The published Act II runs on fetch-quests and a scripted mentor's death. This table cut the transactional parts and let the alliance carry the weight instead — the Ghost hands over the journal freely, and Osman's death waits on a three-day decryption window that the rest of the act fills. Here is that prep, as run.
Deviation 1 — The Ghost gives the journal freely
Book: the Ghost of March holds the journal hostage behind a chain of fetch-quests (Suspicious Eyes → Fruit in Chains → Garden of Eden) before handing it over.
Our version: the Ghost gives it freely, as a gesture of alliance. The party had already built rapport — arranging child-lodging through Kore, witnessing Nazif's execution, requesting an audience — and holding the journal hostage would undercut that and read as petty. Trust is earned through actions, not errands.
"This serves no purpose to me encrypted. But Osman Hamdi Bey is a friend, despite our differences. See it returned to him."
Seeding Eve instead: the Ghost raises his real worry organically during the meeting —
"There's a woman in my territory. Calls herself Eve the Unchained. She's gathering followers among the desperate — those who've suffered under human rule. I understand her anger. But her solution… she'd burn everything to build her paradise. I may need your help with her soon."
Optional escalations: a breathless messenger reports Eve's people have attacked someone; Byzas's poisoned body is brought in (tying to the "red eggs" warning and the sick cats); word that Eve was seen near the Garden.
Deviation 2 — Osman's death waits on a three-day window
Problem: if the party gets the journal immediately and brings it to Osman, there is no trigger yet for his assassination.
Solution: the journal has dual locks — a mundane cipher Osman can unpick, and arcane seals woven into the ink that require his living body to decrypt and need care lest a wrong approach destroy the contents. He asks for three days.
"Arcane seals, layered beneath the text. Clever — and paranoid. I don't remember adding these, which means I did so under enchantment, or… I need time. Three days, perhaps."
The three-day window is where the rest of the act lives: the Palace approaches about Kavalan; Eve escalates; the sick-cats / red-eggs / Council of the Ninth Life hooks open; and A Certain Community moves against Osman. Neither faction yet knows that killing Osman would bypass the memory-wipe and let them interrogate the corpse — they learn it during the Kavalan peace-talks. After three days, the party returns to find Osman dead, Eshref hiding in his shell, and a posthumous letter pointing them to the Shahmeran.
Faction positions at the act's start
| Faction | Stance toward the party | Current goal |
|---|---|---|
| Ghost of March | Friendly, seeking alliance | Reorganise the Undercity; coup against Mejid |
| Osman Hamdi Bey | Patron, trusts the party | Decode the journal, find Mira, navigate politics |
| A Certain Community | Hostile, surveilling | Stop Osman's "ecumenical flights"; maintain human supremacy |
| Abd-ul Mejid | Unknown to the party | The grand plan on Bergüzar's power; needs Mira dead |
| Council of the Ninth Life | Neutral-friendly (via Sidra) | Protect the cats; investigate the red-egg poison |
| Eve the Unchained | Unknown to the party | Destroy human sovereignty; eat the fruit |
The mentor's death — two scripts
The party arrives to a door ajar and no greeting; Eshref is hiding in his shell. Who did it depends on where the party leaned:
If leaning toward the Ghost / Sekbans — the Palace strikes:
Mejid visited personally. They spoke of art, science, old times. Then Mejid asked him to "serve one last time." A hidden blade. Osman's last words: "House my work in a museum. Get Eshref cared for."
If leaning toward the Palace / Mejid — the Ghost strikes:
Sekbans filled the courtyard. The Ghost appeared with a somber look. "I wish there were any other way, old friend." He didn't wait for a response.
Either way, the letter explains the journal now needs a body he can no longer give, names the Shahmeran beneath the Basilica Cistern as the alternative, bequeaths the manor to the party, and tells them to ask Eshref for a tour — "even the artifact room."
Key figures
- Eve the Unchained — a half-elf rescued from slavery by Greenhat, an elf druid who fostered her; she believes herself the biblical Eve, gathers followers to destroy human sovereignty, and intends to eat the fruit from the Garden of Eden. The Ghost views her as a ticking threat.
- Byzas — a tiefling who sent a Sending-spell warning about Eve, later found poisoned at the Lake of Sukut; disliked by his Undercity village. His poisoning ties to the "red eggs" and the sick cats.
- Eshref — Osman's intelligent, speaking tortoise; keeps the manor's secrets, including the artifact room.
- Sharif the Strong Fur — black cat, red fez; controls the Undercity passage after Nazif's death; asked Sidra to help the sick cats.
- Matilda Manukian — half-elf fixer with Undercity access; provided the directions to the Ghost's compound.
Source
From the GM vault — 03-planning/Act 2 Side Quests.md. Cross-reference the played record in Nights 9–14 and the live state in Open Threads.