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Tolamaker's Burning Sky
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<blockquote data-quote="Tolamaker" data-source="post: 9261078" data-attributes="member: 7031495"><p><strong>Session 76, 77, 78: Mirrors of the Soul</strong></p><p></p><p>Okay! A Winter break, some personal issues, a forgetful mind, and I'm back two months later to continue the tale of the Stormbreakers!</p><p></p><p>The party is careful as they cross the bridge to the manor, and are able to keep on their toes as Rhuarc's shadow jumps out and slices the bridge clear. With magic and some tenacity, they scramble into the house as Rhuarc fires deadly bolts down on them. Inside the house, they fight through Tragedies, a few summoned demons, and finally defeat Rhuarc when they are able to trap him in a force cage, where he fails three times in a row to teleport out, and they manage to finish him off as they all prepare to dispatch him. As he falls, a color seems to leave his face, and one of the dull gems in his scimitar begins to glow. When Corban picks up the weapon (against Eluriah's wishes), and feels a dark but welcoming presence settle about him. When the presence offers its protection, he accepts. In the top floor of the house, the party finds the damaged Torch of the Burning Sky. After talking it through, they decide that they will at least bring it back to Seaquen, though they will be careful with who they share the information with considering the spies they've found in their midst.</p><p></p><p>After resting, they make their way to the temple, where they are admitted to a hallway with a mirror. There, they are greeted by the ghost of the monk once again, who explains that they will face three trials, and that a being only known as 41 has taken over the temple. He explains that the purpose of the temple was to reshape one's soul into the desired shape, and that it can restore the Torch as well. As they talk, a second set of footsteps arrive behind them, and the see a motley crew of Shalosha, Katrina, and some Ragesians. Shalosha is happy to see them, and willingly says they are here for the torch, though she doesn't know that they have it. When one of the Ragesians attempts to attack them, his blade is repelled, and the ghost explains that it is not time yet. The mirror shimmers, and they are beckoned through. Shalosha says she will speak to the others about a peaceful negotiation before they enter.</p><p></p><p>As they pass through, the other party disappears, and the Stormbreakers make their way into a series of meditation rooms, where each of them goes to the room that speaks to them most, gaining a number of gifts in return. The next hallway features a bell that hurts them when they speak or make noise, and they quickly make their way through the next set of mirrors. Here they are separated into two rooms that overlap in a ghostly manner. In one, There is an angel, and the other a monstrosity. The angel seems surprised to be there, and realizes that each of them has a piece of amber that contains their soul in it. Aripos, seeing an amber-shaped hole in the wall, immediately runs forward, plugs his amber into it, and falls over dead.</p><p></p><p>While ELuriah and COrban attempt to revive him, Mishka and Niel battle with the mostrosity, which sends shattering wails to harangue them, but they are able to defeat it. In the next room, they find a bare set of walls, and talk about what they must do with Aripos. Soon after, the other party also comes through, with a Soleis Palancis carrying the body of Shalosha, who apparently made the same sacrifice as Aripos. As the two parties assess each other, the Torch appears in the middle of the room, spirited out of their bag of holding. With the peace-talker dead, the Ragesians seize the chance to attack.</p><p></p><p>The spellcasters in the opposing party take control, countering spells and trying to corral the Stormbreakers into AoE spells. However, they didn't read the campaign guide, and weren't prepared for all living creatures to be resistant or immune to fire, and the Stormbreakers are soon able to turn the tide. The final nail in the coffin is when Eluriah is cornered by an Inquisitor atop a polar bear, Aripos stirs, and finds that he is able to cast a major healing spell. The party mops up the rest of the enemies, and tries to figure out what is going on with the Torch. Avision showed how it was created, but before they cant attempt to connect the soul gem with the Torch, 41 comes forth and attacks them, thanking them for providing the soul energies to repower the artifact. In the small space, he puts up a wall of force that leaves him alone to pick off the party one by one. Will he succeed, or will the Stormbreakers defeat yet another foe?</p><p></p><p><strong>Post-Session Thoughts</strong></p><p>This was three sessions, so I have several thoughts and reflections. I misread several things across these sessions, including the force cage traps in the Rhuarc fight, and the puzzle of the first trial. Neither was catastrophic, but definitely lead to some odd moments in the respective sessions.</p><p></p><p>The temple lead to a lot of great moments through the visions of the past provided. I pretty much rolled a die to see who would get what vision, and because I had told the players to think about their backstories ahead of the temple, I was able to give them a prompt and they would describe the vision. I would then end it with some sort of corruption, as 41 has twisted the temple to his ends. The players also really liked the meditation chambers, which I pretty much just improvised strange little vignettes for their chosen items and rewards.</p><p></p><p>By pure luck, right as I described Aripos dying, my power went out, and I had to end the session early as I couldn't get back into the game due to a storm. I made sure to chat with the player to explain what was going on, but left the other players in the dark, so they were left biting their nails for two weeks, as Aripos' player couldn't play the next session. When they came back (claiming to have a new character ready), Aripos sprang back to life, and it was a great moment.</p><p></p><p><strong>Changes to the Adventure</strong></p><p>I decided to have Shalosha be dead because it made sense thematically, but also because I felt like having her there would make the battle royale too easy. As it was, Katrina was very shaken, and Corban has all but convinced her to come back to Seaquen, which I'm glad of, because I felt like I didn't do an amazing job of making her sympathetic. Still, the fight went very well, and I was glad that the bonus Heal spell was necessary. It definitely made it feel more earned.</p><p></p><p>I added the corruptions to the visions (loved one reveals disdain, a defeated foe appears to have succeeded) because the ghost monk warned that 41 would try to corrupt them, but there wasn't any real sign of that in the visions as written. This did lead to a few moments where the players thought it was a puzzle where they had to figure out what was changed.</p><p></p><p>Next session, I hope to finish the module!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tolamaker, post: 9261078, member: 7031495"] [B]Session 76, 77, 78: Mirrors of the Soul[/B] Okay! A Winter break, some personal issues, a forgetful mind, and I'm back two months later to continue the tale of the Stormbreakers! The party is careful as they cross the bridge to the manor, and are able to keep on their toes as Rhuarc's shadow jumps out and slices the bridge clear. With magic and some tenacity, they scramble into the house as Rhuarc fires deadly bolts down on them. Inside the house, they fight through Tragedies, a few summoned demons, and finally defeat Rhuarc when they are able to trap him in a force cage, where he fails three times in a row to teleport out, and they manage to finish him off as they all prepare to dispatch him. As he falls, a color seems to leave his face, and one of the dull gems in his scimitar begins to glow. When Corban picks up the weapon (against Eluriah's wishes), and feels a dark but welcoming presence settle about him. When the presence offers its protection, he accepts. In the top floor of the house, the party finds the damaged Torch of the Burning Sky. After talking it through, they decide that they will at least bring it back to Seaquen, though they will be careful with who they share the information with considering the spies they've found in their midst. After resting, they make their way to the temple, where they are admitted to a hallway with a mirror. There, they are greeted by the ghost of the monk once again, who explains that they will face three trials, and that a being only known as 41 has taken over the temple. He explains that the purpose of the temple was to reshape one's soul into the desired shape, and that it can restore the Torch as well. As they talk, a second set of footsteps arrive behind them, and the see a motley crew of Shalosha, Katrina, and some Ragesians. Shalosha is happy to see them, and willingly says they are here for the torch, though she doesn't know that they have it. When one of the Ragesians attempts to attack them, his blade is repelled, and the ghost explains that it is not time yet. The mirror shimmers, and they are beckoned through. Shalosha says she will speak to the others about a peaceful negotiation before they enter. As they pass through, the other party disappears, and the Stormbreakers make their way into a series of meditation rooms, where each of them goes to the room that speaks to them most, gaining a number of gifts in return. The next hallway features a bell that hurts them when they speak or make noise, and they quickly make their way through the next set of mirrors. Here they are separated into two rooms that overlap in a ghostly manner. In one, There is an angel, and the other a monstrosity. The angel seems surprised to be there, and realizes that each of them has a piece of amber that contains their soul in it. Aripos, seeing an amber-shaped hole in the wall, immediately runs forward, plugs his amber into it, and falls over dead. While ELuriah and COrban attempt to revive him, Mishka and Niel battle with the mostrosity, which sends shattering wails to harangue them, but they are able to defeat it. In the next room, they find a bare set of walls, and talk about what they must do with Aripos. Soon after, the other party also comes through, with a Soleis Palancis carrying the body of Shalosha, who apparently made the same sacrifice as Aripos. As the two parties assess each other, the Torch appears in the middle of the room, spirited out of their bag of holding. With the peace-talker dead, the Ragesians seize the chance to attack. The spellcasters in the opposing party take control, countering spells and trying to corral the Stormbreakers into AoE spells. However, they didn't read the campaign guide, and weren't prepared for all living creatures to be resistant or immune to fire, and the Stormbreakers are soon able to turn the tide. The final nail in the coffin is when Eluriah is cornered by an Inquisitor atop a polar bear, Aripos stirs, and finds that he is able to cast a major healing spell. The party mops up the rest of the enemies, and tries to figure out what is going on with the Torch. Avision showed how it was created, but before they cant attempt to connect the soul gem with the Torch, 41 comes forth and attacks them, thanking them for providing the soul energies to repower the artifact. In the small space, he puts up a wall of force that leaves him alone to pick off the party one by one. Will he succeed, or will the Stormbreakers defeat yet another foe? [B]Post-Session Thoughts[/B] This was three sessions, so I have several thoughts and reflections. I misread several things across these sessions, including the force cage traps in the Rhuarc fight, and the puzzle of the first trial. Neither was catastrophic, but definitely lead to some odd moments in the respective sessions. The temple lead to a lot of great moments through the visions of the past provided. I pretty much rolled a die to see who would get what vision, and because I had told the players to think about their backstories ahead of the temple, I was able to give them a prompt and they would describe the vision. I would then end it with some sort of corruption, as 41 has twisted the temple to his ends. The players also really liked the meditation chambers, which I pretty much just improvised strange little vignettes for their chosen items and rewards. By pure luck, right as I described Aripos dying, my power went out, and I had to end the session early as I couldn't get back into the game due to a storm. I made sure to chat with the player to explain what was going on, but left the other players in the dark, so they were left biting their nails for two weeks, as Aripos' player couldn't play the next session. When they came back (claiming to have a new character ready), Aripos sprang back to life, and it was a great moment. [B]Changes to the Adventure[/B] I decided to have Shalosha be dead because it made sense thematically, but also because I felt like having her there would make the battle royale too easy. As it was, Katrina was very shaken, and Corban has all but convinced her to come back to Seaquen, which I'm glad of, because I felt like I didn't do an amazing job of making her sympathetic. Still, the fight went very well, and I was glad that the bonus Heal spell was necessary. It definitely made it feel more earned. I added the corruptions to the visions (loved one reveals disdain, a defeated foe appears to have succeeded) because the ghost monk warned that 41 would try to corrupt them, but there wasn't any real sign of that in the visions as written. This did lead to a few moments where the players thought it was a puzzle where they had to figure out what was changed. Next session, I hope to finish the module! [/QUOTE]
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