Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 27 [RPG]

[27 Desnus, 4708 A.R.]

Korvosa is a city in turmoil.  After the sudden death of King Eodred II, his new bride from Cheliax has ascended to the throne as Queen Ileosa.  Riots led to anarchy and then martial law, while a terrible plague claimed hundreds of lives.  Meanwhile, Ileosa’s iron fist over the city has tightened with her personal force of Gray Maidens largely displacing the Korvosan Guard.  But although a failed assassination attempt revealed the queen’s seeming invincibility, a rebellion is brewing.  And in the still-quarantined district of the city known as Old Korvosa, the Harrowed Heroes scour the slums in search of Vencarlo Orisini, an ally of Field Marshall Kroft who claims Castle Korvosa’s missing seneschal knows the truth of the Queen’s dark new powers . . .

In the still-smouldering rooms of Vencarlo Orisini’s home in the Garrison Hill neighbourhood of Old Korvosa, Goldcape and The Reckoner make a final sweep for any clues to the missing man’s whereabouts.  They don’t discover anything of value, but decide to retrieve the man’s comb in the hopes that divination magic might be able to locate him.  When the two return outside, they see that Rocky is looming over a terrified young man.  Goldcape recognises him as Amin Jalento, a harmless young fop she rescued from a mob some weeks ago.  Once Rocky is called off, Amin shakily explains that he saw the fire and came to investigate.  He says he was taking classes in Vencarlo’s duelling academy when the quarantine hit and couldn’t return home, but Vencarlo allowed him to stay in a backroom.  Then, one night several days ago, a group of insect-masked swordsmen burst in and tried to kill Vencarlo!  The master fencer slew one of the assassins but was forced to flee, and Amin hasn’t seen him since.  The young noble says he’s now reduced to squatting in the rubble of the academy as the assassins set fires before they left.  He’s been trying to rack up the courage to brave the Old Dock neighbourhood on the western side of Old Korvosa, because he thinks maybe Vencarlo would have went to stay with a friend named Salvator Scream who has a house there at 140 Wave Street.  But rumors of the cruel Emperor of Old Korvosa have convinced Amin to stay put.

While listening to the young aristocrat’s story, The Reckoner scans the area to see if the late night fight against the Red Mantis assassins and subsequent fire have drawn any more eyes to the scene.  He spots a small figure lurking under a wagon nearby, and realises it’s one of the gnome-like figures that Goldcape spoke about spotting on a previous reconnaissance of the neighbourhood which is kept (relatively) safe by the liveried guards of House Arkona.  The Reckoner decides it’s time for direct action and strides over, his fearsome presence enough to keep the strange little creature from either fighting or fleeing.    Still, although terrified, the creature answers only that he serves the Arkona family and that anyone harming him will risk the wrath of his masters.  With dawn approaching, Goldcape and The Reckoner realise they should hurry back to the abandoned building they left Yraelzin in before daylight draws additional scrutiny.

When the pair arrive, they see that Yraelzin and the mysterious sylph named Katash (who aided them in a battle against ruffians loyal to the Emperor of Old Korvosa) are there, having just finished questioning one of the prisoners.  The Reckoner leads his allies to another abandoned building that seems more secure and that could serve as a temporary safe-house, eliciting oaths never to disclose its location to anyone.

[28 Desnus, 4708 A.R.]

It’s past midday when the group emerges from the safe-house.  Several children, shoeless and filthy, but incongruously happy, are singing as they gather around a crude little guillotine made from sticks, pegs, and a straight razor that they’re using to behead dolls. 

Headless, headless, that’s what you’ll be,

brand-new dolls in the Emp’ror’s cemet’ry! 

Choppy, choppy, chop, the tall knife calls,

waitin’ for the day for Korvosa to fall.

The children aren’t scared when the adults approach, and some music from Katash, coins from Goldcape, and food from The Reckoner quickly wins them over.  The children are especially fascinated by Rocky, and Goldcape lets the braver children pet him.  Some casual questioning elicits a claim that Vencarlo hardly ever strayed into West Dock, and that the gnome-like figures in Fort Korvosa are spies that can change their shapes to look like anything!

The Harrowed Heroes scale a nearby, partially-collapsed tenement and keep careful tabs on the building where they left the Emperor of Old Korvosa’s thugs tied up.  But hopes for an ambush are dashed when no one comes, and realisation dawns that the Emperor just doesn’t care enough about his henchmen to send out search parties if they go missing.  A few kind words from Katash and some not-so-kind ones from The Reckoner persuade one of the men to switch loyalties completely and give up everything he knows about the Emperor.  Most pertinent, are that pretty much anyone can get “an audience with his His Majesty”, but that often these visits end up with the visitors losing their heads to the Tall Knife or forced to play a dangerous game of Blood Pig.  The thug confirms that the Emperor is “patron” to an artist he keeps mostly under wraps, but who paints grisly and disturbing backdrops for the “throne room” and stage plays.  Goldcape remembers to ask if Vencarlo Orisini is held prisoner by the Emperor, but the thug only shrugs and says he’s never heard of the guy.

After setting the prisoners free, the group discuss how to proceed.  Katash says that winning a game of Blood Pig would earn the Emperor’s favour, but Goldcape says she doesn’t like killing animals, and a game where live pigs are torn apart by wolverines is a step too far.  Katash is primarily interested in making peace in the area, and suggests simply approaching a patrol and asking for an audience.  The others agree to the plan.  As they make their way down the refuse-strewn streets, one of the children outside rushes up and says he asked around and heard that Vencarlo was last seen entering Arkona Palace!  It’s an intriguing lead, but the group decide to continue deeper into the Emperor’s territory.  They soon encounter several toughs punching and kicking an old woman who is sprawled on the cobblestones.  Word of The Reckoner has clearly spread, as the men stop what they’re doing as soon as the vigilante appears.  Goldcape asks why they’re attacking the woman, and they grunt that her name is Mifeg and that she’s crazy—her family died of the plague but she talks to the bodies like they’re still alive.  Cowed by The Reckoner, the thugs quickly agree to take the group to see the Emperor.

The “palace” turns out to be a collection of scorched tenements and abandoned stores, their insides gutted and looted, leaving just the hollow shells of buildings.  Rickety wooden stairs lead up to the roof of one building, and makeshift rope bridges then connect to others.  A small mob of the Emperor’s followers escort the visitors to a rooftop that overlooks another one just below it.  Here, a high-backed throne of blood-red cushions and spikes, like a poor man’s version of the Crimson Throne, sits.  At the edge of the roof is an intimidating device: a tall guillotine of carved wood and bone, its base depicting grasping demonic feet while the housing of its glittering blade is a leering demonic face.  Next to the guillotine is a small-figure wearing an executioner’s hood, while seated on the throne, surrounded by four flunkies and dressed in ratty and threadbare costume attire, is the self-proclaimed Emperor of Old Korvosa himself!

Speaking in a grandiloquent and almost hypnotic tone, the Emperor readily admits, when asked, that Salvatore Scream is his “houseguest.”  But the Emperor is bored and in need of entertainment, and tells the newcomers he’ll introduce them to Scream if they first compete in a game of Blood Pig.  The Harrowed Heroes propose various bland alternatives, though Katash piques the Emperor’s interest with the proposal of a duel.  The Emperor says he personally can’t duel Katash because the sylph is “not of noble blood”, but counter-offers to have his “champion” participate on his behalf, motioning to the executioner.  But that offer is declined, leading the Emperor to grow more and more impatient for entertainment, as a crowd starts to form to watch the show.

Tales will vary on who threw the first punch, but with neither side willing to give, an outbreak of violence is inevitable.  A dense scrum starts on the rooftop, with over a dozen of the Emperor’s ruffians surrounding the Harrowed Heroes from all sides, as the Emperor himself looks on gleefully.  At first, the situation looks dire, as Yraelzin takes an axe blow to the back and barely manages to crawl to safety.  The Reckoner yells at Goldcape to clear a path to the Emperor, and the vanaran’s rapier opens up a momentary gap that the Reckoner dashes through.  With but a single swing of his war-maul, The Reckoner cracks the Emperor’s skull open!  Jabyr, the Emperor’s diminutive executioner, is frozen in shock for several seconds, but then leaps into the battle, swinging his greataxe like an enraged madman!  Katash is badly hurt and is lucky to escape death before Goldcape and the Reckoner manage to bring the aggressor down.  The dead Emperor’s henchmen and the audience are left reeling, and quickly filter away, with some giving ragged cheers in expectation that a new Emperor of Old Korvosa has arisen.

-----------------------------

GM Commentary

The AP was helpful here with ideas to add some flavour to Old Korvosa--the kids using a toy guillotine on dolls, the sad scene with the woman refusing to leave the bodies of her loved ones, etc.

I would have loved for the visit to the Emperor of Old Korvosa to have resulted in a game of Blood Pig or something other than the traditional bout of violence.  The PCs kept trying to bargain with him, but there's no bargaining with crazy.  The Reckoner landed a crit on the Emperor, which made things much easier, though it was still touch-and-go there for a while.