On the surface, it looks like Korvosa was more or less unscathed by the events of Rise of the Runelords. It seems to me though that this is unlikely to have been the case. We know that Karzoug's lamia matriarchs were spreading throughout Varisia to harvest greedy souls. It seems really unlikely that they would have ignored Korvosa.
Since RotRL is over before CotCT begins, all we really need to know is how everything worked out in the end. So a lamia matriarch showed up, looked for greedy people, targeted them, and got eaten by a rakshasa? That seems a little pedestrian, but it could work.
Any other ideas?
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Well, Korvosa is actually kind of out of the way from the real wilds of Varisia, so they might not have been much affected. I might be tempted, however, to circulate some tall tales about a bunch of Sollies from some hodunk little town north of magnimar ::spit:: claiming to have found some lost city in the Kodars. Like anyone cares.
Korvosa cares about it's poor even less than magnimar does, and there's more of them, all desperate to find enough cash to survive. But, Korvosa also has way more power players who would look askance at those sort of operations. Old papa Ornellos himself might have stepped in, if not the Arkonas. Hells, there might even be an exciting story of a bunch of young Rat's Teat Boys braving the deeper vaults to take out the Python-based matriarch that was preying on the empties in the sewers. Or the Matriarch attempted to insinuate itself into the Cerulian Society, but was assassinated by Dusters working on behaf of the Sczarni.
Creative Director
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On the surface, it looks like Korvosa was more or less unscathed by the events of Rise of the Runelords. It seems to me though that this is unlikely to have been the case. We know that Karzoug's lamia matriarchs were spreading throughout Varisia to harvest greedy souls. It seems really unlikely that they would have ignored Korvosa.
Since RotRL is over before CotCT begins, all we really need to know is how everything worked out in the end. So a lamia matriarch showed up, looked for greedy people, targeted them, and got eaten by a rakshasa? That seems a little pedestrian, but it could work.
Any other ideas?
Actually... Runelords and Crimson Throne aren't really intended to take place in any order (despite the minor easter egg connecting Vorel's Phage to the plague). You can play them in either order with relatively no worries; we kept the locations in Runelords apart from those in Crimson Throne (and further, apart from Second Darkness as well) so that they can be played in any order.
If you want them to go in order though, I suggest that the lamias avoided Korvosa entirely. Perhaps there were only a few lamias out there gathering greedy souls... but more likely, the lamias avoided Korvosa because the place is SO Lawful that it would be tougher for them to operate there without getting caught. Magnimar and the smaller villages, being more "free-wheeling" and accepting are, unfortunately, more susceptible to sneaky lamia antics.
Alternately, you could have the lamias hit Korvosa, but since the city's so big and mired in bueraccuracy and red tape that the cagey lamias just run circles around any attempts to catch them. Rather than going for quantity, these lamias go for quality and pick off only the greediest victims they can find, while avoiding high-profile victims altogether.
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Contributor
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Well, Korvosa is actually kind of out of the way from the real wilds of Varisia, so they might not have been much affected. I might be tempted, however, to circulate some tall tales about a bunch of Sollies from some hodunk little town north of magnimar ::spit:: claiming to have found some lost city in the Kodars. Like anyone cares.
Korvosa cares about it's poor even less than magnimar does, and there's more of them, all desperate to find enough cash to survive. But, Korvosa also has way more power players who would look askance at those sort of operations. Old papa Ornellos himself might have stepped in, if not the Arkonas. Hells, there might even be an exciting story of a bunch of young Rat's Teat Boys braving the deeper vaults to take out the Python-based matriarch that was preying on the empties in the sewers. Or the Matriarch attempted to insinuate itself into the Cerulian Society, but was assassinated by Dusters working on behaf of the Sczarni.
OMG, this post totally made my day.
Old papa Ornellos himself might have stepped in, if not the Arkonas. Hells, there might even be an exciting story of a bunch of young Rat's Teat Boys braving the deeper vaults to take out the Python-based matriarch that was preying on the empties in the sewers. Or the Matriarch attempted to insinuate itself into the Cerulian Society, but was assassinated by Dusters working on behaf of the Sczarni.
I guess that this is the sort of story I want to plant. In my campaign, RotRL started in the fall of 4707 and CotCT is starting in the summer of 4708. I suspect that once the players in the first campaign realize what's happening with the lamia matriarchs then they're going to be curious about how Korvosa was effected, and it would be fun for them if I could have planted little seeds that they could realize were the same story.
If you want them to go in order though, I suggest that the lamias avoided Korvosa entirely. Perhaps there were only a few lamias out there gathering greedy souls... but more likely, the lamias avoided Korvosa because the place is SO Lawful that it would be tougher for them to operate there without getting caught. Magnimar and the smaller villages, being more "free-wheeling" and accepting are, unfortunately, more susceptible to sneaky lamia antics.
That could work. It'd decrease the story, but it would mean less likelihood of spoiling things before the players figure everything out in RotRL. I suppose that a lamia matriarch could have been on her way here but found some ripe souls collecting tolls in Melfesh, or some such.
Alternately, you could have the lamias hit Korvosa, but since the city's so big and mired in bueraccuracy and red tape that the cagey lamias just run circles around any attempts to catch them. Rather than going for quantity, these lamias go for quality and pick off only the greediest victims they can find, while avoiding high-profile victims altogether.
This could be fun. :)
When Karzoug fell at the end of volume six, would the lamia matriarchs necessarily even know? Might some be still in operation around Varisia? Maybe the lamia matriarch has just finished in Melfesh and is making her way to the big city.
Thank-you both for your input!
Here's where I'm going with this in my campaign. Hetitia the lamia matriarch came to Korvosa (as confirmed on p. 48 of The Skinsaw Murders), and brought with her a male lamia (Zeg) and a female kuchrima (Kaniature).
The lamia was originally just muscle, but after Hetitia and Kaniature got turned to stone he was the only one left. He hauled their petrified bodies into a secure room he'd discovered in the Vaults and began bilking street people for pinch and silver shields. During the plague he managed to do a few schemes to get even more money, and he finally had enough. He sent one of his minions to buy a scroll of stone to flesh and bring Hetitia back. She ordered the minion to get her a scroll of teleport as soon as possible, and this happened.
So Hetitia is away. I figure she teleported back to Xin-Shalast for an update, having been completely out of touch for about a year. She just assumes that either Karzoug will have risen, in which case she'll likely be given a new assignment, or else he hasn't but is getting closer, in which case someone in Xin-Shalast will be able to teleport her back. Since Xin-Shalast is overrun with adventures, Pathfinders, archeologists, and general gold hunters, she's not coming back to Korvosa any time soon I don't think. She might eventually snag a scroll of teleport from someone (or kill enough adventurers to be able to cast it herself), but it's not the immediate event she was hoping for regardless.
Zeg, meanwhile, is going to get Kaniature fixed up soon enough. There's a chance that the PCs might do this and question her, but it seems unlikely. One Kaniature and Zeg are back in business then they'll be trying to harvest souls during the events that take place after Escape From Old Korvosa but before Crown of Fangs. This won't be too creative; they're mostly just filling the time until Hetitia comes back.
Any of the rest of you do anything with this?