The Help-Wanted Board
Read the postings twice. The second time, for what they DON'T say. The job that pays well usually doesn't.
A Newcomer's Welcome
The scribe at the board has a stack of new notices to post. 'Read these three for spelling before I nail them up. Don't want the Forge calling them sloppy again.'
This will be a read check (your intelligence).
(Declining costs nothing but the gift is gone; you can leave the shop without choosing and come back later.)
Hearthhold Square · Posted Notices
A wooden board nailed to the side of the Golden Kettle. Cork, three layers deep, papered in notices old and new. The town puts work here when it has work. The town pays in gold and sometimes in better things than gold.
Featured postings — full journeys
Courier — dried mint to the Vethik wayhouse
Posted by wren greenmother · 2d round trip
Wren the Greenmother needs a small wrapped bundle of dried mint carried to the Vethik wayhouse, a half-day east of Hearthhold. Old Vethik's daughter has a cough. Reward: 3gp on return, plus Wren will remember this. You will need water for two days and a bite of bread. Sleep at the wayhouse, walk home the next morning.
Sealed dispatch — Hall of the Order to the Reedfork garrison
Posted by hall of the order · 3d round trip
The Hall has a sealed dispatch for the garrison at the Reedfork bridge. Half a day's walk south. The seal must arrive intact. The dispatch is light but the path crosses two unattended sections of road. Pay: 8gp on return of a counter-sealed receipt. Recommended: water for three days, bread, stamina to carry steady pace.
Caravan escort — three days east with Master Brennan's grain wagon
Posted by master brennan grain · 6d round trip
Brennan's grain wagon to the east trading post — three days out, walker's choice on return. The road has been quiet but Brennan wants a second pair of eyes. Pay: 15gp on safe arrival of the wagon. You will walk three days at the wagon's pace, then walk home alone. Need: water for six days minimum, food for five. Stamina matters — pace is slow but steady.
Rubbings — Olin needs the standing stone at Faedun rubbed
Posted by olin antiquarian · 4d round trip
Olin the Antiquarian needs rubbings of the Faedun standing stone — two days north. He will provide the paper and charcoal. The stone is in open country, no shelter. You will sleep rough one night. Pay: 6gp on return of clear rubbings, plus Olin will show you what he reads from them. Bring: water for four days, food for four, a way to keep paper dry.
Forage round — Magda wants three plants she will not name in the posting
Posted by magda wandering · 2d round trip
Magda is in town this week and wants three specific plants brought to her by Vesper-day. She will not name them on the board. Find her behind the bakery at first light tomorrow and she will tell you. Pay: 4gp plus you may keep any plant matter you find above what she needs. Bring: water, food for a day's foraging, a small basket if you have one.
Drive — six goats to the high pasture for the Bren cottage
Posted by bren cottage kitchen · 2d round trip
Old Bren needs six goats driven to the high pasture above the Fennick ridge. Goats are well-behaved but slow. Sleep at the pasture hut, walk back at dawn. Pay: 5gp plus a wheel of Bren's hard cheese on return. Bring: extra water (goats need water at midday too, you'll need to carry their share for one leg), food for yourself, sturdy walking shoes.
Water-cart — a half day's walk to the south village with the bowl-bearers' kettle
Posted by bowl bearer elder · 1d round trip
The Bowl-Bearers need a hand carrying the soup kettle and water-cart to the south village's market day. Half day there, half day back, one stretch on the road. Pay: 2gp, soup at the village, and the kettle home before sundown. Bring: a sound back, your own water.
Letter — Helonor needs a sealed letter to her cousin at the Fennick wayhouse
Posted by helonor librarian · 2d round trip
Helonor at the Library needs a sealed letter carried to her cousin Mira (no, not that Mira) at the Fennick wayhouse. A day west. Mira will give you a reply to bring back. Pay: 4gp on return of the reply, and Helonor will hold a particular book aside for you. Bring water for two days, food, decent shoes.
Coal-haul — three sacks to the smithy from the Reedfork crossing
Posted by smith master borag · 2d round trip
Borag the smith is out of charcoal. Three sacks need fetching from the Reedfork crossing — a half-day south where the charcoal-burner has a stack at the milestone. Pay: 4gp on return of three undamaged sacks. The sacks are heavy. Bring water for the carry — heat from the smithy lingers in the bags. Sturdy back, good shoulders.
Run — fetch the midwife to the Bren cottage by sundown
Posted by bren cottage kitchen · 1d round trip
Old Bren needs the midwife at her cottage by sundown. Half a day's run to fetch — you go to Sera-bench-corner, find the midwife (her name is Marlen), and bring her back. Pay: 6gp on safe return of both of you. Bring water. Pace fast. The midwife will walk back with you; she sets her own pace.
Day's labor — apple harvest at the Fivefold Linden orchard
Posted by fivefold linden orchard · 1d round trip
The Fivefold Linden orchard has more apples than hands. One day's work — picking, sorting, carrying baskets to the press. Pay: 3gp at sundown plus a bushel of seconds (perfectly good apples that are just shaped wrong). The orchard sleeps you for free if you stay through the press. Bring water for the day, food for one meal.
Standing watch — relieve the watchman at the south tower for one night
Posted by watch captain · 2d round trip
The south watchtower needs one night's relief — the watchman is sick. Half day's walk south to the tower, stand the night (you may sleep but only between hours; the bell wakes you), walk back at dawn. Pay: 5gp on return, plus +3 watch standing. Bring water, food, a warm cloak, and steadiness.
Caravan Guard to Three Fords
✦ Class✦ FactionPosted by Haz the Quiet, caravan-master
Haz needs a fourth guard to Three Fords. Three days each way. Two ambushes are likely; one is certain. Sixty gold on safe arrival, full pay even if the cargo is partial.
The Iron Veil's Faulty Bellows
✦ Class✦ FactionPosted by Master Brenhold
The middle forge bellows has stopped pumping smooth. Brenhold suspects a hide-tear. He needs strong arms and a steady hand to lift the assembly while he patches it. Forty gold.
Discreet inquiry: Iron Kingdoms Ember Key — recovery
✦ Class✦ FactionPosted by Captain Vellow (the post is unsigned but the seal is the Watch's)
An unsigned post on the board: 'Discreet inquiry sought regarding the seventh Ember Key. Compensation negotiable, character-witness sufficient.' The Three-Sails innkeeper, asked, will say only: 'Vellow does not put his name on this. He has been known to read the board on Tuesdays.'
Yura's Disappearing Sons
✦ ClassPosted by Yura, of the Golden Kettle
Two of Yura's three sons have not been seen in four days. She suspects the cellar trade has them on some errand. She does not want them harmed. She does not want them arrested. She wants them HOME. Twenty-five gold and a week of free meals.
Watch dispatch: unregistered consecrator at Hearthhold market
✦ ClassPosted by Watch dispatch (Captain Vellow's signature, but with a note: 'Investigate. Do not act.')
A rumor has reached the Watch: an unregistered consecrator is operating in the Hearthhold market. Vellow's dispatch reads, unusually, 'Investigate. Do not act.' The Watch is curious; the Watch is not arresting.
The Smoldering Flask Ghost
Posted by Tessa, of the Smoldering Flask
Tessa has a ghost upstairs. It moves the vials. It hums a note in C-flat at 2 in the morning. She has tried three remedies; none worked. She will pay eighty gold to anyone who can identify it and either banish it or convince it to leave on its own.
Lost Cat in the Whispering Stacks
Posted by Helonor, Master of the Stacks
There is a cat. Her name is Question Mark, by tradition. She is currently somewhere in the third floor of the Stacks. Helonor would like her back. He pays fifteen gold and one Scroll of Light. The third floor is mostly safe.
A Mapmaker's Verification
Posted by Marra of the Quill
Marra has drafted a new map of the Crimson Wastes. She needs someone literate enough to cross-reference it with three existing volumes at the Whispering Stacks and report which place names disagree. Fifty gold. Library access is included.
A Sage's Translation
Posted by An Order Elder, anonymous
An Elder of the Obsidian Archive has three pages in a tongue half-remembered. The pages reportedly concern dragon-bone metallurgy. Translate, paraphrase, do not copy. Seventy gold and the Tome of Cold Iron upon completion.
Old Greb's Lost Story
Posted by Old Greb, of the Tavern
Old Greb has forgotten the end of a story he used to tell about a knight at Caldera Notch. He will pay thirty gold to anyone who can listen to what he remembers and tell him back what he must have forgotten. The reward goes up if you can recite the whole thing correctly afterward.
Counterfeit-bark investigation (Hospital request)
Posted by Sister Inara at the Hospital
Sister Inara has pulled six pieces of kiln-cured-oak counterfeit Hearth-Tree bark from village apothecary stocks this season. She suspects a distributor in the Three-Balls back room. She asks you to investigate quietly. The Watch is informed but not assisting; this is a Hospital matter.
Watch dispatch: Three-Balls forgery — Burning of Wings chapters
Posted by Watch dispatch (Captain Vellow's signature)
Six forged Burning of Wings chapters have surfaced in the Free Cities market this season. The Watch wishes to identify the distributor and confirm whether the forgeries originate in Three-Balls. Helonor at the Library will assist with verification.
Favors — short work, in-kind pay
Not all the work on this board is a contract. Some of it is a favor — a delivery, a gather, a small bounty — paid in maps, provisions, animals, or scrolls more than in coin.
Supplies for the Springs
✦ FavorPosted by Yura of the Wayfarer's Inn
Yura sets down a list and a folded square of waxed cloth. 'Three Springs Village is two days north and Greta is running short of millet, salt, and lamp oil. If you carry this up to her by the fourth d…
Relief Train to Emberhold
✦ FavorPosted by Inara of the Ember Market
Inara taps a sealed crate on her counter. 'Emberhold has had a poor week. Their kiln cracked and their smith broke his wrist. This crate has two replacement chisels, a salt block, and a flask of the b…
The Scroll of Temperance
✦ FavorPosted by Sage Anikkar of the Spire (via the Archive)
Sister Calla slides a brittle wax tablet across the desk. 'Sage Anikkar of the Spire is missing a scroll: the Scroll of Temperance, a single-page Arcane work. We have reason to believe it is in the ru…
The Bandit Cache at Stone Bend
✦ FavorPosted by Captain Vell of the Watch
Captain Vell drops a list of four names on the counter. 'Two of these four are sleeping at Stone Bend tonight. Bring me proof — a signet, a brand, a letter. The Watch pays a tenth of any cache you tur…
Wolves Near Ardenmere
✦ FavorPosted by Maren of the Ardenmere Farms
Maren stops you in the Square — she rode in this morning. 'A wolf-pack has been taking lambs along the Ardenmere fence-line. Four lambs in two weeks. I can pay you in twenty days of provisions and a g…
A Vial from Vorthul's Outer Roost
✦ FavorPosted by Hessa, scout at the Iron Veil Tavern
Hessa keeps a folded map under her cup. 'Two rations of cloth and I'll guide you to Vorthul's outer roost. One day in, one out. There's a flagstone where the blood pools after he turns in his sleep. B…
A Pinch of Iselith's Hearth-Ash
✦ FavorPosted by Brel the frost-pilgrim
Brel keeps a thermos on the Cold Spire road for travelers willing to climb. 'Half a day up to the cairn where Iselith shaped last winter's riddle. The ash is cool to the touch even now. DC 13 WIS to r…
Ash from the Burned Library
✦ FavorPosted by Sister Calla of the Obsidian Archive
Sister Calla writes the permit without looking up. 'Pell's old commonplace shelf is on the third west aisle, second from the floor. The ash there has his hand in it. Bring back a pinch. DC 12 INT to f…
A Pinch of Schoolroom Dust
✦ FavorPosted by Old Ostra of the Forge Road neighbors
Old Ostra is at her stove when you knock. 'You're a friend of Pell's. The schoolroom foundation is at the back of my plot; sweep what you need. Tea first.' She does not ask why. The tea is very good. …
A Comb of Vannora's Honey
✦ FavorPosted by Vannora of Ardenmere Farms
Vannora is in among the hives, smoke-hood off. 'Weed my clover for an hour and I'll cut you a comb. Stand still around the bees, that's the trick. DC 10 CON or take a small dose of stings; you still g…
Two Hours in Brenhold's Lab
✦ FavorPosted by Master Brenhold of the Alchemist's Quarter
Brenhold opens the back door at dusk. 'Sit with me for two hours and answer one question about a wyvern truthfully. If your answer holds, you walk out with a flask of salve. DC 12 CHA to be admitted, …
A Tongue-Twist from the Fens
✦ FavorPosted by White-back Frog-Shaman of the Fens
The shaman sits at the rim of her hut, hands across her knees. 'Bring me a pinch of salt and three honest words about yourself. I will teach you a tongue-twist. DC 12 CHA. Advantage if you carry an an…
One Watch with Hellard's Patrol
✦ FavorPosted by Hellard of the Iron Kingdoms march
Hellard nods you in. 'Stand one watch. The patrol leaves at the eleventh bell, returns at the third. DC 13 CON to stay alert. If you doze, you still get the token, but I remember it.'
The Eighth Cairn Key-Stone
✦ FavorPosted by Hessa, scout at the Iron Veil Tavern
Hessa marks the ring on her map. 'Seven cairns, eight knights. The eighth keystone lies a quarter-mile downhill, half-buried. DC 12 WIS to find without rousing Vorthul. DC 14 STR to lift; two people h…
Reading at the Drowned Throne
✦ FavorPosted by Murex's silent scholar (a rumor)
The drowned king's throne still sits in three feet of brackish water at the edge of the Fens. The two books needed (Lectures on Bog Sovereigns + Iron Crown Catalogue) must both be in your pack. DC 12 …
A Visit to Mara's Hearth
✦ FavorPosted by Linnet, niece-keeper of Mara's hearth
Linnet keeps the hearth cold for visitors. 'You can sit. DC 10 CHA to be admitted, or bring me a jar of Vannora's honey -- I had only one as a girl.'
Skimming the Dry Well
✦ FavorPosted by The goatherd Mira at the Dry Well
Mira nods at the well. 'The wyvern's oil still slicks the bottom. DC 11 CON to descend on a rope -- any rope works. DC 12 DEX to skim a vial without spilling. Fail either and lose 1 stamina and a vial…
A Vellinwall Offcut
✦ FavorPosted by The ruin-keeper at the Vellinwall stones
The ruin-keeper points out a likely heap. 'The originals are mixed with later rusted scrap. DC 12 INT to tell genuine from rusted; DC 11 STR to break it free.'
A Trade with the Cartographer
✦ FavorPosted by The Cartographer of the Wyrm Vales shoulder
The Cartographer keeps a small cabin half a day off the Wyrm Vales road. 'I do not sell the mapcase. I trade it for a sketch of a place I have not been. Draw me any region you have crossed. DC 10 INT …
A Shard from Pellurion's Shoal
✦ FavorPosted by Tomas the fisherman of Briarquay
Tomas keeps his boat half-rigged. 'Four sp and I'll take you out to the shoal. After a storm, his molted scales catch in the kelp. DC 12 DEX to retrieve a clean shard from the surf.'
Helonor's After-Hours Stamping
✦ FavorPosted by Helonor of the Library
Helonor stamps spellbooks only between the eleventh and twelfth bell, and only for travelers who have returned at least one book. DC 10 WIS to time it right (or wait an hour). Free with a returned boo…
Olwyn the Binder, Ardenmere
✦ FavorPosted by Olwyn the Binder
Olwyn's shop smells of glue and pressed paper. 'Six gp and a story I have not heard, and I'll bind your loose pages with silk. DC 10 CHA for a good story, or pay 18 gp.'
An Audience with Tessa
✦ FavorPosted by Tessa of the Smoldering Flask
Tessa will grant the audience to any brewer who can demonstrate three different multi-step brews from the catalogue. Half a day at the Smoldering Flask. DC 12 INT to explain your method, or simply pre…