In Rise of the Runelords I, Cyrdak Drokkus is a homosexual theater owner exiled to the small town of Sandpoint from the nearby city of Magnimaar. I am now running the 5th part of the adventure path, and my players have asked for an interlude where they stage a play one of them has written.
I thought it would be a nice part of this interlude to have the players redeem Cyrdak Drokkus and restore him to the good graces of the good people of Magnimaar. But I must admit I am bereft of ideas. The players will be lvl 21 (4E, equivalent to around lvl 14 in 3E), and even if the task is not really expected to be a challenge for them, I want it to be meaningful. And the fact that they are not fighting an evil mastermind, but rather public opinion, makes it doubly hard.
I've been thinking of adding some kind of sinister shadow presence for them to cross, but I really don't have much of a lead for it, so I decided to ask here.
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I don't know if this is all in the book or it's partly something I imagined, but I think the reason Cyrdak had to leave Magnimar was that he had a conflict with the owner of the biggest theater over there, who was also his lover previously. I don't have the books with me, but that info should be available in the description of Magnimar at the end of The Skinsaw Murders.
Perhaps by determining the nature of their past conflict, you might come up with a way for the PC's to resolve it. Was it something related to love, or to their career? Maybe one of them took a new lover, or criticized the other's play too harshly. Maybe one became more famous than the other, causing jealousy?
Hm, this was news to me. So it would not be his orientation in itself, but a plot with an ex-lover. That's an interesting angle, thanks!
Upon Starsilver Plaza—where abalone
shell inlays create a scene of thousands of stars—
stands the Triodea, the most renowned playhouse and concert hall
in Magnimar. This one building houses three performance halls:
the Grand Stage for operas and plays, an acoustically perfect concert
hall called the Stonewall, and the Aerie—a raised, rooftop
stage for soloists. Durstin Versade (NG male human expert 5)
currently owns the performance hall, but the Triodea’s true master
is Kassiel Iylmrain (NE male elf bard 7), a masterful dancer and
alto, with a history of extraordinary fits of anger, jealousy, and
promiscuity (especially when it aids his career).
Upon Starsilver Plaza...
Gold!
Someone is suggesting that this affair could also have involved a young Tsuto... Ok now he loves Nualia but when he was young he could have been not so hard to manipulate... and this could be the reason why Ameiko hates Cyrdak feeling him responsable for part of the problems grown in his brother...
Well spotted. I'm starting to feel it was way to long ago that I read/played the early parts of Rise of the Runelords. Game night is tonight; I'll keep all these ideas in mind!
The session was played today, but we didn't get to this point so I can continue to muse over it until next week.
This went off with a blast! The adventure finished with a dance-off between Kassiel Iylmrain and the PC bard, after which he was shamed enough to leave town.
Note that he was 12th level and the party 21st level (4E), so this was not really a challenge, it was part of a downtime session. But it was great fun.
