A once-great noble family has fallen into decline, its people quarreling and squabbling with each other for land, rights and serfs. When the founder of the house was given the land by a king of old, a writ situated that only the the designated lord may owe the lands, and that the lands may not be split. However, with the family now broken into factions, many of them wish to be independent, and sent a group of adventurers ransacking the royal archive for the original copy of the writ (two copies were written – one for the founder, and one kept in the archive) and lo! The copy from the royal archive has no such stipulations about the splitting of land. What is going on?
- Obviously, one of the copies is invalid or have been tampered with. The adventurers, depending on whom has hired them (or as a third party trouble-shooters) would have problem getting their hand on any of the writ. The solution? The founder of the house had a young brother, whom received a copy of the writ too as the land was bestowed to the two of them. The younger brother, alas, died without any descendants, and hence the claim of the land went to the older instead. What is interesting is that a third copy of the writ may be buried in the tomb of the younger brother…
- An expert, a sage in ancient writing, has been invited by a “neutral party” (whether the party is really neutral is up to the GM) to settle the dispute. The adventurers may be involved in many ways – protecting the sage, persuading him to side with one faction or even assassination. However, what if the sage is actually the descendant of an outcast from the noble house?
- The next day, one of the factions woke up to find the writings on the copies of their writ changed to match each other! Some think it is because the ghost of the founder returning to settle the dispute; some cried foul and accused the other faction of employing sorcery. What happened is actually just a plan gone amiss. Someone is interested in getting his hand on both copies of the writ. The copy at the royal archive has long been swapped for a forgery – the one in keeping had just been stolen, and has too been swapped. The thief has no idea about the disputes between the rival factions and simply substitute the copy at the royal archive with a forgery with wordings of his own. However, why would someone be interested in two ancient piece of parchment? Hint: It’s in the seal upon which king’s ring was stamped. There is a tale of a door within the royal castle that could only be opened with a ring which bears the king’s seal…
Adventure Types: Intrigue
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