Twilight's Children
Session 20, 7/17/10-7/18/10
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| As mentioned last time, everything about The Pack that I didn't make up
myself comes from The Book of Shadows. Many thanks to author, Andy
"Socko" Snow. |
They've become familiar with Nadia,
the secretly pregnant wife of Irvyne "Red Wolf" Wolfe, the Pack's leader. A
priestess of the Morninglord, Nadia has cured Ludovic's ghoul fever, contracted
from the dread Ahltrian.
They have also interacted further with
Holger, the scout they rescued from Forenoon Abbey, as well as Maureve
Spellweaver, The Pack’s wizard, and Rupert, the haughty elven bowman.
The Red Wolf returns from his pilgrimage into the forest. He is
accompanied by three men, including one with his arm in a sling. Red Wolf is
the only one wearing the distinctive cloak of the Knights of the Shadows, over
his unique red-lacquered armor which includes a wolf-shaped helm.
The injured man is apparently named Garik, and as they approach, Maureve yells
at him to go to Nadia for healing. Red Wolf explains they were attacked by
ghouls on the return trip.
Holger comes up and introduces Red Wolf to the four strangers who saved him
from the Ahltrian in the forest, and informs him that Holger's companion Kip is
still lost. Holger also reveals that they've found some exciting news about
Elena "Stranglehold." The group greets Red Wolf and recounts their finding
of the dragon projector. Red Wolf is very excited about this, and hopes that
they destroyed it. They tell him how they left it in the trackless forest, but
give him the magical dragon image that Duffy removed from the device. His eyes
light with hope as he says, "We must find a way to use this against her."
 You might or might not be surprised at how hard it is to find a decent
picture of red-lacquered wolf-shaped armor. Or any wolf-shaped armor that
one could paint red in photoshop for that matter. I wish I'd thought to
google Sandor Clegane.
Oh well. I tried working with Coyote from Gargoyles but couldn't find
a decent screen capture of him online. I ended up going with something
called,
"Lunar armor of Warwolf," apparently a fanmade Yu Gi Oh card that no
longer exists online. No idea what the original source image is. I tweaked
the colors, "frankensteined" the arms into a better pose, messed with the
hair a bit, and added the KoS cape and declared it "good enough." Apparently,
it impressed the players enough that they suggested Leif get some wolf armor
of his own. |
Later, Leif takes Red Wolf aside to talk with him about the Knights of the
Shadows. Leif reveals that Gondegal
gave him the black and gold cloak, and
that he is considering becoming a squire, as Gondegal proposed.
Red Wolf is
shocked that his four visitors are the very same group that Gondegal told him
of, including the one young man who he thought might join The Circle, Leif.
Leif tries to learn more about Gondegal, but Irvyne reveals only that Gondegal
is the leader of the Knights, though like all of them he serves his own charge
back in Falkovnia. When asked about his own joining, Red Wolf says that he
once came across a wandering Knight named Ubrig, who showed Irvyne how his
skills could be improved by following the path of the Knights.
| Whoops! The Book of Shadows says Irvyne was introduced to the
Knights by Greger, not Ubrig. Oh well, maybe he had reason to lie about it. |
Leif asks if Red Wolf would spar with him to show him some techniques, and he
agrees to meet him after the mid-day meal, near the south cave.
Kerri is not thrilled with the prospect of continuing to sedate Duffy every
night,
| Due to the nightmares from his failed horror check in the dreamworld last
session. |
so she asks Nadia if she can help, and she does, reciting an
inspirational prayer to the Morninglord upon him.
| remove fear. According to the 3e Ravenloft Campaign
Setting, one casting of this will wipe away all effects of Horror and Fear
check failures. This seems too easy to me, but I don't have a full-time
cleric in the party, so I'll allow it. |
The others wonder if Nadia might be able to cure Kerri's unfortunate case of
being a Werebat, but upon further reflection
| Knowledge (local) or Bardic Knowledge, I think |
they realize that as a priestess of the Morninglord, she's likely from
Gundarak, now under Barovian control, and that talking about were-anything with
a Barovian would just be asking to be escorted from the hideout with pitchforks
and torches. This doesn't stop Duffy, however, who finds a surreptitious way
of asking Nadia to perform the same blessing on Kerri, in case it helps.
| I think he told her that Kerri had bad dreams of being a werebat, but I'm
not sure I'm remembering exactly. |
At lunch, in the large cave that serves as a mess hall, Garik seems to be
healed of his shoulder wound and is cooking up some stew; it’s quite good.
Duffy asks Garik about the meeting of the Knights. Garik can't say much as
he's not a member of The Circle himself, but Duffy learns that each Knight is
allowed to bring his most trusted followers to the meeting, and that Garik and
the other followers waited at the standing stones while the knights went off
into the forest for a day and then returned. Duffy is glad to know that if
Leif does join these crazy knights, at least he and Leif's other "followers"
will be able to accompany him on their bizarre pilgrimage.
Leif notices that Red Wolf didn’t have lunch. After the meal, he goes to
meet him at the designated place. Entering a cave past a waterfall, at first,
he sees no one there. But squinting in the darkness, he sees someone: a
cloaked young man is oiling his knife, nearly invisible in the shadows. Leif
calls to him, "What's your name, lad?" "Vlad," replies the fellow.
| This was rather funny. Leif said, "What's your name, lad?" But at first
I thought I heard, "What's your name? Vlad?" I found it so hilarious that
someone would just try to guess a stranger's name that I had to go ahead
and name him Vlad. If this were Monty Python's Ravenloft, the scene might
have gone something like this: "What's your name? Vlad?" "Nope." "Tim?" "No,
try again." "Pierre?" "Not as such." "Kevin?" "Do I look like a 'Kevin' to
you?" ... :) |
He says that Red Wolf sends his apologies for missing their meeting. Vlad
stands up and walks towards cave entrance; as he passes Leif, he says, "He told
me to tell you that sometimes sparring is pointless, sometimes it’s more
important to stay hidden." Leif takes a quick look around the cave to see if
Red Wolf is hiding there as well, but then turns to Vlad's back and says, "Red
Wolf." "Vlad" turns and pulls back his cloak, revealing that he is in fact
Red Wolf in disguise, each fold of the cloak's hood carefully crafted to cast
precise shadows on his face, making him appear completely different.
| Disguise Self, from the KoS spell list, described as non-magically
as possible. |
"I am not as skilled a fighter as Gondegal, but we Knights have many
techniques.
| I wasn't prepared for this scene, as it was Leif's players idea, so I had
to scramble. I couldn't have them actually spar because Irvyne wasn't actually
all that good, and Leif would mop the floor with him. For one thing, the
Book of Shadows puts him as a (2nd Edition) KoS7, so I didn't want to
make him very high level. For another, I had reason to make him comparable to
the PCs in level: Like Holger, he is another possible "replacement PC" for when
the group gets split later. So rather than show off more "kewl moves" in battle,
like I had with Gondegal, I quickly pored over the KoS spell list to see what
other, more subtle ways I could go. |
The battle against Elena cannot be won in a fair fight; right now, avoiding
attack is how The Pack survives. Try to hit me." Red Wolf glares at Leif, an
imposing sight that would intimidate many a lesser man into faltering, but Leif
is unfazed, and strikes, stopping his staff just short of Red Wolf's face.
| sanctuary, from the KoS spell list. Sadly, Leif made his Will save,
so it came off a bit silly, and not so inspiring, but dice are random like that.
|
"Impressive," says Red Wolf, raising an eyebrow. After a bit more discussion,
he invites Leif to join The Circle on their next pilgrimage. On the last day
of October, deep in the Phantasmal Forest, the Knights meet at the Standing
Stones known as The Dolmens. He gifts Leif with a specially crafted lantern.
If he lights it and thinks of a Knight of the Shadows, and if he or she
wants to be found, then the lantern will light the path.
| These lanterns were my solution to question: If the forest is trackless
and shifting, how do the Knights find the standing stones every year? I propose
that if the Forest prevents finding a place, then perhaps you can
circumvent it by finding a person instead. These lanterns are made by a
Knight who is also a wizard, and they are imbued with a variant of the locate
person spell. The secret to finding the stones: one unfortunate Knight
is selected at each meeting to guard the stones for a year. This is seen as a
high honor, and said Knight usually spends the year in prayer and contemplation.
Since the Knights all know who was chosen, they use their lanterns to find that
Knight. The Book of Shadows mentions a Knight named Greger who guards
the stones. I extrapolate from there that Greger was guarding the stones
that year only. Or perhaps Greger's charge, whatever it may be, is
relatively safe for the time being, and he's been chosen often in the past
several years. I suppose it's possible for the guardian of the stones to be
killed, and then the Knights would be somewhat screwed, but the circle itself is
supposed to be consecrated by Belenus and a blind spot for Ebonbane, according
to
John Mangrum's proposed Shadowlands cluster revamp, so it should be
relatively safe. |
When the time comes, he need only to think of Red Wolf or Gondegal to find the
way to the stones. Leif tests the lantern by looking for Red Wolf, and a beam
of light points directly at the Knight. Leif then asks Red Wolf to look for
him. He feels the sensation of Red Wolf looking over his shoulder, and the urge
to mentally allow or deny Red Wolf's request to find him. And now he also knows
that he has taken the first step on the noble path of knighthood.
| Since Leif now knows four knights, he could use the lantern to find Kosia,
Marie, Gondegal, or Red Wolf, assuming the target wants to be found. The
"wants to be found" shtick was a safety valve, so I don't have a 20th level
Gondegal showing up all the time to ruin adventures and save the day. Also,
like all Ravenloft divination, it is blocked by the Mists, so the Knights still
have to reach Nidala on their own. |
During the day, Holger and the party discuss their findings further with Red
Wolf, including the sacred texts found in the Abbey that contradict Elena's
official versions. Red Wolf is optimistic about using this information against
her as well, but needs time to formulate a plan. His Pack is few, with even
fewer trained warriors, and Elena has many knights that serve her. And while the
populace is oppressed, they are taught from youth that she is a holy servant of
Belenus, and that conditioning is difficult to overcome. He is cautious,
perhaps too cautious for the tastes of the party. For now he hopes to quietly
disseminate the truth behind Elena's lies, hoping to turn the hearts and minds
of the people against her.
After dinner, the party beds down in the cave within the Pack's complex that
they've shared for several nights. Kerri decides to try to meet tonight with
the shaman, Walks Alone, and deliberately forgoes using her dreamcatcher.
Despite the hospitality they've been shown, some members of the party are still
cautious and insist on keeping watch. On Leif's watch, this caution proves
warranted, as Maureve strides slowly into the cave. Leif hears her approach
and stands ready to attack if she makes any threatening moves. She raises her
arms and casts a spell as Leif charges with his staff upraised. He barely makes
it to her as he and Kukri fall into a deep slumber.
| a deep slumber spell. I wanted all the PCs to participate in this
dream sequence at the same time, without the paradox-prone retro-active simultaneity that I
used last time. Here begins the homebrew adventure, Dream and Dream
Again, named in homage to the film, Scream and Scream
Again. |
As he drifts out of consciousness, he notes that her eyes have been closed the
entire time. With his last heavy-lidded blink, he sees her walk haltingly to
Kerri's pack, remove the dreamcatcher and hang it over them.
| Maureve is sleepwalking, under the control of some dreamspawn who are
after the netherstone in Kerri's head. The dreamspawn, led by one of the
ennuis who survived last session's dream sequences, have narrowed the search
for the stone to Kerri's dreamscape and come up with a concerted plan to
assault her dreams. Step one: induce sleepwalking in a bystander
(conveniently, a spellcasting bystander, Maureve) and use her to force the
whole party into sleep and/or distract those who remain awake so they don't
wake Kerri.
Originally, I had planned for her to destroy the dreamcatcher, so that
the dreamspawn could get in. But since Kerri so helpfully decided not to put
it up, I switched that on the fly to Maureve putting it up to keep the
PCs in and Walks Alone out. Mwahahah! |
Leif's eyes close once more and he sleeps.
| Like last session, We were using "virtual miniatures" again, with one young
child on the loose this time. This time, there were a few improvements to the
process, however. First, we'd since gotten a new 1080p TV to replace our 720p
one. (Thanks, Mom!) Second, the new TV has a direct PC monitor input, so no
more S-Video cable. But most importantly:
MapTool.
In last session's commentary, regarding the use of photoshop for this
purpose, I'd said, "I know there are special-purpose programs for playing D&D
online that might work better for offline gaming with a TV map too, but didn't
have time to look into them." Well, MapTool is it. Worlds better than using
photoshop, since it's designed for just this purpose. We discovered this tool
when we started playing together online in a different campaign. (A Pathfinder
Council of Thieves game, with Duffy's player as DM and myself, Ludovic's
player and Suriana's player as the party). It's really quite impressive and I
recommend it highly. Here, I ran two instances of the program on my laptop, one
as the DM server and one as the PC client. I put the DM window on the Laptop
screen and the PC window on the TV screen, and that was it. This removed
several of the "cons" of this method (mini moving was simple, mis-clicking and
revealing hidden things was less of an issue, initiative was easily tracked in
the same program, and everything looked great) and added several more "pros"
(movement distance easily tracked, true "line of sight" lighting and vision, and
"fog of war," to name a few).
While nostalgia still makes me long for painted lead and dry-erase fumes, at
least until the kids grow up a bit, this is the clear way to go.
|
In the dreamscape, Kerri is searching through a lush forest glade.
| The glade is the "Satyr's Glen" map from Weapons of Legacy. T=Tree,
H=Herb, M=Man, W=Woman, D=Dog, most of which were hidden at first |
She knows that her friends are ill, and the herb that will cure them is
somewhere in these woods. Soon, she sees the object of her search, just outside
the clearing. Wary, and fairly sure she's in a dream, she throws a rock, which
passes through the herb. She calls for Walks Alone, but if he's coming, he
hasn’t arrived yet. She thinks to herself, "I feel really lonely, I wish people
were watching."
Suddenly, part of the tree lashes out at her; as the "herb" flickers and
disappears, Kerri attacks the tree with her whip, which soon becomes hopelessly
tangled in the vine-like branches.
| a boneleaf from Heroes of Horror. Actually a shadow morph from
Denizens of Dread in the form of a boneleaf, but close enough. The
illusionary bait (of the herb) is conveniently a power of actual boneleaves,
not just a dream effect. |
Elsewhere in the dreamworld, Leif finds himself in a dark alley-way in a
sprawling city. At the dead end of the alley, Leif is surrounded by three
snarling vampires. As he fights them, a little rag-clad, blonde girl of
perhaps eight years cowers nearby, looking upward at her savior with awe.
| A bit of fun with the music here. Angsty hero, dark alley, fighting
vampires, helping the helpless... I just had to pull out the Angel theme
song. Kerri's player, who was a bystander for the moment, recognized it and
chuckled. Leif's player, while a big fan of the show, missed it because she was
too focused on actively role-playing Leif in the scene. |
| The map was made in maptool. Leif's alleyway is on the bottom. G=Girl,
V=Vampire. |
Ludovic is in a dusty candle-lit library.
| The upper-right of the map. G=Girl, again. |
A young blonde woman of university age is seated next to him at a desk that
holds two dusty tomes. The girl says to him excitedly, "Everything checks out,
Professor, you’ve done it! The scroll of repose, finally deciphered. The end of
undeath forever. When do we cast it?" Ludovic examines the spell and sees that
once cast, it would mean no more undeath anywhere in the world.
Duffy is in his shop, behind the counter.
| Of course, Duffy doesn't really have a shop, but once again, he goes with
the flow. I dug through my old notes and found the map I used for the shop of
his mentor, Gustav, way back in Session 1. Not sure if anyone noticed. I
maptool-ized it and put it on the upper-left of the map. |
A young blonde girl of perhaps eight years, dressed in fine clothing, hands a
gold piece to Duffy over the counter. As she does, Vir walks over to a nearby
shelf and picks up a toy, handing it to the vaguely familiar girl.
| G=Girl, again. Not sure if you can make out Vir's Head as his token or
not. |
"Thank you, Mr. Carpetello!" she exclaims, "I’ve been wanting it so much." Vir
looks on and smiles.
| The next step of the plan. Each of the dreams of the three guys is
designed with the same purpose: keep them in the dream and away from Kerri's
dream. As such, each gives its dreamer the "happy ending" that fits their
character most. I like the idea that the blonde girl in each dream (actually a
shadow morph in each case) took the shape of Kerri at a different age, but
Ludovic's would be close enough in age to the current Kerri to be recognized, so
I didn't really call attention to it. I guess I can make the excuse that in
dreams, everything's a little foggy, and leave it at that. |
Meanwhile, Kerri is entwined in the tree’s razor-sharp embrace. Ironically
fulfilling her earlier wish, two people enter the glade, leading a small dog.
The Lady has a wide dress and a parasol, and the man is dressed in a formal
suit.
| The picture of these two is a vintage photograph
found here.
I found it exceptionally creepy. The gentleman is the ennui behind the attack
and the Lady and dog are the most crucial piece of the plan. They are actually
a Night Hag and a Chaos Beast, respectively. At the bidding of the ennui, the
night hag has discovered a method to keep a dreamer from waking up, using the
chaos beast as the focus of a dream-magic ritual. Until the chaos beast is
destroyed, Kerri will be unable to wake up. This invention was my answer to one
of the issues I saw in the dream rules last session. As written, (in the
otherwise wonderful
3e Guide to Dreamwalking, by Jester of the Fraternity of Shadows) it's
far too easy to wake up. Rather than simply raise the DC, I gave a condition
that had to be satisfied. (Of course, figuring out the condition was perhaps
more difficult than satisfying it.) |
The tree digs into Kerri's flesh, and she hears its rumbling voice exclaiming,
"ah... human eyes, good for curing root-blight! And fresh ground human bone
prevents leaf-rot..."
| An herbalist's nightmare, right? :) Revenge of the Herbs. |
The well-dressed couple seat themselves on the grass and begin unpacking a
picnic lunch, watching Kerri's battle with the tree with only mild interest.
The tree constricts and shreds her for massive damage. As she slips into
unconsciousness, screaming for help, she sees the picnicking couple just
watching calmly as if she's an attraction of some sort. And beyond them, she
sees for the first time the sad form of
Dr. Van Richten
watching from the tree line. The doctor shakes his head and says, "you should
have stayed home."
| A hint of sorts. While the real Dr. Van Richten did in fact try to dissuade
Kerri from the life of an adventurer for her own protection, this manifestation
of him in the dreamworld is her unconscious desire for safety/self-preservation.
This same desire is what led the morph who stole the nether stone to the "safe
place" in her mind where it is hiding. |
In their own dreams, the others hear Kerri's call for help. Duffy quickly
wills himself out of his dream, but first, his young customer begs him not to
wake up. She says she'll die if he does.
| Inspired by the unlikely source of
this xkcd comic.
(Don't forget to read the mouse-over text.) |
He ignores her plea and steps out of his dreamscape. He stands in the Terrain
Between, surrounded by six shimmering dream bubbles. Surrounding Duffy and the
bubbles is one larger bubble. Outside the larger bubble is Walks Alone, who
tries to get inside, but can’t.
| The six bubbles are Kerri, Leif, Duffy, Ludovic, Joel, and Kukri's dreams.
The larger bubble is the visual representation of the dreamcatcher's protective
barrier. |
Leif is also delayed in leaving his dream by the girl he saved, who also says
that she’ll die if he leaves. Leif tells her she'll live again next time he
dreams, leaps up into the sky, emerging from his dreamscape next to Duffy.
Ludovic too attempts to leave, but first pores over the ritual to remember all
he can about it, then when his pupil begs him not to leave lest she die, he
cuts her off abruptly and orders her and his other acolytes to prepare the
spell while he's gone.
Floating in complete darkness, Kerri hears someone in the distance call her
name,
| failed listen check to identify the source; it's the voice of her
grandmother, who raised her. |
and then regains consciousness, though she is still badly wounded. She now
finds herself on stage at an outdoor beer garden in a bustling city. As she
begins to sing, her voice falters and cracks, then fails entirely. She can't
talk, she can't scream, and then patrons start leaving their drinks behind and
walking out.
| a bard's worst nightmare. |
Duffy looks into Kerri's dream bubble and sees her. He tries to reach in and
scoop her out, but ends up being pulled inside. Ludovic and Leif jump in after
him.
| No one thought to get Joel and Kukri out of their dreams. Just as well,
since I hadn't prepped anything for them. Presumably Kukri was being fed whole
roasted chickens by a young blonde girl. I'm not sure I want to know what form
a shadow morph impersonating Kerri takes in Joel's dreams. |
The boys arrive just in time to see three familiar faces emerge from the
departing crowd.
Scar Tabor,
Cynthia DeGreives,
and her dead lover Erik, surround Kerri.
Scar applauds sarcastically
the slow, sarcastic clap that marks an arrogant bastard. I do love it so.
Influenced perhaps by the picture, I imagine Scar to be played by 
Marc "Gul
Dukat" Alaimo. The resemblence is uncanny, and I'm fairly sure
there's a scene from Deep Space 9 where he makes the exact pose
that Scar is making in his picture.
|
as he says, "Little girl, lost in the big bad city. Looking for adventure, but
you found us instead." Kerri now recognizes the city as Karina, where she fell
in with Scar's gang on her first adventure away from home. With a smile, Scar
attacks.
| Using a bit of dream logic, I made these "human monsters" into real
monsters, stat-wise. While they looked like preternaturally fast humans,
pouncing and slashing with daggers from all flanks, their stats were actually
those of velociraptors. Simple and effective. |
As Kerri's friends come to her aid, some other new arrivals appear. Walking
past the battle, as though out on a spring walk, are the dapper couple from
Kerri's previous dream, with their dog at the lady's side on a leash.
Also, Dr. Van Richten returns, perched on a nearby roof, but he merely sobs into
his hands, exclaiming "she should have stayed home."
| The map is based on the city of Suthgeard, found here.
I zoomed in on a section with a building that looked like it could be a
beer garden, and filled in some empty spaces will some other buildings.
C=Cynthia, S=Scar, E=Erik, V=Van Richten, M=Man, W=Woman, D=Dog. |
Leif tries to talk to the dog
and it answers back in the most horrific sound.
| being an incarnation of chaos rather than a real animal. |
At this, the group decides that the couple must be responsible for all this
somehow and attacks the lady. She shrugs off most of their assault, but
Kerri's whip manages to knock her hair clip slightly askew.
| She managed to actually hit her and get 1 or 2 points of damage through
the Night Hag's ten points of DR. |
When Scar's gang is destroyed, the scene fades into darkness, and only Kerri
hears her grandmother's distant voice say "we miss you."
Duffy dreams himself a lamp and lights it, revealing a long room filled with
people who are sick in bed. The plague-ridden victims look expectantly at
Kerri, and she realizes that she is the only healer in town, and that there are
too many for one healer to treat; she can't save them all.
| a healer's worst nightmare. |
Suddenly, Ludovic notices a man standing in a shadowed corner.
| OK, there's this website, and it's so dumb, but so very creepy. It
inspired this little bit of business, so I'm going to provide a link to it, but
also a warning that it may make you lose some sleep. It's called
Ever Dream this Man? and it's about a
supposedly "true" phenomenon of this one guy who shows up in many people's
dreams, independently. Then there's this very creepy sketch of the guy. I
didn't use that picture because he was smiling, and also, it creeps me out.
Now, I know that it's probably all the power of suggestion, and that by seeing
the picture, it contaminates your mind, so if/when he appears in your dreams,
it's just because you saw the picture. But it doesn't matter if it's true or
not, the very idea really disturbs me. The picture I used came from the gallery
there of other people's drawings of "This Man." |
Seeing that he's been noticed, the man starts to run to Kerri and begs, "I
need the stone; where is the stone?" He looks over his shoulder, panicking now,
and says, "He’s coming for me, don’t you understand? I need the stone!" Kerri
tries to calm him and find out what he's talking about, but a figure shambles
in the door, its face hidden in a a frayed gray cloak, with tiny spiders
crawling all over it.
The menacing figure points at the desperate man silently from across the long
hospice room, and suddenly the man is in his grasp; then both disappear.
| Hey look, Ravenloft fans, it's The Nightmare Man. My theory for "This Man"
is that he's a wanderer, trapped physically in the Nightmare Lands, and looking
for a way out. Meanwhile, The Nightmare Man has been taking pleasure in
torturing him along the way, for whatever reason. The dream man has learned
about the netherstone and wants it as much or more than the dreamspawn do, since
it's his best chance of escape. I thought it might be nice to add the twist of
a "good guy" who also wants the stone.
Until now, the Nightmare Court has shown no interest in the party's battle
with the dreamspawn. The Court cares nothing for the netherstone, being content
to rule the dreamworld, and all the dreamspawn searching for it are acting on
their own accord, and not on behalf of the Court. But now that The Nightmare
Man's pet captive has joined the search, it's come under his notice. Who knows
what ol' spider-cloak will do now?
|
Kerri raises her arms and pronounces the crowd healed. A burst of light
emanates from her and heals everyone. But their relief is short-lived.
Kerri’s father,
Andres, enters, strumming a harp and singing,
"She’s a fraud, a thief, and a liar. Don’t trust her, folks. Herbal potions
and magic charms! Ha! You need a Doctor." As he walks by, the people he passes
get sick again, breaking out in boils and sores. Duffy steps up and announces
himself, "I am Doctor Carpatello, and you are all healed!" He raises his
arms as Kerri did and the same emanation of light heals them, but Andres's
corrupting influence returns. "No," he says, "a real doctor. Listen to
the doctor."
| A hint. Dr. Van Richten has been telling them where they
need to go. |
Kerri understands what she needs to do and wills herself home, to her
grandparents' home in Mordent. The scene fades to black and Kerri hears her
grandparents talking... her grandmother says, "I can’t believe she’s gone. I
just miss her so." and her grandfather replies, "She's never left us."
Chillingly, she answers, "You’re a fool, Philip, that’s not her, upstairs."
The darkness recedes and they are in the kitchen of Kerri’s childhood home.
Her grandparents are at the table, but don’t seem to notice them. Kerri leads
the way upstairs to her room. Between the ground floor and the upper level are
two extra floors, full of dusty old objects. Kerri knows that her home is only
a two-story house, but doesn't find this odd.
| This is a little recurring detail from my own dreams. I don't know if
anyone else has had this happen, but my dreams often include previously
unnoticed rooms in my own home. It always seems natural at the time, and I
never realize the rooms shouldn't be there until after I wake up. |
Finally reaching her room, Kerri pushes the slightly ajar door and sees herself,
at age eight, cower on the bed. The room is about five feet larger than Kerri
remembers.
| Another instance of the same phenomenon. Sometimes rooms in my dreams are
smaller or larger than they should be. The map I used is the "Empty House
Robbery" map from Weapons of Legacy. Kerri's bedroom was the one in the
northeast corner. |
The younger Kerri says "You're not supposed to be here, it’s supposed to be safe
here." She is clutching a rag doll.
| This is at least the third time I've stolen an element of The Maxx.
See also "Dark Suriana's" treatment of the mouse in Session 14, and the rope
swing/footbridge scene in Session 18. When Julie winters meets "lil' Julie"
deep in her unconscious mind, lil' Julie (also a young, blond girl around 5-8
years old) says the same line, "You're not supposed to be here." Thank you Sam
Kieth, once again, for the inspiration. This younger Kerri is the morph with
the netherstone. It has been hiding all this time in this safe-feeling place,
Kerri's memories of her childhood home. |
Kerri asks her younger self to see the doll, and she finds a black onyx stone
buried inside it. Upon seeing the stone, the little girl says, "You shouldn’t
have done that, now they’ll come for you." She shifts into an amorphous gray
blob and pours quickly out the window.
At that moment, out in the hall, the others see the familiar
well-dressed man, woman, and dog emerge from Kerri's grandparents’ room.
Leaping into action, they attack. During the battle, the dream creatures
drop their facades, revealing that the "man" is another creature of the
same species as "The Lord of Dreams." The "woman" is a horrific
midnight-skinned crone, and the "dog" is something too bizarre and hideous
to describe. The touch of the dog-creature nearly disrupts Leif's
physical form, but he maintains control through force of will.
| force of fortitude actually, but this way sounds better. |
The crone blasts the party with dazzling bolts of energy,
and then the roof of the house is ripped off by a massive hurricane. While the
house crumbles around them, the dreamers manage to defeat the dreamspawn, and
awake back at The Pack's lair. In Kerri's hand, she finds the doll and the
stone from her dream.
| Step 1: Retrieve the stone from Kerri's head, complete. Step 2: Get it
back into Ludovic's... more dream fun ahead. |
Sunday, November 4th, 121st Year of the New Kingdom (BC 736)
The Pack's Stronghold, Nidala
Upon waking, Leif fills the group in regarding Maureve's attack during his
watch. They quickly go to question Maureve and also Garik (having noted some
connection between the two.)
| All I did was mention a few glances here and there, and the scolding she
gave him about his wound when he first arrived. They picked up on it, but of
course they are rightfully paranoid and assumed something more sinister than
secret lovers, which is all it is, as established in the Book of Shadows.
|
He claims not to know anything, and she says she remembers nothing. But
Ludovic asks her if she knows a sleeping spell, and to check if the components
for that spell are missing from her pouch. Indeed, a pinch of rose petals are
missing. They call for Red Wolf, and demand that he questions them further.
Maureve claims she's never sleepwalked before. Red Wolf trusts his people, but
suggests that perhaps it's not safe for the party to stay there any longer.
Just then, a breathless messenger arrives, and delivers a note to Red Wolf.
|
Here begins the homebrew adventure The Knight's Captive Pawn.
Elena is the Knight, but who is the Pawn? We shall see....
|
Perhaps in attempt to defuse the heated situation, Red Wolf shares the news with
all of them, changing the subject. Apparently, a man in Skorrlagg had been
making whiskey in his basement, illegally of course, as strong drink is
forbidden. The man got drunk and punched one of Guardians of Morals, knocking
him out. He now waits in prison for Elena's judgment. Red Wolf thinks he may
be sympathetic to the cause, and if they can rescue him, he would join The Pack.
The report says he's a strong man, and could be a useful recruit. But Elena is
coming tomorrow to pass judgment. If they leave immediately and travel through
the night, they could make it just in time or perhaps a few hours beforehand.
But Ludovic has another idea
He has finally mastered the ability to call the Mists and can bring three others
with him instantly to a familiar place.
| teleport. So, just before this session began, I realized I forgot
to hand out experience after last session, which would have been enough for
everyone to level up to level 10, and at a convenient time, resting here in the
Pack's stronghold. I didn't want to eat into precious play time by having
everyone level before we started, so I told everyone to do it after this
adventure. But Ludovic had been waiting patiently for this level to learn
teleport, mainly for the purpose of activating his Dimensional Jaunt
reserve feat, which had been sitting around useless for a whole level because he
didn't have a teleportation spell to make it work. So I allowed him to just
have the spell, without leveling the rest of the way. I probably should have
thought a bit harder about how the spell would completely warp what I had
planned for the adventure. Oh well, I have only myself to blame.
|
With the help of his university amulet, he could study the home of Leif's family
in Skorrlagg, long enough to become familiar and then mist-travel there, giving
them more time to rescue this man. Leif, Kerri, and Duffy warily agree to be
brought through the Mists by Ludovic, while Joel, Kukri, and Red Wolf's group
set out on foot to meet them there.
But when the Mist travelers arrive at the Maddock home, they find a new
wrinkle: The accused is Liam, Leif’s uncle.
| I do feel a bit bad using coincidences like this, but sometimes it's
necessary. Before the session, the group had discussed via email what their
characters would do next, and while they weren't 100% decided, there seemed to
be a good chance that they might just leave Nidala, having gotten the info on
Sharon that they came for, and leaving the dirt they found on Elena in the
capable hands of The Pack. While sensible, that was a bit anti-climactic,
compared to what I had in mind, so I needed a hook to pull them back in for a
bit. |
Leif's Aunt Mary is alone in the house with their children, all weeping in
despair. She is at first shocked to see them, then confused, but ultimately
relieved that they intend to save Liam. It is now about midday on the 4th and
the Restday Inspection will be first thing in the morning; it is always at dawn,
followed immediately by any executions that might be pending. They have the
remainder of the day to walk around the town square and scout out where the
execution will take place.
| Of course, they were supposed to ride in in the nick of time and have to
think on their feet, not have a half-day to plot the DM's downfall. curse
you, teleport! |
They first examine the jail and see if they can find any way to break Liam
out before Elena arrives, but quickly see that it is futile. The town hall
building is a massive fortress, and they can't readily tell where the jail cells
are located. It is also heavily guarded, apparently.
| OK, you can plot all you like for the battle, but no way are you going to
short-circuit it and avoid a battle entirely. :) You aren't leaving Nidala
without even meeting Elena face-to-face, if I have anything to say about it. |
So they look around the town square and the massive stage/gallows constructed
in the middle of it. They also talk to a local carpenter, whose shop is on the
square, to find out how Restday usually works. They find that each resident
will pass in front of Elena for judgment, and she spots those who are turning
toward evil with her holy gaze.
| detect evil, or so Elena believes, but in actuality, detect
strong feeling toward Elena. |
But they quickly get the feeling that he is a loyal subject to Elena, and that
any further questioning might lead to being reported to the authorities. In the
end, they plan as follows: Ludovic, Kerri, and Duffy will get in position on
the rooftops north of the stage. Ludovic's spirits
will keep everyone in contact. Red Wolf and Leif will try to blend in as
soldiers patrolling the crowd, using the
technique Red Wolf used to disguise himself as "Vlad." The rest of the Pack
will make some sort of diversion, and they will strike, attempting to grab Liam,
fight off his captors, and Mist-travel away. Kerri and Duffy will provide cover
fire, then get away on a phantom steed conjured by Kerri's harp.
Monday, November 5th, 121st Year of the New Kingdom (BC 736)
Skorrlagg, Nidala
When the morning arrives, along with Red Wolf and the others, they fill him in
on the plan, and everyone takes their places. Once the huge crowd has
gathered, along with dozens of the Guardians of Morals, the Mayor comes out of
the town hall (Red Wolf recognizes him). A train of wagons pulls up beside the
stage and the mayor nods over toward them. From the wagons, several more
soldiers pour out and onto the stage, along with three distinguished figures who
join the mayor on the stage. Taking his place beside the gallows is the
executioner, whom Ludovic has seen before in a vision. (He is the man who
Leif's mother healed when a wagon fell on his leg). Red Wolf informs the group
that he is Elena’s chief torturer, Urien. The second is an old man in elegant
robes, Theokos, Elena's most trusted advisor, according to Red Wolf. Leif
instantly recognizes him as the man he saw in his dream, the man who was there
when his house burned down and his mother died, the only one in the crowd of
onlookers with a smug face of satisfaction instead of pity. And of course, the
third is the Knight-Protector of Nidala herself, Elena Faithhold.
The inspection begins with an announcement of Elena's latest "proclamations
of faith": "Church attendance is now mandatory. There shall be no levity on
Restday. The ban on jewelry is now extended to hair adornments as well." Then
the gathered citizens file into a line and pass beneath Elena's probing gaze.
There are few tense moments as she stares at a particular subject more
carefully, but none fail her test. After the inspection, the mayor calls for
the guards to bring the accused heretic, Liam Maddock, before the
Knight-Protector. In chains, Liam emerges from the town hall, flanked by four
of the town guard, who roughly push him toward the gallows.
Seeing this, Leif and Red Wolf edge closer to the stage. But then Elena calls
for Liam's guards to halt, just before the reach the steps up to the dais. She
turns her gaze to the crowd saying that she senses evil among them.
Concentrating, she points right at Red Wolf! "There, that man holds evil in his
heart. Seize him!"
| As Red Wolf approached within 60 feet of her, his hatred pinged her radar.
|
| I made the map from scratch in photoshop. |
Leif tells Red Wolf to charge toward Liam. As he does, Leif, still in his
guard disguise, chases him yelling, "Halt!" This ploy allows them to get into a
better position while all hell breaks loose. Red Wolf's men spring their
diversion, riding a pack of stolen horses across the rear of the crowd, causing
several of Elena's Guardians to give chase. Elena takes command, telling her
men to guard the prisoner and attack Red Wolf. Kerri and Ludovic start flinging
spells at the Guardians while Duffy opens fire. Then Ludovic flies down in imp
form to try and get to Liam, while Red Wolf and Leif come to blows with Elena's
men, including Urien.
|
The Guardians are simple Ftr5's, straight out of the DMG. Urien is a
Ftr2/Rog7; I considered making him a Scourge (Champions of Darkness), but
it didn't seem worth it, and I'd used one semi-recently, The Doctor, a Kargat
vampire from Session 16. |
Theokos casts his gaze on Ludovic and then blasts him with a
wave of disruptive energy that unravels several of his spells,
|
greater dispelling. Theokos is a Clr12. He was a Drd11 in the 2e Book
of Sorrows where he is introduced, but back then Druids were more
similar to clerics than they are nowadays.
|
including the shape changing spell that kept him aloft in Imp form. He falls
from the air and sprawls among a crowd of the Guardians, in the thick of the
battle with Leif, Liam, and Red Wolf. Theokos calls out, "That man is a
warlock! Do not allow him to cast any blasphemous spells again!"
Red Wolf and Leif struggle to get within reach of Liam and Ludovic, fighting
through the panicked crowd and the ruthless Guardians.
Ludovic sees that he can only reach two of his allies in time. He looks to
Leif, and Leif thinks the obvious thought to him, "Get them out, leave me."
Ludovic grabs Liam and Red Wolf and attempts to mist-teleport to safety, but
the Guardians are ready. Swords flash and stab into him, distracting Ludovic
long enough for the spell to fizzle. But luckily, one of the spells that
survived Theokos's dispelling was Ludovic's spell of inhuman speed,
and Ludovic is able to cast again before the Guardians have a chance to ready
their swordarms. Ludovic, Liam, and Red Wolf disappear in a puff of Mist.
Kerri drops a phantom steed for Duffy to make his escape and takes to
the air on bat wings
to help Leif. Elena is enraged and commands her men to seize the imposter,
Leif. Theokos takes a moment to blast Kerri with a column of flame
and then commands Leif to halt in the name of Belenus.
| hold monster. Theokos is able to cast twice a round because
he is also under the effects of 3.0 haste. |
He feels a sickly feeling; his muscles become rigid. The burning, toxic
stiffness spreads over his body, and he cannot move. Lurking within the
sensation is the same oily wrongness he felt from of the touch of the Ahltrian.
| I used the same text from the Shadowborn novel that I used last
session to describe the Ahltrian ghoul paralysis again for Theokos's hold
spell, as a clue to his true nature. The Book of Sorrows introduces the
gelugon Theokos, but leaves his motives a mystery for the DM to decide, though
one of the options is that he's an extension of the dark powers, which explains
his lack of reality wrinkle. Like many, I don't like the idea of the Dark
Powers pushing a darklord to evil that directly. A darklord should make his or
her own choices to damn themselves. So my Theokos is actually an extension of
Ebonbane. His purpose is not to tempt Elena into evil, but to reassure her that
she's doing good. Her weekly "moments of doubt" on her midnight ride into
exhaustion might have caused her to repent by now if it wasn't for Theokos's
constant reassurances. The Dark Powers don't care about her any more or less
than any other darklord. If she were to truly repent, so be it, she'd cease
being darklord-worthy and they'd let her go. But to Ebonbane, it's personal, and
he wants to keep her close, shackled to him. Since Ebonbane is so powerful that
his "reality wrinkle" is all of the Phantasmal Forest, Theokos, as a tendril of
his power, doesn't get one of his own. |
Elena's men grab him and haul him towards the waiting wagon. Duffy leaps from
the rooftop to aid him, but finds himself face to face with Elena. Her eyes
charged with cold fury, she skewers him with her bastard sword. She gazes into
his soul, and then, puzzled, she says, "but there is no evil in you... why do
you fight us?"
| Originally, I thought it might be possible that the PCs would submit
themselves to inspection, whether to get themselves close to Elena or when they
first arrived in Nidala before knowing what was up, or for some other purpose I
couldn't foresee, so I made up little slips of paper saying, "What does
Leif/Ludovic/Kerri/Duffy think about this woman?" (At the time, I wasn't sure
they'd even know her name when undergoing inspection.) And I left a space for
them to fill it in and pass it back. This was my way of figuring out who would
show up as "evil" without giving away the nature of her detect "evil" power to
everyone at once. But at this point, they knew enough about her that I didn't
think it mattered enough to use the notes, and I just asked Duffy's player
outright what Duffy felt toward Elena. He thought for a while and then decided
that he doesn't really care strongly one way or the other about her. He's just
here to help Leif. Hence, not evil in Elena's eyes. Saved himself some smite
damage there.
|
The Guardians throw Leif into the stout wagon as he tries in vain to resist.
Even Kerri's inspirational song is not enough for him to break free of the
venomous magic. Outside, the guards slam a heavy bar over the door, while
inside, two more guards shackle Leif to the wall.
| I would like to share a moment from Leif's player's notes verbatim: "Leif
rolls piss poorly, gets captured. Thrown in the van. Manacled. S.o.
e.m.b.a.r.r.a.s.s.i.n.g." I can't really say it any better than that. :) The
plan here was to capture one or more PCs, preferably without cheating. Bonus
drama points for me if one of the captives was Leif, and lo and behold, it
actually worked, though some of the rolls were awfully close. But as my friend
DeepShadow has taught me, I trusted in the dice. If Leif had managed to get
away, I would have let it stand and would have had to think of something else.
No idea what that would have been, so thankfully I got him. Moments like this
really get a DM's pulse racing. |
Kerri and Duffy try in vain to free Leif, but the wagon quickly pulls away.
Before Leif gets out of range, the group mentally confers with him. He assures
them that he'll be all right for now, and tells them to get to safety. Duffy
considers chasing the wagon on the phantom steed, but none of the others would
be able to follow and they all decide they'll have a better chance of breaking
him out if they regroup and plan a rescue for the morning. So Kerri and Duffy
flee the scene and meet up at the rendezvous point.
Meanwhile, Ludovic fills in Red Wolf and the others at the rendezvous point.
Red Wolf tells Ludovic that there is still a chance to save Leif. The wagon
will surely be taking him to the Faith-hold for torture and questioning. But
there is a secret way out of the Faith-hold's dungeons. A way that Red Wolf
has used once before. The only trouble is that they will need a cleric for it
to work. Ludovic shares this information with the others on their way back,
but Red Wolf warns him not to tell Leif. "Even the strongest of men will
eventually break under Urien's torture, and this secret must not be leaked to
Elena. If Leif doesn't know the details, he can't be forced to reveal them."
Ludovic agrees and merely tells Leif that they have a plan and will come for
him soon.
For his part, Leif, finally free of the paralyzing magic, tries to convince
his guards to let him out of the chains, but they only laugh, stripping him of
his belongings and rummaging through his pack. One holds
his stone for a moment, then sneers and lets
him keep the "worthless" necklace. He tries to grab the man with his chains,
but the guard moves quickly to avoid him, and then slaps him around a bit. Even
when Leif says that he has to use the privy, the guards tell him to go ahead and
soil himself, laughing. Struggling with the manacles proves equally fruitless.
| It's hard to tell a player that nothing they try works. But sometimes,
life just doesn't give you too many options. I tried to make this whole
ordeal an interesting roleplaying experience for Leif, even though it mostly
amounted to "waiting for rescue," and was very concerned that it would be too
frustrating, which is why I switched back to the main party for most of the
time. |
After a long uncomfortable trip, they reach the Faith-hold, and roughly
shove Leif into a dungeon cell, chained to the wall.
When Kerri and Duffy join the others, Red Wolf explains that Urien himself is
the secret way out of the Faith-hold. While the man is usually completely
loyal to Elena, a strange transformation comes over him when he is healed by
divine magic. Something changes within him and he becomes helpful to those in
need.
| Many thanks to DeepShadow for this idea, which he called "The Secret Escape."
In a Shadowlands brainstorming thread on the Fraternity of
Shadows fourm, he wrote:
"The Red Wolf's closely guarded secret is not a secret passage out of the
dungeons, but the truth about one of Elena's most trusted servants. Once a
prisoner himself, the man has been stricken with permanent madness by
Elena's ministrations and afflicted with multiple personalities. Only the
dominant personality--a torturer and jailor--is affected by Elena's charm
effect, and some of the others are quite helpful. The Red Wolf took great
pains to guard the man's secret, not only in the hopes that others might
escape the same way, but in the hopes that someday he might be able to use
this "blind spot" against Elena. The PC's are called in to help protect
the man's secret, or perhaps to finally exploit it against Elena."
Urien is this trusted servant. I added
the trigger, and planted the rationale behind it in the vision of Sharon healing
him, from Session 18. This fit in perfectly with
Leif's tarokka reading from
Session 5. I'd been trying to come up with a character to fit the role
of "The Myrmidon" who had helped Sharon. "The most loyal of soldiers" and yet,
he helped her escape, because of the kindness she'd shown him. When I read
DeepShadow's idea, it all came together and I had my Urien.
|
Red Wolf doesn't know why this is so, but found it accidentally when he escaped
from the Faith-hold dungeon, along with a priest who has since died. He has
kept the secret ever since, using it only sparingly, lest Urien's weakness be
discovered by Elena. If that were to happen, he would surely be killed, or
imprisoned and tortured in his own dungeon.
Hearing that Leif was captured, Liam and Holger both volunteer to join the
party in storming the castle.
| In Session 19's DM commentary, I mentioned that a time would be coming soon
where medium-term replacement characters would be necessary, and that's one of
the reasons I designed Holger. Well, now's the time. Not knowing how many of
the PCs would be captured while freeing Liam, I had several ready to go, and
since only Leif got caught, his player got to choose. I offered her Liam
(statted as an "angry brawler" using mnk2/brb7 stats), Red Wolf (A Ftr6/KoS2),
and Holger (Scout8) to choose from. I had also prepared Dasmaria the ghost
(Pal4 w/Ghost Template and some tweaks), but since they only interacted with her
a little bit back at Forenoon Abbey, it didn't really fit, so I didn't give that
option. She chose Red Wolf himself, and from here on, Red Wolf is a PC and not
an NPC. |
Red Wolf accepts Holger's help, but tells Liam that he should stay with his
family and enjoy his own freedom a bit before risking getting captured again.
In need of divine magic to unlock Urien's helpful side, Ludovic mist-travels
back to The Pack's stronghold to retrieve Nadia, and Kerri insists on
accompanying him.
| I'm not 100% this is how it happened, but I
can't remember why Red Wolf didn't go back with Ludovic to fetch his wife. |
Once there, they are greeted by Garik, who is still a bit gruff with them after
their accusations about him and Maureve, but Nadia speaks with them and hears
what needs to be done. Kerri asks to speak with her alone, and they discuss
Nadia's concern that she would be putting her unborn child in danger. She also
shares with her the reason she hasn't yet found a way to tell Irvyne about the
baby. "Some time ago, when Irvyne rescued me from Elena Faith-hold, I knew he
was a good man fighting a noble cause. We fell in love and were married. Soon
after, a vistani caravan came and told us both the same fortune, 'The Warrior of
Light shall be born in the land of the Unholy Knight, to a pious woman and a
righteous man.'" She’s sure that this baby is the prophesied warrior of light,
who is destined to defeat Elena. She had wanted to spare Irvyne the burden of
that knowledge for a little longer. She fears for her child, but also for all
of Nidala if she goes along with this mission. Kerri convinces her that she
needs to tell her husband now about the baby and her belief that the prophecy
applies to them, and they mist-travel back to the rendezvous point together.
At the Faith-hold, Urien comes to Leif's cell, with a cat-o-nine-tails in
hand. The guards pull his chains through metal hoops set in the wall to hold
him up against the wall and lock him into position. After whipping him a few
times to soften him up, Urien demands to know how Leif got his Belenus pin,
Belenus priestess gown, and chalice box.
|
If the others had been captured, I was ready with accusations for them too.
Kerri's herbs clearly mark her as practicing witchcraft, and her musical
instruments would be obviously intended to inspire frivolity, laziness, and
licentiousness. Ludovic's spell components mark him as a witch as well, and of
course gypsies are known liars, cheats and thieves. Duffy's a heretic
worshipper of the heathen goddess Ezra, with her holy symbol marked on his
sword, Ezra's Mercy. Also, he's got Vir’s head, though it's usually in a sack
on his horse. If Urien got a hold of it, though, he would want to know,
"What monstrous mockery of man is this?"
|
He says, "Tell me who she is. If you simply stole from her, you may simply lose
a hand, say a penance to Belenus before her and be released. If you have
harmed her, things will be significantly more difficult for you." To his men
he barks, "Send riders to every village, I want every bride of Belenus
accounted for." And then again to Leif, "Perhaps you’d better pray that they
are all safe." Leif tells him that those items belonged to his mother. Urien
whips him across the face for this "blasphemy."
| For some reason, this particular injustice got a big reaction. Apparently,
whipping anywhere else is just par for the course with torture, but whipping
across the face is just rude. Now I know. |
Leif tries to get Urien to remember the time when he was saved by Sharon. As
Urien refuses to listen and leaves, Leif shouts at his back, "Go see the picture
for yourself! It's in the bag you stole from me!"
| This wasn't entirely ineffectual. Urien did go look at the
picture on the Inspiring Icon, but only
got more confused by it, having repressed most of his
memory of her. Had the others not been on their way to save Leif, this
tactic might have worked to get himself free, if he kept it up over time. |
As soon as the cell door closes behind Urien and his footsteps recede, Leif
winces and cries out in pain.
| This was very funny, and hard to reproduce in text. Big tough guy Leif,
won't even flinch under torture, but as soon as he's, alone, "ow! that hurt!"
|
Sometime later, bunch of guards come and take Leif down the hall, past
several other cells to a larger chamber full of frightening implements.
| The "Re-education Center." I imported the Islands of Terror map of
the Faith-hold into maptool directly, after rotating it to line up with the
grid. |
They strap him onto a large wooden rack with ropes. Turning the crank, Urien
stretches him. It is exceptionally painful. He demands that Leif confess all
his sins to Belenus.
| I wanted the PCs (preferably Leif) to get a first-hand look at Elena's
dungeons. But torturing a PC is a bit of a conundrum. There are rules for
torture in the Book of Vile Darkness, but they amount to different
grisly ways of getting a bonus to an Intimidate check. And by the rules,
you can't really Intimidate a PC. It always feels a bit wrong to force
PC behavior, since the whole reason players play is to make choices for
their character. On the other hand, is it really any different than
casting charm or dominate person on a PC? So I did an opposed
Will or Fort save vs. Urien's Intimidate check. Leif's Fortitude is pretty
high, so he ended up never being forced to say anything, but since his
tactic was to tell the truth anyway, it didn't matter much. I would advise on
using this sparingly, if at all. But I really liked the drama of this arc,
as a sort of crucible for Leif's character, and I hoped to instill an even
more personal need for vengeance against Elena and the system she's set up.
(Of course, in Leif's case, he usually cares more about others suffering than
his own, so that might not exactly be necessary. Still, I like the drama
of it.) |
Urien turns the rack to setting "two." Then to "three." Then he readies
several other instruments, hoping to instill fear in Leif. He starts to sear
Leif's flesh with a glowing iron poker. Urien keeps asking questions about his
mother's belongings, but Leif merely tells the truth, which infuriates Urien,
since he refuses to beleive it. Eventually, Urien sends Leif back to his cell
to stew for a while.
| So I left Leif with Connor's Stone, and
even called attention to it when the guards dismissively left it on him. I
thought it just perfect as a means to endure torture until help arrived, as well
as a poignant touch that Leif's mom is still taking care of him in a way. But
Leif never used its anesthesia power, the whole time he was tortured. I
was puzzled, and thought maybe that power was just forgotten. But when I asked
Leif's player about it later, she pointed out my error: I had clearly
established that to activate the stone, you hold it in your hand and say
the command word, Belenus. Since Leif's hands were manacled and the stone was
on the twine around his neck, she assumed that it wouldn't work unless he could
get his hands free enough to hold it while being tortured, and that I was just
taunting Leif by putting the soothing power of the stone just out of reach.
Whoops. Well, I suppose that works too, and is fitting with Leif's tendency to
never catch a break. |
Back at the camp, Nadia and Red Wolf greet each other lovingly and then go
off alone to talk.
| This was great because Leif's player was playing Red Wolf, and we got to
see a conversation that would have taken place "off-screen" otherwise. |
First, she tells him that she's is pregnant, and he is ecstatic. But he quickly
realizes why she's bringing this news up now, and forbids her to go. They will
find another way. She goes on to remind him of the Vistani prophecy, and he is
even more adamant that she remain safe. But she has had some second thoughts
after hearing more about Leif from Liam and the others.
| I'm actually not sure now what provoked her change of heart, but I did have
a reason at the time. And once Red Wolf was forbidding her to go, I had to at
least push back a bit to make the conversation more interesting than "don't
come!" "OK!" |
It has occurred to her that it's possible that the "warrior of light" is Leif
himself, as his mother was also a priestess, and by all accounts his father was
righteous as well. She now doubts that her baby is the one, but Red Wolf is
sure of it. He tells her that Leif does indeed seem a worthy warrior, but that
they can take no chances with the baby, lest they risk both of the potential
"chosen ones."
| It's rather amusing that Leif fits this prophecy (from The Book of
Shadows) so well. Leif is not the chosen one, partially because I like the
idea of it being Red Wolf's child, and partially because Leif's player long ago
asked not to be. She preferred Leif to remain just a guy trying to do the right
thing and help people, and while completely unaware of this particular prophecy,
she asked that if there was ever any sort of "Chosen One" or "Prophesied Hero"
in the story that it not be him. And I complied. With Ludovic, the
anti-dukkar; Duffy, the 13th and final builder of The Gears; and Suriana, the
True Innocent around, I have no shortage of Chosen Ones. But that won't stop me
from teasing Leif with the possibility. :) |
Red Wolf returns to the camp and proudly announces his impending fatherhood.
He tells everyone that Nadia can't come with them in her condition and that they
must find another way. He asks if anyone else knows of a priest or priestess
who might be able to help them. Suddenly, Kerri, Duffy, and Ludovic remember
Corinne, the priestess in Touraine who was Sharon's friend. She seemed
sympathetic to them, and perhaps would be willing to help save her friend's son.
They will travel toward Touraine for the rest of the day, and try to enlist her
help when they reach the capital in the morning.
While Leif recovers in his cell, he hears a noise, the scrape of stone on
stone in the near total darkness. A small ragged voice whispers from a hole
in the wall, from the next cell. "Hello? Is there someone there? My name is
Seamus, of Caorann." Leif talks to Seamus, and learns that he's been here
since October. When Leif tells him it's only early November, Seamus is confused
and asks for the year. Leif tells him that's the 121st year of the New Kingdom,
and Seamus exclaims, "Belenus save me! It's been over 3 years." He tells Leif,
"They think I know something about the heretic bandits.
I was visiting relatives in Iasgair, just got lost in the mountains, that’s
all. I never even saw the bandits. They won’t take no for an answer. One time
I couldn’t take the pain anymore, I just made something up. But they knew...
somehow they knew. That’s when they took my eye."
| So this little vignette backfired a bit. Since I know Leif wouldn't be in
the dungeons long, I wanted to give a little taste of the horror of long term
imprisonment and torture that he would be missing. I was inspired by the scenes
from V for Vendetta where "Valerie" passes notes to Evey. But I think I
just bummed everyone out. It was right before we called it quits for the night,
and rather than end on a fun high note, we all went to bed a little depressed.
I think I went a little too "emo" with it. The lost eye may have been over the
line. Sorry, guys. |
The door to Seamus's cell slams open. Leif hears Urien’s voice, "Hello, Seamus,
are you ready to talk?" followed by a muffled struggle and a slamming door.
Sometime later, Leif hears Seamus returned to his cell. He asks if he's all
right. Seamus sobs, "no." After a while Seamus confides in Leif, "I actually do
know something. A friend of a friend ran off to join them. I could give his
name. One name of a man I barely know, and it could all stop. But I swore to
Belenus never to tell. Every time they hurt me, his name is on the end of my
tongue... I don’t know how much longer I can hold out." Leif tries to reassure
him to hold on a bit longer.
Meanwhile, the others plan as much as possible for Leif's rescue while on the
road to Touraine. Almost there, they make camp in the wilds. Bedding down for
the night, Kerri sees that another bead is shattered on the dreamcatcher,
leaving three.
| Due to Walks Alone's attempted "intrusion" to help while Kerri's
nightmares were going on last night. |
Tuesday, November 6th, 121st Year of the New Kingdom (BC 736)
The Faith-hold, Nidala
After an indeterminate time of relative "freedom" to roam his pitch black
five-by-five foot cell, Leif is hoisted to the wall again by his manacles. And
instead of the expected guards or Urien, Theokos enters. He bids the guards
to leave and leans against the opposite wall. The old man calmly questions
Leif, telling him that he's been informed that Leif has already shown great
resilience in his brief time here, and that he clings to his blasphemies
despite Urien's best efforts. Theokos has been sent to find out why. Leif is
stoic and only answers Theokos in the most minimal of terms, still calmly
asserting the truth of his claims about Sharon. At one point, Theokos leans a
bit closer and Leif makes his move, wrapping what little slack he can get from
his chain around Theokos's neck, but Theokos disappears in a puff of sulphurous
smoke and reappears outside the cell.
He continues his questioning from the hall for a bit, but as Leif remains
unrepentant, eventually Theokos leaves disdainfully.
| Another case of "author" vs. "DM". I had pictured a bit more verbal
sparring here, but Leif's player took the wiser, though less cinematic, path.
Aside from the lunge with the chains, which was very cool, Leif's anger stayed
mostly in check, saving the revelation of his personal grudge against Theokos
until he could actually do something about it. If this were a movie or a book
instead of an RPG, there would have been some more posturing, threats, spitting
etc. But Leif knew there's no point in a threat you can't back up, so he
didn't start any banter that would have ended with Theokos blasting him with
some horrible spell. That's an RPG for you. I do regret never getting to use
a fun line I'd prepared, so I'll include it here now. If Leif ever accused
Theokos, to his face, of killing his mother, he'd have replied, "Did I? I’m
afraid you’ll have to refresh my memory. I’ve killed a great many people."
..delivered with a slight smile. (Call it cliché if you like, but in my mental
movie, Theokos is played by the great Christopher Lee.) I love when the
object of a character's vengeance doesn't have a clue who the vengeful party is
or what he did to him. It's just so darkly poetic when, "I am everything to
you, you are nothing to me," and so true to reality as well. |
Tuesday, November 6th, 121st Year of the New Kingdom (BC 736)
Touraine, Nidala
The others reach Touriane in the morning and find Corinne at the cathedral.
They fill her in on the situation and despite some reservations, she agrees to
help save Leif. The afternoon is spent planning and scouting. Holger finds a
path through the rocky mountainside that will allow them to approach the castle
without being seen.
| being a Scout, he's an excellent scout. |
They plan to scale the wall at night, under cover of darkness. That evening,
Ludovic, Duffy, Kerri, Corinne, Holger, Red Wolf, and Kukri scale the path that
Holger found.
| To lighten my load, I let the players control Holger and Corinne. She too
was created as an option for a replacement character and was a Cloistered Clr8.
|
Reaching the top of the mountain, they send Ludovic ahead to survey the area
from the air. He chooses the less conspicuous form of a bat, rather than his
usual imp. But he is unable to get very far before the swirling storm that
constantly hovers over the castle drives him back. Slightly singed by
lightning, he reports back what little he was able to see. They will have to
cross a dry moat and then scale the wall to get in. He once again takes flight
to watch for the patrols and signal the others when it's safe to cross the
moat.
| I think they might have had Kerri ferry everyone across on bat wings, or
maybe they just put some planks over the moat. I don't remember. |
Pressed against the wall, they wait for the patrol to pass and climb up on ropes
secured by Ludovic. Kerri places a magic aura of silence upon Red Wolf
so he can stop any of the guards for calling for help, and also keep Duffy's
gunshots from being heard. Kerri and Ludovic of course keep their distance in
case they need to cast any spells. But despite their precautions, they are
spotted by a guard on a nearby high tower. (Ludovic hadn't been able to see the
top of the tower due to the storm.) The guard rains arrows down on them as
they quickly scale the tower and slay him before he is able to call for help.
The remaining members of the group reach the wall, including Kukri, who is
pulled up by a rope harness. They lay in wait behind the tower for the next
patrol and make short work of them, but not before they have time to call for
help! The group is tense, as they are not sure whether anyone heard the alarm,
but they proceed down into the courtyard and look for a way into the dungeons.
| This was a triumph of maptool. I was able to accurately and easily measure
exactly how far away the other patrol was, way on the other side of the castle,
and use the proper distance modifier for their listen check to see if they
heard. They didn't. |
Red Wolf's recollections are useful here, but he is not completely sure which of
the many doors lead to the dungeons, since he was last lead into them in chains.
Sneaking across the courtyard, they try one of the doors, and find it locked.
Duffy takes a look and opens it easily, too easily. Behind the simply latched
door is a small bedroom, with two sleeping men, apparently servants. Quietly,
he closes the door and tries another.
Googling for a picture of a servant to use as the servant token in maptool,
I found a great portrait of Baldrick  from the
classic British comedy series, Blackadder. I neglected to change the name in
maptool, and so if you mouse-over the servant, the name "baldrick" comes up.
This prompted one of the players, apparently unfamiliar with the show, to ask,
"Why is he called Bald Rick? He's wearing a hat, how do you know if he's bald
or not? In any case, that's not a very nice nickname." Now I can't see
Baldrick without thinking of Bald Rick. |
This one leads downward, a good sign, and door at the bottom is locked much more
securely. But not secure enough for Duffy "swift fingers" Carpatello. The
strike force battles through a few guards, while trying to keep as stealthy as
possible, and eventually find the cell block and free Leif. Kukri is
particularly happy to see him and licks him thoroughly. Despite his brief
stay, he is severely wounded
and weaponless, so Corinne heals him and Red Wolf hands him two swords taken
from the defeated guards. While in the dungeon, Ludovic's Ethereal Empathy is
off the charts, and his bombarded by feelings of pain and suffering. There are
several other prisoners in the block and under the assumption that any enemy of
Elena is a friend of theirs, they set free as many as they can find.
| The actual number I quoted was "3d6". |
Leif is disheartened, but perhaps not overly surprised to find that there is no
lock on "Seamus"'s door and that the cell is empty other than a comfortable
looking chair.
| "Seamus" was actually an actor who ran afoul of Elena's laws against
frivolity. By law, he would have lost his tongue, but Urien saw a use for him
in psychological torture. At Urien's urging, Elena spared him in return for an
oath of loyalty and a life of service to Urien. His job is to be "good cop" and
befriend select prisoners, convince them of the futility of resisting the
torture, and perhaps get them to slip and reveal something to a "fellow
prisoner" that they wouldn't to their tormenter. And to be all emo and bum
everyone out. |
The party finds Urien in the main torture chamber, working his craft. They
briefly wonder how much Corinne will need to heal him to provoke the change,
but decide to take no chances. Unconscious, he will no longer be a threat, and
they can slowly heal him until it works.
| Funny, I never would have thought of that tactic. I guess I don't think
like a PC sometimes. I would have tried to heal him after the first blood was
drawn. If I'd thought about it, I might have made him much harder to hit, so
waiting to knock him out wouldn't be an option. But whatever, this was fun too,
and allowed Leif to take out some aggression on him. |
They storm in and attack, taking him and his assistants by surprise. The battle
is brief, and Urien is quickly overwhelmed by the half-crazed, breeches-wearing
Leif whaling on him with dual swords. Though her instincts tell her to help
the severely wounded man back to full health, Corinne follows the group's
wishes and heals him only the slightest amount.
Suddenly, a change comes over him, and he seems to wake up as though from a
dream. He is surprised to see Red Wolf, and says, "What are you doing back
here? I thought I'd gotten you out."
Apparently, Urien remembers nothing since the last time his helpful
personality emerged. He is somewhat distant and confused, but seems to know
exactly what to do. He leads the party and their freed refugees to the front
exit of the dungeon. Each time they reach an intersection, he goes on ahead to
dismiss the guards so the path will be clear. As they run toward the stairway,
escape in sight, the ethereal resonance builds to a crescendo in Ludovic's
mind. He experiences a vision of a time long past...
Urien leads Sharon down the
dark corridor; she is weak, wounded, and stumbling. He pushes her up against
the wall, motioning for silence as a pair of guards pass by the intersection,
carrying a limp form between them and laughing coarsely. When the way is clear,
he grasps her hand and whispers, "now." They run toward the stairway, escape in
sight. She pauses, her eye caught by something in the last chamber. "The beast
took everything of value to his lair," she whispers, in disbelief, staring
through the barred window.
| Echoing Elena's words to her when 'Banemaw' destroyed Sharon's hometown of
Glenmurron. Words that Sharon now knows to be lies. |
"The beast took everything of value to his lair." She pounds on
the door, with a sound between a sob and a rueful laugh. Urien pleads, "my
angel, we must flee." She turns to him, red-rimmed eyes full of fury, "The
beast took everything of value to her lair. Open this door. I’m
not leaving without all that remains of my parents."
| I had to explain how Sharon got her chalice back after Elena stole it, and
used the opportunity to get Leif's stuff (including the same chalice) back to
him as well. |
Ludovic points to the same chamber in the present, and has Urien open it.
Inside are Leif's belongings, and those of some of the refugees. Everyone
collects what they are missing and heads up the stairs.
They emerge in the courtyard, next to a forbidding gallows. Urien leads
everyone to a large double door. Leif stops him and asks where the old man is.
Urien is confused, but answers that Theokos spends most of his time in the
Chapel tower, pointing to a tower connected to the main keep. Leif tells Red
Wolf to see Corinne and the refugees to safety. He is going after
Theokos...
Joel, and Kukri have been enjoying the hospitality
of the Nidalan rebels known as The Pack.
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