Lore:Acquisitions Incorporated

Acquisitions Incorporated
Manu of Faerûn's organizations operate in secret, or play at it, even when the game is long up. Acquisitions Incorporated is the polar opposite: it is not uncommon to behold its icon in towns of any size, and their offices are often co-located with inns and smithies. Currently Headquartered in Waterdeep, the company provides a range of mystical and mundane services, and has the capacity to deliver teams anywhere that can pay them.

Franchies are available for interested parties, which grants access to crafty suite of back office expertise and custom artifacts which ease the operation of the business. Such franchise exist with various levels of support from Home Office in pockets around the globe.

Headed up by Ominifis Hereward Dran (more commonly known simply as Omin) and his excitable wizard associate Jim Darkmagic, the have operated for more than a decade and they've only died once or twice a apiece. Not bad.

Being an Intern at Acquisitions Incorporated
The introductory rank for those who take on Acquisitions Incorporated livery, it is – surprisingly – not the lowers rank. Belo Intern there are titles for various contractor roles, and it goes down a fair bit from there, with such gruesome depths an offer as "Chum," "Grease," and even "Grave-Ready."

From Intern, depending on the kind of impression you make, it goes up a few more: Associate, Sub-Employee, Employee, and Franchisee are available for the cunning, canny, or simply charismatic operator who can navigate the strange waters of the organization.

Deep Crow
Deep Crows and their even more terrifying cousins, Deeper Crows - are a variety of avian insects that tend to roost where it is deep and warm, optimally with access to exposed lava. The spires the prize as roosts are common in such places, and the warmth provides a constant regulation of temperature for their eggs.

Of primary note is that these creatures, whatever the particularity of the breed, have a few things universally in common. One, they are quick to hold a grudge. Two, they can hold a grudge for centuries. And three - three is very important - they can teach their chick to hold the same grudge.

So… maybe don't mess with these things unless you absolutely have to.

Jim Darkmagic
Jim Darkmagic, born James Winifred Darkmagic III, is the scion of a mysterious, multiplanar wizarding family. Not without a certain amount of trained and bred magical prowess, certainly enough to make a name for himself as a court wizard or "strange old man in the village," Jim Darkmagic sought a different kind of magic. Not the magic of the scroll, or the spell, but of the stage.

Jim works professionally as a wizard, but whenever time allows he can often be found in markets and town squares performing feats of mundane magic. He has earned some small renown for these feats, but he looks forward to retirement when he can become a "real wizard" - by which he means "fake wizard" - full time.

Omin Dran
Ominifis Hereward Dran grew up in Red Larch with his two sister and his mother, helping her to run family inn. When his sister Auspicia went missing in an underground cavern, he returned armed as best he could - only to find that entire cavern they'd discovered had somehow moved. His mother never believed the story, but young Omin came to believe that he could find her somehow. He built the organization called Acquisitions Incorporated, in part, to expand his reach in this endeavor. It's been suggested that he may be a Masked Lord of Waterdeep. Generally that last bit is regarded with a chuckle.

The stories people tell barely line up with what people know about the person called Omin Dran, who is known to be ruthless in matters of business, feckless in matters of love, and hopeless in games of chance. What is known for certain is that frequent work, if not exactly decent pay, is available wherever a party sees their sigil inscribed.

The Sigil of Acquisitions Incorporated
First inscribed by Blacksmith Valban Kikorius, its original purpose was somewhat different from its current usage. As a young man, Kikorious grew tired of the young owner of Acquisitions Incorporated constantly offering his services out front of his shop, where adventures and those in need of then tended to gather. The sign he made - emblazoned with the now instantly recognizable symbol - was meant to indicate that Mr. Dran was not allowed in sight of it.

What happened instead, as is now known, is that it became inextricably linked with the local adventuring trade, and with the first gold he made, Omin purchased the sigil from Valban. It's said they get along much better these days.