The Spice Merchant Who Derailed the Campaign
A little backstory...
I thought this would provide a little bit of flavor (no pun intended). The players were all convinced that there was Something More Going On.
If you have been following my stories, you know that Play-by-post is an incredibly slow format. While I do not want to railroad the players, any deviation from the actual story can lead to weeks of delay and non-progression of the actual plot. But for some reason, they wouldn't let this go.
I ended up improvising a storyline where Barastes was a member of the Resistance trying to oppose Jehnna's imposition of Martial Law. The adventurers then helped him sneak other members out of the city. What was supposed to be a two, maybe three, post conversation ended up taking nearly three weeks of game play to resolve.
The post I am sharing involves the halfling wizard Romulus confronting the spice wagon and demanding it to stop... The rest, as they say, is history.
Kysek swings wide around the wagons, coming up toward them from behind.
He hears Romulus' demand of the wagon drivers and chuckles softly to himself as he imagines the diminutive mage facing down a score of armed men with a stick and a handful of darts. There is a flurry of activity in the wagons as tarps are pulled low over cargo and the guards try to ensure items are concealed inside of cloaks, boots and sleeves.
The fat wagon driver holds up his hand, signalling his men to stop walking and calls out "I am Samarides, a simple merchant from Shadizar and these men are my escorts. Who are you? I remember no merchant midget in the City of Thieves."
The skinny driver looks around to his escorts and in a harsh, garbled whiper asks "Is it all hidden? We can't afford to lose any of it to the Royal Princess' guards."
Samarides tells two of his men to raise the cover for his wagon and then invites Morn, Shadow and "Faustino" to inspect his jewelry one at a time in the privacy of the wagon. As each one of the adventurers enters, they see that the fat merchant has a small, hinged chest, rough 5" tall x 8 " long x 4" wide. The inside of the chest is lined with black velvet and has several gems and a ring inside.
Baratses the Spice Merchant leans over the side of his wagon and unrolls an awning from the side of it, walks around to the back, climbing up three steps and sliding open a pair of shutters on the driver's side of the wagon.
Small ceramic jars of powders and pastes line the sides of the shelves the merchant unlatches from the overheard and locks into an upright position. Labels adorn each of the jars and read "Cinnamon", "Mace", "Nutmeg", "Vendhyan Black Pepper" and "Saffron". Glass jars containing Argossean Green Olives and bottles of olive oil line the shelves behind the broken toothed merchant as he settles in on a three-legged stool.
- The party has just defeated Yara of the Elephant Tower in the city of Arenjun. The princess Jehnna has arrived to restore order along with a small entourage. Satisfied that their work is done, the adventurers have left town, bound for their next destination. At this point, I included a Random Encounter - a shady spice merchant named Barastes and his parner Samarides bringing a caravan of wagons bringing trade goods (and certain valuables hidden beneath the floorboards of his wagon to avoid paying tariffs) into the city.
I thought this would provide a little bit of flavor (no pun intended). The players were all convinced that there was Something More Going On.
If you have been following my stories, you know that Play-by-post is an incredibly slow format. While I do not want to railroad the players, any deviation from the actual story can lead to weeks of delay and non-progression of the actual plot. But for some reason, they wouldn't let this go.
I ended up improvising a storyline where Barastes was a member of the Resistance trying to oppose Jehnna's imposition of Martial Law. The adventurers then helped him sneak other members out of the city. What was supposed to be a two, maybe three, post conversation ended up taking nearly three weeks of game play to resolve.
The post I am sharing involves the halfling wizard Romulus confronting the spice wagon and demanding it to stop... The rest, as they say, is history.
Kysek swings wide around the wagons, coming up toward them from behind.
He hears Romulus' demand of the wagon drivers and chuckles softly to himself as he imagines the diminutive mage facing down a score of armed men with a stick and a handful of darts. There is a flurry of activity in the wagons as tarps are pulled low over cargo and the guards try to ensure items are concealed inside of cloaks, boots and sleeves.
The fat wagon driver holds up his hand, signalling his men to stop walking and calls out "I am Samarides, a simple merchant from Shadizar and these men are my escorts. Who are you? I remember no merchant midget in the City of Thieves."
The skinny driver looks around to his escorts and in a harsh, garbled whiper asks "Is it all hidden? We can't afford to lose any of it to the Royal Princess' guards."
Samarides tells two of his men to raise the cover for his wagon and then invites Morn, Shadow and "Faustino" to inspect his jewelry one at a time in the privacy of the wagon. As each one of the adventurers enters, they see that the fat merchant has a small, hinged chest, rough 5" tall x 8 " long x 4" wide. The inside of the chest is lined with black velvet and has several gems and a ring inside.
Baratses the Spice Merchant leans over the side of his wagon and unrolls an awning from the side of it, walks around to the back, climbing up three steps and sliding open a pair of shutters on the driver's side of the wagon.
Small ceramic jars of powders and pastes line the sides of the shelves the merchant unlatches from the overheard and locks into an upright position. Labels adorn each of the jars and read "Cinnamon", "Mace", "Nutmeg", "Vendhyan Black Pepper" and "Saffron". Glass jars containing Argossean Green Olives and bottles of olive oil line the shelves behind the broken toothed merchant as he settles in on a three-legged stool.
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