Shantytown Shakedown

Shantytown Shakedown

Summary

Encounter Summary: The characters scour the Crab River shantytown for clues about the thieves of the Purple Sapphire and quickly run afoul with an up-and-coming crime lord and a priest of Dagon, both of which have interest in the gemstone.

Background

One or more of the characters have contacts in the shantytown. Note that the bulleted information should be revealed through role-play, though a skill check raise should be required for each bullet past the first. Once the characters arrive in the shantytown there's a cumulative 20% chance per hour that Vendermark's spy and assassin, Priam, picks up their inquiries and their trail. At an opportune time (determined by the GM and gameplay) Priam and his thugs attack, as detailed in Disturbing Development, below.

The Beggar King

Encounter Ideas: The encounter with King should emphasize the deception, hidden power, and sheer web of the Beggar King's information network. A good starting place could be an encounter with a handful of his beggar children, who are also accomplished pickpockets. If detected, they pass a message to the most likely character that King has information for them, otherwise, they pick the character clean, leaving a note. King always meets in a very public place surrounded by his children and various spies in overwatch.

King is considered the King of the Beggars in the Crab River shantytown. He is an ancient man with no legs below the knee, not a single tooth in his head, and about 200 loyal beggar children deployed throughout the sprawling ramshackle. At least one of the characters owes King a favor. He keeps track of favors owed by having one of his kids bite a pattern on silver rilks which he keeps in a pouch around his neck. King knows the following about the situation:

The gem was stolen by two men working for Kief Vandermark.
Vandermark is a new power in town with his sights set on becoming the master of the Greenstone thieves’ guild.
Bittersnail, one of the men the characters seek, still holds the gem…in fact, he can’t seem to find anyone to take it off of him.
O’Mosh, the other thief, is more of a thug, and spends a lot of time at the Rilky Eel.

Braggi and the Rilky Eel

Braggi is the grossly fat proprietor of the Rilky Eel. He is continually dressed in a leather apron that’s two sizes too small for him, a pair of cut-off trousers and no shoes. The Eel is a single room dirt-floored shack with a couple of benches. An attached open-air lean-to out back covers an open pit fire where the Eel’s surprisingly tasty fare is cooked. The beer, however, is grainy and sour, but potent. He has ties to at least one of the characters, though this relationship may be friendly (+2 Persuasion) or contentious (-2 Persuasion). He knows the following:

O’Mosh the Drunk is a local boy who’s trying to improve his lot, though he can’t seem to stay clear of that demon drink.
He was in the Eel last night bragging about a big score he and his rat-faced buddy Bittersnail made on the road from Scrod.
He was flush and drank all night. Braggi’s brother, the equally large cook at the Eel, took the unconscious thief home in the pushcart early this morning.
O’Mosh lives above the Launderer’s house on the north side of town near the Crab River gate to Greenstone.
O’Mosh mentioned that Bittersnail was leaving on a secret mission tomorrow night.

The Sweetrose Puppeteer

A breath of fresh air, Dalia Sweetrose entertains the hopeless denizens of the squalid town with her hand-made puppets. She is surprisingly difficult to find (Streetwise check) since anyone specifically asking about her is suspected of meaning her harm and since everyone always knows where she is (the Crab River folk are very protective of their Sweetrose). Dalia could have had a romantic relationship with one of the characters, though it is long over (either badly -2 Persuasion or amenable no bonus) Once found, Dalia can provide the following information:

Men preaching the doctrine of a new, strange god have appeared in the shantytown, though they seem to come and go, never spending more than a day or two seeking adherents.
They promise the Blessings of the Emerald Seas, and the Return of the True Servants.
They carry a symbol of a fish-headed humanoid, typically in bronze, though she saw one woman with a gold symbol a few days ago.
Over the last two days, several of these priests have been seen without their trappings asking about Bittersnail.
Bittersnail doesn’t have a home, though he grew up here. He drifts between here (usually staying with O’Mosh), Greenstone, and Scrod.

Disturbing Development

There is a cumulative 20% chance per hour that the characters spend in the shantytown that Kief’s men detect their interest in O’Mosh and Bittersnail. Once detected, Kief’s assassin, Priam, begins to trail them. Have the characters make Notice checks, as appropriate, to detect Priam’s interest in them. Also, one of King’s kids could notify the group that the man is trailing them (but only if they left King in a good mood – and only after one or more of the kids take a shot at picking a few of their pockets).

Once the group either makes it obvious that they’ve detected Priam or indicate that they are starting for O’Mosh’s house, Priam gathers a few of his thugs and ambushes the party in one of the town’s many narrow, twisting pathways. Assume at least one thug per character, not including Priam, who throws poisoned knives from a distance.

Priam, Kief’s Assassin

Thugs 1 per character

If his thugs are incapacitated, Priam makes all effort to escape. If caught, he’ll reveal the following, but only under duress (Intimidate -- -2 to his Guts roll if his life is obviously threatened).

Kief is looking to take down the thieves’ guild.
The would-be crime boss stays in bolt-holes all over town, never in one place more than a few hours. He disguises himself, as well, to keep the guild off his trail.
Kief contacts Priam through cut-outs who send him to pre-arranged dead-drops. (These stop immediately after Priam is defeated at the party’s hand – regardless of the outcome).
Something about the jewel that O’Mosh and Bittersnail stole gave him renewed hope that his plan was coming to fruition.
Kief mentioned that Bittersnail was leaving by ship tomorrow night.
Priam contacted a priest of “the fish man” yesterday to arrange for a meeting at one of Kief’s bolt-holes (If this place is investigated, it’s empty – nor does the priest of Dagon show up).