Locations: Garnoc’s Gloves

Locations: Garnoc’s Gloves

Garnoc is one of Trizol’s premier gloves makers. His shop is located in the city of Newhaven Crossing. His clientele are mostly nobles and rich military officers. He has experience in making a wide variety of leathers into functional and good looking gloves.

Garnoc himself is getting on in age and currently has two apprentices working for him, twin brothers named Markoos and Harkoos. These apprentices stand to jointly inherit the shop when he dies. Although both are very skilled and handle the bulk of the orders coming through the shop, Garnoc has not yet sponsored them to the Guild.

The shop is on the corner of Dragon’s Rest and an unnamed alleyway. It’s a small two story affair that is well kept up. In the back it shares a common area with several other shops and houses. It also shares a dirty stable with the inn next door, although Garnoc does not have any animals at this time.

When entering from the front door, gloves are neatly arranged on shelves. They are sorted by material, size and color. Each pair is left unfinished so that they can be custom fitted to the customer. A glass case against one the interior wall also serves as a sales counter. Displayed inside are some of the more exotic materials, including a set made from black dragon leather. All gloves are masterwork in quality but confer no other game stats unless created to do so by another NPC or PC at DM’s discretion. Prices range from 7gp for basic leather riding gloves to 600gp for the black dragon ones.

A door way covered with a simple curtain separates the front from the workshop in back. It is about twice the size of the front showroom, about fifteen by thirty feet. Bolts of leathers of all types are neatly shelved (about 6000gp worth) along one long wall. A work bench lines the other side. All tools are in their place and the only scraps are from projects currently in progress. At the far end is a small stove for heat. Closest to the door is a comfortable chair for clients to sit in while their hands are measured for custom orders.

Small stairs near the stove lead to the upstairs. It has been divided into four rooms. The twins share one, Garnoc has another and the other two are full of miscellaneous household supplies and broken tools from the shop below.  Garnoc has about three hundred gold hidden in his room (search 15) in various sized coins. It is protected by a magic trap (disable device 25) that freezes (DC:30 save) any would-by thieves.

Garnoc is about 65 years old. He has a full head of greying hair but walks with a slight stoop. He is always immaculately dressed in one of six nice suits that he owns. All are several generations out of style. Over this he wears a leather apron when working in the shop.

Stats: male human commoner; CR 3; HD 3d4+3; hp 11; Init +0; Spd 30 ft; AC 10, touch 10, flat-footed 10 BAB +1;  (1d10+3/x3); AL LG; SV Fort +2, Ref +1, Will +0; Str 8(-1), Dex 10(+0), Con 12(+1), Int 11(+0), Wis 9(-1), Cha 14(+2).

Skills and Feats: HIDE+0, SPOT+2(3), LISTEN-1, MOVE SILENTLY+0, climb+6(4), craft(leatherworking)+6(6), appraise+4(2), use rope+3(3).

Markoos and Harkoos are identical twins. Both are dark haired, about five and a half feet tall. Their age is somewhere between fourteen and seventeen, but they’re not sure. Their parents were killed by bandits and the twins found themselves in a strange city with no support. Even Garnoc is not sure why he took them in, but they have proven to be well worth his trouble. He looks upon them as the sons he never had and is extremely proud of them, although does not show it, merely commenting upon their skills and efficiency.

Twins stats: Human Male, Com1; CR 1; HD 1d4+1; hp 5; Init +0; Spd 30 ft; AC 10, touch 10, flat-footed 10 BAB +0; Melee club +3 (1d6+2); AL LG; SV Fort +1, Ref +0, Will -2; Str 14(+2), Dex 10(+0), Con 13(+1), Int 12(+1), Wis 7(-2), Cha 16(+3).
Skills and Feats: HIDE+0, SPOT-2, LISTEN-2, MOVE SILENTLY+0, craft(Leatherworking)+6(4), escape artist+2(2), heal+1(4),  swim+4(2); simple weapon proficiency(club), track.

Adventure seeds:

  • Garnoc had a falling out with the guild sometime ago. Due to his skills and Noble patronage it has not affected his business much, but with his increasing age and closing retirement the Guild is looking to change that.
  • The twins recognizes one of the bandits who killed their parents in a nearby tavern. The man has recently moved into the city, reformed his ways and taken up an honest trade. But the twins want revenge for what he did.
  • A single glove was found at the scene of a horrific crime. It is clearly one of Garnoc’s creations. The problem is he never sold that pair. Or perhaps he simply does not remember who he sold them too.
  • The night before Garnoc is set to sponsor the twins to the Guild, he dies. Some of the more jealous Guild members see this as an opportunity to take over the profitable and reputable shop. Markoos and Harkoos are distraught over this news and vow to fight however they can, but being merely apprentices, they have no standing in the Guild.
  • A mysterious woman brings in an a piece of extremely rare leather and asks for a pair of gloves. She does not give a name, but leaves an address in the Mage’s district to deliver them too. That night the shop is broken into and only that piece of leather is stolen. The Constable reports that magic, rather then thief skills were used.

Information Responsibility

Information Responsibility

Listening to a rather old episode of the Thomas Jefferson Hour Podcast on the MAX this afternoon, Clay Jenkins who portrays Mr. Jefferson was asked a question “If President Jefferson had an iPod, what would be on it?”

While the question was meant in a “What music would President Jefferson listen too?” Clay immediately started listing off non-MP3 related things. Books, facts, and figures. Pure information, things that could be referenced in conversation. According to Mr. Jenkins, Jefferson considered himself a scientist first, a farmer second, and lastly a patriot thrust into the role by his intellect. I am, of course, paraphrasing there but not by too much.

I began reflecting that into today’s world, nearly everyone has an iPod, or similar technology. A full generation of Americans have grown up with the single greatest source of information at their finger tips. This is something that Jefferson and his scientific and educated contemporaries would have given anything for, if they could even imagined it.

In an age the printing press was still some what of an amazement, books were extremely rare, and Dr. Benjamin Franklin’s public library was still an experiment itself, the Internet as it exists today was simply unimaginable.

Yet this same generation that has grown up with the Internet does not seem to use it to it’s full potential! Of all generations that should know how to, it seems that basic research abilities and critical thinking should be taught at even younger ages then ever before.

But instead of original thinking, plagiarism rules. Or at best unfounded research with no backup and proof.

Is this because of laziness? Is it because the anonymity of the Internet still allows anyone to say anything with little to no criticism, punishment, or recriminations? Is it because the education system, like so many other industries in the United States has not kept up with the technology that is now available? Or is this because the sheer amount of information available in hard to sift through? Or more semi-sinisterly, is it because the information is kept behind digital lock and key only to be doled out to those who know someone or can pay to access it?

I fear that the last reason is more and more becoming the true reason. Everyone is still trying to make a buck on the Internet, and thus information which should be public knowledge is instead kept from the very public that can use it. Couple this with the sheer amount of useless and worse, erroneous information out there and I begin to see why this Generation simply does not take advantage of it. They can’t easily access it!

What is the answer and fix? I really do not know. Other then my own humble attempts to make that information free and provide links to other sites and books that are too, there may not be much I can do. I could go into teaching, but the head aches do not yet seem to be worth the rewards in my mind.