```col-mdflexGrow=2.5===# Outline# Introduction > [!read-aloud] **Read Aloud** > > > > You arrive back at Port Perro after your quest, and find the North Gate to the city is wide open. There are no City Watch on duty. > > On the other side of the gate, the street is deserted, but you can hear noises coming from different directions. To the left is the sound of fighting and the clanking of swords; to the right is angry shouting, some crashes, and…the sound of chickens squawking loudly. > # Act I TO THE LEFT Porky, the landlord of The Giggling Gargoyle , is nearly finished slaughtering a pack of Goblins with his huge battle axe. A dozen bodies are piled up around him. He doesn't need any help, but if the PCs can kill one each, he would appreciate the gesture. He might tell the PCs that killing goblins is boring. TO THE RIGHT Four Goblins are trying to round up a dozen or so chickens to put them into a big cage. They have a couple in there already but the rest are proving elusive. Several citizens (including Mr and Mrs Muffin, the bakers) are shouting abuse at the goblins and throwing things from the safety of their upstairs windows. ![[1235982]]|Goblins (MMp166)Once the PCs have dealt with the selected threat, either Porky or Mrs Muffin will explain that during the night, all The City Watch disappeared, and now there are chickens everywhere! Somebody left the North Gate open, and scores of goblins poured in and started rounding up the chickens. Most of them went off in the direction of the market square.Note that the goblins cannot just kill the chickens if a chicken is reduced to 0 hp it will turn back into a guard.The truth is that Count Jasper made his move in the night; a powerful polymorph potion was added to the guards' supper, and they have all turned into chickens. One of Jasper's men opened the gate, and the goblins, following Jasper's orders, have started to round up the chickens before the magic wears off.If the PCs selected the 'to the right' option above, then they will encounter Porky slaughtering yet more goblins on his way to the market square.Either way, Porky will reveal at this point, if the PCs have not already guessed, that he was the fourth member of the adventuring party along with Lyza, Tograf, and Marcus. He knows all about the PCs' mission, and will enquire about the sceptre, before grimly heading off towards the market square, telling the PCs “follow me.”# Act II In the market square, Count Jasper is sitting on Lord Tograf's throne, smirking, surrounded by a small army of new guards. The PCs, as City Watch themselves, will recognise many of these new guards as the thugs and criminal gang members that they have been trying to keep under control for the past months and years (use Bandit stats block for them if needed MMp343).Count Jasper watches with amusement as his Goblins continue to round up chickens and put them in sacks. Dozens of squirming sacks of chickens already litter the square. As well as guards and goblins, the PCs will notice that Jasper has:- a pet Owlbear (MMp249) on a chain, sat to his left- On his right, also watching the goblins with amusement, stands Barnacle Betty and/or Braxter (if either are still alive)- Behind him, in a wooden cage suspended from a makeshift gallows, is a badly beaten Lord Tograf- On his right, an 18' tall Fire Giant (MM p154)What happens next depends on the PCs' actions. At first, the battle will go against them:Although Porky puts up a good fight, he is outmatched. The Bandits and Goblins watch the contest in fear, and will not intervene. Jasper watches with fascination. As soon as Jasper spots the PCs, he will cast a ![[374192]]|Hold Person spell (PHB p251) on up to three of them, then order his guards to seize them . Within seconds the PCs will be surrounded on all sides by dozens of guards, hopelessly outnumbered.Barnacle Betty shouts across to the PCs that if they surrender now, Count Jasper will allow them to continue their jobs and double their wages.But then, just as all seems lost, the PC wearing the copper ring will feel it tingling. There follows a blinding flash of light, then Marcus the Mage appears out of nowhere in the middle the square. Before anyone can react, he casts a powerful version of ![[745064]]|Dispel Magic (PHB p234) which affects the whole square; this means that any held PCs are released, and the chickens turn back into The City Watch . The tide turns.# Act III The restored City Watch immediately attack Jasper's guards, and the square becomes a battleground. Marcus and Jasper begin a battle of spells. Flames and lightning bolts fly between them, and it is hard to see who has the upper hand. In the chaos, the PCs have been forgotten about. It is up to them to choose how they join in the battle. The GM should keep track of how many combat rounds have taken place.- Barnacle Betty decides to kill Lord Tograf. She draws a dagger, looks up at the cage, then activates her invisibility ring. She has to climb up the gallows first, making her a target to any PC using a Gem of Seeing (DMGp172). If the PCs do not intervene, Lord Tograf's fate is up to the GM.- Porky continues to fight the Fire Giant (MMp154). The Giant kills him in seven rounds unless the PCs intervene. If the PCs intervene, the Giant continues to target Porky, but if the PCs inflict 30hp of damage on the giant, the giant will die. Slowing down the Giant's attacks, or healing Porky's wounds, could also enable Porky to survive.- If any PC gets a weapon (or thieves' tools) to Lord Tograf , he will escape the cage and join in the battle. [/td] [td:20] The Owlbear (MMp249) attacks The City Watch and/or PCs.- Barnacle Betty ![[1235856]]- Lord Tograf - Porky- Fire Giant ![[1237401]]- Owlbear ![[1236645]]After four combat rounds, the PCs hear what sounds like a bird screeching above them, and the voice of Lyza calling out the name of the PC who has the Sceptre of Exilium. Lyza is riding a Hippogriff; she drops the emerald for the PC to catch.- The PC must pass a DC15 Dexterity check to catch it (or spend the next round trying to pick it up in the middle of the battle DC12 Dexterity check)- Next, the PC must pass a DC10 Intelligence check to insert the emerald correctly into the housing in the sceptre. Failures will result in delays (and extend the battle) but multiple checks are allowed.As soon as the emerald is in the sceptre, Count Jasper loses all of his power, and collapses, sobbing and pleading for mercy. Any surviving bandits run towards the alleyways to return to their lives of crime. Marcus casts a Sleep spell on the owlbear. The goblins and the fire giant run for the North Gate to flee the city, but they are pursued by some of The City Watch, and Lyza on the hippogriff, so they will not get far.# Act IV In The Giggling Gargoyle, depending on how the battle went, the surviving PCs will either be celebrating or toasting their fallen comrade(s).Either way, Lord Tograf himself will pay a visit (if he survived), accompanied by Lyza and Marcus. Tograf will offer his thanks to the PCs and, as a reward, he will give them enough gold that they can leave The City Watch and set up a business if they want to.He might also suggest that the PCs would make an excellent adventuring party, like the one he used to be in when he was a younger man, and he might give them each a magic item they might find useful on their adventures. For example:- Sword +1 (for a fighter) DMGp213- Scimitar of Warning (for a rogue) DMG p213 ![[1237914]]- Robe of Useful Items (for a wizard) DMG p195 ![[1237916]]- Goggles of the Night (for anyone without darkvision) DMGp172 ![[1237921]]- Gloves of Swimming and Climbing (for anyone) DMGp172 ![[1237922]]Then he will thank them for their service, wish them good luck, and leave. Lyza and Marcus will follow, with a smile and a wink.If the PCs did not save Lord Tograf, they will not get the rewards from him, but Lyza could still present them with a Sword +1 as a thank you for what they did achieve.``````col-md![[plots/the-city-watch/table-of-contents|Table of Contents]]```