Two Months Pass

Sypheros 18, YK 999 - Vult 26, YK 999

The Layout of the Wolves' Reward:
The Wolves' Reward grand opening is planned for the eve of the new millennium, the night before Zarantyr 1, YK 1000. The opening will include a gala party event and the first performance in the theater. The facilities are open to a limited guest list starting in the last two weeks of Vult, to make sure everything is up and running smoothly, but it's not open to the general public until New Year's Eve.

The ambassadorial city above The Wolves' Reward is named Galifar's Hope, and is due to be finished in the middle of 1000 YK. However, it will be open at the beginning of the year, still under construction but functional enough to house ambassadors and their staff.

House Orien and House Deneith create an island in the center of Silver Lake where linked portals in Sharn (Breland), Passage (Aundair), Flamekeep (Thrane), Trolanport (Zilargo) and Korth (Karrnath) can be reached. Arrival is in a heavily secured area, to prevent anyone from using the linked portals to assault Wolves' Reward or Galifar's Hope. Ferries run by House Lyrandar are used to transport from the island to the casino's dock.

The basic layout of the Wolves Reward is as follows:
The ground floor is made up largely of two casino floors, separated in the middle by the House Ghallanda restaurant, which has a large common area and several private dining rooms, one of which is permanently reserved for the Wolves. The House Phiarlan theater is connected off one of the casino floors, and the other casino floor connects to the House Kundarak bank and the House Orien office. A series of 200 standard rooms surround the casino, with access to the casino floors. The House Deneith barracks for the Protectors security detail surrounds those, and makes up the defensible exterior of the casino.

Upstairs, on the second floor, is the House Jorasco hospital and the new Gareth's Gear, and 100 more standard rooms.

Third level has 100 deluxe rooms, each the size of two standard rooms.

Fourth level has 25 deluxe suites, each the size of five standard rooms.

Fifth level has 25 private rooms and offices for permanent residents of the casino (the Casino Manager, Head of Security, etc.)

Sixth level has 10 private rooms (the size of ten standard rooms), one for each of the Wolves and five extras for any of their guests.

Seventh level is the House Lyrandar docking tower, with stairs descending through the center of the hotel, with exits on levels one through four. A separate emergency staircase is accessible on the fifth and sixth levels, and only exits on the first level.

The ability to construct so high comes from enchantments based on the elemental plane of air, influenced by the construction in Sharn and on Arcanix, and drawing on the same magic that keeps Galifar's Hope aloft.

Underground, accessible by secret doors in the Wolves' personal chambers, is the Wolves' War Room. The key installation here is the Teleportation Disk that the Wolves found in Count Orlok's lair, transported and installed by a few trusted House Orien magewrights.

The Houses at The Wolves' Reward:
Ghallanda-approved restaurant. Phiarlan-approved theater. A House Sivis Message Station & Notary, linked with a House Kundarak bank. House Jorasco hospital. House Lyrandar docking tower. House Orien has an office here, staffed with security and magewrights for the linked portals.

Gareth's Gear opens in the Wolves' Reward, with Tock as its in-house artificer, now a full-fledged member of House Cannith thanks to Lord Kor and Lady Elaydren. The new Gareth's Gear is part of the Fabricators Guild & Tinkers Guild of House Cannith, and has two dragonmarked heirs and several non-dragonmarked operatives of the House employed there as well. "Gareth" is "revealed" to have been a longstanding member of House Cannith as well, this also set up through Lord Kor and Lady Elaydren (both of whom will have to know the truth about Gareth for this to work.)

Josilian Kan d'Tiarlan is a gnome who runs the House Sivis office at the casino. Luggoth met him once, at the opening ceremony for the Golden Dragon. He's a somewhat arrogant, but very sharp, lawyer and translator. He isn't dragonmarked, but is obviously well-respected and powerful in the House, and has two dragonmarked associates.

Rochus d'Kundarak is put in charge of security and operations for House Kundarak at the Wolves' Reward. He doesn't actually run the bank day-to-day, but everyone there ultimately answers to him. He's also responsible for the security systems throughout the casino and in Galifar's Hope. He is the guy who knows every secret passage and every trap in both locations.

The head of the theater at the Wolves' Reward is appointed, a male Brelish dragonmarked elf named Hannet d'Phiarlan. He trained with the Demesne of Shadow, and he is a skilled actor, orator and illusionist, as well as a secret member of the Serpentine Table. He asks Lysander to help create the opening performances, particularly in the realm of music. He has three department heads below him: Glennara d'Phiarlan (Aundarian female elf from the Demesne of Memory, a writer), Colle d'Phiarlan (Brelish female elf from the Demesne of Motion, a dancer/acrobat and another spy), and Byron d'Phiarlan (Thranish male elf, a composer from the Demesne of Music). Each of these departments has a staff of a half-dozen performers or writers, and they will also bring in other Phiarlan performers from time to time for specific performances.

Security by the Deneith Protectors Guild, who have posted fifty trained soldiers at the disposal of the Head of Security for the casino. This is in addition to the private security personnel who work for the ambassadors and House officials.

Galifar's Hope:
The ambassadorial city above The Wolves' Reward is named Galifar's Hope, and is due to be finished in the middle of 1000 YK. However, it will be open at the beginning of the year, still under construction but functional enough to house ambassadors and their staff.

As expected, six nations have assigned ambassadors to Galifar's Hope.
Breland's ambassador is Cersi Kemble, a female half-elf (and Pel knows she is secretly a King's Dark Lantern).
Karrnath's ambassador is Sedge Avadarrn, a male human that the Wolves met on the Golden Dragon, and his skeletal bodyguard Skarad is with him.
Thrane's ambassador is Prince Valtar ir'Wynarn, a male human who is a cousin to the Queen of Thrane.
Aundair's ambassador is Neya ir'Krell, a female human that the Wolves met in Zilargo while chasing Lucan, and both Pel and Lysander suspect she is secretly one of the Royal Eyes of Aundair.
The Mror Holds have assigned Moris ir'Mroranon, a male dwarf who was the father of Jalis ir'Mroranon, who ran Gareth's gear until she was murdered, and the Wolves (especially William) pick up some mild hostility from Moris as a result.
The Eldeen Reaches have appointed Arden Thea, a female half-orc druid. And Zilargo has sent Borton Malek, a male gnome career politician.

There are four other ambassadors in Galifar's Hope as well.
The Lhazaar Principalities have sent Lady Damia Valisa, a female human who dresses and acts more like a pirate captain than an ambassador.
Though not officially recognized, Cyre has sent an "observer" to look out for their destroyed nation's interests, a successful artist and jeweler named Medyev Celian.
The biggest surprise is that one of the dragons of Argonessen has sent an ambassador at the Galifar's Hope - Maechen Eyre, former member of the Wolves, with Muroni, another ally, as his bodyguard and aide.
In addition, rumor has it that Droaam will have a permanent ambassador attached, although no one knows who it is yet.

Events in the last two months:
Rumors surface of an assassination attempt against the Daughters of Sora Kell, and of secret meetings between the Daughters and ambassadors from the Sigilstar Alliance (brokered through Aundarian ambassador Neya ir'Krell from Zilargo). The result is a truce, with a more formal agreement to end the war in the works at a summit to be held during the first of the year.

Of course, the assassination was a setup, part of the deal between Breland and the Daughters, as suggested by Pel, William and Lysander to Lord Kor. Best not to ask who the assassins were and how they had earned their death at the hands of Sora Maenya when their "attempt" failed. In addition, the Wolves are officially asked, in the name of peace, not to mention anything relating to Crezyan Rrac, Neshar or any of their activities in Droaam. Officially, none of it happened, because if it did, they would have to explain that Breland was considering an assassination attempt against the Hags.

William:
Some political capital burned for William due to the death of Vadis. William's inability to capture a dangerous fugitive has not helped him in his goal to become a Sentinel Marshal. However, William's stronger ties to the House continue to help him, as he visits Karrnath frequently to connect with members of the House.

Luggoth:
Savannah and her brother want to stay permanently at the Wolves' Reward. Savannah can work as a waitress or hostess. In addition, Savannah has been praying daily to the Flame for guidance about what Luggoth has told her. She has told him every day that the dragons are liars and manipulators, that she doesn't believe he could ever hurt Jaela, and asks him for permission to talk to Prophecy scholars in the church about their interpretation of Luggoth's destiny. But it's his private business, so she won't do that unless he tells her it's okay.

Brand:
Brand visits the Eldeen Reaches frequently during this time, visiting his mother, but his father is nowhere to be found. He will occasionally send messages via Brand's mother, cryptic puzzles that Brand has to decipher before he can read them. It seems clear that he's no longer in the Reaches, Xen'drik or the Shadow Marches, and that he's planning some kind of gambit to discredit Aeromus and restore himself to the House. He doesn't tell Brand exactly what it is, but always closes the messages with a reminder to "Be ready. What we've waited for for so long is almost prepared."

Pel:
Pel also lost a bit of political capital with the death of Vadis. Pel was supposed to bring in Vadis for information and to give Breland a potential patsy for their gambit with the Daughters of Sora Kell.

Kalibar Jenks makes frequent visits to the casino under construction with his elven bard companions. When he does, he always spends some time talking to Pel, passing along information to Viorr. The Boromar Clan has consolidated its hold on the council now that the Tyrants are in a bit of disarray, and they have more political influence than ever. The Daask were also a bit shattered by Vadis's plot to destroy them, and by being cutoff from Droaamish reinforcements by the war. They've been laying low, and the Boromars more or less have the run of Sharn as far as organized crime goes right now. The bad news is, they're more powerful than ever. The good news is, without rivals and gang wars to speak of, they're more of a corrupt political force than a criminal gang at the moment.

The Tyrant Council has fallen under the temporary leadership of a woman, quite probably Yelena, one of Vadis's former lovers and someone who Pel did not have a great relationship with. She has spread the word that Pel is no longer to be trusted. He is more or less out as a member of the Tyrants. Not that it really matters, as he now has eyes inside the organization and more power than even being head of the Tyrants would have given him. At any rate, the Tyrants, deeply affected by Vadis's failed ambitions, have cut back their operations to more contained prostitution, blackmail and information-brokering, rather than trying to start and maintain dangerous gang wars.

Questions:
1. Given the Wolves' adventuring natures, they're going to need a head of operations that they trust for the casino. Someone who knows how to run the place, someone that they trust. They might be able to get someone appointed by folks they trust, maybe someone from House Deneith or House Phiarlan, although they might have secondary agendas you don't know about.

Looking over the various folks you know, the obvious choice is Chance, who runs a casino in Sharn and might be convinced to come run The Wolves' Reward instead. He's a known loyal quantity, and the only secondary loyalty he has is to the Traveler, which is probably a net positive for Pel but might not be so welcome to William.

Other suggestions?

2. Along similar lines, you're going to need a Chief of Security, who will have to be from House Deneith. The obvious possibility here (a recommendation from William's mother) would be Diarmand d'Deneith, William's swashbuckling cousin. He's more light-hearted than most Karrnathi, which would suit someone running security for a casino.

3. Name of the Theater? The Restaurant?

4. What does Pel tell Captain Vron, his superior in the King's Citadel, about what happened with Vadis? Keeping in mind that if he wants to substitute a new Vadis in with the Tyrants, Vron is going to have to know about it.

If there are layout changes or things you'd like to have in the casino that I haven't enumerated above, add them in the comments. The Wolves had input into Cannith's building of the casino, so you can definitely change things if you want to move them around. Also, y'all might want to look through Adventurers' Vault 2, pages 79-82, for magic Lair items, next time we get together.