I need help -- All Hell is about to break loose

[Michael Morris]

For now 4 months in 10 hour marathon sessions I've been slowly building my campaign up and ensaring the players into the plot. To date they've been on ups and downs, hill's and valleys, but last session they realized that they just reached the apex of the first true climb of the roller coaster.

All Hell is about to break loose.

I need help.

Quick bring up to speed. Party has been on numerous adventures with one piece hinting at another, at another, and so on, and they finally decided to get back to the main through line of the story and hunt down Dalsundria's missing prince. I have arranged to have that character played by a player so we set him up and the first session was introducing the character and bringing to an apex an plot arc that's been running for about 3 months. At the end of the session I left the players on a very unsettling cliffhanger -- The princess teleports in sensing her brother's presence (which is now possible because his memory had been wiped and the party managed to get that undone). She shows up, falls into his arms crying. When she stops she looks up into his eyes and says simply, "The king is dead. Long live the king."

Now the party has a throne to claim and win. Unfortunately several enemies levels 8th (the party's level) to as high as 14th have other plans). Plots and treacheries years in the making are about to be unleashed and the party is going to be hurled into a breathtaking start for the middle part of 2nd chapter of the chronicle (which they've been on since 5th level and will finish when they hit 10th or so). There's been a lot of talk and posturing - now head rolling time.

Now, it's hard for me to pin down what's going to happen. I will outlay what the NPC's are up to what they have planned for the party's most likely actions within the limits of their own knowledge.

Lord Viscount Travis Triel (5th level wizard - 10th level blue mage)
Triel is the nemesis the party is most familiar with, though they aren't aware of the exact scope of his powers as when they originally met him he seemed to be an ally. When last they met him he sent them into a dungeon - when last they heard from him he commanded who they thought was an ally into attacking them. That line, "Your former companions are coming - kill them, kill them all." still sends chills up the party's spine.

Triel is a schemer who want the throne as directly as possible. He has subtly manipulated his leige, Archduke Prince Valsil into preparing for war to seize the throne from Crown Princess Nelaria. Their preparations have been in secret and they are ready to show their hand. Up until now the Prince has been missing.

It was Triel who arranged for the murder of Prince Joel and would have murdered Prince Nathan (the PC mentioned above) where it not for subterfuge on the part of Alblasker and some druids. Triel left the boy to be ripped limb from limb by wolves, but the wolves turned out to be druids in wild shape. This miscue will come back to haunt Triel someday if the Party can help it at all.

Triel is the best sort of villain - the party absolutely LOATHES him. They want his head on a stick - but they have many adventures and a lot of work before they can face him.

Triel at one point could spy on the party at will, but they've managed to remove the items he was using to scry on them and he has of late lost track of them. The party has the advantage of surprise though they do not realize it as they overestimate Triel's capacity for scrying (and interest in their particular plight -- he doesn't realize they are working for the Princess or else he'd be much more interested in them).

Duke Prince Valsil
Blind with his desire to reign as king, Valsil is largely under the sway of Triel. Valsil will actually be warming the throne if all comes to pass as Triel plans.

Duke Prince Ander
Valsil's twin brother also has his eyes on the throne, but he does so out of fear of Triel who he believes (rightly) is controlling his brother. He was also born first of the twins (albeit by only two minutes) so he feels justified in taking his place as the King. While not an active plotter against the Prince Nathan, Ander isn't above taking advantage of the situation and has built an army of his own. He's also ran his fingers deep into the trade of the nation. He isn't the most militarily powerful noble but he is certainly the wealthiest.

Durok
This is a dwarven necromancer who I need to work back in at some point. The party killed him and destroyed his tower - though they did so with Matacha's direct intervention (the DM preferred this to a TPK). However, since Matacha aided the party Kepho has aided him. He's back as a lich though his moment to step back on stage hasn't arrived.

I've got a couple of weeks to go over this. Right at the moment I'm open to ideas (though I admit a lot of the details are missing).

 

[Mycanid]

Quick bring up to speed. Party has been on numerous adventures with one piece hinting at another, at another, and so on, and they finally decided to get back to the main through line of the story and hunt down Dalsundria's missing prince. I have arranged to have that character played by a player so we set him up and the first session was introducing the character and bringing to an apex an plot arc that's been running for about 3 months. At the end of the session I left the players on a very unsettling cliffhanger -- The princess teleports in sensing her brother's presence (which is now possible because his memory had been wiped and the party managed to get that undone). She shows up, falls into his arms crying. When she stops she looks up into his eyes and says simply, "The king is dead. Long live the king."

Great stuff! I love this sorta drama!

Now the party has a throne to claim and win. Unfortunately several enemies levels 8th (the party's level) to as high as 14th have other plans). Plots and treacheries years in the making are about to be unleashed and the party is going to be hurled into a breathtaking start for the middle part of 2nd chapter of the chronicle (which they've been on since 5th level and will finish when they hit 10th or so). There's been a lot of talk and posturing - now head rolling time.

I always had a hard time running country wide political intrigue kinda things. SOunds like you are doing a good job with it - probably a much more competant DM than I ever was.

Now, it's hard for me to pin down what's going to happen. I will outlay what the NPC's are up to what they have planned for the party's most likely actions within the limits of their own knowledge.

Lord Viscount Travis Triel (5th level wizard - 10th level blue mage)
Triel is the nemesis the party is most familiar with, though they aren't aware of the exact scope of his powers as when they originally met him he seemed to be an ally. When last they met him he sent them into a dungeon - when last they heard from him he commanded who they thought was an ally into attacking them. That line, "Your former companions are coming - kill them, kill them all." still sends chills up the party's spine.

Triel is a schemer who want the throne as directly as possible. He has subtly manipulated his leige, Archduke Prince Valsil into preparing for war to seize the throne from Crown Princess Nelaria. Their preparations have been in secret and they are ready to show their hand. Up until now the Prince has been missing.

It was Triel who arranged for the murder of Prince Joel and would have murdered Prince Nathan (the PC mentioned above) where it not for subterfuge on the part of Alblasker and some druids. Triel left the boy to be ripped limb from limb by wolves, but the wolves turned out to be druids in wild shape. This miscue will come back to haunt Triel someday if the Party can help it at all.

Triel is the best sort of villain - the party absolutely LOATHES him. They want his head on a stick - but they have many adventures and a lot of work before they can face him.

Ain't bad guys like this great? I've had a few myself - there was one guy who was ostensibly helping a group I was DM'ing who later betrayed them and sold them all into slavery. The PC's REALLY came to loathe him.

Triel at one point could spy on the party at will, but they've managed to remove the items he was using to scry on them and he has of late lost track of them. The party has the advantage of surprise though they do not realize it as they overestimate Triel's capacity for scrying (and interest in their particular plight -- he doesn't realize they are working for the Princess or else he'd be much more interested in them).

Duke Prince Valsil
Blind with his desire to reign as king, Valsil is largely under the sway of Triel. Valsil will actually be warming the throne if all comes to pass as Triel plans.

Duke Prince Ander
Valsil's twin brother also has his eyes on the throne, but he does so out of fear of Triel who he believes (rightly) is controlling his brother. He was also born first of the twins (albeit by only two minutes) so he feels justified in taking his place as the King. While not an active plotter against the Prince Nathan, Ander isn't above taking advantage of the situation and has built an army of his own. He's also ran his fingers deep into the trade of the nation. He isn't the most militarily powerful noble but he is certainly the wealthiest.

Durok
This is a dwarven necromancer who I need to work back in at some point. The party killed him and destroyed his tower - though they did so with Matacha's direct intervention (the DM preferred this to a TPK). However, since Matacha aided the party Kepho has aided him. He's back as a lich though his moment to step back on stage hasn't arrived.

I've got a couple of weeks to go over this. Right at the moment I'm open to ideas (though I admit a lot of the details are missing).

This is good stuff ... a dwarven necromancer too? Never came across one. Did you know, by the way, that "durok" is the Russian word for "idiot"? I chuckled a bit when I read his name.

As for suggestions.

I LOVE the intervention of the druids. I would use them as the "lever" to move the pc's into the quick of things. The dimly known allies always somehow "in the background" .... I think they could be the "catalyst" for everything. Maybe involve the princess with them somehow.

One possible use for the necromancer is related to Prince Joel ... THAT might be a further "fly in the soup".

I assume it is Prince Nathan that is the one the pc's have to put on the throne?

I am not completely clear who are the claimanys to the throne: Valsil, Ander, Nathan and (the now dead) Joel - yes? Valsil and Ander are twins. Are all four brothers? Also - where is the queen? And where does the princess fit in all this? Can the throne only be occupied by a man - no women rulers?

Wouldn't it be an interesting turn of final events if the princess became the ruler with the druids as some of her close advisors?

Anyhoo ... just a few thoughts.

 

[Michael Morris]

The genealogy of the Tuval line takes 3 pages to graph out and runs back 400 years. The most current section of the line.

King Elgrel III
King at the start of the campaign - has died literally 5 hours before the moment the last session ended though he's been ailing through the year. He was 93. His wife has been dead 5 years.

Prince Joel
Oldest son. He is dead, as is his wife.

Prince Nathan
The PC.

Princess Nelaria
His twin sister. She may or may not stay with the party - I have two female players and if either want the reigns of the character I'll let them have her though both are also wrapped up in their current characters.

Prince Valsil -- Joel's brother, Nathan and Nelaria's Uncle
Prince Ander -- Valsil's twin.

Prince Otal -- Nelaria's first cousin, Valsil's son. A would be paladin, does NOT like his father and stays out on the frontier. Was ordered by his father (on Triel's suggestion) to try to seduce and marry Nelaria. However, he is already in love though he did meet up with Nelaria and respects her greatly he isn't in love with her. A wildcard.

Teresa Orlanis
116 year old dowager queen (thanks to a couple poitions of longevity) and Elgrel's mother. Another wildcard for the most part. She's commands considerable respect but is very feeble and has not been at court for years. She is ignorant of the current power plays.

Also add in the fact that Dalsundria has a strong and somewhat unruly parliment. The Prime Minister of Parliment is Triel.

 

[jmucchiello]

Could you be more specific? Is this accurate:

Joel, Vasil and Ander are brothers, sons of Elgrel.
Nathan and Nelaria are Elgrel grandchildren from the firstborn line.
Elgrel's second born, Vasil, has a son Otal who is also Elgrel's grandson.

Traditionally in your campaign's kingdom, line of decent carries through the first born son and thus the line of succession (before deaths) from Elgrel was Joel, Nathan, Vasil, Otal, Ander (assuming no female rulers).

Where is Joel's wife and how is she involved? Same for Vasil's wife.

Does Nathan have any offspring (whether or not he knows about them)? And how in the world did Nathan get the right to go off adventuring if he is next in line for the throne?

 

[Slife]

Is this Aramek's Blue Mage, or something different?

What's the party's composition?

Off the top of my head, Ander making a deal with Durok to protect him from Triel sounds like a good starting point. Plus, it's a great Deus ex Machina if the party gets in to a TPK situation - the evil guys can start fighting each other instead of fighting the party.

 

[Michael Morris]

Ok, confusion abounding - let me step back and get everyone up to speed.

The campaign's backstory starts in earnest 16 years before events in the campaign during a conflict known as the War of the Braids during which the neigboring kingdom of Milicsundria, under the leadership of King Salsis I, invaded Dalsundria in a bitter 4 year long conflict which devestated much of the kingdom. During the war Elgrel led the armies of his kingdom with aid from his son Valsil while Joel remained in the capital handling the logistics of the conflict while his father was away. Most of the player characters where born during this time so their knowledge of these events are passed down to them from their parents much like the memory of Vietnam was passed down to my generation.

Anyhow, Dalsundria managed to repel Milicsundria's incursion. Valsil became a hero alongside his father. Triel, then a lowly but extremely ambitious count, befriended the young prince and played upon his ambitions. After all, he was the war hero - did not he deserve to become King? Hence, with time, Triel darkened the heart of Valsil and turned him against his elder brother.

Together the two hatched a plan to quietly usurp the throne. Triel convinced Ander, Valsil's twin, to get his Dabrinian allies to request the presence of the crown prince at a diplomatic meeting. When Joel sailed for Dabrinia his ship was destroyed in a storm and all hands where lost.

The two next turned their attention to Joel's children. Nathan would be easy - the boy was a friend of Triel and regularly went on hunting expeditions with his uncle and the count. It was a simple matter for an accident to occur, and Triel claimed they had been set upon by wolves and the boy slain.

This was partially the truth. Triel's schemes had ran afoul of his master - Alblasker. Knowing what Triel was up to, but unwilling to become directly involved himself, the old mage enlisted the aid of the druids of the north forest to provide themselves rather than the wolves Triel had intended. Tricked, Triel left the boy alive. Fed up over the long years of countless Kings so caught up in the treacheries of court that they cared not for the people they where sworn to protect, Alblasker removed the boy's memory and placed it in a memory jar. The boy was then turned over the Kimberly Stahand - the Great Druid, and raised by her and later by Delnor Auros in the kingdom of Pildania far to the west.

Meanwhile Alice Tuval - the wife of Joel and mother to Nathan and Nelaria, became afraid for her daughter's life. Shortly after Nathan's dissappearance she managed to slip out of the city of Dalze and sailed for neighboring kingdom of Hone Rae. Around a year after making this trip she fell to a plague of the Red Death. The now orphan princess was taken into the court of Queen Tiliansiasia, who had the child trained in the arts of wizardry at the Academy of Merryville.

6 years passed. The party came into their own looking into goblin raids that had suddenly began in the vicinity of Lochshire. On one of their expeditions they happened across Triel and aided him in retaking Castle Maldanca's ruins from the Goblins. The count then used ignorant country bumpkins to "escort" the princess - playing up their heroism and celbrity. They travelled to Hone Rae and managed to convince the princess to return home on her Grandfather the King's bidding. During the trip home agents from all sides attacked the group - and much to Triel's disappointment they successfully defended the princess from attack.

Nelaria gave the party the mission of finding the prince since, as his twin, she could sense he was alive but could not tell where. After a few detours they have done so, just in time to learn the king is dead.

Clearer now?

 

[Michael Morris]

Is this Aramek's Blue Mage, or something different?

What's the party's composition?

Off the top of my head, Ander making a deal with Durok to protect him from Triel sounds like a good starting point. Plus, it's a great Deus ex Machina if the party gets in to a TPK situation - the evil guys can start fighting each other instead of fighting the party.

A blue mage in Dusk is a practioner of one of the five arts of Magic a 'la Magic the Gathering. Blue magic encompasses illusion, air and water elements, counterspelling, domination spells and time magic.

 

[Mycanid]

Yes - MUCH!

I am curious though ... where are you feeling it will/should go?

 

[Michael Morris]

I have no idea - this is the player's game as much as it is mine.

 

[Quickleaf]

I need help.

Sure would like to help, but I'm uncertain what you're requesting. Could you be more precise about what kind of help you want?

Now the party has a throne to claim and win. *snip* There's been a lot of talk and posturing - now head rolling time.

You seem to imply outright war (or at least a bloody coup) is imminent. Don't have all the info about your game, but that seems like an assumption that might negate non-violent tactics the players will want to try. You've got these great NPCs and a fleshed out royalty - why not keep running with it?

The Prime Minister of Parliment is Triel.

How did Triel become PM of Dalsundria? Wasn't he just out taking a castle back from goblins? And at the front with Valsil? Was his appointment as PM a recent development?