The Hidden Kingdom in the North

The trees fold away into an opening, revealing a faraway city on the horizon, hidden from the outside world by large looming mountains. towards the city is a long dirt trail, surrounded by tents and makeshift shelters of bandits, assassins', and other rogues. in front of you is a bridge over a rushing river, guarded by two guards in mismatched uniforms made up of the Armor of city guards, soldiers, and adventurers. they turn towards you upon hearing the sound of the opening forest and wave.

as they walk down the path they will notice they are being watched by those living in the tents and shelters around them. some emerge from their tents and begin slowly following them but not attacking. the cities stone walls are tall but decrepit, with some areas completely destroyed and patched up with wood and rock. some houses outside the city walls have deteriorated so much the roofs have caved in and now house bandits. large areas of farm show no sign of any plant growth and everywhere you look shows subtle signs of a previous disaster which struck the city. as the approach the main gate rotting bodies hanging from tall posts start to surround the path, with signs detailing their crimes

* STOLE 20 OUNCES OF PURPLE LICHEN
* DISCOVERED TO BE A PICKPOCKETER
* STOLE A SWORD FROM THE MARKET
* KILLED SOMEBODY IN A FISTFIGHT
* STOLE A SERVING OF CHEESE
* KILLED A SHOPKEEP WITH A MISFIRING CROSSBOW
* KILLED A RIVAL IN A DISAGREEMENT
* ROBBED SOMEBODY FOR 8 GOLD

beneath each crime a small statement is written: "HARROWFEN TOLERATES CRIMINALS, BUT IT DOES NOT TOLERATE CRIME IN THE CITY WALLS THIEVERY AND MURDER AND STRICTLY FORBIDDEN PUNISHABLE BY IMMEDIATE DEATH"

2 guards also in mismatching uniforms await the players at the main gate, which looks new like its been replaced recently. "so you read all those creepy sign things and understand that upon entering these walls you are not to commit any thievery or murder or we hold full power to kill you and hang you from a post outside city walls. also im going to have to ask you all to hand over a 10 gp entry fee each as tribute to the king and his council".

harrowfen

The gates groan and open up to a busy street. Orcs, Goblins, Criminals, and other types you wouldn't typically find in a normal city walk around, and what surprises you is that most of them aren't dressed in their typical garb, but normal clothes you would see ordinary citizens wearing. far along the road a market is underway, and surrounding the market is where the majority of the shops seem to be set up, and to the left an old decrepit castle overlooks the town. as you walk down the road you notice you aren't getting the usual stares you get of frightened townspeople.

* A rat king? sorry mate haven't heard of him
* there's a couple old magicians roaming around, one of them could be who your looking for but i couldn't tell you where they are
* If your looking for somebody the king might know where they are. hes a smart fellow that king
* I've seen a couple folk walking around with the heads of rats. kept my distance
* Im pretty sure i have seen who your talking about. couldn't tell you where he is just saw him walking about like any other person. sorry i cant help
* Gebbo knows every face in town, chances are hed have something to say to help you out
* Maybe i have maybe i haven't
* speak to the king

 Dr Enro
 Goglunk
 Bartender

If they party asks to speak with the king, locals will say to speak to one of the guards at the entrance to the castle, and they will be escorted to see him (after a brief questioning of course).

The castle doors are old and rotting, and scrape open to a staircase leading upwards, and hallways to the sides leading to rooms and more hallways. at the top of the stairs is a large hall, illuminated by a giant circular stained-glass window in the ceiling, portraying a king surrounded by angels and subjects. at the end of the hall a man is seated on his throne, guarded by a pair of two headed Ettin, and watched over by his 4 council members which stand behind him. also behind him is a large balcony, overviewing the whole town, which can be head from the hall

The Council
 Ulfius
 Yves
Advisor
 Harper
 Torben
Security

The small man near to the king is the first to speak "why is it you seek council with the king"

King: "Your here to find Rezor? yes hes back in harrowfen, came to see me a few days ago. sketchy fellow. why do need to find him"

"when you enter my kingdom of Harrowfen you leave who you are at the doorstep. do not use my sanctuary of the unwanted as a tool to hunt the unlawful"

Ulfius: "any healer worth there salt can get rid of most curses, what's so special about this one" "what masterful skill this Rezor must possess"

Yves: "and what if he declines?" "unnecessary revenge is the goal of a fool, we do not have time to make an audience for fools"

Harper: "you dare enter the kings home and make demands"

The Rat King can be found in the Arena. he will be seated at a wooden table along with 2 goblin females who he will be chatting with. His clothes are rattier than what you saw him in back in the underground coliseum but he still holds his wooden staff and adorns a crown atop his head.

When he sees them he will be going for a drink from a tankard and choke on it upon seeing them, before getting to his feet "YOU, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE" the goblin chicks will look at you, then at him with a frightened expression on their face, then run away.

Rats will swarm underneath everybody's feet, and the gladiators stop fighting and gaze over. as they absorb into the rat king and he grows slowly taller in front of you, his robes and hair flowing upwards, but he doesn't look like he is preparing to attack, more like really pissed off

"YOU? want ME to help YOU? after you destroyed the business i built up for YEARS of my life? you should feel fortunate i didnt kill you while you were scrambling up those stairs, or you weren't executed by the town guard, speaking of how the hell did you make it out the province"

"im smarter than i look, and I've put myself in an extremely favourable position where it appears you dont have anything to threaten me with."

"what's your plan? snitch to the city guard again about what i did? it doesn't matter in here. snitch to the king? if you can convince him to send an army over the river ill be long gone by the time you get here, and good luck trying to find me again, next time i wont be so careless. just try and kill me on the spot? IF you can kill me before a guard stops you you WILL be hunted by every guard in the town and killed on the spot, if you try to run you have to make it through the rat strip, where im sure you saw all those hundreds of bandits who im sure would be very eager at a chance of some adventurer loot. and say you do the impossible and make it past that, how the fuck are you going to convince the guards to open up the forest for you to the outside world. at any moment i could inform the city what you 3 do for a living, and that would be it for you, so tell me, what's your plan"

"none right? well you dont have to worry, im not going to tell anyone about your little secret. im a reasonable guy, i can forgive and forget if you can too, and it just so happens there's a few things i really need help with, before i help you with your whole curse thing, sound good? "

no: "really? well, have fun living life without sunshine, im not going anywhere so if you change your mind im sure you'll be able to find me again"

yes: "great! knew we could sort this out like gentlemen, follow me." "you dont have to be nervous, i know we probably got off on the wrong foot but if i wanted you dead it would be very easy in this city."

Helping the Rat King