Raellus:
Nic already has a few informants and potential ones:
Active Informants
Lenore
Shim
Sanja (operations of Toesplitter's crime syndicate)
Potential Informants
Vim Vander (insights into his father's business and politics)
Anyone else he'd wish to cultivate? If not individuals, organizations?
Nic's seeing Lenore as more of an assistant and case officer than a simple informant. She and her late husband were already Throne's Reach assets, so that knowledge and expertise is more valuable if she's out there making contacts or doing logistical support. Also, delegating important stuff to her will presumably make her feel valued, thereby increasing her loyalty. He'll probably put her to work cultivating people like Bojidar the White Alchemist - tradesfolk with useful skill sets and questionable relations with legality.
Shim
He'll cultivate Shim and the Drowned Rats as an intel source for citywide street-level goings-on. They're an early warning network for patterns of bad shit happening. My impression is that they're basically a youth gang. They probably already have a loose network of their own among the city's orphans and forgotten children, and he'll encourage them to develop that further. Kids are ubiquitous and they see everything while not being noticed (or being strenuously ignored).
Sanja
Sanja and her Waterbearers will remain his tripwire for things happening in the neighborhood of Bálint House, as well as local security for minor problems. Basically, as long as they're the local criminal force on the streets, he's dealing with a known quantity. And he'll be working on gradually steering them toward more professional-grade criminality to increase their skill sets and revenue while keeping them out of trouble that would attract a Fire Watch crackdown. But not exerting any overt influence that might make Toesplitter strenuously question their loyalty.
Vim
Vim will get a different sort of treatment. Nic's higher-class social life over the winter is going to focus on the city's taverns. He is a decent enough storyteller and singer (Performance proficiency), thanks to his former association with the Ardani bards who were in or affiliated with the Throne's Reach. So he's going to cultivate relationships among the city's entertainers and their patrons. He's clearly nothing more than a skilled amateur with a (genuine, not feigned) appreciation for the arts, so it's not like he's a competitor for patronage to piss off the real performers. But he can move within those circles. Once Nic is established in that scene, he will invite Vim to join him at some of the select private performances and after-parties. This will raise Vim's cred with his peers, which, in turn, will give Nic and the rest of the PCs some social access to those peers.
Tradesmen
He'll be looking for ways to get better-connected to the other Fire Council members and constituencies. The Fishermen's Guild is one big area where the Five haven't done a lot of work and he'd like to get a better handle on them before it becomes an urgent need. That will tie into a search for reliable intel sources on the docks (longshoremen, etc.) so he can be one of the first people to know whenever a new ship arrives carrying something or someone of interest.
Politicians
He'll extend tentative diplomatic feelers to Veloura Dame and Corlis Bragge, making it clear that the Five are sympathetic to their current straits and didn't intend for any ill fortune to befall either of them. If they develop into potential sources or patrons, he'll explore that, though he's going to strenuously avoid anything that looks like a nascent coup attempt. He's not going to involve the Five in Balefyre's internal fuckery if he can avoid it.
Friends
As far as the other PCs' projects go, he'll assist where he has time and aptitude. He's not a great researcher but he'll be happy to kick ideas back and forth with Corros, especially if the Vim relationship winds up leading to access to anyone's private library (or any lore from the local bards). He'll definitely help Gronk with training up the Fire Watch - his fighting style isn't really theirs, but that just means he's a good sparring opponent when they need some practice outside their own lane. Also, he and Gronk fight well enough together at this point that they can definitely drill the Watch in team tactics.
If Ulfgar is still in town (Spartan, are you monitoring?), he'll make a point to keep in contact with that creepy yet endearing skin-dancer.
Does that give you enough, Rae? :)
This message was last edited by the player at 02:33, Tue 29 Nov 2016.
