Founding:
The Serenading Sailors of Swordkeep is a business venture that was started by Thrashk after he managed to convince a fisherman that he lost his boat in a poker game that he had no recollection of ever playing, due mainly in part to Taruis, who helped him swindle the man.
Thrash did not want a fishing boat and actually tried to convince the owner of an acting troup named the The Swift Serenades that he was actually the rightful owner. His attempt failed so he enlisted the help of is fellow adventurer Tarius to help him acquire the next business that he came across which just happend to be a fishing boat.
Thrash could not convince the old sailor to continue fishing using the boat so he was unsure as to what he would do with the boat that he decided to rename the Swordkeep Sloop.
It wasn't until later that night at the Tain Gala that he got the idea to use the boat as a stage for his very own acting troup even though the thought of owning one hadn't crossed his mind until earlier that morning.
He made his proposal to a high-ranking civil servant at the gala who thought that employing orphans and training them to become bards was a wonderful idea and it would help out the city immensely by educating what he considered to be little more than large useless rodents.
The Tain Gala containing enough important people as it did in a single place, and the fact that Thrash was considered a hero by many so when he mentioned to the chief of police that he suspected Gaelan Dal'Thuris, leader of the swift Serenades to be a spy for the lord of blades, the allegation was taken very seriously and action was taken immediately.
After the gala, Thrash managed to find an orc bagpipe player that he recognized from earlier that day and offered to hire him to run his new enterprise. The orc was not interested until Thrash said "I'm sure that a bard who worked for a traitorous spy would have no problem finding a job in Sharn". Feeling defeated with the realisation setting in, he agreed.
Thrash went to the nearest orphanage and began shouting that he was recruiting children of all races and beliefs. He was shouting because he had kicked in the door while most of the children were asleep and he wanted to wake them. He was allowing all childern to be considered because he considered himself an equal opportunity employer, and he wanted a bit of a freak show to draw crowds. He found five candidates and he changed all of their names simply because he thought of better names for them.
Known works
Does birthday parties.
Due to the nature of the troupe's transportation\home\stage being a boat, they can only perform down by docks, near bridges, and along waterways.
A few favorite plays that the troupe is known for are:
Attack of the Kraken Family - The story of two fisherman who are fishing in Kraken Bay and are attacked by a family of miniature Kraken. This is a thriller where Daneel and Oliver are fishing and are attacked by the rest of the troupe who swim around the boat; however only one or two Kraken are only ever seen by the audience at once. After tirelessly fighting off the monsters Oliver is captured by the Kraken and presumed eaten. Daneel Eventually manages to slay the entire Kraken family.
Due to the clever writing, the scenes that allow for breaks also give some troupe members time to pick pockets while everyone is focused on the action on stage.
During one perfomance held near a bridge, Cyrial picked a noble's coin purse and jumped off the bridge to continue his role as a kraken. Oliver played along and ad libbed that a kraken jumped over the boat which prompted a lot of applause from the audience.
The Admiral and the Cook - A romantic story where Mary plays the Admiral of the Frozen Fleet, a pirate fleet that worked out of a hidden port in Frostfell. In the story Mary must choose between chasing after a well protected treasure fleet, or saving the ship's beloved cook from having his foot amputated. The cook spilled boiling mushroom soup on his foot and continued cooking to feed the hungry sailors. The foot got infected and the ship would either need to stop pursuing the fleet that they had been chasing for the last week to find a healer to save his foot, or amputate the foot. In the end, the Admiral decided to continue chasing the treasure fleet, the cook had his foot amputated, and the crew rebelled against her and forced her to walk the plank.
Help, I have Crabs - A prostitute (played by Mary) who works the docks befriends a crab fisherman (played by Elvis). The tail twists and turns until the prostitute abandons her dead end career and joins the fisherman's crew to help his crew get though the worst fishing season ever on record. They manage to find a rich deep sea deposit of giant crabs that are so rare and valuable that a single crab could be worth enough gold to feed a family for months. The crabs are so large that there is no room on the boat for even one of them, but the crew managed to capture 5 of them and must try to find a way to drag all of them back to Sharn without being overrun by the crabs and or sinking with them.
The Trouble With The Ganaughts - The captain of a ragtag band of sailing adventurers referred to as the Ganaughts, named Kannak who does nothing but aggrivate his crew (played by Daneel), and his goblin second in command named Alco, who creates rules to inflate his sense self importance (played by Elvis), take a quest to search for a goat that is said to shit out golden nuggets. Several of the crew members do not show up for role call before the quest even begins which makes things difficult for the few who actually do show up. They set sail and rules are invented and enforced that ensure the crew get very little sleep and no leisure time to sit back and relax. One day Kannak is angered by the fact that the exhausted crew all decide to sleep in so he throws all of the grog overboard and enfuriates them, but nothing can be done because Kannak is rumoured to be part mind flayer. As morale drops to an all time low the crew take matters into their own hands and set a trap for their captain. They run the ship aground on an uncharted island and decaptiate Kannak as soon as he walks out the door. Alco is tied to the mast and left on the ship as the remaining crew loot the supplies off the vessel and leave the ship to walk into the jungle on the island never to be seen again (the cast has no trouble looting the gathering crowd at this point simply by carrying bags though them and picking pockets as they make their way through it).
Workers
Dick Vandirk - Half-orc Bag-pipe player with black goatee, wears a kilt. Was a member of an inner-city performance group The Swift Serenades that was shut down by the government after the owner was charged with high treason.
Oliver - 9 year old, Sharn Human Orphan, has buck teeth. Skilled in percussion, and is a Ginger. Oliver is the troup bitch, he is the one that takes the most beatings for no apparent reason. If he were someone's child, there would be hell to pay, but he is simply an orphan so nobody cares.
Daneel Dragonbottom - Half-elf Male 8 yr old, Insolent youth, excellent pickpocket, specializes in playing female roles. He is very good at slight of hand tricks and has a fashion sense that nobody understands. He is also the costume designer.
Mary McFeezlebottom - 12 year old Gnome Female , Parents abandoned her in the cogs, specializes in romantic roles. Considered one of the ugliest children in the cogs, even for a gnome it is no wonder that her parents abandoned her.
Cyrial Vedykarbutt - 10 yr old Kalashtar Male, Parents were visiting businessmen, murdered in House Vadalis by unknown assassin, because of this he holds a grudge against all members of House Vadalis. Performs tragedies, can cry on command. He has some psychic abilities due to his lineage, but is still very young and does not have much control over it, Oliver has found out that he has them and not to anger him. He is Thrash's favorite orphan and is treated as such.
Elvis Deepdark - 7 year old, bearded, male dwarf; Skilled comedian, performs Chris Rock style racist dwarf stand-up comedy. It is odd to find any child with an adult sense of humour, let alone one who tells raunchy dwarf jokes. This child has talent and should do quite well as a Serenading Sailor.
Profit Modifiers: Metropolis (+4), Secondary Skills (+1),
Primary (Perform):Mike's Perform Comedy +2,
Secondary (Disguise, Climb): +6, +5
Cost: 15gp/month - 5gp a month for 5 orphans, 10gp a month for trained actor.
