Another Day at the Office
Short Summary
Most of the party takes the bucket across to the next staging area (while Illidan makes his away across the ceiling). They land near a crane and a kennel for hellhounds. Jax, the hellhound whisperer, pacifies the beasts with rations. The party quickly defeats a band of hobgoblin guards. Then they turn their attention to a pair of ogre overseers supervising slaves chained to a large rotating wheel with spokes.
Kelderrin notices a contingent of drow consummate a transaction with Duke Zalto. The drow give the Fire Giant an iron flask containing the fire primordial. The party devises a plan for Illidan to transport Kelderrin to the bottom floor to steal the iron flask. The pair successfully manage to sneak down and filch the iron flask. Upon their return, Illidan refuses to let Kelderrin leave the bag of holding until he yields the iron flask. With great trepidation, Kelderrin relinquishes the iron flask while exiting the bag.
The party heads to the bottom floor and comes to a vast forge occupied by several fire giants. Boarstack fires a crossbow bolt at one of the fire giants as a prelude to the next battle.
Long Summary
Members of Heist, LLC: Boarstack, Humanoid Resources
Gileas, Marketing and Public Relations
Illidan, Accounts Receivable
Jax, Materials and Supply Management
Kelderrin, Product Acquisitions
Nord, QA/QC
Rolann, Distribution
Wiri, NPC-dependent consultant
Before taking any action, the members of Heist, LLC hold a meeting to do a deep dive into their corporate takeover strategy of Ironslag Inc. After an hour of consensus building, the members elect to continue expanding and solidify their presence on the second floor before heading into new markets.
Most of the members take a bucket ride to the last unsecured area on the second floor (while the risk averse Illidan takes a walk on the ceiling via his spider boots). Jax uses rations to earn favor with the hellhounds’ penned up in a kennel.
A bit of scouting reveals that Ironslag is not providing its workers healthcare benefits and isn’t even paying prevailing wages. The party discovers hobgoblin guards watching over some humanoid laborers. Jax, Kelderrin and Illidan move inside to begin some pointed negotiations. As the humanoid resources manager, Boarstack axes an underperforming hobgoblin. Nord makes sure to right-size one of the hobgoblins. Rolann distributes a javelin to the hobgoblin customers. Later, Gileas has a water-cooler discussion with the laborers to persuade them to serve as independent contractors for Heist, LLC.
As part of their plan to cement their control of the second floor, the party moves to downsize some armored ogres. One of the ogres, unable to handle his job description, runs off to the Fire Giant Overseer’s office to ask for help. Angrily, the Fire Giant Overseer demands that the ogre come with solutions and not problems. The ogre is kicked out of the office and is brought down by the party. Upon arriving at the Fire Giant’s office, the party finds it empty (the Overseer most likely on a cigarette or potty break). Boarstack notices the world’s largest “Great Boss” mug in a Fire Giant’s office and takes it as a trophy.
The members elect to hold another meeting to establish mission critical priorities and ideate strategic solutions through corporate synergy. During the long meeting, Kelderrin wanders off for a coffee break and looks down at the first floor. The gnome sees their competitors consummate a transaction which would give President Zalto of Ironslag, Inc. a bleeding edge advantage with new technology. Not wanting President Zalto to be first-to-market, Kelderrin rushes over to inform the others. Eventually, the group develops an out-of-the-box (in-the-bag) plan that is based on Illidan’s and Kelderrin’s core competencies.
With Kelderrin in Illidan’s bag, the drow stealthily takes them down to the first floor. Kelderrin uses his mage hand to do a little industrial espionage and acquires the iron flask that holds a fire primordial. The gnome hops back into the bag and Illidan takes them back up. When Illidan opens the bag, he has a proposition for Kelderrin – Illidan will only let Kelderrin out if the gnome gives him the iron flask. The gnome, unsophisticated in the ways of office politics, realizes that he had been trapped. Nervously, Kelderrin hands over the iron flask and they return to the party.
The party calls for another meeting to find a results-driven strategy that could be measured in GP metrics. They decide that industrial sabotage is not beyond them, so they head down to Ironslag’s forge to disrupt production. There are several fire giants working on making deliverables for President Zalto. Realizing that fighting in a fiery forge was not in the members’ wheelhouse, they decide on a strategy to lure out the fire giants. While most of the party is lurking in the shadows, Boarstack decides to start discussions with the one of the Fire Giants by pinging him with a crossbow bolt…
