Introducing the Blue Duke

[Sean Halloran]

Hello fellow SCAPers. I’ve run into a small problem in my campaign and I thought I would come here to ask for some suggestions. My party just completed the Test of the Smoking Eye, and I plan to run DD’s “Siege of Redgorge” when they return to the prime material plane. I have about two weeks before we play again and I’ve run into a problem in running the siege as written on these boards. The main problem is the presence of the Blue Duke. I didn’t want him to come out of nowhere earlier in the campaign so I had “Zarn Kyass” exist as the second in command of the Cauldron guard. The problem of course is that nobody knows that the mysterious Bluke Duke and he are one in the same. In my campaign Zarn was put in command of the mercenaries within the city up until my party found a clever way to oust them from the city. When they return from Occipitus the siege will be just beginning with the mercenaries given the job of raiding the city and finding the leaders of the Chisel. My question for you guys is how to incorporate Zarn into this? By the end of the siege I want to be clear that the Blue Duke and Zarn are the same person and that he is an apprentice Cagewright. I want the reveal to be awesome, but I’m not quite sure how to go about it. Suggestions?

[Chef's Slaad]

Hi Sean,

I'm not sure what role Zarn has in Cauldron now that his mercenaries have been ousted. Perhaps you could work it from there?

Zarn Kyass heads the invasion force for Redwall. The Blue Duke is a prominent figure in the mercenary army. Either he's the mysterious leader or he's the force's champion (like Achilles). Either way, no-one has seen him, and all accounts of him are second hand. A grizzeld old mercenaries tells of stories he heard in his youth, that sort of thing. Only during the battle between the PCs and Zarn Kyass does he reveal his true self.

Give the players an opertunity to spy on Zarn Kyass. Either as he leaves the camp to confer with some of the demonic forces he's trying to recruit or in some other capacity. If you mention the cagewrights there the players should be able to pick up on the link.

[Cincinnatus]

Did you run the second chapter, "Drakthar's Way"? This can be used to introduce the Blue Duke very well. My players infiltrated Drakthar's Way and discovered the mercenaries there (Chorlyndyr and Kallev as well as the Half-Orcs) and, on the fly, managed to play along and convince them that they, too, were mercenaries working for the Blue Duke. It helped that one of the PCs was a Half-Orc as well. They discovered the smuggling network there and even managed to learn something of the Blue Duke (namely, that he was an ogre mage) very early in the campaign. They are still obsessed (we're on Chapter 5) with finding out who he is, so the transition will be very easy.

[Forever Man]

I've got a few 'Blue Duke' problems myself.

I have the SCAP hardcover & my players have gone through Drakthar's Way, which introduced Zarn as a mysterious figure & potential boss monster (or what have you), but he's also makes an appearance in CH 5, Demonskar Legacy, where he's supposed to help the PC's battle the fire elementals at Minuta's Board. The paladin will instantly know Zarn is evil and the jig is up *LONG* before he's supposed to be battled in later chapters.

To make matters worse the text states that Zarn will make 'multiple uses of Cone of Cold to extinguish the fire,' but Ogre Mages can only use Co'Cold 1/day.

How do you recommend I solve these problems?

[section8]

Forever Man wrote:

he's also makes an appearance in CH 5, Demonskar Legacy, where he's supposed to help the PC's battle the fire elementals at Minuta's Board. The paladin will instantly know Zarn is evil and the jig is up *LONG* before he's supposed to be battled in later chapters.

I believe the Detect Evil power of the paladin will take concentration, which he probably won't have as he is fighting the elementals. I made sure to introduce the Blue Duke as head of the city council's newly hired mercenaries. Lawful evil NPCs follow contracts and the Blue Duke has been hired by the city council to protect the city. If the paladin attacks the Blue Duke, the paladin will be an enemy of Cauldron. Take a look at the Siege of Redgorge thread, where the Blue Duke is critical to the story and Zarn is not used at the "party". I personally found it a much better use of the Blue Duke.

Forever Man wrote:

To make matters worse the text states that Zarn will make 'multiple uses of Cone of Cold to extinguish the fire,' but Ogre Mages can only use Co'Cold 1/day.

To resolve this, give him a wand or scrolls of Cone of Cold. Cone of Cold can be his Modus Operandi. Have him use up the wand and/or scrolls fighting the elementals and the fires.

One of the lovely things I liked about the campaign is that while my group figured out certain things early, it didn't mean they were in a position to deal with them. Knowing that evil elements are part of the city council does not give them leave to attack the council. They don't have enough evidence to convince anyone else. Nor does it guarantee that the group will succeed against them. My group has known since the end of the Siege, but still don't know how far the corruption goes. They are carefully biding their time and gathering intel to determine their next moves. It has been quite fun to watch.

[Forever Man]

Thanks, section8.

Ya know . . . I thought of that very idea an hour or so after I wrote this, and I also thought of having Thifirane Rhiavaldi creating scrolls of nondetection for Zarn, too.