Need Help for an Sharn based adventure

[Sidekick]

Right I need a small side-trek style adventure. I’m coming up with nuffink and so I though I’d turn to you my Enworld friends.

First the party (Gestalt) – they are a CG, NG mix (well the decision makers are)
• Durnnam Dwarven barbarian3/rogue3
• Aloya ir’Presselan: human female scout3/fighter3
• Linden Auntain: human male monk3/cleric3 (sov Host)
• Jo Fletcher: female human warlock3/Kineticist3.

If these are your character – then rack off this thread ain’t for you!!!





The group should be 4th level by the time this adventure kicks in.

Here’s the deal. I’m trying to work out some way of involving them in some of Sharn’s dirty politics, ultimately forcing them to come to grips with the Boromar Clan.

Tie-in / Hook: Aloya is the daughter of a Sharn based member of the Brelish Parliament. Her parents are ruthless and were quite happy to place her in mortal danger during the war so that they could look good with a medal winning child fighting for the nation on the front lines.

I figure that maybe her parents have got in too deep with the Boromar for favours in the last election.

I’m not too sure what I want them to fight or do, but I’ve got this vision of them having to fight/wade through a massive undiscovered underground cistern in the depths. You know, dark foreboding, with about 2ft of water to wade through.

Anyway any ideas for some tricksy Boromar related high-jinks would be greatly appreciated.

 

[shilsen]

Aloya gets kidnapped by Daask and the PCs are hired to go through the sewers to a Daask holding area in the Cogs, find and rescue her.

Of course, that's all bogus. The Boromars are the ones who took her and left a paper - or more likely, blood - trail that leads to their enemies, presuming that anyone following it will deal Daask some damage and then be killed, so they win both ways.

Once the PCs work it out, they will likely end up bringing the information to her parents. At some point, they find out that the parents set up the kidnapping in the first place. Aloya found out about the illegal deals that her family was making during and after the War, playing off their connections with a war heroine, and had intended to reveal it all. Having minor qualms about doing away with their daughter, they called in a favor with the Boromars (who they'd done a fair amount of work with) to have her kidnapped and sent somewhere she couldn't cause a problem.

That's just some pretty basic stuff off the top of my head. If you want to get really complicated with the politics in Sharn and beyond, you can always bring in some of the other countries and their interests in Sharn or the dragonmarked houses.

 

[Grymar]

You may want to check out Dragon #133's Chimes at Midnight. It will need some adaptation to fit Boromar Clan in there, but as far as politics and intrigue, not to mention mystery, it is amazing.

Aside from that, remember that no one is whom they seem and no one shows their true motives. I love the backstory you mentioned.

A noble is looking for someone to find the Mighty Magical McGuffin in the sewers of Sharn. It was the property of a criminal who had been captured by the Sharn Watch. As the prisoner was being transported to prison, the convoy was attacked by a force of <warforged/shifters/abberants/daask/enemy of choice> and the prisoner was freed. Oddly enough, the attack was perfectly prepared...someone had inside knowledge of the convoy. Some very subtle clues point so <insert favorite anti-Boromar City Council Member> being involved. Unfortunately, the guard who was carrying the McGuffin was killed when he was thrown off of a bridge. His body now rests in the sewers and the party must recover the item before the BBEG does. They will probably need a guide from the Khyber's Gate area of the Cogs to get around, so they had best be prepared to haggle with some goblins.

Of course, the attack was actually done by Boromar who also took the opportunity to try and frame one of their rivals on the council. They did not plan on loosing the McGuffin, so they have either hired the party by proxy or have a second party they have hired on the way.

Good luck either way. Let us know what you come up with.

 

[lior_shapira]

One of the first adventures I ran for my Eberron group (Session log wiki) also involved the Boromars and the Daask. One of the pc's who was a freelance photographer (don't ask) accidentally took pics of a secret meeting between the Daask leader (Cavallah) and the daughter of the Boromar head honcho (Ilyra I think). Ilyra wanted the pictures so she sent a high ranking assassin after the group. He kidnapped the aunt of one of the characters and burned her house down, demanding they give up the pictures.

Its a lot of fun using all the hooks on politics, crime and the various npc's occupying sharn

Hope it helps, lior

 

[The Lost Muse]

When you mentioned a problem with the Boromars, the Daask immediately came to mind for me as well. Aloya was kidnapped by the Boromars, and dropped off in the Cogs or perhaps Lower Dura with a buckler and a dagger. With no money, and minimal equipment, she became lost, and took refuge in a sewer only to discover that it was full of ogres and whatnot. She was taken to a large cavern, and forced to fight various opponents for her captors amusement.

Meanwhile, the Boromars are tormenting her parents with information about their daughters whereabouts, what she's doing, how she's being treated, and various other kinds of information. The bottom line is: they are in control of the situation, and her parents have to pay up or say goodbye to their little girl.

The Daask don't like this incursion into "their" territory, the Boromars are trying to put the squeeze on the parents, and the PC's have a limited amount of time to find and rescue the girl.

 

[Sidekick]

Hmm I like these ideas.

Shil – Aloya is a PC, she’s the group’s leader and main scout.

I plan on ‘outing’ Aloya (everyone still thinks she’s dead) when the come back from Valenar with the Macguffin they’re currently chasing. Have a reunion with her parents and their adopted Khorovar daughter (10 years old). That and the groups new-found fame should be enough for the Boromar’s to see the PCs as a group they can manipulate.

Anyway - How does this sound.

Daask (or will it be the Boromar??) kidnap the youngest daughter and hold the family to ransom.

The parents don’t know what to do, so they call upon Aloya and her comrades to kick some butt to rescue the girl. She owes them after they had her desertion changed to MIA/KIA. Get their daughter back

The Boromar (who are actually behind the whole thing) are more than willing to help the PCs. They indicate that Daask have taken her and are holding her in a small safe house on the very edges of the Cogs/Depths.

They attack the Daask base, only to find that it’s a freakin drug-den. There’s no daughter!!!

The Truth:
Aloya’s parents owe the Boromar big time, like about 10K for their ‘support’ during the last election. Thye’ve taken their daughter as collateral until they pay up. They were forced into getting the PCs to do the job against Daask, in return for a percentage being knocked off.

They can then track down the Boromar who gave them the job (one of the clan’s foremost captains).

They can then attack his compound/kidnap him and then rescue the sister as well as leave a message for the clan.

Doable? Any tweaks you reckon I should add in?

 

[Sidekick]

Bump? Any tweaks or advice from RBDMs is greatly appreciated.

The kiddie gloves are totally off in this campaign, in fact I'm trying to get a pair of spiked gauntlets instead.

Twists / encounters / Boromar bad guys all welcome!

 

[shilsen]

Hmm I like these ideas.

Shil – Aloya is a PC, she’s the group’s leader and main scout.

Ah, I missed that. Obviously that makes kidnapping her a little difficult. Unless... (see below)

Bump? Any tweaks or advice from RBDMs is greatly appreciated.

The kiddie gloves are totally off in this campaign, in fact I'm trying to get a pair of spiked gauntlets instead.

Twists / encounters / Boromar bad guys all welcome!

If the Boromars figuring this group is worth benefiting from, sending them after Daask the way you describe sounds like fun but will only work in the short-term. After all, once the PCs discover that they've been tricked, they'll be back and out for blood, which is something the Boromars will probably have considered. So how about the following tweak:

The Boromars aren't just interested in using the PCs against Daask. They're also trying to teach the family, who didn't pay up for favors rendered as they should, a very serious lesson, by hurting them through their children.

To that end, after having kidnapped the youngest daughter and having indicated that Daask has her, they set up a special ambush. When the PCs have taken down the Daask outpost and are at their weakest, and before they've really had a chance to explore it, they are attacked by a group of Daask reinforcements. With resources low, the PCs are taken down.

When they wake up, they're lying bruised and battered among the bodies of some of their attackers, but are all alive. Unfortunately, the Daask attackers took most of the valuables from the outpost, leaving behind only the bodies. Including that of Aloya's adoptive sister, who was apparently brutally treated before being killed. Aloya swears vengeance against Daask and heads back with the other PCs to tell her parents. When informed, the Boromars express their commiseration and promise to help.

What really happened is that the Daask reinforcements were Boromars. They took down the PCs and then took all the valuable things in the outpost, and also deposited the daughter's body there for the PCs to find.

And one more twist. After taking down the PCs, they took Aloya along with them. In her stead, they left a changeling member of the Tyrants, whose job is to impersonate Aloya and keep the PCs focused on the task of fighting Daask (and other things that benefit the Boromars). So the Boromars effectively get a skileld party of adventurers working for them against Daask, and they achieve it while robbing Aloya's parents of both their daughters, without the poor victims even knowing how badly they've been screwed.

Of course, the above will need you to work with Aloya's player, because, for some period of time, she'll be running the changeling disguised as Aloya, until the PCs stumble onto the truth. But it should lead to some really fun roleplaying and some incredibly pissed off PCs when they find out how badly - and many times - they got screwed.

Is that ratbastardly enough for you? Let me know if you need worse, since then we can bring in the gnomes

 

[Sidekick]

And THAT <points to the post above> is why I come here to ask these questions. Dms like you Shil are what makes EnWorld for me.

Nice work dude. Consider that yoinked.

Actually that could work brilliantly as Aloya while having an eye patch on her left eye (its all milked up) can see out of it perfectly (ahh the Mourning), so she'll probably get a nice opportunity to escape while 'blindfolded' and then come back to kill the fake Aloya - but who's who?

 

[shilsen]

And THAT <points to the post above> is why I come here to ask these questions. Dms like you Shil are what makes EnWorld for me.

Nice work dude. Consider that yoinked.

You're welcome. Don't forget to post at some point how it goes.

BTW, do you need any NPCs? I had my PCs being similarly fooled into attacking a Daask stronghold (I guess you read about it in the Story Hour), so I have a lot of appropriate NPCs.

Actually that could work brilliantly as Aloya while having an eye patch on her left eye (its all milked up) can see out of it perfectly (ahh the Mourning), so she'll probably get a nice opportunity to escape while 'blindfolded' and then come back to kill the fake Aloya - but who's who?

Sounds good. Also, depending on exactly how much the changeling knows about Aloya, that could be the way to give the other PCs an indication something is wrong, if it assumes she's really blind in that eye.