Scourge of the Slave Lords II: Into Changshai
I inserted this linked module into the Stormbringer campaign by emphasising politics. Basically, Stalman Klim, a main leader of the council of slave lords in the module, is the Usurper of Changshai in my version of the Eastern realms. After the defeat of his invading forces by Eshmir, he has seemingly faded into the background, and Changshai has become increasingly lawless. Rumours of a new force in the region have reached the ears of the merchant princes of Elwher, an organisation of reavers that has become known as the Slave Lords. Nobody in Elwher yet knows a great deal about this group - the location of its bases, or even its composition. One thing for sure, though: Stalman Klim is letting them run riot, and they have been encroaching on Eshmir territory and raiding its shipping. One influential view is that this is in fact Klim's doing; if he can't defeat Eshmir in open battle, he is trying to ruin the basis of the more northerly nation's prosperity, partly as another way of damaging his brother The Drei Myur, currently in exile in Elwher itself. The players have been receiving briefings on this developing situation as part of their meetings with the mercantile leaders of the city; everyone is expecting events to build up to some sort of explosion...
Campaign Narrative
And sure enough, disaster strikes the peoples of Eshmir. Or, rather, the mercantile house that has been detailed with watching developments in Changshai. A dishevelled messenger appears at one of the meetings between the party and the local notables, telling of a great war galley that disgorged well-equipped marines onto the shores to the southeast of Elwher in the region of recently-annexed hills. Lady Aurea and her household have either been wiped out or taken as slaves to be sold in the markets of Changshai. This is a major blow; Aurea had been tasked with watching over the border region from a newly fortified manor house, but nobody expected a massive direct assault like this from the sea. The players' party is perturbed because this escalating warfare is threatening their intention to establish a trading route with Eshmir. After conferring among themselves, Destiny, Sir Blanque and Marion volunteer their services as a small 'commando' group to ride southwards and find out what is going on in Changshai. As unknown westerners, they may be able to infiltrate the region while Elwher prepares a full military response. The merchants are delighted with this proposal, and so the three companions set off once more. Duke Avan Astran stays behind to act as military advisor.
The only piece of information available to the group about the attack is that the war galley sported some rather distinctive purple sails. Deciding to avoid the sea routes given the situation, the three, accompanied by a local scout, ride hard for the Aurea estate, arriving three days later - a total of five days after the assault took place. The place is entirely burned out and bodies lie everywhere; very few of them seem to be raiders, and even those have been stripped of any useful equipment. The only partially intact building is a well-built forge with its adjacent house. The roof has collapsed inwards due to fire damage, but inside the group finds the burned body of a raider underneath a roof timber. His right arm is crossed underneath his body, clutching something, so Marion pulls it out for a closer look. She sees a brightly coloured tattoo of a fish on the man's forearm, and finds his hand holding a small notebook, some of which has survived the conflagration because of its position under the body. Careful examination of its contents indicates that the raiders set out from the capital city of Tanghensi in Changshai; there is a further reference to an inn called the Broken Rudder; it seems that this raider had a good time there before leaving for his final voyage. There is a final notation suggesting that the ultimate destination after this job is the port city of Zoshai far to the south, the second largest city in the country. The characters decide to ride southwards to Tanghensi in the first instance through the grand forest of The Great Hunting. They send their local guide back to Elwher to report their plans, and then head on out.
The long ride is relatively uneventful because the players are taking no chances. They disguise themselves with the help of some of Destiny's magic to make themselves less obviously distinctive. They pass through a land ravaged by conflict, which is strange because Eshmir's army never got this far south, and the remnants of the household forces of The Drei Myur, the rightful ruler of Changshai, never had the time to engage his brother Stalman Klim in open battle, fleeing instead to Elwher. All of which means that Changshai is even more lawless than expected - which might in turn represent something of an opportunity for Eshmir's army. All order seems to have disintegrated in Changshai, and if the three compatriots can find out what is going on with Klim, the northern army may well be able to take advantage. This thought cheers them on their journey, but they still take great care. At one point they meet a group of locals who look like bandits of some kind, but they retreat from the three well dressed travellers, who are obviously carrying serious armament; Marion figures they are perhaps just trying to survive in very trying circumstances.
On arrival, Tanghensi turns out to be rather dilapidated; it certainly does not look like a major capital port city any more. Following the clues they found at the Aurea estate, the group makes their way surreptitiously to the Broken Rudder Inn. They scope out the locals, including the owner/barkeep, a retired mercenary by the name of Carn. He introduces them to his bouncer, Ragnar, and Hazzard, the bookkeeper. The three players ask to meet Hazzard and Ragnar in a private room for some good old-fashioned negotiations. Marion doesn't trust either of them, but thinks that it will be interesting to flush them out if they turn out to be working for the slave lords. Hazzard explains that nobody has seen Stalman Klim for months, at least since he headed to Zoshai on unknown business. In the meantime, the slave lords have been throwing their weight around, and speculation is rife about whether or not there is some sort of deal between Klim and the slavers, and what that might entail. The players ask Hazzard to use his local connections to find out some more if possible, and then settle back into the centre of the inn.
The place is now even rowdier, and the centre is dominated by a large group of thugs who are obviously celebrating some sort of recent success; Marion spots the same tattoo as on the corpse at the Aurea Estate on some of them. There are eight of these guys, and they decide that more noise is good, especially since Destiny and Marion are rather good looking. A confrontation develops, and the thugs are joined by Carn and Hazzard, who tries to use some form of runic magic from near the entrance to the inn - a trap. It doesn't work, though, since the players were expecting something like this, and a quick fireblast from Destiny's elementals stuns enough of the thugs to take them out of the fight. Carn stops fighting as he tries to save his beloved inn from going up in flames. Hazzard runs out into the alleyways, while Ragnar blocks the way. He suddenly has a bad time himself as he is hit from behind by a sneaky thief-type guy, and quickly surrenders. Hazzard is nowhere to be seen - Destiny reckons he teleported away. The thief introduces himself as 'Knocker' - "A professional name, if you will". He says that the resistance will help the party if and when it can, and then vanishes into the night.
The aftermath sees a clean-up. Carn and Ragnar say they had no choice; Carn isn't as good a businessman as he once was a fighter, and his establishment was bought out by the slave lords. Ragnar is his old adventuring buddy, and they are pretty much in this together; Hazzard works directly for the slavers, and will be telling them about the interlopers right now. In return for their lives, Carn and Ragnar tell Sir Blanque that Hazzard did mention a ruined temple on the outskirts of Zoshan that serves as some sort of base for the slave lords - he called it a processing point for the merchandise. So it looks as though it's time to move further to the south...
Campaign Narrative
And sure enough, disaster strikes the peoples of Eshmir. Or, rather, the mercantile house that has been detailed with watching developments in Changshai. A dishevelled messenger appears at one of the meetings between the party and the local notables, telling of a great war galley that disgorged well-equipped marines onto the shores to the southeast of Elwher in the region of recently-annexed hills. Lady Aurea and her household have either been wiped out or taken as slaves to be sold in the markets of Changshai. This is a major blow; Aurea had been tasked with watching over the border region from a newly fortified manor house, but nobody expected a massive direct assault like this from the sea. The players' party is perturbed because this escalating warfare is threatening their intention to establish a trading route with Eshmir. After conferring among themselves, Destiny, Sir Blanque and Marion volunteer their services as a small 'commando' group to ride southwards and find out what is going on in Changshai. As unknown westerners, they may be able to infiltrate the region while Elwher prepares a full military response. The merchants are delighted with this proposal, and so the three companions set off once more. Duke Avan Astran stays behind to act as military advisor.
The only piece of information available to the group about the attack is that the war galley sported some rather distinctive purple sails. Deciding to avoid the sea routes given the situation, the three, accompanied by a local scout, ride hard for the Aurea estate, arriving three days later - a total of five days after the assault took place. The place is entirely burned out and bodies lie everywhere; very few of them seem to be raiders, and even those have been stripped of any useful equipment. The only partially intact building is a well-built forge with its adjacent house. The roof has collapsed inwards due to fire damage, but inside the group finds the burned body of a raider underneath a roof timber. His right arm is crossed underneath his body, clutching something, so Marion pulls it out for a closer look. She sees a brightly coloured tattoo of a fish on the man's forearm, and finds his hand holding a small notebook, some of which has survived the conflagration because of its position under the body. Careful examination of its contents indicates that the raiders set out from the capital city of Tanghensi in Changshai; there is a further reference to an inn called the Broken Rudder; it seems that this raider had a good time there before leaving for his final voyage. There is a final notation suggesting that the ultimate destination after this job is the port city of Zoshai far to the south, the second largest city in the country. The characters decide to ride southwards to Tanghensi in the first instance through the grand forest of The Great Hunting. They send their local guide back to Elwher to report their plans, and then head on out.
The long ride is relatively uneventful because the players are taking no chances. They disguise themselves with the help of some of Destiny's magic to make themselves less obviously distinctive. They pass through a land ravaged by conflict, which is strange because Eshmir's army never got this far south, and the remnants of the household forces of The Drei Myur, the rightful ruler of Changshai, never had the time to engage his brother Stalman Klim in open battle, fleeing instead to Elwher. All of which means that Changshai is even more lawless than expected - which might in turn represent something of an opportunity for Eshmir's army. All order seems to have disintegrated in Changshai, and if the three compatriots can find out what is going on with Klim, the northern army may well be able to take advantage. This thought cheers them on their journey, but they still take great care. At one point they meet a group of locals who look like bandits of some kind, but they retreat from the three well dressed travellers, who are obviously carrying serious armament; Marion figures they are perhaps just trying to survive in very trying circumstances.
On arrival, Tanghensi turns out to be rather dilapidated; it certainly does not look like a major capital port city any more. Following the clues they found at the Aurea estate, the group makes their way surreptitiously to the Broken Rudder Inn. They scope out the locals, including the owner/barkeep, a retired mercenary by the name of Carn. He introduces them to his bouncer, Ragnar, and Hazzard, the bookkeeper. The three players ask to meet Hazzard and Ragnar in a private room for some good old-fashioned negotiations. Marion doesn't trust either of them, but thinks that it will be interesting to flush them out if they turn out to be working for the slave lords. Hazzard explains that nobody has seen Stalman Klim for months, at least since he headed to Zoshai on unknown business. In the meantime, the slave lords have been throwing their weight around, and speculation is rife about whether or not there is some sort of deal between Klim and the slavers, and what that might entail. The players ask Hazzard to use his local connections to find out some more if possible, and then settle back into the centre of the inn.
The place is now even rowdier, and the centre is dominated by a large group of thugs who are obviously celebrating some sort of recent success; Marion spots the same tattoo as on the corpse at the Aurea Estate on some of them. There are eight of these guys, and they decide that more noise is good, especially since Destiny and Marion are rather good looking. A confrontation develops, and the thugs are joined by Carn and Hazzard, who tries to use some form of runic magic from near the entrance to the inn - a trap. It doesn't work, though, since the players were expecting something like this, and a quick fireblast from Destiny's elementals stuns enough of the thugs to take them out of the fight. Carn stops fighting as he tries to save his beloved inn from going up in flames. Hazzard runs out into the alleyways, while Ragnar blocks the way. He suddenly has a bad time himself as he is hit from behind by a sneaky thief-type guy, and quickly surrenders. Hazzard is nowhere to be seen - Destiny reckons he teleported away. The thief introduces himself as 'Knocker' - "A professional name, if you will". He says that the resistance will help the party if and when it can, and then vanishes into the night.
The aftermath sees a clean-up. Carn and Ragnar say they had no choice; Carn isn't as good a businessman as he once was a fighter, and his establishment was bought out by the slave lords. Ragnar is his old adventuring buddy, and they are pretty much in this together; Hazzard works directly for the slavers, and will be telling them about the interlopers right now. In return for their lives, Carn and Ragnar tell Sir Blanque that Hazzard did mention a ruined temple on the outskirts of Zoshan that serves as some sort of base for the slave lords - he called it a processing point for the merchandise. So it looks as though it's time to move further to the south...
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