The city has a thousand stories

Wild Thing!

Before

Parked beside a popular tavern, the PC's see a large horse-drawn wagon with a large metal cage. Sleeping inside the cage is a large lion. A drover, somewhat inebriated, is climbing up to the seat and is impatiently starting to bring the wagon under way.

During

A wagon carrying a large cage rattles by the PCs, the driver obviously in a great hurry. Other people on the street quickly move out of the way, shouting curses at the driver. A massive cage fills the cart, and a large tawny animal occupies it. The beast is visibly disturbed by its violent handling. Suddenly the wagon lurches as it a wheel disappears into an over-large pothole. The sound of splintering wood follows and the wheel shatters,sending the wagon crashing onto it's side. The driver is thrown against a stone wall, while the cage drops and smashes, releasing its occupant into the street. A large lion, probably meant for a nobel's collection is now loose!

After

As the PC's turn onto one of the main throughfares of the city, they hear panicked cries of people interspersed with feral roars. What greets their eyes is an obviously enraged lion running amock through a rapidly thinning crowd. A wrecked wagon and cage are partially blocking the road.

At the GM's descretion, the lion could be replaced by pretty much any beast lacking ranged attacks and confinable by persons without magical assistance.

Eviction Notice

Before

As the PC's move through one of the better parts of town, they see a group of gaurdsmen and labourers being lead by a large, somewhat overstuffed middle-aged man. He appears both nervous and exaltant. One of the gaurdsmen, obviously the leader with a ceremonial halbard, also carries a large paper scroll. They appear to be heading to a rather large, opulant home.

During

As the PC's move through one of the better parts of town, they see a well dressed man sitting in front of a well appointed home, head in his hands. On the street in front appear to be most of the man's possessions. Nearby stands a pair of local guardsman. Two burly labourers bring out a large chest and drop it roughly to the ground. In a nearby alley, the PC's can see some never-do-well's hanging out like vultures, but it is not clear what they are waiting for.

After

The PC's are moving along one of the better streets and are suprised to see various street-people walking quickly by carring various home items. Oil lamps, chairs, rugs, etc, are all being trucked away from somewhere ahead. Shortly the PCs come to a group of street people picking over an assortment of furnishings scattered onto the road.

A number of town guard stand nearby but are doing nothing to stop the looting.

If the PC's look around more closely in the nearby alleys, they will find a recently deceased nobleman. The person appears to be of noble blood but has been badly beaten and all of his valuables have been taken.

It is a the GM's descretion who this nobleman is, and what he could have done to become treated the way he is.

Over a Barrel

Before

A teamster working for M. Brothers water suppliers is late delivering his wagon load of filled water barrels to their proper destination. He is all over the street weaving in and out of traffic, at an inappropriate speed. The party and other locals must take care to stay out of his way. As the wagon passes the party it clips another wagon, a sign or even a building.

During

If the party follows the path of the water wagon, it heads to a street with a steep incline. As the wagon reaches the summit of the slope, there is a snapping sound as the rope securing the barrels breaks. The rope was damaged when it hit the wagon/sign/building earlier. Now a multitude of barrels are cascading down the street, creating a possibly deadly event.

After

The party enters a street filled with disaster. Water barrels, injured and possibly dead citizens scattered about the street. The party can aid or loot the victims of the accident. They can also help the teamster reload his stock, possibly making an unusual contact.

The Religious Riot

Before

The players can hear someone making an impassioned speech and the cheers of a small crowd. The raised voices are gaining the attention of others around the party, who are disrupting traffic in order to see what is happening. One young man is quickly traveling away from the crowd, in the general direction of the party. The young man is modestly dressed, with multi-colored paint stains on his clothing, hands and face. He will not stop, unless the party restrains him. If so, he will explain that he is an artist and fears that the mob up ahead will turn violent and he wants to flee the area.

During

A religious figure is condemning the works of art being sold/displayed in a nearby shop/museum as blasphemy. The owners of the business stand terrified at the windows. The religious figure is very charismatic and will sway the crowd to violence unless the party can persuade them otherwise. If protected the business owners will be grateful. On the other hand, the party can help incite the crowd and use this opportunity to rob/loot the property. If the party aids the priest/mob, they could gain the attention of a new religious movement or a splinter group of an existing religion.

After

The party finds the remains of a shop/museum. The window and doors have been destroyed and the content stolen or made unrecognizable. A beaten and bloody couple at the site, will cringe in fear if approached but will explain their situation if aided. If the party helps the couple to recover any of the art works, they might be rewarded. This could lead to future adventures dealing with the art world.

More then you can chew....

Before

A large, angry mob passes by the PC's , 'Burn the Witch!' and similar messages being hollered. A priest and a handful of towns guardsmen are at the head of the mob. They stop in front of a large, well-built house and move to enter it, the priest opening brandishing his holy symbol.

During

The Pc's happen upon a huge crowd surrounding a Stake with a well-dressed, middle aged woman tied to it. Piled around her waist high are big bundles of firewood. Standing nearby is a village priest holding holy book and censer, as well as a number of town guard bearing torches. The crowd is shouting 'Burn her! Death to the Witch' etc.

If the PCs do not intervene, then once the pile of wood is lite, the fire begins to burn and the woman screams. Then suddenly the scream changes to inhuman laughter and the flames erupt outward, immolating the priest, nearby guardsmen and many of the people standing by watching. The 'witch' throws off her human disguise, revealing a flame-resistent demon of your choice. The crowd then stampedes in panic in all directions. Stepping down from stake towards her smoldering victims, she touches them in turn and they rise as undead. The demon will cause more destruction with flame and claw, and then leave, laughing the entire time.

After

The PC's come across a scene of chaos - people are running around screaming, being chased by what appear to be charred walking corpses. Other bodies lie on the ground around a half-burned pile of wood and charred stake.

GM's discretion on if the Demon is still present.

Hey look, puppies!

A small group of men stares intensely at something. Coming nearer, you see puppies, obviously still young, as they are small and only learn to walk. Cute as they are, the men look serious and exchange a comment here and there, making their mother nervous. But one man keeps her somewhat calm, while looking with others on the little ones.

The puppies are a completely new dog breed. The breeder hopes for better characteristics, the other men are mostly hunters and other dog-fanciers, that were called or came from own interest. If all looks well, they will have business. But now, they are just watching.

Flowers for the lady, mister?

A young girl with a dirty face and tattered dress stands near the town market offering to sell the PCs freshly cut flowers. They are only a single copper a piece, and smell nice. Perhaps the PCs will be generous with their wealth, or they will not. Great for paranoid parties.

The Challenge

You realize a group of men is going right to you. The man in front has a hard determined look on his face, the two men behind follow him with some uneasiness. He stops before you, holding the handle of his sword in one hand, and slaps (choose person carefully) with leather gloves he carries in the other hand. 'Rhadagald Thinvoice, I challenge You to a duel to dea...' Stopping abruptly, he realizes this is the wrong person.

Elections

In a crowded marketplace, a man is standing on a soapbox, orating. Some of the crowd are cheering, some hissing, some standing around saying 'I can't hear a bl**dy word he's saying'. It's a hustings for an election. The PCs can either leave, or stay and listen. If they do the latter, then they can vote too, and they might get quite involved in the cheering. Depending on who wins they might get quite involved in the post-election brawl too...

There are numerous possibilities with this encounter: the PCs might end up talking to one of the nervous candidates before their speech, and offer encouragement and support. Of course this candidate may well turn out to be someone with outspokenly unorthodox views, and the crowd don't take kindly to s/his supporters. Or maybe the seemingly innocuous candidate turns out to be a complete racist, and the PCs wander off embarrassedly, pretending they weren't talking to this person five minutes ago.

The letter

A fragment of a letter drifts down to the street. You catch it, and unfold the charred edges.

'...know I will always lov..

..at never dies. It is th...

..f my passion that b...

...nd it cannot be ext..

....n heaven or....n hel..

....ill be by you...ide an...

......

...... yours foreve.........

... Mendates ........

...................................'

Looking up from the fragmented text you glance around at the rooftops. There. A minute snowfall of scraps of letters is cascading from the chimney of a half-timbered house nearby.

Magic

The characters are wandering through the bustling crowds of Lasopolis. A street conjuror is performing a simple summoning spell, something for the kiddies. A bit of odious purple powder in the fire, an incantation and out pops a saak-lizard or a muhmentarsh, writhing from the flaming brazier. But the conjuror has only a poor grasp of the arcane magical tongue. A few stuttered syllables could lead to Other Things coming through the brazier and giving the crowd more entertainment than they had paid for...

A great offer!

'Ladies and Gentlemen of Worth, please come closer and have a look... ' In a little stand with numerous maps, the human Advantos sells land-rights with a shining smile and jovial talk at bargain prices. He even sells squatter rights (first to settle is the owner).

About 20% of the lands do not exist or belong to someone else. About 30% do not have even that value, or have other problems attached- swampy, cursed, haunted, Old Indian/Pet Cemetery (tm)... Be assured you will not see this man in the same city twice.

A show

A few musicians play their instruments and a beatiful maiden dances to the music. Wonderful to look upon, you surely will spend a little coin, will you? In addition, two thieves move through the on-looking crowd, and 'clean' those that won't contribute. 'Spare the coppers - loose the silvers!' your father used to say.

The Spring Wedding Festival

The PC's enter a town amid a giant celebration, the Spring Wedding Festival. Unmarried men and women from all over the provinces gather her every spring to be matched by the most sacred matchmaker ever to live, Holly Lovard. Holly is now ancient and must be carried everywhere she visits and rumors are that this will be her last visit to the Wedding Festival so any matches made this spring will be doubley blessed.

Enter PC's, wrong place at the wrong time. Molly sees one of them, calls him/her out of the crowd and that are unable to resist the push and pull of the mob. Brought in front of Molly Lovard, the PC is declared the lifemate of _____.

Could be the king's daughter, a peasant, member of the thieves guild. Could be anything to add a twist to an already building plot, or just throw the characters into an awkward situation.

The treat

Small tavern in an out of the way town. Serve a wonderful delicacy that is simply outstanding. It is a creamy white consistancy, sweet, good to eat alone or a sweetener on any dessert. If they explore or ask they are shown where they get it. They breed a group of large catipillars or some other type of insect that basically spit the product onto a setup that they created for that particular reason. Or maybe the delicacy is the byproduct of feeding them something. Instead of city can be a traveller offering the food.

Blue

Mining in a certain area turns all exposed skin (maybe just parts that are actively disturbing the chemicals that cause the reaction) of the those doing the mining to a dark blue color. Will wear off taking as many years/days spent in the mine. ... meeting a party of blue-skinned humans armed with pick-axes etc. Strange disease? Demon offspring? Curse? If they meet only one ex-worker, they will very carefully listen to any stories he says, no matter if drunken or insane, or just makes up to get a beer.

It's that time

A religious group has a vow of poverty. They have nothing except what is donated to them. Once a day the group walks through the town holding small baskets for offerings. Main purpose is to recieve their food for the day. Most families believe it is good luck to give the group small foods that they can spare. The group is very grateful for the donations and all bow in unison to each that gives a donation much to the amusement of many kids that enjoy giving the donation.