Southern Elections Chapters 1-6

This plot will outline the The Southern Election in more detail and allow for some npc interactions, encounters, and other things in more detail from chapters 1-6. Here the players will be introduced to many of the nobles who can affect the election as well as some of the lesser nobles that are vying for a place in high nobility which could lead to them being more open to working with the players so long as they are eventually elevated.

Structure

Exposition

- Clare's Party: Clare Spenthall is a noble who takes pride in shaking things up, she throws a party every year for a week straight during the holidays during January and February that used to be known as the feast of saints. During this party she will have lavish food, music, and décor all to appease the saints who gave their lives during the battle of the heavens where all the gods were slain. She wants the party to be good but hates how dull it is with no problems or fights arising between the nobles. As the party goes on there will be a handful of people who crash the party in order to attack the important guests. Dionysus Goodwin, Sir Veldon Dawherd, Andy Dawherd, Sophie Glittergold, and her sister Helen Glittergold will all be the targets however the assassins seem to be focusing other nobles with greater intent to kill than others. As the fight becomes weighed in the favor of the nobles the assassins will escape leaving only a few members of their order slain with a map to where others could be located or a meeting spot for after the ambush which will take a little detective work as the map is unfinished if some of the assassins escape.
- Helen's explanation: Helen Glittergold will come forth to the players after the attack and begin to tell the players everything that she has been hiding from them for her own safety and the safety of those escorting her. She will reveal that her grandmother Martha Glittergold was the founder of the city and by right she is the next in line to rule over the city, however, her other sister Sophie Glittergold who has been in the city this whole time is making a move to get the throne for herself. While Helen Glittergold and others believe that she relinquished that right when she left for years up north when she saw the chaos within the city where she grew up Helen Glittergold is now ready to fight for the people who live here and for to long have suffered in the power struggles of the nobles.
- Venturing to the Docks: As the players search through the bodies of the assassins that were slain they will find a few pieces of paper that when arranged into a certain order provide a map of the city where the path leads from the Spenthall mansion to a particular warehouse in the docks near the gulf. When the players venture out there and if they have not met Dionysus Goodwin he will tell them about a particularly annoying gang called the Crimson Snakes have been on his list for some time, he suspects that the group will run into a few less than hospitable recruits of this gang and will ask the players to subdue one of these recruits and leave his body in a marked crate when they loot him so that later he can take the recruit in for questioning about some personal issues that the gang has done to him, he will offer to pay them for this service in gold or in a favor from him personally.

As the players go to the warehouse marked on the map found on the bodies of the assassins they will run into a few members of the Crimson Snakes who will demand that they leave before things get ugly and attack them. Once they have either been chased away or killed the group will find that the warehouse has an office in the back that belongs to one of the dock managers employed by the master of ships, in this office there is a logbook that contains all the cargo and ships that docked within the harbor for this managers section of the docks. Within the logbook they will find several payments made from one of the lesser nobles to the manager that were for weapons and strange plants that the manager made a note of thinking they were possibly for dangerous poison. The noble was Solana Torpetor and strangely the house that belonged to her family is not owned by her but instead is owned by Sir Veldon Dawherd.

Rising Action

Dionysus' Pets: As the players finish looking through the warehouse at the docks they will be jumped by a few of the pets that Dionysus Goodwin keeps around him, they are going to cry out speaking about how the group can live with themselves killing innocents at the inns outside the city. Before the players fight they will have a chance to try and talk down their attackers, it will be relatively difficult as they got the info that some of the Crimson Snakes would be here and the players are the first people they have seen. If the players killed the actual crimson snakes and left their bodies out for them to see then it will be a little easier to convince them. After they either beat them back or convince them to not attack they will reveal that Dionysus Goodwin seemed stressed about this area of the docks so they decided to investigate themselves to try and help him out.

Dionysus' plan: As the players are escorted back to Dionysus Goodwin he will tell them that for the past few months this same group have been kidnapping his patrons, burning his property, and trying to kill him or his friends every time they are seen. His ability to see the merciful path is strained but he does not want to give anyone else any more ammo to say that he is a devil in disguise trying to take the souls of the living. He will defer to the players judgment but the Crimson Snakes will either be attacked by him, the players, or his pets and him because he sees no other way to get the attacks to stop.

Nameless attack (Where the players are now): As the players decide what to do with the information they now have once again they will be attacked by a few assassins from The Nameless who will be attempting to stop them from reaching the Crimson Snakes proving that there is some kind of alliance between the two organizations or a noble who has hired both groups to fight the players. With these assassins they have different orders which are to kill the players but they are all to either complete their goal or die trying, some of the assassins in this group are just peasants that were convinced to take this job for the money, each one is someone who gambled and has debts to a particular noble Andy Dawherd and are somehow involved in The Nameless which should come as a surprise.

Climax

The Crimson Snakes Hideout: The hideout used by the Crimson Snakes is an old abandoned church that is just outside of the limits of the city even past the farms on the outside of the wall. The only entrance that is not sealed is the one that is inside, in order to gain access intruders must either pay blood at the alter in front, present their symbol that they get when joining, or find the hidden entrance within the inner city district. There is a riddle written on the alter that tells those who are uninitiated what to do in order to gain entry. The riddle is listed below:

There is something that I seek. While it is bound, it chooses king's and peasants. When it is freed, it foretells woe and war. While it is bound, it propels men's lust and furies. When it is freed, it tumbles, falls, and fades. While it is bound, life will often thrive. When it is freed, death will often follow. What do I seek?

The correct answer to the riddle is of course blood however the blood must be spilled onto the alter for each person who is entering the hallowed ground, which means that vampires are not allowed inside the temple and will be burned if they stand on the ground itself unless the desecrate it.

Crimson Snakes Chapple: As the players manage to make it inside they will see that not only are there many banners inside of the order there are many of the kidnapped victims inside here too tied to chairs or just to one another mumbling incoherently, they all seem to be locked in a trance that most cannot be snapped out of even with magic, some of the stronger willed ones will be able to be saved with magic and they will tell the players once they wake them up that the Crimson Snakes are planning on re-educating the whole city once they gain enough followers and it is being paid for by a noble who has a vested interest in the farmland near the church, the captured people will not know who that is but if the players have been paying attention to the descriptions of the nobles only one of them has shown interest in the farmland and that is Solana Torpetor.

As the players go deeper into the hideout they will come across a stairwell under the alter at the front of the church, this stairwell leads down deep into the basement of the church where the recruits of the order sleep and train, there will be a few down here that will be unhappy that they have intruders and will attempt to capture them but if they cannot they will kill them. As the fight breaks out with the recruits the few suits of armor around the room will animate to aid the recruits to push the invaders back. Once all of them are defeated they will find a giant stone door locked behind a set of four keys, these keys will be on each of the leaders of the Crimson Snakes around the city which means the players will either have to try and pick through the lock which will be very difficult or leave to find the keys on each of the leaders around the city, Dionysus Goodwin could also help them get past the door with his knowledge of people in the city he can find them someone who is able to pick through the lock.

Crimson Snakes Boss Fight: The monks left to guard and run this particular sect are not as strong as Lelden however they have learned how to replicate the power that he possesses. The initiate that runs has unlocked the power of his master runs the other initiates that are present in the temple, while some of the initiates are working to take all the information relevant to the Crimson Snakes while the players are distracted before they can track them. Should the players finish the boss fight in five rounds or less then they will be able to catch the remaining initiates loading stuff up and have to fight the rest of them but at the same time will get sensitive information about the organization worth a lot of gold to the right buyer. 

The boss fight will consist of many people who have not completed their basic training yet thrown at the players as the initiates assume they will be easily taken down meant only to weaken them. As the players begin to decimate the commoners the initiates will jump in and begin to fight the players as well defending their brethren while they clear out the vaults and all the papers linking them to a few of the nobles and having the players read their plans and because of that there is no retreating from this fight for them, the players must be killed or at the very least they must distract them long enough so the others can get away. 

Falling Action

City Council Meeting: As the players make it back from dealing with the Crimson Snakes they will come back to find a city about to kill Dionysus Goodwin as while the players were killing fanatics that were hell bent on making things worse for him Andy Dawherd will have spread rumors that Dionysus Goodwin went around to the church and slaughtered innocent people. This will cause the council to attempt a vote to cast out Dionysus Goodwin from the city. Helen Glittergold will tell the players that she could announce herself to the council and force the vote to halt because of her blood right but if she does that all in the city will become aware of who she is and will want to either force her to not run for the leader position by kidnapping or killing her or they will want to get favors from her in order to be able to force her to do things for them when she is elected as the leader. 

Backdrops

Locations

Spenthall Mansion: The spenthall mansion is one of the oldest buildings that are still in perfect condition, Clare Spenthall spent the last few years working on keeping the building structurally sound after the last family heads practically got it destroyed. The mansion is three stories with a massive garden just out front. The garden contains several hedges and some trees with almost every flower one can think of, those with some alchemical knowledge will recognize that most of the flowers and roots are used in many potions. The first floor has the great hall, the dining hall, and the dance floor where most of her parties are held. The second floor is filled with the servants wing with the kitchen, along with a few nice guest rooms. While the upper floor has many other much nicer rooms along with the master bedroom. 
Docks: The docks of the city are one of the most dangerous places along with the market as they are busy most of the time, the guards do what they can to limit gang activity and pickpocketing but this is the area where those are most likely found. Here the market sprawls the open area within lowtown containing hundreds of little stalls. The docks themselves are many different warehouses, fishing areas, the actual docks with the ships that bought the right to park in the protected gulf, and offices under the control of the master of ships and the master of coin who run this area containing all the records of any cargo or ship that is within the harbor. 

Threats

Crimson Snakes: The Crimson snakes are running around and have a sect within the city of Morecia that commonly attacks the businesses and patrons of the inns and other establishments that serve ale or the brothels that serve sins of the flesh. Typically owned by Dionysus Goodwin he and this gang faction do not get along and his pets often come to dangerous fights within the market square or around the inns themselves. They roam the market often close to early morning trying to turn people away from their lives of sin and normally do not get many converts willingly however, rumors have begun to circulate that if enough people do not listen to them they will kidnap those they feel are the worst offenders and forcibly re-educate them. 
The Nameless: While they do their absolute best to not be seen or have any rumors surrounding them the people of the city of Morecia have heard of the killers that have roamed the earth for many generations. While they keep to their honor code and make their killings quick and painless still the fear surrounding their group has echoed through the city. While they are not known for going after random people those who have contracts out on them have a right to be afraid, while they have the contract they often stalk their prey for days before actually making a kill. Not all within the group are as honorable however and it has been seen that public kills do sometimes happen when this gang wants to send a message to the city nobles or the guards or any who come to close to their base within the city. 
Weeping Pox: The weeping pox has been a problem for every country, city, and group within Etharis. While it has weakened lately with less and less infections most people who get this infection are dead within the week. The deceased bodies of those who were killed by it are still very infectious along with the homes they were kept in and the blankets or really anything or anyone who had any contact with them. Recently the pox has returned to the city within lowtown and all who reside there are doing whatever they can to avoid the infection.

Plot type

Chapters 1-6

Related Organizations

• Crimson Snakes
• Sothern Mage Conglomerate
• The Nameless

Related Locations

• Morecia