Some interesting Karameikos NPC's (and the Iron Ring)
by Francesco DefferrariHi all, as I am DMing a PbP here on the Piazza (see recruiting and OOC thread) I am partially using it to delve into parts of Karameikan history I did not know very well and develop NPC's I did not use in my previous campaign, also thanks to the extensive work done on Karameikos by fans (and in particular by one of my players, Agathokles).
Now the purpose of this thread is to share some informations about some NPCs I am using and to see if others have used them too and how.
SPOILERS ON B6 THE VEILED SOCIETY BELOW and possibly X12 SKARDA'S MIRROR
First we started by playing B6 The Veiled Society, a module which was written before Gaz01 and that contains some interesting NPCs not appeared later in canon. In the module there is an intrigue which involves The Vorloi and Torenescu families and the Veiled Society of the Radu. IMO the module was butchered in post production to make spaces for the cardboard buildings, so it is sometimes hard to follow, and presents a Specularum a bit different from the one in the Gaz. Not only the shape of the city itself is different, but Thyatians and Traladarans are not even mentioned and the module could well end with the total destruction of the Radu.
It was clearly an early version of the city, or a different idea of it.
I used it as inspiration and modify it heavily, staging the module in 990 AC, when the Thieves Guild does not exist yet and the Veiled Society is just beginning, while the Iron Ring (which does not exist in the module) is taking control of the streets, intimidating and attacking Traladarans with the excuse of Thyatian supremacism.
In the module appears Fortunato Vorloi, whose parentage with the rest of the family is not specified, and his daughter Lucia, whose murder by the Veiled Society is a main point of the module. In my PbP however the Iron Ring tried to kidnap Lucia, but she was saved and so I made his father Fortunato, supposed brother of Philip as per Agathokles and AllanP's Specularum material, a central character in the fight against the Iron Ring.
My idea is that the Vorloi and the Torenescu (Alexander at least) appear quite moderate in the Gaz, so they could well become allies against the Iron Ring, the Veiled Society and other extremists, both Thyatians and Traladarans.
Other characters which appear in the module and not in the Gaz are Simion and Stephanos Torenescu. The first is a diplomat and here Ville Lähde supposed him to be a cousin of Christoph. In the module the Veiled Society tried to kill him, but this did not happen in the PbP as the Society maintained a much lower profile and tried to accredit itself as a organization defending Traladarans against the Iron Ring and extremists.
Stephanos instead is Lucia Vorloi's spurned suitor and I just used it as a spoiled brat and the cousin of Alexander. He appears indeed as such in the Torenescu family tree in Karameikos Kingdom of Adventure, suggesting he should be still alive in 1012 AC.
As later the PCs left Specularum I have not decided yet the fate of Fortunato, Lucia and Simion, but maybe the fight against the Iron Ring could have been much more dramatic than explained in the Gaz.
Not only the three above persons disappeared in later canon, but what about Retameron Antonic's mother and Arteris Penhaligon's mother? They are not mentioned at all Afaik, so they could well have fallen victim of the Iron Ring.
In the PbP the PCs have discovered that in 982 AC Skarda, the evil boss of module X12, kidnapped Elena Kelvin, Milena Antonic and Claudia Penhaligon (names invented by me I think, unless I found them in some fanon work!).
Skarda is a slaver so not connect him to the Iron Ring seemed really a waste
Anna Braun Vorloi (wife of Philip, name created by Agathokles, I think) and Melinda Azuros (wife of Christoph Torenescu and mother of Alexander, mentioned in KkoA), die sometime before 1000 AC, could they have too fallen victim of the Iron Ring?
Also I noticed a string of suspicious events in 996 AC: In the same year, in canon sources, the parents of Aleena Halaran die in Thyatis, Desmond Kelvin I is killed in a duel, Arturus Penhaligon dies of apparently natural causes and Fain Flinn is disgraced, Queen Olivia Karameikos is attacked by orcs. Coincidences? Maybe not
I will eventually update this thread when I decide what will happen, for now the PbP is still in 992 AC. Do you have used some of the people mentioned above in your campaigns/adventures? and how?