Okay so I'm running an eberron game right now online and from time to time I provide the players cut scenes which gives the player a bit of information of the goings on behind the scenes. The characters themselves have no idea, so I have a critter that I've stolen from Avatar: The last Airbender that has shown up in now 3 of my cut scenes as it is involved in tracking down one of the players. So because there has been a ton of build up leading to this encounter I want it to be memorable, hence why I'm asking here. I'll post the three cut scenes below here to hopefully get your creative juices flowing.
Basically I need to design the Shirshu and his rider and his goal is to capture one of the players. I'm looking for ideas for what I can do to make it a memorable encounter. Location, abilities, you name it. I was leaning towards making it an extremely tough encounter possibly making it a Solo and an Elite. But I'm open to any suggestions.
Cut Scene 9
A very large badger like creature, whose eyeless face is dominated by a large snout that ends at a collection of small tentacles, sprints quickly along a cobblestone path. Riding upon the creatures back, is a man dressed all in black, including a black cowl. Two sheathed blades are strapped across his back and lining his belt are rows of deadly sharp shuriken. The pair race along the cobblestone path towards a large manor house, surrounded by a 15 foot wooden wall. Standing upon the wall are armed guards, they point their crossbows in the direction of the oncoming threat.
"Halt!" yells out one of the guards.
The badger like creature continues to race towards the wall, giving no sign that they intend on stopping.
"Halt now or we will stop you!" calls out the captain of the guards.
The pair thunders towards the wall.
"Fire at will," yells out the captain of the guard, "stop them! Do not let them into the compound!"
Bolts race towards the man. In one fluid motion he draws the thin sharp blades from his back and swats the arrows aside like they were flies. His companion digs into the cobblestone and leaps over the 15 foot wall, bolts bouncing off its thick hide.
"What the
is that," exclaims one of the guards as the creature passes over his head.
The badger like creature lands in the courtyard and turns to face the guards on the wall. It stands up on its hind legs and lets out a loud roar, revealing a set of very long jagged teeth and razor sharp claws, all the while the small tentacles at the end of its snout wriggle.
"Enough!" calls a stern voice from the house, "Put down your weapons, his presence was requested"
The creature returns back down to all fours and the shadowy flips from the creatures back, re-sheathing his blades before he lands on his feet in the courtyard. He pats the badger like creatures neck.
"Shirshu my old friend," the shadowy figure whispers, "watch my back."
Shirshu looks towards the guards standing on the wall and snorts, several of them flinch. The shadowy figure gracefully walks towards the house, where standing at the door is a stout dwarf dressed as a servant. The dwarf nods to the shadowy figure and points him in the direction of a sitting chamber.
Sitting on a very expensive and gaudy couch is a plump dwarf draped in the tackiest but finest silks and with several long and large golden pendants draped around his neck. He swirls a brandy glass full of dark liquid, every finger on his hand adorned with a ring of silver, gold or platinum. He points to a canter full of the dark liquid sitting on the table.
"Can I pour you a drink?" the dwarf asks.
The man sits in the orange padded chair on the other side of the table and shakes his head.
"Your security could use some work Florin," the shadowy man states
The dwarf chuckles as he wipes his beard with his silken sleeve. He sloshes his brandy glass around spilling brandy on the ground.
"It would cost me a fortune to try and keep you out Thaxos, if at least half the stories I've heard are true," the dwarf says.
Thaxos stares intently at the dwarf.
"So you have a job for me Florin? Or did you just call me out here so you can flatter me with your drunken words?" Thaxos asks.
The dwarf laughs again, places his brandy glass on the table and licks the dark liquid from his fingers.
"I like your style Thaxos, I like your style."
The dwarf pulls a leather pouch from out of his robes and tosses it on the table. It jingles as it lands.
"I hope you’re worth the the price, the last Tharask bitch grew a conscious and tried to keep me from my prize."
Thaxos plucks the pouch from the table and unties the drawstring. He plucks out a platinum coin and bites down on it and then tosses it back in the pouch.
"Don't you worry Florin, I'm beholden to no house, I've never had a conscience and I'm worth every platinum piece. I have never failed to complete a task. So what is it you need me to do dwarf."
"Well Thaxos, I need you to bring me in a shifter that goes by the name of Tor. I'll need him alive; he's of no use to me dead. My latest intelligence on him is that he's traveling with a group of mercenaries but at this point his whereabouts are unknown. He has evaded capture twice; first the drow and then that Tharask bitch Bre'al hid him from me for a time, but she paid for that with her life."
"What of his companions Florin?"
"What happens to his companions is none of my concern. Just bring me Tor and you'll receive the rest of your payment as promised."
"Anything else I should be aware of?"
"He bears a mark on his upper thigh, even now he probably doesn't comprehend the significance of it but if any of the houses discover he's marked. Well you know what they do to his kind, and if that happens he'll be of no use to me. Time is off the essence."
"Do you have the other item I requested, something that used to belong to the shifter?"
The dwarf points to the shield, of fine dwarven craftsmanship, leaning up against the fireplace.
"It is my understanding that he was using that item for some amount of time, hopefully it will be enough to help you track him."
Thaxos gets up from his seat picks up the dwarven shield and scans it for a few moments.
"Don't worry Florin, if he did indeed possess this shield Shirshu will be able to track him from even 1000's of miles away. You'll have your prize soon."
Thaxos nods to Florin and then starts walking out of the sitting room. Florin picks up his brandy glass and downs the rest of it in one swig. Thraxos walks out of the house and up to his waiting companion who is still eyeing the guards standing on the wall. One of the guards is still visibly shaking. Thaxos pats Shirshu on the neck and the badger like creature purrs for a moment.
"Well old friend, one last job and then you and I can retire someplace nice and quiet and then we can just watch as the world passes us by."
Thaxos climbs on the back of Shirshu and the badgerlike creature leaps over the wall in a single bound and the two race off down the cobblestone path, one of the guards points at them as they disappear into the darkness.
"Seriously," one of the guards asks, "What the is that thing?"
Basically I need to design the Shirshu and his rider and his goal is to capture one of the players. I'm looking for ideas for what I can do to make it a memorable encounter. Location, abilities, you name it. I was leaning towards making it an extremely tough encounter possibly making it a Solo and an Elite. But I'm open to any suggestions.
Cut Scene 9
A very large badger like creature, whose eyeless face is dominated by a large snout that ends at a collection of small tentacles, sprints quickly along a cobblestone path. Riding upon the creatures back, is a man dressed all in black, including a black cowl. Two sheathed blades are strapped across his back and lining his belt are rows of deadly sharp shuriken. The pair race along the cobblestone path towards a large manor house, surrounded by a 15 foot wooden wall. Standing upon the wall are armed guards, they point their crossbows in the direction of the oncoming threat.
"Halt!" yells out one of the guards.
The badger like creature continues to race towards the wall, giving no sign that they intend on stopping.
"Halt now or we will stop you!" calls out the captain of the guards.
The pair thunders towards the wall.
"Fire at will," yells out the captain of the guard, "stop them! Do not let them into the compound!"
Bolts race towards the man. In one fluid motion he draws the thin sharp blades from his back and swats the arrows aside like they were flies. His companion digs into the cobblestone and leaps over the 15 foot wall, bolts bouncing off its thick hide.
"What the
is that," exclaims one of the guards as the creature passes over his head.The badger like creature lands in the courtyard and turns to face the guards on the wall. It stands up on its hind legs and lets out a loud roar, revealing a set of very long jagged teeth and razor sharp claws, all the while the small tentacles at the end of its snout wriggle.
"Enough!" calls a stern voice from the house, "Put down your weapons, his presence was requested"
The creature returns back down to all fours and the shadowy flips from the creatures back, re-sheathing his blades before he lands on his feet in the courtyard. He pats the badger like creatures neck.
"Shirshu my old friend," the shadowy figure whispers, "watch my back."
Shirshu looks towards the guards standing on the wall and snorts, several of them flinch. The shadowy figure gracefully walks towards the house, where standing at the door is a stout dwarf dressed as a servant. The dwarf nods to the shadowy figure and points him in the direction of a sitting chamber.
Sitting on a very expensive and gaudy couch is a plump dwarf draped in the tackiest but finest silks and with several long and large golden pendants draped around his neck. He swirls a brandy glass full of dark liquid, every finger on his hand adorned with a ring of silver, gold or platinum. He points to a canter full of the dark liquid sitting on the table.
"Can I pour you a drink?" the dwarf asks.
The man sits in the orange padded chair on the other side of the table and shakes his head.
"Your security could use some work Florin," the shadowy man states
The dwarf chuckles as he wipes his beard with his silken sleeve. He sloshes his brandy glass around spilling brandy on the ground.
"It would cost me a fortune to try and keep you out Thaxos, if at least half the stories I've heard are true," the dwarf says.
Thaxos stares intently at the dwarf.
"So you have a job for me Florin? Or did you just call me out here so you can flatter me with your drunken words?" Thaxos asks.
The dwarf laughs again, places his brandy glass on the table and licks the dark liquid from his fingers.
"I like your style Thaxos, I like your style."
The dwarf pulls a leather pouch from out of his robes and tosses it on the table. It jingles as it lands.
"I hope you’re worth the the price, the last Tharask bitch grew a conscious and tried to keep me from my prize."
Thaxos plucks the pouch from the table and unties the drawstring. He plucks out a platinum coin and bites down on it and then tosses it back in the pouch.
"Don't you worry Florin, I'm beholden to no house, I've never had a conscience and I'm worth every platinum piece. I have never failed to complete a task. So what is it you need me to do dwarf."
"Well Thaxos, I need you to bring me in a shifter that goes by the name of Tor. I'll need him alive; he's of no use to me dead. My latest intelligence on him is that he's traveling with a group of mercenaries but at this point his whereabouts are unknown. He has evaded capture twice; first the drow and then that Tharask bitch Bre'al hid him from me for a time, but she paid for that with her life."
"What of his companions Florin?"
"What happens to his companions is none of my concern. Just bring me Tor and you'll receive the rest of your payment as promised."
"Anything else I should be aware of?"
"He bears a mark on his upper thigh, even now he probably doesn't comprehend the significance of it but if any of the houses discover he's marked. Well you know what they do to his kind, and if that happens he'll be of no use to me. Time is off the essence."
"Do you have the other item I requested, something that used to belong to the shifter?"
The dwarf points to the shield, of fine dwarven craftsmanship, leaning up against the fireplace.
"It is my understanding that he was using that item for some amount of time, hopefully it will be enough to help you track him."
Thaxos gets up from his seat picks up the dwarven shield and scans it for a few moments.
"Don't worry Florin, if he did indeed possess this shield Shirshu will be able to track him from even 1000's of miles away. You'll have your prize soon."
Thaxos nods to Florin and then starts walking out of the sitting room. Florin picks up his brandy glass and downs the rest of it in one swig. Thraxos walks out of the house and up to his waiting companion who is still eyeing the guards standing on the wall. One of the guards is still visibly shaking. Thaxos pats Shirshu on the neck and the badger like creature purrs for a moment.
"Well old friend, one last job and then you and I can retire someplace nice and quiet and then we can just watch as the world passes us by."
Thaxos climbs on the back of Shirshu and the badgerlike creature leaps over the wall in a single bound and the two race off down the cobblestone path, one of the guards points at them as they disappear into the darkness.
"Seriously," one of the guards asks, "What the
is that thing?"
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