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<blockquote data-quote="Tolamaker" data-source="post: 8448566" data-attributes="member: 7031495"><p><strong>Session 8</strong></p><p>The party rests in the tower. During that time, Eluriah reads through the journal of the cleric, named Bhurisrava, and learns that he was a cleric of Talasius who lived in Innenotdar (formerly Otdarel) as the flames began. He writes of struggles with faith, and of keeping those who succumb to the flames alive. The party decides to investigate the Shrine of Anyariel he had written of, and go to the center of town. Just as they are investigating the tree for a secret entrance, a pair of ghasts fall down and attack them, nearly eviscerating Aripos. The party deals with them, and are trying to figure out how to enter the tree again, when Aripos climbs the tree and finds a nest of young ghasts. Torrent is freaked out by undead children yearning for flesh, and casts Turn Undead, turning two of them, and opening the door to the shrine. Aripos finds a red cord in the ghast's nest after the fight.</p><p></p><p>The party enters the shrine, which has a soft green glow about it. Inside the shrine, they find two bodies at the foot of a statue of Anyariel, the elven hero of Otdarel. One body is dead, with claw marks on its body. The other is "alive" with the flames of Innenotdar wreathing it. As the party tries to figure out what is worth looting, Mishka rearranges the body of the priest, and asks for his guidance as they try to save Innenotdar. The light in the room pulses, and an angel of Meditrina emerges, with two snakes for a head. The angel informs them that though Bhurisrava was a cleric of Talasius, the healing work he did in the final days won him sainthood with Meditrina, who sent the angel as a guardian of his resting place. The angel heals the party, and the burning body, and it wakes up. The body is Diashan, a Shahalesti warrior who has been down here since the fire started.</p><p></p><p>Leaving the shrine, Diashan collapses at the sight of the burning forest, but picks herself up. The party begins making their way down the river to the source of the unending fire. As they walk, Orwin feeds Aripos an experimental elixir that lets him grow gills. He begins swimming in the river, and finds a necklace with an inscription he can't read. Mishka asks Diashel if she speaks Goblin (to help them find out what is in the seed bag), and Diashan quickly denies that she speaks Goblin. Mishka isn't sure if she believes her.</p><p></p><p>Gruz is keeping watch, and hears a <em>whumph</em> of fire as a creature teleports nearby. Seeing that they are found out, whoever it is teleports away. Soon, two imps appear, asking if they will speak with their master. When the party is unwilling to cooperate, a <em>whumph </em>of fire appears by the imps, and a grandiose devil announces himself as Kazyk, and offers an alliance.</p><p></p><p><strong>Post Session Thoughts</strong></p><p>I had mixed feelings about how this one went. The only two ways into the shrine are a Strength check or Turn undead, and there's really no clue to make it a puzzle. I 100% added the ghast children just to justify Torrent Turning Undead, when it's going into the shrine isn't mandatory, and it felt cheap. Especially because a player suddenly came up with an answer that seemed completely plausible answer after the door had opened (putting an offering of water in the bowl at the shrine). If I had waited ten seconds before calling for initiative, I would have let a player have a cool moment. One of my biggest struggles as a DM is just letting the players figure something out on their own. I often get caught up in figuring out how to lead them to the answer, which is both patronizing and unfun. My favorite memories of play are often when the players figure something out on their own, or go wildly in the wrong direction. You'd think I'd have learned to let the reins loose by now.</p><p></p><p>On the other hand, the interactions with the angel and Diashan were great, and I really enjoyed the player's theories on what's going on in Innenotdar. A lot of comments about Old Coaltongue's affinity for fire. I also gave them a bit of lore about the Torch, which just further convinced them of Ragesia's complicity in the unending flames. Bwahaha.</p><p></p><p><strong>Changes to the Module:</strong></p><p>I added the ghast children on a whim, but that was because the book says the ghast couple were an actual couple who became ghasts becasue they ate children. I figured why not add to the horror and have the children half eaten, and turned ghastly? Gross stuff.</p><p></p><p>The angel had two snakes for a head, because Meditrina's symbol is basically the caduceus. Not really a change, but it was fun to showcase a nonstandard angel.</p><p></p><p>I'm never good at implying to the players that they should spend time searching in specific areas, so instead, whenever one searched for stuff, if they met the DC, I just rolled a d4 to see which item they found.</p><p></p><p>Diashan became a woman, and didn't confess. After I basically forced them into the shrine, I decided to make puzzling out the source of the fire a bit less straightforward. I almost thought I overcorrected, but then Mishka's player asked Diashan if she knew what the dream seed bag said. <em><em>chef kiss</em> </em>The seeds of distrust are sown.</p><p></p><p>Overall, a good session, I just need to take a step back. Time to bargain with a devil next week.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tolamaker, post: 8448566, member: 7031495"] [B]Session 8[/B] The party rests in the tower. During that time, Eluriah reads through the journal of the cleric, named Bhurisrava, and learns that he was a cleric of Talasius who lived in Innenotdar (formerly Otdarel) as the flames began. He writes of struggles with faith, and of keeping those who succumb to the flames alive. The party decides to investigate the Shrine of Anyariel he had written of, and go to the center of town. Just as they are investigating the tree for a secret entrance, a pair of ghasts fall down and attack them, nearly eviscerating Aripos. The party deals with them, and are trying to figure out how to enter the tree again, when Aripos climbs the tree and finds a nest of young ghasts. Torrent is freaked out by undead children yearning for flesh, and casts Turn Undead, turning two of them, and opening the door to the shrine. Aripos finds a red cord in the ghast's nest after the fight. The party enters the shrine, which has a soft green glow about it. Inside the shrine, they find two bodies at the foot of a statue of Anyariel, the elven hero of Otdarel. One body is dead, with claw marks on its body. The other is "alive" with the flames of Innenotdar wreathing it. As the party tries to figure out what is worth looting, Mishka rearranges the body of the priest, and asks for his guidance as they try to save Innenotdar. The light in the room pulses, and an angel of Meditrina emerges, with two snakes for a head. The angel informs them that though Bhurisrava was a cleric of Talasius, the healing work he did in the final days won him sainthood with Meditrina, who sent the angel as a guardian of his resting place. The angel heals the party, and the burning body, and it wakes up. The body is Diashan, a Shahalesti warrior who has been down here since the fire started. Leaving the shrine, Diashan collapses at the sight of the burning forest, but picks herself up. The party begins making their way down the river to the source of the unending fire. As they walk, Orwin feeds Aripos an experimental elixir that lets him grow gills. He begins swimming in the river, and finds a necklace with an inscription he can't read. Mishka asks Diashel if she speaks Goblin (to help them find out what is in the seed bag), and Diashan quickly denies that she speaks Goblin. Mishka isn't sure if she believes her. Gruz is keeping watch, and hears a [I]whumph[/I] of fire as a creature teleports nearby. Seeing that they are found out, whoever it is teleports away. Soon, two imps appear, asking if they will speak with their master. When the party is unwilling to cooperate, a [I]whumph [/I]of fire appears by the imps, and a grandiose devil announces himself as Kazyk, and offers an alliance. [B]Post Session Thoughts[/B] I had mixed feelings about how this one went. The only two ways into the shrine are a Strength check or Turn undead, and there's really no clue to make it a puzzle. I 100% added the ghast children just to justify Torrent Turning Undead, when it's going into the shrine isn't mandatory, and it felt cheap. Especially because a player suddenly came up with an answer that seemed completely plausible answer after the door had opened (putting an offering of water in the bowl at the shrine). If I had waited ten seconds before calling for initiative, I would have let a player have a cool moment. One of my biggest struggles as a DM is just letting the players figure something out on their own. I often get caught up in figuring out how to lead them to the answer, which is both patronizing and unfun. My favorite memories of play are often when the players figure something out on their own, or go wildly in the wrong direction. You'd think I'd have learned to let the reins loose by now. On the other hand, the interactions with the angel and Diashan were great, and I really enjoyed the player's theories on what's going on in Innenotdar. A lot of comments about Old Coaltongue's affinity for fire. I also gave them a bit of lore about the Torch, which just further convinced them of Ragesia's complicity in the unending flames. Bwahaha. [B]Changes to the Module:[/B] I added the ghast children on a whim, but that was because the book says the ghast couple were an actual couple who became ghasts becasue they ate children. I figured why not add to the horror and have the children half eaten, and turned ghastly? Gross stuff. The angel had two snakes for a head, because Meditrina's symbol is basically the caduceus. Not really a change, but it was fun to showcase a nonstandard angel. I'm never good at implying to the players that they should spend time searching in specific areas, so instead, whenever one searched for stuff, if they met the DC, I just rolled a d4 to see which item they found. Diashan became a woman, and didn't confess. After I basically forced them into the shrine, I decided to make puzzling out the source of the fire a bit less straightforward. I almost thought I overcorrected, but then Mishka's player asked Diashan if she knew what the dream seed bag said. [I][I]chef kiss[/I] [/I]The seeds of distrust are sown. Overall, a good session, I just need to take a step back. Time to bargain with a devil next week. [/QUOTE]
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