Scourge of the Slave Lords IX: Infiltrating Suderham

I had no intention of railroading the players when I ran this part of the campaign. A map of the deep caverns below the volcanic island on which sits the Slave Lords' city is included in the module, and the idea there is that the players will be captured, thrown into the cave system, and left to rot, albeit with a little bit of help from the Slave Lord who supposedly led them here as a subtle ploy in his machinations to take over the organisation's council completely. This wouldn't sit well with players like mine, especially given how I have integrated it into my Stormbringer campaign, but that is not to say the caverns would not come in handy...

Campaign narrative

Dramatis Personae: Sir Blanque (Filkarian noble of mer-people extraction)
                                Marion (Daughter of the Nihrain; likes daggers and carries the Runestaff)
                                Destiny (Menastrai sorceress)

The three adventurers emerge in the pre-dawn light from the dangerous hidden underground tunnels they have just traversed to get there. The twisting system led them through the mountains from Changshai to the hidden lair of the Slave Lords. They find themselves standing on a ridge line on the edge of a shanty town that sprawls part way around the lip of a lake in the middle of an enormous caldera. To their right, the group can just about make out a squat, ugly fortified town. Behind them, again to their right, is a volcano. Most of the island is covered in dense forest.

Schematics for the island of Suderham from the module. The idea is that while the players are wandering around the caverns, the volcano starts to erupt, and everything is thrown into chaos. The players are supposed to take advantage of the situation to finish off the Slave Lords, but I had other plans. 

I traced the image above onto acetate to show all of the major features, and this then became a useful handout for the players. I left out information they would not have, such as the lettered points that key into the text. The highlighted dots show the point of entry onto the island at the top left, and the three main entrances to the substantial caverns, for my convenience. The players didn't initially see these, but they would come in really handy later.

Realising that workers will soon start streaming from the slums through the main gates of the town, the party decides to mingle. They sneak down the ridge and move through the huts, making for what passes for a road before dawn fully lights the scene. At one point they overhear a group of arrogant, condescending trades argue about precedence as they get into litters that sway towards the town gates, obviously carried by slaves. Marion suggests they adopt the same attitude, and liberally throw money at the guards as they enter, excitedly discussing the luscious wares ahead of them. This works, as do their magically enhanced disguises, and in they go.

Plan of the town, with notes scribbled in someone else's handwriting. I must have loaned this to somebody decades ago - hence the poor spelling, which shows that at least isn't a new problem. 

I used a very handy, almost isometric view of the city that shows the city buildings in a way that is really useful for the players:

The main entrance to the city is in the middle of the top left wall. The main citadel of the slave lords themselves is the large, walled square building in the top right corner of the plan as you look at it. I have no idea why some buildings are coloured and others left blank. From: http://slavers-campaign.awardspace.info

This meant I was able not only to show the players what the place looked like, but add notes so that could keep track of what was going on as the moved around the place.

As the characters proceed, they follow a grim-looking group of guards marching right into the centre of the town. This turns out to be the main arena for slave auctions, but it doesn't open until 9.00. They retire into an alleyway to discuss what to do next, but are nonplussed when a really scabby-looking beggar passes Marion something and then keeps moving. It turns out to be a piece from a chess set - the white knight. Guessing they can follow up on this clue later, they have a quick confab. The upshot is that they will carefully scout out as much of the place as they can, starting from the entry gate.

They while away some time by visiting a wheelwright's store, which is just opening. The idea is to continue to act as slavers themselves, or at least dodgy merchants who are interested in slaves, and investigating the slave caravan trade seems a sensible thing to do. The result is an interesting conversation with the craftsman who supplies wheels and axles for wagons and carts, a rather lucrative business given how much damage vehicles have to endure going up and down the mountain trails leading out from the location of the hidden city. While in the workshop, Sir Blanque notices that all holes that might lead under the premises, even small ones for rats and such, are stuffed full of evil-smelling rags or completely boarded. Marion asks the proprietor about these, "Seeing as it's our first visit to your fair city." He replies that the town guard is very strict about any holes leading underground "People have been hauled off to permanent slavery for not keeping an eye on these things," he says. "There are all sorts of rumours about underground creatures, going back to before the town was founded. Apparently the evil lordling who used to own this island had a habit of throwing his prisoners into the caverns beneath; nobody ever survived." The adventurers thank the man, saying they will return with an order for him, and leave.

They move back to near the location of the main gate, and then start at the very top of the town, to the left of the gate as they entered. The intention is to be methodical, and it pays dividends, as Marion spots an actual mages guild - Marion is delighted, she has been asking about guilds every time the group goes anywhere near a city. This is the first time they have seen one like this, though, and perhaps the Chaotic nature of the Slave Lords permits its existence.

The door has no discernible handle or knob, and the only sign is a runic inscription. Marion does her magic door-opening thing, a gift from the golden seeress they met in the gardens of the House of Amber, and as they all enter, the door closely noiselessly behind them. They find themselves in a well-appointed reception, with exits leading left and right. The functionary behind the desk greets them in a rather bored, flat monotone, so Marion waves the Runestaff in his face. The guy completely freaks out and presses a stud behind the desk. At that, the entire wall behind him vanishes and the characters see a man of indeterminate age holding a key. He says, "Welcome, travellers, you are expected. I am the guildmaster." 

He ushers them into his private study, which has two doors leading from it. A long discussion takes place, together with some really good refreshments served by the now terrified receptionist. It turns out that the mages guild is allowed to exist by the slavers because it provides certain essential services; two of the lords on the main council are members. The guildmaster, who never reveals his name, seems to know an incredible amount about the place. He tells them that the Resistance still operates, led by survivors of the Thieves' Guild; it works from the Inn of the White Knight, which explains the chess clue. He also tells them that the town is run like a police state, with a massive proportion of military personnel compared with the civilian populace, all of whom are linked with the slavers' operations in some way or other. "Everyone here provides them with some sort of service, as indeed do we, although of course that doesn't mean we agree with everything they do. However, it does give us the space to operate, which cannot be said of everywhere in the various kingdoms of this world. Sorcery is not exactly welcome most of the time, as you are well aware." 

The characters nod in agreement; they saw how many impoverished workers came through the gates that morning. The guild master also fills them in on the history of the city. "The whole area used to belong to a minor bandit lord by the name of Olarek. By all accounts a most unsavoury character, he would throw unfortunate captives into the warren of lava tunnels beneath the island; apparently, he particularly enjoyed hearing the screams. What is left of his keep has been left standing by the slavers, as a warning to any who might cross them. Nobody knows what they did to him when they arrived; I assume they gave him a dose of his own treatment."

Marion is especially intrigued. "There is no point in trying to infiltrate the slavers' citadel. I even spotted an unusually large number of street lamps; presumably this place is lit at night so that all those guards have a really good field of vision." The guildmaster agrees: "The guards are mostly there to watch over the inhabitants, as opposed to patrolling the walls against anyone so foolish as to try to enter illegally." Marion then asks if the guild has a library that she can use - she has a hunch that there may be a way into the citadel from beneath, a strategy that has served the group very well in the past. "After all, the place is far too well guarded against attack, and we have to try to get in there somehow before they are alerted to our presence; news of our depredations against their other bases will not be far behind us."

The Guildmaster thinks this is an excellent idea. "My private library contains the remains of Olarek's files, albeit rather badly damaged by fire in places. There may be clues about the tunnels in there. I do know that the citadel of the Slave Lords has its own substantial basement, and there is at least one secret passage, but it is also possible that you may be able to find an alternative they don't know about themselves. Olarek's surviving papers would be a good place to start."

Destiny is delighted by being granted access to the archives of a mages guild, and the three go off happily to spend some time on research, followed by a good sleep after their exertions in the tunnels.

Umpire's notes

That interwebs thing is rally handy - you can find all sorts of useful material for players if you look hard enough! I winged it with the contents of the various houses and shops; I used to run roleplaying groups in large cityscapes long time ago, and I still have a load of material. I didn't need much for this, though; the module provides some information about what is at the various addresses, and I just riffed off those. The mages guild came in handy; it just so happened that when the players decided to search the town by quarters, that was one of the first places of interest they came across, after some private houses belonging to slave merchants and other human parasites. The characters are powerful enough not to be trifled with, and anyone worth their salt who has decent sources of information will not trifle with them - hence the interaction with the receptionist and the guildmaster. The time covered in this session was entirely investigation and roleplaying; not a single die was rolled in anger.