Entry in the SJ Business Challenge.
Kel the slaver holds an asteroid within a distant sphere. Upon this asteroid he works his slaves day and night to produce ships for pirates, the scro, or anyone who'll buy from him. He is a fierce leader, often carrying a large barbed whip, and wearing full plate armor black as wildspace itself and covered in large spikes.
Kel sells his ships cheaply and without question. He does make ships to order if need be, but typically makes hammerships, squidships, tradesmans, and other good "pirate/mercenary" ships. He has plans for other ships, but not many. Give him a 15% chance to have the plans to any given human-built ship (regardless of origin), and a 5% chance to have any non-human plans (excepting Arcane, Gerese, and similar races). He also has the plans to the neogi Deathspider, this being his own ship.
Kel's asteroid base is surrounded by large walls, containing the dock-yard, the slave's quarters, Kel's private quarters, and the magical icon that keeps everyone in line.
Kel sells his ships for 20% below standard prices, though they must be bought with direct cash, from him, at the base. Kel likes to show off his slaves to buyers, mainly so they know not to doublecross him or they'll end up there, and so that potential sellers of slaves know who needs the good strong slaves.
This is the magical icon that is house in the middle of Kel's compound, keeping his slaves in order. This is not done by normal magical means, but by psionic means causing moods to dull, motivation to cease, and faces to droop. Effectively it makes them think that they're in a hole of despair so deep there's no point trying to get out.
Kel wears an smaller icon preventing this, and carries several spare to give to slaves who he thinks are loyal, and those he wishes to bring through the compound. His guards also have these smaller icons, though there are not many guards as the slaves have never once revolted and tried to escape.
The item is worth 15,000xp, and could be sold for 20,000gp to the arcane, providing of course it can be shielded to not alter the moods of those around it while the transaction is in place. Wearing the smaller icons slowly shifts one's alignment to evil, and causes them to start showing vicious, violent tendencies. Both sized icons are, of course, evil.
The base itself is surrounded by a large 40' wall which is only accessible through Kel's private quarters. This location is also the guardhouse, and as such makes it easy for them to reach the walls if need be. There is a ballistae upon each of the four corners, and reloads for light crossbows at every corner and halfway between corners. The walls are typically manned by 10 to 15 guards. From their height they can see all activity in the base, except that in Kel's quarters, his rooms having no windows.
The slave pens are just cages upon the ground, opening at the front. They are made of rusted iron, adding to the dreary atmosphere for the slaves. There are two beds in each ten foot square pen, and there is a small hole in the corner of the room for a toilet. There is absolutely nothing for the slaves to do here but sleep, which is what most of them do after being worked so hard all day.
The center of the base is where the construction work is done. Wood is flown in by traders, and the slaves are given tools and directed by Kel's only trusted friend, Farron. Farron is a large, balding, bearded man, whose natural anger and rage made him immune to the effects of the Icon. Kel saw this, and instead of waiting for Farron's successful escape, offered him a job as slave-driver, and quarters of his own. He still resides in the slave pens, but by himself, and the door on his pen has been left in the one spot for so long it has vines growing on it and is almost completely red with rust. This is likely the only possibly trap here, as the lock is so rusted that when closed it will likely not open again.
The slaves are woken up at 6 am ever morning, and driven by Farron (and occasionally Kel when he feels like giving someone a good whipping) until lunchtime where they are given a ten minute break to eat gruel (cooked by Farron). Work continues until they are all completely exhausted, or it is roughly ten o'clock at night, at which time they are allowed to return to their beds and collapse for the evening. Farron and Kel typically take this time to eat, have good wine, and the occasional wench.
The stats for Kel, Farron, and the guards are as follows.
Kel: AC 0; MV 12; F6; hp 60; #AT 2; DMG by whip or bastard sword (he is specialized in the latter); Str 16; Dex 12; Con 15; Int 12; Wis 9; Cha 13; Al NE; Thac0 15 (or 14); Items small icon, bastard sword, full plate +1 (black and with spikes as per dwarven handbook), whip (spiked, DMG 1d6/1d4). XP 4,000
Farron: AC 6; MV 12; F4; hp 45; #AT 2; DMG by fists (specialized in wrestling); STR 18(99); Dex 18; Con 16; Int 9; Wis 8; Cha 6; AL CE; Thac0 14; Items brass knuckles (1d4+1 damage per punch), wooden spoon, wooden ladle. XP 2,500
Guard: AC 4; MV 9; F2; hp 12; #AT 1; DMG light crossbow or broadsword (specialized in latter); Thac0 19 (18); Items small icon, light crossbow, 20 bolts, broad sword, chainmail. XP 375
Kel will buy slaves from anyone, regardless of the slaves' race. He is however sexist and doesn't like female slaves unless they're big and brawny. He sometimes takes female slaves as wenches, but not often as he is worried about possible diseases they could have had etc.
Typically, Kel has 30 guards within the base, each group of ten taking 8 hour shifts upon the walls. During visits, he has 15 to 20 during the visit shift, but only to show a lot of force. At any given time there are 100 slaves in the base, most of which work upon ships etc. There are a few that serve Kel within his quarters as personal lackeys, but these are inconsequential. If fought, slaves will take no action (what's the point?), unless the Icon has been destroyed. In this case, they have the same stats as the guard's (typically) but with a +2 bonus to attack from the sudden release of emotions.
Kel's slaves construct craft shabbily, in 75% the time normally required, but there is a 50% chance something about the ship is even more substandard than normal. DM's can randomly determine such effects.
