Book 1:
The
campaign begins as the PCs are drawn together by a common thread—a
cruel old criminal named Gaedren Lamm. Given the chance to avenge themselves against him by a mysterious Varisian woman
named Zellara, the PCs confront Gaedren in the old fishery that serves
as his hideout. Therein, they find two surprises; a brooch stolen from
Queen Ileosa and Zellara’s severed head. Zellara’s been dead for weeks,
and now her Harrow deck serves as a receptacle for her ghost, creating a
strange but helpful ally that will follow the PCs through the rest of the adventure path.
When
the PCs emerge from the fishery, they learn that King Eodred
II has died, and the city of Korvosa has plunged into chaos. After
meeting with the grieving queen to return the stolen brooch, they are
recruited by Field Marshall Cressida Kroft to help bring the city back
under control. After dealing with guards gone rogue, handling a delicate
political situation involving a local crime lord, and coping with all
manner of chaos in the streets, the PCs are called upon to apprehend a
woman named Trinia Sabor, who might just be the one who assassinated
King Eodred II. After capturing her and turning her over to the Guard,
the PCs must recover the missing body of a Shoanti warrior before his
kin declare war on the city. The adventure ends as the PCs attend the
supposed execution of Trinia Sabor, only to become caught up in the
chaos of her unexpected rescue by one of Korvosa’s most
legendary heroes—a masked man named Blackjack.
Book 2:
What begins as a simple favor for an old friend Grau
draws the PCs into a battle against a rampant plague that
threatens to consume all of Korvosa. Once more working with Cressida and Vencarlo, the party
must do all it can to halt the progression of the plague
and save as many infected citizens as possible. They save numerous citizens by stopping a merchant selling a false cure, prevent a war between the ratfolk living below the city and brave the sunken wreck to find a lead. Through
the course of their work, the PCs gradually discover the
sinister groups responsible for the plague’s outbreak and
the deaths of thousands: the Red Mantis assassins, the
disease-worshiping church of Urgathoa, and Korvosa’s
own genocidal queen. Through much struggle and the loss of one of their own Caled, they eventually manage to slay the high priestess of urgathoa and escape with the cure. Along with them, a nosferatu named Ramoska Arkminos escaped in order to seek a cure for vampirism elsewhere.
Book 3:
The next step begins with the leader of the Sable Company attempting an assassination of Queen Ileosa - an attempt that backfires horribly as the queen reveals her newfound power. In the aftermath of this event, the PCs receive word that, on quarantined Old Korvosa, their old friend Vencarlo might have discovered something of great import regarding the queen. The PCs brave the anarchic streets of Old Korvosa only to find Vencarlo missing and his home transformed into a Red Mantis ambush. Following a trail of clues, the PCs learn that a strange artist named Salvator Scream likely knows where Vencarlo went, as well as what information sent the teacher into such a state in the first place. They also meet the cheerfully sadistic priestess of Zon-Kuthon who agrees to aid them in return for an audience with Salvator. Unfortunately, Salvator is now securely in the hands of a petty warlord who calls himself the Emperor of Old Korvosa.
After killing the Emporer and Swift taking his place. and interrogating Salvator, the PCs learn the secret—the seneschal of Korvosa still lives! He, and likely Vencarlo now, is in the clutches of the notorious Arkona family, the self-styled rulers of Old Korvosa. The PCs visit Palace Arkona only to learn that its patriarch has secrets of his own. In order to rescue Vencarlo and the seneschal and learn the awful truth behind the queen’s mysterious power and rising cruelty, the PCs must brave the infamous Vivified Labyrinth below Palace Arkona and then escape from Old Korvosa alive. However things don't go entirely to plan with Bahor's advice leading them into a lethal dead-end in the labyrinth. After braving several tests and trials of both body and mind, the party rescue first Vencarlo and later the seneschal by smiting down an exhibitionist devil. Trapped in the heart of the labyrinth with no easy way out, the party decide to roll the dice and leap through a mirror that could take them anywhere.
The mirror takes them to the underworld where the boatman, an echo of Charon, takes them to the Drowned Court in Abaddon. There they make a deal with a daemon merchant named Vulgrim and discover that Tegresin still has his hooks in Laura. After conducting business with the undead they are given safe passage back to a small town just outside Korvosa, named Harse. Inside a farmhouse they are reunited with Vencarlo, the Seneschal and Trinia. Here the Seneschal reveals the Queen's source of power, a crown adorned with fangs that she found in the city vaults. With regards to the origin of this item, the party is pointed in the direction of a certain Shoanti tribe, whos ancestors were originally tasked with guarding the pyramid on which Korvosa was founded.
