Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 3 [RPG]

 

[14 Gozran, 4708 A.R. continued]

Although the group is stunned by the city’s sudden slide into chaos, The Reckoner remains concerned that vital evidence may remain within the Old Fishery.  But after returning to the scene, a thorough search turns up nothing that sheds further light on Gaedren Lamm’s terrible crimes.  Battered and bruised, the foursome make their way cautiously down the street to the nearby house/shop at 3 Lancet Street where they first met The Harrower.  But once inside, the place looks completely different!  It looks like it has been abandoned for months, with a thick layer of dust on everything and the only signs of life the footsteps they left there just hours previously.  Yet a note waits for them on the table where The Harrower performed her divinations: 

You have done what I could not, and have brought Gaedren Lamm the justice he so richly deserved.  The fates led me true in choosing you.  I expect you have found my Harrow deck, and I owe it to you in gratitude.  You should each keep the card you chose during my reading.  It will allow me to communicate with you.  You may use this place as a safehouse, for safety is in short supply in a city that now teeters on the edge of anarchy.  We shall meet again when the time is right.

The Harrower

Given the violence and rioting outside, the Harrowed Heroes decide the safest course of action would be to spend the night.  Yraelzin, who quickly claimed the only bed in the house, reluctantly agrees to take his turn at a watch throughout the night.

[15 Gozran, 4708 A.R.: Taxfest]

The overnight chaos seems to have subsided when the four strangers-turned-allies venture out in the morning.  It looks like both those celebrating the death of the “Stirge King” and those angered at the ascension of the “Harlot Queen” are sleeping off their night’s revelry and rioting, respectively.  Still, it’s an inauspicious preface to Taxfest, the yearly holiday usually marked by feasts and festivals organised by the Church of Abadar (God of Order, Civilization, and Commerce) to ease the pain of the 15^th of Gozran also being the day for citizens to pay their taxes.  A lone Abadarian priest meets with little luck as he makes his way down the street, but almost meets with violence when he tries to levy a small exaction from the four avengers!  Tharl reluctantly pays on behalf of the group, and in return they receive a “temporary accommodation license” giving them the legal right to occupy the fortune-telling shop for one year.  When asked what’s happening in the city, the tax collector sighs and shakes his head with concern, noting that the Korvosan Guard is sorely pressed and stretched thin trying to maintain order—especially with some of its forces dispatched to secure the city-state’s distant holdings against an expected invasion from the north.

While Yraelzin pontificates at length about various matters, Ralph Blackfeather (The Reckoner’s alter ego) and Goldscape sneak away to nearby Eodred’s Walk to sell many of the treasures they recovered from Lamm’s strongbox.  Along the way, Ralph has to draw his rapier to scare away an aggressive street preacher who accosts Goldcape while proclaiming that the city is doomed.  A fixture in Midland, Eodred’s Walk consists of fourteen permanent shops forming a semicircle adjacent to the temporary stalls of the Gold Market.  On this day, mercenaries hired by the merchants keep a close eye to deter looting.  Goldcape introduces Ralph to her friend Jope Chantsmo, proprietor of Trapper’s Hole—the city’s best archery store.  Other notable merchants they meet include the (very nervous) owner of Slicing Dicers (a weapons’ store), a wizard who (for a fee) identifies some of the pair’s enchanted items, and the pair of brothers who run Gemshare Jewellers.  After appraising various items, the pair of jewellers deliver some shocking news.  First, the strange key-shaped blade (bearing the inscription “For an inspiration of a father”) looks just like one reportedly used by the so-called “Key-Lock Killer”—a notorious serial killer who slaughtered dozens of victims between 4690 and 4697 before his spree of violence suddenly (and mysteriously) stopped.  Second, the bejewelled brooch with the broken clasp belongs to Queen Ileosa herself!  The brothers explain it was brought to them by one of her servants for repair, but their shop was burglarised and the brooch stolen.  They reluctantly admit it could be worth upwards of 2,000 golden sails if a buyer could be found, but emphatically urge Goldcape and Ralph to return it to the Queen for a reward (and to avoid suspicion of criminal activity).

Meanwhile, Yraelzin and Tharl are still talking outside when they’re approached by an obviously inebriated man wearing the uniform of a Watch Captain of the Korvosan Guard.  His uniform reeks of stale sweat and ale, and he insists that Tharl is his “old friend Neffi from Sandpoint.”  Unwilling to take no for an answer, the man identifies himself as Grau Soldado and insists on buying the pair drinks at the nearest tavern—the dive named Bailer’s Retreat.  The pair reluctantly agree, and are treated to a disjointed story involving a love triangle gone awry involving Grau, his fencing instructor Vencarlo Orisini, and a fellow pupil named Sabina Merrin.  Grau breaks down into tears while recounting the tale, and, deranged from intoxication, tries to lay the blame on “Neffi”—Tharl!  Grau gets shakily to his feet in the tavern and draws a beautiful longsword made from the rare metal mithral.  He challenges Tharl to a duel, but the half-orc steadfastly remains calm despite repeated provocations and refuses to engage.  Eventually, Grau lets himself be led away back to the group’s temporary safehouse to sleep off the effects of several nights’ binge-drinking.

When Ralph Blackfeather and Goldcape return in the early afternoon, information is exchanged about each pair’s eventful morning.  The group decide to wait until Grau wakes up—a wait that stretches into the late afternoon.  Finally, the guardsman stumbles to his feet—sober, but hungover and dreadfully embarrassed by the way he’s acted.  He thanks Tharl profusely for helping him, and promises to return the favour any way he can.  Grau is also introduced to Goldcape and (back in masked form) The Reckoner.  The group tell him how they stopped Gaedren Lamm and his gang, and Grau expresses his personal approval for getting the criminal off the streets—while formally reminding them that vigilante justice has no place in Korvosa.  They ask him about the Key-Lock Killer, and Grau says he doesn’t know that much about it since the murders stopped a decade ago, but that he can look into it.  They also reveal that they found a coded ledger, and Grau says if it does end up containing any proof of Gaedren’s crimes, they should bring it to him at Citadel Volshyanek—there’d doubtless be a reward.  Before Grau leaves to get cleaned up before going back on duty, Goldcape gives the man her address, and Tharl says he can be found at the Temple of Sarenrae.

With only a couple of hours of daylight remaining, the group decide to take the brooch to Castle Korvosa to return it to the Queen—not only could there be a substantial reward, but Ralph suspects that if it’s not returned soon, the jewellers who identified it may turn them in!  But getting to the castle proves harder than expected.  The streets around it are clogged with protestors, rioters, and even mobs bent on taking out their frustrations on the city’s aristocratic upper class.  Ralph intimidates one such group of laborers armed with shovels and chair-legs from continuing to chase a young, beardless nobleman—thus saving the man’s hide, and perhaps even his life.  Overcome with gratitude, the panicked victim—a member of the idle aristocracy named Amin Jalento—gifts the group with jewellery and even invites them into his townhouse for a cup of wine.  Amin’s residence in the Cliffside section of the Heights district is very close to the Temple of Sarenrae, so after escorting the nobleman home, the group decide to spend the night in the temple and approach the castle again in the morning—when, hopefully, it’ll be safer.  It appears that many have sought refuge within the temple’s white marble walls, and Tharl is pleased to see that some of the orphans he helped to free from Lamm’s clutches have found safety there.

That night, rumors fly throughout the city: King Eodred succumbed to a mystical disease so powerful that even the clerics of the city’s three main faiths couldn’t cure it; King Eodred was murdered in bed by one of his many paramours; the city’s seneschal was killed by a mob in the streets soon after the rioting began; and more.  But in the midst of such confusion, a blow is struck for the truth: Goldcape manages to decipher Gaedren Lamm’s ledger, and even a brief perusal shows it contains evidence of dozens—maybe hundreds—of unsolved crimes!  And, best of all, proof positive of the reprehensible man’s role in framing Ralph Blackfeather for the murder of his own father!

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

GM's Commentary

I liked the idea of turning The Harrower's fortune-telling shop into a central safe-house for the PCs.  Every gang needs a hideout!

In this and many subsequent sessions, the shops at Eodred's Walk would be frequented.  I'm glad I had the Guide to Korvosa and did some custom prep work to help make it come alive.  It was great that the PCs visited the jeweler, as it made it very organic to fit in the important plot development about learning that the brooch was the queen's.

Grau ended up becoming a pretty important NPC in the campaign, but I can't say the same for Amin Jalento.  It's always interesting to see how different campaigns can grow in very different ways.