Rookroost, Heart of the Bandit Kingdoms, Part 19

Art by Denis Gordeev

​In this 19th and final installment for the City of Rookroost we take a look at adventure hooks in the city. Once again thanks to everyone that have given me inspiration from Nigel Findley, Erik Mona, Gary Holian, Sean K. Reynolds, Frederick Weining, Casey Brown, and all the fabulous BK authors and lastly Gygax himself.

​1. The Council of Lords has a vacant seat, and the notice has been posted. If not already affiliated with a faction within the city, the characters are hired to deliver bribes, rough up the competition maybe even eliminate the competition.
 
2. The party is approached by a known merchant lord that dropped a key to his strongbox into the sewers. He saw one of those cursed Ratlings in the sewer run off with it, and he wants you to find it.
 
3. Someone is killing high ranking Iuzians. First is a priest of Iuz, then a Captain of the Red Guard, and now an Iuzian merchant. Elara Mornstar and the Congress have had no luck finding out who it is. They want the player's help finding the murderers before Mortoth cracks down on the city for the murders.
 
4. One of the Night Merchants approaches the party, asking if they can investigate a string of body thefts. A strange winged creature has been seen collecting corpses off the streets at night, and it’s cutting into their business.
 
5. Dogs have been gathering in larger and larger packs in Outwall. If that wasn’t bad enough, they have been systematically hunting down the gangs there. Some gang leaders have scrapped together some coin and want to hire the characters to figure it out.
 
6. A friend of the party's has come to them asking for their help. Bounty Hunters are after him, and he does not know why.
 
7. A friend of the Party's turns up in leg irons at the auction block. The bad news is that they were just bought and taken in a group back to the Iuzian hordes camp outside of town. The real bad news is most of the slaves bought by the Iuzians end up in soup pots.
 
8. An old lady has shown up in every quarter of the city selling pastries that are to die for. Everywhere she goes, there are long lines of people waiting to get one. The oddest part about this peddler is that Rookroostians are polite and patiently wait their turn in line no matter where she sells her pastries. Even when the pastries run out, the crowds only groan in disappointment.
 
9. The party has angered someone with enough funds to pay off the courts and the Talons. The party finds out they are wanted by seeing a wanted poster with their images on it.
 
10. A famine has gripped the city, and the characters have been hired to catch Ratlings, but not just for profit, but so they can be cooked up and fed to the masses in Outwall.
 
11. The party is relaxing in a local tavern when a bard starts singing a song. Quickly the characters realize that the tale he is singing is about them, and he is giving out details the party might not want public. How does he know what happened?
 
12. The party is hired to help the kobold clan that takes care of the cities sewers. The kobolds found something in the undercity that has changed a few of them into dangerous and deformed monsters.
 
13. As the night falls and the celebration of Darkest Night begins, one of the characters is a pickpocket victim. Still, they notice in time to see the thief run off into the night. In its place is a note challenging the characters to catch the thief if they can.
 
14. People recruiting bandits and brigands for a raid into the surrounding kingdoms is no big deal is Rookroost, but the Iuzians are doing the recruiting. Is this just a raid, or do they have something else planned?
 
15. Several NPC’s that the characters are familiar with have recently turned up with a small scar on their right temple. Each has a simple story explaining it away, like tripping and falling into cabinets. Other than that, all seems fine.
 
16. A group of wyverns brought to Rookroost for the gladiatorial games has broken free and are terrorizing the city. The owner has paid off the city to give him 24rs to collect his investment. The slaver wants to hire the party to capture them and bring them back…alive.
 
17. A man condemned to die by hanging from a gibbet cage in Raven’s Square is taking a long time to die. In fact, he has been hanging there for over a year now. Despite looking sickly and emaciated, the man is still clinging to life. The Talons hire the party to watch him at night for 4 days to help figure out how he stays alive.
 
18. Several street urchins have been caught in the past two days with their hands in the pockets of all kinds of Rookroost residents. They are not stealing anything. Instead, they are giving away one copper coin to these people, but why? None of the children know why they are doing it, even under magical questioning.
 
19. A city guard that works the Outer-city gate approaches the players and offers to let them know when the tribute shipments are being taken out of the city to the Iuzian army. All the guard wants is a cut of the profit if they can waylay the shipment.
 
20. The party is approached by one of the many rebel factions within the city. It could be Arnol Marsh with the Furyondians, Beanor Borralis with the Shield Landers, or Karst with the Horned Society for recruitment. To prove their sincerity, they will have to undertake a simple mission, of course.
 
21. A street performance with a stage magician and dancers has drawn a large crowd, including a guild leader or two. During the show, a demon pops into existence, seemingly summoned by the stage magician. After appearing, the demon wades into the crowd going after the guild leaders. One of the characters notices that a spectator cast a spell just before the demon appeared.
 
22. A Rookroost Raven approaches the players and asks for their help getting rid of someone killing some regular ravens and one of its extended family. The Raven promises to pay them with trinkets pilfered in the city. When the party confronts those responsible in Outwall, those responsible are a gang of kids armed with slings.
 
23. The party is approached by the thieves guild, the Congress, and wants them to waylay an incoming shipment destined to the temple of Iuz and turn it over to them. If the party accepts and captures the wagon, they find out the cargo is a half dozen slaves.
 
24. The party is hired to take a shipment of supplies secretly to rebels in the Fellreev Forest. They will have to avoid, bluff, or bribe their way past the Iuzian checkpoints along the way.
 
25. The party is hired to kidnap an important official in the city and turn them over to one of the rebel groups. The deal was set up through intermediaries, but when the party brings the official to drop off, Iuzians are waiting to accept the official.

Art by Ilyana Zarov