As soon as the PCs enter Gnomica, it is immediately evident that this is an unusual place. Each male PC without a hat suddenly finds himself wearing one, and is unable to remove the hat except indoors. In fact, upon entering any building the PCs find themselves compelled to remove their hats. Knotted leather thongs peace bond PCs weapons, unable to be untied.

Within the plane of Gnomica, everything that occurs occurs in accordance with an often-complicated set of laws and rules. An unknown and inviolable force, called The First Law, enforces the letter of the law. Inside Gnomica, there is no power greater than that of the laws. Even gods hold no sway within its borders.

The laws themselves are made by a governing parliament which meets thrice yearly. Members of the parliament serve for life or until ousted, and new ones are elected from the populace by the remaining members of parliament. Any member of parliament may put forth a proposal for a new rule or a motion to amend or strike previous rules at each session. All matters are put to a vote and a simple majority is all it takes for a measure to pass. All members of parliament are required to vote on each measure or explicitly abstain.

Encounters in Gnomica

An enemy has taken sanctuary in Gnomica. Due to the laws currently in effect, he is untouchable there. The parliament will be meeting soon, however, and the PCs may be able to influence it and get some new laws passed to aid them in capturing him.

Sultan Abdurahman is 104 years old, and survived only by one of his nine grandchildren, Rasshid ibn Taj ibn Abdurahman, the current heir to the throne. Abdurahman is always accompanied by his advisor, Nazim, a man who seems almost as old as the king himself. Known only to the Sultan himself, Nazim is actually a genie who’s advised every sultan in the city’s history. Nazim is bound to three duties: enforce the city’s laws, ensure the city prospers, and follow the dictates of the sultan. Each of the duties is equally important and given equal weight.

The PCs arrive at a somewhat inopportune time, as the same night they arrive there is an assassination attempt on Sultan Abdurahman. The attempt is botched, and it is relatively easy to discover that Nazim was behind it.

If the PCs suggest to the Sultan that it was Nazim, he dismisses that as preposterous (since he believes Nazim cannot harm him) When confronted, Nazim is clearly despondent about the attack, but unapologetic. He explains that Abdurahman, though once a great and powerful leader, has simply grown too old. He is older than any mortal has any right to be, and his mind has been ravaged by age. The Sultan no longer looks after his city as he should, is easily confused and his memory is all but gone.

The laws of the city are very clear, though: so long as Abdurahman still draws breath, only he may lead it. Thus Nazim orchestrated the assassination attempt so that the leadership would pass to Rasshid.

As if to punctuate Nazim’s accusations, the next day the Sultan holds court, and many seek him out for help. He seems to listen to them, but when asked for aid he has no idea what was just said, but rather he was (for example) entranced by the memory of a monkey he once saw stealing a fig from a goat. Nazim does his best to cover up for the Sultan, but there is little that can be done.

On the cusp between this world and the next there is a great, sprawling city known as Mourngate. It is here where all souls go to be judged and sent off to their final rest, and sometimes loved ones come here to be with their recently departed.

Most of the time, the cases are swift. A being called The Arbiter judges the soul as wicked, pure or conflicted. The wicked are sent off to the hells, the pure to paradise, and the conflicted to purgatory, where they will not have the fruits of paradise but nor will they suffer the tortures of damnation. Though this process is swift, the sheer bulk of souls waiting to be judged means that it can take a long time for your turn.

The Arbiter’s judgment is not final, though; any may appeal for a trial, with all the trappings. If the appealer can convince an angel of their plight, the angel will represent him in court. Otherwise, they’ll usually have to work out a deal with a demon to represent them. In return for getting them off of an eternity of punishment under someone else, the appealer might agree to only a few thousand years of punishment under the demon representing him before going to purgatory.

Encounters with Mourngate

A celestial messenger contacts the PCs, asking them to come testify against a villain who they killed.

The PCs must help a recently-deceased friend find counsel for his trial.

A PC cannot be raised because he’s been deemed wicked. He has been granted an appeal, and he and the rest of the PCs must work to clear his name.

He’s begun bolstering his army, and on top of that has decided to complete and re-man the fort at Weston Hill. It’s been standing derelict for the better part of a century, though, and the first thing the king decided should be done is to assess the current situation. At the moment, his army is occupied with recruitment and restructuring efforts, so the king must hire adventurers to go and explore the fort. Of course, he ends up hiring the PCs.

The situation at the fort is relatively benign. It is somewhat difficult to enter; the portcullises are long-since rusted shut and the stone walls are as impassable as they were designed to be. However, it should be fairly simple for a well-prepared group to gain entrance.

Most of the buildings have been destroyed by time and the elements. The barracks and tower still stand, though. Exploring the barracks, the PCs will eventually come to a wall in the basement which appears hastily-erected. If they examine it, they find it to be hollow and, behind it, is a door.

The door has been barred and locked, the lock melted with acid, spikes of metal have been used to jam the door shut, and mortar was used to seal it. Clearly, some effort was made to ensure that this door should never be opened, from one side or the other.

Inside are several dozen dessicated corpses, the remains of the supposed mutineers. Several of them are missing chunks of flesh, and teeth marks can be seen on the bones. One corpse remains notably intact, and is wearing finer garments than the rest. It was the commander, and in his hands he holds a journal detailing what really happened.

A few weeks after they’d first settled into the fort, one of the soldiers fell ill, complaining that he was seeing and hearing things. Hours later, he turned hostile, savagely attacking the doctor. He was locked in the brig. A few days later, the same fate befell another soldier and another, and within a week all but a few of them were locked away in this room. Finally, when the commander himself started seeing things, he ordered his second-in-command to lock him in with the rest and leave the fort, and to convince the king to abandon it.

If the PCs tell Thornwald what happened, he dismisses it and orders the fort re-staffed. He also hires the PCs on as scouts, to explore the land around the fort. He charges an experienced man by the name of Sir Andromus Galwain to command the fort.

A few weeks after the fort is re-opened, Sir Galwain sends for an audience with the PCs. He explains to them that the same events which happened when the fort was first opened are happening again; he’s sent word to Thornwald, but suspects the king will not allow the fort to be abandoned. Galwain doesn’t want to put his own men into investigating what’s happening, for fear of what the truth of what happened so many years ago might do to morale, and so he asks the PCs to figure out what’s causing this sickness and fix it.

There is also a darker side to the Messengers’ Guild. With their vast network of resources, they specialize in smuggling anything anywhere for the right price. A prince might be smuggled through lands hostile to his crown, or drugs and other illegal goods may be smuggled to more lucrative markets. Because of this, the guild faces constant scrutiny, but they prove too invaluable for any politician or nobleman to actually act against.

Encounters with The Messengers’ Guild

The PCs’ benefactor has determined that an item of great import is being shipped to one of his enemies, and he sends the PCs to intercept the shipment.

A noble, not trusting the Messengers’ Guild, hires the PCs to deliver a small, locked box to his father. The guild discovers this and attacks the PCs for the audacity to act as couriers without registering with the guild.

Galadir the Eagle is young by human standards, let alone elven. He’s only 18 years old, but many who meet him describe his personality as powerful and wise beyond his years. He is charismatic and brave and fights without question for what he feels is right. Were this all he had going for him, his task would be impossibly difficult.

There are whispers– unbelieving, but hopeful rumors– that Galadir possesses the Fourth Legacy. According to elven legend, three times in their race’s long history the very essence of nature itself has bestowed gifts upon a great elf in times of chaos and strife. The First Legacy helped establish the elves as a race; the Second Legacy was used to take their world back from the demons which had invaded; and the Third Legacy helped the elves transition to this world when their last one died.

Those in power see Galadir as little more than a nuisance, though they reluctantly recognize that he’s growing in power and influence. To the rank and file among the elves, he is seen as a rebel, a pretender to the throne, or by a growing minority as a hero. Galadir’s New Allegiance has recently even set up a new capital city called Dor’tannith– Elven for “The Promised Land.”

The Shan Tor’athos, in particular, are worried about Galadir and wish to see him exterminated. More so than any other elvish nation, they are losing more and more of their people to The New Allegiance. There are even rumors that the Shan Tor’athos have allied with the hated Nacrisseans in an attempt to wipe out Galadir and his followers.

Encounters with The New Allegiance

As the PCs are walking along a road through the forest, an arrow whizzes by their heads… followed by another from the other direction. It quickly becomes obvious that they are not the targets, though, as a group of Galadir’s elves and some of the Shan Tor’athos are engaged in a battle the PCs just stumbled into.

One of Galadir’s followers, a minstrel, is singing in a tavern as the PCs enter:
You will find the New Allegiance like a beacon in the night
If you’re searching for salvation reach inside
There’s a new world approaching
A fire to be seen in following The Fourth Legacy

Inspiration, and lyrics, from Kamelot‘s title song from the album The Fourth Legacy

The Moneylenders is headed by Lord de Blays, and as the name implies it is a guild of bankers. The guild’s reach is far and as a result its coffers deep, for it is actually quite active all throughout the country and neighboring states as well. A moneylender agent can be found in every large city and many smaller ones as well, and offer travelers a safe and convenient way to store and transfer funds. They also make many investments, including backing both business ventures and exploration. Of the three vampire lords, de Blays schemes the least and seems more or less content to run an honest trade.

The Shadow Guild, headed by Lord Marchant, is well known to be involved in many highly-illegal activities, but it continues to exist because it would be incredibly difficult to oppose. Marchant has spies everywhere, it seems, and if he cannot bribe you he’ll kill you. The Shadow Guild facilitates everything from gambling to protection rackets to slave trading.

Lady Puchot of the Crafters’ Guild originally hailed from Shentreau. Her background is less a mystery than the other two vampires; it’s known that she was one of the first great artists to emerge from the city. Her art gained her the attention of another vampire, and thus gained her her immortality. The Crafters’ Guild reaches out to artisans of all types and has established trade schools in some of the larger cities. Lady Puchot herself seems nice, and is quite lovely, but she gives off an intensely ominous vibe. No one can quite put their finger on it, but any who meet her immediately get the feeling that she has some great scheme working.

Each of the guilds is quite wide-spread, and so many find it odd that the three would all be based in an otherwise-unassuming city such as Rastonia. This leads many to believe that there is some connection among the vampires, but if there is it is unclear.

Encounters with The Vampire City

Lady Puchot, having heard about a wonderful new talent in Shentreau, could hire the PCs to bring her the artist known as “M.”

The PCs find a gang of thugs harassing an old woman who runs a pottery stand. After sending them off, the thugs warn them that they’ve incurred the wrath of The Shadow Guild. Sure enough, they soon find themselves being targeted by thieves, leg-breakers, assassins and worse.

Lord Marchant hears about a particularly daring and skillful bit of thievery performed by one of the PCs, and invites the character to Rastonia. Marchant wants to recruit him, and will not take no as an answer.

Despite relatively sophisticated magical techniques, someone is forging counterfeit letters of credit and defrauding The Moneylenders of large sums of gold. Lord de Blays hires the PCs to find out who’s doing it, how, and to put a stop to it by any means necessary.

Even with its little monopoly, the owner eventually went bankrupt and the inn shut down. Then, about two months ago, it was re-opened under new management. Already it’s gotten a reputation for remarkable hospitality. The food is great and filling, the beds soft and warm, and the companionship attractive and friendly. Perhaps most important of all, the prices are quite reasonable to boot!

What few people know, however, is that the Carrot & Stick is actually being funded by the Barlownan government. For almost a year, relations between Barlowna and Keppings have been going south, and in recent months rumors of war have been spreading. The Carrot & Stick is run by Barlownan spies. There are a series of cramped secret passages leading to well-concealed spy holes in every room, and the prostitutes (both male and female of which are employed) working it are all trained to loosen lips and gather information without arousing suspiscion.

Some teenagers on the train, seeing the American man and thinking he looked like he’d have some valuables on him, mugged the spy and ran off. They escaped with his briefcase and his suitcase. They were unable to open the briefcase, which contained the biological weapon as well as the spy’s collected intelligence, but in the suitcase they found the prototype weapon.

Looking to make a quick buck, they sold all the stuff to a man named Alexei Bobylev. Alexei used the weapon to kill some personal enemies in the Russian mafia. The gun leaves no traces, it’s as if the victim died of a heart attack. The only thing suspect about the deaths is that they all happened so closely together and only two of the dead men were in poor enough health to be at real risk of a heart attack.

And this is where the PCs come in. They’ve been sent in by the American government to recover the spy’s belongings, and keep it quiet. Unfortunately, the string of bizarre deaths made the national media, and now everyone’s swarming over the area. The PCs will have to contend with the following:

The mafia: They strongly suspect Alexei is behind the murders and are looking to exact their revenge.

The Russian government: The PCs have to recover the items before the Russians do; the spy had also gathered some intelligence on Russia itself, and it lead to an international incident if they found out the US was spying on them. Needless to say, the use of force in dealing with the Russian agents is not an option.

The terrorist cell: They recognized the cause of the deaths and immediately guessed that their stolen technology would be found there. They’ve sent men to recover it.

Time: Immediately after committing the murders, Alexei went into hiding. Since then, he’s been trying to bust open the briefcase, and his less-than-gentle means could spell disaster if he breaks the seal on any of the vials inside.