Mission Title: The Spider’s Web
Campaign: Shadows of the Harukaze Empire
Setup:
The PCs are tasked with infiltrating Fort Kurokumo, a Whispering Lotus stronghold hidden in a remote mountain pass. Their mission is to retrieve critical intelligence about Lotus operations, specifically plans targeting key Imperial defenses. The team is warned that if detected, the enemy will destroy their archives, making stealth critical to success.
The fort doubles as a research facility, and whispers of horrific experiments have reached Kage no Hana.
Mission Objectives:
- Infiltrate the fort and avoid detection.
- Locate and secure the intelligence archive.
- Exfiltrate undetected—or eliminate threats if compromised.
The Twist:
While exploring the base, the PCs uncover:
- Critical Intel: The Whispering Lotus has detailed dossiers on the PCs’ identities, weaknesses, and allies, including their double lives. If distributed, these documents will destroy their cover.
- Ritual of Revelation: At midnight, the Whispering Lotus plans to magically distribute their gathered intelligence across their network, exposing the PCs’ secrets and compromising Kage no Hana operations.
- Dark Experiments: The PCs find laboratories filled with prisoners and creatures subjected to horrifying magical and alchemical experiments. These include enhanced soldiers, mind-controlled operatives, and hybrid monstrosities.
At this pivotal moment, Lady Ayame sends a magical message:
“Change of plans. Ignore your original objective. Leave nothing alive. Stealth is now optional. No survivors or witnesses are to remain.”
The PCs now have the freedom to ditch subtlety if they choose, unleashing their full arsenal of skills and abilities to destroy the fort and its inhabitants.
Challenges:
- Alarm System: Once the PCs abandon stealth, the fort activates its defenses, including reinforced guard patrols, magical wards, and traps designed to slow intruders.
- Escalating Enemy Threats: The fort commander may release experimental creatures or deploy enchanted constructs to defend critical areas.
- Clock is Ticking: The ritual remains a pressing threat. If the PCs don’t stop it by midnight, their covers will be blown across the empire.
- Moral Decisions: Some of the fort’s inhabitants, including prisoners and coerced workers, are not aligned with the Whispering Lotus. Will the PCs spare them, defying orders, or ensure no one escapes?
Notable NPCs:
- Commander Hattori Kojiro: The fort’s cold, calculating leader, armed with a cursed katana that grants supernatural strength at the cost of his sanity.
- Doctor Rikuya: The head researcher, protected by alchemical monstrosities and personal wards. He views the PCs as test subjects and will use his creations to trap them.
- Akane the Shadowed Flame: The sorceress leading the ritual. Her shadow magic can hinder visibility and summon shadowy constructs to guard the ritual chamber.
- The Prisoners: Among the victims is a Kage no Hana informant with critical knowledge of future Lotus operations. Freeing them could be vital, but the PCs must decide if it’s worth the risk.
Encounters:
- Experimental Guard Beasts: Enhanced wolves or oni hybrids patrol the laboratories and archives. Their aggression and durability make them a formidable challenge.
- Ritual Guardians: The ritual chamber is guarded by shadow constructs and elite Lotus soldiers with anti-magic tools to counter the PCs.
- The Laboratory: If the PCs storm the lab, they face swarms of failed experiments—mutated creatures with erratic, unpredictable behaviors.
Aftermath Options:
- Full Success: The PCs destroy the fort, stop the ritual, and eliminate all witnesses. Their brutal efficiency strengthens their standing within Kage no Hana but raises questions about their morality and loyalty to Lady Ayame’s orders.
- Partial Success: The PCs prevent the ritual but fail to destroy all witnesses. Some information leaks to the Lotus network, forcing Kage no Hana to act defensively.
- Failure: The ritual is completed, exposing the PCs and compromising Kage no Hana. The PCs must flee, hunted by the Lotus and their own allies for their failure.
Would you like to expand on specific encounters (like a boss fight with Commander Hattori) or details of the fort layout?