Old gnome, via http://www.wampstore.com/store/old%20gnome

Gyllehaal, an old gnome, has seen a lot in his life. He spent decades adventuring unluckily; he can barely remember how often he was captured and beaten within an inch of his life, or a treasure chest turned out to be empty, or a valuable gem slipped from his grasp and went careening down a chasm.

But eventually his luck turned, and after a number of successful adventures, he grew rich. Given so many years of hardship, now he has to show off his hard-won fortune.

Gyllehaal struts the streets of his favorite city, bedecked in jewels and expensive furs, visiting money-lenders during the day to manage his money and every gambling house and high-society party he can get invited to at night.

Nobody steals his jewels, though, because of the 4 full orc bodyguards that accompany him everywhere. They speak only among themselves (and then, only in orcish), and they follow Gyllehaal’s orders with completely professional alacrity. They even follow him into parties, though they know enough to stay on the periphery of whatever grand ballroom he’s in.

The orcs are a mystery to outsiders. They wear well-tailored leather clothes trimmed with wolf fur and heavy boots, and wear their hair pulled back in pony tails. They each carry large, ornate axes strapped to their backs. They seem well-mannered, though they don’t say or do much; just surround Gyllehaal while he’s in the streets and stand in a knot muttering among themselves when he’s inside a structure. Folks whisper that Gyllehaal defeated them in battle some years ago and they swore fealty to him, though he must have done something pretty amazing to manage that.

As a friendly faction, Gyllehaal is no more or less than an ex-adventurer enjoying the fruits of his labor. He’ll ask the PCs to collect various amulets, rings, and other objects he can wear in public.

As a foe faction, Gyllehaal may have made a fortune, but he quickly lost it to gambling. Now he works for the money-lenders in a protection racket, using his orcs to squeeze protection money out of a number of businesses.

Unfortunately, Gyllehaal has no problem calling on the City Watch if he’s molested, and they have no beef with him, so a group of PCs who just walk up to Gyllehaal and attack him will soon find themselves swarmed with members of the Watch.

Instead, they will have to gather evidence, such as a set of cooked books that he keeps in the basement of his heavily guarded mansion.

Amethyst, a lively and mysterious young tiefling woman with a penchant for long, shimmering green dresses and high society parties, secretly leads a society of spellcasters.

As far as most people know, she’s simply an independently wealthy ex-adventurer with an infectious laugh and a shrewd mind.

But several nights a week, she meets with others of her kind in basements all across the city, where they train each other in magical combat. These fights can be very hard, but they’re not intended to kill or even hurt. They’re meant to toughen. Each member of her organization has embedded a small jewel somewhere on his or her body, typically in the middle of the breastbone.

Amethyst believes in a coming sea change in the public perception of magic. She believes that a purge will sweep civilization a few years from now, where the common people will rise up out of fear of magic and hunt down spellcasters.

So her followers train to defend themselves on that day, and they’re building a secret stash of magical tomes and records that they can keep safe through the upcoming purge.

As a friendly faction, Amethyst and her Jeweled Ones are a slightly crackpot but ultimately benevolent group. Amethyst is misreading various political signals, and her organization serves as a diversion and sort of insurance just in case the worst does happen. They can be treated like UFO hunter “true believers.”

Amethyst can hire the adventurers to search for various arcane books that are lost deep in dungeons, abandoned temples, and other suitable adventuring environments.

As a foe faction, Amethyst is a seriously disturbed person who’s convinced herself of an upcoming apocalypse. The Jeweled Ones train furiously and acquire magical knowledge through any means necessary. And anyone who finds out about them and talks of them publicly doesn’t survive long.

Basically, they’re a cult that are rapidly becoming terrorists.

The PCs may be hired to investigate a murder that was committed by a Jeweled One to silence the victim, or to find a magic tome before they do (a la Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade).

A showdown with Amethyst and her followers can occur in the following map, which can be either a sewer or basement complex. Entry comes through the left, and Jeweled Ones will hide in room 1 until the PCs enter room 2, then pour out to meet them. Amethyst will be waiting in room 3.

‘Knit scarf macro’ by m01229 on Flickr

Who can truly predict popularity?

Certain bright, patchy-patterned scarves, vests, and other knitwear have become hugely popular of late. Everyone knows they’re knitted by the innumerable women who form the loose coalition known as Anne Arundel’s Cotton Knitwear.

AACK, as it’s more commonly known, formed around the prodigious knitted output of its eponymous founder. Anne is a near-legendary figure of benevolence and industry, who recruited dozens, then hundreds of other women to knit caps, scarves, gloves, and other items of clothing in distinctive patterns, with a small but significant profit making its way back to Anne herself, of course.

It’s been a boon to many a struggling farmer’s purse, though some grumble that they’re encouraged to overwork themselves by overly-aggressive members of the organization.

And the knitwear produced by these women have indeed found widespread popularity. They just seem to keep you warm (optionally granting +2 on Constitution or Wisdom (Survival) checks to resist natural cold effects).

As a friendly faction, AACK grew out of unexpected popularity, and has suffered all the growing pains of a grassroots organization. It doesn’t extort money from its members, but some of its representatives can be overly enthusiastic and run their knitting circles like factories.

Members can be found in all but the tiniest villages, and frequently need someone to check on a caravan or tinker that’s on its way with a shipment of particular yarn or dyes.

As a foe faction, AACK’s members are unwittingly part of a very large, secret plot. Anne Arundel is secretly a hag, and each piece of knitwear forms a thread in the massive tapestry of a spell that will make her a demigod. When the ritual activates, it will steal life essence from anyone wearing the clothing.

Anne keeps the equipment for this ritual in a secret chamber in the sewers underneath the major city that serves as AACK’s headquarters. She keeps a few high-ranking members of AACK as bodyguards, who will defend her to the death in her sewer hideout before she transforms and uses all of her hag spells against the party.

Sir Jon Emberfall is one of the city’s more wealthy nobles. He’s used his wealth wisely, spending extra on public works while ensuring his wealth continues to grow. Never married, without an obvious protege, and definitely on the far side of middle age, some have started to wonder aloud what will happen to his money when he passes on.

In the meantime, he’s showed an interest in magic and the occult. He hires adventurers to collect rare magic items.

As a friendly faction, Emberfall’s a decent man with a natural head for investing and a curiosity about magic. Collecting rare magic items (particularly those forest-related) is an idle hobby, and he’ll hire the PCs to retrieve several, and he pays well.

He does have an ulterior motive, though: he’s looking for an heir. If any of the PCs particularly impress him, he will approach him or her privately and ask after their affairs. If he passes away in the game, that PC will find him- or herself heir to the Emberfall fortune. This may bring more problems than the PC expects.

As a foe faction, Emberfall’s secretly become indoctrinated in the Brothers of Talos, a dark cult. He uses his publicly-known artifact collection partially as cover; every fourth or so item he has collected is actually part of a ritual aimed at summoning and controlling a powerful demon.

Emberfall’s gothic manor consists of four levels, of which the fourth contains his most prized items. PCs attempting to raid it will have to contend with his dozen or so goblin servants and about half a dozen gargoyles and animated statues set up at key points in the manor’s layout. Google a manor layout that you like and just introduce goblins or gargoyles at reasonable points as the PCs explore.