AOP:Package Tracker

## **The Fire Timeline**

Behind the scenes, or at least away from Westgate, events are already well in motion. In "Hard Mode," this is the timeline that unfolds barring the actions and intervention of the PCs.

The background notes, sprinkled in elsewhere, lead up to the Fire Timeline.

Given the pace, it's not that hard – *if the PCs keep to the itinerary*. If they get sidetracked, it's likely the mini-campaign ends with them walking out on a "mission:accomplished" vibe and only you know what happens just after the credits roll...

* **Background Notes 1:** The scene of the crime.
* **Background Notes 2:** What's in the crate?
* **Background Notes 3:** Why Stonehearth cares about Cormyr's crate.
* **Background Notes 3a:** Where the leak actually is (how early this timeline actually goes)
* **Background Notes 4:** Stonehearth's own investigation.

With the background notes setting the stage, we know that this story has been brewing for weeks, ranging from Suzail, to Saerloon, to Baldur's Gate and back again. At T -0, we see the deadly intersection of the  *Grynwydde Merchant Company* and the assassins' guild fronted by the "Proskur Free Trade Association."

### **Attack T: +00 days**

* PFTA conducts the attack, heads north, burns/buries the dead, stealths out. Part of the group heads further north, into the hills, and carries the majority of the loot with them. A smaller group circles around and heads east – *this is the group with "the package"*.
* Stonehearth rangers arrive half a day later, pick up the trail, don't tell regional players about the assailant's stealth double-back. They tracked the assailants at least 20 miles southeast.
* Cormyr currently believes the assailants are in the hills to the north. They are half right.
* *Party backstory: each PC with their own momentum, they're likely on their way to Westgate...*

### **Attack T: +01 days**

* PFTA group carrying *the package*: once they're out of range, they abandoned stealth for speed and put 50 miles distance in over poor trails. The crate itself has a dedicated horse and is rigged to make it look like there's a rider. The crate is lighter than an average human, allowing the transpo horse to stay comparatively fresh while it is "towed" behind the rider-guided horses.
* Stonehearth rangers are tracking them – *and closing*.
* Cormyr begins saturating the Easting-Proskur stretch with army search teams.

### **Attack T: +02 days**

* PFTA carrying *the package* group veer south, picking up minor trails south of the Trader's Road and are still heading east. It appears they have pre-positioned fresh horses and are familiar with the routes.
* Stonehearth rangers are still tracking the package group – *and are estimated to be within 25 miles*.
* Cormyrean knights note people exfiltrating north out of Proskyr. There are suspicions they are headed out to coordinate with assailants. Proskyr placed under immediate royal lock-down.

### **Attack T: +03 days**

* PFTA package group makes time on trails south of Trader's Road. These are minor roads between thorps and hamlets.
* Stonehearth rangers are still tracking them, though they're relying magical residue from the package itself rather than any signs the assassins are leaving behind. They have closed to within 15 miles.
* The Sembian "Whiskey Rangers" (WR) Thieves' Guild group (out of Saerloon; who originally commissioned the PFTA) are now staging in Snakesbridge, by the northeast face of the Giant's Run Mountains.

### **Attack T: +04 days**

* PFTA package group were about 10 miles south of Elversult when a storm blew in off the Dragonmere. This obscured all aspects of their trail.
* The Stonehearth rangers have closed to within 5 miles of the PFTA assassins when the storm washes away all signs.
* *Campaign begins (PCs at Westgate)*

### **Attack T: +05 days**

* PFTA meets WR in Giant's Run Mountains. WR confirm the prize and the trade is made: the 7,500 gp completion fee for the crate. An extra 1,000 gp when the PFTA party sells the transpo-rigged horse to the WR.
* The PFTA divides 8,500 among the four assassins and they head back to Proskur independently. Two go by horse. Two head to Teziir to book passage by water.
* The WR field team uses their Sending Stone to communicate with HQ in Saerloon that they have the package and that the contents are intact.
* A competing thieves' guild in Proskur suspects PFTA activity has brought unbearable Cormyrean heat to the city. The bar the doors *on the outside* and burn down the PFTA guild house – with much of the guild inside. They do so while wearing heavy armor, giving the impression of Purple Dragon infantry without their tabards.
* *PCs in Thunn's Garden*

### **Attack T: +06 days**

* Proskur erupts in outrage over the Cormyrean massacre of the PFTA.
* From Saerloon, the WR send out word on the Sembian black market that they've 250 Stonehearth military-grade fireball scrolls. Solicitations for bids begins via a magical double-blind network.
* *PCs in Hillsbrier*

### **Attack T: +07 days**

* Sembia underworld has minor eruption over black market rumors.
* *PCs in Morningmyst*

### **Attack T: +08 days**

* Black market bids continue to roll in.
* *PCs in Reddansyr*

### **Attack T: +09 days**

* A dozen double-blind bids arrive. One wins, identified only as "The Group."
* DM NOTE: The Group is a cover for a chapter of the *Doommasters*, a Cult of Beshaba.
* *PCs in Hickory Grove*

### **Attack T: +10 days**

* WR makes arrangements to meet "The Group" in Pros (ruins).
* *PCs in Teziir*

### **Attack T: +11 days**

* WR depart Giant's Run.
* The Group charters an armed merchantman vessel flagged from the eastern Inner Sea.
* *PCs in Caerwen*

### **Attack T: +12 days**

* WR in Caerwen.
* *PCs in Giant's Run*

### **Attack T: +13 days**

* WR in Pros, hire the pirates as muscle.
* *PCs in (Caerwen)*

### **Attack T: +16 days**

* The Group arrives in Pros.
* The Group meets WR in Pros [TRANSFER]
* *PCs in Pros (Target Lock)*

### **Attack T: +23 days**

* DAERLUN EVENT: this is the execution of a *Doommasters* plot to detonate the entire shipment at once in the city of Daerlun, an independent city on the border of Cormyr and Sembia. Whoever isn't killed in the initial blast will be killed by the collapse of the famous 500' curtain wall erected by the Shadovar.
* Total estimated casualties: 42,000
* Open war erupts between Cormyr and Sembia.