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Deception, Revealed Early!
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<blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 5351299" data-attributes="member: 63"><p>1. Cool stuff. I'm glad your group's having fun.</p><p></p><p>2. Deception doesn't really <em>want</em> to stop the party. If he hasn't attacked anyone in the party yet, maybe you could start next session by having the trillith back away warily, saying he doesn't mean them any harm, then use an illusion to look like Ernest again. He will <em>of course</em> lie, but not entirely. </p><p></p><p>He won't play helpless, because he knows the PCs know better. Instead, he'll hold up his hands, say he's on the PCs' side, and offer to help them if they don't try to kill him. After all, back in Innenotdar all he really wanted was to free his brother Indomitability. Sure, he wanted to undertake a course of action that would have killed all the seelae, but he figured their lives were just constant suffering anyway. Even if he attacked the PCs, he might be able to convince them that his actions weren't malevolent. He was just being pragmatic.</p><p></p><p>Why is he here? He could say truthfully that he has another relative here whom he's trying to free. (Recall, he's trying to get a sliver of the soul of Trilla, the Mother of Dreams. A fragment of her soul was caught in the Torch, and the trillith believe that if they recover that, they'll be able to better control their imprisoned mother.)</p><p></p><p>"I don't want to take the Torch. But in order to use the Torch's power, you have to consume a soul as fuel. Upstairs we'll find a collection of gems, including some rather large diamonds. Before he was killed, Coaltongue would have his inquisitors trap souls in these gems, so he could always have at hand the fuel for his artifact. One of my relatives is trapped up there. I don't care if you take the Torch. I've just come to release more of my kin."</p><p></p><p>Ernest (because really, why would he want people to think of him as 'Deception'?) could offer to help the PCs scout, since he can move incorporeally. If they take him up on this, you might want to give him some restrictions, like say that the other undead spirits make it hard for him to enter into certain places. This keeps the onus of exploration upon the PCs.</p><p></p><p>He's not much good in a fight against mindless undead, but if the PCs actually agree to work with him, I think the coolness of hanging out with a villain makes up for the fact that the adventure will be a lot easier in parts. Hell, you might even drop hints about the nature of the trillith's homeland dreamscape if somehow the party gets into one of those 'campfire bonding' conversations.</p><p></p><p>Of course, no matter how much he likes the PCs, when they get up to the throne room, Ernest still plans to kill them and take the Torch. He doesn't like the threat posed by people who know about the trillith, and especially not if they know the Song.</p><p></p><p>3. Say the PCs don't listen, and they kill him. What makes you think that the first time you kill something called 'Deception,' you'll actually be killing it? Give him a few extra tricks if necessary, and let him fake his death, then come back later. Of course, after that you'll have to plan a way for the PCs to really <em>really</em> kill him when they meet him again in the campaign's climax.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="RangerWickett, post: 5351299, member: 63"] 1. Cool stuff. I'm glad your group's having fun. 2. Deception doesn't really [i]want[/i] to stop the party. If he hasn't attacked anyone in the party yet, maybe you could start next session by having the trillith back away warily, saying he doesn't mean them any harm, then use an illusion to look like Ernest again. He will [i]of course[/i] lie, but not entirely. He won't play helpless, because he knows the PCs know better. Instead, he'll hold up his hands, say he's on the PCs' side, and offer to help them if they don't try to kill him. After all, back in Innenotdar all he really wanted was to free his brother Indomitability. Sure, he wanted to undertake a course of action that would have killed all the seelae, but he figured their lives were just constant suffering anyway. Even if he attacked the PCs, he might be able to convince them that his actions weren't malevolent. He was just being pragmatic. Why is he here? He could say truthfully that he has another relative here whom he's trying to free. (Recall, he's trying to get a sliver of the soul of Trilla, the Mother of Dreams. A fragment of her soul was caught in the Torch, and the trillith believe that if they recover that, they'll be able to better control their imprisoned mother.) "I don't want to take the Torch. But in order to use the Torch's power, you have to consume a soul as fuel. Upstairs we'll find a collection of gems, including some rather large diamonds. Before he was killed, Coaltongue would have his inquisitors trap souls in these gems, so he could always have at hand the fuel for his artifact. One of my relatives is trapped up there. I don't care if you take the Torch. I've just come to release more of my kin." Ernest (because really, why would he want people to think of him as 'Deception'?) could offer to help the PCs scout, since he can move incorporeally. If they take him up on this, you might want to give him some restrictions, like say that the other undead spirits make it hard for him to enter into certain places. This keeps the onus of exploration upon the PCs. He's not much good in a fight against mindless undead, but if the PCs actually agree to work with him, I think the coolness of hanging out with a villain makes up for the fact that the adventure will be a lot easier in parts. Hell, you might even drop hints about the nature of the trillith's homeland dreamscape if somehow the party gets into one of those 'campfire bonding' conversations. Of course, no matter how much he likes the PCs, when they get up to the throne room, Ernest still plans to kill them and take the Torch. He doesn't like the threat posed by people who know about the trillith, and especially not if they know the Song. 3. Say the PCs don't listen, and they kill him. What makes you think that the first time you kill something called 'Deception,' you'll actually be killing it? Give him a few extra tricks if necessary, and let him fake his death, then come back later. Of course, after that you'll have to plan a way for the PCs to really [i]really[/i] kill him when they meet him again in the campaign's climax. [/QUOTE]
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