Switching the baddies in The Veiled Society (also, Davinos' Complaint)
by Anarion_ElendiliSo in my Mystara speedrun campaign, I basically rewrote Castle Caldwell into a prequel adventure for The Veiled Society (B6), except rather than the titular society, the baddies are the Iron Ring in Castle Caldwell. Originally, I was going to keep the Veiled Society as is, and the Iron Ring would have been just a red herring. However, when rereading the adventure, there are slaves and hobgoblins in the tunnels, and that would tie very nicely with the Iron Ring + Hobgoblin/Goblin Raiders I have been seeding into Castle Caldwell (and which would then lead to other B-series encounters with humanoids and the Iron Ring).
So, I am seriously thinking about making The Iron Ring the main baddies in the Veiled Society. As an additional bonus, it will allow me to keep the Veiled Society around for longer, rather than basically wipe them out in the first couple of adventures. Whereas losing one (important) cell of the Iron Ring will hurt the slavers, but it will not cripple them for good.
I am running Davinos' Complaint simultaneously, and that remains as a Veiled Society plot. The riot in the B6 (due to Davinos' death and no raise dead, in this case, aimed at the 'Thyatian oppressors' rather than the Torenescu) is also organized by the Veiled Society, but the Iron Ring is behind the Vorloi murder, in order to throw Castle Caldwell back into the market, for the Iron Ring to buy the ruins and keep operating slavers from its basement.
The Orator could be the same guy who lures Davinos into the ambush in which he is killed, thus allowing the PCs to identify him as a person of interest. Granted, this keeps them from participating in the riot as leaders, but I think they'd be unlikely to cross the Duke's forces anyway. If they manage to catch the orator, they should be able to get the truth of Davinos' death out of him, or at least take him to the Duke, whose investigators find out that the Veiled Society was behind the murder. However, they won't get to the leaders, as the cell gets wiped out by the Veiled Society before they can be interrogated.
The employment opportunities would still be with the Torenescus and the Veiled Society during the B6 adventure, although I think I would change the escort mission to Lady Magda Marilenev, coming to see Aleksander Torenescu, thus allowing me to introduce this bitter but still regal old lady. She is hoping to use this resentment over Davinos' murder to maybe even start a rebellion against the hated Thyatians. While the Veiled Society figures that this will throw even more fuel into the fire if she gets murdered in the streets by some Thyatian thugs. Maybe even planning on planting some incriminating rebellion plans on her to implicate Aleksander of treason?
The Chase would happen pretty much as is, but it is by the Iron Ring (rather than the Veiled Society), seeking both to stop the investigation of the Vorloi Murder, as well as have some revenge on the PCs, who have caused them so much trouble already.
Obviously, rather than the Veiled Society leadership being decimated here it is the Iron Ring local leadership.
Thoughts? Am I overlooking something?