IRON DM 2013--Entries, Judgements, Commentary, & Trash-Talk
MortalPlague
Adventurer
I'll surely be back. Any time you go up against Wicht in the first round, though, all bets are off!
Good game.
Good game.
Deuce Traveler
Adventurer
Both were great entries. I liked the science fiction meets fantasy in one, and the creepy village with werewolves in the other. Bravo to you both!
Wicht
Hero
As I read through the ingredients, the decrepit bridge was the first ingredient to grab hold of my imagination and I immediately thought of an old covered bridge in the country. And of course it had to be haunted. While I agree with the judge that the bridge reads like mere scenery in the write-up, it was actually the seed that germinated the rest of the scenario. Without that bridge, the scenario would have turned out very differently.
You can have a lot of things happen on or near a bridge: suicides, murders, drownings. There can be all sorts of stories surrounding it. My next step was poison pill. Hearsay and heresy were both percolating, but poison pill needed some thought and so I googled it, read the definitions and tried to think of the concept of a poison pill in a medieval or fantasy setting. The idea of one community trying to annex another was the logical thought, but it had to be being done in the context of a bid for control that could be thwarted. Marching armies was too direct and thus out. Perhaps one community trying to establish itself as the leader of surrounding communities... There was a thought...
Religion was a real possibility for a reason one community might have greater authority, a new prophet, spiritual leader or temple could cause the influence of a city to grow. And religion allowed for heresy... and if the heresy was on the part of the village that did not want to be controlled, then that village could craft a poison pill plan to keep the other community away... And they could use hearsay to create confusion and a mystery... They could provide a wealth of information, misleading information that could have the PCs chasing their tales... And maybe at the same time, there should be a really big library somewhere (the library was an ingredient that never fully developed, though I included it).
About this time, I decided to have the big city be entirely the good guys and the village be entirely the bad guys. The Wicker Man came to mind and I decided to go with a primitive druidic faith that ate people. Werewolves was a logical choice and I may have been partially swayed by some writing I have done about a similar village in Golarion .
Hallowed Ground, to me, initially was the bridge, though the new temple, and the villagers sacred tree were also in the mix. The list I turned in at the end was actually my first words on the screen. My second step was coming up with names and writing the backstory. I went from there to writing up the adventure itself. I meant to play up the mystery angle of the bridge a bit more, but time was short for me, and I did not get to fully flesh out this aspect of the story, but if I were going to write it up as an actual adventure, I would spend much time trying to fully develop the various stories the villagers told about the bridge to make the bridge more central to the adventure.
You can have a lot of things happen on or near a bridge: suicides, murders, drownings. There can be all sorts of stories surrounding it. My next step was poison pill. Hearsay and heresy were both percolating, but poison pill needed some thought and so I googled it, read the definitions and tried to think of the concept of a poison pill in a medieval or fantasy setting. The idea of one community trying to annex another was the logical thought, but it had to be being done in the context of a bid for control that could be thwarted. Marching armies was too direct and thus out. Perhaps one community trying to establish itself as the leader of surrounding communities... There was a thought...
Religion was a real possibility for a reason one community might have greater authority, a new prophet, spiritual leader or temple could cause the influence of a city to grow. And religion allowed for heresy... and if the heresy was on the part of the village that did not want to be controlled, then that village could craft a poison pill plan to keep the other community away... And they could use hearsay to create confusion and a mystery... They could provide a wealth of information, misleading information that could have the PCs chasing their tales... And maybe at the same time, there should be a really big library somewhere (the library was an ingredient that never fully developed, though I included it).
About this time, I decided to have the big city be entirely the good guys and the village be entirely the bad guys. The Wicker Man came to mind and I decided to go with a primitive druidic faith that ate people. Werewolves was a logical choice and I may have been partially swayed by some writing I have done about a similar village in Golarion .
Hallowed Ground, to me, initially was the bridge, though the new temple, and the villagers sacred tree were also in the mix. The list I turned in at the end was actually my first words on the screen. My second step was coming up with names and writing the backstory. I went from there to writing up the adventure itself. I meant to play up the mystery angle of the bridge a bit more, but time was short for me, and I did not get to fully flesh out this aspect of the story, but if I were going to write it up as an actual adventure, I would spend much time trying to fully develop the various stories the villagers told about the bridge to make the bridge more central to the adventure.
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Rune
Once A Fool
Round 1, Match 3: EP vs. Radiating Gnome
[MENTION=41744]EP[/MENTION] and [MENTION=150]Radiating Gnome[/MENTION], you have 24 hours to post your entries to this thread. Please include a list of ingredients at the beginning of the entry and please do not edit your post once it is submitted. Please refrain from reading your opponent's entry until after you have posted your own. You are on your honor to do so.
Your ingredients are:
Introverted Aboleth
Fork in the Road
Lonely City
Point of No Return
Inspirational Sermon
Changeling
[MENTION=41744]EP[/MENTION] and [MENTION=150]Radiating Gnome[/MENTION], you have 24 hours to post your entries to this thread. Please include a list of ingredients at the beginning of the entry and please do not edit your post once it is submitted. Please refrain from reading your opponent's entry until after you have posted your own. You are on your honor to do so.
Your ingredients are:
Introverted Aboleth
Fork in the Road
Lonely City
Point of No Return
Inspirational Sermon
Changeling
Radiating Gnome
Adventurer
The Sermon of Kingfish VII
The Sermon of Kingfish VII
by Radiating Gnome
Ingredients:
Introverted Aboleth
Fork in the Road
Lonely City
Point of No Return
Inspirational Sermon
Changeling
Backstory:
Hook:
The PCs are approached by the lord who spoke to Drunk Anter. He gives them the packet of notes left by Anter, tells them what he can, and asks them to make their way to Freehaven, make contact with Anter, and see what they can do to save the city.
The packet of papers include most of the information given in the backstory, as well as more details about the Sermon of Assumption. Make this a big pile of handouts and allow the Pcs to work through it at their own pace. Details should include a little background on the two holy orders that serve the Aboleth (the Order of the Net, monks who handle the logistics and keep order in the city, and the Order of the Trident, clerics who deliver the sermons each day).
Approaching the City
Approaching by sea or air is impossible because of the hurricane-force storm. By land, they first encounter a guard post manned by a handful of monks armed with nets. These monks warn them away, letting them know that if they enter the storm, they will not be able to come back. This is true -- after Anter's escape, the barrier between the demiplane/storm was strengthened to only allow passage in, not out -- so once the PCs enter they will not be able to get back out unless Gremtilosse is killed or convinced to let them leave.
The approach will be an extended skill challenge --or series of skill challenges -- that test the resourcefulness end endurance of the PCs. They should be tapped out by the time they reach the city.
Freehaven
Freehaven is basically a city that has been under seige for 15 years. The people are stumbling shells, whose days consist of finding their neighborhood Warden, a Brother of the Net who gives them their daily temple and seat assignments; then they go to that temple, sit in their assigned seat, and listen to the sermon. After the service, the Brothers of the Net provide them the fish stew that is their only source of food (with the exception of rare stores of luxuries, which have been almost all depleted over the years).
Bearing weapons, obvious spellcasting tools, or armor in the city is forbidden. Most of the people wear well-worn rags (no way to get new clothes for the past 15 years). Since the city does not get visitors, though, there's not much need for a sign to tell visitors that those items are forbidden. So the PCs will stand out like a sore thumb if they don't take measures to look like they belong. If they don't, they will have repeated encounters with patrols of Order of the Net patrols (and alert the city to the presence of outsiders).
The people mostly stare, and are not helpful, but that will immediately turn around if they're offered food. Even trail rations would be a welcome break after 15 years of the same crappy stew. The people have not seen Gremtilosse, whom they call Kingfish VII, for many years. His predecessors were much more interested in public displays, but Gremtilosse only interacts with the people through his high priest and the two holy orders.
The Sermons
The PCs should experience one of the sermons early. The scene starts with bells tolling the call to prayer; people drop what they're doing and shuffle into temples. They take specific assigned seats (different daily, given to them on chits by the Order of the Net). Then a Brother of the Trident steps up to the altar and delivers a real fire-and-brimstone sermon. Harmonic divine energies build in the temples -- resonating between the people and the priest, driven to crescendo by the sermon, all channeling power to a power crystal (one for each temple) in the wall of the palace.
In the streets, strange magical effects are felt in the flux of that power -- magic is unpredictable, may fizzle completely, triple in strength, or do something entirely different than what was expected. Then, the sermon ends; the people, exhausted, take their bowl of stew and go home.
The PCs need to make contact with Anter.
The Palace
The palace is a shell used by the two holy orders as a monastery -- so it's full of clerics and monks dedicated to the Aboleth and it's quest for godhood. The PCs can fight their way in -- with the help of drunk Anter, who is shapeshifting to disguise himself -- or take on his true form in some encounters to try to get the party past some encounters.
During one of those early encounters, though, one of the clerics the party faces casts remove poison on Anter -- removing the effects of the alcohol from his body, and allowing Gremtilosse to regain control. The PCs might be able to subdue him and get him drunk again, to retain his help, but otherwise he'll flee the party and return to the Aboleth's side.
If the PCs lose their guide (Anter) they will be forced to find their own way through the palace to the catacombs.
Once the alarm is raised in the palace, Gremtilosse commands that the call to prayer is rung again, and within 15 minutes power begins to grow in the palace as the Sermon generates divine power.
The Caverns Below
Once in the caverns, Anter (if he's still with them) must begin to drink more and more to keep the Aboleth out of his mind. In no time at all he can no longer stay on his feet, and must be left behind, too drunk to be of any help.
In the caverns, after a few minor encounters, the heroes come upon a choice of two passages.
One is clearly the passage that is used -- the way is clear, there's signs of recent traffic, and the hum of magical energy can be heard from the chamber ahead.
The other is clearly abandoned, and there's no sign of traffic through that passage for the past several years.
The abandoned passage leads to the true lair of the aboleth, who uses his agents and puppets from here. The well-traveled passage leads to a central power gathering room, where crystals in the ceiling -- one for each of the power rods above the palace -- shoot their divine power into a collection crystal at the center of the room. a team of clerics tend the energy, while one, clearly possessed by the Aboleth, stands at a podium above it all, observing and watching the power grow.
Once the Aboleth is gone or dead, Freehaven is restored to the prime material plane, the permanent hurricane disappears, and the city is freed.
Ingredient Guide:
Introverted Aboleth - Gremtilosse, who does not want direct contact with his subjects, just to be left alone to work on his sermon writing project.
Fork in the Road - the choice, in the caverns below the palace, which determines if the players face a nigh-unbeatable nearly divine empowered aboleth, or destroy his ritual but allow him to escape, or perhaps choose both options and manage to defeat him once and for all.
Lonely City - Freehaven, once a free city of seagoing trade, now hidden away by the magic of it's Aboleth lord.
Point of No Return - The point at the start of the adventure when the PCs are warned that if they enter the storm, they will not be able to exit.
Inspirational Sermon - The sermon of Gremtilosse the Aboleth, Kingfish VII of Freehaven, designed to inspire the faith of it's audience so perfectly that it elevates it's subject (Gremtilosse) to godhood.
Changeling - Soldi Anter, the changeling high priest of Gremtilosse, who uses drunkeness to temporarily escape the mental clutches of the Aboleth and bring help to the city.
The Sermon of Kingfish VII
by Radiating Gnome
Ingredients:
Introverted Aboleth
Fork in the Road
Lonely City
Point of No Return
Inspirational Sermon
Changeling
Backstory:
- Freehaven was an independent citystate, on the tip of a peninsula, famous for seagoing trade, free markets, rumors of piracy, and for being ruled by a family of Aboleths.
- 15 years ago, upon the death of its progenitor, Gremtilosse, aka Kingfish VII, took the throne. Unwilling to continue with the work of ruling the city, it called up a permanent hurricane/demiplane of storm to surround the city, cutting off seagoing and flying travel to the city, and making travel along the lone road to the city nearly impossible. The city itself is in the eye of that storm.
- Gremtilosse hates dealing with any beings in person, except on it's own terms. It's obsession is to create the perfect Sermon of Assumption, to harness the faith-based power of thousands of souls and elevate itself to godhood.
- Gremtilosse tweaks and revises the sermon each day, trying to perfect it, and has been experimenting with the harmonics of that faith energy by taking active control over which worshiper are in which temple, and where they are seated, to attempt the perfect divine harmonics and elevate itself, finally, to divinity.
- Life in the city has become grim. Cut off from all sources of food, trade, and resources, the residents are entirely dependent upon the clergy for food, a bland fish stew served after services each day.
- Gremtilosse never appears in public, sending it's changeling High Priest, Soldi Anter, as his mouthpiece. Anter's mind is a twisted place -- even for a changeling -- bent by years of mind control and the telepathic presence of the Aboleth King. Over the years Anter has built compartments within his mind where he can keep ideas away from Gremtilosse, and he planned escape.
- About a month ago, Gremtilosse escaped. He learned over the years that Gremtilosse finds intoxication deeply disturbing, so to keep the beast out of his mind he has to keep himself powerfully drunk. So, staggering, he crawled out through the hurricane, used his ability to shapechange to get past the guards at the edge of the storm, and was free, so long has he remains drunk. His escape was short-lived, however. He told his story in a tavern, passed some drunken notes to the local lord, and then passed out. Unconscious, he sobered enough for the Aboleth to regain control and force Anter to return to the city.
Hook:
The PCs are approached by the lord who spoke to Drunk Anter. He gives them the packet of notes left by Anter, tells them what he can, and asks them to make their way to Freehaven, make contact with Anter, and see what they can do to save the city.
The packet of papers include most of the information given in the backstory, as well as more details about the Sermon of Assumption. Make this a big pile of handouts and allow the Pcs to work through it at their own pace. Details should include a little background on the two holy orders that serve the Aboleth (the Order of the Net, monks who handle the logistics and keep order in the city, and the Order of the Trident, clerics who deliver the sermons each day).
Approaching the City
Approaching by sea or air is impossible because of the hurricane-force storm. By land, they first encounter a guard post manned by a handful of monks armed with nets. These monks warn them away, letting them know that if they enter the storm, they will not be able to come back. This is true -- after Anter's escape, the barrier between the demiplane/storm was strengthened to only allow passage in, not out -- so once the PCs enter they will not be able to get back out unless Gremtilosse is killed or convinced to let them leave.
The approach will be an extended skill challenge --or series of skill challenges -- that test the resourcefulness end endurance of the PCs. They should be tapped out by the time they reach the city.
Freehaven
Freehaven is basically a city that has been under seige for 15 years. The people are stumbling shells, whose days consist of finding their neighborhood Warden, a Brother of the Net who gives them their daily temple and seat assignments; then they go to that temple, sit in their assigned seat, and listen to the sermon. After the service, the Brothers of the Net provide them the fish stew that is their only source of food (with the exception of rare stores of luxuries, which have been almost all depleted over the years).
Bearing weapons, obvious spellcasting tools, or armor in the city is forbidden. Most of the people wear well-worn rags (no way to get new clothes for the past 15 years). Since the city does not get visitors, though, there's not much need for a sign to tell visitors that those items are forbidden. So the PCs will stand out like a sore thumb if they don't take measures to look like they belong. If they don't, they will have repeated encounters with patrols of Order of the Net patrols (and alert the city to the presence of outsiders).
The people mostly stare, and are not helpful, but that will immediately turn around if they're offered food. Even trail rations would be a welcome break after 15 years of the same crappy stew. The people have not seen Gremtilosse, whom they call Kingfish VII, for many years. His predecessors were much more interested in public displays, but Gremtilosse only interacts with the people through his high priest and the two holy orders.
The Sermons
The PCs should experience one of the sermons early. The scene starts with bells tolling the call to prayer; people drop what they're doing and shuffle into temples. They take specific assigned seats (different daily, given to them on chits by the Order of the Net). Then a Brother of the Trident steps up to the altar and delivers a real fire-and-brimstone sermon. Harmonic divine energies build in the temples -- resonating between the people and the priest, driven to crescendo by the sermon, all channeling power to a power crystal (one for each temple) in the wall of the palace.
In the streets, strange magical effects are felt in the flux of that power -- magic is unpredictable, may fizzle completely, triple in strength, or do something entirely different than what was expected. Then, the sermon ends; the people, exhausted, take their bowl of stew and go home.
The PCs need to make contact with Anter.
- If they're being sneaky, they can find moments when he's appearing in public to try to make contact with him. He'll try to shoo them away, then be taken over by Gremtilosse, and demand that they be killed (big fight scene, drive them out with tons of monks)
- If they're not being sneaky, Anter will get word through the Brothers of the net that they're in town.
- Either way, Anter will find an unattended moment to get himself drunk, shapeshift (to avoid the watchful eyes of the Brothers of the Net), and then go find the PCs so he can talk to them
- Drunk Anter will be able to help them get into the Palace, where they can make their way into the caverns below the city and try to find and kill Gremtilosse
The Palace
The palace is a shell used by the two holy orders as a monastery -- so it's full of clerics and monks dedicated to the Aboleth and it's quest for godhood. The PCs can fight their way in -- with the help of drunk Anter, who is shapeshifting to disguise himself -- or take on his true form in some encounters to try to get the party past some encounters.
During one of those early encounters, though, one of the clerics the party faces casts remove poison on Anter -- removing the effects of the alcohol from his body, and allowing Gremtilosse to regain control. The PCs might be able to subdue him and get him drunk again, to retain his help, but otherwise he'll flee the party and return to the Aboleth's side.
If the PCs lose their guide (Anter) they will be forced to find their own way through the palace to the catacombs.
Once the alarm is raised in the palace, Gremtilosse commands that the call to prayer is rung again, and within 15 minutes power begins to grow in the palace as the Sermon generates divine power.
The Caverns Below
Once in the caverns, Anter (if he's still with them) must begin to drink more and more to keep the Aboleth out of his mind. In no time at all he can no longer stay on his feet, and must be left behind, too drunk to be of any help.
In the caverns, after a few minor encounters, the heroes come upon a choice of two passages.
One is clearly the passage that is used -- the way is clear, there's signs of recent traffic, and the hum of magical energy can be heard from the chamber ahead.
The other is clearly abandoned, and there's no sign of traffic through that passage for the past several years.
The abandoned passage leads to the true lair of the aboleth, who uses his agents and puppets from here. The well-traveled passage leads to a central power gathering room, where crystals in the ceiling -- one for each of the power rods above the palace -- shoot their divine power into a collection crystal at the center of the room. a team of clerics tend the energy, while one, clearly possessed by the Aboleth, stands at a podium above it all, observing and watching the power grow.
- Destroying the central crystal in the ritual chamber -- or all of the crystals in the ceiling -- will break up the ritual and cut Gremtilosse off from the power generated by his sermon. When that happens, the Aboleth will escape through extra dimensional travel.
- Facing the Aboleth in his true lair will allow the PCs to defeat him once and for all, but his powers are amplified by the power of the Sermon.
- If the two battles can be fought at roughly the same time -- so that the aboleth is engaged with part of the party when the ritual is stopped -- it's possible to cut him off from his power and the defeat him much more easily.
Once the Aboleth is gone or dead, Freehaven is restored to the prime material plane, the permanent hurricane disappears, and the city is freed.
Ingredient Guide:
Introverted Aboleth - Gremtilosse, who does not want direct contact with his subjects, just to be left alone to work on his sermon writing project.
Fork in the Road - the choice, in the caverns below the palace, which determines if the players face a nigh-unbeatable nearly divine empowered aboleth, or destroy his ritual but allow him to escape, or perhaps choose both options and manage to defeat him once and for all.
Lonely City - Freehaven, once a free city of seagoing trade, now hidden away by the magic of it's Aboleth lord.
Point of No Return - The point at the start of the adventure when the PCs are warned that if they enter the storm, they will not be able to exit.
Inspirational Sermon - The sermon of Gremtilosse the Aboleth, Kingfish VII of Freehaven, designed to inspire the faith of it's audience so perfectly that it elevates it's subject (Gremtilosse) to godhood.
Changeling - Soldi Anter, the changeling high priest of Gremtilosse, who uses drunkeness to temporarily escape the mental clutches of the Aboleth and bring help to the city.
CURSE OF THE UNWANTED
Written by the Warden
The Ingredients
Introverted Aboleth: Decades ago, an aboleth was summoned by the royal wizards of the Faelien Court in an effort to rid their king of his madness. Whether it was due to arrogance or ignorance, the wizards assumed they could control the creature and harness its powers to cure King Jotar and it backfired horribly. During the fall of the Faelien Court, many brave adventurers entered the sewers to confront and eliminate the aboleth, but to no avail. The beast has, however, suffered many horrible wounds, including a severe gash to its brain, and now remains locked in isolation within the deepest levels of the Faelien sewers.
Fork in the Road: Despite its name to the outside world, there are many creatures calling this place home. Under the guidance of the Keeper (see the Changeling ingredient, below), they have reached a metaphorical point in their lives where they must decide if they will continue to be this world's monsters or turn over a new leaf and build a proper life for themselves and their families. Throughout the course of this adventure, it is a similar choice undertaken by the aboleth – to remain fearful and intimidated by the world away from its natural home or to confront its fears and challenge them directly in confrontation. One might also hope this is an awakening for the PCs and their understanding of the monsters of their world...
Lonely City: Before the arrival of the aboleth, the city of Faelien was a jewel of the northern coast and a beacon dividing the savage arctic wastelands from the civilized plains and valleys under King Jotar's rule. After that dark day when the people were driven from their homes by the aboleth's dominated minions and horrific visions, the city was abandoned and gained its new name, the Lonely City.
Point of No Return: King Jotar's son, Yan, has begun to show signs of his father's illness and is desperately seeking a solution before the insanity claims his mind. Without any proper understanding of this condition, Yan has ordered a new expedition into the Lonely City to claim some of the aboleth's blood and perform a ceremony to rid the confused prince of his inner demons.
Inspirational Sermon: When the PCs arrive in the Lonely City, they discover the Keeper (see the Changeling ingredient, below) preaching to the huddled masses who now call this place their home.
Changeling: Perhaps because she is a bit mad herself, the changeling known only as the Keeper has taken refuge within the Lonely City and seeks to offer shelter and dignity within these battered stone walls. Herself an outcast, the Keeper is the self-proclaimed protector of numerous creatures hindered by genocidal adventurers looking to kill solely based on their race or past deeds. She has spent many years trying to help the aboleth heal its wounds and regain its dignity... despite the possible consequences.
An Insane Offer
The PCs are approached by representatives of the Jotar family, now living in exile far from their original homeland. After the devastation in the Lonely City, King Jotar's insanity and the actions of his Court made them fugitives and so they have gone into hiding. While the King has long ago succumbed to his madness and ended his own life, his son, Yan, has begun to show signs of his father's illness and is desperate to rid his mind of the torturous visions and inane ramblings that wracked his father to his dying days. After initial discussions and negotiations, the PCs are taken to meet with the exiled prince in person.
As the prince meets with the adventurers, there are subtle nuances revealing the oncoming madness. At various times, Yan turns suddenly towards nearby windows that have been boarded up and continuously shushes people who are not present (at one point, it seems he is speaking to his deceased father). Regardless of the prince's current condition, the payment offered is real: a chest of jewels and family heirlooms salvaged from the Lonely City prior to the evacuation. If the PCs return with the aboleth's blood, the chest is theirs for the taking.
Maps, horses, and travelling supplies are provided upon request, but Prince Yan is insistent the PCs leave at dawn's first light.
The Keeper
The journey to the Lonely City is brief, yet harsh, for this landscape sits along the border with the arctic tundra and winter is fast approaching. It will take the PCs four days to reach the City by horse and there will be few encounters along the way.
As the PCs climb to the top of a crest overlooking the Lonely City, read the following out loud.
Past the jagged rocks marking the tip of this dangerous ascent, you can see a white spiral tower rising to greet weary travellers and designate this as the location of the Lonely City. Blasting snow has pelted the trio of towers marking the edges of the abandoned kingdom's once great domicile, their windows blown open long ago to create a wicked howl as the sharp winter winds whistle through these tiny openings and echo across the valley before you. A triangular wall that surrounded the regal sections of the city lay in ruins as something monstrous must have brought it crashing down, spewing its debris over and through the common homes once occupied by an unsuspecting people.
Past the howling cry of the snow-capped towers, the powerful boom of an orator's voice catches hold of the wind and finds its way to your ears. It is hard to tell what the words are saying, but there is no mistaking the clear connotations of someone charismatic giving a speech within the remains of what lies below.
If anyone attempts to spot the source of this speech from such a distance, the most they can make out is a gathering of humanoid creatures assembled around the crumbled gates of the City. When they complete their descent and get closer, they can see these creatures are a goblinoid tribe (goblins, hobgoblins, bugbear) standing around a lone speaker perched atop a large boulder that was once the main gate. The speaker looks like a female hobgoblin dressed in thick furs raising her spear in the air as she preaches to these refugees in their own tongue.
If anyone knows the goblin tongue and can get close enough to hear the speaker's words clearly, read the following out loud as a rough translation.
“You are only lost, my brothers and sisters, but are now found. The world has not turned its back on you, only those with pink skin who worship false kings and prophets. They have declared you their enemies and forced you to live within the crevasses of their lives, outcast and sentenced to a harsh death. There is no honour seeking out a life within their shadow, so we have claimed a home on the surface they dare not enter. The gods have made you struggle for a reason, brothers and sisters. To find this city and call it yours as we have called it ours. Find peace as your own people, not as the bastards of the pink skins who say their heart is as warm as the sun, for their actions are as cold as the snow on these mountains. All we ask is that you live in peace with your fellow brothers and sisters, no matter their breed or origins. Together, we will rise above the pink skins and make a home for ourselves!”
The goblinoid's attention is so fixated on her passionate speech that they will not notice any approaching intruders until they approach the back of the formation or interrupt the speech with any other action. When this happens, the goblinoids (there are approximately fifty of them) will turn and draw their weapons, eager to draw blood.
The speaker will seek to calm them down. If a fight should break out, she will race through the crowd and interject, suddenly assuming the form of the most common race within the party (or a human, if everyone is different) and plead with the PCs to lower their arms. She introduces herself as the Keeper, a changeling elementalist and guardian of the Lonely City. While she does not want bloodshed within these fallen walls, she cannot allow them passage inside, regardless of their reasons.
“You come from the southern lands of hospitality and respect. This is a place for the unwanted and the damned, therefore you in turn have no place here. Go back to your homes and tell them we seek only the isolation we deserve. If you do not, I cannot be held responsible for your fate.” As if on cue, the horde of goblinoids standing at her side raise their weapons to the ready and snarl their eager need to inflict generations of revenge against you and your comrades.
So long as the PCs demonstrate respect and compassion, the Keeper will return the favour and can offer them shelter from the elements within one of the remaining gatehouses, but they are not granted access any further than this point. If violence ensues, she will use her elemental mastery to summon two earth elementals from the rubble of the City's gates to crush these intruders.
If anyone enquires about the aboleth, the Keeper's answer is harsh and ominous. “She is not to be disturbed. Your kind has done more than enough harm and I will not allow anyone to shatter her fragile world, do you understand me?” If they mention Prince Yan's plight, she scoffs and cares even less for their mission now more than ever. “Your kind's ills are the result of your greed and avarice. It is penance for your actions and those of your ancestors, a lesson that invoking genocide brings consequences. And only someone inflicted with madness would believe an aboleth could cure them of their insanity.” Now that she is aware of their intention in her City, there is no chance or opportunity for the PCs to take refuge or even step past the crumpled gates.
If a peaceful solution is never placed on the table by the PCs, the Keeper, the earth elementals, and her wards (the goblinoids) will return the favour and fight to the death. If the Keeper's life is spared and efforts are made to force her co-operation, she will abide and escort them into the sewers to meet with the aboleth.
Entering Undetected
The PCs may wish to avoid a direct confrontation at the main gate of the Lonely City and find a more secretive way inside. That shouldn't be a problem as the only protection offered by the city is its isolation in this harsh terrain. There are random patrols of various residents calling this place home, including cambion, various giants, drow, and githzerai, though not all of them are armed and dangerous. There is plenty of evidence indicating these creatures are attempting to live peaceful lives in gatherings of their own kind, surviving off the refuse of this city that once was their enemy's.
Into The Sewers
There are numerous entrances to the sewers that is now home to the aboleth, each of them sealed over with heavy iron grates designed to keep curious residents out at all costs. If the PCs were able to “convince” the Keeper to lead the way, she will take them to a particular opening used to gain access to the beast during her therapy sessions. As they pass through the city, the Keeper will explain the fragile nature of the aboleth and why their intrusion is so dangerous for both them and the creature itself.
“She has been torn from her home realm and placed somewhere where nothing makes sense and everyone tries to kill you on sight. When the King's wizards summoned her here, she was immediately sentenced to death for her blood and organs, hacked at by eager mindless servants like yourselves. She may have been able to fight them off, but at a great cost. She has suffered a serious wound and can no longer control her powers with great accuracy, nor can she comprehend reality from illusion. When you enter her home, do not be surprised you become mad yourselves by what you see.”
Once the PCs enter the sewers, the aboleth senses their arrival and lashes out in a furious roar of fear and anger, causing the very walls to shake and dislodge loose stones into the fetid waters at their feet. The walls begin to drip blood and echoing voices bewilder the PCs at every turn, sometimes calling out to them by name or re-enacting horrific crimes from their past. The deeper they travel, the more these sewers begin to transform into a slimy natural cavern featuring quivering sacks of unborn larvae and the screams of the aboleth's victims when the Lonely City fell. If the PCs entered these sewers with the Keeper, she does not seem to recognize these horrors because her mind is not being inundated with them – the aboleth knows to trust her. To a point.
As everyone reaches a large opening to a central canal under the main castle, the Keeper suddenly convulses with such intensity that her spine snaps and her lower body goes limp without collapsing. Appearing to hover in the air, the changeling is suddenly possessed by the aboleth's uncontrollable power with such ferocity that every unnatural movement causes bones to break and her jaw widens beyond ordinary means, yet the voice seeping from her mouth shrieks out the words of an anxious aboleth.
“NO HUMANS!! NO MORTALS!! WE WANT PEACE!!!!”
The aboleth then uses the Keeper's possessed body to hold back the PCs in an effort to block them from going any further. If the Keeper did not come with them, it will instead target the PC with the weakest Intelligence score and cause 1d10 damage whenever they attempt to fight off the mental invasion. Only by making a successful opposed Intelligence check against the aboleth can a possessed character hope to free themselves of the creature's grip. When the Keeper's hit points are reduced to 20 or less, she is suddenly sucked into a vortex, unnaturally contorting and squeezing her body through the imaginary pinhole until she is no longer standing before the PCs.
To reach the aboleth's lair, the PCs must pass through three random challenges. At the start of each challenge, roll 1d6 to determine the danger they face. Each challenge is an illusion created by the incredible panic of a seriously ill chaotic creature and can be disbelieved using the standard rules of whichever edition you play, but the difficulty is increased by 3. Any PC who has successfully disbelieve can use their turn to aid another in their attempt. Anyone who “dies” in these illusions remains out of action for the remainder of the adventure until the aboleth has been defeated.
1: A tidal wave of rancid sewer water and humanoid skulls rushes towards the PCs, threatening to wash them out of the City or drown them. Everyone must make successful Strength checks for three rounds before the tidal wave passes or else become caught up in its powerful force and forced further away from the aboleth's lair (2d6 damage per failed roll).
2: The PCs are attacked by illusionary undead created by the aboleth's fearful rage. Able to pass through the sewer walls with ease, they attempt to drag a PC through with them and bury them within the walls.
3: The PCs are suddenly unable to breathe, as if an unseen weight was pressed against their chest. Only by successfully disbelieving the illusion can they begin to breathe again.
4: The PCs enter a large submerged chamber and discover the rotting hulk of the aboleth... or so they think. This is another desperate attempt by the panicked aboleth to be left alone. Once disbelieved, the PCs realize they are standing in simply another narrow tunnel under the City.
5: The tunnels suddenly tilt 90° on its side, causing the PCs to feel as if they're falling away from their objective. Until this illusion is disbelieved, they must try to climb their way further and will take falling damage equal to the length of any tunnel whenever they fail.
6: A high-pitched mental shriek threatens to deafen the PCs, forcing them to make Constitution rolls to avoid a cumulative -2 penalty to all actions until the illusion is disbelieved.
The Aboleth Itself
After enduring the psychic torture and torment of the aboleth's panicked efforts to stop them in their tracks, they finally arrive at the final scene. Read the following aloud to the players.
Walls of mossy stone are no more, instead morphing into a bulbous and throbbing organic tissue that glows a deep red with every pulse. A deep pit of swirling sewer water stretches out to 50' in all directions with sticky tentacles of dried slime creating a concealing canopy within this dim locale. Other than the deep throbbing of the inner walls, there is no other sign of life until a lone figure rises from the water. It is the mangled and bloody form of the Keeper. She does not speak, only weeps uncontrollably and pleads with you for peace and isolation.
There are two choices for the PCs at this moment: sympathy or aggression. If they want to try and sympathize with the aboleth, perhaps even offer to put her out of her misery, their offer will be met with hesitant curiosity. If anyone breaks their word at any point and time, the aboleth will respond with aggression. In either case, it will rise from the swirling waters to reveals its true form.
The sickly form of this hulking creature floats to the surface of the pool and what you notice at first is the large gash on the side of its head, exposing the sinewy strands of its massive brain. Puss and a black viscous liquid continuously seep from the wound and into the water. It is now you can see the Keeper – secured to the aboleth's head as if she was grown from its very body – caresses and kisses the sore wound affectionately before looking back up at you with pleading eyes.
If the PCs simply decide to charge in and kill the creature outright, she will respond in kind and become panicked, gaining +2 to all attack rolls and defences until either her attackers are killed (in reality) or she is removed from this life. If the aboleth is struck by a critical hit, roll 1d6 and apply one of the random effects from the previous section.
When the fight is over, the symbiotic form of the Keeper detaches from the aboleth's body and shrivels into a sack of dried flesh. Any surviving PCs can take a sample of the aboleth's blood and return to Prince Yan with his hopeful cure. Whether or not it works is up to you...
END
Written by the Warden
The Ingredients
Introverted Aboleth: Decades ago, an aboleth was summoned by the royal wizards of the Faelien Court in an effort to rid their king of his madness. Whether it was due to arrogance or ignorance, the wizards assumed they could control the creature and harness its powers to cure King Jotar and it backfired horribly. During the fall of the Faelien Court, many brave adventurers entered the sewers to confront and eliminate the aboleth, but to no avail. The beast has, however, suffered many horrible wounds, including a severe gash to its brain, and now remains locked in isolation within the deepest levels of the Faelien sewers.
Fork in the Road: Despite its name to the outside world, there are many creatures calling this place home. Under the guidance of the Keeper (see the Changeling ingredient, below), they have reached a metaphorical point in their lives where they must decide if they will continue to be this world's monsters or turn over a new leaf and build a proper life for themselves and their families. Throughout the course of this adventure, it is a similar choice undertaken by the aboleth – to remain fearful and intimidated by the world away from its natural home or to confront its fears and challenge them directly in confrontation. One might also hope this is an awakening for the PCs and their understanding of the monsters of their world...
Lonely City: Before the arrival of the aboleth, the city of Faelien was a jewel of the northern coast and a beacon dividing the savage arctic wastelands from the civilized plains and valleys under King Jotar's rule. After that dark day when the people were driven from their homes by the aboleth's dominated minions and horrific visions, the city was abandoned and gained its new name, the Lonely City.
Point of No Return: King Jotar's son, Yan, has begun to show signs of his father's illness and is desperately seeking a solution before the insanity claims his mind. Without any proper understanding of this condition, Yan has ordered a new expedition into the Lonely City to claim some of the aboleth's blood and perform a ceremony to rid the confused prince of his inner demons.
Inspirational Sermon: When the PCs arrive in the Lonely City, they discover the Keeper (see the Changeling ingredient, below) preaching to the huddled masses who now call this place their home.
Changeling: Perhaps because she is a bit mad herself, the changeling known only as the Keeper has taken refuge within the Lonely City and seeks to offer shelter and dignity within these battered stone walls. Herself an outcast, the Keeper is the self-proclaimed protector of numerous creatures hindered by genocidal adventurers looking to kill solely based on their race or past deeds. She has spent many years trying to help the aboleth heal its wounds and regain its dignity... despite the possible consequences.
An Insane Offer
The PCs are approached by representatives of the Jotar family, now living in exile far from their original homeland. After the devastation in the Lonely City, King Jotar's insanity and the actions of his Court made them fugitives and so they have gone into hiding. While the King has long ago succumbed to his madness and ended his own life, his son, Yan, has begun to show signs of his father's illness and is desperate to rid his mind of the torturous visions and inane ramblings that wracked his father to his dying days. After initial discussions and negotiations, the PCs are taken to meet with the exiled prince in person.
As the prince meets with the adventurers, there are subtle nuances revealing the oncoming madness. At various times, Yan turns suddenly towards nearby windows that have been boarded up and continuously shushes people who are not present (at one point, it seems he is speaking to his deceased father). Regardless of the prince's current condition, the payment offered is real: a chest of jewels and family heirlooms salvaged from the Lonely City prior to the evacuation. If the PCs return with the aboleth's blood, the chest is theirs for the taking.
Maps, horses, and travelling supplies are provided upon request, but Prince Yan is insistent the PCs leave at dawn's first light.
The Keeper
The journey to the Lonely City is brief, yet harsh, for this landscape sits along the border with the arctic tundra and winter is fast approaching. It will take the PCs four days to reach the City by horse and there will be few encounters along the way.
As the PCs climb to the top of a crest overlooking the Lonely City, read the following out loud.
Past the jagged rocks marking the tip of this dangerous ascent, you can see a white spiral tower rising to greet weary travellers and designate this as the location of the Lonely City. Blasting snow has pelted the trio of towers marking the edges of the abandoned kingdom's once great domicile, their windows blown open long ago to create a wicked howl as the sharp winter winds whistle through these tiny openings and echo across the valley before you. A triangular wall that surrounded the regal sections of the city lay in ruins as something monstrous must have brought it crashing down, spewing its debris over and through the common homes once occupied by an unsuspecting people.
Past the howling cry of the snow-capped towers, the powerful boom of an orator's voice catches hold of the wind and finds its way to your ears. It is hard to tell what the words are saying, but there is no mistaking the clear connotations of someone charismatic giving a speech within the remains of what lies below.
If anyone attempts to spot the source of this speech from such a distance, the most they can make out is a gathering of humanoid creatures assembled around the crumbled gates of the City. When they complete their descent and get closer, they can see these creatures are a goblinoid tribe (goblins, hobgoblins, bugbear) standing around a lone speaker perched atop a large boulder that was once the main gate. The speaker looks like a female hobgoblin dressed in thick furs raising her spear in the air as she preaches to these refugees in their own tongue.
If anyone knows the goblin tongue and can get close enough to hear the speaker's words clearly, read the following out loud as a rough translation.
“You are only lost, my brothers and sisters, but are now found. The world has not turned its back on you, only those with pink skin who worship false kings and prophets. They have declared you their enemies and forced you to live within the crevasses of their lives, outcast and sentenced to a harsh death. There is no honour seeking out a life within their shadow, so we have claimed a home on the surface they dare not enter. The gods have made you struggle for a reason, brothers and sisters. To find this city and call it yours as we have called it ours. Find peace as your own people, not as the bastards of the pink skins who say their heart is as warm as the sun, for their actions are as cold as the snow on these mountains. All we ask is that you live in peace with your fellow brothers and sisters, no matter their breed or origins. Together, we will rise above the pink skins and make a home for ourselves!”
The goblinoid's attention is so fixated on her passionate speech that they will not notice any approaching intruders until they approach the back of the formation or interrupt the speech with any other action. When this happens, the goblinoids (there are approximately fifty of them) will turn and draw their weapons, eager to draw blood.
The speaker will seek to calm them down. If a fight should break out, she will race through the crowd and interject, suddenly assuming the form of the most common race within the party (or a human, if everyone is different) and plead with the PCs to lower their arms. She introduces herself as the Keeper, a changeling elementalist and guardian of the Lonely City. While she does not want bloodshed within these fallen walls, she cannot allow them passage inside, regardless of their reasons.
“You come from the southern lands of hospitality and respect. This is a place for the unwanted and the damned, therefore you in turn have no place here. Go back to your homes and tell them we seek only the isolation we deserve. If you do not, I cannot be held responsible for your fate.” As if on cue, the horde of goblinoids standing at her side raise their weapons to the ready and snarl their eager need to inflict generations of revenge against you and your comrades.
So long as the PCs demonstrate respect and compassion, the Keeper will return the favour and can offer them shelter from the elements within one of the remaining gatehouses, but they are not granted access any further than this point. If violence ensues, she will use her elemental mastery to summon two earth elementals from the rubble of the City's gates to crush these intruders.
If anyone enquires about the aboleth, the Keeper's answer is harsh and ominous. “She is not to be disturbed. Your kind has done more than enough harm and I will not allow anyone to shatter her fragile world, do you understand me?” If they mention Prince Yan's plight, she scoffs and cares even less for their mission now more than ever. “Your kind's ills are the result of your greed and avarice. It is penance for your actions and those of your ancestors, a lesson that invoking genocide brings consequences. And only someone inflicted with madness would believe an aboleth could cure them of their insanity.” Now that she is aware of their intention in her City, there is no chance or opportunity for the PCs to take refuge or even step past the crumpled gates.
If a peaceful solution is never placed on the table by the PCs, the Keeper, the earth elementals, and her wards (the goblinoids) will return the favour and fight to the death. If the Keeper's life is spared and efforts are made to force her co-operation, she will abide and escort them into the sewers to meet with the aboleth.
Entering Undetected
The PCs may wish to avoid a direct confrontation at the main gate of the Lonely City and find a more secretive way inside. That shouldn't be a problem as the only protection offered by the city is its isolation in this harsh terrain. There are random patrols of various residents calling this place home, including cambion, various giants, drow, and githzerai, though not all of them are armed and dangerous. There is plenty of evidence indicating these creatures are attempting to live peaceful lives in gatherings of their own kind, surviving off the refuse of this city that once was their enemy's.
Into The Sewers
There are numerous entrances to the sewers that is now home to the aboleth, each of them sealed over with heavy iron grates designed to keep curious residents out at all costs. If the PCs were able to “convince” the Keeper to lead the way, she will take them to a particular opening used to gain access to the beast during her therapy sessions. As they pass through the city, the Keeper will explain the fragile nature of the aboleth and why their intrusion is so dangerous for both them and the creature itself.
“She has been torn from her home realm and placed somewhere where nothing makes sense and everyone tries to kill you on sight. When the King's wizards summoned her here, she was immediately sentenced to death for her blood and organs, hacked at by eager mindless servants like yourselves. She may have been able to fight them off, but at a great cost. She has suffered a serious wound and can no longer control her powers with great accuracy, nor can she comprehend reality from illusion. When you enter her home, do not be surprised you become mad yourselves by what you see.”
Once the PCs enter the sewers, the aboleth senses their arrival and lashes out in a furious roar of fear and anger, causing the very walls to shake and dislodge loose stones into the fetid waters at their feet. The walls begin to drip blood and echoing voices bewilder the PCs at every turn, sometimes calling out to them by name or re-enacting horrific crimes from their past. The deeper they travel, the more these sewers begin to transform into a slimy natural cavern featuring quivering sacks of unborn larvae and the screams of the aboleth's victims when the Lonely City fell. If the PCs entered these sewers with the Keeper, she does not seem to recognize these horrors because her mind is not being inundated with them – the aboleth knows to trust her. To a point.
As everyone reaches a large opening to a central canal under the main castle, the Keeper suddenly convulses with such intensity that her spine snaps and her lower body goes limp without collapsing. Appearing to hover in the air, the changeling is suddenly possessed by the aboleth's uncontrollable power with such ferocity that every unnatural movement causes bones to break and her jaw widens beyond ordinary means, yet the voice seeping from her mouth shrieks out the words of an anxious aboleth.
“NO HUMANS!! NO MORTALS!! WE WANT PEACE!!!!”
The aboleth then uses the Keeper's possessed body to hold back the PCs in an effort to block them from going any further. If the Keeper did not come with them, it will instead target the PC with the weakest Intelligence score and cause 1d10 damage whenever they attempt to fight off the mental invasion. Only by making a successful opposed Intelligence check against the aboleth can a possessed character hope to free themselves of the creature's grip. When the Keeper's hit points are reduced to 20 or less, she is suddenly sucked into a vortex, unnaturally contorting and squeezing her body through the imaginary pinhole until she is no longer standing before the PCs.
To reach the aboleth's lair, the PCs must pass through three random challenges. At the start of each challenge, roll 1d6 to determine the danger they face. Each challenge is an illusion created by the incredible panic of a seriously ill chaotic creature and can be disbelieved using the standard rules of whichever edition you play, but the difficulty is increased by 3. Any PC who has successfully disbelieve can use their turn to aid another in their attempt. Anyone who “dies” in these illusions remains out of action for the remainder of the adventure until the aboleth has been defeated.
1: A tidal wave of rancid sewer water and humanoid skulls rushes towards the PCs, threatening to wash them out of the City or drown them. Everyone must make successful Strength checks for three rounds before the tidal wave passes or else become caught up in its powerful force and forced further away from the aboleth's lair (2d6 damage per failed roll).
2: The PCs are attacked by illusionary undead created by the aboleth's fearful rage. Able to pass through the sewer walls with ease, they attempt to drag a PC through with them and bury them within the walls.
3: The PCs are suddenly unable to breathe, as if an unseen weight was pressed against their chest. Only by successfully disbelieving the illusion can they begin to breathe again.
4: The PCs enter a large submerged chamber and discover the rotting hulk of the aboleth... or so they think. This is another desperate attempt by the panicked aboleth to be left alone. Once disbelieved, the PCs realize they are standing in simply another narrow tunnel under the City.
5: The tunnels suddenly tilt 90° on its side, causing the PCs to feel as if they're falling away from their objective. Until this illusion is disbelieved, they must try to climb their way further and will take falling damage equal to the length of any tunnel whenever they fail.
6: A high-pitched mental shriek threatens to deafen the PCs, forcing them to make Constitution rolls to avoid a cumulative -2 penalty to all actions until the illusion is disbelieved.
The Aboleth Itself
After enduring the psychic torture and torment of the aboleth's panicked efforts to stop them in their tracks, they finally arrive at the final scene. Read the following aloud to the players.
Walls of mossy stone are no more, instead morphing into a bulbous and throbbing organic tissue that glows a deep red with every pulse. A deep pit of swirling sewer water stretches out to 50' in all directions with sticky tentacles of dried slime creating a concealing canopy within this dim locale. Other than the deep throbbing of the inner walls, there is no other sign of life until a lone figure rises from the water. It is the mangled and bloody form of the Keeper. She does not speak, only weeps uncontrollably and pleads with you for peace and isolation.
There are two choices for the PCs at this moment: sympathy or aggression. If they want to try and sympathize with the aboleth, perhaps even offer to put her out of her misery, their offer will be met with hesitant curiosity. If anyone breaks their word at any point and time, the aboleth will respond with aggression. In either case, it will rise from the swirling waters to reveals its true form.
The sickly form of this hulking creature floats to the surface of the pool and what you notice at first is the large gash on the side of its head, exposing the sinewy strands of its massive brain. Puss and a black viscous liquid continuously seep from the wound and into the water. It is now you can see the Keeper – secured to the aboleth's head as if she was grown from its very body – caresses and kisses the sore wound affectionately before looking back up at you with pleading eyes.
If the PCs simply decide to charge in and kill the creature outright, she will respond in kind and become panicked, gaining +2 to all attack rolls and defences until either her attackers are killed (in reality) or she is removed from this life. If the aboleth is struck by a critical hit, roll 1d6 and apply one of the random effects from the previous section.
When the fight is over, the symbiotic form of the Keeper detaches from the aboleth's body and shrivels into a sack of dried flesh. Any surviving PCs can take a sample of the aboleth's blood and return to Prince Yan with his hopeful cure. Whether or not it works is up to you...
END
MortalPlague
Adventurer
The elements were handed out towards the end of one of my gaming sessions with my regular group. I loaded up the page on my phone after the session, and found six excellent ingredients staring back at me. They were marvellous, delicious ingredients that could all play very nicely together. With one of my gaming buddies, I went home and we threw ideas around.
He suggested the idea that the Wealth of Information was a set of books. I jumped on the idea, immediately deciding that Hearsay and Heresy would be two of those books. We spun the story of the god of knowledge who created the books in his monastery, and went through the 'fall of civilization' back story. I knew from the start that I wanted the books to be magical, nearly artifacts, though with a very limited scope. In my rough hashing-out of ideas, the bridge was going to be an encounter in the Hallowed Library... I was thinking a Last Crusade-style bridge of faith. But I wasn't happy with that. The poison pill was going to be a literal pill with a god-slaying poison, which the villain would carry to feed to the god.
Hearsay developed over a few passes. Initially, the book would have read the minds of people around it, snagging random surface thoughts. But then I came upon the idea that it could provide background elements by stealing snippets of conversation from the past. The idea that they could also hear the orders of the man they were chasing really appealed to me, as did the fact that Hearsay has no filter. It doesn't know what's important or not, so it just samples random snippets. The potential for a DM to throw random amusing lines from completely hapless NPCs was too much fun to pass up.
Towards the end of that night, I realized that the bridge was really just a plug-in element, and I wanted to give it some more thought. I was still bouncing ideas off my buddy, and I was talking about some elements are really flexible and others are more nebulous. The decrepit bridge, I told him, could only be one thing. And then the idea hit me. It could be a starship bridge.
I ran a mental check through all the elements. I briefly considered switching the whole adventure to sci-fi. I noted the irony that I've never actually run or played Expedition To The Barrier Peaks. Then I decided to run with it. I figured that this sort of competition is the one to take risks in, and a fallen AI posing as a god was a nice final reveal for the adventure. It actually served as a third form of heresy, and it made Salander a crusader, not a villain. It offered the adventure a choice at the end, whether the PCs sided against Asceon or against Salander. It did, however, weaken the poison pill element (turning it to a jar of lightning).
The next day, I typed it all up, smoothing out bumps as I went along. I tried to throw player choice into a few places, since the adventure was a little linear (the choice whether to fight or sneak through the city, for instance). I found a few plot holes that I had to patch up. I went back and forth on the amount of back story to include. And then I submitted that huge block of text.
Last Notes:
- The footnote about Further Adventures was put in so it didn't look like I had forgotten about Harmony and History. Also, the entry didn't feel complete without at least a brief look at the other books and their powers.
- I must have changed the villain's name six times before I settled on Salander.
- I named Asceon in a split second as I was typing, and it was the Right Name (tm). I felt very good about that name.
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