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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lhorgrim" data-source="post: 6528778" data-attributes="member: 12222">Had to take a nap after the game.  This third shift schedule is wrecking my sleep pattern.  Here's the update:The boys sought out a cleric of Pelor to see what could be done for poor Snik.  They agreed to complete a small quest to pay the cleric to cast Speak With Dead on the corpse.  The cleric told the boys that she would attempt to Raise Snik, if he wished to be brought back, for the price of further service to the temple.The boys quickly completed the task of defeating a small encampment of bandits and recovering a relic that had been taken from the Temple of Pelor.  They then recovered Snik's body, wrapped it in the special shroud provided by the cleric, and returned to the temple.When the cleric cast the spell I made it more of a ritual, really describing the scene with Snik in the white shroud and the smell of the incense.  The boys were really into it.  The cleric had warned them that they had only 5 questions they could ask, and the last one would be whether Snik wanted to be brought back.  They spent a good amount of time discussing what to ask or say to Snik before the spell was cast.When the spell was cast Snik's body rose to a sitting position and said "Who disturbs the rest of Snithalladrak the Terrible, whose fate it is to rule over the sinking kingdom of Xara Thuul by the will of Tiamat!"  I described the cleric clenching her teeth and sucking in her breath at the mention of the evil deity in the temple.  I explained to the boys that Tiamat was the deity of evil dragons, and that Xara Thuul was an ancient kingdom that had been consumed by swampland. The boy running the PC who chased Snik the first time asked why Snik had run from him.  The corpse responded, "The slayer asks why his prey ran?, you killed my entire tribe! I could still smell the blood of my kin on your blades!  See your pouches bulge with the treasure of my people!  I ran because I was not yet strong enough to avenge them! But soon you will tremble as you look upon my obsidian armor and feel the agony of my kiss that melts stone!"The next boy told Snik that they were going to make him a member of the party and they had just defended themselves in the dungeon.  Though it wasn't a question I had Snik sarcastically respond, "You defended yourselves from the people who's home you invaded and you think the lone survivor should have thanked you?"  Perhaps Snithalladrak will keep one of you alive as a minion and ask each day if you are grateful for his benevolence!"The last player asked when Snik would be in Xara Thuul.  The corpse said, "Soon.  I can already feel my prison walls cracking as I flex my wings and stab with my snout.  My claws grow sharper each day.  Come and find me slayers!"The boys didn't have anymore questions, so the cleric asked if Snik wanted to return to his body.  Snik let out as chilling a laugh as I could manage and said "This soul belongs to Tiamat!"  Release me!".  With that the body went rigid for a moment and then dropped back onto the marble slab with a thunk. The boys started discussing what to do about this new information and the cleric told them of a sage to the north that might have more information about the location of Xara Thuul.  The boys also started discussing some of the issues of invading the kobolds home and "killing them and taking their stuff".  They "want to be heroes and not bad guys." The cleric reminded them that the kobolds had been raiding farms and caravans and killing the goodly folk in the area.  She felt it unlikely that the kobolds could have been convinced to stop, and if they had been driven away they would have simply victimized another town.  She told them that Pelor's blessing was on them for defeating the taint of evil in the area, but she went on to say that the temple did not condone slavery or torture.  She reminded them that there were laws to deal with prisoners, and that the justice system was the best place for prisoners that could be brought to town.  She said in her adventuring days they had often let prisoners go with a promise to leave the area when coming back to a town wasn't an option.  It didn't always work she said, but her faith was her guide and she felt she had given those prisoners a chance to choose their own fate.The boys seemed to be having fun with the scenario, and are excited about going to see the sage to learn more about Xara Thuul.  They all figured out pretty quickly that Snik was going to be reborn as a black dragon, and they are determined to stop him before he becomes too powerful.  There will be several opportunities for other adventures along the way.  I'm running this as much a sandbox as I can.  Now that they have completed the initial adventure I'm just going to be seeding hooks and letting the boys decide which string they want to follow.  I'm sure they'll go hunting for "Snik reborn", but if they don't, he'll always be there waiting.I feel pretty good about the resolution.  We all had fun and when the moms came to get the boys they didn't want to stop playing.</blockquote>

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