AOP:Overview

## Mini-campaign Summary

This mini-campaign is a variation on the search-and-recovery theme. There's a high-value object out there, *everybody* is looking for it, and there's a huge reward. Whoever finds it first... *is probably going to get murderized by the competing kingdoms*.

### Background (lite)

**A trade caravan was destroyed**. The Kingdom of Cormyr, seeking justice, is now turning the area of the attack upside down with platoons of very capable of **Purple Dragons**. In addition to searching for the assailants, they are looking to recover the contents of that caravan...

While all the cargo was valuable, rumors are spreading that Cormyr is looking for **a particular crate** they'd purchased from Stonehearth Mercantile via the now-deceased intermediary.

Sembia, who suspects what's in that crate and would rather it wasn't used against them, is now searching, too – sending military search teams and even risking skirmishes to recover the crate first.

Most of this search action is just to the west of the Dragon Coast in what is technically the Western Heartlands.

### Waaaaay to the East

Back on the Dragon Coast, in the city-state of **Westgate**, House Stonehearth is hiring canvassing teams to post lost/reward posters. *This is where the PC's level-1 party comes to play*.

House Stonehearth, whose affairs are tied to Stonehearth Mercantile, is concerned with how **the presence of the crate leaked**. Westgate and the rest of the Dragon Coast is close enough that rumors from Easting are now flying fast and furious... but Westgate is *waaay* out of the action zone.

## The Prima Facie Progression

The characters start with what they're told by the House Stonehearth attaché. It's vague but ominous, and about average for a search-and-recovery mission, especially when the stakes are high but the visibility is dangerously higher.

* **Point of Contact**

The Stonehearth attaché will hire the party as the final of four teams. *East* and *North* were hired this morning and are already out the door. *South* is being hired as the party walks in. Guess where they're going...

Summarizing the job and incentives:

* House Stonehearth will pay parties to start canvassing and posting bills. They pay a generous retainer fee (20 gp/member), a 2 gp per diem, plus expenses (must be documented) and a handsome completion commission (50 gp/member) if all bills are properly posted.
* If the team's posters contribute to the recovery, they get a bonus.
* If the team happens to spot it themselves, a *big* bonus.
* If they recover it... *well, that would make things comfortable*.

Once the party is on the case, the players will likely hear more rumors; where the first real hints of the menace behind this crate begin to become apparent. A platoon of Purple Dragons can be deadlier than some actual dragons, so a party of level-1 adventurers want to avoid getting on the wrong side of the capital-D Dragons.

Likewise, tangling with a band of assassins that took down a heavily armed trade caravan is likely to get the PC's health insurance canceled. Sticking to the plan, posting the bills, and keeping their ears open is a sound way to collect a completion commission and maybe a bonus.

Of course, *there will be complications*...

* **Mission Progression**