carpedavid
First Post
Got 'em.
Good luck, Enkhidu - this should be interesting, at the very least.
Good luck, Enkhidu - this should be interesting, at the very least.
[IRON DM] Winter '04 Tournament (IRON DM ANNOUNCED!)
- Thread starter el-remmen
- Start date
el-remmen
Moderator Emeritus
Commentator:
The anticipation for what they are going to come up with is killing me. . . .
And will either of them find an opening for the tie-breaker ingredient? Or will one or both risk saving to use it in their second match, knowing that the ingredients might be even harder to make work with the awkward ingredient: Celestial Wrestler?
The anticipation for what they are going to come up with is killing me. . . .
And will either of them find an opening for the tie-breaker ingredient? Or will one or both risk saving to use it in their second match, knowing that the ingredients might be even harder to make work with the awkward ingredient: Celestial Wrestler?
Last edited:
Allright - there are sometime its just time to call something done, post it, and go to bed. Now is one of those times.
Winter Iron DM 2004 Tourney
Final Round – First Match-Up: Enkhidu vs carpedavid
The Ingredients:
The Edge of the World
Elven Ship
Blood Moon
Tarrasque Eggs
Fire Newts
Despair
The Adventure:
City on the Edge
Adventure Notes:
City on the Edge is a very big adventure that involves a sea voyage, a long lost civilization, and (possibly) the end of the world. Because of its size, scope, and subject matter, it is suitable for high level play.
Special Note to DMs: This adventure, as written, assumes that the “Edge of the World” is a literal edge of the world. If you have determined that your campaign does not have a “flat earth,” you can still use this adventure with a few modifications. Those modifications will be listed in italics and in red at appropriate parts in the text.
Synopsis
The PCs will travel into unknown waters to the edge of the world, only to find that a terrible beast set to guard a gate between worlds is dying and they must install a new guardian.
General Background
The earth will shake, and this shall be the first sign.
And the skies will darken, and this shall be the second sign.
And the moon will bleed, and it will be the third sign.
And the world will bleed as the moon.
…rhyme told to the young in the nests of S’sura
For ages, the world has been under threat of invasion by fiends. For equal ages, the folk of the city of S’sura barred their way, defending a permanent rift in time and space between this reality and the fiends’ reality with wits, steel, and magic. But folk grew tired of their endless war, and in the height of their power bred a great Beast to serve as a guardian for the gate. Their tactic proved to be effective – too effective.
When the folk of S’sura were no longer in a perpetual state of war, they began to decline. They became more and more decadent, warring among themselves as if they could not imagine an existence without blood and death, and descended into barbarity.
The S’surans, the Beast, and S’suran Magic.
The S’surans, actually a race of once extremely advanced Fire Newts, were at the height of their power able to break the long stalemate with their fiendish foes by creating a creature of great and terrible power. This creature, known only as “the Beast” in their more mundane writings was then bound to an island that the S’suran’s moved by magic to its present location over the Edge of the World. As an alternative, DMs may simply state that the S’surans used their considerable power to create something very much like the edge of the world, a nearly bottomless pit that creates a continual waterfall effect around the Beast’s island.
However, the Beast is not the S’surans only legacy: the city of S’sura still stands intact, if buried beneath a carpet of vines, moss, and other tropical plants. In addition, they left whole libraries of embossed metal cylinders, artwork of all sorts, and numerous magical items left by its former inhabitants.
The greatest achievement of the S’surans, however, is neither their city nor the Beast, but instead the Isle of the Beast.
Isle of the Beast: The Isle of the Beast is not only the home of the Beast and the gate between worlds, but is itself heavily magicked. The island is protected by a powerful dimensional lock that encompasses the whole of the island; it is likewise proofed against scrying (both effects are epic in nature for the purposes of SR). At the center of the island is the gate, and the Beast roams the whole island, killing and eating everything that moves.
NPCs
Captain Laurelindalir: Elven Seadog
Laurelindalir is quite possibly one of the most (in)famous pirates the world has ever known. As a result of her generations of depredations up and down the coast she is the most hated enemy of the Empire. For the same reason, she is one of the greatest heroes of the elves that have fended off advances of the Empire for two centuries.
Over her many years, the captain has grown familiar with the Sisterhood of the Moon. As such, when she was approached by one of their number to captain a vessel headed to the very edge of the world, she not only accepted, she used her considerable influence in the Elven Court to supply a ship worthy of the voyage: the Seeker.
The Seeker: This Elven Ship was not so much built as grown. She is a large magical ship more than capable of staying at sea for months at a time. Her living timbers still grow leaves and bear fruit, and at sea she more resembles a moving hill topped by a copse of trees than a ship.
The DM may wish to further detail this ship and her crew, as the PCs may end up spending a great deal of time on board as they travel to the world’s edge.
Jarlena and the Sisterhood of the Moon:
The Sisterhood of the Moon is an all female group of adventurers founded by Jarlena of Den, a highly respected wizard. The Sisters are a well known and loved company, their adventures often revolve around expanding frontiers. Their latest expedition (taken at the behest of Jarlena herself) to see the ends of the earth is fully in character for the group.
Unbeknownst to the rest of the group, Jarlena has ties to the End of Despair, a fashionable, if somewhat gauche, cult currently popular among the wealthy and bored. Ostensibly, the cult is concerned with bringing about the end of the world in order to end all suffering, but few take them seriously. Jarlena, however, has bought into the cult wholesale. As such, when she found evidence of a way to end the world (with the death of a guardian at the edge of the world, she decided to see it for herself, and assist if possible.
Jarlena is always somber and melancholy. She has been so since her husband and child died at the hands of a rival. It was her grief and despair that drove her to join with her nihilistic cult, and her despair is what drives her to think – in her disturbed state – that to save the world from a life full of grief she must destroy it.
Jarlena has enchanted a number of magical pendants for the Sisterhood that bestow certain minor benefits. However, along with the benefits the pendants bestow, they also allow Jarlena to attempt to dominate the wearer one time. She put these in as a fail safe to ensure that her sisters stay loyal to her.
Nasir and the S’surans: Fire Newt barbarian chief and tribe
Nasir is the leader of what is left of the S’surans. While he is not very intelligent, he is cunning and shrewd; like many of his race his is also full of anger and spite. He is distrustful of outsiders, and may well order an attack if he feels threatened.
For generations, the remnants of the S’surans have generally avoided the homes of their ancestors. However, they also regard it as holy, and gather in one of the city’s outlying buildings (in what they call the Temple of the Stones) once each year to worship the Beast and weep for their lost heritage.
The only real thing that Nasir and his people know about the Beast (other than what they could gather from the murals and mosaics in the ruins of S’sura) is the rhyme (above) that mark the death of the Beast.
The Beast: Tarrasque
The Beast is unbelievably powerful. It is also unbelievably old, and it is dying. Luckily, the S’surans foresaw that the Beast might die and created an “early warning system”: when the Beast dies the Blood Moon will rise and one of the Beast’s replacements will awaken.
Adventure Hooks
DMs wishing to introduce this adventure to their PCs could do it in one of a number of ways:
-If the PCs are familiar with the Sisterhood of the Moon, then they might be approached to accompany the Sisters on their journey. This is especially true if at least one PC is female. Likewise, a friendly relation with the captain will secure an invitation. Alternately, since the Elven Court is financing this expedition, the elven nobility might ask the PCs to accompany the Seeker on its voyage to protect their investment.
-The PCs, during research for other information, might run across oblique evidence of S’sura, the Beast, and the gate. Enough information might set the PCs on a road to the edge of the world, and give them incentive to join the expedition. Note that in this hook that Jarlena will likely have gained the same information as the PCs – possibly because the PCs shared that information with Jarlena or one of her associates. In that case, the PCs will actually be the ones “responsible” for the expedition in the first place.
In any event, in order to follow events in the adventure, the PCs should join with the crew of the Seeker in order to reach the edge of the world.
Locations
-On Board the Seeker
This is the most open ended portion of the adventure. Encounters with sea monsters, run-ins with pirate hunters, and raids by sahuagin are suggested in any combination. Likewise, this is a good chance for the PCs to explore kingdoms of mermen and sunken shipwrecks (complete with sharks and giant octopi).
-The Archipelago
After two months of travel (following coordinates supplies by Jarlena), the Seeker will sight land. The Archipelago consists of a number of smaller islands and one large island (think Hawaii or a similar island chain). For the most part, the smaller islands will be uninhabited except for the native fauna, though the DM is encouraged to add outposts, observation platforms, and other structures from the heyday of S’sura . If the DM wishes, the first contact with Nasir’s fire newts can happen among the smaller islands. If first contact is violent, then the newts will fight as long as possible, and then flee in swift outrigger canoes (a canoe-to-lifeboat battle might be interesting!).
-S’sura
The PCs should eventually make it to shore on the main island. If they do, they will likely do so with at least some of the Sisters in tow. On inspection, several things will quickly become apparent:
*The island once housed a huge city of stone and gold full of tall building, ziggurats, and temples, and even though it is overgrown it is largely intact (as reference, the “ruins” of S’sura look much like present day Machu Pichu). The buildings are covered with mosaics, murals, and sculpture, as well as a difficult to decipher hieroglyphic script.
*The mosaics and murals tell (with enough time spent deciphering the images and their arcane scripts) a number of stories. If the PCs spend the time to scour over enough of the images, they should be able to piece together the high points of S’suran history (referenced in the Background, above).
*While most of the buildings in the ruins have been neglected, a plaza to the northwest of the city proper has been cleared for use by Nasir and his people.
*On the eastern shore of the island (which is also the next to easternmost piece of land in the island chain) is another cleared area that is open to the shore. In this clearing is an immense building – the Temple of the Stones referenced above - that contains a trio of huge (15’ high) spherical stones, and on the shore are two menhirs , each with a thin but very strong adamantine chain attached firmly to the stone and trailing off into the sea. Murals in the building depict the voyage of one of these stones across the sea on a barge-like vessel using the menhir chains as guides. The murals do not show the end of the voyage, though unlike other murals in the city this one depicts rays of light from a red moon bathing the stone on its journey.
The 15’ high stones are actually Tarrasque Eggs, and were left by the ancient S’surans to replace the current guardian. The Stones, the menhirs, and the surrounding grounds are holy to the S’sura.
-Isle of the Beast
The Isle of the Beast is the easternmost land mass before the edge of the world, and lies about two miles directly east of S’sura’s main island. As water nears the island and the edge of the world, the water speeds up and eventually resembles a huge river on its way toward a waterfall. At the island, it becomes exactly that, as the water literally falls off the edge of the world. However, the thin (20’) lane of water between the two adamantine chains connected to the menhirs on the main island remains calm. At DMs discretion, instead of the chains providing an area of calm water in the midst of a rushing current, the chains can instead contain an area of water that crosses the empty space around the island. This will be a 20’ wide “alleyway” of water. The chains attach to identical menhirs on the Isle of the Beast. The island itself is covered with thick jungle marked with crude “paths” of knocked over trees.
Event Timeline
Once the PCs reach S’sura, a timeline will be set running. This is that timeline, as well as important NPC reactions to that timeline.
-The first day PCs set foot on land, there will be an earthquake. This is the first sign of the death of the Beast, who is in its death throes.
-Two days after the earthquake, dark clouds will obscure the sky. Observant PCs might notice that they come from the east, seemingly from beyond the edge of the earth. This is the Beast letting out its last breath. Nasir’s tribe will at this point be mad with fear and dread as they wait the final sign of the apocalypse. Jarlena, however, assuming she has collected enough information to know that the end of the world is nigh, will be very interested. Astute and knowledgeable PCs (ones with both appropriate Religion and Spot skills, or similar skills) will notice that she immediately changes her routine and attire to match the mourning rituals of Den. Those close to her will notice that she seems to have given herself wholly over to Despair.
-On the fifth night after the earthquake, the sky will clear and the Blood Moon will rise. In response, the Tarrasque Eggs will begin to weep blood. This is the third sign of the Beasts death, and the vehicle for the birth of the Beast’s replacement. If one of the stones is brought out into the clearing and the light of the moon hits it, the stone will crack and the egg will begin to hatch – the hatching will take about 3 days to finish. The Blood Moon will remain in the sky every night for one week, after which it will revert to it’s normal appearance and the chance for the Beast to be reborn is lost.
-One week after the earthquake, the first fiends will begin coming through the gate. Initially they will only be scouts, but if the fiends get a chance to report back the vanguard of a fiend army will begin making its way through the rift two weeks after the Beast dies.
Assistance and Betrayal
Assuming that the PCs reach the island, find the Tarrasque Eggs, and figure out that they will need to bring an egg across the chain bordered channel, they will have quite a task on their hands. However, if they approach Nasir properly, they S’surans would be of great help in moving the stones and constructing the necessary rafts and barges to carry them. If the PCs end up hatching the stone early (before they deliver it to the Isle of the Beast) they might have an even bigger problem on their hands, as a baby tarrasque goes on a rampage for food as soon as it comes out of its shell.
Even worse, if the PCs do finally get the stone moving across the chained in channel, they will have Jarlena (who realizes that the world that she wants to desperately to see destroyed might just be saved) to worry about. Halfway through the trip across the channel, the wizard will attack, seeking first to find a way to dump the stone and second to nullify any resistance from the PCs – worst, she will use the dominate ability of the Sisterhood’s pendants to take control of as many of the sisters as she can to fight against the PC. This should be a very dangerous fight – the space will be cramped and those tossed into the water may just be swept over the edge of the world, and Jarlena and the dominated sisters will ask for and give nor quarter.
Aftermath
After the PCs manage to deliver the baby tarrasque to the isle, their task is not yet over, as it will take about a day for the new Beast to bond with the island, grow magically to its full size, and hold its own against the fiends again. Devious RBDMs may find ways to convince the PCs that they must stay on the island long enough to ensure that the Beast is capable of taking its duties, which will likely involve the PCs protecting the new Beast from fiends bent on destroying it while they try not to become tarrasque kibble themselves.
********
Quick Ingredient Recap:
The Edge of the World: The location of S’sura, the gate, and the Beast
Elven Ship: The still living ship, the Seeker
Blood Moon: The sign that the Beast is dead, its light hatches the new Beast
Tarrasque Eggs: Replacements for the Beast. One will hatch when struck by the light of the Blood Moon
Fire Newts: The S’surans, once an advanced magical society, now a race stuck in barbarism
Despair: Jarlena’s motivation to end the world and the cause for her betrayal
Winter Iron DM 2004 Tourney
Final Round – First Match-Up: Enkhidu vs carpedavid
The Ingredients:
The Edge of the World
Elven Ship
Blood Moon
Tarrasque Eggs
Fire Newts
Despair
The Adventure:
City on the Edge
Adventure Notes:
City on the Edge is a very big adventure that involves a sea voyage, a long lost civilization, and (possibly) the end of the world. Because of its size, scope, and subject matter, it is suitable for high level play.
Special Note to DMs: This adventure, as written, assumes that the “Edge of the World” is a literal edge of the world. If you have determined that your campaign does not have a “flat earth,” you can still use this adventure with a few modifications. Those modifications will be listed in italics and in red at appropriate parts in the text.
Synopsis
The PCs will travel into unknown waters to the edge of the world, only to find that a terrible beast set to guard a gate between worlds is dying and they must install a new guardian.
General Background
The earth will shake, and this shall be the first sign.
And the skies will darken, and this shall be the second sign.
And the moon will bleed, and it will be the third sign.
And the world will bleed as the moon.
…rhyme told to the young in the nests of S’sura
For ages, the world has been under threat of invasion by fiends. For equal ages, the folk of the city of S’sura barred their way, defending a permanent rift in time and space between this reality and the fiends’ reality with wits, steel, and magic. But folk grew tired of their endless war, and in the height of their power bred a great Beast to serve as a guardian for the gate. Their tactic proved to be effective – too effective.
When the folk of S’sura were no longer in a perpetual state of war, they began to decline. They became more and more decadent, warring among themselves as if they could not imagine an existence without blood and death, and descended into barbarity.
The S’surans, the Beast, and S’suran Magic.
The S’surans, actually a race of once extremely advanced Fire Newts, were at the height of their power able to break the long stalemate with their fiendish foes by creating a creature of great and terrible power. This creature, known only as “the Beast” in their more mundane writings was then bound to an island that the S’suran’s moved by magic to its present location over the Edge of the World. As an alternative, DMs may simply state that the S’surans used their considerable power to create something very much like the edge of the world, a nearly bottomless pit that creates a continual waterfall effect around the Beast’s island.
However, the Beast is not the S’surans only legacy: the city of S’sura still stands intact, if buried beneath a carpet of vines, moss, and other tropical plants. In addition, they left whole libraries of embossed metal cylinders, artwork of all sorts, and numerous magical items left by its former inhabitants.
The greatest achievement of the S’surans, however, is neither their city nor the Beast, but instead the Isle of the Beast.
Isle of the Beast: The Isle of the Beast is not only the home of the Beast and the gate between worlds, but is itself heavily magicked. The island is protected by a powerful dimensional lock that encompasses the whole of the island; it is likewise proofed against scrying (both effects are epic in nature for the purposes of SR). At the center of the island is the gate, and the Beast roams the whole island, killing and eating everything that moves.
NPCs
Captain Laurelindalir: Elven Seadog
Laurelindalir is quite possibly one of the most (in)famous pirates the world has ever known. As a result of her generations of depredations up and down the coast she is the most hated enemy of the Empire. For the same reason, she is one of the greatest heroes of the elves that have fended off advances of the Empire for two centuries.
Over her many years, the captain has grown familiar with the Sisterhood of the Moon. As such, when she was approached by one of their number to captain a vessel headed to the very edge of the world, she not only accepted, she used her considerable influence in the Elven Court to supply a ship worthy of the voyage: the Seeker.
The Seeker: This Elven Ship was not so much built as grown. She is a large magical ship more than capable of staying at sea for months at a time. Her living timbers still grow leaves and bear fruit, and at sea she more resembles a moving hill topped by a copse of trees than a ship.
The DM may wish to further detail this ship and her crew, as the PCs may end up spending a great deal of time on board as they travel to the world’s edge.
Jarlena and the Sisterhood of the Moon:
The Sisterhood of the Moon is an all female group of adventurers founded by Jarlena of Den, a highly respected wizard. The Sisters are a well known and loved company, their adventures often revolve around expanding frontiers. Their latest expedition (taken at the behest of Jarlena herself) to see the ends of the earth is fully in character for the group.
Unbeknownst to the rest of the group, Jarlena has ties to the End of Despair, a fashionable, if somewhat gauche, cult currently popular among the wealthy and bored. Ostensibly, the cult is concerned with bringing about the end of the world in order to end all suffering, but few take them seriously. Jarlena, however, has bought into the cult wholesale. As such, when she found evidence of a way to end the world (with the death of a guardian at the edge of the world, she decided to see it for herself, and assist if possible.
Jarlena is always somber and melancholy. She has been so since her husband and child died at the hands of a rival. It was her grief and despair that drove her to join with her nihilistic cult, and her despair is what drives her to think – in her disturbed state – that to save the world from a life full of grief she must destroy it.
Jarlena has enchanted a number of magical pendants for the Sisterhood that bestow certain minor benefits. However, along with the benefits the pendants bestow, they also allow Jarlena to attempt to dominate the wearer one time. She put these in as a fail safe to ensure that her sisters stay loyal to her.
Nasir and the S’surans: Fire Newt barbarian chief and tribe
Nasir is the leader of what is left of the S’surans. While he is not very intelligent, he is cunning and shrewd; like many of his race his is also full of anger and spite. He is distrustful of outsiders, and may well order an attack if he feels threatened.
For generations, the remnants of the S’surans have generally avoided the homes of their ancestors. However, they also regard it as holy, and gather in one of the city’s outlying buildings (in what they call the Temple of the Stones) once each year to worship the Beast and weep for their lost heritage.
The only real thing that Nasir and his people know about the Beast (other than what they could gather from the murals and mosaics in the ruins of S’sura) is the rhyme (above) that mark the death of the Beast.
The Beast: Tarrasque
The Beast is unbelievably powerful. It is also unbelievably old, and it is dying. Luckily, the S’surans foresaw that the Beast might die and created an “early warning system”: when the Beast dies the Blood Moon will rise and one of the Beast’s replacements will awaken.
Adventure Hooks
DMs wishing to introduce this adventure to their PCs could do it in one of a number of ways:
-If the PCs are familiar with the Sisterhood of the Moon, then they might be approached to accompany the Sisters on their journey. This is especially true if at least one PC is female. Likewise, a friendly relation with the captain will secure an invitation. Alternately, since the Elven Court is financing this expedition, the elven nobility might ask the PCs to accompany the Seeker on its voyage to protect their investment.
-The PCs, during research for other information, might run across oblique evidence of S’sura, the Beast, and the gate. Enough information might set the PCs on a road to the edge of the world, and give them incentive to join the expedition. Note that in this hook that Jarlena will likely have gained the same information as the PCs – possibly because the PCs shared that information with Jarlena or one of her associates. In that case, the PCs will actually be the ones “responsible” for the expedition in the first place.
In any event, in order to follow events in the adventure, the PCs should join with the crew of the Seeker in order to reach the edge of the world.
Locations
-On Board the Seeker
This is the most open ended portion of the adventure. Encounters with sea monsters, run-ins with pirate hunters, and raids by sahuagin are suggested in any combination. Likewise, this is a good chance for the PCs to explore kingdoms of mermen and sunken shipwrecks (complete with sharks and giant octopi).
-The Archipelago
After two months of travel (following coordinates supplies by Jarlena), the Seeker will sight land. The Archipelago consists of a number of smaller islands and one large island (think Hawaii or a similar island chain). For the most part, the smaller islands will be uninhabited except for the native fauna, though the DM is encouraged to add outposts, observation platforms, and other structures from the heyday of S’sura . If the DM wishes, the first contact with Nasir’s fire newts can happen among the smaller islands. If first contact is violent, then the newts will fight as long as possible, and then flee in swift outrigger canoes (a canoe-to-lifeboat battle might be interesting!).
-S’sura
The PCs should eventually make it to shore on the main island. If they do, they will likely do so with at least some of the Sisters in tow. On inspection, several things will quickly become apparent:
*The island once housed a huge city of stone and gold full of tall building, ziggurats, and temples, and even though it is overgrown it is largely intact (as reference, the “ruins” of S’sura look much like present day Machu Pichu). The buildings are covered with mosaics, murals, and sculpture, as well as a difficult to decipher hieroglyphic script.
*The mosaics and murals tell (with enough time spent deciphering the images and their arcane scripts) a number of stories. If the PCs spend the time to scour over enough of the images, they should be able to piece together the high points of S’suran history (referenced in the Background, above).
*While most of the buildings in the ruins have been neglected, a plaza to the northwest of the city proper has been cleared for use by Nasir and his people.
*On the eastern shore of the island (which is also the next to easternmost piece of land in the island chain) is another cleared area that is open to the shore. In this clearing is an immense building – the Temple of the Stones referenced above - that contains a trio of huge (15’ high) spherical stones, and on the shore are two menhirs , each with a thin but very strong adamantine chain attached firmly to the stone and trailing off into the sea. Murals in the building depict the voyage of one of these stones across the sea on a barge-like vessel using the menhir chains as guides. The murals do not show the end of the voyage, though unlike other murals in the city this one depicts rays of light from a red moon bathing the stone on its journey.
The 15’ high stones are actually Tarrasque Eggs, and were left by the ancient S’surans to replace the current guardian. The Stones, the menhirs, and the surrounding grounds are holy to the S’sura.
-Isle of the Beast
The Isle of the Beast is the easternmost land mass before the edge of the world, and lies about two miles directly east of S’sura’s main island. As water nears the island and the edge of the world, the water speeds up and eventually resembles a huge river on its way toward a waterfall. At the island, it becomes exactly that, as the water literally falls off the edge of the world. However, the thin (20’) lane of water between the two adamantine chains connected to the menhirs on the main island remains calm. At DMs discretion, instead of the chains providing an area of calm water in the midst of a rushing current, the chains can instead contain an area of water that crosses the empty space around the island. This will be a 20’ wide “alleyway” of water. The chains attach to identical menhirs on the Isle of the Beast. The island itself is covered with thick jungle marked with crude “paths” of knocked over trees.
Event Timeline
Once the PCs reach S’sura, a timeline will be set running. This is that timeline, as well as important NPC reactions to that timeline.
-The first day PCs set foot on land, there will be an earthquake. This is the first sign of the death of the Beast, who is in its death throes.
-Two days after the earthquake, dark clouds will obscure the sky. Observant PCs might notice that they come from the east, seemingly from beyond the edge of the earth. This is the Beast letting out its last breath. Nasir’s tribe will at this point be mad with fear and dread as they wait the final sign of the apocalypse. Jarlena, however, assuming she has collected enough information to know that the end of the world is nigh, will be very interested. Astute and knowledgeable PCs (ones with both appropriate Religion and Spot skills, or similar skills) will notice that she immediately changes her routine and attire to match the mourning rituals of Den. Those close to her will notice that she seems to have given herself wholly over to Despair.
-On the fifth night after the earthquake, the sky will clear and the Blood Moon will rise. In response, the Tarrasque Eggs will begin to weep blood. This is the third sign of the Beasts death, and the vehicle for the birth of the Beast’s replacement. If one of the stones is brought out into the clearing and the light of the moon hits it, the stone will crack and the egg will begin to hatch – the hatching will take about 3 days to finish. The Blood Moon will remain in the sky every night for one week, after which it will revert to it’s normal appearance and the chance for the Beast to be reborn is lost.
-One week after the earthquake, the first fiends will begin coming through the gate. Initially they will only be scouts, but if the fiends get a chance to report back the vanguard of a fiend army will begin making its way through the rift two weeks after the Beast dies.
Assistance and Betrayal
Assuming that the PCs reach the island, find the Tarrasque Eggs, and figure out that they will need to bring an egg across the chain bordered channel, they will have quite a task on their hands. However, if they approach Nasir properly, they S’surans would be of great help in moving the stones and constructing the necessary rafts and barges to carry them. If the PCs end up hatching the stone early (before they deliver it to the Isle of the Beast) they might have an even bigger problem on their hands, as a baby tarrasque goes on a rampage for food as soon as it comes out of its shell.
Even worse, if the PCs do finally get the stone moving across the chained in channel, they will have Jarlena (who realizes that the world that she wants to desperately to see destroyed might just be saved) to worry about. Halfway through the trip across the channel, the wizard will attack, seeking first to find a way to dump the stone and second to nullify any resistance from the PCs – worst, she will use the dominate ability of the Sisterhood’s pendants to take control of as many of the sisters as she can to fight against the PC. This should be a very dangerous fight – the space will be cramped and those tossed into the water may just be swept over the edge of the world, and Jarlena and the dominated sisters will ask for and give nor quarter.
Aftermath
After the PCs manage to deliver the baby tarrasque to the isle, their task is not yet over, as it will take about a day for the new Beast to bond with the island, grow magically to its full size, and hold its own against the fiends again. Devious RBDMs may find ways to convince the PCs that they must stay on the island long enough to ensure that the Beast is capable of taking its duties, which will likely involve the PCs protecting the new Beast from fiends bent on destroying it while they try not to become tarrasque kibble themselves.
********
Quick Ingredient Recap:
The Edge of the World: The location of S’sura, the gate, and the Beast
Elven Ship: The still living ship, the Seeker
Blood Moon: The sign that the Beast is dead, its light hatches the new Beast
Tarrasque Eggs: Replacements for the Beast. One will hatch when struck by the light of the Blood Moon
Fire Newts: The S’surans, once an advanced magical society, now a race stuck in barbarism
Despair: Jarlena’s motivation to end the world and the cause for her betrayal
carpedavid
First Post
Final Round - First Match-Up: Enkhidu vs. CarpeDavid
Ingredients
-----------------
The Edge of the World
Elven Ship
Blood Moon
Tarrasque Eggs
Fire Newts
Despair
When Elaliulu, the Lord of the Sea and creator of all, cast down his brother, Innulu, the Lord of Flame and devourer of all, he cleft the ocean in two and sent the defeated god's molten body hurtling into the abyss. A great mountain of smoke and fire marks the spot of the destroyer's prison, and it is as awesome to behold as it is terrible.
…
When the moon shines red once, the seeds of the devourer will be sown. When it runs red twice, Innulu's children will awaken, and the world will be no longer.
Beyond the Sea
An adventure for medium to high-level PCs.
Every few hundred years, on the Isle of Fire, a clutch of tarrasque eggs is created by the imprisoned sprit of the fire god Innulu, in an attempt to destroy the world. For as long as history has been recorded, the elven kingdom of Amalara has sent its armada to destroy the eggs before they have had a chance to hatch.
Fifty years ago, though, Amalara went to war with the dwarven kingdom of Ironhelm, and their armadas are currently engaged in battle with each other. King Kilithia of Amalara has no choice, then, but to turn to a group of adventurers to complete the epic journey instead.
This is a fairly straightforward adventure, with not much intrigue, but lots of opportunity for cinematic combat and problem solving. Ideally, the group should consist mostly of elves and humans, but it is possible to run it with a group comprised of mostly of dwarves (see hooks section, below).
NPCs
Kilithia of Amalara - king of Amalara. At 950, he is a slight wisp of his former self. He used to be a charismatic leader, beloved by his people, but now his breath comes weakly, and his will is no longer strong. While he is still responsible for establishing he policies of the kingdom, his son, Prince Jesia, handles the daily administration.
Jesia of Amalara - prince of Amalara. Jesia is a headstrong, but not terribly bright. He is a competent administrator, but does not inspire the type of loyalty that his father does.
Macidus - captain of the Siralumu. Macidus is young, brash, and bold, having received his commission in the king's navy through political means (his father is a duke in the king's court). He is willing to take risks that his crew does not always approve of, but has thus far managed to avoid catastrophe. He believes that the successful completion of this mission may earn him an admiralty, and may be willing to sacrifice some of his crew for possible glory.
Roan - first mate of the Siralumu. Mean and loud, Roan takes no pity on his crew. He administers all of the punishment aboard the ship himself, and takes some amount of pride in the fear that he inspires. He does not trust the captain, believing that his inexperience and risk taking will get the crew killed. If things get rough, he is not above trying to seize power for himself, and is likely to be able to intimidate the crew into following him into mutiny.
Gilius Ironhelm - king of Ironhelm. He believes that the tarrasque eggs might be of use militarily, and has assembled his own group of adventurers to retrieve them before the elves destroy them.
Aarugash Stonecutter - dwarven captain of the Windrider. He is cunning, but reserved, preferring to let opponents trip themselves up, then swoop in for the kill. He treats his crew with respect, but is careful to always maintain his distance.
Hooks
Depending on the racial composition, and/or political alliances, the PCs may be contacted by either the elven or dwarven rulers.
1. King Kilithia believes adamantly in the necessity of the journey to destroy the tarrasque eggs, and will give the PCs his own personal ship, the Siralumu for the duration of the journey. He will provide them with a crew, and can offer wealth and title if they return successfully.
2. If the PCs are dwarves, or aligned with the dwarven kingdom, they may be contacted by King Ironhelm or someone in his court. The offer is much the same as that of the elven king: a boat (the Windrider), a crew, and lots of gold and land upon a successful return.
Regardless of which banner the PCs adventure under, the obstacles they face will be nearly identical, likely including having to face the other party.
Encounters
The appearance of the blood moon in the sky above Amalara signals the appearance of the tarrasque eggs on the Isle of Fire. From that day, the PCs have 60 days until the blood moon shines again, at which point the tarrasque eggs hatch. A successful DC 20 Bardic Knowledge, Knowledge (Religion), or Knowledge (Arcana) check will reveal that this timeline has been consistent throughout recorded history.
A successful DC 25 check will give the PCs some idea of what they're in for: a basic description of the edge of the world and the Isle of Fire.
From port, the journey to the Isle of Fire takes approximately 20 days under full sail.
1. The Kraken Sea - Five days from port is an area of the ocean known as the Kraken Sea. The giant squid commonly attack ships as they sail through these turbulent waters. Each day spent crossing this section of ocean (it takes 10 under normal circumstances) sees a 50% chance of being attacked by a kraken. The PCs can use their own abilities to fight off the creatures or may take command of the ship's ballistae to aid the crew.
In addition to the monstrous obstacles, the Kraken Sea is notorious for its storms. Huge waves will toss the ship to and fro, necessitating many Balance and Rope Use checks, as the PCs help the crew secure the boat. If any character has Profession (Sailor) as a skill, he may substitute that skill instead.
If the combination of kraken attacks and storms results in the loss of 20% or more of the crew, whether through misfortune or PC inaction, Roan, the first mate, may attempt to rally the crew to mutiny.
2. The Edge of the World - Upon emerging from the Kraken Sea, it is five days to the cleft in the ocean that the sea god, Elaliulu, rendered when he smote his brother. 2,000-foot-high cliffs tower over an expanse 10 miles wide. The roar from waters of the ocean as they spill over the edge and race into abyss below is deafening. From this point on, it will take a Listen (DC +20) check to understand any attempt at verbal communication.
A giant stone outcropping hangs over the edge of the cleft, and this is where the ships will moor. The PCs now need to find a way to travel from the moored ship to the Isle of Fire. The journey over the edge is not as easy as it looks. The Isle itself is 5 miles across and sits squarely in the middle of the cleft. The water between the cliffs and the isle is far too turbulent to allow a ship to cross, let alone swim.
Arrowhawks make their nests on the various stone outcroppings along the edge, and will attack any creature they see flying through their territory. Additionally, a flight of huge wyverns inhabits the Isle of Fire, and will make their presence known as the PCs draw near.
3. The Isle of Fire - This giant volcanic island is in a constant state of flux. The continuously active volcano rebuilds and reshapes the island, even as sections are broken off by turbulent waters and carried to the depths. Other than pockets of vegetation that sit at the base of the volcano, the island is devoid of mundane life.
The corrupting influence of Innulu's body permeates the Isle of Fire, however. The raw magical and physical energy in this area prevents teleportation magic from functioning, and all fire-based magic is considered maximized when cast on the island. The island also presents the following obstacles:
A family of salamanders and fire newts infest the island, living off of the lava and cinders produced by the volcano. They are loyal to Innulu's sprit, which communicates with them in ghostly portents and visions, and will act as defenders of the tarrasque eggs when the PCs approach.
An active volcano is an incredibly dangerous place, with steam vents, landslides, lava flows, and poison gas acting as natural traps.
The most dangerous feature of the island though, is the result of the fire god's sprit having had an eternity to reflect on his imprisonment. A palpable aura of despair infects any creature that visits the island. For every hour spent on the island, a visitor must make a Will save (DC 20) or lose 1d4 points of wisdom and become fatigued. As the visitor's wisdom is drained by the island, he will become despondent and grief-stricken, in sympathy with the imprisoned god.
4. Cave of the Devourer - Halfway up the side of the volcano is the entrance to the cavern where the tarrasque eggs were created by Innulu. The eggs themselves are 10 ft wide and weigh well over a ton, and there are 2d4 of them. The thick, leathery shells share the same qualities as the tarrasque's carapace, including the damage reduction and spell resistance. They do not otherwise possess any of the other immunities of a tarrasque, nor do they possess the regenerative abilities.
If Captain Macidus is present with the party, he will suggest that they could bring glory to the kingdom and possibly aid in the war with the dwarves by bringing back an intact egg.
Resolution
There are several possible resolutions:
1. The PCs make it to the eggs before the opposing group, and destroy them.
2. The PCs make it to the eggs at around the same time as the opposing group, and then have to battle them to determine the fate of the eggs.
3. The opposing group makes it to the eggs first, and takes an egg back with them. In this case, the PCs will likely have to chase the group down, to destroy it before the second blood moon.
Ingredient Recap
The Edge of the World - the cleft in the ocean where the sea god imprisoned the god of fire.
Elven Ship - the Siralumu, which carries the PCs to the Edge of the World
Blood Moon - both an omen and a timeline, the blood moon signals the arrival of the tarrasque eggs
Tarrasque Eggs - Innulu's children, an attempt by the imprisoned god of destruction to wreak havoc on the world
Fire Newts - inhabitants of the Isle of Fire, where Innulu rests
Despair - the imprisoned god's primary emotion. It is strong enough to affect those that set foot on the island
Ingredients
-----------------
The Edge of the World
Elven Ship
Blood Moon
Tarrasque Eggs
Fire Newts
Despair
When Elaliulu, the Lord of the Sea and creator of all, cast down his brother, Innulu, the Lord of Flame and devourer of all, he cleft the ocean in two and sent the defeated god's molten body hurtling into the abyss. A great mountain of smoke and fire marks the spot of the destroyer's prison, and it is as awesome to behold as it is terrible.
…
When the moon shines red once, the seeds of the devourer will be sown. When it runs red twice, Innulu's children will awaken, and the world will be no longer.
From the Elven Book of Wisdom
Beyond the Sea
An adventure for medium to high-level PCs.
Every few hundred years, on the Isle of Fire, a clutch of tarrasque eggs is created by the imprisoned sprit of the fire god Innulu, in an attempt to destroy the world. For as long as history has been recorded, the elven kingdom of Amalara has sent its armada to destroy the eggs before they have had a chance to hatch.
Fifty years ago, though, Amalara went to war with the dwarven kingdom of Ironhelm, and their armadas are currently engaged in battle with each other. King Kilithia of Amalara has no choice, then, but to turn to a group of adventurers to complete the epic journey instead.
This is a fairly straightforward adventure, with not much intrigue, but lots of opportunity for cinematic combat and problem solving. Ideally, the group should consist mostly of elves and humans, but it is possible to run it with a group comprised of mostly of dwarves (see hooks section, below).
NPCs
Kilithia of Amalara - king of Amalara. At 950, he is a slight wisp of his former self. He used to be a charismatic leader, beloved by his people, but now his breath comes weakly, and his will is no longer strong. While he is still responsible for establishing he policies of the kingdom, his son, Prince Jesia, handles the daily administration.
Jesia of Amalara - prince of Amalara. Jesia is a headstrong, but not terribly bright. He is a competent administrator, but does not inspire the type of loyalty that his father does.
Macidus - captain of the Siralumu. Macidus is young, brash, and bold, having received his commission in the king's navy through political means (his father is a duke in the king's court). He is willing to take risks that his crew does not always approve of, but has thus far managed to avoid catastrophe. He believes that the successful completion of this mission may earn him an admiralty, and may be willing to sacrifice some of his crew for possible glory.
Roan - first mate of the Siralumu. Mean and loud, Roan takes no pity on his crew. He administers all of the punishment aboard the ship himself, and takes some amount of pride in the fear that he inspires. He does not trust the captain, believing that his inexperience and risk taking will get the crew killed. If things get rough, he is not above trying to seize power for himself, and is likely to be able to intimidate the crew into following him into mutiny.
Gilius Ironhelm - king of Ironhelm. He believes that the tarrasque eggs might be of use militarily, and has assembled his own group of adventurers to retrieve them before the elves destroy them.
Aarugash Stonecutter - dwarven captain of the Windrider. He is cunning, but reserved, preferring to let opponents trip themselves up, then swoop in for the kill. He treats his crew with respect, but is careful to always maintain his distance.
Hooks
Depending on the racial composition, and/or political alliances, the PCs may be contacted by either the elven or dwarven rulers.
1. King Kilithia believes adamantly in the necessity of the journey to destroy the tarrasque eggs, and will give the PCs his own personal ship, the Siralumu for the duration of the journey. He will provide them with a crew, and can offer wealth and title if they return successfully.
2. If the PCs are dwarves, or aligned with the dwarven kingdom, they may be contacted by King Ironhelm or someone in his court. The offer is much the same as that of the elven king: a boat (the Windrider), a crew, and lots of gold and land upon a successful return.
Regardless of which banner the PCs adventure under, the obstacles they face will be nearly identical, likely including having to face the other party.
Encounters
The appearance of the blood moon in the sky above Amalara signals the appearance of the tarrasque eggs on the Isle of Fire. From that day, the PCs have 60 days until the blood moon shines again, at which point the tarrasque eggs hatch. A successful DC 20 Bardic Knowledge, Knowledge (Religion), or Knowledge (Arcana) check will reveal that this timeline has been consistent throughout recorded history.
A successful DC 25 check will give the PCs some idea of what they're in for: a basic description of the edge of the world and the Isle of Fire.
From port, the journey to the Isle of Fire takes approximately 20 days under full sail.
1. The Kraken Sea - Five days from port is an area of the ocean known as the Kraken Sea. The giant squid commonly attack ships as they sail through these turbulent waters. Each day spent crossing this section of ocean (it takes 10 under normal circumstances) sees a 50% chance of being attacked by a kraken. The PCs can use their own abilities to fight off the creatures or may take command of the ship's ballistae to aid the crew.
In addition to the monstrous obstacles, the Kraken Sea is notorious for its storms. Huge waves will toss the ship to and fro, necessitating many Balance and Rope Use checks, as the PCs help the crew secure the boat. If any character has Profession (Sailor) as a skill, he may substitute that skill instead.
If the combination of kraken attacks and storms results in the loss of 20% or more of the crew, whether through misfortune or PC inaction, Roan, the first mate, may attempt to rally the crew to mutiny.
2. The Edge of the World - Upon emerging from the Kraken Sea, it is five days to the cleft in the ocean that the sea god, Elaliulu, rendered when he smote his brother. 2,000-foot-high cliffs tower over an expanse 10 miles wide. The roar from waters of the ocean as they spill over the edge and race into abyss below is deafening. From this point on, it will take a Listen (DC +20) check to understand any attempt at verbal communication.
A giant stone outcropping hangs over the edge of the cleft, and this is where the ships will moor. The PCs now need to find a way to travel from the moored ship to the Isle of Fire. The journey over the edge is not as easy as it looks. The Isle itself is 5 miles across and sits squarely in the middle of the cleft. The water between the cliffs and the isle is far too turbulent to allow a ship to cross, let alone swim.
Arrowhawks make their nests on the various stone outcroppings along the edge, and will attack any creature they see flying through their territory. Additionally, a flight of huge wyverns inhabits the Isle of Fire, and will make their presence known as the PCs draw near.
3. The Isle of Fire - This giant volcanic island is in a constant state of flux. The continuously active volcano rebuilds and reshapes the island, even as sections are broken off by turbulent waters and carried to the depths. Other than pockets of vegetation that sit at the base of the volcano, the island is devoid of mundane life.
The corrupting influence of Innulu's body permeates the Isle of Fire, however. The raw magical and physical energy in this area prevents teleportation magic from functioning, and all fire-based magic is considered maximized when cast on the island. The island also presents the following obstacles:
A family of salamanders and fire newts infest the island, living off of the lava and cinders produced by the volcano. They are loyal to Innulu's sprit, which communicates with them in ghostly portents and visions, and will act as defenders of the tarrasque eggs when the PCs approach.
An active volcano is an incredibly dangerous place, with steam vents, landslides, lava flows, and poison gas acting as natural traps.
The most dangerous feature of the island though, is the result of the fire god's sprit having had an eternity to reflect on his imprisonment. A palpable aura of despair infects any creature that visits the island. For every hour spent on the island, a visitor must make a Will save (DC 20) or lose 1d4 points of wisdom and become fatigued. As the visitor's wisdom is drained by the island, he will become despondent and grief-stricken, in sympathy with the imprisoned god.
4. Cave of the Devourer - Halfway up the side of the volcano is the entrance to the cavern where the tarrasque eggs were created by Innulu. The eggs themselves are 10 ft wide and weigh well over a ton, and there are 2d4 of them. The thick, leathery shells share the same qualities as the tarrasque's carapace, including the damage reduction and spell resistance. They do not otherwise possess any of the other immunities of a tarrasque, nor do they possess the regenerative abilities.
If Captain Macidus is present with the party, he will suggest that they could bring glory to the kingdom and possibly aid in the war with the dwarves by bringing back an intact egg.
Resolution
There are several possible resolutions:
1. The PCs make it to the eggs before the opposing group, and destroy them.
2. The PCs make it to the eggs at around the same time as the opposing group, and then have to battle them to determine the fate of the eggs.
3. The opposing group makes it to the eggs first, and takes an egg back with them. In this case, the PCs will likely have to chase the group down, to destroy it before the second blood moon.
Ingredient Recap
The Edge of the World - the cleft in the ocean where the sea god imprisoned the god of fire.
Elven Ship - the Siralumu, which carries the PCs to the Edge of the World
Blood Moon - both an omen and a timeline, the blood moon signals the arrival of the tarrasque eggs
Tarrasque Eggs - Innulu's children, an attempt by the imprisoned god of destruction to wreak havoc on the world
Fire Newts - inhabitants of the Isle of Fire, where Innulu rests
Despair - the imprisoned god's primary emotion. It is strong enough to affect those that set foot on the island
el-remmen
Moderator Emeritus
Final Round– First Match-Up: Enkhidu vs. CarpeDavid
First of all, I have to say that I hate when there is too much time between my having to run these rounds, because I need a certain mindset to the judging, and it is easy to lose enthusiasm if you don’t just keep going – so it is with great inertia that I pick myself up and do this once more.
Secondly, this is another damn close match and even as I write this and having read both entries twice I am not even leaning towards one person or the other winning. . .
So, let’s look at these two entries; first as individuals and then against one another.
Enkhidu’s Entry: City on The Edge is thematically what I expected from these entries, something apocalyptic. Firstly, it was smart of Enkhidu to include a non-flat world option, because aside from Aquerra, I don’t know of any flat world campaign settings. However every time I read the notes for the non-flat world options I could not help but feel cheated, as if by not having a flat world (that is, if I put myself into the shoes of the average DM, and not just in my own shoes) I was missing some of the more awe-inspiring and dramatic elements the adventure had to offer. We’ll examine if that ‘feeling’ holds true as we come upon those ‘red sections’.
And boom! One of those ‘red sections’ comes up right away, Enkhidu’s alternative to an actual ‘edge of the world’ is a place created with powerful magic to appear as if it were the edge of the world. This idea is half-good, but if he had gone a little bit further with it, he might have not only not needed to create separate options, but created an additional hook for the adventure. By placing this purported edge of the world in a very distant place, it could be a place sages argue about – is it truly the edge of the world? A place many explorers could have gone to and never returned from, or that others saw from a distance, but unnerved turned back before they were sucked into the great gulf ship, crew and all. The desire to uncover this mystery, especially for a high level group that may have run out of other challenges might have been used as a hook. It would have also made for a stronger use of the ingredient because the edge of the world itself would have been a mystery to be explored, instead of just seeming like just another place to go, however dangerous.
Aside: Here is some layout advice for future would-be IRON DMs, list your hooks before your NPCs. While background information usually comes first (though not always) it is good to get the reader thinking how the PCs might interact with this whole thing as soon as possible. It gets the mind working as you go on to read the rest. This is not really much of a detriment to my judgment of Enkhidu’s entry, but then again pleasing the judge in some superficial things is never a bad idea.
Anyway, Enkhidu’s hooks are a bit weak – but I think the higher the level of an adventure the harder it is to come up with good and plausible hooks because there are a myriad of options and campaign twists that could invalidate all of them, and still provide ample “hookiness” in an of themselves to get the PCs involved. Though the second of the two hooks is the one that strikes me as the more plausible – especially if the party is high enough level to be sought out by some consortium of sages or a good and noble alliance of kings and chieftains, who have discovered the information about the end of the world. However, for the adventure to work the Sisterhood of the Moon has to be involved as well, with their despairing leader.
The whole set up with the elven ship and the female adventuring company made me think about adventure writing economics, and how it would have been much more elegant to have combined the Sisterhood with the crew of the elven ship. It just seems cumbersome, not only to have so many NPCs to tote around across the world, but to have only the leader, Jarlena, be the one working to end the world. If the PCs are as high level as Enkhidu implies, would it not be better for the challenge of the adventure to have her whole group dedicated to the end of the world? Heck, make them all elves, make them crew the ship, and make them all want the world to end, if not because of some dead family members, then because of the despair of elven immortality, now that is an interesting motivation for a villain! And then bing bang boom! You’ve combined two ingredients nicely, except Enkhidu didn’t do that – so instead we have what we have. Which leaves the elven ship kind of as the odd ingredient out –as the only connection to the others is some briefly mentioned connection to the Sisterhood of the Moon, and while the elven ship is neat, what with growing and providing food (important for a long journey such as that the party must undertake), it still feels shoe-horned, and reminiscent of the grown elven spell-jamming ships of second edition.
Leaving that behind for now, I loved Enkhidu’s use of the firenewts as the remnants of formerly advanced civilization, however, his firenewts don’t really fit their description in the 1E Fiend Folio or 3E Monsters of Faerun, a savage and conquer-thirsty race that I do not see doing much negotiating/cooperating with the PCs or anyone else for that matter. And there is little or no explanation as to why there are there, what happened to the civilization or if this was the extent of their empire, or what remains of a great area of land and if so, how did they get there? Visually, I can see it all, but terms of what fire newts are, I am having a harder time. I could see them as the descendants of those exiled there from somewhere else, probably put there as since they are fire-related creatures they’d fear the sea, and thus unlikely to escape to try to conquer once again – but I am just throwing ideas out there to fill the gaps I see, and the more I read this entry the more gaps (i.e. flaws) I see.
The biggest flaw I see is the tarrasque itself, and thus by association the ‘tarrasque eggs’ ingredient, because it does not seem like a creature suited for keeping fiends out of the world, and it also seems like creature (nearly by definition of what a tarrasque is) that would be hard-pressed to be kept on an island, and I have to wonder why it never just walks out across that “lane of water” and out into the world to destroy all in its path whether it be beneath the sea or any land it happens upon, like a D&D Godzilla, as its nature would have it do? And while I find the unexpected reversal of what one would think a party of adventurers should have to do (i.e. getting the egg in place where it can hatch a friggin’ tarrasque as opposed to trying to destory them) the reason behind doing this doesn’t work for me. Is the tarrasque meant to fight all the fiends that come out of the portal? Or if it is the very presence of the beast that keeps them at bay, then why does it need to be such a terrible beast at all? Why not some kind of magical watching monolith sentinel or something? I think the adventure might have been better served if the tarrasque’s existence and being allowed to wander the world eveery few hundred years at its whim destroying things and facing off against great heroes was some kind of price to be paid to keep the world from being over run by fiends. Talk about a moral quandary! That is a rock and a hard place I never want one of my PCs to be in! But Enkhidu did not do that.
However, I do have to say that I do like the use of the eggs as a kind of Inca-flavored Easter Island Herculean task before the PCs – though again the implied need of the cooperation of the fire newts doesn’t work for me (though I can see clever PCs using shapechange or polymorph to take the guise of fire newts 'of a distant land', killing the leaders to cow the rest of them and then convince them that their ancestors want them to help bring the great eggs to the island of the beast. What also doesn’t work for me, but that perhaps (again) clever and diplomatic PCs might use to come to a non-violent resolution with Jarlena, is that a world over-run by fiends does not seem like much of a desired end of the world for a group that want to end it in order to end suffering. I guess those who give into despair are not the most logical people – so I take it back, that can work –though I think the ‘domination pendants’ are not a very good means for her to get her group to work for her – would not one of them discover it? Would not some or all make their saves? I think persuasion, or even better having all of them (to one degree or another) agree with her desire to end the world would be a better way to handle it.
Oh, and I almost forgot the Blood Moon. Enkhidu uses it as a sign of the coming end of the world, which is about what one could expect – but not only while it not used in any kind of really clever way, it really does act as a kind of clock for the adventure timeline – hurrying the PCs along to get the egg to the island before it hatches and causes mayhem.
When it comes to conclusions and consequences, I liked the possible addition of the PCs having to kind of raise the Tarrasque a bit to make sure it grows enough to be able to fend off the fiends – seems like there is lots of room for comedy with that. But again, the main question I come away with from this entry is how a creature with an intelligence of three and that can’t fly is supposed to be an effective guardian against the emerging extra-planar creatures?
In the end this entry not nearly as cohesive as Enkhidu’s past ones, and while specific elements are flavorful and fun (the fallen empire for example), the ingredients themselves do not hold together all that well when you keep in mind the questions and flaws I pointed out. But the question is not how it fares against Enkhidu’s generally strong showings, but how it matches up to what CarpeDavid had to offer.
CarpeDavid’s Entry: I was taken in by CD’s scenario right away. I liked the idea of war or some other calamity keeping elves from performing a task that happens so infrequently that only their long-loved race could really have the mindset to keep track of it precisely and take care of it before it comes marching across the bottom of the ocean to crush their lands Tokyo-style and then move on from there, laying waste to civilization. I also like the arms-race aspect of the adventure with the dwarves seeking to perhaps harness this monstrosity for their war-effort. Beautiful stuff.
And then to make it even better the scenario allows for a DM to put the PCs on either side of the conflict and still have similar goals. You can tell CarpeDavid put a lot of though into how he was going to get the PCs involved and why they would have to or want to get involved. Kudos to him!
Of course, if the dwarven option is taken the elven ship ingredient would not come into play unless they arrive to find the ship anchored outside of the “Edge of the World” and decide to board it or attack it from a distance with spells and war engines, but I am getting ahead of myself.
Aside: See the aside for Enkhidu’s entry.
But about those NPCs, I didn’t like them and honestly they seemed too petty and not elvish enough for me (i.e they seemed too human). I’m not even sure why CD bothered to include entries for the King and the Prince (especially the latter) as they don’t really come into play in the adventure. At first I though the haughty prince was going to be sent along, but that is not the case – However, his description did not work with what elves really should be like – their haughtiness and distant air should be the result of alien cultural outlook, not petty human ambition, pride or avarice. This same complaint goes for the elven captain willing to sacrifice his crew for his admiralty, and the vicious and cowardly first mate – it just doesn’t seem right to me, with elves like these it makes me wonder how they ever succeeded in stopping the birth of the tarrasques in the past.
This ‘crew’ helps put a bad taste in mouth in terms of the elven ship ingredient, if only because it is the only aspect of the ship that comes into play and otherwise the ship serves no purpose except to the PCs there. It is only an elven ship because elves are the guardians against this beast. It would have been neater to see something else to bind it with the rest of the ingredients, or make it more special in its own right at the very least.
As in Enkhidu’s entry, the Blood Moon is a time keeping device, and a means to urge the PCs along and keep them abreast of their limited time. Again, that is fine, but it really isn’t an ingredient the PCs interact with or that serves any other secondary function. I am not saying using the ingredient in that way was bad, or that figuring out other ways to use it would be easy, but these kinds of ingredients cry out to be interpreted in ways that astonish and turn expectations on their heads. CarpeDavid used the ingredient as adequately as Enkhidu, but adequate is about all it is.
CD got around the ‘edge of the world’ problem by making it the name of an area that reminds people of what the edge of the world might look like. It is dangerous and preternatural and it really works as an ingredient, as it has that fear of the unknown element working for it. Of course, if the PCs are working for the elves that have gone there every 200 years, I guess it would not be so unknown (don’t know why CD bothered with those DCs for the knowledge checks), but still it would be no less dangerous. Carpe does a great job of describing this area and what is found there and I really got a feel for the place, like the PCs are anchored off the island they stole King Kong from.
But Carpe drops the ball on the fire newt ingredient. He just kind of mentions them and leaves them. Sure, it is the Isle of Fire, I get it – but make them serve some purpose – make them worship the tarrasque and/or give sacrifices – give the tarrasque an elemental fire creature template and really make it into their god. Do something! Between this and the elven ship, it is really enough to make an adventure I enjoyed more actually start to dip below Enkhidu’s entry in quality.
And then there is despair, I like the idea of the god’s despair being palpable and actually effecting the mood of those who set foot on the island, and while at first I was curious as to why this god would feel despair, I guess if I were a divine being foiled by mortals every 200 years in my plot to destroy the world I might give into despair, too. This works, because it links the feeling of despair to the reason the eggs are made in the first place – though why is the making of tarrasque eggs the only thing the god can do in this reality (aside from making people who step on the island feel despair)?
The eggs themselves were also problematic because multiple eggs means multiple tarrasques, but based on the description of what a tarrasque is, there can only be one at a time. CarpeDavid does not attempt to resolve this problem (admittedly born of the ingredient) in his adventure. At least, ostensibly in Enkhidu’s scenario, one of the multiple eggs needs to be brought somewhere for it to hatch and the size and weight of the eggs makes moving more than one of them very difficult.
Also, I felt the suggestion that if the elven captain is with the party that he will suggest that the party bring an egg back with them to help in the war counter-productive to the adventure's theme. I thought it was the elves that understood the danger of these things (it being their solemn vow to come every 200 years and stop it) and the dwarves who were interested in trying to exploit it? This goes back to those flawed elven NPCs – maybe I have read Lord of the Rings too many times – but I really can’t stand elves been played as simply long-lived humans with a +2 Dex.
The battle with the opposing party was also a disappointment. I was hoping CarpeDavid would describe some element of the environment the eggs are in to make it more interesting than a straight up fight, or even some tactic that could be used to make the egg shells’ properties come into play as people run around among them, fighting – but no dice. I really feel like Carpe started this adventure with lots of enthusiasm, but then ran out of steam and kind of slapped the end on there. There isn’t even any suggestions for how either group might move the huge eggs if they should decide to take one.
I lied when I said I was not leaning in favor of one person when I started this judgment. I thought Carpe David was going to take it, because the flavor of his adventure was better and some of his individual ingredients shone, but in the end there were too many questions to be answered and it was too slipshod a job to patch on a climax, and I began to swing back and forth.
Let’s do a quick quick quick overview of ingredients:
The Edge of the World: Both contestants used this ingredient with the same amount of skill, though I would give CarpeDavid the very very slight edge for flavor of the locale.
Elven Ship: Enkhidu’s has more flavor this time, but at doesn’t link up to the adventure the way CarpeDavid’s does in terms of who is hiring the PCs to undertake this quest, so despite not liking the crew, the edge goes to Carpe David once again.
Blood Moon: Both contestants used this at about the same level, but at least the light of the moon has an actual effect in Enkhidu’s entry. He get the slight advantage on this one.
Tarrasque Eggs : As holy relics and a problem to be solved (in terms of getting one over to the Island of the Beast) Enkhidu’s use is much stronger.
Fire Newts: There is no contest. Enkhidu’s are vastly superior, even with the problems I saw in how these specific creatures were used. It was not something that could not be overcome, while CD didn’t bother to grant the many real purpose whatsoever. Lame.
Despair: Again, the slight advantage goes to CarpeDavid, with his despairing god, as compared to Enkhidu’s grieving wizard who wants to end the world to end her own pain.
So that means,
He will face Zenld in the next match-up and if he wins then Enkhidu would have to beat Zenld as well to take the title of IRON DM. If he loses, well then he is eliminated altogether and the two remaining finalists face off for the title of IRON DM.
Special Note: Neither of the finalists used the special tie-breaker ingredient in this match, this they BOTH must use it in their next match.
First of all, I have to say that I hate when there is too much time between my having to run these rounds, because I need a certain mindset to the judging, and it is easy to lose enthusiasm if you don’t just keep going – so it is with great inertia that I pick myself up and do this once more.
Secondly, this is another damn close match and even as I write this and having read both entries twice I am not even leaning towards one person or the other winning. . .
So, let’s look at these two entries; first as individuals and then against one another.
Enkhidu’s Entry: City on The Edge is thematically what I expected from these entries, something apocalyptic. Firstly, it was smart of Enkhidu to include a non-flat world option, because aside from Aquerra, I don’t know of any flat world campaign settings. However every time I read the notes for the non-flat world options I could not help but feel cheated, as if by not having a flat world (that is, if I put myself into the shoes of the average DM, and not just in my own shoes) I was missing some of the more awe-inspiring and dramatic elements the adventure had to offer. We’ll examine if that ‘feeling’ holds true as we come upon those ‘red sections’.
And boom! One of those ‘red sections’ comes up right away, Enkhidu’s alternative to an actual ‘edge of the world’ is a place created with powerful magic to appear as if it were the edge of the world. This idea is half-good, but if he had gone a little bit further with it, he might have not only not needed to create separate options, but created an additional hook for the adventure. By placing this purported edge of the world in a very distant place, it could be a place sages argue about – is it truly the edge of the world? A place many explorers could have gone to and never returned from, or that others saw from a distance, but unnerved turned back before they were sucked into the great gulf ship, crew and all. The desire to uncover this mystery, especially for a high level group that may have run out of other challenges might have been used as a hook. It would have also made for a stronger use of the ingredient because the edge of the world itself would have been a mystery to be explored, instead of just seeming like just another place to go, however dangerous.
Aside: Here is some layout advice for future would-be IRON DMs, list your hooks before your NPCs. While background information usually comes first (though not always) it is good to get the reader thinking how the PCs might interact with this whole thing as soon as possible. It gets the mind working as you go on to read the rest. This is not really much of a detriment to my judgment of Enkhidu’s entry, but then again pleasing the judge in some superficial things is never a bad idea.
Anyway, Enkhidu’s hooks are a bit weak – but I think the higher the level of an adventure the harder it is to come up with good and plausible hooks because there are a myriad of options and campaign twists that could invalidate all of them, and still provide ample “hookiness” in an of themselves to get the PCs involved. Though the second of the two hooks is the one that strikes me as the more plausible – especially if the party is high enough level to be sought out by some consortium of sages or a good and noble alliance of kings and chieftains, who have discovered the information about the end of the world. However, for the adventure to work the Sisterhood of the Moon has to be involved as well, with their despairing leader.
The whole set up with the elven ship and the female adventuring company made me think about adventure writing economics, and how it would have been much more elegant to have combined the Sisterhood with the crew of the elven ship. It just seems cumbersome, not only to have so many NPCs to tote around across the world, but to have only the leader, Jarlena, be the one working to end the world. If the PCs are as high level as Enkhidu implies, would it not be better for the challenge of the adventure to have her whole group dedicated to the end of the world? Heck, make them all elves, make them crew the ship, and make them all want the world to end, if not because of some dead family members, then because of the despair of elven immortality, now that is an interesting motivation for a villain! And then bing bang boom! You’ve combined two ingredients nicely, except Enkhidu didn’t do that – so instead we have what we have. Which leaves the elven ship kind of as the odd ingredient out –as the only connection to the others is some briefly mentioned connection to the Sisterhood of the Moon, and while the elven ship is neat, what with growing and providing food (important for a long journey such as that the party must undertake), it still feels shoe-horned, and reminiscent of the grown elven spell-jamming ships of second edition.
Leaving that behind for now, I loved Enkhidu’s use of the firenewts as the remnants of formerly advanced civilization, however, his firenewts don’t really fit their description in the 1E Fiend Folio or 3E Monsters of Faerun, a savage and conquer-thirsty race that I do not see doing much negotiating/cooperating with the PCs or anyone else for that matter. And there is little or no explanation as to why there are there, what happened to the civilization or if this was the extent of their empire, or what remains of a great area of land and if so, how did they get there? Visually, I can see it all, but terms of what fire newts are, I am having a harder time. I could see them as the descendants of those exiled there from somewhere else, probably put there as since they are fire-related creatures they’d fear the sea, and thus unlikely to escape to try to conquer once again – but I am just throwing ideas out there to fill the gaps I see, and the more I read this entry the more gaps (i.e. flaws) I see.
The biggest flaw I see is the tarrasque itself, and thus by association the ‘tarrasque eggs’ ingredient, because it does not seem like a creature suited for keeping fiends out of the world, and it also seems like creature (nearly by definition of what a tarrasque is) that would be hard-pressed to be kept on an island, and I have to wonder why it never just walks out across that “lane of water” and out into the world to destroy all in its path whether it be beneath the sea or any land it happens upon, like a D&D Godzilla, as its nature would have it do? And while I find the unexpected reversal of what one would think a party of adventurers should have to do (i.e. getting the egg in place where it can hatch a friggin’ tarrasque as opposed to trying to destory them) the reason behind doing this doesn’t work for me. Is the tarrasque meant to fight all the fiends that come out of the portal? Or if it is the very presence of the beast that keeps them at bay, then why does it need to be such a terrible beast at all? Why not some kind of magical watching monolith sentinel or something? I think the adventure might have been better served if the tarrasque’s existence and being allowed to wander the world eveery few hundred years at its whim destroying things and facing off against great heroes was some kind of price to be paid to keep the world from being over run by fiends. Talk about a moral quandary! That is a rock and a hard place I never want one of my PCs to be in! But Enkhidu did not do that.
However, I do have to say that I do like the use of the eggs as a kind of Inca-flavored Easter Island Herculean task before the PCs – though again the implied need of the cooperation of the fire newts doesn’t work for me (though I can see clever PCs using shapechange or polymorph to take the guise of fire newts 'of a distant land', killing the leaders to cow the rest of them and then convince them that their ancestors want them to help bring the great eggs to the island of the beast. What also doesn’t work for me, but that perhaps (again) clever and diplomatic PCs might use to come to a non-violent resolution with Jarlena, is that a world over-run by fiends does not seem like much of a desired end of the world for a group that want to end it in order to end suffering. I guess those who give into despair are not the most logical people – so I take it back, that can work –though I think the ‘domination pendants’ are not a very good means for her to get her group to work for her – would not one of them discover it? Would not some or all make their saves? I think persuasion, or even better having all of them (to one degree or another) agree with her desire to end the world would be a better way to handle it.
Oh, and I almost forgot the Blood Moon. Enkhidu uses it as a sign of the coming end of the world, which is about what one could expect – but not only while it not used in any kind of really clever way, it really does act as a kind of clock for the adventure timeline – hurrying the PCs along to get the egg to the island before it hatches and causes mayhem.
When it comes to conclusions and consequences, I liked the possible addition of the PCs having to kind of raise the Tarrasque a bit to make sure it grows enough to be able to fend off the fiends – seems like there is lots of room for comedy with that. But again, the main question I come away with from this entry is how a creature with an intelligence of three and that can’t fly is supposed to be an effective guardian against the emerging extra-planar creatures?
In the end this entry not nearly as cohesive as Enkhidu’s past ones, and while specific elements are flavorful and fun (the fallen empire for example), the ingredients themselves do not hold together all that well when you keep in mind the questions and flaws I pointed out. But the question is not how it fares against Enkhidu’s generally strong showings, but how it matches up to what CarpeDavid had to offer.
CarpeDavid’s Entry: I was taken in by CD’s scenario right away. I liked the idea of war or some other calamity keeping elves from performing a task that happens so infrequently that only their long-loved race could really have the mindset to keep track of it precisely and take care of it before it comes marching across the bottom of the ocean to crush their lands Tokyo-style and then move on from there, laying waste to civilization. I also like the arms-race aspect of the adventure with the dwarves seeking to perhaps harness this monstrosity for their war-effort. Beautiful stuff.
And then to make it even better the scenario allows for a DM to put the PCs on either side of the conflict and still have similar goals. You can tell CarpeDavid put a lot of though into how he was going to get the PCs involved and why they would have to or want to get involved. Kudos to him!
Of course, if the dwarven option is taken the elven ship ingredient would not come into play unless they arrive to find the ship anchored outside of the “Edge of the World” and decide to board it or attack it from a distance with spells and war engines, but I am getting ahead of myself.
Aside: See the aside for Enkhidu’s entry.
But about those NPCs, I didn’t like them and honestly they seemed too petty and not elvish enough for me (i.e they seemed too human). I’m not even sure why CD bothered to include entries for the King and the Prince (especially the latter) as they don’t really come into play in the adventure. At first I though the haughty prince was going to be sent along, but that is not the case – However, his description did not work with what elves really should be like – their haughtiness and distant air should be the result of alien cultural outlook, not petty human ambition, pride or avarice. This same complaint goes for the elven captain willing to sacrifice his crew for his admiralty, and the vicious and cowardly first mate – it just doesn’t seem right to me, with elves like these it makes me wonder how they ever succeeded in stopping the birth of the tarrasques in the past.
This ‘crew’ helps put a bad taste in mouth in terms of the elven ship ingredient, if only because it is the only aspect of the ship that comes into play and otherwise the ship serves no purpose except to the PCs there. It is only an elven ship because elves are the guardians against this beast. It would have been neater to see something else to bind it with the rest of the ingredients, or make it more special in its own right at the very least.
As in Enkhidu’s entry, the Blood Moon is a time keeping device, and a means to urge the PCs along and keep them abreast of their limited time. Again, that is fine, but it really isn’t an ingredient the PCs interact with or that serves any other secondary function. I am not saying using the ingredient in that way was bad, or that figuring out other ways to use it would be easy, but these kinds of ingredients cry out to be interpreted in ways that astonish and turn expectations on their heads. CarpeDavid used the ingredient as adequately as Enkhidu, but adequate is about all it is.
CD got around the ‘edge of the world’ problem by making it the name of an area that reminds people of what the edge of the world might look like. It is dangerous and preternatural and it really works as an ingredient, as it has that fear of the unknown element working for it. Of course, if the PCs are working for the elves that have gone there every 200 years, I guess it would not be so unknown (don’t know why CD bothered with those DCs for the knowledge checks), but still it would be no less dangerous. Carpe does a great job of describing this area and what is found there and I really got a feel for the place, like the PCs are anchored off the island they stole King Kong from.
But Carpe drops the ball on the fire newt ingredient. He just kind of mentions them and leaves them. Sure, it is the Isle of Fire, I get it – but make them serve some purpose – make them worship the tarrasque and/or give sacrifices – give the tarrasque an elemental fire creature template and really make it into their god. Do something! Between this and the elven ship, it is really enough to make an adventure I enjoyed more actually start to dip below Enkhidu’s entry in quality.
And then there is despair, I like the idea of the god’s despair being palpable and actually effecting the mood of those who set foot on the island, and while at first I was curious as to why this god would feel despair, I guess if I were a divine being foiled by mortals every 200 years in my plot to destroy the world I might give into despair, too. This works, because it links the feeling of despair to the reason the eggs are made in the first place – though why is the making of tarrasque eggs the only thing the god can do in this reality (aside from making people who step on the island feel despair)?
The eggs themselves were also problematic because multiple eggs means multiple tarrasques, but based on the description of what a tarrasque is, there can only be one at a time. CarpeDavid does not attempt to resolve this problem (admittedly born of the ingredient) in his adventure. At least, ostensibly in Enkhidu’s scenario, one of the multiple eggs needs to be brought somewhere for it to hatch and the size and weight of the eggs makes moving more than one of them very difficult.
Also, I felt the suggestion that if the elven captain is with the party that he will suggest that the party bring an egg back with them to help in the war counter-productive to the adventure's theme. I thought it was the elves that understood the danger of these things (it being their solemn vow to come every 200 years and stop it) and the dwarves who were interested in trying to exploit it? This goes back to those flawed elven NPCs – maybe I have read Lord of the Rings too many times – but I really can’t stand elves been played as simply long-lived humans with a +2 Dex.
The battle with the opposing party was also a disappointment. I was hoping CarpeDavid would describe some element of the environment the eggs are in to make it more interesting than a straight up fight, or even some tactic that could be used to make the egg shells’ properties come into play as people run around among them, fighting – but no dice. I really feel like Carpe started this adventure with lots of enthusiasm, but then ran out of steam and kind of slapped the end on there. There isn’t even any suggestions for how either group might move the huge eggs if they should decide to take one.
I lied when I said I was not leaning in favor of one person when I started this judgment. I thought Carpe David was going to take it, because the flavor of his adventure was better and some of his individual ingredients shone, but in the end there were too many questions to be answered and it was too slipshod a job to patch on a climax, and I began to swing back and forth.
Let’s do a quick quick quick overview of ingredients:
The Edge of the World: Both contestants used this ingredient with the same amount of skill, though I would give CarpeDavid the very very slight edge for flavor of the locale.
Elven Ship: Enkhidu’s has more flavor this time, but at doesn’t link up to the adventure the way CarpeDavid’s does in terms of who is hiring the PCs to undertake this quest, so despite not liking the crew, the edge goes to Carpe David once again.
Blood Moon: Both contestants used this at about the same level, but at least the light of the moon has an actual effect in Enkhidu’s entry. He get the slight advantage on this one.
Tarrasque Eggs : As holy relics and a problem to be solved (in terms of getting one over to the Island of the Beast) Enkhidu’s use is much stronger.
Fire Newts: There is no contest. Enkhidu’s are vastly superior, even with the problems I saw in how these specific creatures were used. It was not something that could not be overcome, while CD didn’t bother to grant the many real purpose whatsoever. Lame.
Despair: Again, the slight advantage goes to CarpeDavid, with his despairing god, as compared to Enkhidu’s grieving wizard who wants to end the world to end her own pain.
So that means,
Enkhidu wins this round by a nose. CarpeDavid was trotting along well, but I think he threw a shoe at the end there and by the time he hobbled across the finish line Enkhidu already had the wreath around his horse’s neck, even if he was riding a broken down nag. But that does not mean it is over for Carpe David.
Special Note: Neither of the finalists used the special tie-breaker ingredient in this match, this they BOTH must use it in their next match.
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