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Ozreth
Learned Scribe
187 Posts |
 Posted - 22 Mar 2013 : 05:34:22
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I'm planning on having my players traverse the Underdark (I started an earlier scroll asking for basica underdark advice) to stop what they think is a house preparing to launch an attack on Mithril Hall.
They will find that there are actually two houses at war, one of which DOES plan on attacking MH after (Baenre) after defeating the other (Oblodra).
Espionage and politics are not my strong points. Anybody have some cool ideas to throw at me as far as getting the players in the middle of this thing? Thanks :)
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36779 Posts |
Posted - 22 Mar 2013 : 13:38:10
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Give the PCs a contact. It doesn't have to be a drow, but at least someone in Menzo that the PCs are familiar with.
And then have this person die under mysterious circumstances... Maybe the PCs go to meet him right after, while he's dying. He gasps out some message and that's it.
The PCs begin to look into it, and find that there have been several similar murders, of late... And it takes them a while, but eventually they figure out all the murders are either Baenres or agents/reps of the family. The O family has been taking them out to make their planned assault against the Baenre compound go easier, and/or torturing them for intelligence about the compound.
Or... Since it's Oblodra, have a contact that's friendly to the PCs. He suddenly, without warning, becomes hostile -- he's friendly one day, tries to kill them the next. Maybe the PCs knock him out, maybe they hit him with some sort of dispelling magic, but the end result is that the guy is temporarily freed of the psionic dominance the Os had laid on him. And this guy is, again, an agent/rep of the Baenres, and this was one of the opening moves before the assault.
(This all assumes you want House O as the antagonists. I've not read the relevant fiction in a long time, so I don't recall who, exactly, started the hostilities. I remember how they ended, but I don't recall if it was a prolonged conflict or a very short one.) |
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Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 22 Mar 2013 14:41:40 |
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Kris the Grey
Senior Scribe
USA
422 Posts |
Posted - 22 Mar 2013 : 16:53:39
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@Wooly - It was a short one. House O made a move on House B (and all the others basically) during the Time of Troubles when magic went south (Lolth's included) and psionics (the 1E version) was still up and running. Unfortunately, that ended poorly when the ToT ended and 1E psionics vanished for a bit before 2E psionics took hold. Anyway, it seems as though Ozreth isn't going for a strictly cannon approach here, but something a bit more freeform. Your suggestions are all good ones for getting them caught up in the Drow plots.
@Ozreth - The important thing to remember when dealing with Drow (from my DMing point of view anyway) is that they are constantly working plots within schemes within intrigues. Just when you think you have one thread of their plotting understood it turns out you've stumbled into two more. So, if you are looking to play heavily in the espionage and politics aspects of the Drow (instead of just doing an old fashioned PCs = good and Drow = bad style mix it up) then be sure to have a few twists thrown into your meta plot. Maybe you make the Drow the PCs will ultimately want to help seem like their enemies at first, with their ultimate enemies as their initial allies? Maybe you twist that up again by having important NPC Drow within each faction aid or hinder the PCs to work against their own faction leaders for their own purposes. On top of that, since you previously mentioned a desire to include Bregan D'Aerth, you can have them serve as either a third faction or a messenger of sorts for House B (but with their own ultimate agenda slightly different from that of either house). Either way, always keep the PCs guessing and, in the end, have ALL the Drow seek to kill the PCs to send the message that they simply cannot be trusted. To a Drow, anyone they 'ally' with is a tool, not a friend, and those tools are best disposed of at the end of such an association (that way no one knows you ever used them).
How do you get that ball rolling? My advice is have your PCs stumble into the Drow generally (as I'm sure they've done by now) as they travel in the area and, as the Drow factions come to see them as powerful (instead of just weak) because they are winning fights against them, have one (or both) of the factions reach out to the PCs to lure them into an alliance. How you do that depends upon whether the PCs have an 'it's a Drow, kill it on sight!' or a 'I'll chat up anybody' philosophy. If they are talkers, then just send in a mouthpiece NPC (preferably a pretty, clever, or pretty AND clever one - a good role for B'DA). If they are battle minded, then have the Drow setup a 'battle' for the PCs to happen upon where your contact (disguised or polymorphed or psionically in the body of a non Drow if it's House O) gets 'rescued' by the PCs from a group of Drow 'bad guys' (another good role for B'DA) they chase off. That should do the trick! |
Kris the Grey - Member in Good Standing of the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors, the Arcane Guild of Silverymoon, and the Connecticut Bar Association |
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BEAST
Master of Realmslore
USA
1714 Posts |
Posted - 22 Mar 2013 : 18:33:57
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Menzoberranyr drow seem to prefer short, quick, massively-overwhelming sneak attacks to long, protracted wars. They want to be able to obliterate an enemy house, clean up, and then play the charade that the losing house never even existed. It's harder to do that when there's an extensive record of battle victories and losses on both sides over the course of a long war. And besides that, Menzoberranyr condemn publicly allowing noble survivors of a house war to continue to live, which pretty much necessitates a sneak attack.
With that in mind, a house war would probably be preceded by a great deal of planning and preparation, to try to cover all forseeable contingencies. Spying on enemies and their allies, and deal-making with one's own allies, would take place in a subtle way, so as to avoid arousing suspicions, as well as to provide plausible deniability right up until the night of the attack.
One matron mother might ask the rest of the Ruling Council questions about resources for some business deal or patrol plans, and then be quick to level praise at the superior matron mothers for their foresight and show of power in making such preparations, but meanwhile, the inquirer might actually be gathering valuable intel for the future. Stroke egoes, and deflect suspicions.
Always have a patsy/fall guy. Be prepared to blame someone else.
As Bart Simpson used to say, "I didn't do it; nobody saw me; you can't prove anything."
And as what has been alleged to be a sort of informal motto of the US Central Intelligence Agency, "Admit nothing; deny everything; and make counter-accusations." 
Matron K'yorl Odran of House Oblodra was notoriously cocky in social circles, and reckless in battle and the use of magic. Many thought this a bluff, and that K'yorl was covering for some inner sense of inadequacy.
But that's not likely. Even with her apparent recklessness, she rose to Third Matron Mother of Menzoberranzan, which would seriously undermine any thoughts of her being a poser or shallow wanna-be.
Somehow, Matron K'yorl became the principal overseer of the Menzo patrol groups. This position allowed to keep tabs on all of the rest of the houses, and to remain perpetually advised of house strengths and weaknesses, gossip, etc.
And just for fun, Matron K'yorl would constantly use her mind-magic to mess with the heads of the other matron mothers. Supposedly, she rarely did this for her immediate gain, but mostly did it to keep the others off-kilter concerning her. She loved to have it that way.
And somehow, despite her seeming recklessness, Matron K'yorl remained in Lolth's good graces, right up until the end. My guess would be that this was because she was not really as reckless as she seemed. She played the chaotic role to perfection, but she was actually very much in control of her actions.
Because of her love of psionics, it was rumored that House Oblodra was in league with a bunch of illithids. This mindflayer community almost certainly had dealings with Matron Yvonnel Baenre's own illithid advisor, Methil El-Viddenvelp. Ostensibly, Matron Yvonnel showed great respect for Matron K'yorl because of the illithid connection, but it's possible that Methil's community might've actuallly ironically grown to side more with Matron Yvonnel than with K'yorl. Perhaps Yvonnel bribed them. Or maybe K'yorl's cockiness got the better of her.
But Matron Mother Yvonnel Baenre remained the mistress of intrigue within the city of Menzoberranzan. Her constant encouragement of ambition and treachery within the other houses, coupled with her myriad side-deals and bribes with those houses, ensured that she remained firmly entrenched and enshrouded in protective webs right up her final day on Toril. Yvonnel conducted herself with a considerable air of sureness, as well. But no one ever accused her of bluffing; they knew better.
The Salvatore novels Starless Night and Siege of Darkness tell of the canonical final confrontation between House Baenre and House Oblodra. You could always use that as a starting point to see how the matron mothers interacted with one another, versus how they really felt about each other. Yvonnel and K'yorl were openly hostile to each other at times, and it was said tha K'yorl's recklessness had lead her house to the brink of destruction many, many times--before it finally lead the house all the way there.
So your idea of a house war between these two is absolutely reasonable.
Maybe one of your party has a key defense against psionics? Matron Yvonnel might be persuaded to show your party somewhat more hospitality than she normally otherwise would, if she thought she could use your party to eradicate the Oblodra threat. Matron Baenre getting the illithids to turn their backs on House Oblodra, at the same time that your party helps to actively undo the house psions, might be a great way to wipe out Matron K'yorl's house, and to get in good with Matron Yvonnel--for a time. |
"'You don't know my history,' he said dryly."
--Drizzt Do'Urden (The Pirate King, Part 1: Chapter 2)
<"Comprehensive Chronology of R.A. Salvatore Forgotten Realms Works"> |
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The Masked Mage
Great Reader
USA
2420 Posts |
Posted - 24 Mar 2013 : 06:54:33
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I'm with you in the thought that Oblodra was a very interesting house, and I hated the quick and easy end to them. It should be noted, that we never really see ANY Oblodran die their final deaths. We see K'Yorl sucked into the Abyss to be tortured by Errtu and we see her house pulled into the claw rift and ONE daughter thrown in after it. For me, the two most interesting uses for Oblodran are as survivors (perhaps some simply survived, or were not present - managing to escape earlier via psychoportation, or even end up as Lloth's servants in the Abyss and earned reward from her and so can now return to Faerun for vengeance), and the idea that those that did not survive persist in the Claw Rift as undead. I personally go with all of the above :). Most of the powerful family members were able to escape their house's destruction - fleeing through their hidden subterranean passages or elsewhere. Those that died outright are now undead. K'yorl found herself in the Abyss as Lloth's plaything but eventually earned her freedom (not at all unprecedented for one of Errtu's victims to escape) and now covertly gathers her family, rebuilds what Oblodra has lost, and learns to master her undead. I even like to think she found a particularly powerful item of Lloth's magic in the Abyss :)
As for how to mix PCs up in a Baenre/Oblodra conflict, the easiest way would be to encounter a sole representative of either House, or in the alternative one of Jaraxle's boys, and then manage to prove themselves valuable. Possibly use the mantol derrith module as a starter. Whatever is done to accomplish this, it has to be some kind of special because getting on the 'good' side of the drow is not easily done. I could see my returned K'yorl looking to outsiders as a covert source of power - send others and no one will be the wiser she is back. By recruiting the PCs and sending them to be recruited by Baenre, she gets her foot in the door without putting herself at any risk. |
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Kyrel
Learned Scribe
151 Posts |
Posted - 24 Mar 2013 : 17:56:51
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Ozreth. Personally I'd probably look at having the Oblodra "recruit" the players as spies, pawns or whatever. I assume that they are non-drow, so arguably they should be able to do things that might be more difficult for a Drow to do. I.e. conduct negotiations and business with Bligdenstone. Also, if the PC's are looking to prevent an attack against Mithril Hall, then it would make sense for them to aid the house that isn't looking to mount an attack at the place.
Given that the event canonically takes place during the Time of Troubles, it might also make sense for House Oblodra to use them to try and figure out what the heck is actually happening with the Gods and Magic in general. As "Iblith" they are also expendable assets, so if they should die on some mad longshot assignment to try and recover some sort of item that House Oblodra believes might give them an edge against House Baenre, it's no real big loss.
Using the canon destruction of the Oblodra also gives you a nice and logical exit from the adventure in Menzo, as it might not be wise for them to remain in the area, if they are recignized as having been employed by the then fallen house. Besides, when the house falls, their best bet to prevent the assault on Mithral Hall probably fails, and it will then make sense for them to try and return to the Dwarves with a warning of the imminent assault, and then partake in it's defense, if they are so inclined. |
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How to set up the war b/t Oboldra and Baenre?
