An Overview of the Coberal Trust Company

I.  Operational Entities

A.  Velen Peninsula Lighthouse

1.  Company Central Headquarters

B.  Coberal Shipping Services

1.  Maritime Shipping

2.  Coberal Overland Company

C.  Seafarer’s Development Group

1.  Seafarer’s Vocational Schools (Baldur’s Gate and Velen Peninsula Lighthouse)

2.  Seafarer’s Officer Academy (Baldur’s Gate and Velen Peninsula Lighthouse)

3.  Elasmosaurus Bay Marine Training Camp

4.  Seafarer’s Engineering School

a. Facility Construction School (Elasmosaurus Bay)

b. Shipwright School (Velen Peninsula Lighthouse)

5.  Seafarer’s Staffing Services/Recruitment Offices (all locations)

D.  Coberal Construction Company

1.  Coberal Caravel Company (Velen Peninsula)

2.  Coberal Land Management Group (Velen Peninsula)

3.  Elasmosaurus Bay Lumberyard

II. Division Responsibilities

Velen Peninsula Lighthouse:

This division is responsible for the overall management of the Coberal Trust Company.  All other facilities and vessels report to the Lighthouse Administrator who runs the daily operations on behalf of Gregor Coberal.  The Lighthouse is also responsible for the governing of Banshee’s Point Village, a community that was founded to provide a support network for the company. Gregor was appointed Baron of Banshee’s Point after the end of Tethyr's Reclamation War. 

A Counsel of Standards and Practices oversees the actual development and management of the community itself and reports to the Lighthouse Administrator.

Coberal Shipping Services: 

This operational unit provides general transportation services for goods and individuals along standard shipping routes.  Prices for shipping will vary depending upon the cargo, persons, and needs. Bulk goods shipping will be based on current market rates.  General docking and warehouse services are available at some facilities for a fee.

The Overland Group, formerly known as the Helping Hand Caravan Company, is currently establishing a permanent trade route between Banshee’s Point Village and the rest of the Velen Peninsula.  This includes the construction of a viable road in conjunction with the Land Management Group.

Seafarer’s Development Group: 

The primary purpose of this unit is to meet the training, development, and crew staffing needs of the community.  Students will be divided based on need and available space between the schools.

The Seafarer’s Vocational School specializes in the short-term training of individuals in the ways of seamanship in order to prepare them for a career on the seas.  The Seafarer’s Officers Academy is a formal educational and colloquial environment, which prepares youths for careers as ship officers.  As an adjunct to the Officer’s Academy, there is a post-graduation apprenticeship program that offers instruction in either the arcane or priestly arts.  This offer is made on a strictly case-by-case basis.

The Seafarer’s Marine Training Camp, based in Chult, provides instruction in the arts of sea-based warfare on a practical level.  Use of weapons and armor, physical training, techniques used in boarding and repelling boarders, use of artillery and shipboard life are key topics.

The Seafarer’s Engineering School is composed of two different branches, the Shipwright School located on the Velen Peninsula and the Facility Construction School in Chult.  The Shipwright School, as evidenced by its name focuses on principles of ship design and construction.  

The Facility Construction School teaches its students how to build a wide variety of land-based structures, from simple homes and bridges to piers and towers.  Students learn to work with a variety of materials used in normal construction processes.  Many students who graduate from the Seafarer’s Engineering School become direct hires of the company.

Seafarer’s Staffing Services works in conjunction with the two schools in order to place trained and qualified graduates as crew members and officers aboard ships.

School Curriculums 

Successful completion of one of the Coberal Trust Company’s training programs allows a 1st level student (usually Com 1) to trade in his first HD for one level in the Expert or Warrior NPC class or the Corsair class upon graduation (indicated below).  Class skills for each course completed are as follows:

1.  Seafarer’s Vocational School - Expert

Balance, Climb, Craft, Jump, Knowledge (Local - body of water or Seaport), Profession, Spot, Survival, Swim, Use Rope

2.  Seafarer’s Officer Academy - Corsair

Appraise, Balance, Climb, Craft, Jump, Profession, Spot, Swim, Use Rope

plus training in the Cross-Class skills indicated below:

Diplomacy, Knowledge (Geography), Knowledge (Navigation), Knowledge (Local - body of water or Seaport), Speak Language (Alzhedo or Chondathan)

3.  Marine Camp - Warrior

Artillery Training (general introduction to all types but with an emphasis on ballistae)

Boarding Party Exercises (includes repelling of Boarders)

Naval Combat Tactics

Shipboard Environment (introduction to terms used aboard ships, how to avoid interfering with the crew’s performance of duties during combat, etc)

4.  Shipwright School - Expert

Climb, Craft, Handle Animal, Jump, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering), Knowledge (Sea Lore), Profession, Ride, Swim, Use Rope

5.  Facility Construction School - Expert

Climb, Craft, Handle Animal, Jump, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering), Profession, Ride, Speak Language, Swim, Use Rope

Coberal Construction Company:

This division is comprised of two separate units: the Coberal Caravel Company and the Coberal Land Management Group.  Both are based on the Velen Peninsula and share offices with Coberal Shipping Services in each the port the CSS operates in.  

The Caravel Company specializes in the manufacturing of caravels and in conjunction with Coberal Shipping Services sells the vessels at a price of 9,000 gp (normal market cost is 10,000 gp).  The vessels are standard outfitted caravels with no armaments.  Extra features such as specialty woodwork, furnishings, ballistae or deck stoves may be requested at additional cost to the purchaser.

By specializing in the construction of only caravels, the shipwrights and carpenters gain a +2 circumstance bonus to all skill checks involved with the building process.  Additionally, the caravels use a newly developed technique called pre-fabrication to speed the building process.  Sections of the ship (forecastle, sterncastle, deck sections, etc) are built separately and then assembled at the end of the construction process.

This division works in conjunction with the Shipwright School to train and employ qualified personnel.  A trained shipwright and carpenter from the Caravel Company will often accompany a Con Crew team.

The Coberal Land Management Group is an application of the skills taught in the Con Crew school in Chult.  The LMG provides for on-site development of facilities for the CTC’s use as operations expand into new geographic areas.  In addition to the development of new facilities, the LMG refurbishes existing structures for habitation and in conjunction with Coberal Shipping Services, surveys new markets for feasibility of expansion in terms of supply, demand and potential for growth.

As the Coberal Trust Company has grown from a one-ship operation to a small fleet of vessels operating in multiple ports, a system has been developed to distinguish members of the hierarchy, especially when two members of the company who are unfamiliar with each other must work on the same project.  Therefore, a system of color-coded sashes has been developed to provide a ready reference to an individual’s status.  How the sash is worn, in addition to the color, is also an indicator of authority.  Wearing an unauthorized colored sash to impersonate a higher ranked individual is not permitted and violators of this directive will be punished accordingly.  There are times that a higher ranking individual may wear a sash indicating lower rank.

(1) Typically, only the crew aboard the Siren’s Reach wear these sashes and then, only if there are students aboard ship.  Also, students who have been accepted into either an arcane or priestly apprenticeship wear these, if they have not yet completed their Officer Training.

(2) Sea-going Captains aboard a vessel they do not command wear the sash as a belt around the waist.

(3) Shore Installation Commanders at an installation they do not command wear the sash as a belt around the waist.

(4) The headmaster of the Baldur’s Gate school is also the captain of the Siren’s Reach and may wear either sash.

(5) Marine Officers who also serve in a position of authority aboard ship, may wear a Blue Sash instead.

(6) The Lighthouse Keeper at Banshee’s Point and members of the Raven Keep delegation are examples.

Symbol:
All Shore-based Branches - Outline of the Velen Peninsula Lighthouse
All Sea-based Branches - Silhouette of a sailing ship superimposed over the outline of the Velen Peninsula Lighthouse

Background, Goals, and Dreams: The Coberal Trust Company was developed over the course of several years to support and maintain its founder's ever-growing fleet. From building a school where skilled crews and officers could be trained to a shipyard for building new ships to a  lumberyard that harvests trees for the shipyard, the Company always seeks to promote maritime trade.

Enemies: Pirates of the Nelanther Isles, also has an antagonistic relationship with Duke Inselm Hhune.

Allies: The Company is closely allied with the Duchy of Velen, and to a lesser extent, the Kingdom of Tethyr in general. The Coberal Caravel Company has been awarded a contract to build several new ships for Tethyr's navy. Several CTC officers have ties with the Longwatchers, an organization of Lighthouse Keepers overseen by the church of Selûne.

Type: Business
Scale: 11 (Multiregional/Duchy)

Affiliation Score Criteria: Must have Swim as a Class skill.

Criterion (Seaborne)                                               Affiliation Score modifier
Character Level                                                        +½ level

5 or more ranks in Use Rope or Swim                 +1

10 or more ranks in Profession (Sailor)               +2

Complete successful trade mission                      +2

Complete 12 month tour of instructor duty       +2

Titles, Benefits, and Duties:

Affiliation
Score                     Title: Benefits and Duties

3 or lower            Not affiliated or junior member with no benefits

4 - 10                    Able Seaman: +2 competence bonus to Profession (Sailor) and Use Rope checks while 

                              aboard CTC vessels

11 - 15                  Petty Officer: gain a salary of 2d10 x Wis bonus in gold per month (in addition to coin 

                                earned through Profession check)

16 - 22                  Warrant Officer: gain a salary of 2d10 x Wis (x2) bonus in gold per month (in addition 

                                to coin earned through Profession check)

23+                        Captain: Offered Command of CTC vessel, includes doubling of previous salary

Criterion (Shore)                                                         Affiliation Score Modifier

Character Level                                                          +½ level        

Base Attack Bonus +5                                               +1

10 or more ranks in Craft

or Profession                                                              +1

Complete successful trade mission                        +2

Complete construction project                               +2

Complete 12 month tour of

instructor duty                                                            +2

Titles, Benefits, and Duties:

Affiliation
Score                     Title: Benefits and Duties

3 or lower            Not affiliated or junior member with no benefits

4 - 10                    Marine or Journeyman: Marine - gain +2 bonus to Balance and Climb checks while 

                                aboard CTC vessels; Journeyman - gain additional +2 bonus on Aid Another checks 

                                when working with other CTC craftsmen

11 - 15                  Marine Noncommissioned Officer or Foreman: gain a salary of 2d10 x Wis bonus in 

                                gold per month (in addition to coin earned through Profession check)

16 - 22                  Marine Officer or Project Supervisor: gain a salary of 2d10 x Wis (x2) bonus in gold 

                                per month (in addition to coin earned through Profession check)

23+                        Marine Commander or Facility Director: Offered Command/department head 

                                position of CTC facility, , includes doubling of previous salary

Executive Powers: Craft, Trade