| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Matteus |
Posted - 24 Oct 2021 : 04:32:47
Hail and well met!
I need some help from the sages!
In the 3.5e Realms Campaign Book there was an awesome idea for a campaign. I’ve started it, but would love to have your input.
The Raven of the Pirate Isles
It is 1371 DR. For several years, an infamous Pirate named Samagaer Silverblade has terrorised the Sea of Fallen Stars. Calling himself “The Silver Raven,” Silverblade fancies himself a successor to Immurk, the pirate king. Silverblade's skilled leadership and charisma had begun to unite many disparate pirate factions, until three years ago. One day, he vanished without a trace when he was needed most. Rumours abound that Silverblade's lieutenants, who still control half of his original fleet, take orders from him from wherever he is hiding. Some say he’s dead. Others want him dead. But when some in Immruk’s Hold start claiming to have seen him, a top lieutenant secretly commissions a small band of pirates to find him before the union of pirates turns into an all-out civil war.
Of course, Silverblade is in fact Miklos Selkirk, son of Kendrick the Tall, who became overmaster of Sembia in 1371 DR. But that’s for the party to discover.
The small party of three followed a chain of rumours and clues to Tantras. There they’re going to uncover some sort of involvement of the Greyclaws. The party suspects that the Greyclaws want Silverblade dead.
Here’s what I need help with: why could the Greyclaws want Silverblade dead? Do they know that he’s really Miklos Selkirk? If so, what possible connections could there be between the Greyclaws and Sembia of the late 1360’s and early 1370’s?
Thanks for any help!
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| 6 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Kelcimer |
Posted - 01 Nov 2021 : 08:03:54
Hello Matteus!
• Being a pirate king is not a part time job. Generally speaking, people who rise to the top kinda spend all their time working on getting there and then all their time making sure they stay there.
• Miklos Selkirk "spent the previous fifteen years as an adventurer in the Sea of Fallen Stars, the Moonsea, and the Underdark. As an adventurer, Miklos called himself the Silver Raven" and "is best known in his homeland as the creator of the Silver Ravens, a large group of mercenary adventurers".
Big question #1: How did Miklos Selkirk have enough time to both do all the Silver Raven stuff AND also have time to be Samagaer Silverblade?
I think retconning his backstory would be a fair answer.
Big question #2: why would Miklos want to be a pirate king anyway?
If Miklos ultimate goal is to be King of Sembia, then the existing backstory of him building a reputation as the "Silver Raven, leader of the Silver raven mercenary company" makes far more sense for his long term goal. Being a pirate king would just be giving himself a dirty secret that could come out at the wrong time and ruin everything. Miklos isn't dumb.
Questioning the internal logic of all that aside, how to bring this in tightly?
quote:
What do you think about this option: Countess Mirabeta was content while Miklos was out adventuring, since he wasn't in her way as she rises within the family. But he has retired and returned to Sembia. Now he’s been encroaching on her position in the family. Miklos has made his intentions to succeed his father clear, and in fact, wants to be king! To prevent him from following after his father, Mirabeta wants him dead. She has sent agents to several major thieves guilds along the coast, including the Zhents, and offered to an exclusive contract with her "Six Coffers Market trading house" as a fence for their goods. Provided that if they kill Miklos.
• If she is smart, then she wouldn't approach the Zhents. That carries too many entanglements.
• Mirabeta probably doesn't want to let too many people know that she wants him dead. Word gets around and then it could get back to Miklos.
• Mirabeta can't hire the Greyclaws to kill Silverblade, unless she knows that Miklos is Silverblade.
• Mirabeta has just as much reason as Miklos to not want anybody to know that he was Silverblade, because she wouldn't want the blowback on the family as well.
• If she just wants Milkos dead, she doesn't need to give the Greyclaws the backstory on Miklos being Silverblade.
What does she want in addition to Miklos being dead? She should want plausible deniability and for things to be done competently. That can be tricky.
• I don't think she would want to enter into a standard arrangement for her business to be used as a fence. That would leave her exposed to some Greyclaw deciding it would be lucrative to sell that information to the wrong person. She might be evil, but she is not dumb.
Maybe her "dirty ops guy", lets call him Kordigan, has someone he knows who is fairly high up in the Greyclaws. The Greyclaws know that Kordigan operates in Sembia, but have no idea that Kordigan works for her. Kordigan comes to his best contact in the Greyclaws and lets the guy know that Miklos will be coming to Tantras and that if the Greyclaws can arrange for Miklos to meet an untimely demise while Miklos is in Tantras that that would be to the benefit of the Greyclaws pocketbook. "Yeah, yeah, you guys usually just to thieving, but I know you guys know how to end someone when you want to. This would just be for payment instead of a grudge or settling a debt. You could sub-contract it for all I care. What matters is that this is your turf and you are in a great position to both make it happen and come out way ahead. You feel me?"
Miklos comes to Tantras. He does all of his communicating with his lieutenants from Tantras so as to provide a necessary buffer. It is here that he assumes the identity of Silverblade. The Greyclaws were following Miklos. Miklos donned his Silverblade disguise. The Greyclaws don't recognize who he is supposed to be, because they don't know what Silverblade is supposed to look like. The Greyclaws try to kill Miklos. One person saw it happen, who knows both the Greyclaws and overhead the name Silverblade. He then think the Greyclaws are trying to kill Silverblade! The players wind up talking to him and he ultimately shares this bit of information! Meanwhile, Miklos is on a boat back to Sembia, so there is no one matching the description of Silverblade in Tantras. So the players only lead is to find out why the Greyclaws wanted Silverblade dead. They corner the right Greyclaw and he says something to the effect of, "Silverblade? What are you talking about! We were trying to kill Miklos!"
How is that for a connection? |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 24 Oct 2021 : 22:07:20
quote:
Originally posted by Matteus
These are great ideas.
Here is the citation about Silverblade from FRCS, p. 144 & 145
"In the Pirate Isles the corsairs have slowly rebuilt their strength. Dozens of pirate factions exist in and round the Dragonisle today, preying upon the commerce of the Inner Sea. But no other great leader emerged until the rise of a captain named Samagaer Silverblood in 1364 DR, the Year of the Wave.
Samagaer appeared to be following in Immurk's footsteps, occupying the Dragonisle's largest harbor and gathering as many as a hundred ships beneath his banner. But in 1368 Dr Silverblade disappeared, just in time to miss the disastrous battles with undersea creatures that hit the pirates of the Isles nearly as hard as it hit the ports of Sembia. There are rumours that Samagaer Silverblade's lietenatns, who still control half of his original fleet, take orders from him from wherever he is hiding. Only a handful know that Samagaer Silverblade is also the man who would be king of Sembia, the Silver Raven. The Raven makes much of his career as an adventurer, but only his most trusted associates have any idea that he was more successful than he has so far admitted, and that the Pirates of the Isles might be brought to his cause when he judges the time is right."
What do you think about this option: Countess Mirabeta was content while Miklos was out adventuring, since he wasn't in her way as she rises within the family. But he has retired and returned to Sembia. Now he’s been encroaching on her position in the family. Miklos has made his intentions to succeed his father clear, and in fact, wants to be king! To prevent him from following after his father, Mirabeta wants him dead. She has sent agents to several major thieves guilds along the coast, including the Zhents, and offered to an exclusive contract with her "Six Coffers Market trading house" as a fence for their goods. Provided that if they kill Miklos.
I don't think the options above are exclusive with that option either. The web could be deep.
I have a good idea of how I want the campaign to end. It'll end with Sembia falling into Civil War. Where Miklos, the pirates, and the party end up will greatly depend. But ending with the first battle of the Civil war would be an interesting way to end the campaign.
Not sure if you intend to move forward the timeline of surrounding areas to have events occur that are canon while this bit in Sembia diverges... BUT if you do, consider further an option that as your Sembian civil war starts, so does the Thayan one (if you end up in 1375. Thayan refugees who suddenly find themselves without homes may move out to Sembian-based trade enclaves Saerloon, Yhaunn, and nearby Scardale... not to mention other very close areas such as Calaunt, Mulmaster, Westgate, Proskur, etc... You might be able to use that as an issue as well. For instance, a sudden want to buy up lumber in the areas to build new housing, or possibly negotiations to expand the land holdings of the enclaves in return for military aid.
Further, if you also wanted to bring in the canon events of the Netherese, that could be interesting if you split Sembia with the pirate king stopping the shades with an odd mix of help (including the PC's and pirates). |
| Matteus |
Posted - 24 Oct 2021 : 18:06:10
These are great ideas.
Here is the citation about Silverblade from FRCS, p. 144 & 145
"In the Pirate Isles the corsairs have slowly rebuilt their strength. Dozens of pirate factions exist in and round the Dragonisle today, preying upon the commerce of the Inner Sea. But no other great leader emerged until the rise of a captain named Samagaer Silverblood in 1364 DR, the Year of the Wave.
Samagaer appeared to be following in Immurk's footsteps, occupying the Dragonisle's largest harbor and gathering as many as a hundred ships beneath his banner. But in 1368 Dr Silverblade disappeared, just in time to miss the disastrous battles with undersea creatures that hit the pirates of the Isles nearly as hard as it hit the ports of Sembia. There are rumours that Samagaer Silverblade's lietenatns, who still control half of his original fleet, take orders from him from wherever he is hiding. Only a handful know that Samagaer Silverblade is also the man who would be king of Sembia, the Silver Raven. The Raven makes much of his career as an adventurer, but only his most trusted associates have any idea that he was more successful than he has so far admitted, and that the Pirates of the Isles might be brought to his cause when he judges the time is right."
What do you think about this option: Countess Mirabeta was content while Miklos was out adventuring, since he wasn't in her way as she rises within the family. But he has retired and returned to Sembia. Now he’s been encroaching on her position in the family. Miklos has made his intentions to succeed his father clear, and in fact, wants to be king! To prevent him from following after his father, Mirabeta wants him dead. She has sent agents to several major thieves guilds along the coast, including the Zhents, and offered to an exclusive contract with her "Six Coffers Market trading house" as a fence for their goods. Provided that if they kill Miklos.
I don't think the options above are exclusive with that option either. The web could be deep.
I have a good idea of how I want the campaign to end. It'll end with Sembia falling into Civil War. Where Miklos, the pirates, and the party end up will greatly depend. But ending with the first battle of the Civil war would be an interesting way to end the campaign.
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| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 24 Oct 2021 : 16:50:58
Simple answer for why the Grayclaws want this guy dead: something or someone very important to them was on a ship and his pirates captured it. Maybe it was magic they were buying from elsewhere, maybe it was a large shipment of something they were planning on taking themselves, maybe it was someone like the guild leader's daughter... |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 24 Oct 2021 : 15:11:28
So, the above being said, your question was how to involve the grayclaws
From FRCS
Shadow over Scardale: The PCs hear that a powerful mercenary captain is organizing an expeditionary force of hired soldiers and adventurers to invade and seize the town of Scardale. No one knows for sure who is sponsoring the captain—merchants in Tantras or Calaunt are most likely. Scardale would be a great asset to any city on the Vast, since it would provide a toehold on the western shore of the Dragon Reach. The PCs may be hired to prevent the undertaking, or perhaps to join it.
and FRA on the grayclaws
Notable Rogues' and Thieves' Guilds: "The Grayclaws" are an organization of smugglers and thieves who operate only against visitors and Tantran natives who have grown very rich, very arrogant, very unscrupulous, or all three. The Harpers are also strong in the city, under the local guidance of the Temple of Milil, but largely leave the Grayclaws alone, because the Greyclaws have very effectively fought off attempts by the Zhentarim, Dragon Cult, Red Wizards, and pirates of the Inner Sea (sponsored by Calishite slavers) to move into the city's underlife and take hold.
The Grayclaws are currently led by Amlithor Harlguss (CN hm T9) and Othniir Xalast (NE hm P(of Mask)11). Locally important Harpers include Felitarr 'Flyingfingers' Wendilar (NG hm B16) and Deltara Dragynstarr (NG hf B9).
So, what if the Grayclaws leadership are the ones looking to hire mercenaries and take over Scardale? They themselves are typically worried about Tantras only, but their leadership might be deciding to expand their influence. Maybe the priest of Mask is the one seeking mercenaries, and maybe he's even being tasked with making a foothold in Sembia. Maybe Miklos only knows of this interest because he was fed a rumor by the Vhaeraun worshipping dark elves, who don't want to see a rival priesthood of Mask in Scardale (or he heard about it via some pirates who were being hired to clandestinely transport mercenaries)?
One thing I would recommend is actually building out the Grayclaws organization if you want to involve them. I would also note that the population of Tantras has drastically dropped from the time of the FRA writing (69,000 to 86,000) to the time of the 3e FRCS (22,000). Thus the grayclaws at the time of the FRA may be MUCH smaller now (say 20 to 30 individuals).
Presumably, some portions of that population may have moved right across the water after the destruction caused in Tantras during the ToT and the creation of a huge dead magic zone outside of the city. Of course, the shaking plague that decimated Scardale Town may have killed a lot of these immigrants. But it may be that some of the grayclaws of Tantras moved to Scardale.
Meanwhile, you have the Zhents also eyeing up Scardale and possibly planting "false" evidence making Scyllua Darkhope being the illegitimate daughter of Lashan of Scardale. Meanwhile, Lashan himself has been converted into a larvae by the lich Azimer, and in coming years will be converted into a Nycaloth.
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Lashan_Aumersair
If this turns into more of a "Scardale" campaign, you might consider some other side plots like "why is the Thayan enclave so neutral and not working in slave trades, and why do they do most of their business at the four dolphins fountain in town rather than in their enclave". An idea might be that their enclave is a place outside of town, and they don't like visitors. The population of the enclave might be decent compared to the surrounding population even (a thousand people is significant here), and perhaps it secretly has visits from their own spelljamming vessels (quads of thay) to transport goods coming from/to other nearby enclaves in Mulmaster and Calaunt Raven's Bluff and Procampur without having to be harried by the pirates of the inner sea (and thus becoming a threat to Miklos' trade ideas). It would seem like Scardale would be a good place to land this kind of thing and not attract as much attention. |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 24 Oct 2021 : 14:02:03
Since I can honestly say I read this and was like "wait, what?"... because I probably read it twenty years ago and never did a thing with it, and then they did other things with Sembia entirely... and this sounds more interesting than what they did do with it.... relevant data to aid the conversation
Also to add, just because I misread what you wrote, and others may as well... Kendrick the Tall became overmaster... Miklos is his mischievous son.
From the FRCS section on Scardale factions
The Silver Ravens: Official Sembian policy is to leave Scardale alone until the mystery of the Shaking Plague is solved. The Silver Ravens follow Miklos Selkirk (see Sembia, below); not the Sembian government, and Miklos has no intention of watching the Zhents steal the prize that Sembia had in its grasp. Miklos's fondest hope is to reform Scardale Town as a free port on the Sea of Fallen Stars that pays lip service to the Dales Compact, He thinks that "Silverdale" has a nice ring to it.
From section on Sembia's leadership
The nation of Sembia began as a colony of distant Chondath, winning its independence when the Chondathans were crushed by the elves of Cormanthor at the Battle of Singing Arrows in 884 DR. For a time, conflicts with the elves threatened to destroy the new nation, but Rauthauvyr the Raven outmaneuvered the Elven Court, cutting a trade route through the great forest up to the Moonsea.
Rauthauvyr instituted a form of government in which a merchant council elected an Overmaster to serve a seven-year term. The institution has been stable to this day—or at least until the day before yesterday. In 1371 DR, Overmaster Elduth Yarmmaster died of old age. The new Overmaster is named Kendrick the Tall (LN male human Rog4/Ftr7) of the great Selkirk trading family. Kendrick is generally regarded as a fair and honest man—but the
same cannot be said of the rest of his family, whose plots and counterplots have sent the day-to-day affairs of Sembian politics lurching this way and that. Kendrick's family contains two other powerful individuals who appear to fancy themselves as future kings or queens, or at least as candidates for the next Overmaster.
Miklos Selkirk, Kendrick's eldest son, spent the previous fifteen years as an adventurer in the Sea of Fallen Stars, the Moonsea, and the Underdark. As an adventurer, Miklos called himself the Silver Raven, a name that seems to have been calculated to enhance his future in Sembian politics, since Sembia's official arms consist of the raven (representing Rauthauvyr) and a stack of silver coins. Miklos makes the twenty-two-member merchant council of Ordulin extremely nervous, because he is not only a skillful negotiator and diplomat but a deadly warrior possessed of powerful magic gained during a career as a supposedly never-defeated adventurer.
Kendrick's cousin, the Countess Mirabeta (LE female human Ari8/Rog4), appears to be Miklos's main rival for power within the family and within Sembia as a whole. Mirabeta acquired a leading interest in the Six Coffers Market trading house and established a strong relationship with the church of Waukeen. Mirabeta funded and supported the church in its early days of reestablishing itself in Sembia. These good works help conceal one widely known fact: Mirabeta is as evil as they come. Since she usually knows how to conceal her true intentions, she can safely be assumed to be sane, but that's one of the few good things that can be said about her. Her five children, and their children, are no better.
from his stat block
A retired adventurer and the son of Overmaster Kendrick Selkirk, Miklos is best known in his homeland as the creator of the Silver Ravens, a large group of mercenary adventurers who are under his command.
A skilled negotiator and diplomat, he also is quite capable of avenging any insults with dazzling swordplay. He engages in battles of wits with other merchant nobles, but his main rival is the selfstyled "Countess" Mirabeta, his father's cousin. Although he knows she is evil to the core, he cannot reveal her nature for fear of shaming his family and losing political power.
Miklos is shrewd, patient, and familiar with intrigue and bizarre circumstances. Having spent time in the Underdark, he understands the drow and their methods of negotiation. He spends his time directing the Silver Ravens, but is called on from time to time by the Sembian Council to handle peaceful contact with the dark elves. A jack-of-all-trades, Miklos can converse on just about any subject. He keeps up-to-date on the happenings in every interesting portion of the world. This allows him better to arrange deals for his family based on excesses and shortcomings in trade, and also means he's able to respond quickly to developing situations. |
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