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Sunday, April 20

Chapter 25: The Last Resort - Introduction

This is one of a series of adventures in Tales of Freeport, "The Last Resort," written by Graeme Davis and (loosely) set in the Arcanis setting. It also includes elements from “Tatters of the King,” a Call of Cthulhu adventure written by Tim Wiseman. Finally, Three-Dragon Ante is an important part of this adventure. You can read more about Arcanis at http://www.onaraonline.org. Please note: This adventure contains spoilers!

Our cast of characters includes:

• Dungeon Master: Michael Tresca (http://michael.tresca.net)
• Beldin Soulforge (dwarf fighter) played by Joe Lalumia
• Ilmarė Galen (elf bard/fighter) played by Amber Tresca
• Kham Val’Abebi(val rogue/psychic warrior) played by Jeremy Ortiz (http://www.ninjarobotstudios.com)
• Sebastian Arnyal (dark-kin sorcerer) played by George Webster

This adventure is actually a combination of two adventures, combining the prologue of Tatters of the King by Time Wiseman with The Last Resort. It required some tweaking.

First, I had to get the PCs back to Freeport. This commenced with a letter from Egil imploring Kham to return and act as a character witness on Lucius Roby’s behalf. It turns out that Lucius’ brother, Grahame Roby, accused him of the murder of his father and sister. Egil hopes Kham’s influence in Freeport can bail Lucius out from life in the Tombs.

As a result of Milton Drac’s death, the owners of the Pale Plate have finally had a turn of luck. Drac hated them, knowing that they sometimes harbored Freeport dissidents. When he died, the pressure was off and business boomed, such that the owners (Bobbin Brandydale and his brother, Edgar) decided to buy The Last Resort.

As a favor to the Brandydales, Countess d’Amberville (a madam of the Salon du Masque) decides to generate some of her own business. She proposes a masquerade at The Last Resort to kick off the grand opening of a new play debuting at the Freeport Opera House by Talbot Estus, titled “The Queen and the Stranger.” Since the play ends with a masquerade, and the Countess never takes off her mask, this seems fitting.

To start with, the adventure is very much a character piece, so I wanted the characters to be memorable. Rather than introduce a slew of NPCs that would be quickly forgotten, I decided to combine and replace several plots.

• Plot 1: Thralen Vodric val’Ossan and Emric Ossan-Drac have returned, in secret, to lay claim to the Sea Lord’s throne. These two replaced a King and his daughter from some random nation.
• Plot 2: Aljandros Haddon, who was last seen running for his life, moved to Freeport only to discover that his wife Imelda is having an affair with Thomas Rhymer at The Last Resort.
• Plot 3: Henry Tranco, the only named NPC to remain basically unaltered from the original adventure, is hosting a high-stakes game of Three-Dragon Ante as a favor to the Brandydales to attract rich clients.
• Plot 4: Two rival cults of the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign believe Egil to be the Chosen One, someone whom they must sacrifice at midnight. Their lack of coordination shows just how badly disorganized the cult is with the loss of Milton Drac.
• Plot 5: Speaking of Egil, we finally discover how he’s managed to pay the PCs up to this point. Hint: He borrowed the money from the wrong people, and said people want it back…with interest. Egil’s flat broke of course, so it’s up to the PCs (who technically were the beneficiaries of the money originally) to help him pay it back.
• Plot 6: As proof of Emric’s claim to the throne, Thralen wears the Seal of Drac. The ring is not easy to duplicate. Little does he know that someone already knows he’s at The Last Resort and plans to steal it.
• Plot 7: Captain Baldric, who happens to be staying at The Last Resort, is about to find out that Captain Wendron Krubach is not so forgiving about the theft of his treasure. Even though he’s dead.
• Plot 8: Edward, who took over captaining duties of the Shrike, got his hands on something from the Valossan city (where Calactyte lives) that he shouldn’t have. He plans to sell it. The cargo has other plans.

Whew! I get tired just writing about it. [MORE]

Labels: arcanis

posted by Mike Tresca at 6:53 AM

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