DM secrets for Jaeger's Line

The Walrus

The Walrus is based on many things but primarly Jabba the Hutt from the Star Wars universe. His name is Jaeger to represent Jabba and James to represent Jamie Hyneman from the Mythbusters, who has a walrus moustache. His headquarters, Jaeger's Hut, has an obvious connection to Jabba. The dialogue quotes are Jabba's lines, modified for Birthright.

His "pet" quasit, Mero, represents Jabba's jester, Salacious B. Crumb, but his various forms represent the evil toad, Baron Silas Greenback, and his pet caterpillar, Nero, from the children's animated series Danger Mouse. I like the show and a quasit can take those forms so it sounded like a good idea.

The idea of the Walrus came to mind when I saw a guy with wonderful walrus moustache. This lead me to think of the Beatles song, "I am the Walrus", and a new awnshegh was born.

Butelbande

The name means "group of bailiffs or officers" and is Low Brecht (actually modern and High German). In Anuirean, the same would be called "Beadles".

The members of the group - Jan, Pawel, Jorge, Rikard - represent, of course, the Beatles as do all of the plots and rumours. Of course, they are much nastier than the real people are/were but this is fantasy after all.

Each plot has an obvious Beatles song that is linked to it. The title of the plot is taken from a line of that song. However, the true nature of the plot, the twist, is another song. If you use any of these plots, I would suggest you make it hard for the party to work out what the second song is.

Intro: Count Richard Talbehr of Müden has had an exquisite cockatrice egg painted in gold and silver and decorated with gems. The Count is asking for extra guards to escort it to him from deep in Berhagen. The word is that the Walrus has a new client who is interested in acquiring similar ornamental pieces of art and Pawel Mykarski has been seen in Berhagen.
Primary song: I am the Walrus
Secondary song:

The big question for this plotline is who will end up being the Eggman - the Count or Pawel on behalf of the Walrus. The PC party can either help Pawel as thieves or help the Count as detectives.

If the party is helping the guild then the aim is to substitute a fake egg for the real thing. However, this is a matter of timing, guile and bluff. The party needs to

1. see the egg
   
2. find way of quickly making the fake
   
3. swap the eggs
   

This all has to be done before the egg leaves the Berhagen town under heavy guard. If the substituion is discovered, then the party will have one day to try and sneak out. The party is successful once they leave the area with the egg.
If the party is helping the Count then they will be guards. Initially, they will watch over the artist's residence as he finishes the decoration. However, Pawel will swap a fake for the real thing. Someone will recognise this eventually, but the faster that the party find out, the better. The town will close the gates for only one day, in order to help catch the thieves. The party is successful once they recover the egg and it leaves the town.
Trivial linguistic note: The word "snide" used to mean "Counterfeit jewellery; base coin" as a noun and "Counterfeit, sham, bogus. Also more widely, inferior, worthless." as an adjective [1]. The song incorrectly tries to use it as a verb.

Intro: Pawel has returned to his province of birth in Vosgaard to pick up a number of female slaves for the Walrus. However, someone has been snooping around trying to determine their route.
Primary song: Back in the USSR
Secondary Song: Eleanor Rigby

There are 9 slaves so this trip is not going to be fast. Most of the adventure will be overland until they reach the Great Bay where they can board one of the guild's crafts. Pawel and Rikard are in charge but have a few auxiliary staff with them - a cook and two maid servants.

The slaves are mainly insignificant Vos women. However, one woman is very vocal. Olga is continually speaking to the others and insisting that she is minor nobility and will be rescued. That is if, she doesn't escape first. Pawel would like to just kill her but she and two others have been reserved by a client.

There is in fact a group of Vos who intend to intercept the guild. They are planning to rescue one of their number. But they need to do it secretly so that their identity won't be revealed.

If the PC party wants to help the guild, then they can act as guards. The DM must give them hints about the Vos group and it is up to the PCs to work out which woman is the Vos target. The mission is a success when they reach the boat.

If the PC party wants to help the Vos, then it will be their responsibility to rescue Elena. The problem is that they will have to find the guild, work out which woman is Elena and safely rescue her. The mission is a success when Elena is returned to the Vos.

Of course the problem is that Elena is not one of the slaves. She is one of the maids, just the insignificant servant who everyone ignores. She is never referred to by name. She is just "girl". It is up to the DM to decide why the Vos are after her. Making her of noble blood is the easy solution but don't be afraid to make it a little more complex. For instance, Elena may know various secrets, or maybe she is of symbolic importance to a temple. Perhaps the Vos actually need to kill her as part of a ceremony or ritual.

Intro: One of the local fishermen has just been able to afford a new boat and other luxuries. In contrast, the Walrus has had one of his smaller boats, "The Gibbon's Face", in the dry dock for while. He has been calling it "his lemon" but seems quite happy about it. It is not clear what work is being done on it, but a call has been put out for a new crew for the Citron Caisson.
Primary Song: Yellow Submarine
Secondary song: Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

The fisherman is suddenly wealthy because he managed to find some gems inside some of the bottom dwelling fish that he caught recently. The Walrus knows where this fisherman normally goes and suspects that the fish might have swallowed them from an old ship wreck that was unsettled by recent wild storms. Consequently, the Walrus wants to find the wreck for himself, but knows that he doesn't have sufficient equipment to go to that depth. So he is having The Gibbon's Face adapted so that the bottom of its hull can be opened in secret. He is also having made a caisson or bathysphere made so his crew can descend safely through the hull to the ocean floor and retrieve anything they find. Since the craft is shaped like a lemon, he is calling it the Citron Caisson. He is after new crew for this expedition, due to its high risk nature. If this new crew is successful, they may be added to his staff or killed, depending on whether secrets need to be kept or not.

However, the Walrus is not the only one who is aware of the fisherman's chance discovery. The Royal Navy of Müden knows of an important ship that was lost a number of years ago in the area. "The Lady Lucinda" contained many things of wealth, but their main interest is in the crystal diamonds that it carried. These diamonds were enchanted and of great importance to the Müden royalty, so the navy is also intending to search for the wreck and will remove all obstacles to get there.

The PC party can either become the crew for the Walrus or assist the Müden navy. You will probably want to run the adventure as follows:

• Work out that there is a shipwreck to be found and much reward.
  
• (Optional) Discover that there are others looking for the wreck, who may have further information.
  
• Find the wreck.
  
• Visit the wreck, which will strangely have air pockets throughout the ship.
  
• Battle creatures that have been changed by the enchanted crystals.
  
• Find or destroy the crystals.
  
• Get back to shore without being captured by the other searchers.