A Diplomatic Incident

Set Up

*Posters advertising for discreet and reliable adventuring parties and merce nary groups appear on walls throughout the Free City. They promise good pay and privileges in return for short-term duty. Prospective candidates should report to Sental Nurev, Captain-General of the Watch.

* PC groups that are well known in the city or that have successfully completed a mission on behalf of the some of the city's major power groups are asked to report to the office of Sental Nurev, Captain General of the Watch.

The Captain-General

At Sental Nurev's office, the Captain General explains the situation and the task he wants the PCs to perform. Basically, increased privateering activity in the Azure Sea (covertly sanctioned by the various power groups in the region) has had a disastrous affect on trade from the south. What is bad for trade is bad for the Free City, and the Directing Oligarchy has summoned representatives of the nations surrounding the Azure Sea for talks in the Free City to resolve this potential mercantile crisis.

Representatives from the Sea Princes, Keoland, the Iron League, and the Scarlet Brotherhood are due to attend these talks. While the City Watch and military will provide some measure of security, the Directing Oligarchy has seen fit to hire adventuring parties to provide special protection for the delegates during their stay in Greyhawk.

The PCs have been given the least savory and without doubt the most problematic mission of the whole exercise . They are to escort and ensure the safety of the Father Legate, representative of the Scarlet Brotherhood. They should be made to realize the gravity of their task while in the Free City, the Father Legate and his Honor Guard are the sole responsibility of the PCs. Despite the PCs' alignments and their personal opinions of the Scarlet Brotherhood and its activities, they are honor-bound to protect the attendees and ensure that no embarrassing diplomatic incidents arise for the duration of the meetings.

The Directing Oligarchy has provided a large mansion in the High Quarter for the use of the Brotherhood's delegation. Talks are scheduled for the next three days to take place in a council chamber at the City Hall.

In the meeting, security is the responsibility of the City Watch. At all other times the PCs must take every effort to guarantee the safety and well-being of these very important guests. The Father Legate and the four members of his Honor Guard (none of the delegates is allowed any more than four personal guards ) will arrive by ship at the docks in two days' time. The PCs are expected to meet them when they arrive and escort them to the mansion. In the meantime the PCs have a short time to make the necessary arrangements for the delegates' arrival.

The Father Legate

The Father Legate is a very senior member of the Scarlet Brotherhood's tripartite rulership. The Father Legate is a sage, and a very high-powered one at that, who specializes in human laws and customs. The Father Legate takes this mission very seriously, recognizing that continued privateering will ultimately damage the Brotherhood (covert trade in spice, lumber, and gold with the Free City presently swells the Brotherhood's coffers).

The Father Legate is 5'11" tall, weighs 130 lbs. and appears to be about 45 years old. His face is deathly pale, he sports a meticulously groomed moustache and goatee, and always wears a bright red skullcap. The Father Legate dresses in voluminous scarlet robes trimmed with gold thread, denoting his exalted status within the Brotherhood.

The Father Legate is a cold, calculating, very intelligent, and very perceptive individual. He seldom speaks unless it is absolutely essential and regards every one around him as distinctly inferior.

The Honor Guard

Brothers Mystrom. Hern, and Zambar: AC 0 (plate mail + 1, Dex bonus): MV 9; F4; hp 36 each; THAC0 17; #AT 1; Dmg 1d10+1 (halberd) or ld8+2 (long sword + 1): Str 17. Dex 16. Con 14, Int 12, Wis 13, Cha 11: AL LN; XP 270 each

The Brothers wear bright scarlet cowled robes over their armor, and when in public will wear full face helmets sculpted with the visage of a hideous demon.

Kellern is an assassin planted in the Father Legate's Honor Guard by a more aggressive faction within the Scarlet Brotherhood's tripartite rulership. This faction intends to have the Father Legate assassinated while attending the talks, blaming his death on the other nations, and citing such action as proof of the need for continued and escalating aggressive action against their "enemies."

Brothers Mystrom, Hern, and Zambar (and Kellern while posing as a member of the Honor Guard) are all fanatically devoted to the Father Legate, putting his safety before their own, taking any slight to his person as a personal insult. They are always ready to dispense summary justice on perceived offenders.

The Diplomatic Residence

The PCs will probably want to make a cursory examination of the mansion in the High Quarter (see map).

The servants hired by the Directing Oligarchy are already working and are busy preparing the mansion.

Incident at the Docks

The Father Legate arrives on schedule and disembarks from a large warship in the docks. A crowd has gathered to witness his amval and one of the onlookers hurls a rotten egg at the Father Legate. Unless the PCs act quickly, his Honor Guard dispenses summary justice on the individual (death!) and a full-scale riot develops. If the Father Legate is threatened during this fracas, the contingent of 30 marines (F1, leather armor and halberds) disembarks and joins in to protect the Father Legate, no doubt a contingent of the City Watch turns up to add to the confusion!

Demonstrations

No doubt inspired by Keoland and the Iron League, large groups of malcontents gather outside the diplomatic residence to hurl abuse at the Father Legate. If the PCs failed to contain the potential riot at the docks, these malcontents are Joined by others seeking vengeance. Everytime the Father Legate attempts to leave the mansion, the crowd surges forward in an attempt to seize him (this rapidly becomes a popular entertainment and participation sport in the city and the mob's numbers swell daily). At some stage during the proceedings, a group of 30 individuals tries to force its way into the mansion and dispense its own justice on the Father Legate.

Assassination!

However the main cause for concern should be assassination attempts on the Father Legate. The principal attempts will be made by Kellern posing as a member of the Honor Guard. His methods depend largely on the precautions taken by the PCs. Kellem is smart; he keeps a close eye on the PCs, assessing their strengths and weaknesses, and looking for gaps in the protections they arrange for the Father Legate.

Kellem is not aware of the protections carried and worn by the Father Legate and so his first attempts may be unsuccessful. Such attempts may include:

* Firing on the Father Legate, while he meditates in the main guest room (area 11). with his crossbow of accuracy + 3 and using his ring of invisibility to make good his escape. Such an attack is likely to kill the Father Legate (but only temporarily as his ring of regeneration will save him).

*Casting fire trap on the door to the guest room. In such a case, it will not be the Father Legate who opens the door first (one of the PCs perhaps?).

*Poisoning food from lhe kitchens. If the PCs develop some elaborate scheme that prevents Kellern from knowing which portion is to go to the Father Legate, he simply poisons all of it and goes without food himself that night. The Father Legate's periapt against poison will save him here if the food reaches him.

Ultimately, Kellern wants to avoid detection, but if all his covert efforts are frustrated, he may be forced to blow his cover and go for an all-out assault (first dispatching the rest of the Honor Guard to reduce the potential opposition). Ideally, the assassination should be blamed on someone else, and if the opportunity presents itself, he will steal an offensive magical item from the PCs to use in the attack.

If the PCs clearly prevent Kellern from killing the Father Legate, they gain the Father's gratitude and an ally within the Brotherhood. The Father asks the PCs to name their own rewards of a minor magical nature-these items arrive at the PCs' lodgings in 2d4 weeks.

Terrain: City of Greyhawk

Total Party Levels: 36 (Average 6th)

Total gp: Variable

Monster XP: Variable