[Challenge of the Frog Idol] Session #12: Conspiracies over Coruvon Part I

As the city commander is preparing an excursion around the city's vicinity with a sizeable army, rumours at alehouses abound with sinister plots being unfold between the members of high society. High-ranking city officials and administrators, noble houses, wealthy merchants and trading houses, all seem to be involved somehow in various conspiracies against each other, in order to gain more power in the city commander's absence. Gylain, an official of the city council, calls the party once again to inquire about any new findings concerning the smuggling den but most importantly to assign them as personal bodyguards to the city Magistrate. He believes that his life is jeopardised by his many enemies and wishes the characters to provide protection at least for as long as the city commander is away.

On their way to the Mancoor Estate, the Magistrate's home and base of operations, the party is greeted by a man with striking features and is almost run over by a young woman riding a horse, clearly upset for something. The estate's stable master, tight-lipped Kendrick, and the estate's blacksmith, the mentally-challenged Roggi, meet up with the party at the gate and soon are warmly greeted by Magistrate Jhanos Myrkeer, who is seen conversing and exchanging items with a halfling. Their meeting is brief, however, as the Magistrate is still busy, but he invites them to tonight's dinner. Roggi takes the characters to the Merchant House, warehouse of the Mireport Emporium Representatives trading guild, located at the docks, and down to the basement, which used to be barracks for the city garrison before the Emporium bought the building. It occasionally serves its old purpose, as the furnishing remains the same, with small bedrooms, lockers, and holding cells occupying most of the space, and a hobgoblin locked in one cell, whom Roggi states is an nasty criminal. The characters are left to use the basement as their quarters.

After settling down, the party heads back to the estate, when a violent storms breaks out. At the estate's dining room, an assortment of guests are sitting silently, giving concerned looks at the back door and trying to overhear the muffled argument happening at the backyard. The characters soon find out what follows is a grim scene: the Magistrate lies dead out in the backyard and a imposing figure stands next to him, claiming he didn't do anything. A brief chase ensues, in which the characters manage to capture the man, who turns out to be Uthgat, leader of a small street gang called Privateers. Examining the body shows some sort of black goo in the mouth and nose. At this point, the party suspects someone from the several guests has poisoned the Magistrate. There's Andros the estate's keeper who thinks the Magistrate's death is somehow connected to the two halflings that visited him this evening; Fenn, one of the halflings, who was still there at the time of Jhanos's death and expresses his concerns over Dr. Jubal, who may have cast a curse on him; Kendrick the stable frontman, who believes that Uthgat killed him, as he seemed threatening and out of his mind; Vonhilda the manager of a trading post, who is certain the Privateers wanted to harm the Magistrate; Bertram the estate's cook who points out that a halfling named Bitterwood served Jhanos some brandy shortly before his death; Captain Remy LeDuc, an aged captain of the guard, who insists that Uthgat and his lackeys are to be blamed; and Eve Saint Clair, a widowed noble from Mireport who also points at Dr. Jubal as the sort of person to place a curse on someone. Clearly, several plots encircle the murder that deal with many matters, which could be responsible for this vile act.

Characters involved
Rolf the Bold, fighter 1
Yudel, dwarf 1
Lolék, thief 1
Beldar the Brave, fighter 1

This session was the opening to a seemingly straightforward murder mystery. What the players are called for is not only to solve the whodunit case by figuring out the real culprit, who may or may not be one of the guests, but also unfold any machinations and sinister plots that lead to the Magistrate's murder. What the players, and subsequently the characters, don't get at the moment is the various schemes surrounding the figure of the Magistrate, that are more or less linked to his untimely demise, as well as the dire implications such a death will have in the future political scene of the city. The adventure was somewhat of a break from the party's delving into underground jobs, and was chosen over two others, one being a simple journey to find the whereabouts of an expedition (the previous party), the other being getting involved in bloody intrigues concerning the Iron Overlord, merchants and nobles, and the notorious city arena.