A Military Adventure

[Tybalt]

This is for an adventure I'm actually going to run. It has a number of different possible paths that it could take. I'd appreciate thoughts and feedback.

Background: The New Edomite Army is encamped outside a (semi) friendly city. The Governor has made it clear that he doesn't want them billeted in the city but has permitted them to shop in it. There are certainly political tensions; one of them is the New Edomite dislike of slavery, while this city in Siluria has slaves as a major form of commerce. (sold to plantations and mines mostly)

The pcs have recently captured an enemy warship and want to sell it in order to get the money and also buy a smaller ship that would be more useful to them. (it's a huge war galleas and requires a crew of about 200) Along with some other officers and fleet leaders they are among the few New Edomites staying in town, at an inn near the harbour.

Adventure:

- The pcs are approached by an officer of the watch, who wants to know if they can identify a murder victim. This is a New Edomite (recognized by the distinct army haircut) lying nude in an alley. It is a woman, a female officer known to at least one pc. The body was found outside a low class tavern/brothel; no gear is found near the body. The patrons of the tavern/brothel claim never to have seen the person before.

- The pcs may volunteer to take up the cause of investigation; at the very least they will be expected to deal with the body respectfully. How they handle things will determine a great deal of what happens in this phase of the campaign.

Possibilities:

- Investigation is announced. The pcs' reputation in general soothes some unease but there are plots and intrigues about this. The pcs encounter byzantine city politics, the criminal underworld and insistent on urgent action by senior officers in their own army. A talented but pompous and naive wizard tries to get involved 'on their behalf'.

- The pcs either don't investigate or insist on their involvement being a secret. In this case grief stricken comrades of the dead officer try to avenge her and in so doing create violence that results in escalation until an overzealous colonel takes over part of the city. Riots break out; violent clashes between the city guard and the New Edomite army take place...

The Truth:

is that nothing occult or sinister took place. The young officer left her friends, slightly drunk, in disgust as they were drooling over tavern dancers. Then she encountered three city guards who found her very charming and tried to persuade her to come to their room. The discussion got violent; insulted by their behavior she slew one of them and then was killed in turn. They came out of their rage and realized in horror what they had done, and decided to try to hide the body while they decided what to do. As she lay in the alley her body was stripped of gear and clothing by beggars who then crept away.

[Steerpike]

I'm interested in how you imagine the PCs arriving at "the truth" if indeed you want them to.  Were there any other witnesses of the murder?  Any clues on the body (i.e. wound patterns or whatnot - for example they might tell that she was in a struggle, rather than being taken by surprise) or around the crime scene (a scrap of uniform from a city guard, perhaps?)?

[Tybalt]

Thanks for replying. :)

I was planning for there having been a witness to seeing beggars in the alley not long before dawn, and some identity of the beggars being given. This witness is one of the younger servants of the brothel who was very sleepily emptying some slops into the alley just as the beggars were leaving. The beggars can be found and questioned but are likely to flee from well armed or dressed strangers approaching them purposefully. A scrap of guardsman's tunic was found in the alley.

The body would look (on examination) like a fight had taken place.

Another piece of evidence: gradually items belonging to the dead officer are found being sold in unsavoury places.

[Tybalt]

NPCs

The Fence
In the guise of a simple grocer the fence seems witty, a local gossip of note with a small household of wife, two young daughters, two slaves who are like part of the family and a thriving business in preserved meat, fruit and cheese. He has good connections with farms outside the city. He is also a smuggler of note, high ranking in the Thieves Guild for his ability to move stolen goods along with produce and food for caravans, military operations and so on. Unbeknownst to the unwary or un-streetwise he also always has some urchins connected with the Thieves Guild on the watch, supposedly just playing, is an important property owner in the Lower City (though he hides his wealth) and is well connected enough that members of the city watch who are in the pay of the Thieves Guild will certainly act to protect him.

The Corrupt Watch Officer
An officer of great ability, he unfortunately came heavily into debt through no fault of his own--his young daughter being ill, requiring fees to apothecaries and priests that he couldn't pay. He lied to his wife about coming into an inheritance and now has to keep up the lie and a lifestyle he cannot afford. This makes him bitter and seemingly overzealous in the line of duty in some areas--he feels he has to make up for further lies and deceptions and corrupt acts he does on the part of the Thieves Guild.

The Evil Watch Officer
The Corrupt Watch Officer is partly in the thrall of a subordinate--a totally amoral ex-mercenary who found himself liking the idea of the city watch better. He acts as though he is a paragon of virtue but in fact is quite evil, unhesitatingly persecuting the poor and helpless, using his authority to enforce bribes and the surrender of virtue of women he fancies. He is sly enough to avoid being directly implicated, and uses his willingness to do whatever it takes to stay in the clear to make his superior need him to do dirty jobs he can't bear to.

The Magistrate
The Magistrate has no idea that members of the watch have been corrupted. He believes that the Lower City is simply a sink of crime but that it is being curbed, and that his men are (while a little venal from time to time) good men who are loyal to their city. He is pleasant enough to strangers but is a busy man and uses his secretaries to keep the public at bay while he busily works at perfecting the city's laws. He is not a bad man but is a trifle arrogant and pompous.

The Colonel
The Colonel resents the city's government for insisting that his troops camp outside. He is also infuriated that one of his soldiers was murdered. He will grow increasingly impatient at the investigation and when some of his troops run riot for vengeance he will seize this as an excuse to 'defend his own' and leads a body of troops into the city while the General is away inspecting the fleet.

[Tybalt]

The Thieves Guild

There is a secret war going on in the city. The regular Thieves Guild mostly handles the following:
- prostitution (mostly of slaves owned by tavern keepers, but also some streetwalkers)
- stolen goods
- illegal weapons dealing (non-residents are charged a heavy extra fee for the purchase of weapons, which can only legally be done from established weaponmakers and armourers.)
- drugs (some narcotics and other substances are illegal in the city)
- gambling (it is illegal to gamble beyond a certain amount of money, or to bet on blood sports)
- thievery (cutpurses, burglars, etc)
- slavery (while there are licensed slavers there is a kind of 'under the counter' slave trade that goes on, involving anything from kidnap victims to slaves stolen by bandits.)
- city land and employment.  (petty landlords control housing in the lower city in particular. They often force the poor, who are sometimes simply poor labourers but also peasants who have lost their lands, ex slaves and so on, into work for almost no pay on the behalf of greedy merchants)

The Thieves Guild does not control ALL crime, simply most of it. A shrewd, genial and psychotic barber named Hakim controls it. He has contacts with two bandit gangs outside the city, deals with smugglers who ply the river and the sea, and has arrangements with illegal slavers, merchants dealing in stolen goods and so on. The actual thievery proper is more about control than the main business of the guild. The gang of thieves that haunt the marketplace for example pay him tribute and in turn keep things from getting so out of hand that the local merchants would raise a big fuss.

Rivals have come and gone--jealous lieutenants, people controlling businesses that wouldn't give in--but the worst has happened at last. Recently a dangerous pirate called Surock moved into town, at first just selling stolen goods, but then refusing to pay his percentage. Because his band is very well armed and skilled in combat the Thieves Guild is confounded--they have tough members but aren't really ready for an open battle. Of course they have members of the City Watch at their beck and call but to their consternation the pirates have successfully bribed enough of them that they won't take action.

Surock has gained a number of Hakim's former followers who simply hate Hakim; they don't realize they're simply exchanging one devil for another. The only real difference between them is manner--Hakim likes to pretend to be the cheerful local barber, and even has the bizarre habit of offering a shave or trim to those who come to petition him. Surock on the other hand likes to pretend he is an utter barbaric savage, even though he was originally educated as a priest. Now and then he makes jaws drop by tossing some philosophical phrases into a conversation between gulps of liquor or bouts of violence.