ARD SGIATH
Plan
Title of Business: Ard Sgiath (Our Shield), "The Lodge"
Goods Sold: Dead Enemies
Location: Loregard, the Kingdom of Atinaw
Base Income: Guild Master, 1,200 df/day. (Approved by Mystic; will increase as Taelian gains more of a reputation and higher value contracts.)
Skill Bonus - Master Sigilic Pyromancy (x8), Master Blades +1.5(x9.5), Novice Hunting +0
Description: Ard Sgiath, or the Lodge, is a business and order led by Taelian Ela'Rannoch. What is unique about Ard Sgiath is that it does not primarily take contracts from the public, or from the merchant class, but specifically from Atinaw's nobility with some need to expunge their territory or dominion from monsters. And that is the primary purpose of the organization -- hunting beasts, and only very powerful ones. The ones most difficult to kill. A small list of these beasts includes: powerful Dranoch (such as long-time Cardinals), Necromancy-born monsters and animals, rogue mages, Aetherborn beasts, monsters (including those from the Dread Mists), and Archetypes and other spirits who have begun to attack others. A specialty of the organization, nearly inacessible by most hunting groups, is their ability to hunt ghosts and other specters.
The Lodge only recruits the best of hunters -- generally this means it pulls mostly from magi, but with the occasional exception. For this reason it is a reserve group of a few members, but considering their small incoming pool of contracts this is largely acceptable.
The Castle: Ard Sgiath operates out of an old Atinorin castle, once owned by a former Finla of Loregard who went on to become revered as an Old One. Its name, back then, was Fjord Dal, and it was built for the rulers of Loregard to seek protection during a time of heavy unrest. For this reason, Fjord Dal was built near the border of Alfsos, as the King of Atinaw at that time was closely allied with the Finla. For this reason, Fjord Dal - which was the site of a historic Atinorin battle in which a large peasant-led army was brutally put down - became known as a place soaked in blood, with the bounds beyond its walls considered to be writhing in the spectral and unknown. This has made the area a prime location for wildlife, as well as monsters, who often reside in the adjacent forests, mountains and hills before moving into the surrounding valleys to prey.
Not occupied in over a hundred years, Fjord Dal was purchased by Taelian Ela'Rannoch in Searing, of the Year 120, with the castle-fort restored by the House of Iulide as a preliminary to the purchase. Fjord Dal was then renamed a Silvain name, Ard Sgiath, and now serves as the primary headquarters of the Lodge.
The castle-fort is of an impressive size. Considering the bedrooms and barracks, it is capable of hosting dozens of permanent residents, though most of the time these rooms remain vacant due to the mobile nature of its hunters. Ard Sgiath has two large, immaculate courtyards. One is within its smaller inner wall and is more centered on communal activities, serving as a garden and gathering place. The larger courtyard, within the much broader outer wall, serves as a training ground for magic and mundane skills. Also in this outer courtyard is a large stable, capable of maintaining large - even winged - beasts far above the size of a normal mount.
The interior of the castle is divided into two sections, though it is one contiguous building. The first section is four floors high, with the foyer acting as a place of business and the hosting of contract-givers and other invitees. It is home to a tavern-like open area that fills most of the foyer, though one could easily consider the "tavern" to be a very large communal hall. Upstairs is a dining hall with a common area behind it as well as a kitchen in the back, and on the third and fourth floors are bedrooms and barracks. The second section of Ard Sgiath holds an elevated sector of the building, and this place serves as a center of business and production. There is a workshop, a few offices for arranging deals and managing accounts and contracts (as well as storing information), a library for information on magics, martial styles, monsters and other factors...
The rest of the floors host an infirmary, an armory, a trophy hall, and an upper room that acts as a dovecote, a common area and a watchtower. There is also a prison area in the basement level, utilized for interrogations and the examination of creatures retrieved during hunts.
Total Income - 1200/9.5 = 11400 + 12% (Consistency Bonus; Frost 119, Glade 120, Searing 120) = 12,768 df/day
Assets - This is a list of all structures and items that are either sold or used in the foundation/operation of the business including their costs.
Trophy Hall (Simple): 10,000 df
Prison Cell: 30,000 df
Office (Simple), 2: 40,000 df
Storage (Simple), 2: 50,000 df
Library (Simple): 50,000 df
Patio/Deck, Stone (Elaborate): 50,000 df
Armory (Simple): 50,000 df
Workshop (Simple): 60,000 df
Bath (Simple), 3: 60,000 df
Dovecote: 80,000 df
Kitchen (Simple): 80,000 df
Infirmary (Simple): 80,000 df
Tavern (Simple): 100,000 df
Common Area (Simple), 4: 100,000 df
Training Room: 100,000 df
Stables (Elaborate): 100,000 df
Dining Hall (Simple): 150,000 df
Barracks, 2: 160,000 df
Guard Post, 6: 180,000 df
Master Bedroom (Elaborate) 250,000 df
Walls (Small Castle): 250,000 df
Bedroom (Simple), 8: 280,000 df
Courtyard (Elaborate), 2: 300,000 df
Walls (Large Castle) 500,000 df
Land (Hills), 10 Acres: 500,000 df
Debts - 3,610,000 df owed to the Imperial Bank.
8% SIR (288,800 df/season)