ZEITGEIST [ZEITGEIST] The Continuing Adventures of Korrigan & Co.
- Thread starter gideonpepys
- Start date
gideonpepys
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
I need to steal that line.
I can't take credit for it. There's a list of prejudices in the text of the adventure - one for each of the major races of Ber.
SanjMerchant
Explorer
I must've missed that one. I may have WTF'd over the "giants r gay" entry.
Sent from my SM-G900V using EN World mobile app
gideonpepys
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
Session 7 (130) - Day Two
End of Day One
• Suddenly short of funds, they altered the order of their requests from Stover Delft and asked if he could send additional materials (to save them being ordered from Reo Pedrosco and sent by train). Xambria had worked out that without the cash, they could build 2 miles of track every second day. With 25 thousand more, they could manage 2 miles a day thanks to the steam crew.
• They also decided to send the RNS Impossible to the East Coast of Ber anticipating that the action might shift back there later.
Day Two
• Before he and Conquo set off for the railhead, Uru was confronted by angry engineers. He had damaged their train by taking it up to crazy speeds. So he fixed it. They were suitably impressed.
• A sending from Stover Delft made it clear that he wasn’t a rail engineer and had no idea what ‘1 materiel’ looked like. They could have the money if it was cleared by Slate HQ.
• Korrigan was summoned back to Risur to talk with King Aodhan himself. He took the opportunity to visit Duchess Ethelyn of Shale who had languished under house arrest since her coup attempt four years ago. (He hoped she would provide a direct route to parley with Beshela.) He would also go to Flint and arrange a concert in Seobriga with Rock Rackus.
• Leon and Gupta, with Melissa Amerie in tow, spent the day in the town around the fortress, finding out all they could about the Dragon Worm infestation. They confirmed Leon’s suspicion that it must have spread from the caldera when it was drained to access the dragon hoard. They also learned that the goblins who once inhabited the caldera now appeared to be free from the worm infestation.
• At the railhead, the Steam Crew was set to work and doubled the rate of progress. Uru boarded the train heading back to Reo Pedrosco, with the intention of guarding as many cargo trains as he could.
• Leon and Gupta dined on the terrace again, and were joined by Lya Jierre. She made a sideways reference to Leon throwing off his geas, then asked Gupta if she knew who she was dining with. Gupta blithely asked, “General Dax?” Lya accused Leon if he even remembered what cause he had betrayed, then reminded herself that, “Oh no, of course, you weren’t high-ranking enough to be trusted with that information, were you?” Leon pointed out that you don’t normally have to put a geas on people you trust. Before she left them, Lya again tried to convince them to let her rescue Tinker for the good of everyone. They refused.
• Later in the evening Alonsa Frolian put her dire bear through its paces against a summoned Hoard Monster, for the entertainment of Cavallo and his guests. Leon noticed that she was augmenting her pet with subtle magic and that, while she did so, Cavallo sat slumped in his chair, visibly weakened. He kept an eye on this, and realised when the bout was over that Alonsa was boosting the old orc the entire time. Gupta talked to Alonsa about Corta Nariz de Guerra, and learned that she was very capable and level-headed, but was so involved in her job managing the fleet that she had no time to spare for politics. To test the waters, she gently disparaged Cavallo, but Alonsa defended him to the hilt.
End of Day One
• Suddenly short of funds, they altered the order of their requests from Stover Delft and asked if he could send additional materials (to save them being ordered from Reo Pedrosco and sent by train). Xambria had worked out that without the cash, they could build 2 miles of track every second day. With 25 thousand more, they could manage 2 miles a day thanks to the steam crew.
• They also decided to send the RNS Impossible to the East Coast of Ber anticipating that the action might shift back there later.
Day Two
• Before he and Conquo set off for the railhead, Uru was confronted by angry engineers. He had damaged their train by taking it up to crazy speeds. So he fixed it. They were suitably impressed.
• A sending from Stover Delft made it clear that he wasn’t a rail engineer and had no idea what ‘1 materiel’ looked like. They could have the money if it was cleared by Slate HQ.
• Korrigan was summoned back to Risur to talk with King Aodhan himself. He took the opportunity to visit Duchess Ethelyn of Shale who had languished under house arrest since her coup attempt four years ago. (He hoped she would provide a direct route to parley with Beshela.) He would also go to Flint and arrange a concert in Seobriga with Rock Rackus.
• Leon and Gupta, with Melissa Amerie in tow, spent the day in the town around the fortress, finding out all they could about the Dragon Worm infestation. They confirmed Leon’s suspicion that it must have spread from the caldera when it was drained to access the dragon hoard. They also learned that the goblins who once inhabited the caldera now appeared to be free from the worm infestation.
• At the railhead, the Steam Crew was set to work and doubled the rate of progress. Uru boarded the train heading back to Reo Pedrosco, with the intention of guarding as many cargo trains as he could.
• Leon and Gupta dined on the terrace again, and were joined by Lya Jierre. She made a sideways reference to Leon throwing off his geas, then asked Gupta if she knew who she was dining with. Gupta blithely asked, “General Dax?” Lya accused Leon if he even remembered what cause he had betrayed, then reminded herself that, “Oh no, of course, you weren’t high-ranking enough to be trusted with that information, were you?” Leon pointed out that you don’t normally have to put a geas on people you trust. Before she left them, Lya again tried to convince them to let her rescue Tinker for the good of everyone. They refused.
• Later in the evening Alonsa Frolian put her dire bear through its paces against a summoned Hoard Monster, for the entertainment of Cavallo and his guests. Leon noticed that she was augmenting her pet with subtle magic and that, while she did so, Cavallo sat slumped in his chair, visibly weakened. He kept an eye on this, and realised when the bout was over that Alonsa was boosting the old orc the entire time. Gupta talked to Alonsa about Corta Nariz de Guerra, and learned that she was very capable and level-headed, but was so involved in her job managing the fleet that she had no time to spare for politics. To test the waters, she gently disparaged Cavallo, but Alonsa defended him to the hilt.
gideonpepys
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
Session 7 (130) - Day Three (and some other stuff from later)
Day Three
• Lya Jierre boarded the Lux Profectusque early the next morning and left the citadel.
• In Negrahna, Damata Griento was surprised and overjoyed to see Rumdoom and introduced Hildegaard to Ejeka, his wife, and his children , Tarro and Dabbo. Dabbo was almost an adult now, and ten-year-old Tarro was a big as an adolescent human. They sat down for lunch in the hotel where the Grientos were staying.
• Rumdoom began to sweat profusely as they sat and talked. The Griento children were unnerved and asked for permission to leave the table. Ejeka went with them.
• Damata asked Rumdoom if he was one of the ‘foreigners’ Merton Goncala had warned him about. When Rumdoom admitted that he was, Damata said: “Give me an honest answer: are you hear to ask me to slow down my crews? And if I say ‘no’, will you try to slow them yourself?” Rumdoom said he would not do anything to harm or damage Damata’s line, but that it would be very helpful if he could slow down construction. Damata pleaded that he could not: he was ahead in the race for the ‘true centre’ and stood to gain 250000gp if he reached it first. Griento tribe elders were watching him closely after his strange behaviour three years back. He mentioned that he would have a legitimate reason to slow down once he had ‘won’ (the part of the contest he was interested in) if other contracts (the Selestala railroad between Citado Cavallo and Seobriga, for example) opened up.
• He went on to say that he quite liked Merton Goncala, but didn’t trust Rush Munchausen. “That’s not very nice,” said a voice from the doorway. It was Rush. He called Rumdoom out onto the porch and challenged him to a duel: off the record, to see which of them was the better warrior. Rumdoom took an instant dislike to the snarky half-elf. “I’ve got nothing to prove to you,” he said and went back inside. Rush taunted him as he went, “How is it possible for someone to be both half and double the man they used to be?”
• The extra money still hadn’t come through from Risur. They only had enough material for one mile of construction, so Conquo gave the rest of the workers a day off and let the steam crew do all the work.
• Back in Citado Cavallo, Leon and Gupta headed into the hills surrounding the town to deal with the Fuego goblins as requested by their host. After a couple of hours walking they came to a narrow, steep-sided gorge and were confronted by a pair of angry ankhegs and several goblin tribesfolk riding giant ants. After a brief and one-sided exchange of fire, the goblins surrendered and agreed to lead the way to their leader, a shaman named Willegu. They spoke a sort of pidgin Beran and Gupta was able to persuade their leader that they could help restore them to their old home if they shared the secret cure for Dragon Worm. Willegu and the rest of the goblins allowed them to enter the network of caves they now called home, where a human doctor had just finished helping a pregnant goblin to give birth. The doctor turned and exclaimed, “Mein Gott! Leon!” It was none other than Wolfgang von Recklinghausen.
• Wolfgang was being held prisoner by the goblins and was very relieved to see his old friend. Gupta told the goblins they would have to let Wolfgang go if they wanted to return to the caldera, and they agreed.
• Back at the fort, Melissa counselled them not to rely too much on treating Cavallo’s grandson to gain his support. The old orc would have to pretend not to care too much (even though he did), so they would still need to secure some solid benefit such as the shipping lanes deal. Alonsa told them that she could not grant access to Cavallo’s grandson because he wouldn’t want her to admit that he was ill.
• Before they could decide what to do next, news came in that one of Cavallo’s sea lords, Thrag Vidalia, had launched an unprovoked attack on the Risuri fort of Manhill…
Other Events
• Bandits began attacking the staging town of Aigotsura. Uru and Rumdoom set off to deal with them. Conquo remained behind to supervise the railhead and eventually became aware that a lot of the workers had downed tools and gathered together. When he went to investigate he found Merton Goncala talking to his fellow Berans, trying to turn them against the foreigners who were helping their boss. He cited the steam crew as a clear sign that Surtan Liss planned to replace them all. Conquo advanced and Merton realised he’d been rumbled. He wasn’t quite quick-witted enough to do anything but withdraw with some chagrin. Rush joined him before he departed. “Hello, Rush,” said Conquo, sincerely. “Are you feeling better?” Lya’s bodyguards withdrew.
• It turned out that Rush had been up to something, however: the supply train wouldn’t move when it tried to return to Reo Pedrosco and the engineers couldn’t figure it out. Xambria had the idea of getting the steam crew to carry it overnight to Aigotsura where Uru was on guard, but when the team of golems was brought in, the front end of the locomotive remained stubbornly in place. A quick check now revealed two immovable rods in the front wheels. With no small effort, Conquo was able to yank them out.
• It’s perhaps worth noting that Rumdoom was able to reach the Liss railhead so quickly because Hildegaard and his retinue once again conspired to have him teleport unawares. He wasn’t fooled this time, however and immediately figured out what had happened. Everyone braced themselves for trouble, but he simply got on with his boiled eggs and soldiers, seeming quite amused by the whole thing. Perhaps this was a different Rumdoom after all?!?
Day Three
• Lya Jierre boarded the Lux Profectusque early the next morning and left the citadel.
• In Negrahna, Damata Griento was surprised and overjoyed to see Rumdoom and introduced Hildegaard to Ejeka, his wife, and his children , Tarro and Dabbo. Dabbo was almost an adult now, and ten-year-old Tarro was a big as an adolescent human. They sat down for lunch in the hotel where the Grientos were staying.
• Rumdoom began to sweat profusely as they sat and talked. The Griento children were unnerved and asked for permission to leave the table. Ejeka went with them.
• Damata asked Rumdoom if he was one of the ‘foreigners’ Merton Goncala had warned him about. When Rumdoom admitted that he was, Damata said: “Give me an honest answer: are you hear to ask me to slow down my crews? And if I say ‘no’, will you try to slow them yourself?” Rumdoom said he would not do anything to harm or damage Damata’s line, but that it would be very helpful if he could slow down construction. Damata pleaded that he could not: he was ahead in the race for the ‘true centre’ and stood to gain 250000gp if he reached it first. Griento tribe elders were watching him closely after his strange behaviour three years back. He mentioned that he would have a legitimate reason to slow down once he had ‘won’ (the part of the contest he was interested in) if other contracts (the Selestala railroad between Citado Cavallo and Seobriga, for example) opened up.
• He went on to say that he quite liked Merton Goncala, but didn’t trust Rush Munchausen. “That’s not very nice,” said a voice from the doorway. It was Rush. He called Rumdoom out onto the porch and challenged him to a duel: off the record, to see which of them was the better warrior. Rumdoom took an instant dislike to the snarky half-elf. “I’ve got nothing to prove to you,” he said and went back inside. Rush taunted him as he went, “How is it possible for someone to be both half and double the man they used to be?”
• The extra money still hadn’t come through from Risur. They only had enough material for one mile of construction, so Conquo gave the rest of the workers a day off and let the steam crew do all the work.
• Back in Citado Cavallo, Leon and Gupta headed into the hills surrounding the town to deal with the Fuego goblins as requested by their host. After a couple of hours walking they came to a narrow, steep-sided gorge and were confronted by a pair of angry ankhegs and several goblin tribesfolk riding giant ants. After a brief and one-sided exchange of fire, the goblins surrendered and agreed to lead the way to their leader, a shaman named Willegu. They spoke a sort of pidgin Beran and Gupta was able to persuade their leader that they could help restore them to their old home if they shared the secret cure for Dragon Worm. Willegu and the rest of the goblins allowed them to enter the network of caves they now called home, where a human doctor had just finished helping a pregnant goblin to give birth. The doctor turned and exclaimed, “Mein Gott! Leon!” It was none other than Wolfgang von Recklinghausen.
• Wolfgang was being held prisoner by the goblins and was very relieved to see his old friend. Gupta told the goblins they would have to let Wolfgang go if they wanted to return to the caldera, and they agreed.
• Back at the fort, Melissa counselled them not to rely too much on treating Cavallo’s grandson to gain his support. The old orc would have to pretend not to care too much (even though he did), so they would still need to secure some solid benefit such as the shipping lanes deal. Alonsa told them that she could not grant access to Cavallo’s grandson because he wouldn’t want her to admit that he was ill.
• Before they could decide what to do next, news came in that one of Cavallo’s sea lords, Thrag Vidalia, had launched an unprovoked attack on the Risuri fort of Manhill…
Other Events
• Bandits began attacking the staging town of Aigotsura. Uru and Rumdoom set off to deal with them. Conquo remained behind to supervise the railhead and eventually became aware that a lot of the workers had downed tools and gathered together. When he went to investigate he found Merton Goncala talking to his fellow Berans, trying to turn them against the foreigners who were helping their boss. He cited the steam crew as a clear sign that Surtan Liss planned to replace them all. Conquo advanced and Merton realised he’d been rumbled. He wasn’t quite quick-witted enough to do anything but withdraw with some chagrin. Rush joined him before he departed. “Hello, Rush,” said Conquo, sincerely. “Are you feeling better?” Lya’s bodyguards withdrew.
• It turned out that Rush had been up to something, however: the supply train wouldn’t move when it tried to return to Reo Pedrosco and the engineers couldn’t figure it out. Xambria had the idea of getting the steam crew to carry it overnight to Aigotsura where Uru was on guard, but when the team of golems was brought in, the front end of the locomotive remained stubbornly in place. A quick check now revealed two immovable rods in the front wheels. With no small effort, Conquo was able to yank them out.
• It’s perhaps worth noting that Rumdoom was able to reach the Liss railhead so quickly because Hildegaard and his retinue once again conspired to have him teleport unawares. He wasn’t fooled this time, however and immediately figured out what had happened. Everyone braced themselves for trouble, but he simply got on with his boiled eggs and soldiers, seeming quite amused by the whole thing. Perhaps this was a different Rumdoom after all?!?
gideonpepys
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
DM's Notes & A couple of questions
Rumdoom's player rolled a 1 on his first attempt to interact with Damata. There was no way this would scupper the whole interaction, but we played it out as an episode of cold sweats that disturbed the half-orc and his family. Thinking Rumdoom was nervous, Damata's tone became more probing and direct.
Later, when Rumdoom was teleported against his will for the second time in as many days, his player decided to roll a d20 to randomize the level of his response. He rolled a 1 again. In some ways, Rumdoom's blithe attitude to events was more disturbing than the Icy End of the World.
Thanks to the influence of Korrigan and the hints dropped by Zarkavia, my players have decided to take the high road in all things. They have engaged in absolutely no shenanigans at all, and are still slightly ahead of the Ob. Next week will see the Keepers of Cheshimox encounter, and the train derailment, but it might also see the opening of the Selastala rail contract, and a slowdown from Damata. Hanging on a knife edge!
@RangerWickett: I have a couple of questions about the rest of the adventure, if you have time (plus a couple that spring to mind about the rest of the campaign):
Where do the players find the Bracers of Liberty? I can't find a reference to them anywhere other than the magic items listing.
When Pemberton threatens to kill Tinker if the intruders don't back down, isn't the most likely outcome that the Ob faction keeps fighting (regardless of what the players do) and so Pemberton carries out his threat?
How would Tinker react when Pemberton threatens to kill him? Surely he would break off attacking the PCs and try to stop Pemberton? (The matrix of motivations in that final encounter is quite complicated!)
Skipping ahead quite a lot:
How come Catherine Romana is involved in the coup against King Aodhan in adventure #9, when she is one of the Colossus faction who Nicodemus elects to wipe out? (Did I miss something?)
The adventure assumes Aodhan is killed, but that doesn't seem to be the likely outcome - certainly no more likely than the death of Harkover Lee, who is assumed to survive. If the Ob need Aodhan dead, wouldn't they opt for a more direct method?
If Harkover Lee dies it seems like that would have a massive impact on the rest of the campaign. Any thoughts on how to handle it if he does?
Much later, in Act Three: Given the care taken to avoid including NPCs who are likely to be dead (creating a ghost Lya, for example), why did you decide to include Kaja Stewart in a major role, given that she almost certainly commits suicide off-stage?
Okay, so that last one sounds more like a rhetorical criticism, which I guess it is! Lya Jierre is a ghost, but Kaja Stewart's still alive?!?
AAAAnd finally:
Is there anywhere that I can get a list of edits that were made to the adventures before they were compiled? Maybe there weren't any that affected the plot, but it's difficult to tell. I read the compilations at home, but run the sessions from a print-out of the individual episodes, and I'm concerned to ensure I'm not missing things out!
Rumdoom's player rolled a 1 on his first attempt to interact with Damata. There was no way this would scupper the whole interaction, but we played it out as an episode of cold sweats that disturbed the half-orc and his family. Thinking Rumdoom was nervous, Damata's tone became more probing and direct.
Later, when Rumdoom was teleported against his will for the second time in as many days, his player decided to roll a d20 to randomize the level of his response. He rolled a 1 again. In some ways, Rumdoom's blithe attitude to events was more disturbing than the Icy End of the World.
Thanks to the influence of Korrigan and the hints dropped by Zarkavia, my players have decided to take the high road in all things. They have engaged in absolutely no shenanigans at all, and are still slightly ahead of the Ob. Next week will see the Keepers of Cheshimox encounter, and the train derailment, but it might also see the opening of the Selastala rail contract, and a slowdown from Damata. Hanging on a knife edge!
@RangerWickett: I have a couple of questions about the rest of the adventure, if you have time (plus a couple that spring to mind about the rest of the campaign):
Where do the players find the Bracers of Liberty? I can't find a reference to them anywhere other than the magic items listing.
When Pemberton threatens to kill Tinker if the intruders don't back down, isn't the most likely outcome that the Ob faction keeps fighting (regardless of what the players do) and so Pemberton carries out his threat?
How would Tinker react when Pemberton threatens to kill him? Surely he would break off attacking the PCs and try to stop Pemberton? (The matrix of motivations in that final encounter is quite complicated!)
Skipping ahead quite a lot:
How come Catherine Romana is involved in the coup against King Aodhan in adventure #9, when she is one of the Colossus faction who Nicodemus elects to wipe out? (Did I miss something?)
The adventure assumes Aodhan is killed, but that doesn't seem to be the likely outcome - certainly no more likely than the death of Harkover Lee, who is assumed to survive. If the Ob need Aodhan dead, wouldn't they opt for a more direct method?
If Harkover Lee dies it seems like that would have a massive impact on the rest of the campaign. Any thoughts on how to handle it if he does?
Much later, in Act Three: Given the care taken to avoid including NPCs who are likely to be dead (creating a ghost Lya, for example), why did you decide to include Kaja Stewart in a major role, given that she almost certainly commits suicide off-stage?
Okay, so that last one sounds more like a rhetorical criticism, which I guess it is!
Lya Jierre is a ghost, but Kaja Stewart's still alive?!?AAAAnd finally:
Is there anywhere that I can get a list of edits that were made to the adventures before they were compiled? Maybe there weren't any that affected the plot, but it's difficult to tell. I read the compilations at home, but run the sessions from a print-out of the individual episodes, and I'm concerned to ensure I'm not missing things out!
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hirou
Explorer
I'm pretty sure they belong to Glaucia, it's literally her broken chains.
Version of Mr. Lee from "Bonds of forced faith" has a contingency ritual, which would "teleport his body to a hidden lair, where his minions would revive him" in case of mortal body injury, whatever you make of it.
I think her suicide was removed from compilation version, because SECOND suicide (after McBannin) in RHC's holding cells seemed unlikely.
gideonpepys
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
That's what I thought. Not much chance of getting them, then, unless she gives them away.
Okay. Thanks. Still...
Doh! If we get to that point, I might just use her anyway and give XP to any player who remembers she's supposed to be dead.
While we're on the subject, Bruse Shantus is involved in a major encounter too. Surely there's a pretty high chance he's beef paste after adventure #6?
SanjMerchant
Explorer
That, or you can figure out what the stats are on a Dracolich in Cypher.
Which, come to think of it, could add all kinds of weird poignancy to all of the Adventure 13 fight scene.
You know your players better than we do, but I dunno if I'd be entirely comfortable giving rewards to players who manage to trip up the DM.
Doesn't something somewhere specify that, if Shantus goes down, Cavallo gets the... Brusedom? Ber doesn't actually do much later in the path. Shantus's inaction before Adventure 11 is justified by him not being terribly interested in foreign affairs and policy; Cavallo could be consolidating his power at home to justify the same inaction. As for 11 and 13, what little direct involvement the Bruse has is very much of an "enforcing authority" thing, which is in character for either of them, and the crises that the PC's deal with are justification in and of themselves for why Ber isn't having much effect on the broader world stage.
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gideonpepys
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
That, or you can figure out what the stats are on a Dracolich in Cypher.
Which, come to think of it, could add all kinds of weird poignancy to all of the Adventure 13 fight scene.
I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. But talking of poignancy, there was a great moment in an early draft of adventure #9 when the PCs are racing to save Aodhan (who in that draft had been kidnapped by Stanfield) and come across the body of a dead red dragon (somehow dispatched in the process of capturing the king). I really liked that moment, although I can understand why the campaign director decided to jettison it. Harkover makes a great right hand man and upgrade from Stover once the players hit epic tier.
There are a lot of ideas in the first drafts that I really like, funnily enough. I wonder why that is.
You know your players better than we do, but I dunno if I'd be entirely comfortable giving rewards to players who manage to trip up the DM.
I'm betting against them.
It's that final battle with the Bruse I was surprised by. I figured that there might be a word or two about a natural replacement, under the circumstances. (Maybe there is, I'm only skim-reading the final act for now.)
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