Sean sent me the background info for his 5E one shot, the Dissidents of Darland
"Dissidents in Darlen
Background:
After a century of conflict, the war between the Dragonborn and Tiefling Empires may finally end. Bular Apala, the legendary “Sleeping Dragon” who captured Akra Daar—the commercial capital of Bael Turath—after a six year siege by feigning captivity, has become the agent of peace. The admiration and insight Apala gained during his captivity prompted him to be lenient towards the Tieflings in Akra Daar and he journeyed to the court of the Arkhosian Emperor to plea for an alliance with Bael Turath to create a powerful, jointly-governed grand imperium. His advice was ignored by Emperor Dractis II.
The cruel Emperor, paranoid and bent on the destruction of his enemy even at the cost of honor, ordered other commanders to execute all the inhabitants of Akra Daar and stripped Apala of his rank---a dark turn to events that left its mark on Apala. A few months after the Slaughter of Akra Daar, Apala gathered like-minded Generals and Officials to himself and launched a successful coup, exiling the Emperor and establishing the Arkhosian Republic. Shortly thereafter, the first democratic elections were held and Bular Apala was chosen as First Protector of the Republic. His first action was to contact the Tiefling Wizard, Melecheke, to call for a peace summit to end the war and draft a proposal for a Federated Imperium of the Seven Lands, to which the Imperial Senate of Bael Turath promptly agreed. The summit will take place in the neutral city of Verzai-Karno in one year.
Before Bular Apala can make the journey to the peace summit a year from now, however, his government must reestablish law and order in the Arkhosian Republic during the cease fire. Several paramilitary groups have sprung up in the first year of the Republic’s existence and there is daily violence on the streets of Darlen, the Republic’s capital, as these groups battle each other and threaten innocent civilians. Some seek to take the Bular’s revolution further, extending greater freedoms to the lower-ranking members of Arkhosian society. Some smaller bands of dissidents seek to establish a new Draconic racial state, expelling all non-reptilians from the new Republic…one way or another. The greatest current threat, however, comes from a branch of the military still loyal to the deposed Emperor. Intelligence suggests that a rogue Archgeneral, Gul Kahp, is gathering forces to launch a coup to put an end to Apala’s democratic reforms and establish a military junta with the deposed Emperor as a figurehead. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to locate Gul Kahp’s secret headquarters in Darlen and remove the threat he poses to the Republic by any means necessary.
Paramilitary groups:
1. KPD-Kobalds for Parity with Dragonborn. Kobalds were the proletarians of the Arkhosian Empire. Under Bular Apala’s Arkhosian Republic, they hope to gain greater social standing and more equality, but old classist enmities die hard. They frequently pick fights against ex-nobles, military officials, the police, merchants and anyone they view as perpetuating the oppression they have faced for years.
2. NS-Naga Skulls. The Naga Skulls are currently a small group, but they
definitely have left their mark on Darlen. They target non-Dragonborn for beatings on a regular basis and are particularly violent towards any who are not reptilian. Murders are frequently associated with this group and their racist rhetoric is routinely shouted on street corners. They call for the expulsion of all non-reptilians from the Arkhosian Republic and vow to remove the “corrupting influence” of “inferior races.”
3. The Free Company-Kahp’s paramilitants. Largely comprised of soldiers from battalions that were disbanded abruptly at the end of the Great War, this group ostensibly favors a return to Imperial rule. In reality, however, its leadership seeks to establish a military junta with the deposed Emperor as a figure-head. They plan to seize the capital of Darlen and place Apa under arrest. Once they have established their new regime, they intend to renew the war with the Tieflings and attain the victory they were deprived of by “liberal cowards” like Apala.
The Ruling Coalition:
1. The DVP-Dragonborn Virtue Party. Although bound up with the Revolution and supportive of the Republic, this group does not always espouse Apa’s views for equality. Comprised chiefly of industrialists and their supporters, this party forwards liberal thinking and republicanism for the sake of their pocketbooks. They want the violence quelled and would greatly appreciate a muzzle being placed on the KPD and its leadership, lest their Kobold workers get ideas of striking and collective bargaining in their tiny heads.
2. The SPD-Socialist Principled Dragonborn. This left-leaning party is commonly thought of as having instigated the Revolution, but in reality they were just very strong supporters. Tired of the decadence and oppression of a society that valued a militant aristocracy, the SPD sought a more liberal society with suffrage for all members of the Arkhosian Empire. They are ardent Republicans and seek equality for the Kobolds, but are unnerved by the violent tendencies of the KPD. They want social change through law, not further bloodshed.
3. The DDP-Dragonborn Democratists Party. This party comprises the left-leaning center. While they welcome change, they want it at a slow pace. Equality is not so much their goal as the extension of suffrage to a larger group. They detest the old nobles decadent lifestyles, but would never destroy them and prefer that a few of the titles remain intact for the sake of tradition. The middle-classes and women deserve the vote, in their opinion, but affording these opportunities to Lizardfolk or Kobolds would be a recipe for mob-rule. Not everyone is intelligent enough to vote in the interests of the Republic, after all.
4. The Center—This party is largely centered around a sizeable religious minority who does not recognize the State as the Defender of the Faith and prefers that the State stay out of religious affairs. The head of their Faith resides in the Ashen Isles, an autonomous area only nominally-claimed by the former Arkhosian Empire. Their vote swings left or right depending on what they see as more attuned to their religious views or as a threat to their religious community.
Persons of Interst:
1. Bular Apala
2. Gul Kahp
3. Enadrel Firedrake—Kahp’s second in command
4. Kodractus—Male Kobold, head of the KPD
5. Adrakt the Black—mysterious leader of the Naga Skulls. It is thought that he is not a true Dragonborn, but was born outside of the Arkhosian Republic in the misty swamps of the Yuan-ti near the Venduran Forests, but no-one has ever confirmed his serpentine origins.
6. General Zeakt—Commander of the Republic’s armed forces by virtue of seniority. It is well-known, however, that he and the Bular are not on the best of terms with one another and that Zeakt resents receiving orders from the “Sleeping Dragon.”
7. Magister Crupp—A wealthy industrial magnate who made his fortune off of the arms industry in the Great War. He has converted production over to civilian wares and resides in the so-called “Gear District.”
8. Chancelor Snezlemann—the second highest ranking official in the new Republic, Snezlemann is also the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He has advised Apa that the only way to gain a favorable settlement for the Arkhosian Republic at the Verzai-Karno summit is to firmly re-establish law and order in the new Republic, lest the other parties at the negotiation table perceive the fledgling democracy as weak due to its domestic in-fighting. "
