NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wulf Ratbane" data-source="post: 1187648" data-attributes="member: 94">INGREDIENTSIllusion of Hell -- a fey testing groundQueen Bee -- faerie queenMammoth Instrument – pipe organSilent Killer -- a clueMagical Sand -- pixie dustRedemption – an exchange; less technically, the PCs must pass a test of RedemptionInsane Artist -- one of many artists trapped in Hell...a paragon of perfumed foppery -- the Faerie Queen's loveSCENE ONE:The Faerie RingThe DM will need to tailor this first scene—the hook-- to the nature of his players. The basic setup is thus:As the PCs are travelling outdoors, they will come across a strange encounter. Their first indication may be a low droning or buzzing sound, and eventually they will spot a ring of bright, jewelled flowers. Honeybees buzz around these flowers; the pollen collected on their legs sparkles with ruby, emerald, and diamond dust. What a hive these bees must have!If the PCs watch closely, or long enough, they will notice that the bees do not seem to be going about their normal activity. Rather, move around the circle in an orderly fashion; their buzzing begins to sound more and more like sad music, and their movements seem more and more like a dance. Eventually, the PCs may even spot the queen bee amongst this group (highly unusual in and of itself).Experienced players will probably figure out, perhaps too late, that they’ve stumbled across something fey. The DM must set his hook quickly and, admittedly, rather capriciously—but such is the nature of faeries.The bees, and the Queen Bee, are faeries in disguise, and the PCs have stumbled across a solemn memorial.The hook is to somehow trigger the ire or the interest of the faeries.If the players are greedy, the DM may lure them in with vivid descriptions of the jewelled flowers; if they are curious, they may simply blunder in for a closer look. The DM may even be able to lure experienced roleplayers (who should know better!) by describing the song and the dance—it seems incomplete, as if the bees cannot figure out the next note or the next step. PCs who insist on "accompanying" the bees with song or dance will surely trigger their ire. If the PCs give the entire proceeding a wide berth, they will not see the Queen Bee—rather, she will arrive, full of ire, from whatever direction the PCs head, ensuring that the DM can set his hook. SCENE TWO:"A curse on careless mortals!"The faeries will reveal themselves, changing from bees into pixies, sprites, grigs, and an assortment of other fey shapes both beautiful and grotesque. The tiny Queen has an almost dangerous beauty—hearts will melt at her gaze. She must be loved—but it is a love borne of fear.When the PCs disturb the faeries, the jeweled flowers will shudder and shake, and the "pollen" will fly as the faeries change shape; they create a cloud of fine, sparkling magical sand or dust around the PCs. As the PCs succumb to this pixie dust (you may go through the motions of allowing them a Will save) they will gasp and choke. As they fall to the ground they will hear the faeries singing:A curse on careless mortalsWho disturb our Faerie QueenHer dirge, her dance, her sorrowOffered solemn and sereneNow fly, damned souls, to torment:Hell’s amaranthine fire;From perdition, springs redemptionTo quench our sovereign’s ire.One soul alone she laments;Redemption is your goal.Seek out her lost belovedAnd bargain for his soul.SCENE THREE:A Hellish NightmareThe PCs are not dead; they are merely trapped in an illusion of Hell created by the capricious faerie Queen to test them. In this scene, the PCs will have to seek out the ruler of this particular scene of Hell, and bargain for the soul of the Queen’s lost love. Unfortunately, there are several souls trapped here; though the archdevil seems accommodating enough, he’s not particularly forthcoming. The Queen’s illusion will see if the PCs can figure out which soul she would want to save.The PCs appear in a dark and shadowy college. The place seems abandoned, though the floors seem well-worn. It is warm here; but it is only through the windows that the players can see the roaring flames of Hell. Inside the halls, they seem safe enough.The DM should allow the PCs to wander around for a while. Like a nightmare, the place has no fixed structure; it seems to change at whim. Eventually they will find a heavy wooden door, slightly ajar. If they do not enter (perhaps lingering around outside) an elderly voice will call out, "Come in already!"The players will now meet the Headmaster. He appears as an old man, though with clearly devilish features. His white beard is long and pointed, his eyebrows are bushy and, at the tips, little wisps of smoke float up from the white hair. He has horns on his head and long fingernails."Oh, you don’t look like you should be here at all… What can I do for you?"After the PCs explain their purpose, the archdevil will inform them, "I’ll play at your Queen’s game. Choose any one soul, and you may depart with it. Choose wisely and you all go free; but choose poorly and you’ll all return…""There are many souls here, I’m afraid; all bards or artists of some kind, all worthy of a Faerie Queen’s love. Each one is a paragon of perfumed foppery. Unfortunately you can only choose one…"If the PCs balk at his offer, or perhaps as they’re leaving, he’ll toss out a clue: "Your Queen seeks a silent killer. I’ll say no more than that."If the DM needs to throw his PCs some action, as opposed to just "a thinking game," the archdevil may also mention, "Each of these souls is now bound to an infernal shell, I’m afraid. You will be required to… part them… before leaving." (A soul, separated from a fleshly shell will appear as a wispy ghost, hovering before the PCs so they can grab it.)SCENE FOURThe CandidatesOnce again the PCs will wander the empty halls, and occasionally doors will appear. These encounters can pop up in any order.The Insane ArtistPerhaps the Faerie Queen was in love with this artist, cloistered in a small cell and seated with his back to the door. He is literally bolted to a chair, his flesh stapled down in places, and pierced with hooks and chains that hold him in place before his easel. He has no brushes, merely razors and scalpels; he has no paint, merely his own blood and bile—and yet, he is compelled to paint. Unfortunately, his room is completely devoid of any subject matter save a single bowl of fruit. When the PCs enter, he’ll begin desperately cutting and clawing at himself and furiously painting a portrait of one of them, before his inspiration leaves.If the PCs choose this creature, despite the fact that there is nothing in particular to recommend him as the "silent killer," they’ll be forced to fight a kyton.The Mammoth InstrumentThe PCs wander into a huge chapel with a tall domed ceiling. At the far end is a massive pipe organ, and another unfortunate artist pounds madly at the keyboard. The pipes of this organ are made from the enormous bones of some animal (sure, perhaps a mammoth…). Try as he may, however, no sound comes from the instrument. Scribbled sheet music stands before him—notes marked, scribbled out, marked again. It looks as if he has been trying to create a masterpiece, but he cannot hear the music. As the PCs approach, their footsteps will echo loudly through the hall. "Quiet!" the musician will scream. "Can’t you see I’m composing!" At this the musician will turn and the PCs will see that he is, in fact, decomposing. This creature is a horrific wight; and he does, actually, have a silent killer. If the PCs attempt to engage him, he will furiously work the pumps and slam his hands down on the low end of the scale. The resultant sub-sonics are silent and, yes, quite deadly. The blast from the pipe organ can rupture organs (though the specific deadly details are left to the DM).The Death JesterThe next candidate could only be spawned by Hell itself: this performance "artist" is a mime— a mime of death![ The PCs come across him in the hallway and will have trouble ridding themselves of him thereafter. He will caper and prance alongside them, annoying them with "Walking against the Wind" and "Trapped in a Box" and generally getting underfoot.This performance artist, however, is more than meets the eye. Fitting, perhaps, for his abilities, he’s also a high-level monk, and may prove to be more than a match for the PCs—especially if the DM gives him that most feared ability of "silent killers," the Quivering Palm.Additional CandidatesThe DM can throw additional candidates at the PCs as he sees fit. The common theme among them all should be some sort of Perform skill.The Queen’s BelovedThe PCs will find this final candidate sitting in a small dormitory room, seated before his vanity table. He is extremely handsome, and his attention is fixed upon his mirror. He will pay little attention to the PCs; he’s certainly not much of a conversationalist, preferring instead to check his perfect teeth, his perfect hair, etc.Scattered around the room the PCs will find many love letters, some of them seemingly tossed aside, stuck under books, etc. The letters are from a variety of girls, all professing their undying love. The young man will barely take notice if the PCs show an interest in the notes ("Help yourself, I’ve got plenty...").As they look deeper at the notes—perhaps, even, a pile of unopened letters—the PCs will discover that some of this man’s admirers threaten suicide if he does not return their love. In all likelihood, though there’s no written record of it, some of them did just that.This candidate’s silent killer is unrequited love—the broken heart.The PCs should realize that this candidate is the most suitable for the Faerie Queen, though it is clear he has no desire for redemption, even if it were possible. To choose him, however, they must separate him from his fleshly shell-- but that should not prove difficult. The only real difficulty for them now is whether or not they choose to rescue this soul from Hell, at all.SCENE FIVEConclusionWhen the PCs return to the headmaster without a soul, and ask him to return, he’ll accommodate their wishes. Likewise, if they return with a soul, correct or not, the PCs will soon awaken in the center of the faerie ring.If the PCs chose the correct soul, they will awaken to find a reward from the faeries—a bit of gold and some minor magic items. If the PCs chose the wrong soul, they’ll awaken—to find themselves stripped of gear, left naked, and painted in motley colors.If the PCs return without any soul at all, they’ll awaken to the Queen herself. She’ll ask why they have returned empty handed. If they explain to the Queen that they felt "her beloved" did not deserve to return, the Queen will laugh and disappear in a cloud of jewelled dust—leaving behind even greater riches for the PCs: gems, jewelry, and a fey- or charisma-  related magic item crafted specifically for each PC.</blockquote>

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