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Message: <blockquote data-quote="THEMNGMNT" data-source="post: 9079630" data-attributes="member: 6809274">51st session of my Neverwinter/Sword Coast campaign. Drow evoker wizard, human genie warlock, half orc vengeance paladin at 9th level.This session, I did something experimental. I had them find a villain's journal that spelled out all the schemes of the characters' foes. Not just for this one foe -- for literally all the foes. It's a roadmap to the entire campaign. My intent was to give more transparency to the villains and their motivations...and to give the players the ability to pick and choose their battles.For posterity, I'll post the whole thing below.THE JOURNAL OF SYDON, ENVOY TO NEVERWINTER FROM THE TOWER ARCANE<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Tower Arcane continues to supply aid to the Winter Nobles. Why? Because the petty schemes of the nobility are a distraction that masks the machinations of the Tower Arcane.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Winter Nobles intend to fabricate a crisis, use the crisis to spark an assassination of the Queen, and then seize power for themselves.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What is the crisis? An invasion by the orc horde gathering at Xul-Jarak. Agents of the Winter Nobles are preparing now to meet with orc envoys at Mir Vardun and cement the secret alliance.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The weakness of the Winter Nobles is that each believes he or she should be the next true ruler of Neverwinter. That weakness makes them easy to divide and conquer.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Meanwhile, agents of the Tower Arcane have uncovered the locations of the three remaining Keys of Sul-Khatesh.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The locations were discovered in a complex beneath Castle Phandalin, which held the remains of the dragon Valanthara.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The agents were able to enter the complex using the Pyramid of Valanthara, which they obtained after defeating a band of adventurers in Phandalin.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Valanthara and her legions were allies of the Sanctum in centuries past. Their mission was to scatter, hide, and guard the Keys of Sul-Khatesh. They were successful for over a thousand years.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Keys of Sul-Khatesh can unlock the hidden vaults within the Sanctum.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Tower Arcane’s plot to seize the Sanctum and the magical artifacts contained within are progressing along three vectors:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The traitor within the Sanctum has growing influence—which no one suspects. They are subtly sowing confusion and dissension within the conclave.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Lareth the Beautiful has passed through the mirror and now resides in a secret location in Neverwinter. It is his job to weaken the city from within, preparing the way for when the plot is revealed and the subjugation of the populace commences. He is well underway, having expanded operations beyond the Winter Nobles.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Archmages of Luskan have assembled three teams to recover the Keys of Sul-Khatesh from:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The volcanic heart of Mount Delzoun.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Maelstrom beneath the Sea of Swords.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Stormbreaker, the legendary flying fortress in the storm.</li> </ul></li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The artifacts of Sul-Khatesh are her staff, robe, and grimoire—which unlock the lost sorcery of the Netherese Empire and grant total control of the Sanctum.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">However, the Tower Arcane has recently obtained the grimoire from a group of adventurers in Waterdeep. The true name of the grimoire is The Book of Vile Darkness. This means that one of the three locations—Stormbreaker, The Maelstrom, and Mount Delzoun—holds nothing.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Unlocking the most potent sorceries require the Nightstone to be returned to its rightful place in the heart of the Sanctum.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">To recharge the dormant power of the Nightstone requires completing a ritual contained within the grimoire of Sul-Khatesh—The Book of Vile Darkness. This ritual will consume the lifeforce of every citizen within Neverwinter.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Unfortunately, only the mind flayer Zyrxog knows the location of the Nightstone. Attempts to uncover that information have resulted in Zyrxog consuming the brains of the infiltrating Tower Arcane mages.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">When Zyrxog consumes the mind of a mage, he learns their magical spells and powers.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Tower Arcane has decided not to send anymore mages to infiltrate Zyrxog’s organization, instead finding other ways to secure the Nightstone.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Zyrxog does not realize what the Nightstone truly is—the ancient mythal that powered the Sanctum.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The might of the Sanctum will make the Tower Arcane the dominant force in the North and its peoples will be their plaything.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Archmage of Divination has foreseen that a mage of the Tower Arcane will attempt to betray the others and seize the Sanctum’s power for themselves. The temptation is irresistible. No more details are forthcoming.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Anyone reading the Envoy’s Journal is cursed and cannot repeat the information they have learned—except to others that have read the journal. Furthermore, readers die of a wasting disease which causes them to permanently lose 1 hit die each week. Yes, this means you.</li> </ul></blockquote>

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