ZEITGEIST [ZEITGEIST] The Continuing Adventures of Korrigan & Co.

Who wants to live forever?

Malthusius received the following inducement:

"The wise immortal merely flirts with the feeble God of the clergy. The power of a dead god flutters in his own breast. But true immortality, and the preservation of his current form, are the gifts of Ashima-Shimtu, should he promise to serve her in the outside world. Will he take pity on a misused maiden, whose only crime was that eternal life grew tedious, and she sought excitement in this mortal world? His reward? Godhood!"

Malthusius has recently expressed a very undevalike attachment to his current form, which he has now inhabited for over 80 years. I thought this would pique his interest, but he turned the demon down flat.

These are a lot of fun, and are really making me think about how I'm going to use Ashima-Shimtu in my own game. I don't think any of my players (save, maybe one) would actually make a deal with her, but maybe she won't present it as such, and instead hold them to her debt without them knowing, if they accept some help from her. Maybe that's unfair? I'm not sure she would care either way.

d2OKC said:

I don't think any of my players (save, maybe one) would actually make a deal with her...

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That's exactly what I thought. Now I have to work out some way for this demon-bound bunch to atone for their sins. One 'fallen' or compromised PC is much less unsettling than four. They're supposed to be the good guys!

Session 68 - Crypto Hereticum

• Korrigan’s defender longsword delivered some bad news: Leon’s back was broken. Ottavia said that she had some healing skill, but such a serious injury was beyond her.
• They could hear nothing except the sound of rainwater splashing down from the ceiling, so Uru weaved a web and scuttled down it to the floor of the chamber, where Leon was arched over some broken masonry. Surrounding the tiefling were scorch-marks, and a charred corpse lay on the ground beside him.
• Matunaaga was just about to clamber down a rusting chain to join Uru when Malthusius shouted a warning. At that moment a trio of wights came kiltering over the rubble that lay before a set of huge doors to the south. They set upon Uru right away, draining his energy, before attacks from above felled one of them and saw the others scamper back where they came from.
• During the melee, Matunaaga somewhat ill-advisedly, used his mental powers to raise Leon from where he lay and bring him to the balcony where the others stood. This action, while gentle, reopened Leon’s wounds and he required immediate attention from Malthusius and Ottavia.
• Xambria kept pestering Malthusius to examine the wards in the entrance hall, admonishing him for ignoring such important archaeological evidence. Malthusius promised he would in time and begged her to be silent for now. (He had taken to wearing Ottavia’s telepathic headband which allowed Xambria to communicate with others. To keep Ottavia in the loop, he continually relayed to her what the other unit members were saying.)
• Uru crept closer to the southern doors to keep an eye on them.
• Ottavia succeeded in staunching Leon’s wounds, but said the only clergy healers able to fix breaks used a ritual similar to remove affliction, but infused with the energy of Urim. As she spoke, she eyed the glowing filigree patterns on Korrigan’s skin and asked him to explain them.
• Korrigan told them that he had borne them since the schism that altered his body, but that they had recently begun to glow more brightly: The hurtloam he used to heal Leon’s scars seemed to have soaked into his own flesh somehow, and the effect was even more pronounced since his exposure to the mana fields of Nalaam and the icon of Urim he now wore.
• Ottavia came up with a radical plan: if she and Malthusius could teach Korrigan the remove affliction ritual – if he could cast it himself with their help – it might be that his own Urim-infused healing powers would help to mend Leon’s broken bones. They would need to make Leon more comfortable first, and the attempt could some time. It might even kill the tiefling, but what other choice did they have, since he could not be moved?
• Discussions on the subject were cut short, when more wights came through the crack in the south doors. There were six of them, and three bearing spiked chains. Some went straight for Uru, while others scrambled up the rusty chains and pillars to attack the rest of the group.
• A well-armoured battlewight stepped through too and issued commands in Old Crisillyiri. The way they were all armed and armoured, Xambria and Malthusius guessed they might be adventurers who had come here to tomb raid and died in the attempt.
• During the fight, in an attempt to hide, Uru slipped through the doors into the chamber beyond.
• There he saw an enormous hall, filled with debris, dominated by a huge iron golem. Beneath its feet stood even more wights (and right next to Uru now, a spellcasting deathlock wight). The battlewight stepped back and filled the doorway to prevent Uru’s escape, but the deep fey assassin was faster than him, and scuttled up the side of the huge doors, over his head and back into the main chamber, where the unit and their oracular ally were making short work of the undead adventurers.
• Matunaaga jumped down to help Uru close the doors. Together they dropped the battlewight and tried to brace the enormous stone portals against the second wave of undead who now fell against it. Above, on the balcony, Malthusius realised their situation: the unit was already exhausted – an extended fight now could mean the end of them. He put every effort into blasting the wights that beset Korrigan, giving the Marshal chance to fly down (using his Canary pendant) and lend his solid weight to Uru and Matunaaga’s.
• With that, they dropped the rest of the wights in the entrance chamber, and having jammed the doors, resumed discussion of their options.
• They now had doorways on either side braced against hordes of undead. They could not go back until dawn, some twelve hours away. Pressing on in their current condition would be suicidal. But could they hope to keep the undead out long enough to rest? There was also the pressing matter of Leon’s broken back. If he could not be healed, they could not move him; but their only chance to do so was a jury-rigged ritual that might do more harm than good. The Voice of the Island had promised them help. No one trusted the voice, and both Ottavia and Malthusius believed that they should wait until dawn before returning to the surface: They still had a prearranged teleportation left that could get them from Sid Minos to Vendricce ahead of the train.
• Undecided, they opted to begin the ritual on Leon and see how that turned out. Then they would rest, if they could, and make a final decision as to which way to go after that. (There would still be five hours left until dawn.)
• They conducted the ritual and, by the narrowest of margins, avoided killing their friend. Korrigan had proved an able conduit, and Leon could now be left to rest and regain his full strength. With Matunaaga watching the exterior door, and Uru in a light trance close to the huge southern doors, the party then settled down to wait out at least part of the night.
• A few hours into their rest they received a messenger windcommunication from Rumdoom: He had arrived in Sid Minos, having used the party’s prearranged teleportation to do so. Although the group were glad to hear from the dwarf, this news now meant that, short of getting off the island before dawn, there was no way they could complete their mission.
• Korrigan responded to Rumdoom with a terse message that told him where they were (trapped by undead on the island of Odiem) and instructed him to use his initiative (since he had proved so fond of doing so in recent days).
• There then followed a much more intense discussion of the prospect of following the Voice of the Island deeper into the Vault. Again, Malthusius was dead-set against it. Korrigan, however, was determined to examine any option that might allow them to complete their mission successfully. Ottavia did not contribute to the discussion, merely observing that this Vault was built to house demons. Matunaaga and Uru were both up for further exploration.
• Leon awoke. As if recounting a half-remembered dream, he then told the others of a voice that had spoken to him as he lay dying in the darkness: this voice referred to itself as Ashima-Shimtu, and had offered him protection if he agreed to serve her. Desperate, he had acquiesced and…
• His account was interrupted as the tiefling burst into excoriating flames. He writhed around in agony for a moment as abyssal words filled the air around him. The others recoiled in horror and were surprised and relieved to find Leon still alive and breathing when the flames subsided. In his haste to recount his ‘dream’ he had forgotten the final, intuitive injunction not to reveal the nature of his bargain, and he had been punished.
• The unit exchanged glances while tending to Leon’s burns.
• Malthusius asked if Ashima-Shimtu had spoken to anyone else. No one responded.
• In the end, despite Malthusius’ best efforts to dissuade them, the group still resolved to press ahead.

Uru's player, in a moment of panic, having dashed out of the entrance chamber into the enormous hall beyond - and seeing half a dozen more wights and an iron golem in front of him - quickly played a Plot Twist card, to the effect that 'All is Not What it Seems'. But then he ran back into the entrance chamber anyway, which gave me plenty of time to replace the iron golem (which in my original design of the room, is rusted and defunct, and only there to frighten the bejeezus out of the players) with something else:

It is a 'statue' of Mor Granatha, a stone titan who long ago pledged himself to the service of the clergy and became one of their most steadfast godhands. He helped construct this tomb in his last days and, sworn a vow to defend it eternally, has stood here ever since. But the insidious influence of Ashima-Shimtu has caused the power of his oath to dwindle, and he died. So the 'iron golem' is a 'statue' which is actually the 'corpse' of a stone titan who was really a Godhand and may yet be undead (or possess a glimmer of life) depending on what the players do here now or in late paragon. The card did say 'All is Not What it Seems'!

Also worth noting is that Leon's player forgot about his geas! He was using his iphone to jog his memory of what had happened (as we discussed it via email) and only when he got to the end did he se the part about staying shtum. Then he burst into flames, taking 40+ damage, losing the damage bonus to his racial power, and providing a timely reminder to the others not to say a word.

I later had Ashima-Shimtu say that, although he had betrayed her confidence, he was still bound to her service. Leon decided to bluff!

Again, this was conducted via email. I assumed he would fail, as the target DC for bluffing a level 25 demoness was set at 38. My plan was to have Ashima-Shimtu accept and then, when everyone dives into the water to be teleported to Vendricce, Leon would arrive screaming in agony with the word LIAR carved into his face.

Unfortunately, he rolled a 39!!!

So unless I decide that Ashima-Shimtu simply cannot be lied to, he's safe for now, having falsely vowed to serve her quite convincingly.

Session 69 - Rumdoom's Return (Reprise)

With the rest of the unit trapped in a clergy Vault in Odiem, Rumdoom's player chose to return following a five-week absence. I could have asked him to play Ottavia, but thought it would be more fun to have him make a solo dash for the island and rejoin his comrades. A couple of powers (rain of steel, THP generation, and immunity to drowning) made it just about feasible (although I reckoned without the fact that the zombies attack Will not AC...)

• Korrigan told Rumdoom to use his initiative and he did: making haste to Odiem, having established that he could not locate Sly Marbo.
• He took a ride out to the fishing village close to the island, but found no fisherman willing to take him out there at this hour of the night.
• So he set off at a brisk swim.
• Arriving on dry land, he quickly established that it was overrun by zombies and made a dash for the lighthouse. The slow-moving zombies could not catch him, but were so numerous that they surrounded him as he neared the lighthouse doors. He found himself at the centre of an undead scrum, but fought his way through, only to discover that the doors were barred.
• So he scaled the ruined walls while the zombies scrabbled up after him, and from there, he picked his way along the top towards the downward flight of stairs, where Korrigan and the others had just received his messenger wind and were waiting to open the doors at the right moment.
• When Rumdoom reached the top of the stairs, they flung them open and blasted the stairwell free of zombies. Rumdoom jumped down and they pulled him inside before the crush of undead swallowed them all.
• They quickly filled Rumdoom in on what they had been up to. Curiously, no one thought to ask Rumdoom what he had been doing, or how he had escaped (but we’ll save that story for another day).
• Once they had given Rumdoom time to recover from his ordeal – and recount how the strange powers of the Drowned Dead has failed to affect him – the unit pressed on with its plan of trying to deal with the wights beyond the double doors.
• They prepared themselves and broke through.
• The enormous hall was dominated by a huge iron golem, coated with algae and limescale. Three huge pillars supported a vaulted ceiling, a fourth having collapsed into a water-filled hole, along with a section of the floor. The whole chamber was littered with detritus. A gallery ran the circumference of the hall twenty feet above them.
• Lurking in the shadows throughout the chamber were wights of various kinds: chainfighters that sought to render them prone, so their agile allies could pounce and drain their lifeforce; deathlock spellcasters that stood on the gallery and rained down necrotic energy; a sword-wielding battlewight that could heal its kin.
• The unit engaged these creatures, ably assisted by Ottavia.
• As the hard-fought battle raged on, further threats revealed themselves: a black pudding lurked in the murky waters (as Rumdoom discovered when a deathlock’s spell blasted him into the crater); and several clergy statues that animated when a living intruder came close, and sought to pacify them with a holy touch. Worse still, these graven icons could compel the living to flee back to the surface! (A deadly condition indeed under the circumstances.)
• The unit finished off the wights before focusing fire on these creatures. The pudding split if attacked with weapons, while the statues were resistant to all but weapon attacks. Careful coordination enabled the group to deal with them too, though they had to scramble to stop a dominated Uru clambering back up the chains in the entrance chamber and letting in the zombies; in fact Malthusius had to blast him off the chains to stop him.
• The dust settled on this complicated combat, and the unit dressed their wounds and began to explore.

10000 views.

Expanding the Vault 1

Following the suggestion of the published adventure, I decided to expand the clergy vault on the Isle of Odiem to provide a greater challenge to my PCs (and extend the adventure).

I'm not going too far, or making the dungeon too complex, because I like the idea of a dungeon that has been comprehensively trashed already. I used the blueprint map provided, with each numbered area being approximately the same dimensions as the prison of Ashima-Shimtu, and the large hallway occupied by Gene. (So big.)

Areas 1-2 (and the huge hallway between them) are occupied by wights - adventurers and others who have perished in the vault over the centuries, and determined to swell their numbers. In the huge hallway between 1 & 2 there are also statues (represented by the Dreamblade Saint of Roses miniature) which pacify intruders, and a black pudding. The terrain and the monsters were designed to complement one another: how often have you seen a pudding gain an advantage due to its ability to squeeze, for example? I wanted to really showcase the tactical combat elements of 4E and encourage the party to prioritize their attacks, having worked out how these creatures cooperate.

The Iron Golem in the centre of the room was a huge Juggernaut, but when Uru's player desperately played his Things are Not What They Seem Plot Twist card, I changed it. Of course, it was never intended to function as an actual iron golem, but a rusting trap that would collapse if jostled during combat.

Now it is a statue wearing armour, or so it seems: it is in fact a Stone Titan paladin named Maur Granatha who swore fealty to the clergy over a thousand years ago and vowed to guard the vault for all eternity. (In his hands is a huge Holy Avenger if the players can work out how to get hold of it, let alone use it.) The wards perserving this proud guardian have failed due to the corrupting influence of the crumbling vault, and he has perished (or perhaps lapsed into a torpor, I can't decide). Or maybe he was killed while he slept by Gene?

Chamber 2 - Heretic Texts - has been comprehensively trashed and looted. The shelves are more or less empty now. There are more wights hiding here on an upper tier. A lectern in the centre fo the room is trapped and warded against interference from all but devout clergy worshippers. Here the players will find some clues about the vaults construction which will encourage them to try to find a variety of 'keys' (or key objects) that will grant them access to Ashima-Shimtu. The first is this book. The second is guarded by a very deadly trap. The third is the sword of Mur Granatha.

In actual fact, as the door to chamber 9 has been broken open by Gene, the party won't need these objects at all, but it remains to be seen if they establish this fact before pressing on with their 'quest'.

Beneath the debris on the floor of the chamber is a bronze map of the layout of the vault, large enough to take up the whole of the floor. But will the PCs notice it?

Beyond areas 1&2, the interconnecting, diamond-shaped passageways are much more narrow than the hallways between chambers and are lined with the bones of deceased clergy, a touch which I like and have kept. The bones prevent the wights from delving deeper into the complex. Occasionally, the players will see a pair of strange, winged avatars standing at the far ends of the corridors. These mysterious creatures are Blessed Ones (angels that served Trigenes in his fights against the Demonocracy). They merely observe the party. If the party was evil they would attack. As it is, they keep out of their way and are only there to provide an enigma and to freak them out a bit.

More details to follow.

gideonpepys said:

In the huge hallway between 1 & 2 there are also statues (represented by the Dreamblade Saint of Roses miniature) which pacify intruders, and a black pudding.

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I love the Saint of Roses so much! I need to get my hands on a few of those and use this idea somewhere!

d2OKC said:

I love the Saint of Roses so much! I need to get my hands on a few of those and use this idea somewhere!

Click to expand...

Here are the stats I used if you're interested:

Saint of Roses
Medium immortal humanoid (construct)
Level 9 Controller (Leader) XP 400
Traits
Immovable Object
Reduce forced movement by 2 squares. Make a save with a +2 bonus to avoid being knocked prone. A prone Lady cannot move or right itself.
Standard Actions
Pacifying Touch At-Will
Attack: Melee 1 (one creature); +14 vs. Will
Hit: The target is stunned until the end of the Lady’s next turn.
Delirious Beam (radiant) At-Will
Attack: Ranged 5 (one creature); +14 vs. Will
Hit: d6 + 14 psychic damage and the target is pulled up to 3 squares.
Love's Kiss (charm) At-Will
Attack: Melee 1 (one stunned creature); +12 vs. Will
Hit: The target is dominated (save ends) and must use its turns to leave the vault and return to the surface.
Move Actions
Irresistible Force (polymorph) At-Will
Effect: The angel can move through enemy spaces. The enemy is pushed back or, if a push is not possible, knocked prone, taking 14 points of damage. Creatures may use an immediate action to sidestep the movement if possible.

The idea is that the statue's NADs are easy to hit but they resist most magical damage forms (such as fire and psychic). But they are old and cracked so - if a weapon attack manages to get past the high AC - it can do serious damage.

Players wet themselves when these things teleport. But they are rendered permanently immobile if you knock them over. A design flaw!

Session 70 - Unit B

This week, as Matunaaga's player was absent, we decided to switch back to Flint and find out what Unit B was up to. He also plays the leader of that group, so I sequestered him, and had the events play out as an unintended side-quest. Short on ideas, I duly purloined some interesting material from Obsidian portal - a promising campaign that appears to have stalled, as so many do. http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/solstice/adventure-log/solstice-i-session-1

I wanted to add some depth to the campaign world and have a few references to subsequent events, but mostly I wanted give the two newcomers (Ffenwig and Doctor Will Stanhope whose players had been absent during Unit B's first outing) a chance to roadtest their characters. So plenty of combat after some initial roleplaying.

• RHC Flint Unit B had returned to the city to get back-up, having discovered that the 'lizardmen' abroad in the Cloudwood were armed, armoured and fire-breathing!
• Captain Theren expedited the paperwork necessary for the elven brothers' bugbear companion Ffenwig to join the RHC.
• The team's fifth member - Professor Ludo Marcione - had not reported in for duty for several weeks. As a result, Dima had taken the decision to draft in a replacement: Doctor Willem Stanmore, whose knowledge of arcana and modern technology was exceeded only by the missing Professor.
• The group met for the first time, and Niniel proposed she take them all on a night out in Bosum Strand. Everyone was up for it except Sevitar, who disappeared as they left the HQ.
• The following day, with Captain Theren busy in a debriefing with Stover Delft and Dima, the rest were sent to observe a potential flashpoint of civil disobedience, under strict instructions not to get involved, but to familiarise themselves with the sociopolitical tensions in the city.
• A wealthy factory owner in Parity Lake, tired of ongoing industrial disputes, had signed a contract with Pemberton Industries for several of their latest model of 'gearmen', and the Dockers movement was protesting and planning to prevent their entrance to the factory.
• The unit watched on as a mounted military unit sallied through the opening factory gates and rode down the protestors from one side, while the clunking gearmen simply trudged over them from the other. Niniel was angry at what she saw but determined not to disobey orders.
• चमकीला पक्षति (who will be referred to as 'Brajham from now on) was distracted by the arrival of a security officer holding a struggling street urchin. This urchin, named Rand Mouser, had come down to where he knew he would find officers of the law to report a disturbance: the Brickboys, he said, were digging up the grave of his friend.
• Eager for something to do other than spectate, Brajham deciced that the unit should deal with this matter and they followed Rand to the Nettles, at the edge of a great scrapyard, where they found a gang of halfling youths busily pulling apart a disinterred gearman (one of the older, more unreliable models).
• A tearful Rand apologised, but knew no-one would come to help if he had told them his 'friend' was a gearman.
  
• The brickboys were arrogant and told the lawmen to back off. To everyone's surprise they were backed up by a disembodied voice, emanating from a strangulated copse of trees clinging to life on the edge of the midden. It urged them to rid the hill of the 'dirty ugles'; "fight them," it said, "the spirits of the forest are with you".
• Thus emboldened, one of the brickboys chucked a molotov cocktail at the unit and a fight ensued. Rand fled.
  
• It turned out the voice belonged to a grig named P'Sheehah - a creature of the Dreaming, vehemently hostile to modenity.
• The grig placed a charm on Doctor Will Stanhope and sent him prancing helplessly around the clearing.
• The Brickboys, meanwhile, proved to be more agile than dangerous, and used their strength in numbers to distract the officers and steal their equipment: Ffenwig's pistol; Will's ritual book; Brajham's parrot (sorry, firebird). When the unit dropped them, they simply sprang back up a few moments later. Sevitar growled with frustration as his fourth felled opponent jumped up and ran.
• On a signal the halflings hightailed it, leaving the unit to deal with the mindbending enchantments of P'Sheehah.
• Growing frustrated with this creature, Brajham summoned all the firey power at his disposal and immolated her. (So much for his love of beauty.) As she died she whispered a strange apology for failing 'Ekossigan'.
• They chased after the brickboys, their trail taking them through a rusted iron gate that led to the sewers. But the unit saw only rats disappearing through the bars. Doctor Stanhope surmised that these halfling boys must be wererats.
• Brajham had a telepathic link to his fireparrot, which meant he could hear all it heard. The brickboys were making for the lair of one 'King Clockwork' who would pay them handsomely for the gearman parts they had found.
• The unit took a wrong turn and stumbled upon an otyugh. Sheer fear empowered their blows and they were able to fell the predator and escape as a second, and then a third, emerged from the detritus.
• A length, they caught up with the brickboys, who had been joined some adult halfling wererats wielding pistols and a rifle (which took two of them to operate).
• A scrappy fight ensued, which was begining to the unit's way in any case, when a pair of chokers peeled themselves off the ceiling and throttled the last remaining wererats.
• The unit grabbed their belongings off a dead brickboy and headed back to the surface.

Whether Unit B will follow any of this up remains to be seen. My players are very bad for chasing down threads and rumours. But that's okay, as I have no idea who King Clockwork is, or what Rand Mouser's interest in the half-buried gearman could have been.