Foreshadowing the Council Itself

[Freya Cat Herder]

I just started DMing the Council of Thieves AP (we're about halfway through Bastards of Erebus). This is my first post but I've been lurking and mining the CoT AP message boards for good advice and it seems the common consensus is that, while it is a unique and fun AP, it suffers from lack of foreshadowing and thus, continuity.

I’ve found some ways to strengthen the PCs rivalry with Thesing, introduce several key NPCs earlier so they have more impact later and make the PCs feel more tied to Westcrown. However, I would like to hint at the Council of Thieves itself.

Before the Bastards of Erebus portion, I have a player-focused event planned for two members. Our party has a bard and noble-background rogue whose joint concept is that the bard plays events and the rogue uses the distraction to steal. Instead of a pickpocket working the crowd (which would be ill-tolerated in Cheliax) they work noble homes, easy enough in a city which values the arts and where the parties are known for their debauchery and excess.

I had Eirtain Oberigo invite them to a private party at Vira Oberigo. The bard will perform select soliloquies from favorite dramas while the gentleman burglar uses the opportunity to try to find a valuable painting in a secret room (A contact at the Dusk Market informed them that he had a buyer for the painting and they negotiated 75/25% split).

Spoiler:

Little does the rogue know that Oberigo is one of the most respected members of the legendary Council of Thieves.

However, to add to the excitement and to foreshadow the Council, I’d love for him to find some hint, perhaps a letter.

Any suggestions? I have a general idea of what I want but I’m at a loss on the specifics.

[Fabius Maximus]

A letter? Let me quote Stringer Bell: "Bleep, is you taking notes on a criminal bleeping conspiracy? What the bleep is you thinking, man?"

Oberigo is too smart for that. I suggest letting one of the PCs overhear a conversation between two underlings.

[Lord Fyre]

Related to this, is there any good way to foreshadow Ecarrdian before book #6?

As it is, he just pops out of nowhere.

Fabius Maximus wrote:

A letter? Let me quote Stringer Bell: "Bleep, is you taking notes on a criminal bleeping conspiracy? What the bleep is you thinking, man?"

Oberigo is too smart for that. I suggest letting one of the PCs overhear a conversation between two underlings.

Another good way is to have one of the rogue's or the bard's contacts warn them away from robbing Eirtain Oberigo - preferably without an explanation.

[Freya Cat Herder]

Lord Fyre, perhaps have them run into Chammady's dismissed handmaiden, still scarred and bitter from Chammady's attack many years ago with a wine bottle after she playfully insulted Eccardian? She could be attending another noblewoman or in a different, less reputable line of work due to her scar.

Fabius, good point. But what to overhear? I want to raise the question of the Council in their minds but not hit them with it like a brick.

[Fabius Maximus]

Well, there is foreshadowing at the end of the first adventure - in the form of a letter, in fact (although the one adressed is not very smart and kept it).

Maybe let them listen in to a discussion about a shady business deal and the council's rules about conducting illicit business in the city.

I had a barkeep open his mouth to wide and let the rumoured existance of the council slip. That was much later in the AP, though.

[jabberwoky]

I ran into the same problem when I read through the books. But I have a few tips, namely, foreshadowing three major villains in the AP.

Villain 1:

Major Change: I am running the AP out of order, going from book 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and then 4, so they aren't completely "canonical".

Ilnerik Sivanshin made an impersonal appearance at the end of Bastards of Erebus, by cursing Palaveen's journal to summon shadows when it would be opened next. I made a thread about it here: Ink of Ilnerik. I also made him the author of the runecurse scroll in The Sixfold Trial, cementing the fact that he's a powerful spellcaster.

Most entertainingly, the vampire Vahnwynne Malkistra made an appearance during The Sixfold Trial. I played Thesing as a casanova with a small harem of fans who wanted to protect him from a mysterious woman known only as "The Blonde". They weren't particularly effective, and most of their use was in disrupting rehearsals. During the performance, Vahnwynne Malkistra appeared as a succubus lover to Thesing's Judge Haanderthan improvising a scene and infuriating the director to no end. Vahnwynne Malkistra fought the party along with the skeletal trolls and faked her death, disappearing with Thesing, bringing him to Ilnerik to plot revenge against the party. When Thesing comes back in book six, I plan to have the vampire keep those fans as dominated mortals.

So far, the players haven't put much together yet, but I plan on using the NPC Bluehood to lead a hunting party against the shadows. Bluwhood doesn't know about Ilnerik, but he believes some cabal of Nidalese necromancers is behind it. The ranger, however is suspicious; he fought the Blonde personally, and thought it odd that a human got a slam attack on him. Also, the information the dead Pathfinders will give will help them immensely.

Villain 2:

The Council of Thieves has yet to make a formal appearance, but the players found Palaveen's journal, and are curious about the Council. However, they have found a black market contact, a hyper little tiefling nicknamed "Crazy Eddie" who buys used armor and weapons (the kind that are still warm and have fresh sword marks). If the Council is going to make a move, he would know about it.

Villain 3:

Eccardian Drovenege has been nicknamed "The Golden Child". I wanted him to be different than simply taking over the city as Lord Mayor, so I made him have a different goal: trap Westcrown in an inferno of Hellfire, and bring it under control of Mammon himself. Killing Eccardian will only set the Pit Fiend trapped under the mayor's mansion free, thus starting book four at the end of book six.

The party has had two references to the Golden Child, the first from the imprisoned bearded devil in the Asmodean Knot, raving that the Golden Child would judge them all. The next reference was Sian Daemodus, who claimed she was working for the Golden Child, but never said why, or who it was. She ambushed the party's summoner with a sleeping poison, then traded the antidote for the book about Drowned Jabe. The party went along with the trade and were just glad the Golden Child didn't want them dead... yet.

[Freya Cat Herder]

Fabius, I think I may just let the letter stand on its own and see how my PCs react. If they jump on the connection, I will leave it alone and if I feel they need more, your idea for an overheard discussion is perfect.

I had wanted some hint that my PC was stealing from a member of the Council, just to up the tension, but you are right, Fabius: Oberigo is too smart for that. The Council remained hidden for a very long time precisely because the old guard was shrewd. The only reason there are hints now, is because new blood is stirring things up.

I decided to take the art heist in a different direction:

Spoiler:

The painting is titled "The Binding of the Twin" and was painting long ago by a member of the royal family who was known for his artistic bent. It is a scene of the binding of Leibdaga by the Thrune family mages. The Dusk Market contact's anonymous collector is actually Chammady. She knew of the painting because Oberigo once met with her in his secret room. She immediately realized that the painting could hold the key to the secrets of the pit devils imprisonment but that it would require detailed study. They discussed it and decided that sending in Sian to steal the painting was too risky, as she could not jeopardize her upcoming mission in Aberion's Folly (not to mention that her discovery by Oberigo could risk exposing their plans). Instead, they decided to make use of the Dusk Market contact. They plan to have Sian collect the painting and cover their tracks by disposing of the middle man - and potentially the art thief, as well.

Jabberwoky,

Spoiler:

I like how you introduced Vanwynne. I have already alluded to her disappearance, however, so I will take that in another direction.

[Fabius Maximus]

Okay, that makes more sense. I also like the idea with the painting.