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!