A shifter named Surrinek runs a passenger riverboat service, with skiffs crisscrossing Stormreach’s numerous canals and branches of the River Koronoo. A typical riverboat holds eight Medium passengers (or equivalent cargo). Hiring a riverboat costs 5 cp regardless of the number of passengers. Surrinek runs a skiff herself, so she is at the office only in the early morning.
The riverboat captains are taciturn toward longtime Stormreach residents (a starting attitude of indifferent) but sarcastically contemptuous of newcomers (a starting attitude of unfriendly). However, if PCs can improve a captain’s attitude to friendly, that captain serves as a guide to Stormreach, answering questions and offering advice (such as where to shop for weapons, which city guard sergeant can be trusted, what time of day the elemental galleons unload passengers, and so on). If the PCs improve a captain’s attitude to helpful, the captain acts as a full-fledged informant, providing rumors about events in the city. A friendly riverboat captain is also willing to spend at least part of each day on standby, waiting to serve the PCs.
Surrinek (N female shifter expert 3) has a near monopoly on the river taxi business, which extends down the Koronoo River to the harbor. She allows the riverboat captains who work under her to operate almost autonomously, as long as they divide the available customers equitably. The captains’ boats range from gondolas to barges. Surrinek runs the business from a stilted hut over the river. Boats can be tied up at its base and are left there when they need repair. The ablest captain on the city’s waterways, Surrinek grew up in Stormreach and knows the river and harbor like the back of her hand. She is a source of information if she can be persuaded to part with it; flattery is as much a weakness for her as coin.