Café de Nuit

I need a little help with introducing some delciious deadly Borcan back-stabbing into my campaign. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

One of my PCs is a half-Vistani rogue, Iosef, whose family hailed from Borca, but he later moved to Barovia. I've been hoping ever since the campaign started that I would get the chance to put some hooks in this character, because the player chose Borca as a home domain pretty much arbitrarily despite my many, many warnings that hailing from Borca can be hazardous to your health. Now an excellent opportunity with plenty of meaty plot potential has fallen into my lap, and I'm trying to figure out exactly where to take it.

Iosef's family has always done its best to stay neutral in all the crazy Borcan politics, since that's the best way to survive. They had slight Boritsi leanings because they were merchants rather than true nobility and liked how the Boritsis had gotten ahead, but they kept their mouths shut about it and did their best to stay out of those things. A few sessions ago, my fiance joined the game. His character is an arcane trickster whose family is well-known throughout Borca as being leg-breakers for Ivan (and iwhose more far-flung members are less well-known throughout the Core as a family that can put interested buyers in touch with a Dilisnya's specialized services). The party is getting itself into some pretty major exploits, which means that they're making a name for themselves and that their hometowns are beginning to celebrate their adventures . . . and also that it's starting to get back to Borca that Iosef is a comrade of a diehard Dilisnya supporter. Now Iosef's family is in an extraordinarily sticky situation; if they distance themselves from the actions of their half-Vistani bastard cousin, they're all but declaring themselves for Ivana, while if they say nothing, they're tacitly approving his actions and therefore all but declaring themselves for Ivan.

So here's the question: how should I bring the PCs into the troubles back home? My first thought was that Iosef's family would start trying to solve their problem "the Borcan way" by sending him tasty poisoned gift baskets, but I'd like to do something that's geared more toward roleplaying and politics than a simple "escape Iosef's family" scenario. Does anyone have any thoughts on where I could take this?

One way of getting them into the spider's web would be to have his family send Iosef a letter saying someone close to him (mother, loved one, whatever) is dead/dying, and that they want him to come for the funeral/be by their deathbed in case it comes time for that. Of course, they need not actually be dead/dying, they just need something lure the character in and resolve the situation personally, which they could then pin on some other party who murdered their child for whatever reason..

A quick twist would to have his entire family killed when they arrive, which would mean they would either have to escape from Borca lest they join them, or get caught up with the intrigue in order to find out who killed them and why, if only to avenge their deaths.

Perhaps have Ivan send a message to your fiance's character, requesting their presence at his court to personally reward them for their heroics, but have him realize Iosef's family's true allegiance and really want to end his life, should he actually be working against the Dilisnya family.

Of course, once you get the party into Borca, it's fairly simple to become embroiled. Lovely ladies and gentlemen start courting members of the party, they play the 'damsel in distress' card, one trap leads into another, one kiss turns out to be one too many...

Borca: fun for the whole family!

~Pariah

A modification of the above idea - have the 1/2 vistani's family send him some urgent message that he needs to return home. Once there, someone attempts to kill him, planning on pinning his murder on the PCs.

OR, sometime after arrival at the homestead, the family of the above PC turns up murdered in their house. The PCs then become the number one suspects in the crime.


either of those are a bit drastic, but should get the ball rolling fairly well.

For a less bloodthirsty, yet still suspenseful option, perhaps the half-Vistani PC's relatives could set the character up to publicly disgrace himself, so they can justify disowning him on the basis of that, rather than for associating with an Ivan-supporter. If the manner of the PC's disgrace happens to serve the family's covert agenda -- say, he's framed for murdering someone his relatives want out of the way, but are popularly believed to be on good terms with -- so much the better.

Pariah wrote:Perhaps have Ivan send a message to your fiance's character, requesting their presence at his court to personally reward them for their heroics, but have him realize Iosef's family's true allegiance and really want to end his life, should he actually be working against the Dilisnya family.

Or alternately, Have Ivan give your fiance's character (and his companions) a mission: make a certain troublemaking family "disappear." But when they get there, they find out that target is Iosef's family.... (even if Ivan knows Iosef is a member of the family, he might pretend ignorance, since it's more fun that way...)

Depending on how much info your party knows, I would suggest not setting up either Ivan or Ivana as the master villains in whatever plot you go with. Instead, have some other powerful noble be the strongarm bully/sponsor/plothook. Borca's big enough for other, less powerful menaces. Besides, then you could set up the twins as goody-goody benefactors if the need arises.

As for suggestions, why not try pitting the party against either one of Ivana's ermordenung or Ivan's Borrowed Men who heard of the PC's exploits and want to score some favor with their patron. Then, have one or two family members killed off, but not before they reveal that the particular PC's family was gonna have him killed anyway. Then you have them torn between believing their family is trying to kill them while at the same time they're trying to save them.

Ooh. I love these. Love them, I say. Rotipher, I think I'll start with your idea and work my way up . . .

Thanks!