Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes
Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2019 9:38 pm
"We don't want to get involved!"
One bloody coup later...
"Bollocks"
One bloody coup later...
"Bollocks"
Stay a while..
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Standing outside the huge gates of Gauntlgrym, the Unmentionables regaled the dwarven guards with all that had occurred in the past few days, and asked to be permitted entry such that the end of the world might be prevented. After some huffing and puffing, the guards eventually agreed to escort them to Moradin's throne room, where the candidates for the election of a new monarch were bickering in an antechamber.
The two primary candidates were the High Priest of Moradin, Uril Frostmail, who believed a full-scale assault on the Underdark would take the fight to the drow before they had a chance to invade; and Raina Brightmaster, the head of a merchant family, who thought the best future for the dwarves would be to seal the entrance to the Underdark for good and avoid further expeditions into the depths. Meanwhile, the mercenary captain Zigi Hardcloak (whose criminal dealings were an open secret) sought to throw his influence behind whichever candidate would benefit him most. Administering this debacle of horrifying and inconsistent accents was the temporary Overseer, Bori Flamebeard, who did not seem entirely in control of events and reportedly hadn't paid the city guard in a month.
While the Unmentionables attempted to enlighten the dwarves as to their impending doom and persuade them to resolve the election swiftly, a mysterious hooded figure loomed in the background. His radiant, golden eyes burned as he warned against hasty decisions in the election which may have dire consequences in the future, and he urged the candidates to ensure they chose the right king or queen. As he departed, the Unmentionables enquired with the dwarves as to the mysterious figure's name and nature, and why he had his own musical score, but all seemed reluctant to divulge anything. After some badgering, Uril Frostmail confirmed that the figure was a celestial being - an agent of Good from the divine upper planes - though Uril refused to speak his name or business, as they were not his to give.
The Unmentionables, having been sternly warned not to meddle in the election under any circumstances, set about meddling. First they spoke to Uril in private, who told them how King Bruenor had died on the night of a feast honouring his son's expedition into the Underdark the following morning to establish whether the drow were massing in force. As Prince Brandon and his retinue departed, King Bruenor's lifeless body was found in his bed, and no cause of death had been determined since. Prince Brandon and his men never returned. Uril suggested that if by some miracle Brandon was still alive, the election would be unnecessary and Brandon would be crowned King, allowing him to command Gauntlgrym's forces however he saw fit. Sage agreed to send Raven on a scouting trip to try and find the lost prince.
Next, the party spoke to Raina Brightmaster at her store's workshop, where a huge iron golem was under construction. Raina elaborated on Uril's story, explaining that her husband had gone with Prince Brandon and that as much as she feared for her husband, she would not risk the safety of Gauntlgrym by sending further scouting parties into the Underdark. She asked for the party's help in persuading the other Great Families of Gauntlgrym to vote for her and crown her Queen so that she might send aid to Neverwinter immediately.
Finally, the party headed to Zigi's Tavern, where Zigi Hardcloak suggested that he would throw his influence behind whichever candidate the Unmentionables preferred in exchange for a favour. His first suggestion was simple: kill Uril Frostmail. In a surprising turn of morality bordering on decency, the party declined on the basis that outright murder may appear suspicious. Zigi then suggested that breaking into the royal treasure room, the Vault of Kings, and allowing him to inspect the contents (for 'research') would be an agreeable alternative. As Slythe twitched violently at the prospect of looting a dwarven treasure hoard, he found his restraint and agreed with his friends that at best it would serve as a Plan B.
Sage checked in with Raven and found him approaching the site where Prince Brandon's expedition had headed to. Some curious things were found at the site, including numerous drow, a large spider mural in the floor covered in a pentagram of blood, a slave pen of svirfneblin (deep gnomes) and a nearby guarded cave where some kind of large, vicious beast was rampaging inside. A trail of blood from the pentagram led to another cave where several dwarf corpses had been piled - among them, Prince Brandon and Raina's husband.
The party returned to Uril and informed him of the Prince's demise and the presence of drow in the area, and the possibility that the prince had been used in a blood ritual. This profanity incensed Uril, and he decreed that he must become King at the next vote, no matter the cost, heavily implying that he would resort to violence if necessary. The party nonchalantly whistled their way out of his presence and hightailed it over to Raina's, where they mentioned how her husband had been brutally murdered and then moved onto more pressing matters, such as Zigi's shady intents and Uril's apparent bloodlust. Raina saw Uril's threats of violence as the key to winning the election, as the other families would not stand for him threatening a candidate in a fair election. She asked the party if they could find evidence of Uril's intentions, or otherwise find some method of forcing him to speak the truth. She suggested they could ask for help from a retired, eccentric Underdark explorer, Durnar Stoutheart, who ran a museum of artefacts and curious flora found during his adventures. If anyone would know of an Underdark fungi that could act as an effective truth serum, it would be Durnar...
It does sound especially unfair when you put it like that!Mantis wrote: ↑Wed Oct 02, 2019 6:03 pmNot only we were expressly told not to meddle, we informed the whole leadership hierarchy of the Dwarves that we had no intention of meddling, informed them again on an individual basis before promptly being asked, by each of the very people who'd told us not to meddle, to engage in meddling