rpgventurer says:
Is 9 copper a fair price for the garments? The section of Umbar primarily inhabited by the Corsairs is the oldest part of the city. It grew up and around the water's edge, snaking along the undulating terrain of the rocky shore, there are even small islands out in the bay that have their own structures and docks built upon them.
And while the mainland docks are well built and maintained, they are not by any stretch well planned or organized. They were originally constructed as far-flung bases of operation, at a time when the Corsairs sailed as individual pirateering operations and so each dock belonged to a specific ship and captain, and security and privacy and having everything a ship could need at one dock was the priority.
Well, while that lack of organized purpose has went away, the disparate structures of the docks were set literally in stone, and so the modern city and docks just grew up around and in between the old, and it has resulted in a winding series of streets, and alleys, and boardwalk, and docks that encircle the rocky bay in layers like an onion. Complex and difficult to navigate.
For those physically searching for the ship, there are structures that can hinder or help your search - both clearly directly associated with the Corsairs and not, and there are people who may hinder or help your search - both clearly directly associated with the Corsairs and not.
It is up to you what methods you use to try to achieve your goal, given these circumstances.
For those using more passive means to try to get ppl to divulge knowledge of the ship's location, there's any number of taverns you can go to. Seemingly as many places to cavort as there are ships in the bay. So you may choose any one or multiple establishments, in which you try to loosen tongues and dislodge unwitting bits of knowledge that might help you. Corsairs are as well known for their loyalty to their Ship-Lords, but also for their braggadociousness and debauchery off the ship.
It is up to you what methods you use to try to achieve your goal, given these circumstances.
OOC:
Okay, so we'll conduct both Challenges simultaneously.
The stakes are thus:
1. Success - finding the ship is really inevitable (spoiler: it's here :P), so the question really is - what does it TAKE, what does it cost, what are the consequences, of the actions you all pursue to find it.
2. Failure - as mentioned, you can find the ship, so failure here is a question of cost and consequences. If the contingent at the tavern(s) are plying tongues with comradery and creating trust with food or liquor, how much do they have to spend to do that? How long does it take/are they up until sunrise/is it exhausting? How drunk(?) do they themselves get making others comfortable? Do they tip their hand, and alert the wrong person to what they're really trying to do? For those physically searching... Again, how long does it take? Do they over-step their bounds a time or two - find themselves at the wrong place at the wrong time, and induce aggressions? Again, do they tip their hand, and someone notices what they're doing?
The answer to these questions will be determined by your characters' skill and luck and influenced by your chosen narratives, over the process of our Skill Challenge "montage" here.
All of that are possible outcomes, and there will be one or more of these sorts of costs or consequences, associated with Success or Failure. The better the success the fewer and/or less severe the cost and consequences.
Anyone may start, by first proposing their proficiency they wish to use, and giving us their narrative, from there we go "round robin" (every character taking a turn to roll and shape the narrative) before any single character may go again.
The beginning DC for your checks is 12 (8 base+2 avg PB+2 based on the narrative challenges - you're strangers in a strange land. And remember this DC goes up by +1 after every 3 checks (reconciling this escalation of stakes and tension for both Challenges separately).
Let me know if you have any questions in the ooc chat.
Who wants to go first!?
Give us your narrative and your roll!