Guess Who's Coming To Visit
SETTING | Fobin |
AIDS | Fobin |
SUGGESTED READING | Thardic Republican Module, Articles on The Senate, Nordaka Article |
This adventure was designed for a local tenaci of 4-7 legionnaires (preferably linari, but auxilliari will do). Their duty is simple - keep the senator alive and well. Their post should be honorary, and all they have to do is look good. Best laid plans of men and all that : )
The Setup
Senator Amerak Nordaka is coming to tour the town and the caer. He will be in town for three to five days and requires a local tenaci to act as his bodyguards during his stay.
Characters:
- Senator Amerak Nordaka
- His bodyguard (a manus of men) - use the miscellaneous legionnaires
- Horik Baral
- The Weitels at Fobin
- Miscellaneous Legionnaires and townsfolk
- Golden Dagger Mercenaries
- Mysterious Fyvrian Mage
- Squire Thommas
Maps:
- Fobin [PC: 1329x1917 COLOR JPEG 327KB][GM:1327x1911 B/W JPEG 331KB]
- Map of the Thardic Republic (Campaign Map) [COLOR GIF 117kb]
The Plot
Before his arrival the tenaci must get red cloaks. An old woman (Ederieda #34) in town has left-over dye from a job she's just done - and is willing to dye the legionnaires cloaks at 2d each (she can be bartered down to 1d for the lot). She's already dyed 2 shirts (for the Agrikan priest, Gathar of Valum #2), a cloak (for a member of the Order of the Scarlet Veil) and two legionnaire cloaks. Throughout the day all but the two legionnaire cloaks will be picked up. A fyvrian mage and a Golden Dagger mercenary will try to pick up the legionnaire cloaks, but will be cautious if any legionnaires are snooping around the area. Ederieda knows only that "Thommas" will pick up the cloaks later today.
The senator will be travelling with a manus of men. They are Legionnaires from various places as well as a small group of mercenaries. He will, naturally, take his time in arriving; travelling more than an hour behind his advanced guard in a green and yellow carriage. By the time he arrives his camp should be set up in the commons with all his guards already installed for the night.
Day One
On his first day, he will receive only the head of the local Halean temple. They will discuss gossip and he will pass on what little information the Coranan Halean Church may have for her. This could be leads to further adventures, if the PCs try to listen in. The senator will have lunch in the commons with the priestess.
Sometime in the afternoon the priestess will leave and the Senator will make the tour of the fort. Upon entering he will be accosted by Nevill, intent on getting his money for the upkeep of the Caer. Nevill will be relentless, but friendly to the legionnaires. He will go away just as soon as the Senator agrees to his demands (which are reasonable...)
The senator will eat dinner with the Wytels and stay in a fourth-floor apartment for the night. During the night (1st to 2nd watch) the guards (fourth cohort) will not appear, having received a note from Pled (via his squire - Thommas) saying someone else would take the duty. The guards in the corridor will be attacked by one fully armed knight and two veteran legionnaires. All the attackers are foreigners to the keep, all bear the mark of the golden dagger mercenary squad. While the fight is ongoing, a fourth assassin will slip behind the senator's room and blow dart the senator with a powerful poision that will kill within a few hours. The local physician has a 63% chance of diagnosing the poision and finding an antidote in time. If he does not succeed, the Peonians may have to be called in.
Sometime before this attack, Thommas will sneak out the westerly gate and head north on foot. There is a 75% chance the slaves noticed his departure. The guard at the gate was suppose to be someone from 4th cohort who also was told by Pled that his would be replaced. No one noticed the lack of the guard there.
Day Two
A shaken senator (if not dead) will thank the legionnaires and try to go back to sleep. Sometime around 4th watch, the Senator will join the Wytels for a dinner, then depart to the Private Villa of Lerime Benat (#22) where he will sit down to dinner.
He will stay there for the night. During the night four men in black cloth will try to attack the senator (another four from the Golden Dagger). They will be armed as legionnaires, but not armored. Two will be on horse, and will hide their mounts in the nearby bushes. Two more will sneak up from town.
If the senator survives the second attack he will gift the tenacius with a bottle of 10 year old Shiran brandy and a private audience. He will depart the next day.
Day Three
Any surviving/uncaptured mercenaries will meet up with Thommas and Lucius Holta, a direct enemy of Amerak. The feud between these two men began when Lucius tried to gain Amerak's senate seat even though it was a Nordaka position. Holta recently lost a lot of money when his ship (the Machabes) mysteriously went down in calm waters. He is blaming Amerak and claiming the Nordakas have hired pirates against him. Totally absurd of course.... or is it?
Thommas can be caught by a patrol sent out by Horrik Barral the day the Senator goes to visit Lerime, but the mercenaries (if any escape) will be harder to find. Holta's presence will be discovered by the patrol, but it will take the PCs intervention to make the connection. Holta will be in the region for the rest of the tenday. If accused he will deny it, but accusation is sufficient to get him arrested. Two days after a mercenary is captured (and tortured) he may (75%) tell who hired him. If he doesn't tell then, he will on the third day. Finding Holta is another matter. He's currently in Imrum and has covered his tracks reasonably well. He can be found if the PCs are persistent in asking around. Once captured the case is essentially closed. Either the PCs could escort their prisoner to Coranan, or let him be escorted by another tenaci.
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