I am back with another peak behind the curtain for my new big project. This time, I present for your enjoyment a trio of connected sidequests from the Liberation of Sliberberg, specifically the improved version of King Fredrick Sidequests from the Occupation of Sliberberg. Instead of one quest, there are now three that create a character arc for Fredrick and, hopefully, the players. To tell you the truth, I am not sure about the second question in the chain, The Long Road to Recovery, but then again, it is such an unusual sidequest for DND that I have nothing to base it on. Hence why, I am asking you, my readers, to please leave a comment on these side quests.

The King’s Gambit

Recomended level 3

It is recommended that the players have time to establish the resistance and recruit several resistance fighters before introducing this side quest.

Fredrick’s fate. For the last few months, Fredrick has been subjected to constant torture in a bid to uncover several secrets he holds. However, Murtagh greatly underestimated how broken Fredrick truly was emotionally before the process started, and the constant torture has caused Fredrick to emotionally and mentally shut down. With Fredrick seemingly no longer able to tell him what he wants to know, Murtagh has decided to present Fredrick as a gift to Fredrick’s old enemy, the archfey Ailénach and Draíocht . He hopes this will be the first step to establishing diplomatic ties with the famously moody and grim fairy queen. Tansy has gotten wind of this plan and approaches the players when they return to one of their safehouses and requests that the players rescue Fredrick. They have 3 days to prepare for the caravan departure to transport Fredrick to the Ailénach domain in the course marches.

The Prisoner Caravan. On the night of the 3rd day, the prison wagon drawn by 4 draft horses departs from Castle Sliberberg with Fredrick chained inside. Murtagh is not taking any chance with the players loose in the city. The wagon has a massive escort of infantry and Calvery escorting. The exact numbers depend on the resources the players can bring to the fight. You should aim for a challenging encounter for the players, even if they bring resistance members along as reinforcements. For example, for a level 4 party, I would suggest 10 infantrymen and 7 skirmishers.

It is up to the players to figure out how to stop the caravan and free Fredrick. The caravan will go through Ritterhold, Alteburg, the Grand Fey Marketplace, and Slibermond. On its way out of the city, a large calvery escort will await them. When the player’s attack, the wagon driver will attempt to flee along the route. If the wagon leaves the city, then the quest ends in failure. Also, if the fight starts to go wrong, at least one of the enemies will try to go to the nearest alarm bell.

The Lame King. When the players free Fredrick from the prison wagon, they find that he is in very bad shape. His once impressive muscles have atrophied into nothing, he is covered in scars, and he is barely conscious and, at the moment, quite delirious. The players will have to carry him to safety. It takes a DC 17 athletics check to carry the king.

Development. Successfully rescuing Fredrick leads to the Long Road to Recovery sidequest.

The long road to recovery

Recommended Level 2

After rescuing Fredrick in the King’s Gambit Quest, the players will find that the once mighty archfey has been reduced to a shadow of his former self. He has been broken both bodily and emotionally. If they wish to gain the single best fighter in the city as a resistance member, they must heal him in both body and soul.

Healing the king’s bodily.

 To heal the king bodily, the players or another resistance member must make a DC18 medicine check with a healer’s kit or cast a healing spell daily to ensure Fredrick’s speedy recovery through rest and balanced nutrition. The sheer amount of damage Fredrick took means that healing abilities are 1/3 as potent as usual on him and can only be used 1 per day. Once he is returned to full HP, the physical restoration is complete.

Healing the king’s soul.

 The coup and the torture have broken him spiritually, leading him to believe he is a bad king undeserving of love or loyalty. The players must gently coax Fredrick through each stage of his emotional recovery. They can make insight checks to determine the best skill checks and role-playing strategies for helping Fredrick at each stage of his mental recovery journey (the difficulty of the checks is at the DM’s digression). At the DM’s digression, Fredrick enters a new stage of his recovery. The stages of the process are as follows.

Withdrawn.

Fredrick starts off withdrawn and unresponsive. He spends every moment of the day in a bed, often in a fetal position. When the players enter his room, he weakly insists on being left alone to stew in his misery. When the players insist on being in the room, he spends most of the time staring blankly into the distance, avoiding eye contact with the players and giving the shortest possible answers to questions.

Strategies: Charisma DC 20 to show empathy and understanding, Medicine 18 to ensure his comfort, roleplaying showing empathy or understanding of his traumatic experience

Depressed.

Fredrick has started to open up but still retains his belief that the players’ charity is wasted on him and that he is a terrible person; after all, it was his lack of leadership that convinced Murtagh he was a better candidate to be king and allowed him to succeed in the coup. He will also cite historical examples to make his case that he was a lousy king. He also mentions his short-lived marriage to the love of his life, Aio, and how he regrets shirking his royal duties to obsess over finding her after the Drowning of Mountainheart separated them.

Strategies. History checks DC 15 to provide counterarguments to Fredricks’s evidence that he is a bad king; persuasion checks DC 18 to argue against Fredricks’s perceived view of the world, roleplaying explanations of how bad of a king Murtagh has become, explaining, via roleplay how much he means to the people of the kingdom and the city, or helping him make amends (see the sidequest bury the Hatchet at Sea for an example).

Recovering confidence.

Fredrick has started to see the players as friends. Their words and actions have eased Fredrick through the worst of his depression, but his confidence in himself is shattered. He is unsure if he is fit to be king, doubts his ability as a warrior, and has become his own worst critic regarding his artistic endeavors. If he has recovered enough physically, he will begrudgingly be willing to go on missions with the players.

Strategies. Performance DC 15 will engage in collaborative poetry and art creation with Fredrick, Athletics DC 12 will engage in some light sparing with Fredrick, Persuasion DC 18 will convince Fredrick of his positive impact on the kingdom, taking him on missions and sidequests will help with his confidence as a warrior, Games of Dragonchess, and 3 dragon ante will help him see his ability as a leader and appreciating his art and poetry will help restore his confidence.

Reward.

Once Fredrick’s recovery is completed, he is a somewhat changed man; he is still melancholic and prone to the same pining after Aio as always, but he has resolved to be a better king than he once was. He joins the resistance with all of his special resistance perks.

A Letter from the Past

Recommended Level 2

To start this quest, the players must complete the King’s Gambit quest, restore Fredrick to bodily health, and encounter the Silver Lady of SLiberberg at least three times.

The Silver Lady of Sliberberg manifests in front of the players. Unlike when the players typically meet her, she seems more solid than usual, and her eyes have an air of emotional conflict. She then gives the players a letter and tells them to deliver it to King Fredric. She insists that she knows Fredrick well and that he must learn certain truths about the city. If the players inspect the content of the letter. In that case, they will find a fancy piece of stationary with illegible writing and a whisper in their ears that it will remain unreadable until Fredrick reads the letter.

Fredricks reaction. Upon reading the letter, Fredrick falls to his knees and starts to sob uncontrollably while clutching the letter to his chest. Between sobs, he mutters about her being alive, and all these years, she was right under my feet the whole time. Once he has recovered enough of his composure, he demands the players arrange a meeting between him and the silver Lady of Sliberberg at Lovebirds Terrace, explaining that the Silver Lady of SLiberberg is his long lost wife.

The letter. If the players manage to pry the letter from Fredeick’s grasp and read it, they realize it is a heartfelt message from Fredrick’s long-lost wife, Aoibheann. It explains everything that has happened since Drowning of Mountainheart, how she was transformed into the essence of Sliberberg itself, and how, by the time she gained enough control over her powers to communicate, Fredrick had already fallen into his cycle of depression. She explains that she did not make herself known because she was afraid that he would not love her in this form or, worse, that would have given him false hope that she could be restored to how she was. She also explains the consuming guilt she has had all these years that a wish she made during the disaster may have caused their transformations. She still loves him, but she also wants him to be happy. She encourages him to forget about her and find someone new.

The Lady Protests. When the players go out to try and find the Silver Lady to ask her to meet Fredrick, she is nowhere to be seen. She is not one of the usual haunts around the city. The players must make a DC 22 investigation check to track her down. They find her late one night at a scenic overlook of Prophetic Falls, looking up at the stars, conflicted and thinking aloud about whether sending the note to Fredrick was a good idea. When the players ask about her and Fredrick’s meeting, she is hesitant. She wanted the note to be the impetus for Fredrick to move on with his life, but now it seems it redoubled his efforts to restore her to her old form. It will take a dc18 persuasion check, deception check, or charisma check to convince her to meet Fredrick.

Two old Flames reconnect. When the players arrive at Lovebird Terrace with  Aoibheann in toe, they find that Fredrick has already claimed a table overlooking the city below. He asks if the players can be his wingmen and to ensure that the watch does not interfere. Fredrick and Aoibheann sit down there, a few moments of awkward silence between them; both are worried about what the other thinks of him or her after so long away.  Fredrick breaks the silence by breaking into tears, says he misses her so much, and tries to embrace her ethereal form. He says that she no longer needs to hide from him; he loves her no matter what form she is in, and he promises to find a way to return her to her old self. AIo sighs. She loves him too, but she also wants her to be happy; obsessing over her for centuries was unhealthy for him, and she does not want him to obsess over restoring her to a form that will allow them to be together. He should forget about her and find someone new to love. With the two of them at an impasse, it is up to the players to guide the two lovers to a resolution. Does Fredrick move on and look for someone new? Does Aoibheann try to make their relationship work despite her transformation?

Party Crashers. When the couple seems to be working towards a resolution, six watchmen arrive at Lovebird’s Terrace to arrest Fredrick. It will be up to the players to beat the watchmen back while continuing to guide Fredrick and Aoibheann towards a resolution.

Reward. Regardless of whether or not Fredrick and Aoibheann  get back together as a couple or Fredrick decides to seek someone new, the players gain the following rewards

• Fredrick’s confidence surges, and the dark clouds of depression that hang around him vanish. His emotional healing is complete, and he joins the resistance (See the Long Road to Recovery sidequest). Furthermore, Fredrick promises a large reward for the players once he returns to the throne.
• Aoibheann becomes a contact for the players. starts to help the players and the resistance in whatever way she can. At the dm digression, players may find random gates and doors they need to get through unlocked, patrols encounters disrupted by wild magic events, or receive other subtle aid from seemingly nowhere, among other things. Aoibheann will also start to leave the players messages in the form of graffiti and signage throughout the city

Development. The reuniting of these two lovers can lead to more quests. Once Fredrick is back on the throne, his first order of business is to ask the players to find the means for Aoibheann to be returned to the flesh. Also, Archwitch Tansy will start dropping subtle hints after this quest that she knows how to restore Aoibheann to flesh and blood.