I'm going to take a slanted approach with this campaign log. People who read "Snow Dog's" campaign journal (a Banewarrens adaptation on Monte Cook's site) will be familiar with the style. Basically, at this point, I know that most people are already familiar with Shackled City. To save myself time writing this thing up, I'm going to keep it brief. I'll focus more on how the PCs dealt with the story and how my version of the story ends up different than everyone else's.
As my game only features two PCs, I had to beef them up a little; thus they are all around third level when the campaign arc begins due to extensive background roleplaying.
I've made a few alterations to the story (from reading these boards and adapting the adventure to my own campaign), but in general Shackled City has been left unmolested.
Dramatis Personae:
Saburo - LN - Male Human "Sake Distiller" (Rogue/Shaper)
Saburo had lived his whole life in Tasonsuzu, a small village in the lands of the Unicorn, recognized for its Bellcrafting abilities. A series of strange events; however, sent this apprentice distiller crash landing in another world with only a vision provided by his ancestors to guide him. It threatened the destruction of Rokugan should he fail in his task. Aliented from all he knew and following vague prophecies, he set out for the nearest source of human civilization: Cauldron.
Hawkeye - NG - Male Half-Elf Ranger
Hawkeye's history is a short one. He literally materialized in the Southern regions of Flanaess with no memory of his past. He is haunted by strange dreams and powerful instincts. Adorned with an arsenal of dwarven-forged weapons and equiped with knowledge beyond his years, he is a force reckoned with.
(Unfortunately this PC had to take an unforseen extended abscence before the game began so we scrambled for another player. He promised to be back before the end of the "Flood Season"...we'll see if he keeps this one).
Ruphus Laro - LN - Male Human Cleric of St. Cuthbert
(Many of you are more than likely familiar with this character, so I won't expound too much. Our replacement PC said he really wanted to play a cleric, so I figured this would be the best solution as he is a short-term player...he said that he could probably only play until our other PC got back...funny how things work out)
Ruphus was once an orphan at the Latern Street Orphanage, but became enamoured with the religious ideals of St. Cuthbert due to Sarcem Delasharn's frequent visits (back in the day). When he was old enough to officially be initiated, Ruphus personally requested to be the Church's representative at the Orphanage and made weekly pilgrimages to help educate the children. This is the reason Jenya Urikas assigned Ruphus to the task of investigation and the reason he takes the kidnappings so personally.
While Saburo’s adjustment to the surrounding climate was a shock [his native homeland was generally covered in snow], the culture was what baffled him the most [prior to the start of this game, this character had lived in Rokugan, a quasi-Japanese setting]. His first encounter was actually with Alexis Tercival [I had to change the NPC’s gender!], a religious warrior who seemed to be escorting a very important member of her faith out of Cauldron in the dead of night [this is Sarcem Delasharn on his way to Sasserine to collect the Wands for the Flood Festival]. The encounter was brief and civil. Alexis recommended the Drunken Morkoth Inn as a place to spend the night and when Saburo made it clear that he had no money of any kind, she donated 3 of her own gold pieces to help him get established.
Saburo never made it to the Inn, as he stumbled into Ruphus getting assaulted by three members of the Last Laugh. The thugs told him to “bugger off,” but he would have none of it. In an effort to save the dying priest, Saburo fired an Energy Ray into the air to both intimidate them and warn the City Watch [this was really a brilliant ploy that worked wonderfully…Saburo put so much emphasis on the wonder of his power that the 3 men didn’t stop to consider the distance a “ray of fire” can be seen at night]. Two of the thugs lunged at him, but Saburo met them head on with steel. He was able to injure one of them and hold off the other long enough for the Watch to arrive. The men fled and Jil gave her speech before doing the same. The guard that arrived first on the scene introduced himself as Skylar Krewis and took their deposition before letting them go.
Ruphus thanked Saburo profusely all the way back to the Church and asked if he would join him inside so that the head of his Order could do the same. Having nothing better to do, he accepted and listened to Jenya intently. She explained that there had been numerous kidnappings, the most recent of which had claimed four children at the local orphanage. Because the Church had publicly announced its intentions of finding the lost children, there had been added pressure on High Priestess Urikas to complete this task quickly. She offered Saburo an advance on the 2,500 GP reward and two potions of healing if he would accept the task of returning the children to the orphanage. Needless to say that the money was very enticing, but Saburo accepted because he believed this to be part of his destiny. It was only then that Jenya divulged the riddle she had received from the Star of Justice. Ruphus was to act as a link between the Church and the foreigner [Jenya believed that the less people knew about Saburo’s investigation, the higher his chances of success].
With cash in hand, Saburo set out to solve this puzzle…but not before getting his drink on! He spent the next few days and nights touring the various establishments that offered booze to see if anyone was interested in his own blend of alcohol. He spent a particularly long time speaking with Brottor Dagnal [Meerthan Eliothlorn] about Dwarven Spirits and the proper paperwork necessary to build a business from the ground up. It was not that Saburo was callous or greedy; it was that he wanted to be sure that everyone thought he didn’t give a lick about what was going on. Ruphus was tasked by Saburo, during this time, to do specific research on the kidnappings. With all the facts in play, it didn’t take the strange foreigner to deduce that Ghelve was somehow involved.
The pair of investigators confronted him not long afterwards. Saburo remained outside the house during the questioning, so as to engage anyone whom he thought might be shadowing them. He sent his psicrystal in with Ruphus to make sure he could react quickly if there was trouble. Inevitably, he was signaled from inside that a conflict was brewing and so he entered the fastest way he could: through the window. Bursting onto the scene, he saw Ruphus locked in combat with a wounded Skulk and a wimpering Ghelve in the corner of the room. The Skulk, sensing that its time had drawn near, attempted to flee but was quickly brought down by both men. Saburo used the flat of his blade during the fight to ensure that the creature would survive for questioning.
Once the Skulk was bound and gagged, the men set to questioning Ghelve about all that had transpired over the past 2 months. He gave up everything and even told them about an old map he had of Jzadirune. Both Saburo and Ruphus were disgusted with him and gleefully handed him over to the City Watch along with the Skulk. Of course, their strange story did raise a few eyebrows, but the body of the Skulk was all the soldiers needed for confirmation. Ghelve’s Locks was quickly quarantined with a small regimen of soldiers and the entrance to Jzadirune heavily guarded. Saburo and Ruphus told the Sergeant on duty, a dwarf by the name of Arduun, that they would press onward to avoid any further delay. They also requested any men Sgt. Arduun could spare. The dwarf told them that he couldn’t spare soldiers at this time, but would look the other way if anyone wanted to “head home early” for the day. Skylar Krewis was the only man to volunteer.
That is where we ended.
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
-Roleplaying the HUGE differences in Eastern and Western culture was fun, but took an awfully long time
-My dice SUCKED all night: I couldn't hit squat with anything
-Saburo's PC was ultra-paranoid about the Last Laugh and thought the town guard was part of some huge conspiracy. I was rather miffed that he didn't participate in the collection of information, but it was kind of nice to roleplay out all the drunken situations he got himself into
-None of the challenges were particularily tough for 2 PCs at this stage in the game because of their high levels...this isn't the case later on, which is why I had Krewis volunteer to help despite the fact that I KNEW he needed to be alive later