Aeolius
Adventurer
I have occasionally posted undersea expositions in the General Forum and in the Gamers Seeking Gamers Forum. Given that my current campaign uses the 3.5e ruleset in the World of Greyhawk and draws heavily from Stormwrack, I thought I would garner input from a more focussed forum.
The campaign has been running for around four years, now, meeting online every Sunday for 3-hour sessions. The current level of play is around level 10. The game is nearing the completion of a campaign arc that has been in play since the beginning.
Now I am contemplating a new story arc. Given the nature of the environment and level of the adventure, what would you expect to see?
For the curious, here is a recap of last week's game session:
In the last session (11/27/11) the party remained in the depths beneath the Jungle of Lost Ships, nestled within ruins resting upon the lowest ledge of the submerged seamount, over which the Weed-Sea slowly spiraled.
Having defeated en envoy of kapoacinth , seafaring gargoyles with skin of living stone, they watched in wonder as the creatures stiffened, petrified, and oozed ebony ichor from beneath fallen flakes of stony skin. Those caught within the ebon waters also transformed into statues of stone.
As the petrifying fluids seeped upward, they enveloped the closest of the white smokers, volcanic plumes spewing scalding waters upward towards the shallows. Unable to escape, the diminutive jellyfish-merfolk known as Ephyra were slowly turned to stone. Heeding the cries of Phreb, Xaetra used the magics at her command to create space within space, devising a spherical realm within the glass orb carried by the aventi Noi. Within the orb she placed the two surviving ephyra, now greatly reduced in size.
"The storm hags seek the sky pearl." the dwarven sentry explained "The gargoyles paid for their folly with their lives, for I do not possess it.
The pearl was hidden in a clam bed in the shallows." the water dwarf continued "A blue pearl hidden within a shroud of blackwater. The storm hags will stop at nothing, for wIthout it, they cannot control Cloudsea."
As the red-skinned sentry spoke, Sakura recalled her recent ordeal with blackwater and giant clams, for the experience left her with a mystery; a doubloon of blackwater and a name, the Blackwater Phantom. Searching her belongings for the doubloon, she procured both the coin and one other item obtained at that time; a pearl of crystal blue.
"The cloud pearl!" the sentry gasped "You... you must keep that out of sight! This is what the gargoyles died for.
The cloud pearl would proceed the child of pearl, the prophesy had spoken." he continued “Cloudsea was once the home of a benevolent giant who used the pearl to give life to his domain.
Guard that pearl with your lives." the sentry whispered "But you must make the choice. The storm hags killed my kinsmen. Only the Pillars of Time spared me from the same fate. Is a treasure wrought from bloodshed worth keeping?"
The sentry’s musings were cut short, as a disturbance was sensed in the east. Chasing three phosphorescent squid , a lone sea elf approached. Preparing for melee, the party was relieved to discover the newcomer meant no harm. During the brief altercation, Sakura felt a gentle pull from her blackwater-infused spiked chain. Aghast, she realized the blackskate weapon led her to the oceanid NeeKaa.
"My newfound friends and guardians of the cloud pearl," the water dwarf began "You are welcome to join me for a brief repast, before we see to the mystery of the skull."
----- ----- ----- -----
The party recalled that the crystal skull was fashioned of unmelting ice, a substance frozen in time. Within the skull the final volume of the Tome of Apotheosis, a manual detailing transforming the lifeless into the living, was entrapped.
The party lost a valuable ally, the mechanatrix child Jaenan, when the third tome was recovered. Hidden within the remains of a rusted ship with neither mast nor oars, the vessel was the third “twice-named ship” encountered by the party. Jaenan had been lost, when the ship returned to the time beyond time.
The party used the first tome, found within a wooden ship in the shallow waters of Turucambi Reef , along with a brass artifact known as the Lazarus, to retrieve the soul of the spirit hag Xaetra from the region of dreams. The second tome, located in a rusted submersible in the heart of The Sinking Isle , detailed the creation of an eidolon construct from ambergris, in which to house the soul of the spirit hag.
Just as the Lazarus was required to utilize the first tome and the manual entitled “Path of the Eidolon” had been used in conjunction with the second tome, a third catalyst was now required. The answer rested within the frozen skull itself.
"Aqua Vitae keep death from the living... " Meir had whispered "Aqua Mortis may bring life to the unliving..."
In the vicinity of the final tome, they happened upon the third fragmented Soul Shard cast off from the hag Xaetra herself. The first had been found in the form of Echo, the last written word of Xaetra, now transformed into a living tattoo. The second had been procured in the form of Shadow, a ghostly visage resembling the face of hag herself. The third fragment, trapped within a mirrored sliver of glass, was known simply as “Me”.
Both to her dismay and delight, Sakura discovered that her father, long lost to her, was entrapped within the mirrored shard with “Me”.
With the hag restored to life, the party hoped to defeat their nemesis, the blackwater hag known as Diadema. An unliving amalgamation made from the remains of a hag covey, Diadema had been fashioned from the sea hag blood magus Tempest, who was once granddaughter of Xaetra, and Salkt, the sea hag daughter of Xaetra. The third component came from the undead deathlock which arose from Xaetra’s own corpse.
----- ----- ----- -----
As the sentry slowly walked into the distance, the party beheld the ruins of a once-intricate tower. By its weathered base a simple chest of porous stone was ringed by ornate chairs fashioned of the same ivory-hued stone. Resting upon the chest was a platter of stone upon which sharpened skewers of bone had been arranged.
Reaching into an opening atop the chest, the sentry removed a small striped lobster.
"I have been known to catch a sea bird, now and then." he admitted "But to be honest I do not care for the taste. I use them to attract eels and the like."
"My daughter,” the ambergris hag spoke, addressing her daughter, the shrunken head known as Meir “tell me, who watches over Jariah now that NeeKaa swims amongst us?"
The party recalled that, for her protection, the pearl-skinned infant she was placed in the otherworldly realm known as D’naeli’s Stairwell, left in the care of the living scarab called Glaucus. NeeKaa had then returned to explore the pillars and do battle with the kapoacinth.
----- ----- ----- -----
The party recalled the Stairwell had been named for the hag D’naeli, one of two hags with whom Xaetra consorted, in life. The remaining hag was Iryaek, with whom Xaetra had conceived the male child known as the krampus. The krampus had been imprisoned upon a floating island by Xaetra herself.
They also recalled that Diadema sought to awaken three magical maelstroms, each summoned through the act of sacrifice upon altars within forgotten temples. In so doing, the waters would drain through planar portals into the subterranean caverns of the lesser moon Celene. Within the caverns, the twin daughters of the demon lord Dagon and elemental princess Olhydra were imprisoned by their father.
Olhydra had spoken to her minions, a group of hags known as the Blue Coven, who in turn spoke with Diadema, who now knew of the temples. Beneath the Weed-Sea rested the seastead, upon which the final temple waited. The temple was now protected by a monstrous creature known as the Olio. The guardian, in turn, was contained within a massive funnel-shaped sea fan known simply as the Living Barrier.
The party learned from a circle of sea fey there were two ways to defeat the Olio. The first involved a clash of titans, unleashing a beast known as the hydrimera against the Olio. The hydrimera was imprisoned in the skies above, in a "stolen sea" locked within a cloud island. The second detailed the awakening the "ninety and nine" whose song would undo the Olio.
The “ninety and nine” were rumored to rest within a floating island now entrapped within the edges of the Weed-Sea. Xaetra wondered if her son had come home at last.
----- ----- ----- -----
Swiftly seizing command of the conversation, Xaetra excused the party, claiming the need for sleep.
"I shall leave you to your rest." the dwarf replied "Please mind the brine pool along the western wall. Do not disturb its surface."
After several moments Xaetra retrieved her magical apothecary and opened the doorway leading to the space within space. Within minutes, the ambergris-skinned hag screamed.
"Gone!" she shrieked "Jariah, Glaucus, Anasta! All of them! All of them! Gone!"
Joining Xaetra within her magical garden, Phreb noticed a single footprint, in shallow soil near a pumpkin patch. Sakura noted one section of flowering vine clinging to the wall seemed burnt.
"It must be the sentry!" Xaetra fumed angrily "He wanted the child of pearl! He must have done this! He must pay."
The spirit hag darted past the newcomer Khall without even acknowledging his presence. She swam to the main entrance of the ruined tower and into the waters beyond. The party heard a loud snapping noise accompanied by a flash of blue.
"Help! Help!" a voice called, nearest to Phreb, who realized the sound emanated from within the glass globe.
The campaign has been running for around four years, now, meeting online every Sunday for 3-hour sessions. The current level of play is around level 10. The game is nearing the completion of a campaign arc that has been in play since the beginning.
Now I am contemplating a new story arc. Given the nature of the environment and level of the adventure, what would you expect to see?
For the curious, here is a recap of last week's game session:
In the last session (11/27/11) the party remained in the depths beneath the Jungle of Lost Ships, nestled within ruins resting upon the lowest ledge of the submerged seamount, over which the Weed-Sea slowly spiraled.
Having defeated en envoy of kapoacinth , seafaring gargoyles with skin of living stone, they watched in wonder as the creatures stiffened, petrified, and oozed ebony ichor from beneath fallen flakes of stony skin. Those caught within the ebon waters also transformed into statues of stone.
As the petrifying fluids seeped upward, they enveloped the closest of the white smokers, volcanic plumes spewing scalding waters upward towards the shallows. Unable to escape, the diminutive jellyfish-merfolk known as Ephyra were slowly turned to stone. Heeding the cries of Phreb, Xaetra used the magics at her command to create space within space, devising a spherical realm within the glass orb carried by the aventi Noi. Within the orb she placed the two surviving ephyra, now greatly reduced in size.
"The storm hags seek the sky pearl." the dwarven sentry explained "The gargoyles paid for their folly with their lives, for I do not possess it.
The pearl was hidden in a clam bed in the shallows." the water dwarf continued "A blue pearl hidden within a shroud of blackwater. The storm hags will stop at nothing, for wIthout it, they cannot control Cloudsea."
As the red-skinned sentry spoke, Sakura recalled her recent ordeal with blackwater and giant clams, for the experience left her with a mystery; a doubloon of blackwater and a name, the Blackwater Phantom. Searching her belongings for the doubloon, she procured both the coin and one other item obtained at that time; a pearl of crystal blue.
"The cloud pearl!" the sentry gasped "You... you must keep that out of sight! This is what the gargoyles died for.
The cloud pearl would proceed the child of pearl, the prophesy had spoken." he continued “Cloudsea was once the home of a benevolent giant who used the pearl to give life to his domain.
Guard that pearl with your lives." the sentry whispered "But you must make the choice. The storm hags killed my kinsmen. Only the Pillars of Time spared me from the same fate. Is a treasure wrought from bloodshed worth keeping?"
The sentry’s musings were cut short, as a disturbance was sensed in the east. Chasing three phosphorescent squid , a lone sea elf approached. Preparing for melee, the party was relieved to discover the newcomer meant no harm. During the brief altercation, Sakura felt a gentle pull from her blackwater-infused spiked chain. Aghast, she realized the blackskate weapon led her to the oceanid NeeKaa.
"My newfound friends and guardians of the cloud pearl," the water dwarf began "You are welcome to join me for a brief repast, before we see to the mystery of the skull."
----- ----- ----- -----
The party recalled that the crystal skull was fashioned of unmelting ice, a substance frozen in time. Within the skull the final volume of the Tome of Apotheosis, a manual detailing transforming the lifeless into the living, was entrapped.
The party lost a valuable ally, the mechanatrix child Jaenan, when the third tome was recovered. Hidden within the remains of a rusted ship with neither mast nor oars, the vessel was the third “twice-named ship” encountered by the party. Jaenan had been lost, when the ship returned to the time beyond time.
The party used the first tome, found within a wooden ship in the shallow waters of Turucambi Reef , along with a brass artifact known as the Lazarus, to retrieve the soul of the spirit hag Xaetra from the region of dreams. The second tome, located in a rusted submersible in the heart of The Sinking Isle , detailed the creation of an eidolon construct from ambergris, in which to house the soul of the spirit hag.
Just as the Lazarus was required to utilize the first tome and the manual entitled “Path of the Eidolon” had been used in conjunction with the second tome, a third catalyst was now required. The answer rested within the frozen skull itself.
"Aqua Vitae keep death from the living... " Meir had whispered "Aqua Mortis may bring life to the unliving..."
In the vicinity of the final tome, they happened upon the third fragmented Soul Shard cast off from the hag Xaetra herself. The first had been found in the form of Echo, the last written word of Xaetra, now transformed into a living tattoo. The second had been procured in the form of Shadow, a ghostly visage resembling the face of hag herself. The third fragment, trapped within a mirrored sliver of glass, was known simply as “Me”.
Both to her dismay and delight, Sakura discovered that her father, long lost to her, was entrapped within the mirrored shard with “Me”.
With the hag restored to life, the party hoped to defeat their nemesis, the blackwater hag known as Diadema. An unliving amalgamation made from the remains of a hag covey, Diadema had been fashioned from the sea hag blood magus Tempest, who was once granddaughter of Xaetra, and Salkt, the sea hag daughter of Xaetra. The third component came from the undead deathlock which arose from Xaetra’s own corpse.
----- ----- ----- -----
As the sentry slowly walked into the distance, the party beheld the ruins of a once-intricate tower. By its weathered base a simple chest of porous stone was ringed by ornate chairs fashioned of the same ivory-hued stone. Resting upon the chest was a platter of stone upon which sharpened skewers of bone had been arranged.
Reaching into an opening atop the chest, the sentry removed a small striped lobster.
"I have been known to catch a sea bird, now and then." he admitted "But to be honest I do not care for the taste. I use them to attract eels and the like."
"My daughter,” the ambergris hag spoke, addressing her daughter, the shrunken head known as Meir “tell me, who watches over Jariah now that NeeKaa swims amongst us?"
The party recalled that, for her protection, the pearl-skinned infant she was placed in the otherworldly realm known as D’naeli’s Stairwell, left in the care of the living scarab called Glaucus. NeeKaa had then returned to explore the pillars and do battle with the kapoacinth.
----- ----- ----- -----
The party recalled the Stairwell had been named for the hag D’naeli, one of two hags with whom Xaetra consorted, in life. The remaining hag was Iryaek, with whom Xaetra had conceived the male child known as the krampus. The krampus had been imprisoned upon a floating island by Xaetra herself.
They also recalled that Diadema sought to awaken three magical maelstroms, each summoned through the act of sacrifice upon altars within forgotten temples. In so doing, the waters would drain through planar portals into the subterranean caverns of the lesser moon Celene. Within the caverns, the twin daughters of the demon lord Dagon and elemental princess Olhydra were imprisoned by their father.
Olhydra had spoken to her minions, a group of hags known as the Blue Coven, who in turn spoke with Diadema, who now knew of the temples. Beneath the Weed-Sea rested the seastead, upon which the final temple waited. The temple was now protected by a monstrous creature known as the Olio. The guardian, in turn, was contained within a massive funnel-shaped sea fan known simply as the Living Barrier.
The party learned from a circle of sea fey there were two ways to defeat the Olio. The first involved a clash of titans, unleashing a beast known as the hydrimera against the Olio. The hydrimera was imprisoned in the skies above, in a "stolen sea" locked within a cloud island. The second detailed the awakening the "ninety and nine" whose song would undo the Olio.
The “ninety and nine” were rumored to rest within a floating island now entrapped within the edges of the Weed-Sea. Xaetra wondered if her son had come home at last.
----- ----- ----- -----
Swiftly seizing command of the conversation, Xaetra excused the party, claiming the need for sleep.
"I shall leave you to your rest." the dwarf replied "Please mind the brine pool along the western wall. Do not disturb its surface."
After several moments Xaetra retrieved her magical apothecary and opened the doorway leading to the space within space. Within minutes, the ambergris-skinned hag screamed.
"Gone!" she shrieked "Jariah, Glaucus, Anasta! All of them! All of them! Gone!"
Joining Xaetra within her magical garden, Phreb noticed a single footprint, in shallow soil near a pumpkin patch. Sakura noted one section of flowering vine clinging to the wall seemed burnt.
"It must be the sentry!" Xaetra fumed angrily "He wanted the child of pearl! He must have done this! He must pay."
The spirit hag darted past the newcomer Khall without even acknowledging his presence. She swam to the main entrance of the ruined tower and into the waters beyond. The party heard a loud snapping noise accompanied by a flash of blue.
"Help! Help!" a voice called, nearest to Phreb, who realized the sound emanated from within the glass globe.
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