Sczarni kidnapping

[Stepchild of the Sun]

So during Burnt Offerings, one of my PCs (CN elf bard) contacted the Sczarni to obtain some semi-legal gear (skeleton key, glass cutter, other obviously burglary-related items) because she couldn't get it at the general shop. In the downtime between Book 1 and 2, I had a Sczarni member contact her and say that they would give her a certain amount of the goods she wanted if she would do a favor for them and chase a handful of non-Sczarni con artists out of town WITHOUT killing them. Unfortunately for her, these con artists turned out to be the late Mr Mortwell, Hask, and Tabe- the first of the Skinsaw Murders. Needless to say, the Sczarni are NOT HAPPY.

The party hasn't really been in Sandpoint long enough (that is without massive crowds of witnesses) for any of the Sczarni to ambush her PC, so I was thinking of a different tactic. My player created and befriended two leshys (long story) between Book 1 and 2 and left them in the safety of Sandpoint where they could wander around at their leisure and explore. So I'm thinking that not long after she gets back to Sandpoint she finds a sealed envelope in her room containing a single leaf and a note demanding the goods they gave her back as well as x amount of gold as ransom.

TL;DR: My PC ticked off the Sczarni and kidnap her plant creature friends for ransom in retaliation.

Any suggestions?

[Misroi]

I feel like I'm missing part of the story here. PC bard asks the Sczarni to help her get some contraband, and the Sczarni agree, so long as she chases the con men out of Sandpoint. She does, and they end up dead later. Now the Sczarni are after her? What did she do wrong? Do they think she killed them? Why?

[Stepchild of the Sun]

They specifically told her NOT to kill them so as to avoid garnering unwanted attention and only a few days later, they showed up dead. They either 1) honestly think she did it and want to punish her for it or 2) don't know or don't care if she did it but didn't like her to begin with and were just using her to do their dirty work and now want to see what else they can squeeze out of her.

[Misroi]

Personally, I like the angle of #2. Jubrayl likely doesn't know if she killed them or not, but the fact they ended up dead when he specifically asked her not to kill them means he can ask her to do all sorts of stuff for them to make up for her "failure." I'd personally use her to be Jubrayl's asset on the inside, getting access to places he's normally unable to influence - maybe the Pixie's Kitten, mostly just to piss of Belor? I'm sure he'd like to take over that place. Maybe he wants dirt on more of the nobles than just Scarnetti. Maybe he wants her to rob the jeweler's. All sorts of things he can do to her to do to pay them back...and there's always "just one more job..."

[Latrecis]

Misroi wrote:

Personally, I like the angle of #2. Jubrayl likely doesn't know if she killed them or not, but the fact they ended up dead when he specifically asked her not to kill them means he can ask her to do all sorts of stuff for them to make up for her "failure." I'd personally use her to be Jubrayl's asset on the inside, getting access to places he's normally unable to influence - maybe the Pixie's Kitten, mostly just to piss of Belor? I'm sure he'd like to take over that place. Maybe he wants dirt on more of the nobles than just Scarnetti. Maybe he wants her to rob the jeweler's. All sorts of things he can do to her to do to pay them back...and there's always "just one more job..."

This works great for Jubrayl. At least until after Book 2 when the pc's are more than powerful enough to take out all the Sczarni in Sandpoint. At some point, the pc's will tire of the trouble and apply PC Trouble Resolution Pattern A. Which of course might be a very fine turn for the campaign to take.

[Stepchild of the Sun]

Because I'm diabolical, I'm considering having them deliver a salad to her instead of just the single leaves but make sure she knows the veggies in there are NOT her leshys lest she go on a roaring rampage of revenge.

For now, I was thinking of having them just demand their gear (about 100g worth) back, a ransom of 200g and an ear on the inside and regular reports.

[Kalshane]

I'd take care in how you handle this. Straight-up "punishing" her out-of-the-blue may come across as unfair.

I find it far more-likely Jubrayl would have her dragged in for a meeting (either at sword-point or straight-up dragged off the street with a bag thrown over her head) to explain why her targets ended up dead against orders, then task her with getting to the bottom of who killed them, or else he's going to have himself a nice salad.

[Stepchild of the Sun]

So last night my player found her salad and note and played ball with Jubrayl to meet before explaining she could not have killed those con men (with both substantial evidence and an ungodly high diplomacy roll). He decided she was innocent and handed over her leshys but not before reminding her he'll call on her sometime in the future- and that she'd better hope no one else ends up dead when they're not supposed to.

I'm pretty sure my player loved it and one of my other players was completely taken aback and stunned (in a good way I hope) that I actually did that as I'm usually much more likely to be a softy and give ample chance to save everyone from dogs to npcs. But they seemed okay with the outcome when I asked what she really expected to come of working with the fantasy version of the maffia.

[Misroi]

Sounds like a good resolution to me. And it gives the party motivation to do something about the "Sczarni problem" later on in the AP between chapters, which is always a good thing!