Finally launched our Blades in the Dark campaign: “Blades Oblique.” I’ve found Obsidian Portal to be helpful for the players to keep track of the factions and characters they interact with: http://bladesoblique.obsidianportal.com
The players’ crew of Assassins, “The Dark Cloud,” attended the funeral of Roric, beloved leader of The Crows, who apparently killed himself by jumping off the watchtower that is their lair right after he had brokered a truce between The Lampblacks and The Red Sashes. The funeral was in Tangletown and was attended by the top criminals in Crow’s Foot as well as prominent members of the citizenry. A special Spirit Warden crematorium barge was rowed to Tangletown to eviscerate Roric’s spirit and the ceremony was presided over by Father Morris of the Church of the Ecstasy of the Flesh.
We then flashback to the morning of the funeral when The Dark Cloud met with the leader of The Lampblacks, Bazso Bas. He communicates his suspicion that Mylera Klev, the leader of The Red Sashes, had Roric killed as she has confederates in The Crows who will side with The Red Sashes against the Lampblacks now that Roric is gone. He wishes to maintain the truce: “It is in our best interest to honor the truce for now but we need something taken care of…”
Bazso wants them to kill Mylera’s contact at the Iruvian Consulate, who’s been funneling money from the Iruvian government to The Red Sashes to keep them going. He lowballs them with the offer of payment as “money is tight during wartime.” He also asks if they have had any communication with The Red Sashes and, before they can answer, we flashback to the evening before the funeral when…
the Dark Cloud met with their deal broker and ally, Lydra, who had called them to her office in Silkshore for a meeting with a member of The Red Sashes who claims that The Crows’ second in command, Lyssa, had Roric killed as she has made a deal with Bazso Baz to split the district between them. “It is in their best interest to maintain the truce for now but…” they want someone to hit a gunpowder smuggling operation in The Docks operated by The Crows. “Money is tight during wartime,” but they offer to cover their expenses and let them take over the operation once they remove The Crow’s contact that is running it now.
The players decide to accept both the offer from the Lampblacks and from The Red Sashes and we are off…