False Flag Attack in T'm'gond

Plot points/Scenes

1. Call to Action [Social]

The party has been prevented from leaving due to the danger of a new dragon attack.

The city has an aura of unease about it.

Roma tells Dosh that she has her own suspicions about what happened. Silver dragons don't breathe fire.

Ravi finds Arunika and tells her about his time following the TotDQ. What happened doesn't fit their MO. He wants Arunika's help in getting to the bottom of this.

Rumor gathering gives the following

Class	Rumor
Poor	1. With the Shanty Town destroyed, many of the refugees will be going to Di-Andal Bovi for work. 2. Mistress Iduro has been trying to get rid of the shanty town for years, and there are rumors of previous acts of sabotage being traced back to her
Middle	1. Atum Lenshan might finally be able to build the expansion to the city that he has been discussing for so long. 2. Collectors for the defense tax are demanding more than usual
Upper	1. Haker will finally be getting the riff-raff in his employ out of town, sending them after the TotDQ
Religious	1. Some of the mercenaries have been praying for a new conflict to work in, this might be the answer.

2. Investigating [Exploration/Social]

a. The Shanty Town

The party sees civilians struggling to clear debris. The civilians will be immediately friendly if the party attempts to help.

Civilians describe that the fire happened as several "bursts of flame" rather than a line of fire.

If asked about having seen anything out of the ordinary in the area, some will describe having seen someone standing off in the desert, about 400 feet away from edge of town.

Going to location will lead the party to a pattern burnt into the earth, a seal that can be used to track teleportation.

b. The Shining Blade

Many of the mercenaries are deployed on the city walls.

The Shining Blade has no spellcasters in their employ

They're ordering a large shipment of Skystone blades from Di-Andal Bovi, arming to hunt the Dragon Queen.

c. The Lenshan Construction Company

The company has people begging for them to assist in rebuilding the shanty town, but the requests are being refused due to the danger of attack outside the city walls.

The company has been ordering a great amount of supplies from the Skylight Quarry, preparing to reinforce the existing walls and to extend the city.

d. Mistress Iduro's Tower

Mistress Iduro is happy to see that the "lowlifes and thieves" are going to be repelled from the city.

She has been studying draconic lore, and certainly knows well enough that a Silver Dragon would not breathe fire.

e. Boto the Bard

Boto has been singing songs to rile up the populace

He reveals a significant portion of his body is burned, and claims it happened when his caravan was attacked by the Dragon Queen

He's really in the employ of the Monotet family.

Conclusion:

The investigation dead-ends unless they pursue the rumors found in the Shanty Town. If they don't progress on their own, and have exhausted the above options, the Monotet Agent Aphoth will approach and try to discourage them from pursuing the mystery further. Once all leads have been pursued, it is publicly announced that the Shining Blade will be leaving to pursue the Tribe of the Dragon Queen within a week.
Once all the clues are gathered, the party will be attacked by 4 Bandits (level 1)

3. Appeal to the Council [Social]

This may occur at a different point in the story, but it becomes inevitable that the party must attempt to delay the deployment of the Shining Blade.

a. Getting a meeting

The party must find some way to organize the council. This can be done by:

1. Making an appeal and waiting for approval. (Takes 1d6+2 days)
2. Talking to Tumin at the Guildhall. He is married to a Lenshan, and the council only rules by their permission.
3. Appealing to a council member personally. This would require determining the identity of one, which will take several days of gathering rumors and leads.
4. Some other creative plan.

b. Investigating the council

May be done in preparation for part a, or once a meeting has already been arranged. The council of T'm'gond is a group of 12 anonymous civilians, 3 from each of the lower, middle, upper, and religious classes. Determining who the council members are will take either a great amount of canvassing, or espionage. There is a list of the council members that is kept inside of the secured council building.

Investigation: Level 3 Base DC 18. VP End Point (per member): 5. Accumulate 1 awareness point on each fail, 2 on a crit fail. When 5 AP have been gathered, guards will confront the party, and that council member will go into hiding.
Total XP: 30

c. Convincing the Council

Create NPC blocks for these guys at some point. Run this as an "influence" encounter.

The Council will agree to postpone the deployment of troops, but will only call it off if they can speak directly with a representative from the Dragon Queen

Influence: Level 1 Base DC 15. IP End Point (per member): 3.
Lower Class Councilor Perception +10 Will +10 Discovery: DC 12 Society, DC 18 Perception Influence Skills: DC 14 Thievery (Cha based), DC 10 Religion, DC 16 Diplomacy, DC 20 Deception
Middle Class Councilor Perception +6 Will +10 Discovery: DC 14 Society, DC 18 Mercantile Lore, DC 18 Perception Influence Skills: DC 16 Religion, DC 18 Diplomacy, DC 14 Deception
Upper Class Councilor Perception +11 Will +11 Discovery: DC 14 Society, DC 16 Perception Influence: DC 20 Religion, DC 14 Deception, DC 16 Diplomacy
Total XP: 200

Optional: Infiltrating the Council Building

- Flesh this out as an "Infiltration".

Success means that the party will discover the identities of the council members, as well as their weaknesses.

Level 2 Infiltration, Base DC 16. Hard +2, Very Hard +5

Guard Post (at Double Door Entry) Obstacle

Infiltration Points 2 (individual Overcome standard Deception, hard Diplomacy, or very hard Stealth

Locked Door (All exterior doors except double, and all doors to G4) Obstacle

Infiltration Points 2 (Group Overcome hard Thievery, very hard Athletics

Guards on Patrol (G6, G9) Obstacle

Infiltration Points 2 (Individual Overcome hard Deception, standard Stealth, very hard Diplomacy.

Cluttered Storage (G3) Obstacle

Infiltration Points 1 (individual Overcome standard Acrobatics, hard Stealth

Finding the List (G4) Obstacle

Infiltration Points 3 (group Overcome hard Perception, standard Investigation (Society, Thievery)
XP per Obstacle: 30 Finishing XP: 80

Conclusion:

If the party is successful in convincing the council to delay the troops, they will have to pursue making contact with the Dragon Queen to facilitate diplomacy (go to 4) finding the culprit (go to 5).

Relations

Neutrals/Bystanders

Suspects:

• Mistress Iduro, Tower Mage of T'm'gond. She is a powerful mage, but she is widely disliked. She is known for having a disdain for the poor.
• Atum Lenshan. He has been trying to get approval from the council to expand the city outwards to the south, but has not been able to due to the existence of the shanty town.
• Haker Lenshan. There are suspicions that he may have organized the attack as an excuse to put his recently returned mercenary force back to work.
• Azran Monotet. It is well known that he's been trying to encourage refugees to go to Di-Andal Bovi to work in the Skystone mines, but T'm'gond's shanty town's location and aid from the local Sun Temple has made it more appealing.

Plot type

Adventure

Related Characters

• Azran Monotet

Related Organizations

• The 5 Merchant Families
• The Shining Blade