First of all, if you're one of my players, go away, you already know too much just by the title.
Now, for those who are familiar with both Sharn and the old Speaker in Dreams module, I was wanting some input. I needed to rip half the guts out of the module to make it fit in Sharn, and I'm quite excited with the result, but I need advice on a few key points.
First off, my group is a team of Tharashk-associated Inquisitives who will be sent to look into the disappearance of Thuranne d'Velderan and her inquisitives (S:CoT p. 75). That's the first hook, anyway.
I'm ditching Brindinford, and the replacement is Middle Menthis. The districts in Brindinford can be changed out for Middle Menthis very cleanly, and there's nowhere else in Sharn with a population of halflings quite like Little Plains.
With all the monsters hanging around halfling territory, that can only mean one thing: Daask vs. Boromar Clan.
The concept is that one of the quori in the city (the REAL Speaker in Dreams, this time) arranged for one of the Cults of the Dragon Below (the staff of the Reality Wrinkle bookstore) hidden in Everbright, the magic-market district, to come across some ancient texts for the summoning of a powerful being. They caught Thuranne and her assistant snooping around and kept them prisoner, using the assistant in a ritual to call the being from Xoriat. This happened to be a mind flayer, Ghaerleth Axom. It went on to drive the cultists mad, enslave Thuranne, and seek out Daask; Axom would destabilize Councilor Caskar Halavik's hold on Middle Menthis, and in return Axom would get physical protection so it could build up a larger cult for its Daelkyr master.
Daask is all for this, since Halavik is just a puppet for the Boromar Clan. With him gone, it just means the Boromar Clan's grip on the city is loosened, just possibly enough for other enemies of the Boromar Clan to make a move against Daask's main opponent. So, they send the grimlocks and some of their Dark Six adepts to help.
The plan is to cause chaos in Middle Menthis, with the grimlocks picking off guards and a seemingly-independent new gang that the Boromars have a tough time dealing with, even in the middle of Little Plains. With Boldrei's Feast (and the elections for the local councilor coming up the following day) coming up, Axom will infiltrate the Councilor's mansion, take control of him, and cause him to declare martial law against the chaos until the elections are over (using bound devils from Shavvarath, who would -rather- not be there away from the great battle, but who knows? Maybe they can execute a sneak-attack against Syrania from Sharn's manifest zone after they finish acting as minions). After such a fiasco, the Councilor will not be in power long, creating a vacuum of power in the very center of the Boromar Clan's headquarters.
Meanwhile, the quori who started it all keeps popping into the dreams of various people in Middle Menthis, feeding them hints and trying to maneuver them so that Axom's plan will succeed, the aim being to cause chaos as one more step toward making Khorvaire ripe for the plucking. Instead of dropping mysterious, cryptic phrases, the quori will be advising the PCs to get the hell out of town or else.
That takes care of a lot, but I've still got several parts to fill.
First off, there's the lycanthropes. They're extinct in Eberron. My first instinct is to use shifters, but they'd have to be good enough to get through crowds unharassed and in groups through Boromar thug-infested streets, cause trouble, and vanish the same way. Changelings, perhaps? But why would the Tyrants or the Cabinet of Faces get involved?
Then there's the assassins who jump the PCs after the celebratory feast. The only people with so many assassins in Sharn is House Tarkanan and, to a small extent, House Phiarlan & Thuranni. Who's paying their bill? And would it be better to just snip it all out and replace 'em all with Droaamites, who would naturally be inclined to smack the PCs down after they did the Boromars a favor?
Then there's the clerics of Hextor who take over the temple of Pelor. The temple of Boldrei in Little Plains will do well enough for the location, but Sharn doesn't have that many evil clerics. Who could be either powerful enough or have access to the right invocations to open up an extraplanar gate in the middle of the Temple of Boldrei, and moreover, why would they be intested in working for either Axom or Daask?
I'm probably replacing the ogre mage with an enslaved Thuranne d'Velderan, and making her a diviner instead of a rogue/dragonmark heir. I'm also -sorely- tempted to replace the devils with psuedonaturals or something, because I have trouble thinking that devils would willingly leave Shavvarath just for the chance to smack a few mortals around for a few days.
And finally, the most aggravating thing: What else can Daask do when(/if) Councilor Havrik is judged to be off his gourd and thrown off the Sharn Council, and maybe out of town? It's too good an opportunity to pass up. My first thought is to plant an upstart young politician in Menthis to start campaigning for safer streets, with an eye toward rigging the elections during martial law to get him onto the council as Daask's very own representative, from the middle of Boromar territory, no less. Problem with that is... young Mr. Councilman is very mortal. He wouldn't last five minutes. Daask certainly stands a lot to gain if the Boromar Clan loses influence, but what other opportunities are there in the situation to take advantage of?
I'd very much appreciate help in the form of ideas. Political chicanery is new to me, and though I'm having a blast thinking these things up, it's not coming naturally.
- Jayj
Now, for those who are familiar with both Sharn and the old Speaker in Dreams module, I was wanting some input. I needed to rip half the guts out of the module to make it fit in Sharn, and I'm quite excited with the result, but I need advice on a few key points.
First off, my group is a team of Tharashk-associated Inquisitives who will be sent to look into the disappearance of Thuranne d'Velderan and her inquisitives (S:CoT p. 75). That's the first hook, anyway.
I'm ditching Brindinford, and the replacement is Middle Menthis. The districts in Brindinford can be changed out for Middle Menthis very cleanly, and there's nowhere else in Sharn with a population of halflings quite like Little Plains.
With all the monsters hanging around halfling territory, that can only mean one thing: Daask vs. Boromar Clan.
The concept is that one of the quori in the city (the REAL Speaker in Dreams, this time) arranged for one of the Cults of the Dragon Below (the staff of the Reality Wrinkle bookstore) hidden in Everbright, the magic-market district, to come across some ancient texts for the summoning of a powerful being. They caught Thuranne and her assistant snooping around and kept them prisoner, using the assistant in a ritual to call the being from Xoriat. This happened to be a mind flayer, Ghaerleth Axom. It went on to drive the cultists mad, enslave Thuranne, and seek out Daask; Axom would destabilize Councilor Caskar Halavik's hold on Middle Menthis, and in return Axom would get physical protection so it could build up a larger cult for its Daelkyr master.
Daask is all for this, since Halavik is just a puppet for the Boromar Clan. With him gone, it just means the Boromar Clan's grip on the city is loosened, just possibly enough for other enemies of the Boromar Clan to make a move against Daask's main opponent. So, they send the grimlocks and some of their Dark Six adepts to help.
The plan is to cause chaos in Middle Menthis, with the grimlocks picking off guards and a seemingly-independent new gang that the Boromars have a tough time dealing with, even in the middle of Little Plains. With Boldrei's Feast (and the elections for the local councilor coming up the following day) coming up, Axom will infiltrate the Councilor's mansion, take control of him, and cause him to declare martial law against the chaos until the elections are over (using bound devils from Shavvarath, who would -rather- not be there away from the great battle, but who knows? Maybe they can execute a sneak-attack against Syrania from Sharn's manifest zone after they finish acting as minions). After such a fiasco, the Councilor will not be in power long, creating a vacuum of power in the very center of the Boromar Clan's headquarters.
Meanwhile, the quori who started it all keeps popping into the dreams of various people in Middle Menthis, feeding them hints and trying to maneuver them so that Axom's plan will succeed, the aim being to cause chaos as one more step toward making Khorvaire ripe for the plucking. Instead of dropping mysterious, cryptic phrases, the quori will be advising the PCs to get the hell out of town or else.
That takes care of a lot, but I've still got several parts to fill.
First off, there's the lycanthropes. They're extinct in Eberron. My first instinct is to use shifters, but they'd have to be good enough to get through crowds unharassed and in groups through Boromar thug-infested streets, cause trouble, and vanish the same way. Changelings, perhaps? But why would the Tyrants or the Cabinet of Faces get involved?
Then there's the assassins who jump the PCs after the celebratory feast. The only people with so many assassins in Sharn is House Tarkanan and, to a small extent, House Phiarlan & Thuranni. Who's paying their bill? And would it be better to just snip it all out and replace 'em all with Droaamites, who would naturally be inclined to smack the PCs down after they did the Boromars a favor?
Then there's the clerics of Hextor who take over the temple of Pelor. The temple of Boldrei in Little Plains will do well enough for the location, but Sharn doesn't have that many evil clerics. Who could be either powerful enough or have access to the right invocations to open up an extraplanar gate in the middle of the Temple of Boldrei, and moreover, why would they be intested in working for either Axom or Daask?
I'm probably replacing the ogre mage with an enslaved Thuranne d'Velderan, and making her a diviner instead of a rogue/dragonmark heir. I'm also -sorely- tempted to replace the devils with psuedonaturals or something, because I have trouble thinking that devils would willingly leave Shavvarath just for the chance to smack a few mortals around for a few days.
And finally, the most aggravating thing: What else can Daask do when(/if) Councilor Havrik is judged to be off his gourd and thrown off the Sharn Council, and maybe out of town? It's too good an opportunity to pass up. My first thought is to plant an upstart young politician in Menthis to start campaigning for safer streets, with an eye toward rigging the elections during martial law to get him onto the council as Daask's very own representative, from the middle of Boromar territory, no less. Problem with that is... young Mr. Councilman is very mortal. He wouldn't last five minutes. Daask certainly stands a lot to gain if the Boromar Clan loses influence, but what other opportunities are there in the situation to take advantage of?
I'd very much appreciate help in the form of ideas. Political chicanery is new to me, and though I'm having a blast thinking these things up, it's not coming naturally.
- Jayj
