Remixing Death on the Reik: The schemes of the Red Crown and the Wittgenstein meteorite (very long)

[Theo]

I’m getting ready to begin the second “season” – that is, more or less, Death on the Reik - of my remixed The Enemy Within campaign. I’m reworking some of the plotlines, in part to fit better with my reworked setting (see the first few posts in the linked thread), in part to strengthen the links to other parts of the campaign. I thought I’d continue to post separate threads on different plots and elements and ask for some feedback and brainstorming.

The subject of this one is the bits of DotR covered under the headline “The Schemes of the Red Crown” – that is, Etelka Herzen’s search for the Wittgenstein meteorite and the events around Grissenwald. I intend to start out this plotline fairly straight but throw in some complications further on. I'll split this into a couple of posts for readibility.

[Theo]

Some plot/background modifications I’ve already settled on:

- Several parties interested in ancient and forbidden knowledge have learned about ancient and mostly lost technology of probable extraterrestrial origin, including a device to create doppelgangers or shapeshifting homunculi. This device was supposedly powered by “stardust” from Morrslieb. Various people and groups have tried, or at least wished, to reconstruct the device from incomplete descriptions but the required quantities of the powering warpstone/stardust are lacking. Among these are or were the inner circles of the Purple Hand (see my other thread), the alchemist / sorceress Etelka Herzen, and, of course, the late astronomer / alchemist / necromancer Dagmar von Wittgenstein and currently her descendant Margritte.

- As in the original, Dagmar von Wittgenstein found and brought home the meteorite, but it was hidden and forgotten until Jungfrau Margritte found it a few years ago. Margritte is now well on her way to finish a working version of the doppelganger device.

- Esther Lieberung, a high-ranking Purple Hand cultist of Middenheim (and previously Nuln), was working with Etelka Herzen – the two were personal friends, or at least they enjoyed working together - on finding the meteorite in order to reconstruct the device. They were planning an expedition to search for it when Lieberung recently suddenly disappeared. At this time, they had made separate discoveries - Herzen had found out the probable location of the meteor in the Barren Hills, and Lieberung had located the lost observatory of Dagmar von Wittgenstein. She was on her way to investigate it (as well as pick up her supposed inheritance in Bogenhafen) when she met her untimely demise. They were and are unaware of Margritte’s discovery and Dagmar’s successful recovery of the meteorite.

- Lieberung’s cult superior in Middenheim, Law Lord Karl-Heinz Wasmeier, is aware of this research and very interested in it for his political schemes. At present he doesn’t actually have a doppelganger on hand and his machinations are limited to controlling powerful people. Learning about the doppelganger device inspired his second plot, to actually replace the Graf, if and when he can get his hands on the tech.

- However, Wasmeier doesn’t trust Lieberung completely and Herzen not at all. Lieberung, meanwhile, carefully kept some key information from Wasmeier in order to remain indispensable to him. He has sent his own “special task force” – a small Chaos warband with some normal-passing members – out to keep tabs on Herzen’s doing and intervene if necessary. This group will replace the Skaven band in the adventure. I picture them as basically an evil (well, Chaotic) adventuring party.

- Recently, Herzen sent her young henchman Ernst Heidelmann to Bogenhafen to deliver a sorcerous scroll to her friend Johannes Teugen. From Altdorf on, he was on the same boat as the PCs (but he didn’t know Lieberung and thus didn’t “recognize” the lookalike). On the way west, they discovered the signaling device and the underground observatory under it (though not the secret library yet). Heidelmann doesn’t quite know its significance but when he returns to tell Herzen she’ll put two and two together. But since it’s much further away (I placed the tower west of Altdorf, not far from Bogenhafen), she’ll go to the Barren Hills first before checking the observatory.

- I have some ideas for the endgame of this plot, but I’ll take that in a separate post a bit later on.

[Theo]

Things I haven’t decided on yet and would much appreciate input on:

- Should my Etelka Herzen actually be a member of the Red Crown? (See my other thread for more on my take on the cults.) I’m leaning towards her maybe being more of an “independent expert”, but either way she’s mainly out for herself. She will be something of a prepper/survivalist and at least lean closer to the RC, but she’ll be willing to make deals with the PH (and with the PCs). Ulvhednar the Chaos Warrior, on the other hand, will be a fanatical supporter of the RC.

- If Herzen’s loyalty is in doubt (or known to be nonexistent), Heidelmann might be a cultist sent to liaison and keep an eye on her, as is implied in DotR. Or he might just be her student/apprentice.

- How to reskin the dwarfs and goblins. (Both dwarfs and goblins exist in my version of the setting, but are rarely-seen faerie beings and not fit for the very mundane roles they play in tthis adventure.) I lean toward the dwarfs becoming immigrant miners from the Border Princes, but the goblins are a little trickier. The obvious alternatives are either a beastman/mutant band or a band of ordinary, but particularly vicious, outlaws. I was toying with the idea of making them the tattered remains of a heterogenous mercenary company with a horrible reputation (something like The Brave Companions from A Song of Ice and Fire), but I think I’ll save that group for later in the campaign.

- Whether to handle the chase element impressionistically – that is, the PCs catch up with Herzen and Heidelmann when I think it would be a good time for it – or on a timeline. In the latter case I need to make allowances for the possibility of them getting to the signal tower before the PCs. If so, can they get into the secret library without the keys somehow?

- How to handle the confrontation, when they eventually catch up. I’m leaning towards it not necessarily being an immediate fight, unless the PCs insist on it – first, Herzen will presumably assume the lookalike to be her friend Esther, and even if/when she figures out the truth, she’d probably rather make use of the PCs than kill them if possible (and she might pretend to be fooled for longer than she actually is). She might suggest an “enemy of my enemy” temporary unholy alliance against Wasmeier’s boys (se below) or the Wittgensteins. Of course she’ll eventually double-cross them if it happens.

- Whether Wasmeier’s goon squad have also found out about the meteorite on their own, and thus gone directly to the Barren Hills (where they will clash briefly with the PCs), or whether they, just like the PCs, first went to Grissenwald and then trailed Herzen to the Hills. The latter variant will more easily make logical sense but will introduce additional complexities.

[Gideon]

I'm not really sure you need any input on this, since your ideas seem to be pretty good on their own, but I've scribbled down some quick thoughts of my own.

A lot depends on what you decide regarding cult affiliations (in your other thread). I think you combined my ideas in the Call of Cthulhu version of TEW, where I merged the Red Crown and Purple Hand, and my Twists in the Tale version, where the cults are separate. It didn't matter directly in "season 1", as you left the background of these organisations mysterious, but now they are in the forefront of the action, you do need to make a decision on which way you want to go.

1. If you merge the cults, you have the "skaven problem". In my CoC TEW outline, I assumed that Etelka Herzen and the Purple Hand would take on the role of the skaven and end up stealing the "doppelgänger device". That requires Etelka Herzen to take on the role of the skaven and have a showdown with the PCs in the Barren Hills. The PCs would next meet her at Castle Wittgenstein in a battle over the device.

2. You could, as you suggest, make the skaven a Purple Hand warband, and keep the existing structure of Death on the Reik. But that seems to me duplicative, if Ernst Heidlemann has also been sent as a minder. Duplication isn't necessarily unreasonable, but it's not the cleanest (or clearest) plot.

3. Keeping the cults separate avoids these problems. The difficulty is, though, that I think you linked Esther Lieberung and Etelka Herzen in season 1. That needs to be explained. The idea of the Red Crown as a Purple Hand splinter group might be the solution.

On the other hand, the idea of Herzen's loyalties being uncertain or even fluid potentially creates shifting loyalties and double-crosses. If the Red Crown is a splinter group, it's more obvious where her loyalties lie.

On the subject of Etelka Herzen there is a missing handout relating to her. It's described on p39 of Death on the Reik, but not included in the numbered handouts. I have a version of it, but forgot to include it in the Companion, because it was never numbered in the original. I've put it on my OneDrive, if you'd like it:

https://onedrive.live.com/?id=C86ACFA4B ... A4B04325B4

Unfortunately, it shows the observatory in the original location, rather than the site you moved it to, so it is perhaps not so useful for you.

[Theo]

Thanks for the feedback.

A lot depends on what you decide regarding cult affiliations (in your other thread). I think you combined my ideas in the Call of Cthulhu version of TEW, where I merged the Red Crown and Purple Hand, and my Twists in the Tale version, where the cults are separate. It didn't matter directly in "season 1", as you left the background of these organisations mysterious, but now they are in the forefront of the action, you do need to make a decision on which way you want to go.

Yeah, I mashed those up. The way I'm leaning now to resolve things is:

- The Red Crown is a splinter group of the Purple Hand (I might rename both, but I'll use these names here for clarity).

- Etelka Herzen is not actually a member of either cult, but a more or less "independent consultant" and initiated in much of the same secret knowledge. She's a kind of survivalist / prepper, quietly building her own power base for the expected apocalypse, and generally an ally of the Red Crown, but not a completely trusted one - but her expertise makes her indispensable to them.

She's also a personal friend of the mid-to-high-ranking Purple Hand cultist Esther Lieberung (I toyed with even making them lovers, but probably not). The quest for the meteorite is a joint project of theirs undertaken on their own initiative, but they have wrangled funds and support from both cults, on the understanding that the funders would share in the eventual gains. Both cults, of course, would prefer to gain sole control of the device.

- Ernst Heidelmann, her apprentice and assistant, is probably a Red Crown cultist sent to assist but also monitor her. One possibly important point is that he never met Esther Lieberung. He travelled with the PCs from Altdorf to Bogenhafen and didn't recognize the lookalike (although he was apparently somewhat smitten with her). The PCs also know he delivered the letters between Etelka and Teugen, but not whether he was in on the plots or not. Either way, while Ernst is more loyal to the RC than Etelka, his top priority is still his personal rise in power.

- As for what's gone down in Grissenwald just before the PCs got there (which they might do next session), here's my current idea for a rough timeline:

- - The goblins are replaced by a band of outlawed low-life mercenaries. Etelka allowed them to hide out in her mine for a while and paid them a retainer to stay ready for when she had use for them.
- - When she left for the Barren Hills, she paid the mercs to help guard her house in her absence.
- - Between her departure and the PC's arrival, the Purple Hand warband arrived and demanded to be let in, attacking the house when refused. The mercs defended the place and both parties took losses, but after the mercs' captain was killed, they surrendered on terms, betraying what they knew of Etelka's plans and possibly letting the warband search the house. Satisfied that Etelka was indeed gone, the warband went on to trail her towards the Barren hills (where they will eventually run in with the PCs).
- - Demoralized after their defeat and betrayal of their contract with Etelka, the surviving mercs decide to leave for greener pastures - but not before they replenish their stocks and funds by some looting. Thus they've been raiding neighbouring farms for a few nights, intending to leave after another night or two.
- - The unpopular Waldavian immigrant miners are blamed for the raids, since they coincidentally had just gotten their hands on some money.

This means I get pretty much the same scenario for the Grissenwald episode but a somewhat different backstory. The PCs will be able to piece together most of it from clues left in Etelka's house, talking to her servants and/or interrogating mercs.

On the subject of Etelka Herzen there is a missing handout relating to her. It's described on p39 of Death on the Reik, but not included in the numbered handouts. I have a version of it, but forgot to include it in the Companion, because it was never numbered in the original. I've put it on my OneDrive, if you'd like it:

https://onedrive.live.com/?id=C86ACFA4B ... A4B04325B4

Unfortunately, it shows the observatory in the original location, rather than the site you moved it to, so it is perhaps not so useful for you.

Thanks! I'd probably have redrawn it anyway, so that's not much of a problem. I missed that reference in the text.