Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 4 [RPG]

 [15 Gozran, 4708 A.R. continued]

Knowing it is dangerous to be outside at night, Tharl, Goldcape, Yraelzin, and The Reckoner (who soon surreptiously changes to his Ralph Blackfeather identity) seek and receive shelter at the Temple of Sarenrae.  The combination hospital/place of worship is crowded with refugees from the violence in the streets.  After Tharl is called away on a mission for the church, a junior priestess of the faith, a fast-talking ratfolk named Wiquita, explains to the others that the paladin may be detained for several hours.  As they get ready to bunk down among dozens of others on cots and pallets hastily assembled for the purpose, Ralph jots down notes from Gaedren Lamm’s ledger and Goldcape sees if she can use her Harrow card to contact The Harrower—but nothing seems to happen.

[16 Gozran 4708 A.R.]

In the morning, with Tharl still away on duty for the church, the rest of the group discuss whether they should return the brooch to Queen Ileosa.  Goldcape suggests returning it anonymously because she believes some of the worst rumours about Korvosa’s new ruler, but Ralph says that would make them look very suspicious if their anonymity is pierced—and, it would mean abandoning any possibility of getting a reward.  The three decide to see if they can get advice from Grau Soldado, the Watch Captain they assisted the day prior.  It’s a warm, sunny spring day as the three Korvosans head out into the streets and witness the effects of the previous night’s rioting—windows smashed, carts overturned, and impromptu barriers and bonfires set.  The streets closest to Castle Korvosa seem the most “normal” (though heavily patrolled), but the situation worsens further away.

Still, the three reach Citadel Volshyanek, headquarters of the Korvosan Guard, without difficulty.  Overlooking the Jeggare River, the impressive citadel seems to sport only a skeleton contingent of soldiers, with most dispatched across the city.  Unfortunately, Grau Soldado has been assigned to Old Korvosa (one of the worst parts of the city), so the group have to deal with the sergeant on duty.  Ralph handles most of the negotiating, turning over Lamm’s ledger and the dagger allegedly belonging to the “Key-Lock Killer” in exchange for a hefty reward and a promise to keep the group informed (through Grau) if there are developments in the resulting investigations. 

The Harrowed Heroes decide to take the risk of returning the queen’s brooch personally.  But before they can cross back from Midland to the Heights, danger strikes!  The seemingly ever-present aerial battles between Korvosa’s population of imp devils (periodically summoned by students of the Acadamae) and house drakes (who have found the Shingles a favourable breeding ground) come too close for comfort.  A pack of the imps break off and dive toward the civilians in the streets below, looking to cause mayhem.  With poisonous stingers and unnaturally-thick demonic skin, the tiny devils almost overwhelm the group until a pair of house drakes swoop down to assist.  Ralph eventually manages to send one of the imps reeling with his heavy warhammer, while Yraelzin’s enchantment magic sends two others fleeing in sudden terror.  Still, the Priest of Razmir is left quite sluggish from the imps’ poison, with Ralph and Goldcape suffering similar (though less severe) symptoms.

But far scarier than the small devils literally summoned from Hell itself are the mere humans who only style themselves after Hell’s legions: Hellknights!  A rhythmic thumping can be heard as they march down the street in perfect formation, scattering everyone in their path in a show of implacable force.  Horns blowing from Castle Korvosa signal that martial law has been imposed on the city, and if Queen Ileosa has called in the Hellknights to enforce it, she means business!

Goldcape wonders if it’s still safe to proceed, but Ralph and Yraelzin reply that the streets have never been safer (as long as they have a good explanation for being outdoors and get indoors before the sunset curfew).  And indeed, although the streets are thick with tension, the trio reach Castle Korvosa without further incident.  The centrepiece of the city, the castle looms over every other building in sight with its base a cyclopean four-sided sandstone pyramid called the Grand Mastaba and a high-walled citadel built on top of the pyramid to support multiple towers projecting into the sky.  Suffice it to say, no one would ever mistake the black-marble of Castle Korvosa for any structure in the city!

Mention of the brooch and a willingness to leave their weapons behind is enough to get the trio through the layers of guards armed with swords and crossbows and into a private meeting with a stern-looking woman dressed in magnificient full-plate armor—the Queen’s personal handmaiden and bodyguard, Sabina Merrin.  Sabina appraises the group as sufficiently trustworthy and leads them through the castle to the third floor where, turning a corner ahead of them, she announces their names with a loud, clear voice.  Yraelzin, Goldcape, and Ralph Blackfeather find themselves in the castle’s throne room before Queen Ileosa herself! Veiled in black mourning dress and with a silver coffer on her lap, the city’s young but admittedly beautiful queen sits upon the legendary Crimson Throne—the only scrap of furniture in the entire chamber.

After Sabina takes the brooch and hands it over to the queen with a flourish, Queen Ileosa addresses the trio—all three of whom are wise enough to kneel in the presence of royalty.  She begins speaking.

 “This brooch was stolen from me some time ago—I had not expected to see it again, truth be told.  And yet, here on my darkest day, you come before me with kindness.  The return of this brooch is much more than an honourable deed.  It is inspiration.  It is hope.”

 “I love Korvosa, as my husband did before me.  His death has shocked the city as it has me, but I will not see his legacy destroyed in death, and I shall not see my city torn apart.  All Korvosa stands at the precipice of a disaster wrought by her citizens—these riots cannot continue.  You have already done my heart a great service in returning this precious heirloom to me on this dark day, and you shall be rewarded.  Yet perhaps you can serve your city more.”

“The Korvosan Guard is stretched thin, and it could certainly use the aid of heroes such as you.  If you so choose, I shall have Sabina see to it that you have an escort of guards when you leave here—they can see to your safe journey to Citadel Volshyenek.  I shall send word ahead of you to Field Marshal Cressida Kroft to let her know you are on the way.  Now, I need to retire to my chambers—my grief has drained me.  Again, I thank you for the kindness you have shown me, and I hope your days of serving the crown are only just beginning.”

With a swish of her gowns, the Queen rises and retires.  Her handmaiden remains behind and hands the group the coffer, and promises an escort to Citadel Volshyenek if the trio would like to accept Her Majesty’s offer.  The three are understandably surprised by the opportunity to formally assist the Korvosan Guard in maintaining order in the city, and plead for time to think it over.  Ralph asks if the offer extends to Tharl, Paladin of Sarenrae, who assisted in retrieving the brooch.  Sabina nods, and says the offer will remain open and Field Marshal Kroft will be notified it is pending.

When they make it outside the nerve-wracking castle, the trio stop on the street to discuss what they’ve just gone through.  Goldcape says the queen is acting suspiciously because she didn’t sound particularly pleased to get her brooch back, and seemed to be in quite a hurry to depart.  But Ralph replies that Ileosa’s husband did just die, and queens have many royal duties to attend to.  Yraelzin adds that those who rule are obviously divinely-mandated to do so, and that thus their authority should remain unquestioned.

The early-afternoon streets are quiet when the trio return to the Temple of Sarenrae, hoping to find Tharl and fill him in on the day’s events and discuss whether or not to accept the queen’s offer.  A peek inside the coffer testifies, if nothing else, to her wealth: it’s filled with twelve gold bars stamped with the Royal Seal of Korvosa!

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GM's Commentary

The player who ran Tharl didn't come to this session, and, as it turned out, never came again.  From the e-mails I got, we all expected him to come back, but slowly it became obvious that it just wasn't going to happen.  That ended up meaning that for a long stretch of the campaign (until the middle of Chapter Three), there'd be just two players, something that had me very worried as I've never gamed with so few.  It caused me a lot of stress early on that the campaign was going to fall apart.  But the players who ran The Reckoner and Goldcape were just so enthusiastic about the game that it filled me with confidence and after a while I just embraced having a small group.

Those imps were pretty tough!  Stuff like DR or fast healing can be a real problem for low-level parties.

The Hellknights were fun to role-play and proved pretty intimidating to the PCs for a long time.

I'm not 100% happy with how I did the encounter with the Queen.  I ran it exactly as it was scripted in the AP, and that meant it was . . . scripted!  The PCs don't get to really interact with her at all, and it might have been a lost opportunity.