WotBS Phorros Irrendra - How do they know to go to the Temple?

[Joseph Griffen]

The ending of the battle with Rhuarc feels like it'll leave the characters a little disappointed and confused. They finally find the torch and... it's broken. Speak with the dead puts Rhuarc under no compulsion to answer truthfully, so why would he tell them they need to go to the temple? If one of them bonds to the scimitar I guess that makes sense, but if they decide not to or don't think to talk with Rhuarc's soul it seems like they'd be at a complete loss as to what to do. Asking Seaquen feels weird and anticlimactic (why would they all of a sudden know that the temple is where they need to go). Even if they learn the soul was destroyed, why would they be able to fix at the temple? Divination might make sense, but I'm not sure my party would even think to do that and if they do, revealing "take the torch to this temple, defeat the master, and then you can fix it" seems a little weird. Luckily my party wants to go to the Temple anyway (they think it's where the Trillith are being created because of weird misinterpretations having to do with the number 8).

I might have the Torch act a little like the One Ring, calling out for the party to repair it. I'm wondering if anyone else has gone through this and if they have any ideas.

Side note: The party fell into the forge last session. They're now running very low on spells and hit points and are trying to long rest. Should I allow them to long rest? How would Rhuarc react if they cast Tiny Hut in the middle of the forest for example or tried to retreat to the caves they came in from? I'm worried if they continue chasing Rhuarc they'll all die, but it feels weird to have Rhuarc just let them long rest. They're so close to the Torch and it feels like this should be really difficult for them, but I don't want them to fail entirely.

 

[emeraldbeacon]

Regarding the long rest... Rhuarc is basically powerless against magical shielding, and has only one viable way to affect the party, should they decide to use the Tiny Hut: summoning a Tragedy, which could conceivably phase into the ground then up underneath the dome, depending on how you adjudicate the spell (is it protected from beneath or not). Assuming you don't pull the entirely (and literally) underhanded move of attacking the party while they sleep with a creature that can bypass a spell's one potential weakness, Rhuarc would probably write off that attempt as fruitless, and retreat to heal himself, thus kicking off another round of cat-and-mouse the next day.

Heck... you might even have Rhuarc taunt the party from outside the dome, by setting some crude but effective traps. Even just stacking heavy rocks on top presents a potential problem for the team... they need to be ready to bolt as soon as the hut drops!

Regarding the Temple of Echoed Souls... presumably, they've already learned about the temple from prior contacts in Seaquen, or have an escort that might possess useful information (like Shalosha or Fayne Rawnbeck), who would have knowledge of the old temple, and could direct the heroes there if they express a need to repair the torch.

Rhuarc's sword may hold another clue. Shaalguenyaver is a sentient tool for extracting souls, whom would readily explain as much to any hero who holds it. Knowing that the torch once held the fragment of dragonsoul, but is now inert, and knowing that the "Temple of of Echoed Souls" exists on the borders of Ycengled Phurrst, may lead the party in that direction.

Further, I believe that one of the gems from Shaalguenyaver already exists in the temple, on the floor of the Trial of the Bell. That may well have been the gem that once contained that fragment of dragonsoul, stolen from the torch by Rhuarc, and subsequently destroyed. The torch, though effectively inert, might yet have some pull to the dying whispers of its old power, and as your previous idea implied, would give any PC holding it a general yearning to go in a certain direction.

Lastly, if any of your party members have a connection to the Trillith, there may be an innate sense that the torch once held a piece of their mother... and feel an echo of that same piece at the Temple. Said trillith could pull the party in that direction, forcing the players to decide whether or not to trust the impluse.

 

[spinmd]

I am DMing WOTBS as well and we are also in Phorrus Irrenda. The party wanted a long rest as well after the first brief encounter with Rhuarc and I decided that Rhuarc would try to spoil the first long rest they attempted. For a tiny hut, it is susceptible to dispel magic so I would rule that Rhuarc could use a shatterspell arrow on it and the tiny hut would be dispelled on a roll of 13.

In my game, I have augmented a lot of the enemies and encounters as my party likes to be challenged and are all heavy optimizers. They used the Magnificent Mansion to attempt a long rest. Rhuarc tracked them to where they cast the spell, and as I added Truesight to him, he could see the invisible closed entrance. It took 6 shatterspell arrows to finally roll high enough to dispel the mansion and then Rhuarc laid into them as best he could. He had to retreat after 2 rounds, but that encounter certainly made them want to catch him. We have completed three Rhuarc skirmishes so far and when we play this month, there will be the battle at the High House, which will probably be Rhuarc's last stand. I have been trying to get as much mileage out of the bonus action hide / dim light invisible combo, but 2 of the melee heroes have blindsight so it only helps a bit.

For the Temple, the party worked well with Three Weeping Ravens (episode 5) so they know some information about the Temple's history. If they seem stumped as to what to do once they get the Torch, I will probably have one of the smarter heroes "recall" some conversations with Three Weeping Ravens that will be a hint to help them get on the right track.

 

[Bill T.]

Interesting -- my (3.5) campaign is currently in Phorros Irrendra as well, but the heroes got there after visiting the temple. It was never clear to me why the heroes would be looking to go to Phorros Irrendra in the first place. The clues were pretty vague, so my players went to the temple first. Personally, I think that's a much more straightforward adventure, logically. When the heroes went through the final rooms in the temple, they saw a scene where they heard Fayne (who they'd never met), say, in a Taranesti accent (which I modeled on an Appalachian accent), "them's offendin' the spirits."

That doesn't help you at this point, so I'll chime in with spinmd and further suggest that Three Weeping Ravens could actually come join the party and accompany them to the temple. My party has had him along since the trip to the Monastery of the Two Winds, and now they're thrilled to let the monks know that their temple is free of 41 -- which, as I work my way through it, might explain why Three Weeping Ravens comes to join the heroes. Oh, looky, a soul gem sitting on the floor, how convenient!

Edit: spelig