airwalkrr
Adventurer
Thanks for your comments, everyone.
I never thought the idea of Vhalantru being a beholder as a very good idea. I liked the foreshadowing of the fact that there is a beholder behind things (especially so since beholders are aberrations, and in my campaign which is based in Eberron, aberrations are tied closely to the plane of Xoriat, which has replaced Carceri in my campaign). So I never wanted to do this just to spite the player. I was thinking of changing the background a bit all along; I am just concerned now that the player will miss a chance to say "Yes! I was right!" if I change things.
Well, I've gone and made up my mind. Someone here made an exceptional suggestion, that Vhalantru is actually a Rakshasa. I love that, since I can tie it in with the Lords of Dust (Vhalantru is an agent of the Lords of Dust seeking to use the Cagewrights to his own ends). One of the ideas that I believe I liked the most however was the suggestion that the whole beholder incident was a sophisticated illusion, a ruse which Vhalantru trots out from time to time to intimidate people. There is no beholder! Thifirane (a transmuter) is the one who turns adventurers to stone when they get to be too troublesome and gifts the statues to Vhalantru who has an odd sense of humor. Vhalantru has the same position in the story as stated, but is a Rakshasa who follows the Lords of Dust and is an independent associate of the Cagewrights merely interested in ruling Cauldron in the new era and using his influence to help free the Overlords (in the grand scheme of things he is a minor player). Rather than have a simulacrum suit (which I always thought was a silly item), Vhalantru has a unique ring of greater mind shielding which works like a ring of mind shielding but also prevents true seeing from revealing his true form. I feel like this fits the meta-plot of Eberron better and is a better background than the one given.
The player in question has already had a few "Aha!" moments. I don't think I am going to feel bad about this one.
I never thought the idea of Vhalantru being a beholder as a very good idea. I liked the foreshadowing of the fact that there is a beholder behind things (especially so since beholders are aberrations, and in my campaign which is based in Eberron, aberrations are tied closely to the plane of Xoriat, which has replaced Carceri in my campaign). So I never wanted to do this just to spite the player. I was thinking of changing the background a bit all along; I am just concerned now that the player will miss a chance to say "Yes! I was right!" if I change things.
Well, I've gone and made up my mind. Someone here made an exceptional suggestion, that Vhalantru is actually a Rakshasa. I love that, since I can tie it in with the Lords of Dust (Vhalantru is an agent of the Lords of Dust seeking to use the Cagewrights to his own ends). One of the ideas that I believe I liked the most however was the suggestion that the whole beholder incident was a sophisticated illusion, a ruse which Vhalantru trots out from time to time to intimidate people. There is no beholder! Thifirane (a transmuter) is the one who turns adventurers to stone when they get to be too troublesome and gifts the statues to Vhalantru who has an odd sense of humor. Vhalantru has the same position in the story as stated, but is a Rakshasa who follows the Lords of Dust and is an independent associate of the Cagewrights merely interested in ruling Cauldron in the new era and using his influence to help free the Overlords (in the grand scheme of things he is a minor player). Rather than have a simulacrum suit (which I always thought was a silly item), Vhalantru has a unique ring of greater mind shielding which works like a ring of mind shielding but also prevents true seeing from revealing his true form. I feel like this fits the meta-plot of Eberron better and is a better background than the one given.
The player in question has already had a few "Aha!" moments. I don't think I am going to feel bad about this one.
