| regicide85 |
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Hi fellow GMs. I've got quite a conundrum, and I think I know what I'm going to do about it, but settle in for a long story. This post is rife with spoilers from Escape from Old Korvosa onward, so PCs, please avoid this post.
I have a half-orc paladin of Torag (orphan raised by dwarves of Janderhoff. Basically Worf from TNG). When they went to OK in EFOK, he found his small forge shrine taken over by thugs, ostensibly a part of the Emperor's extended network of goons. On a mission to take it back, the party began to work with Baris Bitterforged (I changed his last name), leader of the Ironsoots, who had taken up residence in the Ironworks. The Ironsoots created a solidarity network in line with their organized labor ideals, and were using it to aide the people of Bridgefront to keep the nasty hand of Pilts Swasdel at bay as best they could. You know, like good guys. The paladin PC and the rest of the party were all about this, especially the organized labor part, so they threw in with them fully.
Proceeding further into the adventure, they threatened Lord Arkona's life before descending into the Vivified Labyrinth, and killed Vimanda in her sleep (this caused quite a party schism).
In Skeletons of Scarwall, a PC or two antagonized Sial quite a lot, so at an opportune moment, an arcane battle was fought between an arcanist PC and Sial, resulting in his death. Laori, already having doubts about her faith, eventually decided to throw in with the PCs and go rogue from the Brotherhood of Bones.
The PCs have returned to Old Korvosa's Ironworks after the events of Skeletons of Scarwall, and due to the craziness of the gang wars and the prevalence of the Ironsoots, the Grey Maidens have maintained the quarantine of OK, though not as strictly as before. Vencarlo has returned and is old friends with Baris and is staying there too to keep a low profile.
The Ironsoots are having a rough go. The Cerulean Society and affiliated gangs have taken over much of Old Dock and the OK dock trade, occasionally waylaying ships as they pass by. They treat the vessels much as they would under normal circumstances, but reputable trade isn't happening. They've bottlenecked the trickle of supplies into OK, and the Ironsoots don't have the resources to run them all out. With the death of Vimanda (normally the public face of House Arkona), Glorio and his people have withdrawn to their estate and haven't been seen. Baris wants the remaining contingent of Korvosan Guard NCOs and the few remaining Sable Company Maries that remain in OK to ally with him and the Ironsoots, but they refuse to do so until they can take back the Endrin Academy, now held by the Cerulean Society and affiliated gangs. The KG and SCM leftovers are holed up in Orisini Academy. Marcus Endrin has asked to help the PCs with this endeavor, but they declined.
The PCs decided to deal with Trifaxia, but due to a total knee-jerk reaction to a role play challenge I gave them, they essentially destroyed the Gold Market and toppled both the new statue of Ileosa under construction and the statue of Eodred in Eodred's Square, toppling it onto the entrance to Bailer's Retreat. The PCs fled back to Old Korvosa. Korvosa is now back under martial law due to this upset.
Bitterforged is hesitant to get too involved with the rebellion, as he knows that if Korvosa returns to normal with the defeat of Ileosa, he and his men could be tried for unionizing and imprisoned for 10 years. Also, I plan on having rakshashas (Arkona agents) working in the Endrin academy, working on building a simulacrum of Neolandus. I'm considering having the Grey Maidens undergo a full police-action sweep of OK, rounding up any Ironsoot rebels, etc, and executing them as traitors to the crown, because the PCs have been pretty reckless.
What do you think? Any suggestions?