Houses of Intrigue: Perspectives
by Joaquin MenchacaI wanted to look into NPCs personalities of Cartha Radu (brother of Anton) and Boris Torenescu (uncle of Aleksander). Both want to lead the family into a new era of success, but in a different direction than the current leadership. They both see the leaders as being too patient or soft, and they want to take a more aggressive stance.
If both leaders survive, they hope to start the infamous Shadow Society, an organisation more ruthless than the Veiled Society could ever aspire to become.
CARTHA RADU
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"The time for action is at hand. The time for old rivalries must die in order to restore Traladaran power. We must stop at nothing to restore the Traladaran New Order."
Cartha Radu is utterly ruthless, a cold hearted killer with a dangerous patriotic zeal for the Traladaran plight. He is an intelligent plotter, but is overcome with emotions to the point of being overzealous. He will eliminate anyone the gets in his way, including other Traladaran nobles, something his brother was not willing to do, as this would have drawn attention to the clan.
Timeline/Plots
Pre-Anton Death
- Cartha will stop at nothing to usurp his brother's power, even if it means killing Anton himself. He can eventually succeed, unless the party intervenes. [Power Shift]
- Cartha will try to control the Veiled Society for his own purposes, perhaps forming another Veiled Society loyal to him. [Split factions in Veiled Society]
Post-Anton Death
- If Boris gains power, Cartha will try to ally with him and form new Veiled Society with the combined funds of both Torenescu and Radu. [Shadow Society]
- If Boris dies or does not gain power, Cartha will use the Veiled Society in bolder attempts, and eventually will be exposed. [Death of Radu]
Post-Cartha Death
- If Cartha dies, or gets imprisoned, Anton will consolidate the power of Veiled Society and become an even greater menace, and even more impossible to detect. Anton will bolster the power of the Veiled Society with more powerful magic and skilled agents (rogues, fighters, wizards, pscions, clerics) [More powerful Veiled Society]
- Anton might even help remove Aleksander, unless party intervenes, to push Boris into power. Anton knows that Boris will lead the house to self-destruction to his delight. [Death of Torenescu]
BORIS TORENESCU
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"It is time for new leadership for the Torenescu family as wishful thinking or leadership from dimwits has not yielded anything furtive. The Torenescu need to be more bold and should not shy away from more aggressive tactics.
"The Duke's (King's) days are at an end. No longer shall we have to live under the tyranny of Thyatians."
Boris is utterly ruthless that is obsessed to assert the power of his family at any means, including allying with long standing enemies. He wants to see the downfall of the royal family and other Thyatians, and will stop at nothing to see that happen.
Timeline/Plots
Pre-Death of Aleksander
- If Cartha Radu perishes, Boris will continue to poison Aleksander, which will eventually succeed unless the player's intervene. [Power Shift]
- If Cartha Radu lives, Cartha could arrange to have Aleksander eliminated with certain approval from Boris. This naturally bolsters Cartha's standing in the Radu family. Boris become the new leader. [Power Shift]
Post-Death of Aleksander
- If Cartha Radu perishes, Boris will attempt a coup, which will have the same disastrous results as the Marilenev rebellion. [Death of Torenescu]
- If Cartha Radu lives, Boris will form an alliance, and build a new secret organisation. He will be pacified to see some results towards the demise of Thyatian power. [Shadow Society]
SHADOW SOCIETY
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The Shadow Society is a very secret society modelled after the original Veiled Society. It is an organisation with resources pooled from both resources of both Radu and Torenescu families. The headquarters are located beneath the Duke's Park in a hidden labyrinth.
The Shadow Society maintains an alliance with the Circle of Nine, a powerful group of sorcerer goblins (actually pscions), that are the secret puppeteers of a goblin clan. The goblin clan has many powerful warriors and leaders, and exerts control over a militant hobgoblin tribe that operates nearby. They also maintain control over a small kobold band that are used to design traps and defences for the whole clan, including the Shadow Society.
The Shadow Society employs the wizards, and has some agents in the School of Magic. Agents of the organisation are sometimes sent faraway for training in other skills, including assassination and wizardly training.
An evil villainous NPC party also goes out on special missions to do special missions for the Shadow Society. They NPC party, nicknamed "Shadow Call" goes on more noble missions for the King, Churches, Ambassadors, and other nobles to gain their trust. They are known to get results, but few understand the secret means in how this party gets such results quickly.