Post by Head Moderator on Jan 9, 2015 0:02:34 GMT -5
[For Neutral or Evil PCs]
It has been known to happen at times, and it usually makes for lighthearted copy in the back pages of the local newspapers: a wealthy maven dies, and instead of leaving her estate to friends, family, or public trusts, she chooses to will everything to a beloved pet.
Recently, it has happened again. Caroline Blackcatter, minor sorcerer and heiress to a family business manufacturing rare spell components, passed away at the venerable age of 92. According to executors, the entirety of her fortune went to her familiar, Mister Pipkins, including substantial funding set aside for the cat's care and protection.
While arousing smirks and smiles from those in town, not everyone is so enamored with the story. One of the provisions of the will is that if should anything befall Mister Pipkins, the fortune will pass on to Bartleby Burrlacher, chief executor of the estate. Naturally, Burrlacher cannot be associated with any attempt to do away with the cat . . . however, furtive associates of his approach the party, suggesting the cat's death would greatly benefit them all. Through the most transparent implications, they make it clear that Burrlacher needs a discreet, professional -- and unaffiliated -- party to break into the Blackcatter estate, where they must locate and assassinate Mister Pipkins. Once the Blackcatter fortune passes to Burrlacher, the party will be handsomely paid; in addition, should they stage their assassination attempt as a burglary, any objects they secure along the way are theirs to keep.
The following are ways you could change up the ideas presented. They are merely ideas, you pick and choose if you wish:
Ideas for Motivations
Burrlacher is what he says: a greedy man in need of one less cat, in order to gain possession of the fortune he has managed for years.
Burrlacher is still working for the estate; the fortune will not pass to him if the cat dies, but rather to a distant relative. Only if the cat lives long enough to die at a ripe old age of natural causes will Burrlacher be rewarded. Thus, he hires the party to test the estate's defenses and guards. He'll be waiting in the final study along with the cat -- and a heavy contingency of guards -- to reveal himself to the PCs and escort them out.
Caroline Blackcatter did not actually pass away. She has taken the guise of her cat to see which of her staff she can really trust, before completing her actual will. She'll reveal herself to the PCs when necessary and solicit the name of their employer. If things turn heated, she will certainly defend herself.
Ideas for Complications
The Blackcatter estate is by no means ill-defended. From topiary guardians in the gardens, to zealous bodyguards, to the cat itself -- well-protected by a nigh-impenetrable arsenal of defensive spells (this is truly a cat that could walk through walls) -- this is not an easy contract to fulfill.
Further protecting the cat, a number of local guards have infiltrated the estate, posing as bodyguards. Due to the provisions of the will (if the provisions do indeed benefit Burrlacher), they've suspected Burrlacher would send assassins against the cat, which they've vowed to thwart.
The familiar, as it turns out, is no mere cat (if the third motivation above isn't used). Rather, it's a rakshasa that stays in the guise of a familiar in order to work incognito. The rakshasa has managed the estate for years, using Caroline Blackcatter for cover, and it composed her will itself. Needless to say, now that it has come directly into her fortune, it has no intention of seeing it taken away -- or its identity revealed.