D20 SYSTEM✦ Normal

The Sedition of the Kennels

# Intrigue# Social# Investigation

The iron-clad mastiffs of Blackrock Keep, bred for loyalty and ferocity, have become unpredictable, docile, and sickly. The official report blames a wasting sickness, but whispers in the stables and kennels point to something far more insidious. The grooms, a desperate underclass within the keep's rigid hierarchy, are suspected of blending cheap, hallucinogenic straw into the animals' feed. Their motive? Not mere cruelty, but a desperate gambit to extort 'feed funds' from the Quartermaster to save their own families from starvation. Players arrive as the situation simmers on a knife's edge. The Keep's commander demands a swift, brutal purge of the grooms. The grooms claim they are the true victims, squeezed between a neglectful command and the kennel master's impossible standards. To find the truth is to navigate a labyrinth of lies, class resentment, and desperate survival, where every choice will brand you a hero to one side and a villain to the other.

Chronicle Prelude

The Outer Ward of Blackrock Keep, a grim fortress perched on a wind-scoured cliff. The air smells of damp stone, dog fur, and tension. The kennels are eerily quiet, the chained mastiffs listless. Players will be addressed by a tight-lipped Guard Captain, tasked with 'investigating the kennel sickness' by the Keep's Commander.

Environmental Traits

The stability of Blackrock Keep's critical mastiff patrols is collapsing. The beasts, essential for holding the frontier against gnoll raids and protecting supply caravans, are now unreliable. The keep's military readiness is compromised, and a social schism between the rigid officer class and the impoverished service staff threatens to tear the community apart from within.

Legendary Archetypes

Rayan

HP:45

STR:16

WIS: 12

CHA:11

Key Factions & Autonomous Nodes (8)

Commander Evrard
A tall, gaunt man in immaculate, austere military attire. His posture is rigid, his face a mask of severe discipline. He bears no visible faction markings beyond his pristine uniform, which speaks of The Iron Discipline's uncompromising standards.
Quartermaster Voss
A portly man with a nervous sweat on his brow, wearing the slightly less austere uniform of the administrative staff. His desk is unnervingly tidy. He represents the bureaucratic face of The Iron Discipline, hiding his failure behind procedure.
Kennel Master Garrick
A burly, scarred man smelling of dog and leather. His eyes are hard and unforgiving. He wears a heavy leather apron, stained with use. He is the enforcer of The Iron Discipline's impossible standards at the ground level.
Grooms' Leader Rissa
A wiry, determined woman in patched stable clothes. Her hands are calloused, her eyes sharp with fear and cunning. She wears a braid of straw woven into her belt—the quiet mark of The Straw Bearers.
Groom Apprentice Fin
A pale, thin youth barely old enough to grow a beard. He flinches at loud noises and constantly wrings his hands. His guilt is written plainly on his face.
Guard Captain Borin
A stocky, suspicious man in the polished breastplate and helm of the Keep's guard. His hand rests near his sword hilt. He is the first wall of The Iron Discipline's suspicion.
Blind Stablemaster Odessa
An ancient, hunched woman who navigates the stable by touch and smell. Her eyes are clouded white, but her other senses are preternaturally sharp. She is a neutral repository of the keep's long history.
Grooms' Alchemist Tomkin
A man with ink-stained fingers and a pouch full of dried herbs. He wears an apron with multiple small pockets, the uniform of a herbalist. He is The Straw Bearers' specialist.

Chronicle Prelude

Environmental Traits

Legendary Archetypes

✦ Related Cases ✦

The Drowned Siren's Bargain

The Blighted Harvest