Eyes of the Stone Thief: After The Orc Lord

The upcoming 2^nd edition of 13^th Age updates the rules, tweaks the classes, gives lots of useful Icon-related advice – and murders the poor Orc Lord. It’s up to you how the Orc Lord perished in your campaign.

The Eyes of the Stone Thief campaign does make quite a few references to the Orc Lord, but fortunately, it’s easy to convert the dungeon over to a post-Orc-Lord world.

Fangrot the Warlord

The major orc-tagonist in the dungeon itself is Warlord Fangrot, the master of Deep Keep. To be honest, Fangrot’s been post-Orc-Lord since 1^st edition – while he was sent to conquer the dungeon for his master, he’s made little progress after he became a dungeon denizen, symbiotically linked to the Stone Thief. If he learns that the Orc Lord is gone – and remember, he’s been down in this dungeon for years, mostly cut off from the surface – he might quietly pop a bottle of champagne in the privacy of his quarters.

The same isn’t true of some of Fangrot’s followers, especially Greyface (p. 179). He’s a fanatic believer in the Orc Lord – if he learns that his lord’s dead, he goes berserk, starting a revolt (p. 168). If victorious, he takes over Fangrot’s position as orc-chief and tries to seize control of the Stone Thief. His intention isn’t to use the dungeon as a siege weapon, as the late Orc Lord intended – it’s to launch a doomsday dungeon attack on the home city of whichever Icon was responsible for the Orc Lord’s death.

The Orc Lord’s Assassins

When Fangrot’s attempt to take over the dungeon stalled, the Orc Lord prepared a crack team to find the dungeon’s missing Eyes and use them to control the Thief. At least, that was the plan – if the Orc Lord’s dead, what became of his assassins?
Possible options:

• Reskin the assassins so they’re servants of some icon opposed by the player characters. Call them Diabolical Assassins, or Undead Assassins, or Draconic Assassins, change the descriptions a little, and you’re good to go.
• Leave the assassins as orcs, but now they’re orcs for hire. The Orc Lord assembled them to go after the Eyes of the Stone Thief – just because the Orc Lord’s dead doesn’t mean the mission’s over.
• Or maybe they’re a revenge attempt from beyond the grave – the Orc Lord realises he’s doomed, and sends the assassins to seize control of the living dungeon so they can use it against those who defeated him.
• Alternatively, just don’t use ‘em – there are two other Opposition options, after all…

Now I Am The Icon

The Stone Thief’s already the most infamous of living dungeons – why can’t it be an Iconic dungeon? Making the Stone Thief a full-on Icon works really well in a Stone-Thief-centric campaign – although you might want to add pump up the bad guys in the Lower Levels to push the campaign well into Epic Tier.

 Most characters will have Negative relationships with the dungeon, using their Icon Connections to overcome obstacles and win allies within the twisting corridors – but it’s really interesting to think about what Conflicted or Positive relations with the dungeon might entail…