hearts of stone.

[calighis]

So I have a game that I am running soon, and the plot is something i am kind of brainstorming right now. The party is 8th level but i plan on taking them to 10th by the end of this.
I was wondering if I could have some help.
This is sort of what I have figured out for the time being.

Premise;The thieves guild on this insular island is kind of old school. They have a long standing policy of not peddling drugs.
So when Lionel Corrin (harbor master, member of town council in good standing, "secretly bu everyone kind of knows it" head of the thieves guild) Finds out that his son has been building a faction within the guild that has been peddling these poisons he is forced to disown him. Lately the town has been plagued with a crime spree driven by withdrawals and desperation. Rayleon Corrin has gone missing and there is not a smidgen of gymsum powder (the above mentioned narcotic) to be found anywhere.

Shina'fel the Medusa:
Once upon a time a family of sirens made their home peacefully on the fog shrouded isle of Karsiphoni only a few hours south by boat from Bridgeport (the campaign center) But a sailor called Faraday from the port fell in love with Shina'fel who was the fairest of all the sirens and regarded by them the sisters as the leader. She used all of her charms to try and keep him even agreeing to live on the land and using her charmed grimlock servants to build a palace for them, but over time his spirit longed to travel and he missed living amongst society. One day the isolation of Karsiphoni finally took it's toll and he told her he was leaving but that he would one day soon return.
Years passed and Shina'fel grew bitter with the betrayal, for he had not returned. Her sisters called for her to come back for the ocean but it was too late. Her time on dry land had changed her. Her heart had turned to stone and it continually cursed the gods. In retribution the gods allowed her anger to transform her into a Medusa.

The other Sirens were afraid of her but would not abandon their sister, their leader, to her terrible fate. So at first they stayed out of compassion, singing to her, trying to make her forget her pain. Then one long awaited day, Faraday finally returned. She imprisoned him in the palace, wanting him to feel the isolation he himself had put her through.
Then after a few months, she announced to her sisters that they should send for their lovers and that she and Faraday were to be married. When all had arrived on the island for the wedding they were seated in pews near a stone gazebo. The groom stood motionless in front of a hooded priest his back to the siren and many lovers. The Medusa revealed herself then as the priest and she petrified as many of her sister's lovers as she could. Terrified, the Sirens returned to the sea. wracked in torment over their mutual losses the sisters begged Shina'fel to release them. Shian'fel agreed to do this so long as the sirens tricked incoming vessels into crashing on the foggy and rocky shores of Karsiphoni, so that she might plunder their goods. Every few years or so she released one of the lovers to keep them hopeful, and so a grand hoard was amassed there.

of course the Medusa knew that eventually she would run out of lovers to release and fewer and fewer sirens would be working for her. Imagine her delight when she discovered the addictive qualities of gymsum powder.
With her sisters help she was able to amass a life time supply of it. Then she introduced it to the Sirens. The naive and childlike fey were easily addicted and many of them had forgotten all about their lovers.
Driven by addiction they continue to work for their sister looking only for the next fix.


Rayleon
So when the drug addled son of Lionel Corrin, Rayleon, gets it in his head to stage a raid on the Medusa's isle of Karsiphoni, his addicted compatriots are only too eager to agree. After all, what is one Medusa against a small army of thieves?
They did not count on her giant basilisks and the grimlocks that rode on their backs with lances. Nor did they expect the Medusa cunning in teaching her priests to use the deeper darkness spell to their advantage.
But they were especially shocked to see that the Medusa herself now rode on the back of a trained Gorgon and that she too expertly wielded a magical lance.
Rayleon himself now joins the many statues in the grotto. The sweat of withdrawals permanently etched into stone.

As for Lionel Corrin, his position is difficult. He cannot ask the guild to take up his son's rescue in the face of betrayal. To even ask would incite rebellion. But the PC's are now well known heroes. Of course they are hired on to the job for a handsome sum.

Grimlocks
A small population of Grimlocks (about100) make their home on the isle. An elite guard of priests and fighters has been assembled and trained by the Medusa (She is 7th level ftr)
Meanwhile there is some controversy among the tribe about how beneficial it is to rely on her. For while it is true that she and the gorgon provide protection for the island, it is also true that it drives trade away and makes reliance on her mandatory. A good aligned priests that still worship the old gods has prayed long for a savior to arrive. This priest, Uktuk, while cleaning out the quarters of the now petrified Faraday, found a copy of his diary in those last living moments. He has kept it ever since, being unable to read it he awaits someone who can.

Ultimately there will be many ways that the characters can resolve this story. But the most rewarding way XP wise will be to restore Faraday and try to work out a means of reuniting the lovers. His diary will reveal that he had nothing but love and sincerity in his heart when he returned and he is in fact deeply sorry for his betrayal of her.
Of course ti turns out that Faraday hasn't the first clue about romance and is himself a bit of a stiff neck stubborn sort. If the characters can get the grimlocks to help by sending her flowers and a note from him over the course of a few weeks they might be able to get the two of them alone at dinner. Then the Grimlocks can can give the characters there sending stones and the characters can feed him cheesy lines etc...
if she is moved sufficiently and if she kisses Faraday, the curse will be lifted and she will again become a siren and all the statues will be animated at once. Shina'fel gives the characters most of her treasure on the condition that they donate it half of it to the good gods, because it is stolen.
And then of course there are endless spin off plots from dudes that have been statues for ten years. Maybe one of them has a treasure map?

Alternativley the PC's can just kill her and her elite guard. First of all I fear for their survival if they do, and second they wont get much for their efforts, They wont be able to find her treasure hoard, and even if they do, it's well guarded by a powerful demon.


Now I'm thinking that their first encounter will be with the addicted Sirens.
The Sirens will lead the characters to a rocky cliff where they will attempt to charm the sailors into crashing. The crew is pretty low level and none of the characters have any ranks in sailing.
Still the characters should play along because there is a lot of treasure scattered about beneath the waves. The Sirens have gleaned much from the fallen vessels. To make sure that they don't get too greedy the Medusa has a pet aquatic monster of some kind to keep tabs on her sisters greed and maybe also deal with the higher level threats that crash into the shore. If the characters kill this monster they will be able to loot its cave.
I know not what monster
I know not what treasure.
Any advice?

Also I am thinking about a child siren that does not seem to be addicited. She is terribly shy and afraid of the characters, but at the same time curious. If they make a few good spot checks and offer her some candy or something, they may learn the story of the medusa or even where to best land the ship where no grimlocks spy.
Grimlocks do not make good spies at all btw.

So now the characters will be richer or else safley arrived on the island. There is a dense patch of jungle near one of the shores and the characters should make land there. Meanwhile we have a flying character and I expect he might want to fly around the isle and map it out.
In that eventuality I have three nycters that work in the service of the Medusa and they will give chase and raise the alarm.
I'm not sure what direction I should take the story from here. I guess it depends on what the characters do. If they do anything that raises alarm it should be enough to bring the elite Grimlock Cadre down on them.
I still need to design the island. It's going to need a mounain for the Grimmies and a palace for the medusa. Also a grotto full of statues with her lover at the center, and now a jungle i guess. I dont expect the isand to be more than a few miles long and a mile wide.
combat design is important here.
any suggestions plot, design or otherwise?

 

[calighis]

Things went swimmingly. The characters got ship wrecked indeed but all the while the characters brazenly bragged of their ability to slay the Medusa. This intruiged them enough to put the characters to the test against the black dragon that lived beneath the rocky shores and indeed kept close watch on the sirens. The Sirens felt that if the characters could indeed slay the dragon then they might stand a chance against the medusa. So they were invited into the Sirens underwater cave. A water free hollow. There, they beat the black dragon (EL9) and looted its treasure. The Sirens were miffed at not getting a cut so they did not tell the characters how to proceed. Instead they wished them luck and swam away.
It was then that the characters discovered the cave routes leading towards the surface. The entrances were enchanted to keep the water pressure from filling the vacuum tight hollow. They discovered a few Grimlocks milling about in a certain chamber. foolishly they killed one without provocation and left the other, only slightly stable but at negatives at the foot of the entrance to their lair. Then the characters back tracked towards where they had initially found the Grimlocks and discovered a recentlly created tube perfectly symmetrical leading down a dark hall. At the end of which was a purple worm (EL12) and its eggs. For some reason the characters chose to make off with the eggs after vanquishing the worm. There is no market value for purple worm eggs, unless you can sell them to Mind flayers. They will prove impossible to store safely and end up being more hassle than they are worth but what an you do?
Meanwhile The Grimlocks will be pleased with the defeat of the worm and this will go some ways in sealing the characters relationship with them. Now it is only a matter of whether the characters will have the good sense to heal the surviving Grimlock and ask him for his help. He may even be willing to overlook the death of recently fallen comrade in light of the characters slaying the worm as well. He may even ask for some credit in the deed when the tail is relayed to the elders. (I think I'll call him Dooph) If not the characters can expect to have to deal with the full might of the Grimlocks. If they try to use the eggs to show they have vanquished the worm, that wont work. They need Dooph.
I have the latest map from the D&D Minis set and that actually makes an ideal set up for the Grimlock home.
Now this part is tricky because if the characters fight the grimlocks i expect them to lose and be taken prisoner as offerings to the Shinafel.
That is the easy scenario. In that case the characters can be taken prisoner and freed later by Uktuk once they understand the dilemma. Easy plot exposition.

On the other hand, if they win, then things get complicated.
Uktuk will still approach them speaking common and he will urge them to slay no more of his people.
If the characters agree to this then he will cooperate and plot will be expedited.

The real question is what is so important about that diary?
What is in it?
I think it will reveal that Faraday still loved her no matter what she had become. he still believed that she was in there somewhere and that they would be reunited one day.

Day 1 back on the island. I was not well recieved. It appearrs I am trapped in a somewhat luxurious prsion complete with pen and paper and books. Her taste in literature is rather grim. It's nothing but tragedy after tragedy. I am filled with despair, for she will not let me even look on her.
this is not the Shinafel that i remember. Also I know not where the statues came from but there seem to be a lot of them and though they be of different races and dressed in all manner they share the same frightened visage, locked in terror.
The sightless ones who were merley goodneighbours before, now serve slavishly.
I cannot fathom the meaning of such a thing. I am ill at ease here

Day 3
The silence has yet to be broken and I wonder now whether she intends to see me at all. I am however well attended, receiving food and beverage through a slit in the door. As well my chamber pot has been emptied regularly.
The books are all I have to keep me company. The lovers keep dying in the end. I am ill at ease.

Day 7
There are many questions that have been festering in me. Why did I come back here is chief among them. It was certainly not with this in mind, but my feelings have been severley called in to question. Can I truly love someone who would do something so grotesque as this to me? I have searched long and hard for the answer but there is so much i don't understand.
I can understand her anger with me, but 7 days of confinement without so much as a word?
The questions are eating me up alive!
Why do this?
What do I say if she does finally talk to me?
To try and think of romance in a time such as this! It's impossible.

Day 9 She showed up at my door today and opened the slit. I could not see her face but merley her torso. Not a word she said but the servant Uktuk announced her. She sought to hear me speak. Taken aback and ill prepared I blurted out. "I take it then that you are unhappy with me?" I saw her hand go to her heart. It was covered in scales and I heard the sound of one hundred snkaes hissing all at once in anger.
What happenned next perhaps condemned me. Overcome with revulsion I said"By the Gods! Shinafel? What have you become?" At first there was silence but I could see her body shaking and I knew then she must be crying. I reached out to touch her hand. I was shocked to feel the scales there and I recoiled my hand in horror. Immedeatly realizing my foolishness I inquired"Shinafel are you alright? A scream was the only reply, and not just any scream. I heard in it both the anguish of a broken heart and the triumph of a demon.
What have I done? It is clear now that she was reaching out to me and by mkaing obvious my revulsion I may have sealed my fate.

Still the fact that she reached out at all attests to the fact that there is still something of her left inside whatever it is she has become. I only fear that in my vanity, I may have killed what little may have remained.


Day 12
I now realize that she won't be coming back.
I blew it. big time.
Everything makes sense now. She locked me up here because she was afraid that I would revile her and she needed time to consider how best to introduce this transformation. All the while she feared my rejection and when she finally worked up the courage to show me some small part of it, I, showed her only revulsion. It confirmed all her worst fears. It's odd. I could feel the magic leave me as soon as I said it. As though I had sealed something in her soul and confined her forever to what it was she had become.
It is with terrible grief that I now scribe this entry for I realize that I too am now cursed with the knowledge that I have condemned her to this fate. And further, that I have done so to my one true love.
Irealize now that I love her in spite of whatever it is she has done or whatever it is she has become.
If only she could find it within herself to give me another chance and let me explain that I was caught off guard.
I am sure that together we could overcome any geas and that there is no curse that goes beyond my love for her.
But it's too late. I fear that I will never be able to tell her now.

day17
I have stopped eating and bathing.
It is my hope that she will notice and come to inquire.

day21
I am weak and overcome with hunger. She does not care. I call from my window that I love her. She does not come. She thinks me a treacherous liar.
I try to reason. "Why would I come back here if not because i love you"
She is beyond reason now. She thinks I will say anything to see myself freed.

Day 27
I have not eaten for 10 days. I have barely the strength to write. but today there is a glimmer of hope. Formal clothing has been passed through the slit. It appearrs to be a traditional wedding garment. My spirits are bolstered. She has seen my dedication. She believes me. I think I will have something to eat.



((More to come))