Well I have my group in Baca in the Timiro Kingdom. They're working for the Acoroc government who is trying to figure out why Baca never gets attacked by orcs and ogres even though they're on the border. The PCs have been sent out into the woods north of the Old Kingdom River to investigate the reports of heavy orc and ogre activity by a Dwarven spy who is staying in Baca. The newest member of the group decided to inform the local constabulary, I think because he felt they should know about the orcs and ogres north of the city, and that the group had been guarding a caravan that was attacked on the way to the town.
Now the constabulary is working for the local Priest of Tark, and there is an agreement with the Ogres to trade weapons and tools for furs and such. The constabulary is in on it with the priest so they'll tell him. The PC group could easily come upon the caravan going to meet the orcs and ogres, or upon its return. The Priest is the revered leader of the town and is in on the scheme with the rest of the town council. So, knowing that the group is out there and could expose your scheme, what would you do if you were the priest?
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Re: Baca
Veknironth wrote:Well I have my group in Baca in the Timiro Kingdom. They're working for the Acoroc government who is trying to figure out why Baca never gets attacked by orcs and ogres even though they're on the border. The PCs have been sent out into the woods north of the Old Kingdom River to investigate the reports of heavy orc and ogre activity by a Dwarven spy who is staying in Baca. The newest member of the group decided to inform the local constabulary, I think because he felt they should know about the orcs and ogres north of the city, and that the group had been guarding a caravan that was attacked on the way to the town.
Now the constabulary is working for the local Priest of Tark, and there is an agreement with the Ogres to trade weapons and tools for furs and such. The constabulary is in on it with the priest so they'll tell him. The PC group could easily come upon the caravan going to meet the orcs and ogres, or upon its return. The Priest is the revered leader of the town and is in on the scheme with the rest of the town council. So, knowing that the group is out there and could expose your scheme, what would you do if you were the priest?
-Vek
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Well... I'm not sure he'd do anything. Who are these guys? Just some mercs who have been hired to guard a caravan? That must be a fairly common occurrence. He has no reason to suspect they are "investigating" anything, right? Are they a particularly powerful or threatening (or powerful looking) group? If not, I suppose the priest would probably write them off as some hired swords that are of no real concern. If a new caravan arrives that have been trading with ogres, how would the PCs have any clue whether they were trading with ogres or have just come from Arian or somewhere else?
Are the goods noticeably ogre-ish? If that is the problem, maybe the only action to take might be to make sure the players were busy while his caravan arrives: maybe he could tell them he is impressed with their work and hires them to go on a wild goose chase - perhaps a dangerous one ("ogres have been seen in the area of Man-Eating-Chimera Wood, can you please investigate? Oh no, its just a name..."). But if they are guarding a caravan, any side quest would take them away from their current assignment - how much do the players care about breaking their contract? Or perhaps a more simple distraction like setting a fire out of town (but a bit suspicious, maybe, but not something that should lead back to him). Or hire some militiamen to get drunk and start a fight, trying to land the PCs in jail for the night or banish them from the town altogether?
But at this stage, as I said, I'm not sure that the priest would see them as much of a threat at all - unless he somehow knows about the spy and their investigation. As far as he knows they are just some hired muscle who have seen monsters in the area and sensibly warned the authorities. A perfectly ordinary state of affairs.
(EDIT) Oh.. I've just reread your post, and now I think I may have misunderstood. I though you were saying the player warned the constabulary of the orcs and ogres north of the city, and now I suspect you might be saying that the player told the constabulary about their entire mission. If that is the case, please ignore the above! In that case, I would probably go with the wild goose chase thing. The constable just comes up with an excuse to get them out of town for when their caravan is due to arrive, as per "ogres have been seen" above. Also, wild goose chases are good for gaming, as players enjoy side-quest combat. Could he perhaps convince or pay the merchants of the caravan they are currently guarding to head out to Parp or Ft. Alandia ASAP, with the promise of some awesome deal that is available only if you leave now? The players may feel obliged to continue guarding them on their journey. At some point on the journey the merchants may let slip that it was only because of this awesome deal mentioned to them by a policeman(?) that they decided to leave so soon. Do the players get suspicious and go back (or send one of them back)? By the time they get to Parp and find no deal and return to their previous investigations at Baca, the ogre-goods-carrying caravan will have conducted their business and be long gone.
There is another option - he could tell the party exactly where the ogres are. Players will probably decide to go out and find them, get themselves spotted, and be obliterated by an entire ogre tribe against half a dozen low level adventurers. Job done. And if they do survive and limp back to Baca, the priest/constable are above suspicion, as they told the party exactly what they wanted to know.
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Re: Baca
And, if he's telling the party where the ogres are, he may tell the ogres that the party is coming, to ensure that he gets to keep his lucrative arrangement with the ogres (with some added goodwill), and get rid of meddlesome kids.
Telling the ogres/not telling the ogres can be double-sided. If he tells the ogres and the players WIN, they may find out from a prisoner that the constable warned them. If he DOESN'T tell the ogres, the ogres may find out from a prisoner that the constable knew and didn't warn them. It's a toss up.
Telling the ogres/not telling the ogres can be double-sided. If he tells the ogres and the players WIN, they may find out from a prisoner that the constable warned them. If he DOESN'T tell the ogres, the ogres may find out from a prisoner that the constable knew and didn't warn them. It's a toss up.
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Re: Baca
Well the caravan meets in the woods. The Ogres don't come up to the town. So they meet clandestinely in the woods.
-Vek
"These PCs constantly get themselves into trouble."
-Vek
"These PCs constantly get themselves into trouble."