Hello everybody,
here follows a short summary of my Last Laugh organization. I tried to follow the guidelines I found here and there in the AP. Hope it will be helpful:
LAST LAUGH (Guild Organization)
Jester Guildmaster
At the moment, Guildmaster Allan Agel Alames (CE unknown race and power) runs the guild. Thanks to his cunning mind, he was chosen by the Cagewrights to run "their" guild. Speculations say he is a Kelvezu demon (MMII) bound for one year and one day to the Cagewrights will, but none has been or is able to give a proof of his identity. More rumors associated to the first report of a pact forged in exchange of a Phylactery of Change crafted by the Cagewrights.
The former Guildmistress, Ester Sidel, was “destituted” by the same Cagewrights.
Below the Guildmaster there are four Jesters plus one more individual, each one charged with running a particular branch of the guild:
Assassination Division
Leader: Jester Velior Thazo
Second in Command: Jil
Agenda: their whereabouts are detailed in Lord of Oblivion.
Forgery Division:
Leader: Jester Julian Nunn (NE, Human Male Rogue 5th/Assassin 5th/Spymaster 7th)
Second in Command: Kahell Kormill (NE, Human Male, Wiz 15th)
Agenda/Background: former adventurer, Julian managed to secure a great amount of resources and thus was chosen by the Cagewrights to run the Forgery Division. This part of the guild is specialized in forging documents of all kind. With the help of a mage from the obscure past, Kahell Kormyll, the Forgery Division is able to even create “Delusion Scrolls”. The Weer’s Elixirs in Cauldron is effectively under their control, after Wortimax Weer accepted a “gentlemen agreement” worked out by the Extortion Division (see below) to exclusively sell stuff from their warehouses. Their safe houses are located in Ash Avenue (the two black buildings just below the “Ash” entry in the Cauldron Map from Lords of Oblivion);
Extortion Division
Leader: Jester Wadrax (NE, Half-elf Male Rogue 7th/Fighter 2nd/Assassin 6th)
Second in Command: Alpen Knott (NE, Half-orc male, Fighter 13th)
Agenda/Background: Wadrax, a rogue from the warring Ulek lands, is in charge of the Extortion Division. Through the Last Laugh vast network, this branch was able to secure funds to fulfill the Cagewrights plans. Currently, about half of the Cauldronites shop owners pay a protection fee to the Last Laugh. Warrax bears an horrible scar across his left hand, when he was left hanging for two days with a dagger thrust in it (wrong time in wrong place during his early career). They have no know safe house;
Minting Division
Leader: Jester Francis Benidor (LE, Human Male Ari 2nd/ Rogue 13th)
Second in Command: Rhant Tarragona (NE, Human Male, Ari 7th)
Agenda/Background: belonging to the Cauldron nobility, Francis Benidor, a minor noble, is known for his greed. It was an idea of him to mint the jester coins, an idea that led him to be appointed to jester status by the Cagewrights. He is charged with running the Coinage Branch. Since his second in command, Rhant Tarragona (Lords of Oblivion), got arrested, he hides in his fortified estate between Lava and Magma Avenue (south of Cauldron, octagonal building near Ghelve’s Locks), planning to leave the city as soon as possible;
Slavers Division
Leader: Valkin Kennar Ilhar Malraedior (CE, Drow Male, Rogue 5th/Sorcerer 10th)
Second in Command: Thandor Lox (CE Human Vampire Male, former Paladin of Pelor, now a Blackguard, details unknown)
Agenda/Background: the dark elf is responsible of the Slavers Division. He refused the Jester appellative, considering it degrading of his status. Thus, the Cagewrights and Allan Agel Alames see him more like a resource to be used rather than an effective affiliate.
Valin Kennar may be found in a large cavern located in the Underdark, one day hike from the Malachite Fortress, where he is the main guilty of the slave trade that afflicts Cauldron and environments. Pyllrak the durzagon (Life’s Bazaar) is one of the slavers under his payroll. In the cave, he is building a subterranean fortress for the Cagewrights (perhaps for a backup plan of their) exploiting to death the slaves he does not sell away. When the slave trade is exposed in Cauldron, the fortress construction slows down and when the earthquakes stir Cauldron (Foundation of Flame), a part of it collapses, compelling the drow to push the slave abductions to the highest recruit ever. When this occurs, slaves are taken from nearby lands and possibly someone investigates. Thrandor Lox, his second in command, has one desire: to see the Pelor's Shrine in Cauldron forever destroyed.
Affiliated Organization:
Slave Traders (mostly from the Hold of the Sea Princes, although Pomarj are also interested)
Merchants (varies)
Spy Network (already active in Keoland and Yeomanry, developing in other countries)
Assassin Guilds (Hold of the Sea Princes and Principality of Ulek)
Various Smiths (most of them Dwarves and Fire Giants)
I like it. This is something I could definitely use. In fact, I think I'm going to substitute the Ebon Triad with the Last Laugh (the extortion division) at the end of Flood Season.
I have one short question. You're working under the assumption that the last laugh was inflitrated/taken over by the cagewrights. It makes sense, but I was wondering if you used anything from the original adventure path to support this assumption.
To tell the truth, the Cagewrights involvement in the guild ranks is only an assumption.
To support the idea I tried to put myself in the Cagewright shoes: in my opinion, when a such powerful group - as the Cagewrights are - decides to establish themselves in a place, they will be prone to put some of their members or faithful cohorts, in three key places:
- the first is the one that grants political control over the location (cohort Vhalantru in this case, even if not a proper Cagewright, took control over the City Guard and the city by killing Lord Mayor Severen Navalant and posing as a "Mayor in absentia"),
- the second is the one that grants temporal control over the people beliefs (Embril Aloustinai, boy this was a real nasty move!) in order to assure them that all is going well despite appearances,
- the third is the one that may grant a continuous flow of information, like a guild network. That's one of the motives that brought me to work out the CCG (Cagewright Controlled Guild). Another point was that reading at the full path, once the Wee Jas temple was stormed, the Cagewrights would have needed to smoke their enemies' eyes through some kind of distractions (like the jester coinage or worst).
Then it depends on the plan to fulfill, hoe it is going and at some point, one of the three may not be so crucial to get the result. Like it happens in Cauldron (not a large city and in a rather isolated area), controlling a guild is more a distraction than a real source of information.
However, this may vary from campaign to campaign...
