WotBS Lylandra's War of the Burning Sky continued

[Lylandra]

Hey folks,
since my original thread got deleted I will continue with my DM experiences in adventure #2 and start where we left off.

For those interested in my campaign: we're currently at the Battle of Gallo's Fend in #4, but since I don't have that much time, my recaps are lagging behind. My party did a great job in nearly crashing adventure #3 and managed to avoid several "unavoidable" NPC deaths, like Laurabec's. I have a feeling that they will see through Pilus' schemes in #5 too quickly (they did find Lee suspicious from the beginning), so I might try to play him a bit more subtle.

Those of you who can read German, here's a link to our wiki (which features recaps from Tinuviel's player's PoV which are up to date) https://burning-sky-1.obsidianportal.com/wikis/home-page

My two remaining player characters are:
Cuin'halar Shelenbîl, a young Taranesti refugee who survived the Genocide by fleeing to Gate Pass with his father, a former General of the Taranesti. He's a womanizing, handsome, always in-style barber who's energetic, kind-hearted and upbeat as long as he is not confronted with aspects of his tragic past. He still clings to visions of his mother who was a Syllith, a Taranesti High Mage and student of Syana. He's a Magus/Swashbuckler (Gestalt)

Tinuviel ar Shahalesti, the orphaned son of a lesser noble Shahalesti family (branch of Shaaladel's deceased wife) who lived in exile in Gate Pass after disagreeing with Shaaladel's politics. His partents died as Resistance fighters during the Ragesian occupation and Cuin'halar's father has been looking after the boy since then. He's a bit more broody than his foster brother, but still enjoys the lighter sides of life. He's a psion/rogue and has ties to the thieves guild. He's also possessed by the Trillith Empathy who joined him when he was a child.

Now for a short recap of the already told, but lost events:

Both "brothers" started out as wannabe-heroes who reveled in the stories of Gate Pass' "heroic" resistance fighters whom they tried to emulate by catching bad guys and handing them over to the officials (yeah, like Rantle). They studied both at Gabal's school, but Tinuviel's magic was not really that compatible with Gabal's so the two of them didn't really get along. When war came to Gate Pass, their father Tharaleth wanted to let them stay out of danger (knowing the two inexperienced boys would certainly run into battle) and used his resistance contacts to send them on the "Case" mission with Torrent. They helped their fellow citizes as well as they could and Tinuviel had to realize the hard way that the woman he had been dating for the last few months was in fact a Shahalesti spy (Shealis). They settled their scores after Tinuviel kind of proposed to her and she agreed that both Seaquen and Shahalesti might be more efficient in working on the coded contents of the case cooperatively. They also managed to stay on good terms with Kathor Danava (Tinuviel had strange mental buzzes when he came near him) and convinced him that helping people is more honorable than kidnapping mages for money. They promised to release him of his contract with the Black Horses and started to look for a way out of the city. They learned that their best bet, Erdan Menash (who's also Cuin'halars "best customer"), had disappeared and they found him unconscious in the sewers along some dead and some alive Ragesians and a strange chimera of an elemental, Kiki the dire weasel and the new-born Trillith Madness (whom they fought and who dissipated because they did not have the song of forms yet). Crushing the Ragesian plot to mind control Menash, the merchant and Thatcher, the former head of the city guard, offered the heroes their help in sneaking out of the city. They were led out by Herreman's patrol and convinced him to look after the Black Horses threat with them. After defeating Woodsman and his gang and giving the dead mage in their hideout a funeral, they continued their travels to the fire forest on their own.
When they found Crystin alone in the field in front of her home, Tinuviel again felt a strange connection to her who started talking them in a strangely prophetic voice. Cuin'halar remembered the story of her father and they put great effort into getting the two of them out of their home, away from the approaching Ragesians. Cuin managed to dispel Haddin's enchantment on his daughter and both parties are now pretty wary of each other. Since the elves fought off the Inquisitor and his "buddies", Haddin knows their value for his safety and the elves know that they cannot simply let the old geezer die.

After they arrived in the fire forest, they healed their former mage collegue Durval and took him along the way. They managed to kill off Kazyk early, survived the first trial of Indomitability and are now in the position to ask him what he really wants from them.

 

[Lylandra]

The now rather large party (Cuin, Tinu, Hragesh, Torrent, Haddin, Crystin and Durval) is confronted by the burning draconic image of Indomitability. Both Tinuviel and Crystin feel a strong, heated, but eerily familiar determination emanating from it as he speaks out his demands to be set free from the 40 tongues that bind him. Cuin'halar remembers that Indominability brought his "brother" back to life when they fought the Inquisitor in Haddin's cottage, so he promises to help him in return, but he insists that he des it "their way". Indomitability doesn't care how he's set free as long as someone does do the job. Tinuviel, intrigued by the psionic presence, asks the Trillith who he is and why he was bound to the forest. He calls himself a Trillith who was born in the depths of the earth and who wandered the world and this forest for long years before the "elven witch" hunted him down and bound him. He tells them that they have to find his bound body down the stream to release him. The party finally agrees to help him and recieves his boon.

They take shelter in the old watchtower by the bridge (my group giggled at the old "speak friend and enter" reference and as the PCs are two elves, this was an easy one for them) and pay respect to the deceased soldiers inside. They decide to take their weapons as they will use it for the defense (and hopefully salvation) of their forest home. The find Bhurisrava's log in the uppermost room of the tower and are disheartened by the priest's succumbing faith in his traditional elven sun god, Ossirian. They conclude that the priest has taken the wounded elves upstream and that he might have hidden his "clues" on whomever set the forest on fire there as well.

(Note: He didn't, but this way the party had a nice excuse to visit Nelle)

The finally find the dream seeds "for visions of the fire-maker", but agree that they might want to find a safer place to try them, especially when two of them (Tinuviel and Crystin) have strange mental powers and prophetic visions. They exmine the strategic model of the nearby village and find structures that look like a graveyard and a temple. Tinuviel wants to give the guards a proper burial, so he asks Cuin to check out both sites for the right place. They head for the shrine of Anyariel first and spot the two dead bodies in the willow tree at the last minute. They ask themselves why someone would use his last moments to climb up a tree and decide that something must be terribly wrong here. They draw their weapons as they advance and battle the two fire-ghasts. When they fell the last undead, the woman thanks them for her release and the elves are curious enough to search the two bodies for information. They find out their tragic story of cannibalism and are shocked of the madness that hunger and druidic magic gone wrong can lead to.

(Note: I gave the woman a short "diary" where I described her descent to madness. They were druids whose animalic instincts took over when their hunger got too great.)

The elves head into the shrine and wake up the dormant Ghaele Eladrin who has been sent by Arcadia, the goddess of healing, to "a priest in need" but found none. The elves explain that they might have found the notebook of the priest she is talking about and that they might even know why the priest needed help in the first place (he was desperate and had many wounded elves to tend to), so they claim to be on the same side as Bhurisrava and convince the Ghale to be let into the shrine. Together they head down the shrine and find the statue depicting the battle of Anyariel and the Stag, as well as a dead priest and a Shahalesti in "out of fashion clothes" (citing Cuin) who's lying in stasis. From the other clues in this rooms (smashed glass and something missing on a pedestral), they conclude that someone must have broken in, killed the priest and then took whatever treasure that was hidden here. Tinuviel tries to focus his (currently pretty strong) emotional focus on the pedestral and feels both remnants of love and jealousy. The elves tell the Ghale (who cannot leave the shrine) that they will look for Bhurisrava's people upstream and tell her what they found.

After they reunite with the rest of the party (Torrent became the sort-of "babysitter" for Haddin ad Durval, making sure that the former stays away from Crystin and that the latter doesn't harm himself), they decide to look for whomever Bhurisrava has left behind. After a long and dangerous way up the river, they finally find Nelle's grove. After the party tells the old Unicorn that they want to help Bhurisrava's people, Nelle insists that only those with "pure hearts" (aka "Not Haddin") might enter his hideout. He shows them the badly burt elves and reminisces on whether Bhurisrava might have been right and that maybe death might have been a salvation for them. He's sad to hear the story of his friend's death but says that he already suspected something like that. Nelle tells them the story of Anyariel, Timbre and Gwenevere and tells them that Gwenevere felt both love and jealousy. He also mentions strange dreams (which Crystin recites in unisono) about a "Trillith" who is the "child of Trilla". Cuin'halar remembers the name Trilla, as he knows that this was the name of their deceased patron Syana's daughter, but he decides to keep it a secret from the others, especially since Haddin is around.

They ask Nelle whether he might need some "celestial help" in tending the elves and tell the uicorn that they have found a Ghaele of Arcadia in the shrine of Anyariel. They suggest that Nelle and the Ghaele might combine their healing powers to a greater effect and that they hope they might find a "cure" for the everburning forest soon. Nelle is hesitant fist, but agrees and uses his boat token to create a boat big enough to carefully place all the dying elves upon. Together they reavel down the stream and bring the elves to the shrine.

(Note: I was pleasantly suerprised that my party came up with this idea, but in retrospective it makes a lot of sense since both the Ghaele and Nelle basically want the same thing and the Ghale, being sent by a "god of healing" - Arcadia in my world - would be the perfect healer for Bhurisrava's wounded friends. This turned out to have an influence on the end of the adventure as well...)

 

[thekwp]

(Note: I was pleasantly suerprised that my party came up with this idea, but in retrospective it makes a lot of sense since both the Ghaele and Nelle basically want the same thing and the Ghale, being sent by a "god of healing" - Arcadia in my world - would be the perfect healer for Bhurisrava's wounded friends. This turned out to have an influence on the end of the adventure as well...)

I am always pleased when my player's come up with novel or fresh interpretations & solutions based on their experiences and the world they work with. The more they make sense to me, the more I try to accommodate them. It often takes the campaign in ways that I did not expect and enriches the fun for both players and the game master.

Thanks for the link to your wiki. I do not read German, but google translate does help enough to get an idea of what your group is doing!

 

[Lylandra]

I am always pleased when my player's come up with novel or fresh interpretations & solutions based on their experiences and the world they work with. The more they make sense to me, the more I try to accommodate them. It often takes the campaign in ways that I did not expect and enriches the fun for both players and the game master.

Thanks for the link to your wiki. I do not read German, but google translate does help enough to get an idea of what your group is doing!

Yep, I really appreciate my player's ideas, but adapting to their ideas requires some serious ad-hoc improvisation, making it really necessary to know your campaign world well enough to adapt to the consequences thet might arise when they have that "WTF Awesome!" idea once in a while. See adventure #3 once I get there, where my players turned the whole thing upside down and ended up with an intact Shahalesti fleet.

---

The party decides to go looking for the village of the "fourty tongues". Nelle told them that the Seela, a fey race, has been living nearby the lake to the south for hundreds of years and the elves remember tales of talented fey singers who once came to Gate Pass. shortly after they start travelling south by boat token, they hear and spot the Selea Tiljann who is being ambushed by six other Seela. The party fends off the six aggressors and, after beating two of them unconscious, tells them that there can be only losers in this fight. They ask both sides to explain why they have been fighting in the first place, so Tiljann tells them that she tries to find help and a way to stop the fires from burning while the six others claim that they want to end their decades-long suffering by ending the song and that "Vuhl's path is the only salvation from pain". Tiljann is shocked to hear that the six are friends of Vuhl since Vuhl told her of something beautiful that could be a spark of hope upstreams. The elves, paranoid as they are, suspect that this ominous Vuhl might have set up a death trap for Tiljann. They intimidate one of the six ambushers into revealing that they were told to "stop Tiljann from singing" - whatever that might mean. Together they travel downstreams to clear up this mess they've gotten themselves into.

Once they arrive in the Seela village, it becomes pretty clear that something is not right at all and that tensions are high. They also hear the beautiful song of forms for the first time and both Tinuviel and Crystin feel a strange influence on their minds. Tiljann leads them to songleader Papuvin who explains to them what happened 40 years ago and why they cannot cease singing: Only Indomitability who has been bound by Anyariel keeps the forest - and themselves - from burning to ashes. The party is horrified by the Seela's choice between death and eternal imprisonment and realize that they are trapped in this forest as well as long as Indomitability remains bound. In order to find a solution, they decide to gather information in the village and to ask out Vuhl why in the name of Coaltonuge he tried to have Tiljann killed or hurt.

When they arrive in Vuhl's hut, Crystin starts feeling eerily numb. Tinuviel who tries to feel what's happening and what Vuhl might be up to is shocked to find out that the Seela is not emanating any emotion at all despite being friendly and calm. They ask Vuhl about the ambush on Tiljann and he convincingly explains bit by bit how she asked him to set up this "trap" so she might find people who are brave enough to help her even when threatened by violence. Cuin'halar is outraged by this "betrayal" and confronts Tiljann outside of Vuhl's hut. She is shocked herself and tells the elf that she's never ever do something that wicked. Cuin decides that there's only one way to clean up this mess, so he drags the protesting Tiljann to the entrance of his hut and demands that she asks him why his "minions" ambushed her while he's waiting outside.
Vuhl tells the still shaken Tiljann that he knew that there would be help upstreams and that this was the "beautiful" thing he wanted to show her. He needed to fake the ambush so that the outsiders would show her their true hearts and he's now conviced that the party could be of help to the village.

(Note: I really did my best to make Vuhl believeable, but my party managed to out-wit him by hiding outside and listening to his conversation with Tiljann. No bluff check could beat a discrepance that obvious)

After hearing that, the elves and Torrent storm into Vuhl's hut and confront him. Tinuviel asks him who he really is and what he's up to. Vuhl answers that he's Vuhl and that he only has the best interests for his people, but Tinuviel suspects him to be something more. Vuhl then asks them who *they* think he might be and Tinuviel all of a sudden tells him that he's alien like Indomitability, but where the Stag is eternal life, he would be the dark Abyss. Vuhl smiles and thanks him for the compliment, but tells him that no, he's not even close to being the Abyss.

(Note: I wonder what Tinu will say once he'll face Annihilation. I'm so thrilled for that module^^)

The party decides that it will be the best for all of them to leave Vuhl for good and that the wicked man/alien/Trillith/whatever will do less harm when no one gets too close to him. Cuin'halar apologizes for doubting Tiljann's words and promises to help the Seela survive altough he knows it will be hard to find a solution for both his promises. They try to learn more about the Song of Forms and the nature of the Seela and find out that the Seela will die to the flames because the First Tree who gave them life is already ablaze and will consume them all once Indomitability's essence is gone. They also hear more about the story of Gwenevere, Anyariel and the Dryad Timbre. They decide to seek out Timbre, for she might know how to save her First Tree, but Papuvin tells them that the Dryad won't see any visitors for she has secluded herself in pain. The elves add up their information and deduce that maybe the now-hag Gwenevere might have stolen the relic which was missing from thr shrine of Anyariel.

Tinuviel thinks about sneaking into the former Nymph's lair to look after the missing lock, but Cuin'halar wants to talk to her first and hopes that she might hand over the relic on her own. They travel to the once enchanted pool and Cuin calls out to the Lady and Keeper after "sacrificing" fresh meat at the shore. Gwenevere appears and demands to know what the strangely beautiful elf wants from her and whether he's simply there to mock her. He explains that no, he's come to appreciate her grace and that she's still got so much beauty left inside her heart which she's only trying to hide because of her grief. He tells her that He's sure she might become beautiful on the outside again once she rekindles her kindness and care for the creatures of the forest. When he mentions her old friend Timbre, she's ashamed, but the elf explains that such a dear friend is surely able to forgive her once she knows that Gwenevere really wants to be forgiven. Something inside the hag changes when she agrees to giving it a chance and Cuin promises to do his best to convince Timbre ("who is surely suffering as well") to talk to her again and hints that he only needs a token to show Timbre that she's serious.

(Note: Cuin, Master of Diplomacy. I decided that he wouldn't need a roll for that speech for he did push Gwenevere's buttons flawlessly)

Gwen hands over the lock of Anyariel and Tinuviel is happy that he didn't have to sneak into the cave with the "Oh my, no one can touch it since it is protected by a curse" mirror. They then decide to visit Timbre as soon as possible.

 

[Bill T.]

I'm curious -- how did they learn the mirror was cursed?

 

[Lylandra]

I'm curious -- how did they learn the mirror was cursed?

It was Gwenevere who told Cuin to be careful and wait outside her lair because she has made an enchanted mirror that will take away the beauty from anyone who dares to steal from her.
"Don't look at that one or it will wither away that beauty of yours, young elf"

Tinu overheared the conversation while still waiting in stealth and was really relieved for not taking a peek earlier. He was sooo close to simply stealthing in and grabbing the relic.

 

[thekwp]

Yep, I really appreciate my player's ideas, but adapting to their ideas requires some serious ad-hoc improvisation, making it really necessary to know your campaign world well enough to adapt to the consequences thet might arise when they have that "WTF Awesome!" idea once in a while. See adventure #3 once I get there, where my players turned the whole thing upside down and ended up with an intact Shahalesti fleet.

The fleet intact? That sounds like an awesome twist. I look forward to finding that out when you get there in your updates!

 

[Lylandra]

Before they head to Timbre and her grove, the elves decide to finally give the dream seeds a try. Since Crystin feels uncomfortable near the seed pouch and Torrent is still sort-of babysitter for the rest of the group, the two "brothers" decide to each take one seed in hope of getting a clearer vision on what happened to the forest. However, the results are not what they expected.

At first, they see the forest, burning and a conflict erupting from within. Tinuviel feels frightened and the image shifts toward a scene of a very distant path, taking him and Cuin'halar amidst a beautiful room full of sunlight where Tinu's beloved aunt Mariel sits down in grief while a blond-haired elf comforts his crying infant daughter. His face trembles with anger, and sadness while he explains that "dear Mariel should not fear or weep for both of their deaths will be avenged in time". Tinuviel recognizes Lord Shaaladel and deducts that the girl has to be a much younger version of princess Shalosha. The scenery freezes and the dream elemental tries to attack Tinuviel. He manages to fend the serpent off and Cuin tries to refocus the dream on the forest.
He sees a golden dragon flying over a young forest, planting a seed atop a hill and rearing her head towards the sky as if she was asking for guidance. Cuin suddenly remembers the stories his mother told him when he was a child: Stories of the wise gold dragon Syana. The momet he tries to remember the tales of Syana, a strange link between him and Tinuviel erupts and the scene shifts violently to a vision of the death of Syana. Arrows fly into the dragon's chest while she desperately cries out for her daughter. They see an image of Coaltongue trying to strike down another dragon and witness the creation of the Torch. Cuin is shocked and the dream elemental strikes again. He fends it off, but it manages to escape to the real world where Torrent and Crystin are suddenly attacked by the serpentine creature. They manage to wake the elves who come to their defense and together they diffuse the manifestation.

Note: I allowed the elves to lower their elven sleep immunity on purpose. The only other opition would have been a sleeping NPC which wouldn't have had the same effect. Elves do not trance in PF and need their 8 hours of sleep, so I thought it would be reasonable to let the PCs try out the seeds. They did nothing for Bhurisrava because he didn't know what they were meant for. I also let them have their victory against the elemental instead of ending the fight after 1 round once they were awake. I was hoping that Tinu realized the psionic nature of the dream elemental and sense a connection to himself, but he was oblivious at this moment

The elves realize that they have just witnessed events which happened decades ago and contemplate on what might have happened back then. Cuin explains that Syana was the dragon guardian of the Taranesti and that he thinks she might have something to do with this forest since he saw her in his previous vision. They still don't know who set the forest on fire, but they realize that stopping the forest from burning forever might be the more pressing subject right now.
With the help of Tiljann, the party travels towards Timbre's grove. They avoid getting too close once they get there because they quickly realize that the two burning dire boars might be the dryad's guardians and that enraged boars can get pretty dangerous.

Note: they mentioned my habit of nearly killing them with all sorts of swine, pig or boar. In a previous campaign, they were nearly TPKed twice because they wanted to hunt for "breakfast" and managed to enrage a herd of rabid boars. Twice. They also had a hefty fight with a dire pecari I added into a jungle section in that campaign which was just meant to be an hommage... they tried to fight it anyway. So yep, they are now terribly afraid of anything remotely piggish

From a safe distance, they call out to the dryad who is writhing in pain. She doesn't react at first, but they call out the name of Anyariel and tell her that her old friend Gewnevere has returned her token of love so they might give it back to Timbre. Seeing a chance for change and remeembering her friendship with Gwen, Timbre orders her boars back and asks the heroes to come closer. She fights through pain and still breathes and trembles heavily at every word she speaks and the elves feel pretty helpless for they know they can do nothing for her right now.
They tell Timbre that Gwenevere has made up her mind and that she asks for forgiveness and friendship. She is relieved that at least one creature in this forest might be saved from this madness that has taken them all and starts explaining what really happened. She tells them that she is the embodyment of the first tree which was given life by the blessing of Arcadia, the goddess of life. The seela are her children, born from the first tree, and they gave her her form afterwards when they had learned the song of forms from something deep below. They lived in harmony and joy until the elves came to them. Being friends to all life, they accepted the elves who claimed to be refugees and exiles from a far away land. But there were others who hunted them for their "treason". Shahalesti elves and Innotendar elves have fought many battles since then and it was Anyariel who finally drove them away. Timbre tells them that she fell in love with the elven hero who fought so courageously and that she offered her a branch from her tree as both a gift and a weapon to defend her home. When the unnatural "undeath" in form of a stag came to the forest, Anyariel hunted him down, pinned him down in Lake Seela and died. The stag could not die, but he was bound for eternity and everyone had hoped that he would be of no further problem. But something from the stag must have sipped into the forest (maybe through the blade) for when the Shahalesti came back and torched the forest, it did not simply burn down, but instead remained ablaze for 4 decades.

Cuin'halar and Tinuviel are enraged over the reveal that the Shahalesti are behind all this (they thought the Torch would be responsible...) and vow to bring this crime to justice. The dryad explains that the tree saved one of the culprits from dying with the help of the priest Bhurisrava so that justice can be served. Timbre also explains to them, that even when she dies the Seela might live as long as someone binds his life essence to Anyariel's blade. Tinuviel accepts the proposal all of a sudden, but Timbre shakes her head and says that no one of Shahalesti blood will ever be accecpted by the blade, not after this tragedy and Anyariel's fight against them. Cuin then offers himself and the dryad releases the bond of Anyariel. She warns them that the Stag will be free once someone claims the blade and removes itt so they might have to fight him. She also tells Cuin that she senses "something familiar" inside him and prays that he will take good care of her children.

Note: Giving the balde to Cuin was a bit of DM fiat on my side, but I wanted to give every player their own, unique progression and since Tinu has a trillith spirit, Cuin will have to explore his connection to Syana and wield the Living Blade. It was also never mentioned who on earth put the temporal stasis (that's a freaking 8th level spell!) on Diashan, the Shahalesti who torched the forest, so I decided to use the power of the Tree.

Cuin explains that he does not wish to fight Indomitability and that he hopes they might come to an agreement. He calls out for the Trillith and claims that he wishes to speak to him again. The Trillith agrees and his blazing, draconic face appears again among the ever burning trees. The elves state that they will set him free and keep their promise and that they will ask the Seela to remain silent for a while so that he might return to the form he once had. They just want to ask him one more favour: That he takes the fire with him and spares the first tree before it turns to ash. They say that since Indomitability's essence is in the forest and tied to the first tree (otherwise it would have burned down already...), he must have some connection to the fire as well and that taking his essence with him might conduct the fire to him. Indomitability states that he might try to do that, but he needs proof that they are "of his spirit" - truely indomitable theirselves. He claims that once they remove the wicked blade, he will challenge them to a duel and only if they prove to be as bold as they claim, he will absorb the fire of the tree. The party agrees and they bid their farewell to Timbre.

Note: brilliant idea again. Cuin knows pyrotechnics, so he would have had the tools to save the tree "by the book", but asking Indomitability seemed like a far more elegant solution. This way I also managed to include the fight with Indomitability who had not that much of a reason to fight otherwise - the party explained to him in his logic what happened, why the Seela were singing ("they were preserving their lives as you do preserve yours") and how they could free him and that they wouldn't bother him again, that he would be free to do whatever he wanted and just had to be "a teeny tiny bit more careful when interacting with fragile mortals". Testing their spirit would be totally canon for him in my opinion.


They head back to the Seela village and explain to Papuvin and the others what Timbre told them and that they will have to stop singing once Cuin'halar emerges from the lake and has claimed the sword. They say that they will fight for the lives of Timbre and the first tree, but that it will be a duel and no Seela should try to intervent unless they want them or Timbre to be killed. Torrent puts all of her strength blessings on the (rather weak) Cuin'halar and he barely manages to pull out the blade.

Note: The required Str check to pull out the blade was totally unbeatable by anyone other than a fully buffed Torrent. So I lowered it a bit to DC 19.

Indomitability, now in the guise of a burning stag, emerges from the lake and storms towards the shore. He eagerly awaits that arrival of the two elves and lowers his head as a challenge. A dripping wet Cuin (he totally ruined his hair!) and Tinu stand side by side and await the coming charge. Luckily, Cuin prepares to go all defensive and parries the hefty gore attacks. Nonetheless, the stag manages to send Tinuviel flying with his antlers who is only "severely scratched" because he had buffed himself with shitloads of temp HP. After a long and intense battle, Indomitability calls off the attack and praises the heroes for their honor, strength and will. He storms off suddenly and absorbs every flame he gets in contact with, heading towards the first tree. As the Seela stopped singing and the stag vanishes slowly from their sight, one after another the fey realize that they might truely live in freedom from now on.

Note: The fight with Indomitability was intense. He's pretty dangerous and offered a worthy "end boss fight" that we all enjoyed. I will add the conclusion of adventure 2 in the following recap. My party did not use Haddin as much as other parties did, mainly because they did not trust him and had morale reservations on domination/charm spells. Tinuviel did a great job in trying to help Crysting to understand her visions and for now she's some sort of little sister to him. Cuin also has to deal with the fact that he is kind of responsible for, or at least bound to the Seela. What I really enjoyed was the additional Syana lore that came with the 4e module - as I want to expand on the gold dragons and their history, every bit of their life and deeds is more than welcome.

 

[thekwp]

Note: brilliant idea again. Cuin knows pyrotechnics, so he would have had the tools to save the tree "by the book", but asking Indomitability seemed like a far more elegant solution. This way I also managed to include the fight with Indomitability who had not that much of a reason to fight otherwise - the party explained to him in his logic what happened, why the Seela were singing ("they were preserving their lives as you do preserve yours") and how they could free him and that they wouldn't bother him again, that he would be free to do whatever he wanted and just had to be "a teeny tiny bit more careful when interacting with fragile mortals". Testing their spirit would be totally canon for him in my opinion.

Reading this really has expanded the ideas of what I can do with Indomitability and the climax. I really like the idea of "testing their spirits" as the metaphorical and abstract nature of the things has far more meaning and importance for the trillith than trivial material things. I really am not sure if my party will want to negotiate their way out or try to fight everything on every front here, but you have offered me an idea for a dramatic conclusion even with a peaceful and reasonable negotiation.

 

[Lylandra]

Reading this really has expanded the ideas of what I can do with Indomitability and the climax. I really like the idea of "testing their spirits" as the metaphorical and abstract nature of the things has far more meaning and importance for the trillith than trivial material things. I really am not sure if my party will want to negotiate their way out or try to fight everything on every front here, but you have offered me an idea for a dramatic conclusion even with a peaceful and reasonable negotiation.

That's what I intend to do with all non-Nightmare Trillith that can be interacted with. Balance - whom my party will encouter during the next session - is an easy one in this regard and I'm looking forward to their interpretation of "maintaning balance". Madness was on another scale and especially Tinu was horrified when he encountered her again after his traumatic experience in adventure 1. Freedom will be the other tough one since one can easily claim that she betrayed her nature by imprisoning her mother and I'll have to wrap Trillith logic around her actions to make it reasonable from her point of view.