Iron_Chef
First Post
My DM just finished a variant CotSQ. I must now take over DMing for a bit and would like some advice on how to deal with the aftermath of this meatgrinder.
Our party consisted of an alliance of House Jaelre drow (NPCs) and Zhentarim Banites (PCs) and the CotSQ "strike team" comprised 3 drow and 8 Zhentarim. One drow died, and the Zhentarim lost four (but the cleric of Bane was raised by the wizard with a limited wish spell after Kurgoth's giants pounded him into paste with hurled flaming boulders).
We used limited wish to get the password into Castle Maerimydra, then windwalked our way through until we saw where we needed to go. Then we windwalked back out, informed the Balor demon in Kurgoth's army of the password (in return, he "promised" not to destroy us if we stayed out of his way, lol), and watched the fun begin! After a bit, we windwalked back into Castle Maerimydra, waltzed past the super-golem and into the Undying Temple, where we managed to destroy the Orb and Orb Wraith after a tough fight, with only one casualty (a drow cleric of Vhaeraun). Then we windwalked back out and away from the carnage, rematerializing long enough to pop into our Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion to celebrate. All we saw of Irae T'sarren was when she popped up in the Orb Room to see the destruction we'd wrought as we were windwalking out the door. She screamed a lot.
DEVIATIONS FROM THE PUBLISHED MODULE SPECIFIC TO OUR CAMPAIGN:
While in CoTSQ, the party learned that Kurgoth Hellspawn was trapped in a gem (trap the soul spell) by an ogre magi priest of Cyric from Darkhold that they'd tangled with before in the Keep, foiling his plot to raze the Keep by opening a gate to an abyssal realm full of hideous shapechanging demons (the ones from CotSQ). The priest had then had four simulacrums of Kurgoth created, so that the mighty general would always be seen leading his armies and raising morale. The PC wizard unexpectedly spoke to the real Kurgoth and got this information with a high level communication spell. Kurgoth wanted to be freed so he could destroy Darkhold and everyone in it (Cyricist or not) as punishment for trapping him in the gem. Kurgoth didn't know where he was being kept prisoner (aside from inside a gem) but surmised he was in the possession of the ogre magi priest. The PCs had last seen the priest in Szith Morcane, razing it with a fake "Kurgoth" and part of his army. Foiling this ogre magi's plot and exposing the Cyricist conspiracy within the Keep made the PCs heroes and they were awarded medals by Fzoul through Scyllua Darkhope (though that was the extent of Fzoul and Scyllua's involvement with the PC's affairs that I am aware of).
SURVIVORS:
1. A fanatical female Banite 15th level wizard (Wiz (Cjr) 5, Master Summoner 5, Mindbender 1, Theurgist 1, Nar Demonbinder 1, Mystic 2), the primary g;lue that held the strike team together, the one who negotiated the trade deal between the PCs and the drow, who has been "touched" by Bane. She has an equally fanatic female cohort: Wiz (Trans) 8/Ftr 2 and two familiars: an imp and a diabolic, Int 19 amulet (family heirloom), all of which egg her on to greater and greater acts of evil in service to Bane. In fact, she's a better priest than the party cleric! She tends to view others as mere tools Bane has provided her to work his will with; tools that can be discarded when broken. She had a bad childhood, lol, don't blame her.
2. A fat, foppish unbelievably arrogant and selfish priest of Bane (Clr 7/Mystic 4/Dreadmaster 2) who has caused more harm than good. He's not even qualified to run a temple and has made little progress up the Church heirarchy, despite an auspicious beginning as the "Champion of Bane" (a yearly title given to the top graduating student of the Black Academy). This priest is far more concerned with earing, drinking and fornicating than anything else and blows every diplomatic encounter he partakes in by making lewd comments or insults. He has died once, but the wizard raised him with a limited wish spell, only because she knew he might prove crucial in overcoming the horrors of CotSQ and its rampaging undead... which he was, as it turned out. She disintegrated the Orb Wraith, while he blasted the orb itself into nothingness, ending the threat of the cult of Kiaransalee.
3. A greedy half-red dragon/half human Ftr7/Rog 3 with a devil may care attitude and fondness for drow women. He's died once already (finger of death from a vampire wizard) right before we started CotSQ, but the cleric raised him. Bane granted him the half-red dragon template... presumably because he knew we needed a stronger front line fighter, which he became.
4. An sexy, sneaky female agent (rogue 10) of House Jaelre with a fondness for the half-dragon. She has a male drow fighter 1/ranger 4/wizard 3 cohort.
BAD GUY SURVIVORS:
1. Irae T'sarren and her immediate family (all undead now). It has not been determined if she still holds Castle Maerimydra. Do all her undead forces crumble to dust when the orb is destroyed? Irae wants revenge on the PCs.
2. Kurgoth Hellspawn, his simulacrums, and their controller, the Ogre Magi Priest of Cyric. It has not ben determined how much of their Maerimydra forces remain. Presumably, they have a smaller army holding Szith Morcane, another in the mountains up by Darkhold, and another closer to the Dales, each led by a simulacrum of Kurgoth. The Ogre Magi wants revenge on the PCs but is more concerned with holding onto Darkhold and Kurgoth's armies to found a kingdom of giants in Cyric's name or some such impossible dream. The real Kurgoth wants to be freed to plunder Darkhold and create a kingdom of giants ruled by him. He would be grateful to be freed, but the extent of his generosity is limited to trying to recruit the PCs into his army as generals. Anything that doesn't concern glorifying/indulging himself or causing massive destruction holds no interest for him.
ALLIANCE MOTIVATIONS
The (NE, Vhaeraun) drow were involved because it was in their best interests to find out what was going on in the UnderDark adjacent to their Cormanthor realm, and had the beginnings of a profitable trade deal going with these particular Banites (the Zhentarim and Church of Bane were not involved, as this was a sneaky side deal made between the PCs, a Thayan fence/smuggler/spy in Zhentil Keep, and House Jaerlre).
The (LE) Banites were involved because Bane himself tasked them with the destruction of the plans of the cult of Kiaransalee for undisclosed reasons... (meaning, the former DM didn't have any, lol, other than he wanted to run CotSQ). The cult of Kiaransalee had a portal into Zhentil Keep and agents therein slowly taking over the Zhentarim with mind control magic or by turning them into vampires. No one in the Keep is apparently aware of this yet. In fact, when the PCs tried to unravel the cult's plans, they were accused of attempted murder of a high ranking Zhentarim officer (the wizard's father, who had been turned into a vampire servant of Kiaransale) and so the party was forced to flee the Keep...
WHAT THE PLAYER'S WANT:
The players have all expressed a desire to take a break from battling "tough" opponents and want to relax, then pick on some peasants for fun (by furthering their own plans for the subtle conquest of Mistledale; plans not sanctioned or known by their superiors in the Zhentarim or Church of Bane). Theoretically, the PCs hope to gain control of Mistledale and the surrounding area through clever applications of charm monster/dominate person or to create simulacrums of important figures. The goal is complete domination of all primary leadership and economic figures in Mistledale, thus they would control the economy and military.
QUESTIONS i NEED ANSWERED OR ADVICE ON:
1. How do they get out of the UnderDark? The portal that got them here was sealed to prevent more intruders by the cult. Walking back is an ugly option, lol, but possible, as they skipped every encounter between Szith Morcane and Maerimydra.
2. Should Irae or Kurgoth attack them before they can leave Maerimydra or on the way back?
3. Were all Irae's undead destroyed with the portal?
4. What about the attempted murder charges awaiting them in Zhentil Keep?
5. How much power do the cult's agents hold in the Keep now?
6. What was Cyric's goal in attacking Maerimydra beyond conquest? Was he trying to seize the portfolio of undeath from Kiaransalee?
7. What was Bane's goal in sending the PCs to destroy the cul'ts plans? Was it more complex than that the cult had a portal into the Keep and were slowly corupting all the Zhentarim, thus acting against Bane's interests? Was he trying to seize the portfolio of undeath from Kiaransalee or ensuring Cyric didn't get it? Obviously, Bane must be pleased with his choices for the mission (particularly with the most fervent of them, the wizard and her cohort).
8. Is House Jaelre strong enough to seize Szith Morcane and/or Maerimydra now that the cult has been destroyed and Kurgoth's Maerimydra forces are in disarray? Vhaeraun should be pleased, anyway, that Kiaransalee was thwarted.
9. With the death of the Thayan smuggler in the Keep (actually, he's a vampire now), the trade deal between the PCs and House Jaelre is jeopardized. A new merchant contact must be found. The Thayan had a brother who is a Red Wizard... perhaps a Thayan Enclave should be formed in the Keep now that its primary opposition is gone (the smuggler had the PC wizard assassinate the Red Wizard who wanted to open an Enclave in the Keep as it would destroy his own business).
Our party consisted of an alliance of House Jaelre drow (NPCs) and Zhentarim Banites (PCs) and the CotSQ "strike team" comprised 3 drow and 8 Zhentarim. One drow died, and the Zhentarim lost four (but the cleric of Bane was raised by the wizard with a limited wish spell after Kurgoth's giants pounded him into paste with hurled flaming boulders).
We used limited wish to get the password into Castle Maerimydra, then windwalked our way through until we saw where we needed to go. Then we windwalked back out, informed the Balor demon in Kurgoth's army of the password (in return, he "promised" not to destroy us if we stayed out of his way, lol), and watched the fun begin! After a bit, we windwalked back into Castle Maerimydra, waltzed past the super-golem and into the Undying Temple, where we managed to destroy the Orb and Orb Wraith after a tough fight, with only one casualty (a drow cleric of Vhaeraun). Then we windwalked back out and away from the carnage, rematerializing long enough to pop into our Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion to celebrate. All we saw of Irae T'sarren was when she popped up in the Orb Room to see the destruction we'd wrought as we were windwalking out the door. She screamed a lot.
DEVIATIONS FROM THE PUBLISHED MODULE SPECIFIC TO OUR CAMPAIGN:
While in CoTSQ, the party learned that Kurgoth Hellspawn was trapped in a gem (trap the soul spell) by an ogre magi priest of Cyric from Darkhold that they'd tangled with before in the Keep, foiling his plot to raze the Keep by opening a gate to an abyssal realm full of hideous shapechanging demons (the ones from CotSQ). The priest had then had four simulacrums of Kurgoth created, so that the mighty general would always be seen leading his armies and raising morale. The PC wizard unexpectedly spoke to the real Kurgoth and got this information with a high level communication spell. Kurgoth wanted to be freed so he could destroy Darkhold and everyone in it (Cyricist or not) as punishment for trapping him in the gem. Kurgoth didn't know where he was being kept prisoner (aside from inside a gem) but surmised he was in the possession of the ogre magi priest. The PCs had last seen the priest in Szith Morcane, razing it with a fake "Kurgoth" and part of his army. Foiling this ogre magi's plot and exposing the Cyricist conspiracy within the Keep made the PCs heroes and they were awarded medals by Fzoul through Scyllua Darkhope (though that was the extent of Fzoul and Scyllua's involvement with the PC's affairs that I am aware of).
SURVIVORS:
1. A fanatical female Banite 15th level wizard (Wiz (Cjr) 5, Master Summoner 5, Mindbender 1, Theurgist 1, Nar Demonbinder 1, Mystic 2), the primary g;lue that held the strike team together, the one who negotiated the trade deal between the PCs and the drow, who has been "touched" by Bane. She has an equally fanatic female cohort: Wiz (Trans) 8/Ftr 2 and two familiars: an imp and a diabolic, Int 19 amulet (family heirloom), all of which egg her on to greater and greater acts of evil in service to Bane. In fact, she's a better priest than the party cleric! She tends to view others as mere tools Bane has provided her to work his will with; tools that can be discarded when broken. She had a bad childhood, lol, don't blame her.
2. A fat, foppish unbelievably arrogant and selfish priest of Bane (Clr 7/Mystic 4/Dreadmaster 2) who has caused more harm than good. He's not even qualified to run a temple and has made little progress up the Church heirarchy, despite an auspicious beginning as the "Champion of Bane" (a yearly title given to the top graduating student of the Black Academy). This priest is far more concerned with earing, drinking and fornicating than anything else and blows every diplomatic encounter he partakes in by making lewd comments or insults. He has died once, but the wizard raised him with a limited wish spell, only because she knew he might prove crucial in overcoming the horrors of CotSQ and its rampaging undead... which he was, as it turned out. She disintegrated the Orb Wraith, while he blasted the orb itself into nothingness, ending the threat of the cult of Kiaransalee.
3. A greedy half-red dragon/half human Ftr7/Rog 3 with a devil may care attitude and fondness for drow women. He's died once already (finger of death from a vampire wizard) right before we started CotSQ, but the cleric raised him. Bane granted him the half-red dragon template... presumably because he knew we needed a stronger front line fighter, which he became.
4. An sexy, sneaky female agent (rogue 10) of House Jaelre with a fondness for the half-dragon. She has a male drow fighter 1/ranger 4/wizard 3 cohort.
BAD GUY SURVIVORS:
1. Irae T'sarren and her immediate family (all undead now). It has not been determined if she still holds Castle Maerimydra. Do all her undead forces crumble to dust when the orb is destroyed? Irae wants revenge on the PCs.
2. Kurgoth Hellspawn, his simulacrums, and their controller, the Ogre Magi Priest of Cyric. It has not ben determined how much of their Maerimydra forces remain. Presumably, they have a smaller army holding Szith Morcane, another in the mountains up by Darkhold, and another closer to the Dales, each led by a simulacrum of Kurgoth. The Ogre Magi wants revenge on the PCs but is more concerned with holding onto Darkhold and Kurgoth's armies to found a kingdom of giants in Cyric's name or some such impossible dream. The real Kurgoth wants to be freed to plunder Darkhold and create a kingdom of giants ruled by him. He would be grateful to be freed, but the extent of his generosity is limited to trying to recruit the PCs into his army as generals. Anything that doesn't concern glorifying/indulging himself or causing massive destruction holds no interest for him.
ALLIANCE MOTIVATIONS
The (NE, Vhaeraun) drow were involved because it was in their best interests to find out what was going on in the UnderDark adjacent to their Cormanthor realm, and had the beginnings of a profitable trade deal going with these particular Banites (the Zhentarim and Church of Bane were not involved, as this was a sneaky side deal made between the PCs, a Thayan fence/smuggler/spy in Zhentil Keep, and House Jaerlre).
The (LE) Banites were involved because Bane himself tasked them with the destruction of the plans of the cult of Kiaransalee for undisclosed reasons... (meaning, the former DM didn't have any, lol, other than he wanted to run CotSQ). The cult of Kiaransalee had a portal into Zhentil Keep and agents therein slowly taking over the Zhentarim with mind control magic or by turning them into vampires. No one in the Keep is apparently aware of this yet. In fact, when the PCs tried to unravel the cult's plans, they were accused of attempted murder of a high ranking Zhentarim officer (the wizard's father, who had been turned into a vampire servant of Kiaransale) and so the party was forced to flee the Keep...
WHAT THE PLAYER'S WANT:
The players have all expressed a desire to take a break from battling "tough" opponents and want to relax, then pick on some peasants for fun (by furthering their own plans for the subtle conquest of Mistledale; plans not sanctioned or known by their superiors in the Zhentarim or Church of Bane). Theoretically, the PCs hope to gain control of Mistledale and the surrounding area through clever applications of charm monster/dominate person or to create simulacrums of important figures. The goal is complete domination of all primary leadership and economic figures in Mistledale, thus they would control the economy and military.
QUESTIONS i NEED ANSWERED OR ADVICE ON:
1. How do they get out of the UnderDark? The portal that got them here was sealed to prevent more intruders by the cult. Walking back is an ugly option, lol, but possible, as they skipped every encounter between Szith Morcane and Maerimydra.
2. Should Irae or Kurgoth attack them before they can leave Maerimydra or on the way back?
3. Were all Irae's undead destroyed with the portal?
4. What about the attempted murder charges awaiting them in Zhentil Keep?
5. How much power do the cult's agents hold in the Keep now?
6. What was Cyric's goal in attacking Maerimydra beyond conquest? Was he trying to seize the portfolio of undeath from Kiaransalee?
7. What was Bane's goal in sending the PCs to destroy the cul'ts plans? Was it more complex than that the cult had a portal into the Keep and were slowly corupting all the Zhentarim, thus acting against Bane's interests? Was he trying to seize the portfolio of undeath from Kiaransalee or ensuring Cyric didn't get it? Obviously, Bane must be pleased with his choices for the mission (particularly with the most fervent of them, the wizard and her cohort).
8. Is House Jaelre strong enough to seize Szith Morcane and/or Maerimydra now that the cult has been destroyed and Kurgoth's Maerimydra forces are in disarray? Vhaeraun should be pleased, anyway, that Kiaransalee was thwarted.
9. With the death of the Thayan smuggler in the Keep (actually, he's a vampire now), the trade deal between the PCs and House Jaelre is jeopardized. A new merchant contact must be found. The Thayan had a brother who is a Red Wizard... perhaps a Thayan Enclave should be formed in the Keep now that its primary opposition is gone (the smuggler had the PC wizard assassinate the Red Wizard who wanted to open an Enclave in the Keep as it would destroy his own business).
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