The CSSC: the Combined Secomber Shipping Companies.

The CSSC is another project by Kelvin Thyrst, this time together with Theronsten Llothar.
Thorensten Llothar is a mage merchant with a disputable past, about which he doesn't like to talk. Sometimes his buisiness methods lack style, but they always improve his position or gain.

Theronsten used to own three boats that travelled along the Delimbiyr, and off the cost up to Waterdeep, but several unforeseen events took out two. (One was Theronsten's own fault, though he will never admit that.)
Kelvin, looking for ways to improve or forward his harbour plans, saw a possibility and offered the old Merchant a partnership. It's a loose partnership, with both partners keeping a weary eye on the other.

All boats operating for the CSSC (one is fully owned by Theronsten, three are semi- independent) use the CSSC for administration, coordination, and repairs. The CSSC has a small office in Waterdeep and representatives in Loudwater, Zellbros and Daggerford. The merchant captains of the boats have to carry all goods the CSSC asks them to, on fixed routes set by the CSSC, but are allowed to do their own bit of trade or transport with the free capacity left.

CSSC Ships.

The four ships of the CSSC are:

The Theronsten Two, captain Baldur Lothar (a nephew of Theronston). A heavy, slow vessel used to transport large amounts or heavy objects. You're not in a hurry when taking this ship. A lot of the work of the Secomber stone cutters is transported using the Theronsten Two. The ship is big enough to travel all the way over sea to Waterdeep, although Theronsten doesn't like to risk his ship in the (infamous but overrated) Lizard Mash.

The Unicorn's First, under captain Joanna Dassault. A slim, rather small vessel with just six sailors. It's small enough to be men (or elf) powered. This is the ship that takes care of most 'special' transports, and it has visited the High Forest,  Orlbar and Llorkh. Note that the Unicorn's First is the only ship known to have travelled into the High Forest, and return! This ship is too small to take on the Sword Coast.

The Dragon's Breath is owned and run by a gnome family FromWayDownUnder. It is relatively new and powered by two Steam Dragonettes (a kind of steam engines build by the priests of Gond) but has run into a lot of problems. The Dragon's Breath is noisy, but the new technology means it doesn't care about faltering winds. Only about failing machinery... Kelvin's plans for Secomber's harbour were exactly what the gnomes were looking for: a place to repair their ship. The Dragon's Breath has done a few Waterdeep runs, but only when accompagnied by the Sailor's Dream.

Sailor's Dream is a midsized ship under the command of captain 'Slick' Moander. It's the most profitable ship with the worst administration. Actually, all the penalties keep Moander's profits low, but he doesn't seem to care much. Moander doesn't care much about the Lizard Marsh and travels on a regular base to Waterdeep. 'Skinning some Lizards' as he calls it. He sometimes looses a few sailors on these trips, and adventurers get reduced rates, especially archers and priests...

Daily control of the CSSC ships is in the hands of the merchant captains themselfs. Routes, business deals, and general company decisions are made in the Secomber office. All captains have 1 vote, the Secomber town council has one, and Theronsten and Kelvin have each 3 votes.
Anybody can 'transfer' his vote to somebody else, who can vote in their place in the CSSC meetings (this is especially important as the captains normally can never attend.). Joan Dassault and the FromDownUnder family have transfered their votes to Kelvin Thyrst, and Baldur Lothar (ofcourse) transfered his vote to his uncle.
'Slick' Moander transferred his vote to the daughter of the Mayor, and sometimes a six year old girl upsets the CSSC meetings by claiming that all of this is so boring, and can she go outside and play now and get that icecreme that somebody promised...
Under normal circumstances, the Secomber town council refrains from voting, and doesn't even attend the CSSC meetings. (Neither does the mayor's daughter, but sometimes the Mayor has had enough and needs to enlighten his day.)

The CSSC is growing... Theronsten Llothar is considering buying another ship, a new Theronston One. And Kelvin Thyrst is talking to more 'independent operators', and hopes to bring them under the CSSC flag. The problem is: there is just limited demand on the Delimbiyr, so further expansion is almost impossible, unless ships go outside and travel to Waterdeep...

You will find the CSSC office on the second floor of The Knee (19) overlooking Big Leg. Kelvin Thryst is known to sleep overnight in his office, sometimes. Nobody dares to disturb him the next morning, when this happens... he has something of a (rather bad) morning temper when he wakes up on his desk...

Magic.

Those looking for powerfull magic have come to the wrong place. The major wizard of Secomber (Amelior Amanitas) is known to be aloof of visitors, and often out of town. His small house and tower are warded by spells, and the locals take a very dim view of anyone bothering the mage or disturbing his property,, especially when he's not around himself.

(Part of the deterrent is Amelior's reputation. Regardless if he's around or not, his creations have a tendency to explode.)

However, there is some magic that you can run into.

Guardstones.

Everywhere in and around of Secomber you will find small, pink colored boulders. Most of them are roughly ovoid without any specific markings, but the surfaces are smoothly polished. These 'Guardstones' are made of leftovers by the Stonecutter's Guild.

A warning is in it's place! The inhabitants of Secomber take a very dim view of (unauthorized) people messing around with their Guardstones!
 

Using Guardstones.

Guardstones are used to mark areas belonging to a certain owner. The stones relate to the owner, and alarm him when 'something unwanted' is happening, such as a house on fire, a thief breaking in, and similar events.

(There is no exact description of 'unwanted'. Warnings are given on a case by case basis, differing from person, guarded area, any objects in the area, etc. In general: events that the tuned person does not like. Often: damage or theft of property, tresspassers, etc....)

Guardstones have several limitations. In pite of this, almost all houses or gardens in Secomber do have Guardstones. The limitations are:

1. They guardstones can only be linked to one person at a time (only one person receives the warning).
2. A person can only be linked to one set of guardstones at a time.
3. Their reach is limited (about two miles, further away you won't receive a warning). Hoewever, if you are linked to the stones, you will notice it when you enter or leave this range.
4. The area they guard may not be 'fragmented' (so you can't guard two houses in two different parts of town).
5. The guarded area cannot be too big (maximal size depends on the number of stones,  and the shape of the area, but a small house plus medium guarden can be covered by four stones).
6. They guardstones don't tell you what is happening.
7. Bringing otherGuardstones into 'guarded' areas blocks both warnings (after sending out a last alarm)..
8. All Guardstones must be of the same 'batch' (they must be created or tuned at the same time).

Ofcourse, when something happens that would stop the working of the Guardstones, change the tuned person, a dispell magic, etcetera, the guardstones will send out a warning just before they stop working.
 

Tuning Guardstones.

Tuning a Guardstone to a specific person is remarkably easy: first you collect the stones you want to tune, and cast the first level spell 'Tune Guardstones'. That's all.

Amelior's Tune Guardstones.
2nd level wizard spell, Abjuration / Evocation.

Range:  10 yards, touch
Components: V,S,M
Duration: permanent
Casting time: 1 round per stone
Area of effect: 2 stones + 1 stone per level caster
Saving:  none

This spell tunes a number of guardstones. (The 'tuned' stones will send their alarm to the specified person.) The material components needed are the stones. These must be roughly round, made of granite or marble, with a smooth polished surface. A good guardstone weighs about eight pounds. The first person touched by the spellcaster, after completion of the spell, will be the person the stones 'tune' to.
Guardstones can be any size, but larger stones take more time to enchant.
All Guardstones must be tuned in one 'batch'.
 

Creating Guardstones.

The process of creating Guardstones is simple, yet not completely without risk. The original spell was devised by Amelior Amanitas. His original version created 'exploding' guardstones, something his gardener didn't like.
Amelior managed to tune down the nature of the alarm, yet during creation the stones still may go 'boom'. (This is why most mages prefer not too enchant too big stones, or too many stones at once, or even create Guardstones at all...)

Only the normal Create Guardstones spell is well known by the mages in Secomber. Both other variatons are only known by Amelior himself, and perhaps some of his apprentices.

Amelior's Create Guardstones.
4th level wizard spell, Alteration.

Range:  10 yards.
Components: V,S,M
Duration: permanent
Casting time: 1 round per stone
Area of effect: 1 stone per level caster
Saving:  special

This spell creates a number of guardstones. The material components needed are the stones. These must be roughly ovoid, made of granite, with a smooth polished surface. Guardstones can be any size, but larger stones take more time to enchant.
All Guardstones must be created in one 'batch'. After creation, they still have to be 'tuned'.
There is a 5% chance per (normal sized) stone that the spell fails. If this happens, each stone in the batch explodes, causing 1d4 damage to a person within 20 yards. In other words: enchanting 4 stones means there is a failure rate of 20%. If the spell fails, each (normal sized) stone inflicts 1d4 points of damage. Spread the damage if more people are within range of the exploding stones.
 

Milestones.

Amelior's Create Milestones.
5th level wizard spell, Abjuration / Evocation.

Range:  10 yards.
Components: V,S,M
Duration: permanent
Casting time: 1 round per stone
Area of effect: 1 stone per level caster
Saving:  none

This spell creates a number of Milestones.
Instead of warning a 'tuned' person, these stones explode when something 'unwanted' happens, each stone causing 1d4 points of damage to individuals within reach (spread damage over multiple characters).
Although the damage is not extremely large, the explosion can be heard for a mile around (hence the name).
You cannot 'tune' Milestones. Only the creator can move the stones around. Obviously, the stones will only explode one time. Milestones are not 'linked', and a person can set up as many milestones as he likes. Milestones can be dispelled.
Further details as in the Create Guardstones spell.
 

Rollingstones.

Amelior's Create Rollingstones.
6th level wizard spell, Abjuration / Evocation.

Range:  10 yards.
Components: V,S,M
Duration: permanent
Casting time: 1 round per stone
Area of effect: 1 stone per level caster
Saving:  none

This spell creates a number of Rollingstones. This is a variation on Amelior's Milestones.
Instead of exploding, all stones involved start rolling around for four rounds. Anybody stepping on a stone (throw an ability check for dexterity every round) will fall down. (Make saving throws for all items carried, spells will fail, etc.) If large boulders are enchanted, these will roll over the targets, causing additional damage.
During the first three and a half minute, a wave of noise will sweep over the area. During the last thirty seconds of the spell, you will hear a lot of people applauding and cheering while the stones return to their original positions. Nobody knows why.
You cannot 'tune' Rollingstones. Only the creator can move the stones around without triggering them. Although the stones will return to their positions, they will only roll one time per day. After 'rolling', the stones can be destroyed, moved, or the magic dispelled. Further details as in the Create Guardstones spell.
 

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