Downtrodden

[Mal]

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Downtrodden

"'Ya got no job? Starving? Need work? Jus' wanna enjoy life a bit? Ask 'round for Downtrodden."

Once a gambling den in some far corner of the Etzos Outer Ring Underground, the Downtrodden hosts a sordid crew of motley thieves, gamblers, and mercenaries bound by a creed enforced by Mal, who is also known as Padfoot. They also serve to put thieves in touch with a fence, and they get protection money from temples and businesses looking for someone tough to keep the City Guard or even the Etzori off their backs.

The place is mostly known by locals, but word of mouth may reference someone to this place. To travel there is to experience a dark, seedy underworld barely lit by torchlight, homeless and dead husks or groups of ne'er-do-wells up to no good. When one first hears of the place, they are vetted by successive meetings with various street NPC's who each give a clue to the Downtrodden's location. To outright spill the location to someone is considered disrespectful and punishable due to the nature of the business, and most know this, so they are reluctant to give specific information. In general, three NPC's for clues and then a vetting by the bouncer should allow you entry.

Downtrodden has three rules, carved into the stone out front;

1) Do No Murder
2) Do Not Tread on the Downtrodden
3) Respect Fellow Patrons

The door is big and sturdy, made from wood reinforced with iron strips. It's usually unlocked. Beyond that is the establishment--several tables in a wide, spacious room, and a bar area with seating, a small kitchen built just behind that. There's even a stage for performances, small, but potentially useful. And by the bar is a bounty board, where anyone is free to list their job for a small fee.

Services

Downtrodden has a bounty board where anyone is free to list jobs, and Mal himself often lists jobs of his own. If you're lucky, Mal himself will take up the job, and most know him as Padfoot in the Etzos Underground.

Job Search - Free
Bounty Service - 5 GN/Flier
Gambling - 500 GN Limit Betting: Cards, Dice, Roulette, Drinking Games (Moriandis NPC)
Information - Bribe Varies: 1-100 GN (Moriandis NPC)
Protection Services - Hire Downtrodden Thugs (Negotiate IC with Mal)
Bards - Stage Available, Tips Only, Bring Your Instrument

The food and ale is cheap and simple, to keep costs down, so people can afford to stuff themselves on a budget.

Purchasable Items	Price
Catch of the Day (Mammal)	3sn
Catch of the Day (Fish)	5sn
Steamed Veggies	2sn
Common Ale	1sn
Fine Wine	1gn
Drugs	Anything Sold Locally in Etzos, +10% Price (Until IC Deal Achieved)

Employees/NPC's

PC Employees:
Padfoot (Mal) (Owner)

NPC Employees

[img]TBD[/img]

Name: Danzig Bron
Created by: Mal
Race: Human
Age: 29
Born: Cylus 24th 687
Job: Cook, Mercenary
Skills: Cooking 50, Butchering 26

Other Information: One of Padfoot's original Thirteen, Danzig is the defacto chef at Downtrodden. He serves as the kitchen chief, and busts his arse in there every day. When he was younger, Danzig was the son of a meat carver, but he fell in love with the cooking trade. Unfortunately, a vice found him in the form of a potent drug addiction that left him homeless and, well, downtrodden. Now Mal (Padfoot) has given him a place to work.

[img]TBD[/img]

Name: Moriandis Maskat
Created by: Mal
Race: Human
Age: 43
Born: Cylus 14th 673
Job: Gambling Ringer, Advisor
Skills: Business Management 50, Gambling 26

Other Information: An Etzos native, Moriandis was born in the worst of it. He was born with a genetic limp that stopped him from earning a paying job at the Labor Office, but he had a good mind and managed to carve out an existence for himself running small Gambling operations in the Underground. Eventually he had enough Nels to form his own business off of the trade.

Though Mal technically owns the business now, or considers the place to be his, Moriandis keeps his Gambling Ring earnings separate and pays a small (in comparison) protection fee in the form of three hired thugs to Downtrodden as well as abiding by Mal's rules.

Expenses

Expenses
Business Starting Fee	Waived (Illegal)
Downtrodden Building	Waived (Taken Over)
Most Furnishings (Kitchen/Den)	Waived (Stolen)
Eating Utensils/Mugs	Waived (Stolen)
Catch of the Day (Mammal)	3sn
Catch of the Day (Fish)	5sn
Steamed Veggies	2sn
Common Ale	1sn
Fine Wine	1gn
Reinforced Door w/ Lock	60 GN
General Repairs/Additions/Supplies	100 GN
Total Owed	162 GN, 1sn

Floor Plan

80ft x 100ft Main Room w/ Bar sitting 10 people. Six different gambling tables with chairs, and four dining tables, as well as a small stage in the far corner.

Behind the bar is a small kitchen, 15ft x 10 ft. A pipe through seven feet of earth pumps the smoke into another section of the Underground.

OOC

• Character Name: Mal (Padfoot)
• Current Wage: 8gn
• Profession's Main Skill: Becoming - 88
• Business Management Skill: 10
• Business Name: Downtrodden
• Business Location: Etzos - Approval Pending
• Type of Business: Syndicate (Gambling Den/Mercenary Corps/Employment Center/Protection Racketeering/Smuggling/Thievery)
• Loan Amount: N/A
• Number of Employees: 2 NPCs
• Shop Details: Downtrodden was an establishment once owned by a man named Moriandis. Everything changed for the (illegal) establishment when Mal single (paw'dly?) handedly rooted out and exterminated a slave abusing gambling ring within, forcing the former owner to fork over the property for Mal's pseudo-altruistic desires and putting the slaves to work as employees. Within the building, Moriandis is permitted to run a gambling ring, and pays a Protection fee.

[Jade]

Okay so, a couple of things here. I'm willing to waive the expenses for the business start up fee, building, and furnishings, however, I would like you to produce threads in which Mal finds the establishment, still being operated by Moriandis, fights him and takes it over, and then establishes it as his own with the creed and what not. So in total, this would probably amount to 2 or 3 threads, depending on what you want to do with the story.

Your expenses need to be a bit more on this, as I'm assuming that this is kind of a thieves hideaway / tavern? Which means you need to include things like... prices for the alcohol, if there is any, since players will want to drink in RP. Or the dishes and utensils used to cook the food, or the items that may be on the shelves in the bar area for characters to buy, or the cards to be able to gamble, or any instruments on the stage, if you wish to provide some.

I understand that you're attempting to go for an illegal business, and if you don't have the funds to buy these items, then you can take out a loan through some shady loan shark or NPC that dabbles in illegal activities. I'm fine with this.

I think it would be cool if this establishment also offered some drugs to order. That would actually be really sweet.

The last thing I was hoping you could add is a description of how one gets to this location. Since this is an illegal business, law enforcement is going to want to find this place and shut it down. So characters in RP can't be like 'I saw this sign on the street pointing to a door that says Downtrodden and entered it' because then anyone can weasel their way in and there goes your business!

Also (I know, I said the other thing was the last thing but this is the last thing, I swear.), the 'protection fee' that you mentioned Moriandis paying. I think instead of a fee, I would be okay to approve some "guard npcs" that protect the business through him.

Anyways, send me a pm if your have questions or concerns.

[Mal]

I'll update later, but this is what I've already threaded out finding and acquiring the place:
/viewtopic.php?f=169&t=6799

[Mal]

I've made these changes.

I'm only expecting the business to be up for a couple of seasons before the Etzori take it down, but who knows? They're pretty busy these days, and bribes to the Black Guard can go a long way in Etzos.

[Incubus]

Hello, Mal. I'll wait for Jade to give final judgment on this, since she was the one who posted the earlier note. Thank you for your patience!

[Mal]

The business has been destroyed as of this thread. I will not be claiming any wages from it.