Obsidian World Crimson Sting
This is a short campaign for the Obsidian World RPG set in the city-state Crasoa where the practice of gladiatorial games is tightly integrated into the daily lives of their people. The story follows the exploits of a secret society called the Scorpion Watchers: an affiliate of the powerful group called the Maiden Singers who have a reputation for rending aid to (rich) wayward travellers in the nightlands.
Crasoan Culture
Crasoa is a city (population: 250,000) that is HUGE on gladiatorial games. They have a warrior culture where the only respectable death is called Sula Maliara, which translates to Scorpion Devoured. The city is basically a bunch of massive stadiums/arenas arrayed together, with residences built into the spectator stands so their citizens can watch the games from the comforts of their balconies.
Every night, gladiatorial games are held across the twelve arenas in the city. Battles range from submission wrestling to unarmed combat, and on auspicious days there will be bouts with melee weapons amongst armoured combatants. Every night dozens of warriors fall in the games, and they are honoured at dawn and then thrown into the crimson sands to the western wall to be fed to the giant scorpions (average size: 20cm from head to tail). Harvesters will then harvest these scorpions and sell them in the morning market. Scorpions are a primary food source in Crasoa.
This cycle of gladiatorial games yielding corpses to attract scorpions, which are then harvested as food allows the city to keep its population numbers in check for hundreds of years (the games cull 10% of the population every year, roughly equal to the population growth).
Goal
The campaign begins in an era where a mysterious disease had led to stillbirths in 90% of newborns for the two year now. The massive drop in population growth combined with the continued practice of nightly games means that society will self-destruct in a few more years from population decline. The problem is, the effect is so subtle that nobody (other than the heroes) seem to notice the problem at all.
The objectives of this campaign is two-fold:
