THE MILL ON THE IBRAS
An Introductory Ysgarth Adventure For Use with the Ysgarth Minirules

Introduction

This adventure is designed to be an introduction to Ysgarth for new players and should be playable using the Ysgarth Minirules and the additional material included in the adventure itself. It's also easily adapted to other roleplaying systems if you just want to get a feel for the world. The adventure is designed for a group of three players, but ought to work fine with additional players.

Background

The characters in this adventures are brothers from the small town of Helbaros on the Ibras River in Evaria (a province of the Saesian Empire). Their father is Hars Dasos the local miller. Their family has owned the only grain mill in this agricultural region from as far back as they can remember. This family monopoly has been very profitable for them and they are the closest thing the town has to a local lord. The family owns considerable land in Helbaros. Many of the farmers and craftsmen living in the valley pay rent to them, and the entire community looks to the Dasos family for leadership. Of course, some of the dwellers in the valley are a bit resentful and jealous of the success of the Dasos family, but they have to get their grain milled, so they keep their criticism to themselves.

The original charter for the mill was granted to their ancestors hundreds of years ago in the last days of the Aetruvian Empire. The old mill was a primitive oxen driven affair which their grandfather replaced with a more modern windmill about 60 years ago. The new mill is an impressive structure located on a hill looming over the town.

This adventure begins at a troubled time. A merchant named Inaron Argrepfas from the city of Bergamnios over 200 Stades to the south has come to Helbaros with the intention of building a water mill on the Ibras River. just south of the town. After several months a response to an inquiry sent to the Prefect's government in Lestonarios has just arrived, filled with bad news. It reports that the Saesian government does not make a practice of honoring charters granted by the old Aetruvian government, and even if it did, the term of the charter would have run out long ago. In short, the Dasos family's monopoly as millers in the Ibras Valley is a thing of the past.

This has made the whole family rather desperate. A water mill is slightly more expensive to operate, but unlike wind, the water always runs. Plus, its location on the river is more convenient than their hill-top location and local farmers have been complaining about the cost and effort of hauling their grain up and down the hill. The valley isn't big enough to support two mills, so one of them will almost certainly go out of business.

The characters' father Hars is raving about hiring lawyers. Old great-uncle Mistran is sharpening his long knife. Their mother Nieldra is locked in her room, weeping through the day. Their older sister Megrana is dropping hints that this would be an excellent time for healthy young men to take matters into their own hands and see that the mill on the river never gets built.

The Cast of Characters

The Dasos Family

Hars Dasos - The local miller in the Ibras Valley, father of the characters and a man of great pride, but little imagination.

Mistran Dasos - Hars' uncle, a former clerk in the Imperial Army, now somewhat given to drink and maudlin reminiscences.

Nieldra Dasos - Hars' wife. A woman of great virtue, but very concerned about the welfare of her family and easily given to histerics.

Megrana Dasos - Hars' eldest daughter, some years older than the characters. Known for her sharp tongue and quick wit which has scared off suitors throughout the valley.

The Interlopers

Inaron Argrepfas - An enterprising merchant from the city of Bergamnios who plans to build a new water powered mill on the Ibras River. Wealthy, confident and a great lover of good horses.

Masci Ullos - An Evarian mason from Bergamnios. A middle-aged man, very knowledgable about mill-building, loyal to his employer (Argrepfas) and a strict, but fair supervisor.

Darz Geshmios - An Aetruvian mechanic who specializes in custom construction of mill machinery. Young, but very knowledgable, having recently come out of apprenticeship to one of the leading mechanics in Tibrum.

Lippo and Lantho - Two journeyman masons employed by Masci Ullos. Nearing the end of long terms as journeymen. They are skilled, but excessively fond of wine and women.

Durg and Gampo - Two laborers from Bergamnios. Very loyal to Masci Ullos, but none too bright.

Other Notables

Tassix Marissinar - A Helbaran horse breeder with a fine set of white race horses coveted by Argrepfas. An ambitious breeder who wants a premium price for his best stock and is very cautious not to be taken advantage of by someone from the big city.

General Mainkaios Nintari - The Prefect of Evaria, an earnest and stern warrior retired into civil administration and very dependant on the advice of his clerks and local merchants and nobles.

Ailos Unthamos - The Civic Grain Factor for the city of Lestonarios. A shrewd merchant who is always looking for a good deal to advance his wealth and increase his influence.

Ulpurniga - An old witch-woman who lives outside of Helbaros and has a great deal of knowledge of healing and of local spirits. She is relatively well adjusted to her role as a necessary outsider in the community, but knows the value of her services in a magic poor area.

Ibras - The spirit of the river of the same name. A powerful water elemental, capable of manipulating the waters of his river for great destruction, but rather stubborn and not blessed with great powers of discernment.

Character Creation

For this adventure follow standard character set-up rules as outlined in the Ysgarth Minirules. These characters start with 150 points for characteristics and a pre-determined and paid Social Standing of 15 because of their family background. They start with 80 skill points, 20 for racial background, 20 for their profession and 40 for any skills of their choice. Racially the characters should be Evarian and their chosen profession can be Miller, Clerk or Soldier. Ideally they should each choose a different professional skill package.

Evarian Background Skills

Farming, Herding, Vintning, Cooking, Brewing, Merchant, Short Bow, Running, Fishing, Short Sword.

Miller Professional Skills

Milling, Merchant, Mechanical, Wood Carving, Farming, One Shaman Charm.

Clerk Professional Skills

Mathematics, Calligraphy, Writing, Administration, One Language, Research, One Diviner Charm.

Soldier Professional Skills

Two Weapon skills, Dodging, Endurance, Durability, Damage Strike, Bind Wounds, Survival, Military Knowledge.

As far as wealth and equipment, they have family resources to draw on. Since their family is moderately wealthy, let them each have the equivalent of 500 Saesian Solis, or enough to buy all the basic equipment they should need, including weapons and any kind of armor short of plate mail, which isn't widely available in the area anyway. Magical items, expensive hirelings or unusual equipment are probably out of their price range.

Preparing for Action

Although the players may think of many strategems and plans, ultimately their likely course of action will come down to trying to find some way to discourage the completion of the competing mill, presumably by some relatively subtle means. This will almost certainly involve an investigation and other activities at the mill site and some interraction with Inaron Argrepfas himself.

Strategies will basically come down to variations on trying to convince Argrepfas to leave the area either for his own self interest or because the mill is more trouble to build than it is likely to be worth. Failing that, violent options (blowing up the mill, killing Argrepfas, etc.) exist as a fall back. The catch is that they have to try to drive Argrepfas off without exposing themselves or their family to prosecution or even any substantial accusation of wrongdoing. Another consideration is that water mills are potentially more efficient than windmills and they may want to take over the mill or build a water mill themselves and they want to be careful not to create a situation where for whatever reason that becomes impossible.

Investigating the Mill Site

The mill is being built at a bend in the river, ideal for diverting part of the flow into a mill-stream. Digging for the mill- stream has already begun, as has the laying of the foundation for the mill building itself.

The construction is under the supervision of Masci Ullos, an Evarian mason from Bergamnios. He is a middle-aged man, knowledgable about mill-building, and from all reports a fair, but strict supervisor. The other skilled artisan on the crew is Darz Geshmios, an Aetruvian mechanic who specializes in custom construction of mill machinery. He is young, but very knowledgable, having recently come out of apprenticeship to one of the leading mechanics in Tibrum. The remainder of the crew consists of two journeymen masons employed by Masci Ullos, two laborers Masci brought with him from Begamnios, and 6 laborers hired locally. Inaron Argrepfas is in charge of everything, but he is often not on-site, spending a lot of time travelling back and forth between the mill and his base of operations in Helbaros where he is handling the purchase of equipment for the mill and conducting other business as well.

Approaching Argrepfas

The most obvious thing to do would be to approach Inaron Argrepfas and offer the buy him out. The problem is that he names a price a good bit higher than the family can afford to pay, even if they could find a way to borrow money. He won't even consider a deal to buy out their mill, at least not for enough of a price for the family to survive. He also doesn't have a pressing need for additional money, especially if it comes attached to a family of partners.

If they talk, Argrepfas makes it very clear that he will accept no interference in building the mill, and is willing to spend to protect his interest, including bribes and hiring guards if necessary. Presumably there is a limit to how much he would spend, and at some point too much extra expense might be discouraging, but he seems to have very deep pockets and a large reserve of confidence.

He appears not to be open to any kind of reasonable negotiation, in fact he feels that he holds all the cards. He seems sympathetic, but not to the point of being willing to give up his own profits. He may make some facetious suggestions of other businesses they might go into. And points out that they do own a lot of land, and if they were to dispossess their tennants they could turn to dairy farming and maintain themselves at a modest level.

They also might consider what it would take to goad Argrepfas into action which would get him to damn himself in the eyes of the local authorities or citizenry. He has a very disciplined mind, and it would take a lot of provocation or frustration before he would do something rash, like have their home burnt down or have them beaten by thugs. That would only be his reaction in the face of events which basically shut his project down with no way for him to assign the blame to them and make it stick.

If he were to take measures against them, the authorities are generally quite tolerant of a certain amount of bad behavior from wealthy businessmen in pursuit of business. They might be sympathetic to the family which has been milling there for a long time, but Argrepfas' money and connectons would speak more loudly to them.

On the other hand, if they could manipulate Argrepfas into actions which would make it look like he would oppress the local people, the populace is far less forgiving than the government. If they could produce evidence that Argrepfas planned to charge outrageous fees at his mill, or if the could ge thim to mistreat his own workers, they might be on their way towards starting real trouble for him.

If Argrepfas has an easily apparent weakness, it is that he spends most of his time in his suite at the inn in Helbros and doesn't personally oversee the mill's construction, so the crew working there is a point of vulnerability for him. If they ask around they may discover that his interest in Helbaros is connected to the upcoming races at the Hippodrome in Bergamnios. He has taken a fancy to a set of four white mares owned by a Helbarian horse breeder named Tassix Marissinar and wants to get Marissinar to sell them in time for them to be entered in the races in about four weeks. The price Marissinar is asking is higher than Argrepfas is willing to pay, and he is looking around for some leverage to bring to bear on the hose breeder. This interest is not more important to him than completing the mill, but it might be used as a distraction. Racing horses is a major interest to Argrepfas, and could be used to manipulate him if the characters are inventive.

Governmental Solutions

One option which may occur to some players but has not occured to any of the characters prior to the start of the adventure is to get the government to do their dirty work for them.

While the initial communication from the prefect's office is very discouraging, even millers in remote parts of Evaria know that with the right forms of persuasion imperial bureaucrats will change their position on almost any issue.

There are basically two ways to do this. One option is to convince the prefect or his minions that a new mill in the area would be a bad idea for their careers. The other option is to basically bribe them over to the right side.

The bribery option will be a difficult course to follow, because ultimately Argrepfas has more money and better contacts in the government, so he will know if they try to make a financial arrangement with the prefect and will offer more money to negate any deal they attempt.

They might have more luck with making the mill look like a bad idea for local government, especially if one of the characters has some legal and research skill, or they come up with an inventive method of making the mill look like a disaster waiting to happen. General Mainkaios Nintari is the Prefect of Evaria and currently has his headquarters Lestonarios, which is about 425 Stades to the Northeast. The Prefect isn't gullible, but he is very cautious. If the mill looks likely to upset a lot of local people or cost anyone important a lot of money, or reflect badly on him back in Tibrum, he'll be easy to persuade to block its construction. The prefect has virtually unlimited power within Evaria, but will really need to be convinced before he will risk using it in so petty a matter.

Because of the elevated status of the Prefect relative to common millers, approaching him seems almost inconceivable, but if some of them have familiarity with the workings of government, they may realize that they can approach the Prefect through intermediaries if they make the right connections. It might be worthwhile for one or more of them to make the journey to Lestonarios and see what contacts they can make. Approaching lower-level bureaucrats in the Prefect's aministration will prove ineffective. Too many bribes are required to get an audience with the Prefect by that means, and once they do get in touch with him there are no guarantees, and little likelihood, that he will be sympathetic. It would be far more effective if they could acquire an advocate who would speak on their behalf to the Prefect, someone who had higher status than they do, but could be interested in their cause. Others might also be considered, but a good candidate for this job would be Ailos Unthamos who is the civic grain factor for the city of Lestonarios. He is responsible for purchasing and stockpiling grain for the city, and they could win his support fairly easily if they were to offer him a reliable supply of grain at an excellent discount. This might be worth doing, even if they had to offer the grain at a loss, because Unthamos could speak for them to the Prefect. While that might not guarantee government action in their behalf, it could almost certainly assure that whatever action they took might be looked on more favorably than it otherwise would. Unthamos might also be able to assist them in a circumspect way by advising them on which of their plans of action might be most acceptable to the government. At the very least, a good relationship with Unthamos or someone like him will make it likely that once they succeed in stopping the mill the repurcusions will be minimized.

Violent Options

Violence is always the fall-back when no other solution appears to be available. The Gamemaster should do what he can to subtly discourage a violent course of action until the characters have at least considered alternatives. Once they settle on violence there are several options they might pursue.

Sabotage: It ought to be relatively easy for characters who are familiar with the area to sneak into the mill site and do damage which will slow down construction and cause additional expense for Argrepfas. Although at least two workmen will be on guard at the camp near the mill, until trouble breaks out no guard will be in the mill itself, and it could be approached overland under cover of nearby scrub growth, or even better, by floating or swimming down stream to approach it from the water where any activity will be shielded from view by the incomplete walls of the building. If they take this option early on their best method of sabotage will probably be to undermine the walls, cut through timbers and try to damage the soundness of the mill building. This is hard work, and can be noisy, so there is some work involved. If they wait until the mill is farther along they can sabotage the mill machinery much more easily, breaking teeth off of cogs, smashing the wheel, jamming various mechanisms, etc. The problem with sabotage is that it's best done by a small group, under cover of night, and it is very illegal. At their first attempt if they make noise or take too long they may attract workmen investigating from their camp down stream. They can probably escape from that. But after that there will be a guard near the mill at all times and they will be easier to catch. If they are caught they will almost certainly be beaten, and then turned over the the local Magistrate for an appropriate punishment, which would include an unpleasant flogging and fines which could bankrupt the family. If they are driven off and then caught on a second time Argrepfas may have offered a reward, and it's quite possible that they will be beaten to death or drowned by the workmen. Even worse, if they stir up suspicion and are caught later, Argrepfas may have hired as many as 4 guards, depending on how seriously he takes the threat.

Hiring Help: The family still has money, and if they are scared, that money can buy assistance. It might be somewhat risky to go to nearby Helbaros and hire local bravos who might be easily subverted, but if they take the two days to travel to Bergamnios they can hire professional thugs, even mercenary soldiers or assassins to discourage Argrepfas. These sorts of people will want to be well paid, and will want to do the job quickly, efficiently and completely. If they are any good at their jobs they will want to kill all the workers and Argrepfas, and do it in the same night, either hiding the bodies or making it look accidental. They will then leave and the family will have to answer questions from the authorities. If they pay less money or pick their helpers less well, the hirelings may think that they can merely intimidate Argrepfas or his crew. Argrepfas is fairly tough, and this could be a mistake, since he would then either bring in as many as a dozen guards, or go to the authorities, or both. And when either of those things happen, cheap hirelings will hit the exits and leave the family holding the bag.

Stirring Up Trouble: Perhaps the most effective course of violence, but also the most problematical would be stirring up trouble with the local population. If there are characters who are skilled at persuading and manipulating people it might be possible to convince local people that the mill will do them real harm, or even just spread effective rumors about it. If people were to start to believe that it would contaminate the river and kill the fish, or dry up the water they use for irrigating their crops, they would be easy to organize to take action. Getting hold of a sympathetic local who was not part of the family to organize that action would be a good idea. Just finding the most irate, respected and charismatic local farmer would do the job. If fear of the mill developed then petitions to the authorities could be put together and even more violent actions could be pursued. In fact, because the authorities will act very slowly in response to a petition, and are more likely to listen to Argrepfas' bribes, it won't take much to stir people up into going down as a mob and just burning down the mill. Since the government tends to treat mobs as if they were an act of the gods, there wouldn't be much Argrepfas could do, unless hehad some idea that it was all contrived and part of a conspiracy, in which case he might be willing to pay big enough bribes to get the local legion to come up from their fort near Bergamnios and conduct an investigation. This would be a disaster for everyone, since that would probably involve just randomly torturing peasants and other suspicious types. It's also likely that just killing Argrepfas would take care of the problem, but if they went this route they would need to make sure they got a very reliable assassin who disappeared shortly thereafter, and hopefully made the death look like an accident. But just killing Argrepfas might be the most cost effective use of their money.

Radical Options

There are other stranger routes the characters might choose to pursue, including several which involve magic.

Consulting a Priest: There are a number of priests in the area that they could go to. There are several temples in Helbaros, and a colony of Aescetics not far away in the hills. The main temples in town are dedicated to Sabazios, Dyaus Sator and Kybele. They probably know better than to approach the priests of Dyaus Sator, since it is a sub-branch of the state religion and unlikely to be sympathetic to their plight. There's a certain amount of fear and suspicion of the priestesses of Kybele, so they might not be the first choice either. The priests of Sabazios are easy to approach, and might give assistance and advice, in exchange for something on the lines of a decent size share in the family's mill. Tbey can do two things to help. They can help stir up an angry mob if that's desirable, or they can intercede on behalf of the family with the local Magistrates. If they help stir up a mob, that will have about the same effect mentioned earlier. If they put in a word with the Magistrate the effect will be virtually nil. But it's possible that one of the younger, but more erudite priests might suggest a third option, only if the first two are rejected. He mentions that in ancient times it was believed that rivers were inhabited by protective spirits, some of which were even godlike in their power. If they can wake the spirit of the River Ibras, it might be persuaded that the mill will interfere with the river and should be destroyed. That would stop the mill dead once and for all. Unfortunately the priests don't know a great deal about waking old nature spirits, and they suggest seeing Ulpurniga, an old witch-woman who lives just outside Helbaros. Their last religious alternative would be to visit the Volgarian Ascetics who live up river from the mill in a compound where they study various alchemical secrets. For a price paid in access to the mill for grinding powdered compounds, they might provide a nice chemical explosive to blow the mill up, but that's about the extent of their usefulness.

Seeking a Mage: Helbaros isn't the center of civlization and is not filled with professional mages eager to help people out for money. There are a few self-styled seers who do mostly divination. For a fee they will advise the characters to go to Bergamnios. If they follow that advice they could get help in several forms, from a Pyromancer to burn down the mill, to a Hydromancer to direct the river away from the mill, to a Necromancer to call up a spirit to haunt the mill. Any of those mages would be very expensive to hire, and their magic could be countered if Argrepfas is willing to pay the price, which would be high since using magic for those kinds of purposes is severely discouraged by the government. One other option which may occur to the characters is the old witch woman Ulpurniga who lives outside of Helbaros. She can help, but she wants a high price as well. What she offers to do is call up the spirit of the river Ibras and convince that spirit to desroy the mill, which is impinging on its territory anyway. Her price to do this is that one of the party must enter her service for two years, during which time they will get room and board and be expected to work hard to make the old woman's life easier. Alternatively they could buy her a household slave of very high quality. In eiher case she would prefer a female servant of relatively high magical aptitude and intelligence.

Summoning the Spirit Ibras: If they can get Ulpurniga to do this, it may be one of their best courses of action. The actual summoning is time consuming, involving a hike up into the mountains to the headwaters of the river, a lengthy ritual, and then an effort to arouse the spirit's interest. They will have to go with Ulpurniga, and by the time she is done with the summoning she will be too worn out to talk to the spirit, and they will have to convince it of the undesirable nature of having a mill in the waters of its river. Sinc ethe mill involves diverting part of the course of the river this might be easy to do. The spirit itself is imposing, a giant humanoid form, green with algae and with hair and beard like marsh grass, carrying a great fish-shaped spear and commanding enormous powers over water. Once convinced he should do it he will flood down to the mill and destroy it rapidly, and if it ever gets rebuilt he will do the same to any new mill, including if the family wants to build one later. If they can't convince him he will return to his dormant state and Ulpurniga will still want her servant.

Aftermath

If the mill is destroyed, the characters will have to face the risk of being connected to that destruction. Their personal risk can be minimized by being cautious or even more by getting someone else to do the dirty work. However, any violence to the mill will leave them as prime suspects, unless it is something which they are unlikely to have had control over, such as a flood caused by an angry river spirit.

Another question they have to deal with is the future of the mill. Assuming they are successful, they will want to take over the mill and rebuild it for their own use -- their father sees the future coming. In that case they will be much better off if they have not alienated local spirits or the local population from the very idea of water mills.