grow in Elsweyr. Also, Balmora Blue does contain moon sugar. In fact, it is more potent than skooma.

What happened there is that I must have been inspired by the name, and just used it, because I figured that drink's production was immediately haulted after the city was destroyed. Balmora was rebuilt but I don't see that sort of thing coming back in it's original form. It would be different, with a different name. I figured it was a good name because Maraijuana strains are usually called strange referential names. Though I can see how that may be confusing. I don't really know how to fix it. I think I mention it in every post

As for the skooma, EC, if you want to talk about real world analogies, I already gave you one. The reason crack heads are crack heads is that they can scrap together five bucks every 6 hours or so. In the real world, addicts are addicts because the drug is easy to get, plain and simple. You are right, though, that is all they buy, aside from cheap food.

[EliteCommander]

Also keep in mind that in our world, we have global transportation that can get goods from one side of the world to the other in days. Using sailing ships for that purpose, you get half that distance in months. Transportation costs would drive up the price considerably, for any good not produced locally. Also, a more practical reason for not overstocking the ship with skooma, even if you could afford it, would be the logistics of getting past port authorities. If every crate you have has skooma, then it would be amazing if it wasn't discovered.

[Lucius Cypher]

The New Yorker said
True, but wouldn't that mean that what I said is accurate, the bottles would be cheap if they were being distilled even further, or only sold in "sip sizes", which is likely.

The skooma sold by dealers might come for cheap, yes, but the actual, non-distilled skooma itself (Like the ones we should be stealing)? No. If anything, Skooma would be more accurate to the Cocaine with your Crack-Cocaine analogy; dealers would buy the Skooma (Cocaine) for fairly expensive but reasonably competitive price, and than dilute them into a weaker form (Crack) to sell to addicts, without necessarily dropping the price. They still need to make a profit after all, and it's not like there's anyone doing quality control for the Skooma. Addicts might have a problem being sold watered down stuff, but who are they going to go to to fix this? The guards? Even if they try to take it by force, all they've done if they succeeded is loose a supplier, which is going to do hell when they go into withdraw if there's no one else selling, especially new dealers hear about how the last one got attacked for trying to make a profit from dealing with Skooma.

Dealing with illegal drugs are, of course, highly risky and not always rewarding. There's no insurance and if a deal goes bad, there's very little you can do but salvage the situation. That's why you don't see just any git into the business; you have to know the right people to get this stuff to if you want to make any decent profit from it. Unless Sharee plans on making her crew into a dedicated skooma dealing ship, stealing and selling the skooma is just a short-term job to kick start a more long-term career into piracy. If piracy is a profitable occupation during these hard political times.

[The New Yorker]

Lucius Cypher said
The skooma sold by dealers might come for cheap, yes, but the actual, non-distilled skooma itself (Like the ones we should be stealing)? No. If anything, Skooma would be more accurate to the Cocaine with your Crack-Cocaine analogy; dealers would buy the Skooma (Cocaine) for fairly expensive but reasonably competitive price, and than dilute them into a weaker form (Crack) to sell to addicts, without necessarily dropping the price. They still need to make a profit after all, and it's not like there's anyone doing quality control for the Skooma. Addicts might have a problem being sold watered down stuff, but who are they going to go to to fix this? The guards? Even if they try to take it by force, all they've done if they succeeded is loose a supplier, which is going to do hell when they go into withdraw if there's no one else selling, especially new dealers hear about how the last one got attacked for trying to make a profit from dealing with Skooma.Dealing with illegal drugs are, of course, highly risky and not always rewarding. There's no insurance and if a deal goes bad, there's very little you can do but salvage the situation. That's why you don't see just any git into the business; you have to know the right people to get this stuff to if you want to make any decent profit from it. Unless Sharee plans on making her crew into a dedicated skooma dealing ship, stealing and selling the skooma is just a short-term job to kick start a more long-term career into piracy. If piracy is a profitable occupation during these hard political times.

Actually, you can distill crack however many times you'd like. Moon sugar is still the base product, even if the dealers don't get it.

Luckily, these specificities aren't necessarily important. We can easily gloss over it. Suffice it to say that stealing skooma would produce a decent profit, despite the annoyance of having to find a buyer.

[Lucius Cypher]

I had assumed that Sharee knew a guy. Even I can't turn a profit with skooma despite how many of them I steal in any of my ES games. I think of it kind of like how one deals with excess ore in Skyrim; there's someone who's willing to buy it for a full price as long as you're willing to do the work of getting it yourself. I make a tidy profit on ebony this way until I get my smithing high enough to utilize it.

[EliteCommander]

Lucius Cypher said
I had assumed that Sharee knew a guy. Even I can't turn a profit with skooma despite how many of them I steal in any of my ES games. I think of it kind of like how one deals with excess ore in Skyrim; there's someone who's willing to buy it for a full price as long as you're willing to do the work of getting it yourself. I make a tidy profit on ebony this way until I get my smithing high enough to utilize it.

If that is the case, you have never played Morrowind. It's quite valuable in that game. You can make a lot of profit selling it, though the only people who will buy it are Thieves guild vendors, and Khajiit vendors.

[The New Yorker]

So is the thieves guild our answer? We'd need a contact.