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Message: <blockquote data-quote="twofalls" data-source="post: 7585077" data-attributes="member: 23718">I'm describing my game here, so if you aren't interested in reading that, you may want to stop here. Fair warning.So the politics are a definite part of the game. I'm running a very home brew version of the Tomb of Annihilation, but I've added so much of my own material that they are 5th level and haven't even started to explore the jungle yet (this was intentional). The game is almost a year old. I turned Zindar into a full Gold Dragon guardian of the Port who has been apolitical until recently. I made the PC's his factors (the first he has had in living memory) and sent them after the pirates, which has been the majority of the game to date. I created this situation to give the players a patron who can guide them a bit because they were floundering about trying to decide what to do. Also, one of the PC's is a member of a noble household who is basically dating a jungle scamp (his RL wife), and so I decided to turn that into a scandal and a theme in the game. Politics figure prominently in the game but do not predominate. The fact that Zindar has factors now has turned the city into a brewers vat of political maneuvering between the princes with the PC's and their city contacts as pawns.I have made General Ras Nsi reach across Chult more powerful and turned the pirate operation into a Yuan-ti directed attempt by him to bring Nyanzaru to its knees by preying on merchant shipping. The PC's were contracted by Zindar to find the source of the pirates who have been heavily raiding shipping and taking prisoners and loot, and they successfully raided the pirates cove at Jahaka Anchorage. There they have disrupted but not destroyed the pirates operations, eliminating Cptns Lankilar and Al-Saryak and capturing the Stirge (which has been refitted and repaired and now is in the PC's hands). Cptn Elok Jaharwon and the Dragonfang (his ship) are still at large and are a recurring enemy. I created a Yuan-ti outpost on one of the Daughter Isles and they found information at Jahaka indicating that all captured prisoners (including some people the PC's know) have been taken there by the pirates. The outpost is fronted by a pirate/slavers haven named Silvershore where Pureblood Yuan-ti disguised as slavers purchase human cargo and send them up to the Manor house (a place of shadows and fear to the residents of Silvershore) where they are never heard from again. The entire operation supports the pirates and slavers operating in the sea of Chult with the aim of damaging the Port's mercantile business so badly that Ras Nsi can over run the Port with more of his undead minions. Prisoners taken to the Manor are ritually sacrificed to Dendar the Night Mother in a cave temple complex under the fortified Manor. The PC's have used the Stirge to sail to the Daughter Isles and have penetrated the jungle there to the Manor which they assaulted last game, setting off a general alarm. Exhausted of HP and spells they are beating a retreat into the jungle to rest up, setting ablaze as much as they can of the upper story of the Manor (its made of stone with wood supports) to discourage pursuit. Unbeknownst to them Cptn Elok in the Dragonfang encountered the refitted Stirge which was anchored offshore waiting for the successful return of the PC's from their raid and a battle ensued. Both ships were damaged and forced to retreat, and now Elok is at Silvershore and the smoke from the Manor will alert the town of trouble at the mansion. I've decided that an escaped slave named "Mahala-Mahala" (Free Free in Zulu) who is living as a hermit in the jungle will become a savior of sorts as the PC's, wounded and harried by Yuan-ti/Pirate search parties, will find shelter and information from him.So the cave complex beneath the Manor is a small dungeon for them to explore. The first in the game to date.And there is where we are at this point. Thanks for humoring me. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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