Eberron: A Changing of the Guards in Karrnath (Very Spoiler, My players no lookie)

[Remathilis]

Ok, I want some suggestions.

Its known that King Kaius "III" has userpt his Grandson's rightful place in order to rebuild his nation. Its implied he had his grandson sent to a prison in Dreadhold (though not spelled out) in order to complete this ruse, creating a "Man in the Iron Mask" scenario.

Couple Questions.

Is there addtional info in Five Nations that could contradict/enchance this theory?

Who all would know of such a plot (Etrigani? Moranna? Beauty? House Kundarkark? Vol?)

Is there anyone who would wish to see the "real" Kaius III return to power to act as a patron?

What sort of precautions could Kaius I have to avoid loosing his power? What would he do to keep it?

If Kaius III is returned to power, what sort of ruler should he be? Benevolent? Worse than Kaius I? How would this affect the Treaty of Thronehold?

I'm looking for different scenarios, both official and unoffical. HellCow, your MORE than welcome to throw in your two coins.

 

[Corsair]

As for who knows, its probably safe to assume that the higher ups who know Kaius is a vampire also know he isn't Kaius III. I doubt Kundarkark knows, as the guy was probably already "iron masked" or whatever when he was sent to Dreadhold. (And also, if someone WERE to know in the House, telling anyone would be a major no-no, business wise)

Vol, or any Karrnathi nobles opposed to Kaius would probably love to replace him with the real king, especially if he can be controlled easily as a puppet. If Thrane found out, I'm sure there are some who would love an excuse to finish the job on Karrnath, and having an illegitimate vampire king is sure to stir up controversy and make it easier to convince the higher ups to try to retake Thaliost from those Karrnathi monsters (though they wouldn't actually seek to put Kaius III back on the throne).

As for the Treaty, I doubt it would affect it at all, though it depends on what kind of person the real Kaius III is. He might use it as an excuse to start war again, based on the pretext that he never signed it himself.

Which leads to another issue: You really have to decide for yourself what kind of person Kaius III is. This is one thing I love about the setting. So many little details will vary from DM to DM, no two games will be the same. Maybe Kaius III turns out to be a Stalin-esque despot, and the common people cry out for the return of their beloved imposter, who though a monster, actually cared about his people!

I actually think that would be an interesting plot. Have the players early in their career involved in freeing the true Kaius III and chase off (not kill) Vamp-Kaius, only to find out much later that true-Kaius is a terrible terrible person, and really Karrnath was much better off with Vamp-Kaius in charge, even if he was evil.

 

[Remathilis]

My temptation is to have Kaius III be a servant of Vol (unbeknownst to all) and have Vol manipulate the whole thing...

I'm open to other ideas though...

 

[Anax]

When you say "Kaius III be a servant of Vol", I assume you mean the *real* Kaius III... and I think that has some fun potential--although I don't think it's necessary that he actually be a servant of Vol. Certainly, the idea of Vol manipulating things so that the adventurers are lead to discover the Kaius v. Kaius III thing is a good one, though. There's a lot of wiggle room, too, as to whether any people the PCs meet who know about it and are trying to get the real Kaius III out are also dupes or willing servants of Vol.

And then, once you set things up so that the players might learn that Vol is the one trying to get Kaius III out and depose Kaius I, there's *still* the question of whether Kaius III would be as easily controlled as Vol thinks--and the potential that the party members could somehow loose Vol's hold on him.

So now the party members have to really start wondering "Do we get Kaius III out, doing what Vol wants, and try to determine if he'd be a good king or not? Do we go to Kaius I and reveal this plot to him--even though we know that he's not such a good guy, really, we know now that he's opposed to Vol..." and so on and so on.

Mmm. Dang. A part of me wants to steal this plot.

 

[Remathilis]

When you say "Kaius III be a servant of Vol", I assume you mean the *real* Kaius III... and I think that has some fun potential--although I don't think it's necessary that he actually be a servant of Vol. Certainly, the idea of Vol manipulating things so that the adventurers are lead to discover the Kaius v. Kaius III thing is a good one, though. There's a lot of wiggle room, too, as to whether any people the PCs meet who know about it and are trying to get the real Kaius III out are also dupes or willing servants of Vol.

And then, once you set things up so that the players might learn that Vol is the one trying to get Kaius III out and depose Kaius I, there's *still* the question of whether Kaius III would be as easily controlled as Vol thinks--and the potential that the party members could somehow loose Vol's hold on him.

So now the party members have to really start wondering "Do we get Kaius III out, doing what Vol wants, and try to determine if he'd be a good king or not? Do we go to Kaius I and reveal this plot to him--even though we know that he's not such a good guy, really, we know now that he's opposed to Vol..." and so on and so on.

Mmm. Dang. A part of me wants to steal this plot.

Hmmm... might JUST be a good idea to make him either a worshipper of the Blood of Vol (innocently, not a priest or something) or an Emerald Claw sympathizer. Thus he's an "unknowing" dupe, not a sinister foe...

And yes, I mean the Real Kaius III