Prologue: Escape from Slavery

You've been serving this lazy bourgeois for long enough. It's time to make your escape!
Your group of like minded renegades meet up with your pal and mastermind, Schmelvy, plot an escape attempt from your master, Lord Jonah Wallace. Your time cultivating and harvesting Visionleaf will be over once the correct distraction is created.

Structure

Exposition

Lord Jonah Wallace holds property north of the hills surrounding Pahyrst. He holds about 20 slaves in his service, and their main job is to cultivate and harvest Visionleaf. He has made a handsome profit off of the illegal drug, and is able to afford a large amount of property, live lavish life, and still have money and power enough to keep his business ventures out of the laws business.
You and Schmelvy meet at night when the guards are asleep, leaving only Overseer Finch to worry about. He's cruel, but dull, so avoiding him is easy enough, though if caught there'll be hell to catch. You begin during the evening, the date is unknown to you. By the markings on the wall that Schmelvy has been using to keep track of his time under Jonah, it's been about a month since the last of you has started working.

Once night falls, the players will need to sneak through the property to their meeting spot. Successfully moving to the meeting spot will avoid any detection from Finch, otherwise they must make a save to avoid detection. Once in the meeting spot, players will discuss with Schmelvy how to further proceed with their plan.

Getting Caught

If players are caught, the following events will happen

You meet up with Schmelvy in a clearing just outside of the property line.

Schmelvy

Alright listen up. Wallace has been summoned to court again, and he has left with his usual entourage. That leaves only Finch that we need to worry about. Him and the other overseers will be pretty on edge without the hired muscle on standby to assist, so we've got to make this opportunity count. Do you remember the plan?

Knowledge

The Plan

Set fire to one of the dried Visionleaf bails and hurl it at the overseers. They'll be disoriented shortly after by the affects of the drug. From there, we'll head towards the mansion, into the slave area to try to free anyone we can. If we are being pursued, we'll have to skip this. Any slaves who are seen with us will likely be punished along with us, we don't want to be responsible for them being killed. If we can free some, lets, otherwise we must fend for ourselves.

Mansion

This will be a hard one. The handmaids quarters are accessible through a basement door in the back, which leads directly to the chambers of the slaves who directly serve the Wallaces. Once we're in, we'll just have to avoid the dogs somehow, and free the servants.

Finch

He'll be a problem but if we can get him with the leaf bomb I don't see it being a problem.

Tools

It's a long shot but we may be able to break these chains using a blacksmith hammer and a battle axe. Someone will need to sneak into the tooling shed and find the hammer, and we'll use that as an anvil to strike through the chains with the battle axe. These chains are made by slaves, so they're not the best quality. Me may be able to shatter them this way.

Other slaves

We'll need to find steel tools to break our bonds anyway, we can try to break their collar chains too. If it comes down to us or them... well maybe we can come back for them but we take priority now. Watch out for Point. That rat will follow us until we stop to rest, then snitch us out to the guards. He can't speak, but he sure as hell is a thorn in our side.

Destination

Anywhere! Honestly I'd rather be eaten by wolves than live here any longer. At least that way my corpse wouldn't rot in the fields for weeks. Ideally, we'll go to Pahyrst. I've heard that there's a group there who helps escaped and freed slaves, maybe they can help us when we're free. Who knows, eventually we may be able to get together enough roughage to take over the Wallace Estate and free all the other slaves! But one step at a time guys, stay focused.

Weapons/Defense

I'm glad you asked, I've managed to get together a small arsenal of stuff. (He will now pull a cloth cover off a nearby mound of stuff, revealing some crude armor and broken weapons). It's not much, so we will only be able to use these things as a last resort. However, in a pinch it's better than being unarmed.

Closing Dialog

Alright, make sure you find something to wield for your self defense. Don't overload yourselves. Remember, if we have a conflict with the overseers, they're well fed and well armed. We don't want to fight, we want to run. If you can, use whatever you have at your disposal to escape and avoid conflict. A direct confrontation with them will probably lead to our swift deaths. If you have to ditch your weapon to slow them down, do it without hesitation. These are all broken anyway, probably not worth the iron that they're made from.

Conflict

At this point, if any player has a passive perception of 15 or more, they will hear something shuffling in the bushes near their clearing. If they succeed in a perception roll they find Point. See the encounter for interrogating Point. If not, then he runs away, probably to tattle on the crew to Finch. Luckily, he cannot talk, but he could give away the plan anyway. Either they'll have to give chase, or they'll have to come up with a plan b, and quickly.

Chasing Point

Be prepared for a chase encounter. See the encounters section for more information on how to chase Point.

Plan b

If you could not catch Point, it's time for Plan B. The plan begins now, while the rest of the overseers are asleep. You'll need to find some loose dried visionleaf to use as a smokescreen as set it ablaze. Since the overseers are likely on alert, they'll need to find torches as a reliable way to light the drug, and attempt to affect them with it before it affects you. Luckily, tending the fields has given the slaves quite the tolerance for visionleaf, however a full high of the drug will still make a player slowed and dazed for 2 hours. Overseers don't have this tolerance, and will be nauseated for 4 hours unless they save.

If the players can't drug any overseers, they will pursue the characters. Look at the encounters section for details on this encounter.

Rising Action

If the players are able to get to the slave quarters, they can use whatever they have to attempt to free others. If no one in the party is able to do this, Schmelvy will do so. After every freed slave, roll a d20, and on a 1 the slave immediately runs out and sprints towards the forest, immediately getting caught and beaten unless the players make a Reflex Save to hold them back. If they're caught, immediately go to the climax section. There will be 5 rolls to make.
Once the players have finished freeing all the slaves, they can wait for a good opportunity to make a break for it. Go here to continue.

Climax

Once the overseers have been alerted, it's go time. A quick look around and the players will find a single lit torch nearby. They can use this to light off their drug bombs and hurl them at the overseers. These act like grenades, except the affects are outlined above. Any left over guards will begin to move towards the players with weapons drawn. If a sickened guard comes near, a player can steal their weapon away easily.
Any remaining overseers not sickened will chase the party. See the encounters section for the encounter details.

Falling Action

Once the chase is over, the players will be in the forest. While running, a perception check may reveal a large number of cloaked figures hiding in the tree branches and brush. The cloaked figures grab any slaves they can and hold their hands to over their mouths to quiet any screams. One slave struggles against their captor, and is knocked out immediately. If players look to Schmelvy, they notice him slowly displaying his weapon, allowing the captors to remove it from him, and nods to the players to do the same if possible.

Cloaked Figure Don't move. Don't make a sound. We're not here to kill you or harm you. If you do not get in our way, no harm will come to you or your other slave companions, and you will be free to go when we've completed our task. If you struggle or resist us, you will end up like your friend there.

Leave

We cannot risk you drawing attention to us. Sorry, but you'll have to stay in our custody until we have done what we came here to do

Objective

I cannot tell you what our true plans are, but we are here for the visionleaf.

Assist them

If you truly wish to help us, you will be rewarded. If you can draw the overseers attention away from the storehouse, we can complete our task swiftly and perhaps even free some more of your enslaved brethren. Know that if you fail, or turn traitor to us, we will not hesitate to kill you.

Kill the overseers

It would be easy to dispatch them all, given our element of surprise, but we'd prefer not to resort to such tactics. We do not wish to draw the attention of the Wallaces.

Visionleaf bombs

I see. How resourceful, knowing that you can handle the affects of the drug better than your captors. This seems like the most opportune time to strike

If the players attempt to fight the assailants, they are met with 15 cloaked figures armed with magic and weapons. The players will not stand a chance, and after each round and every death, the players will be presented with the opportunity to surrender. Once the battle is over, if any players remain, they are shackled and left under guarded watch to witness the rest of the scene.
[anchor:strike] If the players have used their visionleaf bombs on the overseers and the majority are sickened, the cloaked figures seemingly fly out of the trees. There seem to be around 30 figures. They quickly put high quality manacles on every overseers wrists and cut down any others. With all the overseers dispatched or captured, the grounds are considered safe. A few figures run into the mansion and clear out any hired guards left to guard the mansion, and walk out with the remaining Wallace family and the remaining servants in chains.

Resolution

Once the scene has been cleared of hostiles, one of the cloaked figures approaches the players. He removes his hood to reveal his face and introduces himself.

Sir Bight of Panda

I am called Sir Bight, of the City of Scepters. I am aware that you have been under in service of Lord Wallace for some time, under the laws of slavery. The Wallace estate has been found guilty of crimes of treason for growing the banned substance, Visionleaf, which you have cultivated for him under duress. Law dictates that I arrest you all for treason as well, but Pandese law can sometimes be a bit harsh. Seeing as you attempted escape from here, I can see no reason to suspect you of willingly assisting Wallace in his crimes, and hereby pardon you of your crimes.
To those of you who wear collars of servitude, see our mage immediately and he will remove them. To those branded to the service of Wallace, the only way to remove the bonds of enslavement are to visit a blacksmith and have him place a new brand over the scar using this royal brand. We are unable to help any further. You are free to go wherever you would like, but it cannot be here, and it cannot be with us.

The Pandese soldiers, as they are now revealed to be, take their quarry and leave through the trees. The players will be met by warning shots should they choose to follow, and be fired upon if they pursue further.
Schmelvy walks up to the players and begins dialog.
[aloud] Well that was convenient. I guess we can't stay here for very long, they didn't say anything about taking some weapons and food to help us along though! I'm going to head to Pahyrst, this royal brand is the only thing that's going to keep me from being arrested as an escaped slave.

Relations

Allies

Schmelvy

Neutrals/Bystanders

Sir Bight of Panda

Competitors

Lord Jonah Wallace
Point

Adversaries

Overseer Finch
Firth

Backdrops

Locations

The Wallace estate is set on a large area of farmland. The fields are seemingly filled with feed crop and other typical plantation crops, though venturing into the fields a ways reveals a large amount of Visionleaf, which provides the Wallace estate with a vast majority of it's income. The mansion is set on a grand road, boasting the wealth of the Wallace family.
Behind the mansion a ways from the mansion and out of sight of any visitors, is a small shanty town built for the slaves that tend the fields. The slaves perform various labors, the lucky and most attractive tend to the Wallace family, while the majority of them tend fields and package crop for distribution. The shanty town is comprised of shacks in which the slaves perform their duties as well as sleep. Due to the poor treatment of slaves in the service of the Wallace's, there will occasionally be a dead body found of a slave who was overworked, starved, or gravely injured performing their duties. These bodies may remain for days or weeks before being cleaned up, contributing to the foul smell of this area.
The territory surrounding the Wallace estate is primarily hilly and wooded. A river flows through the forests northward to a lake which eventually empties out into the sea westward.

Past Events

The Wallace family built their fortune as land barons, collecting taxes from commoners living on their lands. After the Great War, their property shrunk down due to shifting borders and a schism between Pahyrst and Donosea. The downsizing forced the Wallace family to rebuild their fortunes on building a plantation with their remaining property. Hardly any nobility lies in the Wallace's, though their pride remains strong to the point of arrogance and denial of their loss of power.
The late Wallace head, Jonah, regained most of the families riches by cultivating Visionleaf. By manipulating local politics and increasing his own security, he has been able to keep his operation under wraps and under ground. Their supply of Visionleaf contributes a majority of the drug into neighboring cities, creating problems with addicts to the substance. By wrapping his estate in red tape and crooked legislation, there has been no way to convict or prosecute the Wallaces for their crimes.

Plot type

Prologue