Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 6 [RPG]

 [18 Gozran, 4708 A.R. continued]

Is Verik Vancaskerkin a hardened
criminal or unwilling dupe?

The operation to arrest deserter Verik Vancaskerkin is underway!  The Reckoner carefully opens the window to what looks like a break room and moves stealthily toward where Verik sits in the adjoining office.  At the pre-arranged signal, Goldcape fires an arrow from across the street, hoping to pin him down, but the shot goes awry and thunks harmlessly into the window sill.  Still, Verik hears the sound, and the battle begins!  He jumps to his feet, grabs a spear leaning against the desk, and is ready to exchange blows when The Reckoner rushes in to confront him.  Grau Soldado crashes through another window, but as Verik shouts for help and footsteps can be heard running below, the Korvosan Guard Watch-Captain decides to guard the top of the stairs.

The fighting is furious.  The Reckoner manages to land a couple of blows with his warhammer, but Verik’s training in the Guard makes him a formidable foe.  All it takes is one mistake, and The Reckoner is battered to the ground, unconscious!  Arrows fired by Goldcape and Yraelzin through the window rarely manage to hit, but fortunately Goldcape has brought his erstwhile friend, Rocky!  The young roc crashes through the window to score several deep gashes on Verik’s face and arms.  Verik tries to stab the roc with his spear, but the weapon goes flying, forcing the desperate deserter to grab the silver dagger stuck into the top of the nearby desk.  It’s a bloody battle of man versus bird, and it’s unclear which will emerge triumphant!

Meanwhile, Grau is forced to dispatch one foe after another as the violent deserters-turned-mercenaries known as the Cow Hammer Boys rush up the stairs in single file.  Grau’s training under master swordsman Vencarlo Orisini pays off, as he manages to hold his own until three of the foes have fallen and the fourth, a sadistic murderer named Parns, turns and tries to flee.  Grau gives chase as the man races down the stairs and towards the front shop area of the slaughterhouse.  But then, the battle takes an unforeseeable turn!  Waiting just outside the front window is an old Shoanti man who, with a mere glance, sends Parns fleeing right back into Grau’s arms, utterly terrified!

Back upstairs, Verik is badly wounded and has realised the fight is unwinnable: not only is he cornered, dodging multiple archers, fending off an implacable bird, but his reinforcements have been defeated as well.  Verik sighs and drops the dagger, surrendering.  Grau marches Parns upstairs and secures the surviving Cow Hammer Boys and Verik.  When Goldcape comes into the room, he tells her about the strange Shoanti.  After using some primal magics learned in the jungles of Casmaron to bring The Reckoner back to consciousness, Goldcape makes a quick search of the rest of the building.  She makes a sickening discovery—at least some of the meat in the slaughterhouse is from humanoid, not animal, origin!  When Grau confronts Verik, he proclaims his innocence, saying he knew nothing about how the meat was obtained.  He says he just thought feeding people during the riots was a good idea when his girlfriend, Meliya Arkona (a member of the influential aristocratic House Arkona), suggested it.  Grau, however, doesn’t buy the story, and dismisses out of hand Verik’s claim to be secretly dating an Arkona.

Goldcape heads outside and speaks to the Shoanti man, learning that his name is Takota Lies-Dreaming and that he is a shaman of the Shriikirri-Quah—the Clan of the Hawk.  Takota explains that he received a mysterious message on the back of a Harrow card indicating that Parns could be found here.  When Parns was a member of the Korvosan Guard, he used his station to corruptly protect Gaedren Lamm’s criminal enterprises.  Because Takota’s daughter, Shonsana, died from a Shiver addiction fuelled by Lamm and her missing boyfriend Varujan, Takota wishes to ask Parns if he knows Varujan’s current location.  After first channelling spiritual healing to further help The Reckoner, Takota places hand on Parns’ brow.  In the course of just seconds, Parns mind is almost overloaded with images of Shonsana, Varujan, and the pain that the man’s actions have caused others.  Parns breaks down, and sobs that the last he heard, Varujan was still visiting a place called Eel’s End for his nightly Shiver fix.

Grau thanks the other members of the assault team for the quality work, and says that Field Marshall Croft will be pleased that Verik was captured alive.  He arranges for other members of the Korvosan Guard to help him escort the prisoners back to Citadel Volsyhanek.  Takota is about to head off into the night to return to his tents in Skaldwood (a small forest just south of the city where many Shoanti clans have campsites), but he’s persuaded that travelling through the city at night during martial law is a good way to get in trouble with the Hellknights—especially because they’re known to hate “savages” like the Shoanti.  Instead, the group walk to the nearby Burnt Honey Inn.  The Reckoner slips away to resume his civilian identity as Ralph Blackfeather, while Yraelzin, who had been waiting on the rooftop across the street from the slaughterhouse, arrives quite miffed at having been forgotten sometime later.

[19 Gozran, 4708 A.R. continued]

Incredibly strong winds from the harbor, channelled through the city’s narrow streets, make walking a chore for the residents of Korvosa.  With most of the shops closed on a Sunday, and martial law casting a pall over the city, it seems like a good idea to mostly stay inside.  Ralph spends some time subtly spreading rumors about The Reckoner to enhance his alter ego’s fearsomeness with the criminal element, while Goldcape watches some patrons gamble in a dice game called Twentybone and Yraelzin shares the “glories” of Razmir with an unimpressed Takota.  During the long day, Goldcape hears an interesting rumor that King Eodred was murdered by the castle seneschal, Neolandus, with the asserted “proof” being that Neolandus allegedly fled the city after the king’s death.  Although Ralph presses the man for any evidence, it seems like there’s not necessarily anything more to it than idle speculation.

After hearing enough from Yraelzin, Takota decides to endure the howling winds and return to his campsite in Skaldwood.  His well-staked tents remain intact.  It’s not long before he is visited by a brave of the enigmatic Skoan-Quah (Skull Clan).  The young man, Ghaeken, explains that he has come seeking advice from another shaman in his father’s absence.  Ghaeken explains that he has fallen in love with a Chelish woman in the city, but is torn about whether to pursue it given their respective cultures.  Takota advises the heartsick youth to be cautious, trusting both his heart and his head.

[20 Gozran, 4708 A.R. continued]

In the morning, Takota returns to the Burnt Honey Inn to find the others enjoying the city’s best porridge.  Ralph asks Takota about whether he could arrange for him to obtain an earthbreaker, a well-known Shoanti weapon that consists of a large maul with blunt spikes.  Takota expresses pessimism, stating that a test of worthiness would be required first.  As the conversation continues, everyone feels tremendous heat emanating from the pocket or container where they’ve stowed the Harrow card chosen for them by The Harrower: the cards are warm to the touch, and scrawled on the blank side of each is the same message: “The time has come, return to where it all began.”

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

GM's Commentary

I had completely forgotten The Reckoner got dropped by Verik.  Nowadays (toward end of Chapter Four), The Reckoner is such a combat beast, it's hard to remember that took some time to develop.

Folks familiar with Curse of the Crimson Throne will know that the "silver dagger" on Verik's desk is actually a raktavarna rakhasa spy reporting to Meliya Arkona.  I was really curious to see how it would play out; they detected magic on the "dagger" but couldn't identify it, and so just assumed it was a +1 dagger.  Goldcape held onto it (without using it) all the way until the big reveal at the end of Chapter Three!  Speaking of Meliya Arkona, this is the first mention of House Arkona until the campaign.  (and we also get the first mention of Neolandus through a rumor).  I'm really impressed how the story integrates so many NPCs so well.

A new player joined the campaign in this scenario, running a Shoanti shaman.  He only stuck with the campaign for a few sessions, but came at a good time because it allowed me to naturally introduce the NPC Ghaeken who (as a corpse) becomes very important very soon.

Doctor Fate # 21-30 (DC Comics) (1988) [COMICS]

 In this set, one writer wraps up their time on Doctor Fate and another writer, whom I like a great deal more, begins.  For some reason, people remember J.M. DeMatteis' vapid spirituality as somehow groundbreaking, while forgetting William Messner-Loebs truly original work on the series.  But here, in Post # 2005 of Jhaeman's Detritus, I set people straight!

Issue # 21 has Kent/Nabu sending Petey & Jack Small into the amulet to get the dead (real) Kent & Inza out--but they find Joachim Hesse trapped in there!  Kent/Nabu wants to be just plain Nabu again.  Meanwhile, chaos is being unleased by Anti-Fate--whatever that means.

Issue # 22 is a gag-inducing story where Linda and Kent join together to form a 4-armed Fate to fight Anti-Fate at a special holy site ("The Tomb of the Avatar"), where the cosmic smile that transcends order and chaos with love allows Anti-Fate to find peace.  Hurl!  New Age-y proselytising is as annoying as any other kind.  And in a similar vein, the Phantom Stranger takes Eric/Eugene to the "Land of the Helpers" because he needs to help humanity with the next stage of evolution.  Do we really need another reminder of the New Guardians debacle?

Issue # 23 makes me *really* hate the Sonny Bono-esque "Smiling God" (I think Welcome to Nightvale has something on this too).  Nabu and Linda come back to consciousness in the The Tomb of the Avatar with Wotan taking care of them.  Meanwhile, inside the amulet, Fate attacks Petey, Jack, and Joachim, so they use the power of imagination to each become their own Fate.  Special spiritual message: "Trust your heart."  You heard it here first!

All hail the Smiling God, Issue # 24 is the end of the DeMatteis time on the series.  Okay, try and stay with me here.  Eric/Eugene's daughter Raina (hideously illustrated to look extremely creepy) faces the tragedy of her mother (Wendy) dying; but Linda dies and takes over Wendy's body to help look after the girl, because Raina will be the "seed of a new generation."  I'll lay odds we never hear about Raina again.  Nabu becomes an infant in the womb of the new Linda/Wendy.  It's all so dumb.  Kent and Inza escape the amulet.  The long and short of it is that all of DeMatteis' characters are safely off-screen, and the new writer will have the classic Doctor Fate main characters to work with starting next issue.

Issue # 25 is better in so many ways, from the artwork to the writing and everything in between.  The issue is more fun and Bill Messener-Loebs makes better use of Fate's power array.  The tower mystically merges into modern day New York and Inza, who has been stuck inside the tower for 40 years (but remaining perpetually the same age) is shocked how much has changed.  Although the Lords of Order plan to leave Earth (because they're annoyed with Fate), one of them, Shat-Rui, vows vengeance and attacks, only to be trapped in Nabu/Kent's old body.  Still a bit hard to explain, but trust me, it's a lot better.

I like the solid cover to Issue # 26.  While Inza is exploring her powers as Fate and even flies into space, Kent becomes over-protective as he's used to being the only one in the marriage with super powers.  We see the neighborhood in New York start to become a major part of the story, with some fun supporting characters.

Issue # 27 really enmeshes Kent and Inza in an urban Black community with poverty and drugs the major issues to contend with.  In a subplot, the mask itself can talk and is starting to act up.  In another fun subplot, Kent can't an archaeology job because he's been out of commission for 50 years!  There is a cringey scene where Fate pulls out the addiction from a drug addiction and battles it like it were a demon.

Issue # 28 has people from across the neighborhood's history popping into the present as an evil god named Tgiian is defeated.  Meanwhile, Kent pretends to be his own grandson in order to get a job teaching archaeology.  The issues are much more enjoyable to read, and the theme is interesting, as Inza uses Fate to intervene in street-level problems but Kent is concerned about the ramifications of people relying on her for everyday issues.

Seeing pilgrims and pirates interact with modern-day New Yorkers is pretty amusing in Issue # 29.  The debate between Kent and Inza continues to be interesting, with each side making some valid points.

Issue # 30 introduces a new supporting character, a local cop.  Fate tries to intervene in stopping a huge tower from casting a shadow over the neighborhood, but when the cop is accidentally killed, Fate realises there are limits even to her power--she's able to bring the woman back to life, but only by hurting everyone around.

That's it for now--we'll wrap up the entire series in the next post.  I do find it really interesting to see a super hero take a sort of broad scale public health approach to helping their community, instead of focussing on super villains all day long.  Bill Messner-Loebs does a good job showing how much that could improve people's lives, without getting Pollyanna-ish about it. 

Starfinder Flip-Mat: "Hospital" [RPG]

 I've used the Hospital flip-mat in some Starfinder Society adventures, and really like it.  One side is a futuristic hospital that has everything from little over-ambulance vehicles in the parking lot to really surgical theatres, hospital beds and some kind of stasis pod, and more.  Both the interior and grounds of the hospital are laid out well, and everything is clear and colourful.  One might nitpick and say that, capacity-wise, it's a really *small* hospital (only about ten beds), but I just imagine future doctors are really talented!  The flip side of the mat is a "sinister, abandoned infirmary."  It doesn't really look that bad at first glance, though close inspection shows blood on the floor of the surgical theatre and an overgrown garden.  Still, I imagine a lot of real-world hospitals are a lot creepier than this one.  Overall, I'll give Hospital four out of five stars.

Starfinder Flip-Mat: "Ghost Ship" [RPG]

 I don't remember in exactly which scenarios, but I've played on the Ghost Ship flip-mat a few different times in Starfinder Society games.  The "front" of the flip-mat is the "derelict hulk of a science research vessel", and it's clearly a ship that has been through the wars!  Huge cracks are visible in the deck plating and large chunks of the exterior has been torn away.  It definitely has an air of foreboding around it, and really serves the well the "ghost ship" idea of the PCs coming along a mysterious damaged vessel drifting in space.  It's also very well detailed, down to commodes, beds, first aid kits, computer keyboards, and more.  The "back" of the flip-mat is a "deserted tramp freighter".  I don't understand the purpose of this side, as it's just an ordinary starship interior with no damage and absolutely nothing spooky about it.  In fact, it'd serve perfectly well as the PCs' own ship.  Maybe at the time the flip-mat was released, there weren't many others depicting starships, but there's certainly no "ghost ship" vibe about this side.  To me, that means only half the concept brief is met.

Starfinder Society Scenario # 2-06: "The Stumbling Society, Part 1: Sangoro's Lament" [RPG]

 

NO SPOILERS

I played The Stumbling Society, Part 1: Sangoro's Lament via play-by-post with my skittermander Steward character, Officer Swizzers.  The scenario is an important part of the Season Two metaplot, but also ties up a nice loose end from a very early SFS scenario.  It's fair to say that it boils down to a (space) dungeon crawl with limited role-playing opportunities with NPCs.  However, the scenario is atmospheric and the background story is integrated well into the action and exploration.  The result is a solid (and reasonably difficult) scenario.

SPOILERS!

Jump with me back in time, if you will, to a simpler world!  The year is 2017, no one has ever heard of Covid-19, and in the first wave of SFS scenarios is # 1-04: Cries from the Drift.  Although at the time discussion of the scenario focussed on how difficult it was to kill an incorporeal monster if the party lacked the right weapons, an important SFS story element was introduced in the adventure's background.  Prior to the Scoured Stars Incident, the Exo-Guardians maintained a massive fortress-armory called Sangoro's Bulwark (after the faction's founder, who discovered it).  But when so many of the faction's members were lost in the Scoured Stars, the few remaining members of the Bulwark were overwhelmed by a mysterious threat and all contact (and even the location) of the base was lost.  In Cries from the Drift, the PCs collect data from the sole ship to escape the Bulwark and return it to Lorespire Complex in the hope that somehow, the location of the Bulwark can be reassembled.

Now, that time has come!  After intensive work, the Dataphiles have managed to learn the location of the Bulwark: a planet in the Vast called Mazdrun.  In the scenario briefing, Zigvigix (leader of the Exo-Guardians) explains that the Society can't afford to send a full, highly-visible assault force to the Bulwark because of how much scrutiny the organisation is under recently.  But, it can send a smaller force to the Arsenal, a satellite site near the Bulwark that was used for research and training purposes.  From the PCs' perspective, their mission is very straightforward: get to the Arsenal and secure it.  As an aside, I'll mention that the briefing is held at the Nest, the just-renovated warehouse HQ of the Exo-Guardians in the site secured by the PCs in # 1-01: The Commencement.  I love it when little story nuggets from previous scenarios pay off!

The journey through the Vast is event-free, apart from the usual foreshadowing of a future scenario.  Surprisingly, Zigvigix comes along on the ship (though not on the mission)--perhaps this pays off in Part 2?  I'm not sure.

The rest of the scenario involves exploring the 14 rooms in the Arsenal.  There are multiple traps to overcome and some dangerous monsters (an apari hive, special radiation-themed moonflowers) that were being experimented on at the time the place shut down.  In addition, a barachius angel (devoted to safeguarding dangerous technology) named Negator-XIII has lost most of its memories and has to be carefully negotiated with (through a sort of role-playing skills challenge) or it will turn violent.  As they explore, the PCs will find some scattered clues about what happened to the Arsenal and the Bulwark, but not enough to really put a full picture together.  I'm not going to review the individual encounters, but I'll just say as a whole that they're fun, fit the story well, and are tough but fair.

What the PCs won't know, until a great reveal late in the scenario, is that Datch (a ysoki devotee of Lao Shu Po) has already been to the Arsenal and looted it!  Not only that, her tap on SFS communications gave her the foreknowledge to leave some traps behind, including a cursed idol that could make the PCs gradually more and more suspicious and paranoid as they explore.  For some players, this will just be some bland negative modifiers, but with a good group, some really fun role-playing could result.  And Datch really twists the knife when the PCs finally get to the treasure vault and discover a single credit stick containing . . . six credits (one for each of them)!  The scenario does a great job of making players hate Datch, which is important for the season meta-plot to succeed.

I don't want to overstate my review: there are limits to what can be done within a dungeon crawl structure, and there's definitely a "enter a chamber, deal with threat, search for clues or loot, and then do it all again at the next chamber" playstyle for the scenario.  But within that framing, this was a solid, enjoyable scenario, and I'm looking forward to Part 2.

Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 5 [RPG]

 

[16 Gozran 4708 A.R., continued]

At the Temple of Sarenrae, where they’ve holed up during the riots, Goldcape, Yraelzin, and Ralph Blackfeather are approached by the fast-talking ratfolk priestess Wiquita.  She explains that Tharl has been busy placing the children rescued from Gaedren Lamm’s hideout into orphanages across the city.  Wiquita says the process could be speeded up if Tharl’s friends could do a quick inspection of a private orphanage named Dottie Donovan’s Home for Wayward Youth.  Wiquita even promises a free magical potion or oil from the temple’s stores in exchange for the help.  The trio agree, and promise to conduct the inspection the next day.  They hope that if Tharl is quickly released from his current duties, they can discuss with him whether or not the group should accept the recent invitation to do some work assisting the thinly-spread Korvosan Guard.

While Yraelzin and Ralph rest and recover from the nagging effects of injuries suffered in the battle against the imps, Goldcape decides to spend some of the newfound wealth she’s gained from the city for turning in Lamm’s ledger of criminal activity and for returning the Queen’s brooch.  The vanara makes her way to Eodred’s Walk and into the cluttered shop named Hedge Wizardry.  There, she purchases a magical sack that doesn’t get heavier despite more and more stuff being placed into it!  However, the shop’s proprietor, Phaeton Skoda, warns Goldcape that the bag is fragile and easily destroyed—along with everything in it—if pierced or overloaded.

On her way back to the temple, Goldcape takes a side street and comes across looters ransacking an alchemist’s shop.  One of the hapless looters tips over a wooden barrel, accidentally freeing a strange, shimmering spider about the size of a human child!  The arachnid promptly shoots webs to halt two of the fleeing looters before Goldcape and her roc companion, Rocky, swoop in and manage to defeat it.  The remainder of their walk back is uneventful, and the Harrowed Heroes spend the night safely in the temple.

[17 Gozran 4708 A.R.]

In the morning, Yraelzin announces plans to spend the day doing some shopping of his own.  Goldcape and Ralph decide to conduct the orphanage inspection.  They journey along the vast, haphazard network of planking, shanties, lean-tos, and other structures that connect rooftops throughout much of the city.  However, the Shingles contain an assortment of nasty surprises for travellers avoiding the streets below, and today Goldcape and Ralph learn this fact first-hand when they innocently wander into the territory of a small pack of starving, feral dogs!  Goldcape throws some food to distract them, but Ralph says it’s too dangerous to just leave them there—they could attack anyone who comes through.  He sends an arrow streaking through the air and drops one of the mangy hounds, but one of the dogs pounces on Goldcape and knocks her to the ground!  After sending another of the dogs fleeing with an arrow in its back, Ralph switches to his warhammer and, with a mighty swing, sends Goldcape’s assailant hurling down to the streets below.  After the battle, several locals emerge to thank the pair for driving off the dogs.  Although Goldcape almost causes a riot of her own by freely handing out money, the two do learn something of interest—the dockworkers along the river have begun a series of wildcat strikes, and expectations are that food supplies will soon run thin in the city.

Old Korvosa, where the orphanage is located, is known as the worst district in the city.  A slum of festering poverty and crime, Old Korvosa is the funhouse-mirror version of the wealthy Heights.  But “Dottie Donovan’s Home for Wayward Youths” seems to break expectation: it looks like a fine, two-story home in good condition—especially considering the number and age of its inhabitants.  Goldcape and Ralph chat with some boys playing marbles out front, but although something about the children’s answers to their questions seems off, neither can pinpoint what it is exactly.  Dottie Donovan herself seems nice and genteel at first, and invites the pair in for tea—with a splash of whisky!  After conversing with the woman and conducting a (supervised) search of the premises, both amateur inspectors are left with the feeling that something is going on in the orphanage but without any tangible proof.  The two decide to make it seem like they’ve departed the area, but in fact they return in secret!  Ralph disguises himself and talks more to the children, eventually learning that the headmistress sometimes hires the olden children out daily or weekly as servants or maids to wealthier houses in the city, and pockets most of their earnings when they return.  It’s not unequivocal proof of wrong-doing, but it is enough for the pair to take back to Wiquita.  They arrive at the temple just before sunset (and the city’s new curfew).  The priestess promises that a full inspection will be conducted before any more children are sent there.

Goldcape decides to brave the curfew and complete another errand, but she underestimates the dedication and skill of the Hellknights in enforcing martial law across the city!  She’s promptly caught past curfew without a valid excuse and, despite her protestations, is taken to Citadel Volshyanek and detained (along with dozens of others) overnight.

[18 Gozran, 4708 A.R.]

After paying a twenty gold sail fine, Goldcape is released from detention.  The guard manning the gate, a Sergeant Clenkins, seems apologetic for the rough treatment of those caught out after curfew, and it is clear there’s no love lost between the Korvosan Guard and the Hellknights.  But fate has an ironic twist in mind for Goldcape—when she walks back to Old Lady Cloggins’ house (where she has her backyard treehouse), she finds the residence has been commandeered by Hellknights who are billeting there!  Old Lady Cloggins takes it all in with calm fortitude, but it’s surely an imposition.  She and Goldcape have a conversation about the mystery of why the king hasn’t simply been brought back to the dead through magical means.

Later in the morning, Goldcape, Ralph, and Yraelzin reunite at the Temple to Sarenrae, where they’ve started to receive polite hints that even friends of Tharl shouldn’t think of it as a flophouse.  The trio discuss whether to accept the Queen’s invitation to undertake missions on behalf of the Korvosan Guard.  Goldcape still maintains that the Queen is acting suspiciously, but Ralph persuades her that if there is something nefarious afoot, they’ll have a better chance of discovering what it is from the inside.  And, by operating under the auspices of the Korvosan Guard, they won’t have to worry so much about the Hellknights.  The trio leave a message for Tharl about their plans and then set off.

At Citadel Volshyanek, Sergeant Clenkins is surprised to see Goldcape back so soon, but waves the group through when they explain their business.  In the central keep, the group are shown to the office of Field Marshal Cressida Kroft, commander of the Korvosan Guard.  The harried and exhausted-looking woman greets the newcomers and waves for them to take seats. 

“You must be the ones sent by Queen Ileosa.  My name is Cressida, and street-smart residents of your calibre are exactly what Korvosa needs now.  You’ve been amidst the rioting and looting.  You know better than me how bad things are out there.  It’s breaking my heart to see Korvosa tear itself apart like this.  Every little bit of aid we can get from upstanding citizens like you helps.  If you’re willing, I’d very much like to retain your services as agents of the Guard.  You will, of course, be well compensated for these services.”

When the trio seem interested, she continues with a more specific assignment.  “Korvosa’s got enough troubles as it is without my own guards losing their way.  Many have deserted their posts, more concerned about friends and family than the city.  I can understand this, yet not all of the deserters have family—some of them are simply using the riots as an excuse for personal gain.  One such man is Verik Vancaskerkin.  Worse than a lone deserter, he’s convinced a small group of fellow guards that Queen Ileosa is going to ruin the city.  Whether she does or doesn’t isn’t the point—right now, we’ve got a city-wide crisis on our hands, and I need all of my guards working with me to see us through.”

“A deserter is worse than a lost resource—it’s an infection,” she says emphatically.  “I can’t afford to pull any of my other patrols off duty to deal with Vancaskerkin, and I’d rather not expose any of them to him anyway, since I don’t want Vancaskerkin to infect more guards with his talk of secession, nor do I want some overly patriotic guard killing him outright.  I need impartial, skilled talent.  Talent like you.”

“Vancaskerkin and his followers have holed up in an abandoned butcher’s shop up in Northgate—a place once called ‘All the World’s Meat.’  I need you there.  Try to avoid killing any of the deserters if you can, but if you must, they brought it upon themselves when they threw in their lot with Vancaskerkin.  I’d really prefer it if you could capture him alive and return him to me for interrogation, but if he makes that impossible, I’ll accept his body as well.  Finally, see if you can find out why Verik deserted—if there’s more to it than simple personal politics, I need to know immediately.  Bring me Verik alive, and there’s five hundred gold in it for you.  Dead, he’s worth only half that.” 

Kroft adds that she understands they’ve assisted Watch Captain Grau Soldado recently, and that she’s willing to re-assign him to the operation to ensure it’s a success.  She also offers bunks in the Citadel’s barracks if they need somewhere safe to sleep during the operation.  The trio accept the mission, on one condition: that Kroft give them a signed writ explaining that they’re acting on behalf of the Korvosan Guard.  She readily agrees, but notes that it’s only going to insulate them from the Hellknights if they’re acting in the course of official duties.  And even then, some patrols may still make trouble.

Grau Soldado accompanies the group as they leave the fortress, and he looks much improved since they first met him just a couple of days previously.  He thanks them again for their aid, asks about Tharl, and says he’s heard about Verik Vancaskerkin—apparently, he rose through the ranks quickly despite an average service record, which may indicate a powerful patron assisted him.  Goldcape confirms that she heard a similar rumor to that effect.

Ralph comes up with a plan to scout the butcher shop which, being located at 22 Stirge Street in North Point, is just two blocks from where he resides!  He asks Goldcape, Yraelzin, and Grau (wearing civilian clothes) to wait for him nearby at the Burnt Honey Inn.  He then approaches the shop on his own and sees it’s a fair-sized building with a fenced-in cattle yard and a storefront window display facing the street.  Several customers are lined-up, and although it’s clear that in the early afternoon the day’s offering of free meat is almost over, Ralph joins the line to get a look inside.  He sees that the front room has a pair of armed men—one handing out food, one watching and guarding a door that leads into the back.  One of the men is tall with bushy eyebrows, while his portly companion wears ill-fitted armor.  Both are doubtless members of what Ralph has heard referred to as the “Cow Hammer Boys.”  Returning to the Burnt Honey Inn, Ralph tells the others what he saw.  Grau says he’s heard the Cow Hammer Boys have taken to offering themselves as mercenaries, and that if they’re deserters from the Guard, they should be considered armed and dangerous. 

With no easy points of access visible on the ground-level of the butcher shop, the group decide to wait for nightfall so that Goldcape can put her natural climbing talents to good use and check out the small second-floor of the building for a way in.  Peering through windows on the upper level, Goldcape sees a couple of chambers that look like a break room and an office.  In the office, sitting behind a desk strewn with papers pinned to the tabletop by an exquisite silver dagger, is a handsome man still wearing the livery and armor of the Korvosan Guard: Verik Vancaskerkin himself!  Goldcape makes a stealthy escape and reports back to her friends.  They formulate a plan that involves Yraelzin casting protective magics, Goldcape adding archery support from a rooftop across the street, and Grau and the Reckoner bursting through the window.

As everyone gets into position, only one thing is certain: Verik Vancaskerkin is in for a surprise this night!

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GM's Commentary

The little side quest involving the orphanage was swiped from a Pathfinder Society Introductory Scenario: First Steps, Part 1: In Service to Lore.  I think I added it in because it seemed like a natural fit for the PCs after allying themselves with the Temple of Sarenrae and rescuing so many orphans at the Old Fishery.

The PCs haven't really spent much time on the Shingles since the campaign started, and it was a bit tricky to try to describe/visualise.

I'm a stickler for random encounter tables, but I do the best I can to make them fit in organically and, sometimes, lead to additional information about the setting or plot.

I created "Sergeant Clenkins" just because the PCs kept visiting Citadel Volshyanek and thought it would lead to better role-playing if I had a consistent gate-guard instead of unnamed NPCs.

I gave them the option of taking Grau along on the mission (earning a share of the XP) because Tharl was absent again and I wasn't sure if just Reckoner, Yraelzin, and Goldcape/Rocky were up to the task.  Nowadays, I have no doubts about their combat capability!

Pathfinder Society Scenario # 0-20: "King Xeros of Old Azlant" [RPG]

 

NO SPOILERS

I ran King Xeros of Old Azlant via play-by-post at subtier 7-8.  It's a memorable scenario that successfully puts the PCs in an unsettling situation where they have no idea what to expect.  It's also one of the few Season Zero scenarios that plays with the gloves off, and parts of it can be challenging even for a modern PFS group.  From the GM's perspective, there are some issues that make it  challenging to run, so additional prep time is a must to ensure a smooth session.  It's not a flawless scenario, but it is an intriguing one, and has stuck in my mind long after I've forgotten many others.  I'll note there's a spiritual sequel in Starfinder Society Scenario # 1-27 ('King Xeros of Star Azlant').

SPOILERS!

It seems that in the final days of ancient Azlant prior to Earthfall (the cataclysmic event that reshaped Golarion), some powerful mystics and seers gained a sense of impending danger.  As part of a program to research worlds and realms far and wide, a special ship called the King Xeros was commissioned--a ship capable of travelling to and from the Ethereal Plane!  But once launched, the ship never returned, and its very existence has since fallen into mere legend.  But as the scenario starts, the King Xeros has returned and is floating in Absalom's harbor!  A strong backstory and classic adventure hook makes for a compelling start to the scenario, as the PCs are requested to explore the ship and glean answers to the many mysteries surrounding it.

In Act 1 ("Boarding Action"), the PCs arrive at the ship and learn it has already been boarded by Absalom's Harbor Guard.  But some sort of automatic defenses have been accidentally triggered, as flame projectors and defense constructs are slaughtering the seamen!  The faster the PCs manage to intervene, the more lives they can save.  Topside, King Xeros should immediately strike the group as strange.  For one thing, it's seemingly carved out of a single piece of crystal, and for another, there are no obvious entrance below decks.

Act 2 ("Breaching the Hulk") starts with the group trying to gain entry below decks through the only means possible: a magical doorway called a ghost portal.  It has a mechanic I've never seen before (involving opposed ability scores) to gain passage, and if the PCs do it the wrong way, the doorway disgorges the ghost of (of all things!) a tiefling barbarian!  The ghost doesn't stand up well in light of the PFRPG (it only has 32 hit points, for example, and doesn't pump out much damage), but it's another taste of this ship's innate weirdness--whatever happened to it in the thousands of years since it was launched hasn't been kind.

Act 3 ("Hunters from Beyond") has the PCs beginning to explore the interior of the ship.  The layout of the ship is frankly pretty confusing (in terms of the connections between rooms and between decks), and the way the scenario itself is laid out doesn't help (a GM has to keep switching back and forth between a general description of rooms and decks to later where the encounters in those areas are detailed).  There are some threads in the forums that can help GMs with this.  From the PCs' perspective, they quickly encourage strange, phantasmic plant-life laced throughout the ship before being ambushed by the xill who have taken over the ship and are using it to enslave creatures for their home plane.  The xill are a real threat because their tactics are to paralyse a PC and then try to planewalk with them to the Ethereal Plane for imprisonment in another part of the ship.  PCs who succumb here are effectively out of action until (hopefully) rescued at the end of the scenario.  It led to a really exciting battle when I ran it, as the PCs *just* managed to stop one of their own from being kidnapped.

Act 4 ("Riddle of the Navigator") is rather confusing to run.  The idea is that the ship's helm acts as a sort of giant puzzle box.  Instead of being a "real" riddle, the PCs can make skill checks to solve it and accomplish one of two things: 1) open a secret door or 2) release a creature who has been trapped in the helm to fuel it.  I found it hard to describe this because the skill checks depend on what the PCs are trying to do, but the PCs don't know (in advance) what their options are: the secret door has a DC of 50  (the highest I've ever seen!) to discover, and they won't know in advance that there's a trapped creature.  And anytime one of the checks is failed, a random roll can release something as minor as a phase spider or as scary as a 24d6 disintegrate ray!  The main inhabitant of the helm is a night hag named Skarja, and she can be negotiated with because she's relieved to finally be free.

Act 5 ("The Ether Fly Trap") is kind of fun, as the PCs face a handful of xill including one who controls a giant plant monster that functions a bit like the "claw" in an arcade claw drop game.  It's here that previously-captured PCs can be recovered.  But even if the group is successful in overcoming this encounter, the danger's not over--destroying the xill's plant creature starts a 10 round countdown for the group to escape before the King Xeros transfers to the Deep Ethereal with the PCs still on it!  It should be plenty of time for most groups to escape, but if several members are paralysed or otherwise out of action, there'd be a real race against time to get everyone off.

Although mysterious "ghost ships" are a staple of fantasy RPGs, they're usually filled with various sorts of undead.  King Xeros of Old Azlant presents an original twist on the trope and effectively maintains an atmosphere of the uncanny.  It's a scenario that definitely keeps the PCs on their toes as they explore, and the ending is exciting and cinematic.  GMs need to do extra prep before running it, but this one is worth the extra time.