As the PCs return to the streets after dealing with Geadren Lamm once and for all, it quickly becomes apparent that something terrible has happened. Korvosa is in flames. Smoke rises on the horizon. The frantic clang of alarm bells sing out in harmony with a multifarious cacophony of screams, the clash of steel on steel, moans, and even the periodic detonation of arcane power. A wing of Sable Company griffon riders swoops overhead, angling toward Castle Korvosa at a breakneck pace.

Amid the chaos, the voice of a Korvosan herald cuts through the din: “The king is dead! Long live the queen!” only to be shouted down by ragged cries of “Hang the queen!” and “The usurper whore must die!”

Riots on the streets

Our intrepid adventurers decide to report to their superiors in light of the chaos and rioting on the streets. Gracchus Jeggare accompanies private first class Stone back to Citidale Volschnyk and volunteers to assist the stretched city guard in efforts to reduce the rioting and chaos.

Magnus the Broken returns home to look after his business and protect it from looters, while Cleric Raiyne Herrick returns to the Cathedral of Pharasma and attends to duties in the graveyard, the grey ward.

What follows are hours of unrest as the city boils with trouble and chaos. Citizens take to the streets, some protesting peacefully, others to watch and many of the poorest to riot their discontent as the young new Queen of Korvosa morns her dead husband. Events move quickly during this time, a hypogriff rider is knocked from the sky, a massive explosion rocks the city, rumours and tales as exotic as demons and frogmen to as mundane as thieves and shoanti barbarians spread quickly. As the day starts drawing to a close the rioting reaches a peak in the courtyard before the castle where hundreds of citizens protesting are brutally subdued by the Hell Knights Order of the Nail, leaving dozens dead.

Questioning

As evening draws in our tired group gathers at Bailers retreat, the guards favoured pub, before questioning Yargin. A few details are drawn from the crooked alchemist, Gaedren often travelled into Old Korvosa without his crew to dispose of unwanted children and meet with his contacts – the only lead Yargin could provide was Lamm’s over heard muttering “Flog him”? Of Cleric Raiyne Herrick’s child no firm leads could be found.

Ghostly gifts

With a distinct lack of leads the group seeks to rest before regrouping in the morning.

The night was not very restful, the city slept uneasy and in Old Korvosa the chaos continued unabated. The group gathered and headed to Zellara’s cottage where they confirmed the suspicion that they were dealing with a ghost. Zellara left her enchanted Harrow cards to Raiyne and faded from view, he proceeded to seal her house for future exorcism.

Drunken Guard

As the group travel the streets, they encounter a drunk being beeten by some local toughs. This disreputable looking individual turns out to be guardsman Grau Soldado and he is quickly sent back to the guard house with a few short words to get himself sober.

My precious

Turning to the day ahead the group descide now is the time to turn the Queens broach in, perhaps there will be a reward in it? They tread through the streets of Korvosa, the city still subdued, shocked at the recent violence and reach the ramp up to the magnificant Castle Korvosa. Upon revealing their business a group of obviously nervous guards armed with heavy crossbows and swords escort the PCs up to the castle. As they reach the top of the pyramid and the wide stairs curling up to the castle’s third floor, where the Crimson Throne awaits, they are greeted by a beautiful woman dressed in magnificent full plate armor—the queen’s handmaiden, bodyguard, and closest companion: Sabina Merrin.

In the first episode of the Crimson Throne, each of the antagonists in this twisted tale received a Harrow card suggesting they had an opportunity to take revenge on (or bring to justice) Gaedren Lamm a man who has at one time or another brought great harm upon them.

Following the directions on the mysterious cards the disparate group met each other for the first time in a small house at 3 Lancet Street, (Near the Bailers Retreat pub, West Dock, Midland).

It is here that they meet a Varisian woman named Zellara, a fortune teller who, a year ago, lost her only son to Lamm. After her Harrow deck (her only source of income and an heirloom handed down to her by her mother) was pick-pocketed by one of Lamm’s Little Lambs, Zellara’s son Eran took it upon himself to get back the deck. He was murdered by Gaedren’s thugs and his head and hands were returned to Zellara in a box as a gift and a threat. Zellara went to the Korvosan Guard, but they had little additional time or resources to devote to Lamm. The Guard told her, “We know he’s trouble, and we’re doing the best we can to find him—sorry for your loss, but that’s all we can do for you now.”

Frustrated, desperate, and harboring a growing need for revenge, Zellara took it upon herself to track down Lamm, drawing upon the Harrow’s divination’s for aid. Her latent magical skill, combined with her persistence and obsession, unfortunately gave her results. She discovered the location of Gaedren’s current hideout but lacked the power to deal with him. Instead she used her divination’s to seek others who would share her desire for revenge and summoned each of you.

Zellara provides you with the location of Lamm (The Old Fishery, Westpier 17, West Dock, Midland) and requests you deal him swift justice and if possible return her harrow cards to her. Before you leave she performs a Harrowing, an ancient Varisian magic that reveals the future and helps to shape it, it reveals chaos and confusion is coming.

The group head to the old fishery at dawn, encountering the Red Hand street gang on the way, and they use the old rotten pier to sneak into the fishery from the river instead of the secure land side. Once inside they encounter an dangerous crocodile, defenseless children and bomb wielding alchemists, but with the help of the healing energy of Pharasma the group survive to find Gaedren has escaped into Old Korvosa, The Alchemist Yargin, strikes a deal (Imprisonment instead of death) and reveals Gaedrin has probably made a run for a rowdy Tavern, the Sticky Mermaid: Old Dock, Old Korvosa.

In the dim and wet morning light the group splits up, Cleric Reiyne takes the little lambs back to her church to be tended and given safety while the rest of the group chase Lamm across the town, a journey of an hour or more into the roughest part of the city and the gang territories of the infamous Dusters.

During this journey the treasure looted from the fishery is examined. Each of these treasures is wrapped in cloth and tied shut with twine. The treasures include a narrow teak cigar case inlaid with tiny bits of jade worth 25 gp, a 2-pound gold ingot worth 100 gp bearing the Cheliax coat of arms, a miniature gold crown worth 350 gp, a fist-sized scrimshaw carving of a kraken with garnets for eyes worth 200 gp, a silver ring worth 150 gp bearing the inscription “For Emmah—the light in my nights,” a highly realistic and highly scandalous ivory figurine of two entwined succubi worth 450 gp, a masterwork shuriken, an adamantine arrowhead, an abalone-shell holy symbol of Shelyn worth 300 gp, a tiny glass tube containing a dose of oil of keen edge, an obsidian wand of magic missile (23 charges), a crystalline vial (itself worth 50 gp) containing a dose of silversheen, and a bejeweled brooch with a broken clasp.

Even to an untrained eye, this brooch is obviously the most valuable object in the entire collection. The circular gold brooch depicts a pseudodragon and an imp coiled around each other in an almost yin-yang pattern. The pseudodragon’s eye is an amethyst, while the imp’s eye is an emerald. The brooch itself is worth 1,000 gp, but more importantly, it is quickly recognized as the possession of Queen Ileosa herself.

One last item the hatbox actually contains something shocking— Zellara’s severed head, poorly preserved and decorated with unsightly makeup in a crude attempt to give her sagging flesh the semblance of life. She must have been dead for weeks. Her Harrow deck sits in a smaller wooden box under the stump of her neck.

The Sticky Mermaid lives up to its reputation, but the barman is quickly bribed into revealing Lamm’s location. An all to brief confrontation see’s Lamb caught, but as the group questions him seeking answers to and reasons for the pain they suffered, Lamm stealthily attempts an escape, shooting [AdamH] with a poisoned bolt. [Dave] reacts instantly and his deadly hammer crushes Lamm like a broken rotten egg.

The group realize there is nothing more to be found here so decide to return to Zellara’s, but as the step outside they step into chaos…

Wondering how to get started? Here are a few tips:

1. Invite your players

Invite them with either their email address or their Obsidian Portal username.

2. Edit your home page

Make a few changes to the home page and give people an idea of what your campaign is about. That will let people know you’re serious and not just playing with the system.

3. Choose a theme

If you want to set a specific mood for your campaign, we have several backgrounds to choose from. Accentuate it by creating a top banner image.

4. Create some NPCs

Characters form the core of every campaign, so take a few minutes to list out the major NPCs in your campaign.

A quick tip: The “+” icon in the top right of every section is how to add a new item, whether it’s a new character or adventure log post, or anything else.

5. Write your first Adventure Log post

The adventure log is where you list the sessions and adventures your party has been on, but for now, we suggest doing a very light “story so far” post. Just give a brief overview of what the party has done up to this point. After each future session, create a new post detailing that night’s adventures.

One final tip: Don’t stress about making your Obsidian Portal campaign look perfect. Instead, just make it work for you and your group. If everyone is having fun, then you’re using Obsidian Portal exactly as it was designed, even if your adventure log isn’t always up to date or your characters don’t all have portrait pictures.

That’s it! The rest is up to your and your players.