City / Intrigue Aid

[Skuldin]

Ok I'm running this campaign in an election year for Lord Senator; a seat that only comes up once a decade. Only lords may vote on other lords (no votes for yourself) at a council to decide who the Lord Senator is to become. The PCs are working for the High Magistrate indirectly (well one PC is his apprentice) and the High Magistrate is the primary advisor to the incumbent who is seeking a second term.

On the night of Mid-Summers Eve a nobleman's son (Curio) who backed the incumbent Lord Senator Q. Misonius Othos was murdered after carousing around a bunch of gypsies in the Old Quarter of the city.

One of the gypsies was accused of the murder and sentenced to death three days hence at the gallows but the High Magistrate saw this as a "message" murder sent to the other lords to place their vote somewhere other than to Othos. He asked the PCs to pay the guards watching him off under the table and to free the gypsy for questioning of why he did it (who hired him etc) or if he did not do it who did. The gypsy swears he was framed by his half-brother Vinovati so the PCs go gambling hall to tavern to tavern looking for this guy leaving a wake of dead bodies behind them (8 in all and all of them missing a right ring finger thanks to the psycopath cleric they have with them) so it looks like a serial killer is on the loose.

The PCs bumble around and finally figure out that Vinovati has fled out of town to a safehouse (insert the House from the SInister Secret of Saltmarsh) that is said to be haunted. Some say he (Vinovati) uses gypsy magic there and speaks with demons.

The PCs made it into the basement and are now in there...i have this part all planned out. The gypsy that is with them that they freed from teh death sentence (A PC) really was in on the original murder because they owed the young noble large gambling debts, but they were hired by a guy posing as the young noble's bodyguard Vadim.

When the PCs find Vinovati it will be a brother vs brother yelling match about betrayal and Vinovati will swear up and down that Vadim betrayed them both and he had to flee his wrath as well and that he planned to free Innokenti (the pc gypsy framed for murder).

Well the Pc in question has decided he doesnt like his bard (Innokenti) so he is in on this plot twist and we have planned to kill both half-brothers off or at least make them disappear in the main combat scene upcoming Saturday night. He has written a story and pre-rolled a hexblade that he wants to play instead. Not a problem and it makes for a nice early plot twist that the PCs actually freed a guilty man.

My problem lies in city adventures with a 6 man group. I know the high magistrate will be PISSED that they killed 8 bodies and left 7 of them in the streets for the morning guard to find. Town criers will be yelling about a psychopath on the loose etc...my question lies in when I kill off Vinovati the only lead they will have is the name Vadim.

I dont want to nose ring them right to him so how do i make a 6 man party interact in the city in a fun way that will lead them eventually to this character to try and find out if "he" is a main threat to the current Lord Senator or if he isnt who HE works for?

I'm up for any suggestions.

[Rezdave]

Skuldin wrote:

leaving a wake of dead bodies behind them (8 in all and all of them missing a right ring finger thanks to the psycopath cleric they have with them) so it looks like a serial killer is on the loose

The party is screwed. Eight bodies in one night and an apparent serial killer on the loose? It won't take long for the local Clerics to cast a few speak with dead and get IDs on enough of the party to implicate them. After all, someone has to go down for this, and fast.

Yep ... sounds to me like the party will have to take their name "Vadim" and skip town. I'd start plotting a new story arc rather than trying to run this one through.

Alternately, if the dead do implicate the PCs it's possible that the High Magistrate will realize it's his people doing the killing and his political position could be jeopardized. He can keep the information secret long enough to send assassins after the party, but first has a message delivered to his "apprentice" seeking to cut a deal.

Going through (his underlings') underworld contacts he makes a one-time offer to the apprentice to hand over the party cleric and one or two others (alive or dead) as the murderers and then he'll only quietly banish his now-former-apprentice.

Coincidentally, it is Vadim (perhaps under another name, but with some distinguishing physical trait the PCs may remember Vinovati cursing ... "that hook-nosed bastard" ... "that dandified, ring-spinning liar" ... "that overly manicured, finger-cracking sunovabich") that is hired to deliver the message (after all, he is "hireling to the stars").

Now the "apprentice" is faced with a dilemma. He can turn over the cleric (and the bard, if he's still alive) and let them be "slain during arrest" or simply railroaded in a public trial (if the cleric has a collection of fingers it won't be hard). If he can put 2+2 together and realize the "agent" who contacted him is the mysterious Vadim then the party might track him back through the underworld, thieves' guild or whatever and clue in to the real plot.

If the apprentice delivers up a killer and unmasks Vadim and the person who contracted the nobleman's murder in the first place, he can avoid being banished (well, at least permanently, anyway ... he might need to take a year off to go "adventuring" outside the city while things cool down).

Otherwise, if he doesn't cut a deal then the party finds themselves hunted. They need to go deep underground or split town since the High Magistrate probably knows their "level" and capabilities well enough to hire assassins strong enough to ensure a TPK.

FWIW,

Rez

[ArchLich]

Dealing with the murders:
First off why did the PC's kill those people? Will they be missed and was it self-defence?

*Bribes.
*Have another meddler be introduced. Someone with connections to the city guard and the church. He/she uses the information of the murders and who the killers really are to black mail the party. "Since you are such good killers I have a job for you..."
*The party is approached by a mage who can "solve the problem" by having a dominated person confess before any speak with dead are used.

They got themselves into this ugly underside; do they really think they have a monopoly on it?

Additional ways at dropping clues:

*The "opposition" gets nervous and decides to have the party silenced or bribed or both (a bag of gold with explosive ruins carved on the coins or maybe simple contact poison?). This gives a second chance at interrogation and another lead.
*Also there is the noble that died. The party could always break into his grave and use a speak with dead on his corpse.
*You can have an "incident" (threat, blackmail, etc) happen to another noble that normally supports the parties patron.

Hope that helps.

[Skuldin]

ArchLich wrote:

Dealing with the murders:First off why did the PC's kill those people? Will they be missed and was it self-defence?[list]

Group make-up:
1 Vitaly CN cleric of Vmar (think a gypsy spirit of death/trickery)
2 Demetrius LN wizard and magister in training (he is the apprentice of the High Magistrate and a lynchpin in getting the party together early)
3 Innokenti (CN) gypsy bard convicted of murder but freed for questioning (this character will be killed off next adventure and this PC will take over a hexblade that is in the same secret order that Demetrius and the High Magistrate are in)
4 Volker von Rolf mercenary ranger who befriended Innokenti before he was murdered. He is a barbarian moved into the city to study the fighting and formations of the Sinestrian legions (think Germans studying Rome)
5 Markov Kaldarasha Luptavi (slavic) rogue (to be an assassin) has been sent as a "gift" to the High Magistrate to help relations with his people and the Sinestrath Empire
6 Corsus Octavius Calidus CG scout; Sinestrian wanted for murder in another city and entered the military to escape the noble family that wants him dead. He has been given special status in the legion to bodyguard Demetrius

First murder was in a tavern with three or four other patrons that would have seen a glimpse of Markov hamstringing a rogue snitch that ran to the bar to warn Vinovati (half-brother of Inno) that the party was incoming. Markov forgot he had poisoned his blade with Man-O-War poison and the guy suffocated.

The next seven murders were out front of the Sleeping Dogs tavern and 7 guys ambushed them giving Vinovati time to escape...all of them were killed in the street and left there at night.

So self-defense could be used on those seven except for the fact Vitaly cut their fingers off so it looks like a serial murderer is on the loose.

I am running a somewhat low-magic campaign so Speak with dead etc i'm trying to avoid at least right now. However there is a CSI kind of guard on the case to find the killer(s).