Session #109: Pirates-At-Arms - The Old Outpost

 Quite a while ago at this point, Iqtadar Sesel offered haven to a portion of the crew of the Darkwing pirate galley when that ship and its crew were captured. The deal was that they would serve him as men-at-arms most leal, and if they did so, they would be spared the fate for pirates in Cothon--hanging in the gibbets for the gulls and korakes to peck at their carcasses.

As such, Sesel equipped them in bulk as men-at-arms and gave them orders to assist in the survey of his demesne and the clearing of that demesne of monsters and the location of any treasures that might be hidden about.

This will be a series of parallel games to the main characters, allowing some refreshing low-level play at times, or a chance to bring newcomers into the setting and game, or a way to run something while main characters are off doing something else. There are also other options for these sorts of games--Bob Hall, Fort Doghouse, Fort Stormbreak, and the Was'go all provide opportunities for similar play of men-at-arms. Because its being run separately, I'm going to experiment with some different xp rewards, especially if certain non-human characters are played.

There is a plan in place that eventually, the events of this series of adventures will line up in "real time" with the events of the main game.

All that aside, the first object of interest for Sesel to send his "pirates-at-arms" to investigate was an old outpost he had observed on the western extent of his domain, and thence a portion of his ten (10) total pirates went exploring:

• Beanie (Luwian fighting-man 1)
• Ishak (Ismiirli magic-user 1)
• Ulf Catil Skardy Rolafson (?) (Hansemann fighting-man 1)
• Nit (Misrian fighting-man 1), deceased
• "Denny" (Denyan fighting-man 1)
• and later, Yaro (Leaguer fighting-man 1)

Exploration of the place took two attempts. The first involved sneaking around a huge crustacean, further sneaking past some terrible and strange flying worm-things, and ultimately the collapse of the upper works of the outpost's dilapidated tower. Nit was killed in the collapse, though at least the flying worms' lair was destroyed; but the company felt like they needed to return to Sesel's iqta' to regroup and beg some Sakkra blood potions of their patron.

The return expedition was much more successful. They fought off some leaping lizard monsters, and also dealt with some kind of hypnotic serpent that nearly drowned Beanie and left Yaro badly poisoned and ill for the next week. But they recovered quite a decent haul of loot for being a company of less powerful adventurers.

As the Scribes understand, Beanie was the record keeper to provide a report to Sesel, and so we may receive more details as to the happenings when he has turned in his report.

The Lucre

• 200 dinars (gp), 800 dirhams (sp), 400 fals (cp)
• alexandrite gem (500 dn)
• alkari shanu'u head amulet, with gem eyes (1800 dn)
• twelve chests containing ten (10) weeks of iron rations each (1800 dn total)
• three amphorae of good Luwian wine (600 dn total)
• silver-and-bronze braided torc (200 dn)
• alkari feather amulet with an eye-against-evil (amulet of protection +1)
• aspis -type shield with coiled-serudla ensign (shield +1)
• strange mace ("tech")

The Learning (6861 xp total)

• 5184 xp from treasure
• 449 xp from krua
• 530 xp from x4 naghli
• 395 xp from x5 'ulasta
• 303 xp from hysnaton
• 100 bonus xp to Ulf and Denny for exploration
  238 bonus xp to Beanie for exploration, report, and slaying one 'ulasta and the hysnaton
  130 bonus xp to Ishak for exploration and sleeping the other 'ulasta

The Cut

• 1472 xp to Ulf and Denny
  1502 xp to Ishak
  1610 xp to Beanie
• 1372 patron xp to Sesel
• 540 dinars, 160 dirhams, and 80 fals to each pirate (from coinage and sale of gem, amulet, and torc ... if any pirate especially wants something, they can "buy it out" of the pot with their earned coinage ... though the 1800 dn amulet would take some special negotiation)
• the other items are held by Sesel; if he wishes to sell the iron rations and wine, he can split that coinage how he wishes (or keep it), and the special items are to be held in reserve at his iqta', able to be "rented" by men-at-arms for expeditions according to his own terms

Public Mourning for the Dead: Nit

Institutional and Leadership Experience

 There are by now a number of institutions in Cothon-Gadeed and its hinterlands which have been invested in and developed by, or are outright run by player-characters. Most ambitious, perhaps, is Sesel's iqta', which includes the fortified tower he was granted permission to construct by the Souffets, as well as a colony of Klackons he installed on his lands. Fort Bugeater is now another such stronghold to be developed by him and Censor Pako; but there are also Fort Doghouse in the Ocean's Throat; Bob Hall in the nearby caverns; also in said caverns, the renyu tribe of the Was'go; within Cothon itself are Durham's Ringing Anvil, Fa Min's dojo, Heijo's teashop, and the confraternities of Najm (St. Iskameen) and of Arngeir (a saint whose name the scribes don't immediately recall, unfortunately). There is also still, in Old Tsurr, the Crag Keep of Lord Althis and his compatriot (whose name the scribes have also forgotten, alas).

Nods have been made toward the various ways these institutions might be further developed, or put to use by their patrons. But these have mostly been material, either as acquisitions or assets of the institutions, related directly in some way to money or other directly material gains. What I want to explore now is the possibility of the development of the "spirit", one might say, of the patrons of these institutions. Pockets can certainly be lined by leveraging institutional growth--but what about, instead, seeking growth of one's qualities of leadership and of the esprit de corps of the institution itself?

I've seen systems where player-characters can earn experience for the expenses they spend on building and maintaining domains, which I am not currently proposing. Instead, per a conversation with Jacob (player of Sesel), I've had a different kind of thought, one more closely tied to the idea of learning through leadership and the commanding of followers and retainers.

So this is my thought:

Institution holders with man-at-arms or magic-using type followers who send these followers on a quest or expedition should earn for themselves some fraction of the total experience points earned by their followers, as a part of their growing experience in command and leadership. For this game, in the same way that retainers or followers under the command of a player-character earn 50% of the PC's experience "sui-generis" (i.e. it doesn't come out of the total pool of xp), then leadership experience will also be generated separately and not come out of the pool of experience of those followers sent on the mission.

The leader's experience gain will not be a fraction of any individual's earned experience, but instead a fraction of the entire pool of experience points. Just what fraction is right isn't immediately clear to me, and we will almost certainly have to run through some different ventures at this before coming to the right portion. My initial thought is 20% of the total experience of the expedition; but it's not clear if this will be too generous (I still want to see institution-holding PCs adventure for the sro's share of their xp) or if it would be too stingy (thus making it unworthy of the attention of an institution holder to even bother).

The offering of bounties might be an additional method for characters to earn leadership experience points, especially for those who are higher in level, flush with cash, and yet who do not personally direct any men-at-arms or magic-users who might adventure on their behalf.

I don't have a clear sense of how bounties or rewards might translate into experience points in this way. My first thought is perhaps that a bounty of 200 dinars x character level might be the maximum amount that could earn experience for one-to-one rates (dn to xp), but putting such a flat cap on experience from quests doesn't seem quite right. A fraction like what I suggested for other institution holders seems more appropriate. But perhaps this shouldn't be a separate class of inspiration for a quest; perhaps those who inspire a quest through offer of bounties or rewards should earn the same fraction of experience points from an expedition as those who send their direct vassals on a quest, and the bounty just happens to be the means of inspiration, instead of any sense of loyalty or fealty.

I'm interested to hear what others think of this idea; and also interested in testing this idea out directly for those interested in inspiring quests and earning experience indirectly through the success of their underlings in such expeditions.

It should be noted that direct leadership of followers or retainers in a larger context, i.e. in battles or other military matters, would garner a leader-type experience in the normal fashion, through the defeat of enemies and the acquisition of spoils. What is under consideration here is the sending or inspiration of followers or retainers into adventurous undertakings of their own.

Researches and Developments

Being a summary of a number of downtime activities undertaken by various characters:

1) The Demon-Klackon Cash-Strings
Bearer of All Things Gan ad-Din recently sought through the city of Cothon to find "the right buyer" for a hoard of Klackon cash-strings, which were recovered as part of the haul from a recent expedition into the Necropolis of the Tel, where it was rumored there had been some kind of demon- or ghost-Klackons awakened from their ancient tombs.

Having gotten only paltry offers from a number of pawnbrokers operating through the city, Gan was almost in despair of finding a buyer. Returning to the tavern Cothon-Under-Star to contemplate his next move, he happened to find the Klackon philosopher Li-Rey in attendance at the bar, and having been acquainted with him before, on a whim Gan showed him one of the strings of coins.

The dore-philosopher's antennae stood up in excitement as he looked upon the coinage. "That is very interesting!" he said drily, but made good his interest by offering to introduce Gan to a Klackon antiquarian in the western Klackon-districts of the city. They set out as soon as their drinks were finished, and thus did Gan earn the interest of a second Klackon patron (after Katax)--one Chiriq'tai, a dore who had served the former Philosopher-Queen of the Xholda-Klackons, and who now composes poetry amongst the gardens overlooking the Roads.

Chiriq'tai was indeed most interested in the coins, informing Gan that they were of the type once carried by the Doulii-Klackons, whose Immortal Columns had once threatened Tsur al Qadim, and similar to the custom of nomadic Free Klackons even now, who punch holes through coins to carry them more easily as they wander the lands.

Though the coming of the Doulii predates the coming of the Attines or Xholda, Chiriq'tai is nevertheless interested in any bit of Klackon history, as an antiquarian, and so offers to purchase the hoard of coinage at its full value of 6500 dinars (ea. of the 13,000 coins being roughly equivalent of a nufdinar). He notes that this is in part his way of funding future expeditions that might turn up such artefacts, and hopes that Gan, his employer, and their associates will continue investigating wherever the coins were found, and to offer him, Chiriq'tai, first refusal of whatever is discovered--and most especially, not to attempt to sell any such discoveries to the Free Klackons!

• 1000 dinars each to Bartholomew Pettibone, Heijo, Durham, Avin, Sesel, and Revna
  500 dinras to Gan ad-Din
• Chiriq'tai will buy future artefacts related to Klackon history at full value, without Gan having to roll for finding the right buyer

(perhaps Gan deserves a bit of a "seller's commission" from the company?)

2) The Xentronium Halberd of the Qumqum
One of the items recovered by the party who accompanied Lars (then still "Fangripper") on his quest for the Ghar was a marvelous halberd, forged entirely of an alien black alloy, hard as adamant and with an edge that could almost bite steel. It had been wielded by an invisible demon in an ancient tomb-comnplex--the qumqum, or "thunderer--and yet, as none of the company had need of it, they granted it to fellow barbarian-adventurer Arngeir of the Green Gleam.

Curious as to the strange alloy's nature, Arngeir took the halberd to Durham of the Ringing Anvil, whose knowledge of metallurgy allowed him to craft weapons and armor out of another legendary alloy, the greenish zortrium--the very metal that Durham had worked into plate armor for Arngeir!

Looking it over and poring through his codices of metallurgy, Durham guessed that the halberd was forged of xentronium, an alloy even more rare--and more durable--than the incredibly scarce zortrium. But his codices had little to say about xentronium, other than to note that it was unworkable, even when heated in the hottest forge. Whatever form the alloy took, thus it would remain until the end of time--unless one could somehow win through to the workshops of the Demons in the Fortress Moon, or find a forgotten forge of Gods or Heroes.

Determined to learn more, Arngeir turned to the library of the Herm & Stone tavern, where he is a member, hoping that in their collection of works about minerals and alloys that something more could be learned of xentronium. There, he found reference to it in some of the oldest legends and epics of the Gods and Heroes, some tales from even before their battles against the Demons, e.g.:

... In those days, they resolved to return to Paradise. So they sent round their heralds with their echoing helms, did Shaddam, Sikander, and Arcturos, and gathered their hosts, and the lanterns of their ships outnumbered the stars in the sky. That was when the stars were fixed, and the Star of Paradise shone west.

But they found the Guardian they had set over the Gates of Paradise stood there still, and as they had commanded it to let none enter there, so it denied them entrance, faithful to the end. A giant it was, clad in black armor, and a lance of death was in each of its hundred hands so that even alone it was an army. That was a battle that shook heaven.

And when the Guardian was at last laid low, it was Shaddam's champion Parvenius who stripped off its black armor, and took its cuirass for himself. That was when Loxanar revealed himself, and because the Gods had forgotten much that they had left behind, he taught them again the crafting of xentronium, as the armor was called, and how to pierce the veil, and other secret things. He it was who warned them of the Demons, and some say he was an heir of the Gods, and others that he was a Demon leading them into a trap. ...

(excerpt from the Shahnakhtab by ibn Kheir, a "book of kings" tracing kings and prophets all the way back to the age of the Gods)

Other references to xentronium indicate that it was said to be found almost always in the possession of Demons, in their Fortress Moon, or held by those who have dealings with Demons, or those few who have defeated them and plundered their holdings. Dalan II., ancient king of Tsur al Qadim, was said to have armed his bodyguard with xentronium after his expedition against the Fortress Moon.

The alloy is always said to be indestructible, and impossible to work--save in the workshops of the Fortress Moon, where it can be shaped by forces incomprehensible to mortals. It resists even the hottest fires, and yet is said to be particularly suitable for certain deep enchantments.

3) The Map to the Glorious Cloak of Eyes
From amongst the plunder recovered from the Sixth House of the Attines, Durham of the Ringing Anvil claimed and was granted a woven Klackon text and tapestry seeming to indicate that it was a map to an artefact called the Glorious Cloak of Eyes. The work is of a combined nature: one part is a pictorial "map" artistically rendered; the other a companion periplus-account, a kind of literary-historical "map".

The finely woven tapestry depicts a Klackon heroine (identified as Qatax the Blind, sometimes called Qatax the Sage, contemporary of the warrior Tihirok of Do-Chitik) wearing a robe of eyes and leading an expedition of fellow Klackons and their Princess to colonize the caverns of what must surely be the Tel al Safina in the days when Tsur al Qadim still stood proudly to its south. Entering the caverns of the Tel, the Klackons fight back other inhabitants of the underworld while digging out their own place amongst the caverns; and yet an ominous presence seems to wait for them in the nearby strata ...

A somewhat crude representation of the tapestry-map

The accompanying periplus-history (not really a "periplus", which means "sailing around", but a description of a journey in the same vein) gives an account of the expedition's trials and travails, their descent into the caves, selection of a site to begin their colony, &c. That much can be gleaned by a casual question posed, for instance, to Tki'it the Klackon bartender at Cothon-Under-Star, or any other Klackon willing to look over the knotted khipu-strands making up the account.

As for getting the specific details that will help to actually locate the proper caverns, Durham will have to spend downtime to hire a Klackon interpreter to translate the relevant passages, or perhaps commission someone to magically read it (and maybe assist on an expedition to find the lost colony of Qatax!).

4) Help Wanted! Najm Seeks a First Mate
From about 28 August to 18 September, Najm ibn Marwan was gone from Cothon, travelling with his crew on his ship the Saint Iskameen to and from the north-eastern coastal town al Agadrein, from which Najm hails. There, he offered to help his uncles in their fishing-ventures with his new-won wealth, but was rebuffed by his family as one "putting-on-airs", and they squandered his money.

Despite the failure of this intent, the short jaunt along the coast proved useful for Najm in learning that he was in need of a strong second-in-command to aid operations on his ship--he needed a First Mate!

To that end, immediately he had disembarked once more into Cothon, he established himself at the harbor-tavern Fara's Hole-in-the-Wall, frequented by sailors, and put out a call via criers that he would be receiving as candidates anyone interested in taking on the responsibilities--and opportunities!--of being his second in command. He is looking in particular for a fighting-woman or -man who wields their sword with a sure hand, and knows something of command over the men-at-arms Najm has also hired to protect his interests. This character will be paid a share of profits from fishing ventures, a stipend directly from Najm, and will have the chance to participate in ventures into the Underworld to win their own share of riches!

Which is to say, anyone interested in writing up an NPC hireling, this is your chance to send them my way (i.e. send them to Cullen via Discord). Najm will hire one character out of whatever pool of candidates present themselves to him by 30 October. Any others who are not taken up will then join the general list of hirelings looking for work in the city, and thus be available for hire by other player-characters.

For Hire: The Arwah al Safina

(put together by Jacob, given his characters' investment in the institution to transform the Society of Lamplighters into the Arwah al Safina)

Public Charter

The Society of Lamplighters and Treasure-Bearers, while operating similarly to its previous charter, has fallen under new management. The Survivors of the Tel have expanded their operations and taken over the Society.

While the group remains the same, the methods of hiring and requirements to be met are changing, having seen little to no interest in the Society since its inception.

Unlike the original intent of the Society, to be torchbearers, the newly re-founded Arwah al-Safina, in honor of their founding just following the parade of Immortal Dead, are a society of hirelings who are skilled in either combat arts or magic, and whom grow and improve with the adventures they partake.

Recruiting a Hireling

Recruiting these hirelings is a slightly different process to what it once was. Under the previous Society, a share of treasure was to be dedicated to the organization, and the amount selected dictated which hirelings might be available. In the Arwah, all hirelings are equal, as they will all have training. Therefore there is no roll to hire from the Arwah. Instead a recruitment fee of 75gp is charged, and then you may select anyone from the list.

At the end of the expedition the hireling will receive gold as per normal classed hirlings, a 50% share of treasure.

Much like the original Society, there is an expectation that a diya (man-price) of 100 gold, or a full share of treasure (whichever is higher) is to be paid to the Arwah in the case that a hireling is permanently slain or otherwise maimed in such a way that they can no longer adventure.

Additionally, the Survivors will be reviewing any reports of cruel or harsh treatment of their members, the results of which may end any future possibility for a person to contract with the Arwah. Conversely, members of the Arwah are allowed to request joining adventurers themselves (due to such positive treatment that they wish to join you again), resulting in no hiring cost.

The two major benefits of hiring from the Arwah are:

1) All members are at +1 morale; meaning members are more willing to risk danger and less likely to flee from it compared to others.

2) Members of the Arwah have access to the equipment owned by the Survivors. As a result they will always come equipped with basic arms and armor, and certain other re-usable things can be requested (such as sacks, poles, crowbars, etc).

Arwah Equipment List

When recruiting a member of the Arwah you (or the Arwah member) may select items from this list (must be appropriate for the individual) for them to have equipped during the adventure. While they may share the use of these items, it is the hired Arwah’s discretion on if a request is reasonable or not.

Shields (Maximum: 6)

Swords (Maximum: 4)

Shortbow (Maximum: 4)

Lanterns (Maximum: 3)**

Oil (Maximum: 2 flasks)

Arrows (Maximum: 20 arrows per shortbow)

Bola (Maximum: 3, only taken by Pkunk)

Javelin (Maximum: 4, only taken by Pkunk)

Chain Armor (Maximum: 2)

Plate Armor (Maximum: 3)

Leather Armor (Maximum: 3)

Iron Rations (Maximum: 1 week per hireling)

Tinderbox (Maximum: 1 per adventure)

Waterskin (Maximum: 1 per hireling)

**The Arwah will always bring the following item, their most senior member carrying it. They are willing to use the item for the adventure, but will not lend it or explain how to create the effects. If this item is not returned from an adventure a charge of 100 gold, or a full share of treasure (whichever is higher) is expected to be paid.

The Ghost Lamp

This lamp is built to resemble a normal hooded lamp. However scrawled across its green-metal surface is the contract and original charter of the Arwah al-Safina. There are also a series of small nubs along the top and bottom rim of the lantern.

Unlike a standard lantern, this one is set up to allow for multiple shutters, as well as additives to the flames and oil.

The shutters allow for:

• Normal open/close shutters

• Semi-opaque fire-resistant cloth: creating a dim light, not enough to fight or search by, but enough to make out silhouettes and creatures, similar to a twilight effect

• Mirroring: setup on the inside of ¾ of the lantern, it can act as a spotlight, removing any ambient/local light but causing the light to reach out to twice a lamp’s normal distance in one direction.

The additives change the appearance and function of the flame. Options:

• Ghost-flame
  

• A purple flame

• A white flame

• A red flame

• A blue flame

• A pink flame

• A green flame

• An orange flame

• Golden sparks

• A flash of flame, like the light spell for the purposes of blinding a creature

Membership List

Note: Anyone with Class (untrained) is unavailable at this time, they will need to undergo training prior to being available for hiring.

Name	Class	Equipment	Notes
Wahid the Wastrel	Fighter (untrained)	empty tankard	Likely hung over
Pseudolus Freedman	Fighter	spear and shield	Freed slave
Doctor Sontag	Magic-User	healing kit	Haunted, refuses to fight
Tanit al Jamila	Magic-User	kindjal dagger, spell, leather, shortbow	Flaunts her figure
Vudot Vudot	Magic-User	Charm Person, leather, shortbow	Stentorious orator
Pkunk the Mystic	Alkari	6th sense Will not wear armor	Offers aura readings
Kogus the Bodyguard	Bulrathi	Macuahuitl, Arbalest	Always completes contract

Other Arwah Services

These services are offered in-town, and as-is. No refunds, and if the Arwah member comes under any kind of danger you will be charged as per normal adventuring processes. Other services may be added later, depending on interest

• For 100 gold Pkunk will read your aura and let you know the portents of your next month. By spending a downtime allowing him to read your luck or doom (and paying his fee), this foresight will allow you a reroll of one die in the next month, whether it be one you rolled, or which was rolled around you (i.e. a companion's saving throw, or an enemy's attack or save)

• For 50 gold per hour Vudot Vudot will orate at an event for you (fees for legal oration must be negotiated on a case-by-case basis)

• For 10 gold Doctor Sontang will look over a patient and provide basic medical assistance. For 100 he will act fully in his capacity, including accessing simple healing resources he has access to such as first level spells, potions, etc.

• For 5 gold, or a full wine-flask of decent wine, Wahid will take you on a tour of the best local bars. You’ll also have to pay for his drinks during that time.

*Arwah members keep 10gp or 50% of money from these services used, whichever is more.

Joining the Arwah

Hirelings that wish to join the Arwah have no restrictions, one need only be interested in prolonging your survivability within the Tel to join. A person’s membership in the Arwah al-Safina consists of a handful of significant benefits.

First: If you are unskilled, untrained, or otherwise too focused on a single skill, you will be provided the training of your choice, either to Fighting shape, or in the ways of Magic. This will be done prior to you being listed on our membership chart.

Second: After undergoing training you will be added to the membership chart, used both as a method of contracting out hirelings to the various adventuring companies in Cothon, but also as a sort of rotating participation in the adventures of the Survivors; guaranteeing you at least some adventure and wealth from within the Tel.

Third: Unlike the free-hands and hangers-on scattered about the various taverns, you will have a dedicated support team of adventurers, bringing in new and powerful tools, weapons, and armors which may be lent to you on occasion (at the discretion of the Survivors), or used to improve your survivability within the Tel.

Fourth: Ultimately any members of the Arwah joining the Survivors will have priority, and higher potential for advancement within the Survivors should they choose to join.

Hirelings Revisited

After only a few short months, the landscape of hiring prospective men-at-arms or fellow adventurers--or even a beggar or two--to fill out the ranks of an adventuring party has changed drastically. Uthia of Tarth was slain, and seemingly Zero Zaid as well; others have established themselves as loyal retainers of specific adventurers, as have Gan and Warda; and a group of potential hirelings even organized themselves into a formal society, the Society of Lamplighters, though little has come of it yet.

But this is the way of adventurers and their hangers-on--always changing, always the new replacing the old. Well, with the last two weeks of festival, a new crop of prospective hirelings have appeared amongst the lesser taverns, drawn by rumors of the wealth and success that certain of the company have managed to accumulate in the employ of the Survivors, of the Crag Keep, or of Durham of the Ringing Anvil.

Prospective employers will note that the influx of new gold to the city has inflated the costs of finding a hireling, but that the interests of certain adventurers in "picking out of a pool of like-classed hirelings" has suggested a new way to spend money to cajole these ne'er-do-wells into working for oneself:

Gold Spent	Dice Rolled
3 gp	d6
7 gp	d10
13 gp	d20
30 gp	d30
60 gp	d20+10
75 gp	pick out 4 hirelings, roll 1d4
120 gp	any hireling of your choice

It should also be noted that as the shuffle of buying drinks to find a prospective-hireling's whereabouts has become a kind of ritual in town, so there is a different process in hiring someone with whom a character has had a previous association (e.g. gone on an expedition together; the Scribes keep track of such things).

If there is a character one has had association with whom the player-character specifically wishes to hire, they may choose to pay for a round of carousing (probably 100 gp, except for the few characters on the list already of higher level) and thereby learn that character's favorite hangouts, such that they can be found again in the future without the rigmarole of the table above. Thereafter, that player-character may seek out that prospective-hireling for any future session; the potential hireling is still free to refuse, if there is reason (dislike the proposed expedition, bad blood between them and party members, &c.).

As has always been the case, hirelings are to be paid per class at the end of an expedition (this gold is theirs; the gold spent as above was spent procuring their services):

• beggars are to be paid 5 gp
• footmen, likely youths, and specialists are to be paid 25 gp or a 10% share of treasure at the end of an expedition
• classed characters are to be paid a 50% share of treasure at the end of an expedition
  (a share defined as an adventurer-share, so a footman should be paid 10% of what a player-character is paid)

Further rules concerning the class of the hireling are covered under the original post.

Die Roll	Name	Class	Equipment	Notes
1	Old Zelma	beggar	gnarled cane	she's as gnarled as her cane
2	Hasan ibn Hama	footman	crossbow	a professional man-at-arms
3	Musa "the Hook"	beggar	hook hand	missing his right hand
4	Tarjan Shieldbearer	likely lad	pavise shield	loyal squire
5	Abu Kuruku	beggar	trained kuruku	giggles madly with his kuruku
6	Manto Manlius	footman	mail and sword	former gladiator
7	Theria the Thief	spy	cloak & dagger	skilled spy/tracker
8	Nausica of Wadi Rihha	likely lass	healing kit	speaks a Klackon dialect
9	Stout of Auk	footman	mace	stoutly built
10	'Alia Ukht al Sikin	magic-user	crysknife	addicted to spice
11	Barabajagal	psychic	extra senses	beware his "cosmic cup"
12	Kalil al Kitabi	likely lad	pen knife	knows a great deal of trivia
13	Bridne Murcada	likely lass	hands & feet	trained martial artist
14	Jahira the Eremite	magic-user	club & leather	speaks with animals
15	Stark the Wandsman	fighter	mail, sword, shield	grim-faced and dour
16	Ishna	magic-user	leather, dagger	servitor of the Bani Dawr
17	'Umar al Assad	scholar	staff	mild-mannered but tough
18	Ly Mantok	Sakkra	scimitar,  shield	disgraced smuggler
19	Tumu the Assassin	fighter	poisoned sword	trained assassin/spy
20	al Rabb	free renyu	short sword	skilled tracker and thief
21	Hlaf the Kheshchal	fighter	axe & shield	always immaculately dressed
22	Nuur of Nous	psychic	psionic blast	prematurely grey hair
23	Hry-Haya Yehat	Alkari	bolas	keen interest in artefacts
24	the Grey Gadhar	magic-user	sword "Flicker"	mysterious hooded type
25	Slith Sly	Sakkra	javelins & shield	chameleonic hunter
26	Harrava Rrl	Mrrshan	claws & longbow	skilled spy/tracker, hates Riit
27	Maer Ysarla	magic-user or fighter	mail & sword or sword & spell	silver-skinned and point-eared
28	"Ix" Xixachxit	Thri-Kreen	magic estoc "Tuck"	fights with four arms
29	Riit Rakir	Kzin	claws & wtsai	won't work with Alkari or Mrrshans
30	Muttsok of Samrakan	Bulrathi	claw & club	loves collecting "beautiful" things

Two final items of note: training and retaining:

Concerning training, it has been established by precedent that likely youths, specialists, and footmen can be trained by classed player-characters, if an interest is taken in their further development. A player-character taking a likely youth under their wing can train them up into their own class with the use of a week of downtime. Depending on the circumstances, the youth may thence be taken on as a retainer, or set free to develop as they will.

A specialist or footman, meanwhile, requires more time; already set somewhat in their ways (and skills), such a character requires at least three weeks of downtime training, initiated by at least one week successfully led by a player-character mentor.

Meanwhile, it has become established practice that certain favored hirelings can be indefinitely retained by their employing player-character. Gan and Warda being the most obvious, though Vlana the Bard, by joining the Survivors of the Tel, may fall somewhat into this category. This practice is not to be strictly delineated; it is, after all, a rather personal relationship or contract, developed between employer and retainer out of established rapport.

Nevertheless, it bears mention as a possibility, for those considering such a prospect of permanently retaining one amongst the numbers of hirelings ...