SoT Book 2 Remix - Part 2A: Finding Froglegs

Go to Part 1

As written, the heroes have a few missions, chosen by the DM, that end up having something to do with Froglegs. Then, Janatimo tells them that he found out where the criminal mastermind lives off-screen, and that they should go check it out! This post aims to outline a more robust structure that ideally lets the players do the investigating themselves without finding her too quickly (i.e. before they level to 6).

Who is Froglegs?

Froglegs

One aspect I found particularly missing in this adventure is a sense of what Froglegs actually wants. She gets a genuinely very compelling backstory, but what is she actually trying to accomplish? The book basically just says this: "As she and her crew began to expand into extortion, robbery, and protection rackets all across Nantambu, she developed a new goal: she aims to rule the underworld of Nantambu from the shadows. Froglegs is through with others making her suffer and will never again allow anyone to take advantage of her."

So: rule the underworld from the shadows.

What does all this actually entail? In Busker Woes, we learn that thieves trying to break away are brutally killed, and that she runs a gambling den in Suspicious Alchemy we learn that those that work for her are more terrified of her retribution than of any punishment, and in Ghost Stories we learn about how she killed her former rival/master. From her lair, we see that she runs both a protection racket and gangs of burglars to facilitate it. It seems like she has a pretty solid control of the underworld when the campaign gets started - she killed the former leader, and seems to have a few different schemes going that are all probably quite profitable.

Given that, what's the one thing that might motivate her to escalate things? Competition. Specifically, Salathiss. More on that in Part 3.

A Sympathetic Villain

Ktaal's story is pretty sad all on its own. Her mother groomed her to be a thief, painting it as a fun life full of freedom and fancy, only to be murdered by the same person who finished raising Ktaal, and then ultimately tried to have her killed as well for becoming a potential challenge to him. All that Tokywe wanted to do was start a new and better life for herself and her daughter, but Habu couldn't lose both of his best thieves.

In my version, not only did Habu know that Tokywe planned to take Ktaal and flee, but she had actually tried to run already. One night, she bundled Ktaal up and fled, only to be betrayed by another thief who alerted Habu. Tokywe fled into the city, her escape routes cut off, and tried to go to the authorities for help, but they too had been paid off by Habu and turned her in to him. Habu took Ktaal prisoner (telling her that he and her mother were going to go on a very dangerous mission, and he wanted to keep her safe) and used her as leverage to force Tokywe to go on that one last job with him, where he killed her to prevent her from leaving. As per the book, he then groomed Ktaal to replace her mother, and then when she too began to have aspirations outside of him, he tried to have her killed as well.

After killing Habu, Ktaal slowly pieced together what had happened, how Habu had betrayed them, and how the city had failed them. She became convinced that the city was beyond saving, and that only power mattered: the power to protect herself, and to protect others from what she suffered. Very much in the style of real-world crime families, she became someone that others could turn to for "justice" (more often vengeance) that they would not get within a legal system that puts so much emphasis on rehabilitation rather than punitive measures. In her mind, this makes her better than Habu, and certainly her criminals are on a much tighter leash than they had been, and with much harsher punishments for unsanctioned killings or other particularly brutal acts. Still, she is a brutal dictator of the underworld that brooks no threat and will not hesitate to kill anyone that gets in her way.

"Why should I bow to the laws of this bloated, corrupt city? A city too incompetent to help people who need it? To protect them from people like me? No, there will always be someone like me — I am necessary, inevitable. The city council cares too much about so-called democracy to do anything decisive; the Bell-Ringers are completely unaccountable to the people, all anyone can do is choose to to answer the call, never what merits a call in the first place; and those stupid, complacent people just assume that everyone has their best interests at heart, that no one lurks in the shadows. Little girls scream for help and the city is too pleased with itself to listen. Countless hurt, trapped in impossible situations, and the so-called Law can do nothing for them. Well, if there must be someone like me, then why should it not be me? Who else can the outcasts turn to? Who will bring them justice? And who will keep the outlaws in line when they have nothing to fear from the city? As long as some hoard resources, others will seek to take it from them. I may be a monster, but I am a monster of necessity. Tear me down and I will be replaced by someone much worse. But you’re so focused on me that you can’t see the true threat right under your noses."

Escalating Plans

While most of Froglegs' activity will be reactive to either the party or Salathiss, she does have her own machinations as well! Specifically, we'll want to make sure that hooks that aren't followed up on end up going somewhere. For Suspicious Alchemy, alchemical goods might become more unstable anywhere they are bought for a while, and then go up sharply in price as she puts her plan into motion. And for Busker Woes, Reth will eventually escalate his attacks if not dealt with, and she will kill him for stepping out of line (she does this faster if the party is also after him, for fear that he will lead back to her).

Finding Thieves Swamp

There are a few ways the players might find the location of Froglegs' hideout:

1. Infiltrate her Gambling Den, The Jade Palace
2. Find the hidden note in one of the Safe Houses
3. Capture and turn a high-level thief
4. The serpentfolk tell them (probably to throw the party off their own scent)

My game will also have an option 5: Interrogate the Stone Ghost, but only because he escaped in Book 1 (updated stats here).

All three of the existing jobs that point to Froglegs will now potentially give the heroes the location of the Jade Palace. Abeo might tell them where he became indebted in return for getting him out of town in Suspicious Alchemy, Reth might give the place up as the place he always met Froglegs in Busker Woes, and Kalembi will remember that Habu the Cudgel used to run the place in Ghost Stories.

Another major way the party might find the Swamp is by interrogating any of the response teams Froglegs sends after them for interfering with her business. They are all made up of (mostly) trusted operatives, meaning that they know where the swamp is but will be difficult to convince to give up the location. The one exception to this is Kolbo, who will absolutely give up Froglegs immediately as soon as he is captured, and might even turn on his Grippli allies if things seem to be turning against him.

The final way is flat out being told by Salathiss or his minions. The most likely way this might happen is that the party tries to talk with the Magistrate-Mayor and he sends them after Froglegs to throw them off his scent and clear out a rival, but it could also happen either if the party collaborates with law enforcement more broadly (Salathiss has almost as many of them under his control as Froglegs does) or as an anonymous tip.

Next Article: Froglegs' Response Teams & Outposts