One Last Riddle SJ Conversion pt 11

        Dwarves:  The dwarves are the militarily strongest group on the
asteroid and they are a closely knit, highly organized group.  Despite
their internal differences the dwarves will act as one or not at all.
The dwarven councils consist of at least a dozen dwarves whenever they
meet and a few others (mostly youngsters) keep watch to ensure they
aren^Òt surprised by uninvited guests.  The council attendance varies
but always includes the local priestess of Berronar Truesilver, her
eldest daughter and acolyte-in-training, Duggi, Hardin, and Brundor.
The last three run the councils with most other attendees simply
watching.  The priestess opens and closes councils with a prayer to
Berronar for guidance.  Duggi believes what has occurred is evil and
must be opposed openly, regardless of whether it has directly hurt the
dwarves or not yet.  The gnomish and dwarven communities were close and
dwarves don^Òt forget their friends.  Hardin and Brundor also believe it
was evil and have no wish to ally with kobolds but neither do they want
to risk their family (remember, all the dwarves on Miel are an extended
family) alone when they are so outnumbered.  They favor a wait-and-see
approach while the dwarves gather tools, forge weapons, and train to
fight at the new mandatory militia drills.  Since every dwarf on Miel
has a hammer, knife, or axe they are proficient in and every one is
proficient in light armor (as all the dwarves on Miel are at least
experts) this is not an apparently non-viable plan.  In the meantime
they get to line their pockets with gold by performing the majority of
the newly funded public works projects.  Brundor has even suggested
approaching Mayor Natal about building a shipyard to support the town^Òs
new militaristic bent.  What the dwarves really need is a course of
action that doesn^Òt offer a great amount of risk to their family and
won^Òt make them enemies of the rest of the town.  If such a course
could be found they^Òd be willing to take it.  They are interested in
any ideas the PCs may have though they insist on debating them for at
least two nights before deciding on them (this gives them time to think
in between meetings).  What the dwarves can offer the PCs immediately
is places to hide in town, help in moving about at night (with dwarves
watching out their windows at night they can signal the all clear for
PCs to creep about), and an intimate knowledge of the layout and
construction of every building in town as someone in the family has
designed, built, or repaired every building around.  If the PCs suggest
it they will even establish a 24 listening post that listens to the
stone.  They can hear the vibrations of the slaves chipping away at the
rock and give the PCs so indication of the progress of the kobold
excavations (they won^Òt even wait two days to implement this as it
involves no risk to them).  If the PCs have a ship the dwarves will
also suggest they inform a dwarven or gnomish community of what^Òs
occurring here in hopes that they will be motivated to come in and
clean out the kobolds.  The dwarves can easily and quickly arrange any
coordinated action the PCs need (unlike the elves who the PCs will have
a very hard time getting to act together at more than the simplest
forms of support).  Like the elves, the dwarves don^Òt want to see the
sudden prosperity lost nor do they want to see slavery in town.  They
just want the kobolds gone and the slaves freed (no one seems to be
considering how so much of the prosperity is being fueled by the
confiscated possessions of those same slaves).
        If the dwarves meet with the PCs they will extract an oath that the
PCs will not reveal the dwarven council or any dwarven involvement in
anything and will give their own oath that they won^Òt reveal anything
about the PCs.  The dwarves will keep this bond but the problem for the
PCs comes when the dwarf decides to join the planar church of Nirvana.
When she does so she will reveal everything she knows about the PCs (if
they are working with the dwarves) that she thinks can^Òt be linked back
to the dwarves.  If she does have anything to reveal that doesn^Òt
implicate the dwarves the dwarven leaders will take this as a betrayal
of the oath they gave the PCs and deliberate the matter carefully in
councils of over 50 dwarves each for five days (during this time the
PCs will be turned away for all but the most pressing business).  At
the end of that time it will be ruled that the betrayal must be dealt
with by clan law and the dwarven traitor will disappear, never to be
seen again.  After that, there is no chance any dwarf will join the
town militia or the local planar church of Nirvana.
        Rogues:  The town^Òs criminal element has never been very organized
with the single greatest link between them being their dealings with
Saul, the only local fence (though they can often pawn some stuff off
to members of visiting ships^Ò crews also).  While they aren^Òt organized
they do have a common problem:  the recent imposition of near martial
law.  With the new curfew, patrols, and so on the local thieves have
had little luck performing much of their trade and new law ordering
automatic conscription for petty theft and enslavement for greater
crimes have made thieving a distinctly dangerous operation.  If the PCs
can contact the thieves they can tap into their desperation and
organize them to act.  The thieves are the only group in town that is
willing to risk it all for the PCs as they feel they have nothing left
to lose.  They also want more than the other groups, however:  they
want the current regime toppled.  They really don^Òt care how it^Òs done
(beyond some wild fantasies none has really considered how it should be
done) but they know it needs to occur.  Embarrassing Natal and Ujar so
much that they are forced to abandon their current plans and lose all
real power is probably the best way.  Another way would be to free the
slaves and then force the issue of their possessions until they all
have to be returned.  Suddenly bereft of funds, the expansion attempts
and civic works projects will fail.  Dealing with the rogues can be
useful, rewarding, and allows the PCs to be daring and creative much
more so than with any other group.
        Natal:  Whether the PCs come to Natal or he approaches them is up to
the DM.  Using the Natal link is the most delicate of the courses of
action presented and DMs should consider it carefully before letting it
happen.  Natal is greedy and ambitious and already covets the kobolds^Ò
wealth now that he^Òs sampled so much wealth from the enslaved gnomes
and halflings.  As he dreams of expansion he keeps looking at the
kobolds^Ò ship and thinking how it^Òs the only ship currently available
(this may not be true if the PCs had their ship taken).  He also thinks
of the magical and monetary wealth the kobolds have already displayed
in paying for weapons and armor and giving him the decanter of endless
water (Oppol has given anything away but by now everyone in town
everyone thinks of it as the town^Òs and therefor it belongs to Natal as
the owner of the town and asteroid).  Natal is greedy and ambitious but
not stupid.  He knows he can^Òt break the deal with the kobolds or the
planar church of Nirvana will turn against him.  He also knows he needs
to free the slaves to quiet the unrest that has grown up (the humans
are also concerned about the enslavement of their neighbors) as well as
make his new empire (he already has delusions of grandeur) more
acceptable to other nations.  Of course he wants to see the kobolds
destroyed, the slaves freed, and the expansion continue all while
seeming the hero or at least appearing to be uninvolved.  Above all he
can^Òt let it seem he had anything to do with breaking the agreement
with the kobolds and he won^Òt allow anything that might result in his
having to give back the gnomes^Ò and halflings^Ò possessions.  Natal is
willing to scheme with the PCs and even reward them for a job well done
but only if he feels he can trust them.  He has no scruples so plans
like ambushing guards while magically disguised as kobolds don^Òt bother
him at all^×just so long as the PCs don^Òt get caught.
        Raiding:  If the PCs decide to begin making limited attacks against
their enemies they have a number of options.  If they target the guards
they could choose to firebomb the wreckboat or the catapult at night,
attack the planar church of Nirvana^Òs temple, snipe at or ambush guards
on patrol, or even poison members of the town guard.  None of these
plans will be supported in any way by the elves or the dwarves as
neither group is looking to cause chaos in the town.  Of the two
groups, only Heath and his followers is willing to aid the PCs and then
only in plans that don^Òt hurt elves or other innocent citizens
(poisoning the entire soup kitchen^Òs food supply is definitely out).
Remember, heath and his followers are willing to help because they are
idealists.  Many of the rogues, on the other hand, don^Òt care.  As long
as they and the few people they care bout aren^Òt hurt anything that
weakens the authorities is good in their view.  Natal will not
supported any more than limited action against the town^Òs forces and
always with the goal of making it appear the kobolds have broken the
agreement.  What methods the PCs use to do this he doesn^Òt care about
except as they hurt his authority or his purse.
        If the PCs decide to attack the kobolds in limited assaults there are
several obvious targets.  The kobold night patrol is vulnerable and the
ship is poorly defended against a determined assault.  Either will
alert the kobolds and the local authorities that there is a deadly
force in town, however.  A day later Ujar will use speak with dead to
determine what happened and at that point things could become serious
for the PCs.  Even if the bodies simply disappear, the alarm will have
been raised.  And any attack that^Òs not concealed by silence and
illusions will undoubtedly attract immediate attention.  If the
kobolds^Ò ship is not the target of the first such raid or is still in
place afterwards, Oppol will order it be stationed in space near the
asteroid and the kobold crew (which may be as few as five if the
original crew was slain) will set about trapping the entire ship,
something they couldn^Òt do before because the lizard men came aboard so
often.
        The next best raid would be against the warehouse.  If the PCs were to
attack the warehouse successfully enough that they occupied the guards^Ò
attention for at least two rounds the slaves would revolt (on the first
round only 10% revolt but within 2 more rounds every slave will have
joined in).  If the slaves revolt they will want to clean out or at
least bottle up the rest of the kobolds in town and will insist on
marching on the mayor^Òs house next to demand their things back and
reparations for the injustices done them.  The town guard will oppose
their actions (they are armed and angry rioting revolting slaves) and a
fight is likely to result whose outcome could depend on the PCs.
        The dwarves and elves won^Òt support limited raids on the kobolds
unless convinced of the necessity and their peoples^Ò safety but both
Heath and Lilina will gladly join in if the proper precautions are
taken.  The rogues don^Òt mind it all as long as the PCs can ensure
taking out the kobolds will lead to their goal of weakening local
authority.  Ultimately the kobolds^Ò destruction is Natal^Òs goal so as
long as the PCs don^Òt implicate him he isn^Òt concerned about it.
        Possibly the best way to deal with the situation is to convince the
dwarves, elves, and rogues to all support the PCs in a single night of
concealed raids against the kobolds that leads to an assault on the
kobolds^Ò headquarters.  Magic would have to be used to keep the town
guard from reacting and to maintain surprise throughout.  Most of those
magical resources will have to be provided by the PCs.
        Civil War:  It is possible the dwarves^Ò and the elves^Ò hands could be
forced, such as if they have provided aid to the PCs and been
discovered.  If this happens the PCs can easily convince them to
organize themselves into a single force and march on the town before
the guard can set about rounding them up and enslaving them.  The elves
are all proficient with the bow and most possess one for recreational
purposes.  They are also all proficient with the rapier or longsword
and several possess some of these.  Backed by their spellcasters they
present an imposing force and could very well route the town guard.
The dwarves are highly organized, all of them has at least one tool
that can be used as a deadly weapon if they don^Òt actually own a true
weapon, and most possess armor or something that can act as partial
protection (such as a leather smith^Òs apron).  They are determined and
have the most warriors of any group on Miel.  They, too, are likely to
be able to route the town guard in open combat.  Even such a limited
battle, however, will undoubtedly create casualties on both sides.  If
the elves and dwarves are both in danger or if the elves march on the
town and the PCs can convince the dwarves that now is the time to act
they will join forces.  If the dwarves march alone both Heath and
Lilina as well as a few other elves will add their support.  The rogues
are not organized and cannot be convinced to act together in an event
such as this (nor can they be exposed as a group as they aren^Òt one)
but they will happily make attacks of opportunity against the guards as
the chance presents itself.
        The biggest problem with this scenario is that the kobolds will come
to aid the town guard.  The town guard will try to call out the militia
but none will come (the elves won^Òt aid the guard against the dwarves
and vice versa and the humans know enough not to face either group when
united).  Oppol, however, will order his apprentice and the crossbow
wielders to join him on the Blackspear while the other kobolds further
barricade themselves in and set an extra heavy watch on the slaves.
>From the Blackspear the kobolds can not only drop catapult stones on
the attacking force and fire crossbow bolts at them but Oppol and his
apprentice can also cast spells, including using their magical items.
If this happens any attacking force will likely be wiped out as even a
single lightning bolt or ice storm can wreak havoc and summoned
monsters would run loose, killing all the enemies they encounter.  It
would be up to the PCs to turn the tide of battle in this event.
Perhaps during such an attack the DM could arrange events so that the
PCs face Oppol alone just as it is presented at the end of the original
module.  In this case the result of the battle would be determined
solely by the PCs without a lot of dice rolling.
        No matter the outcome, a civil war is the least desirable scenario.


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