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Lylandra's War of the Burning Sky continued
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<blockquote data-quote="Lylandra" data-source="post: 7257325" data-attributes="member: 6816692"><p><strong>One night in Yen Ching</strong></p><p></p><p>Hah, that's great! Kathor turned out to be one of the really well recieved NPC and I also instantly liked him when I read his journey throughout the campaign. Like the players, he just got thrown into the grand scheme of events and tries to find his role and identity over the course of the adventures. </p><p></p><p>---</p><p></p><p>The group finally decides that they want to check up on what's going on in the Monastery and Eresh, so they meet up with Three Weeping Ravens (apparently a name that's too complicated for Tinuviel's player to remember...) and ask him about the encounter with the Monks of the Two Winds. The monk explains that his group was fleeing from the Ragesians in Sindaire after they heard that the Inquisitors were searching and abducting “mages”. They tried to find shelter within the monastery, but were not let in as the monastery's leaders feared that letting in refugees would attract the Ragesians. So they continued their journey until they found Seaquen.</p><p></p><p>They also ask him about the “ancient evil” he spoke about the last time they mat and this time, Three Weeping Ravens takes them aside and tells them that this is a wound that's deeply rooted in his people. He says that they originally came from a monastery near Ycengled Phuurst and that their ancient home was taken over by someone who feasted on dark souls. He doesn't know much more and says that maybe Dreams No More will tell them more once she knows and trusts them more. Cuin is intrigued as Ycengled is the original home of the Taranesti people and Tinuviel plans to stay and meditate with the Echoed Soul Monks who just happen to be psionic “mental mages” as well once their mission is over.</p><p></p><p><em>Note: Coincidence? Not really as I made Trilla a soul-forged golden dragon. They just didn't know that back then <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /> </em></p><p><em>I also went with Three Weeping Ravens as the monk/psychic warrior he was intended to be (the combination is pretty neat) and tried to improve him a bit. On a second thought, I could have gestalted him as well as the combo was not as effective as I thought. He really lacks some hit bonus and defense compared to the PCs. </em></p><p></p><p>They do on and ask him whether he could be their guide to Eresh as Simeonne is missing a group of people who went there. Three Weeping Ravens agrees to lead the way and adds that he'd like to take the opportunity to talk to the monastery's masters should that be possible. </p><p></p><p>As Three Weeping Ravens explains that one of the masters, a monk called Longinus, is said to be a great seer, Tinuviel asks Crystin whether she'd like to accompany them as well. After all, this might be the perfect chance to find someone who's psionically gifted who can teach her how to use her powers. Crystin is eager to learn and so she agrees to team up with them. </p><p></p><p>Together, they arrange with Sheena, Tiljann and Kiernan to teleport to the city of Yen-Ching where Sheena knows a safehaven for them to land. Kiernan polymorphs them all into tiny fire elementals and off they go.</p><p></p><p>Once they initiate the teleport circle, Sheena and Tinuviel realize that something is wrong. Instead of arriving at their target destination in an instant, they actually float through a burning astral plane for a while and barely manage to avoid being seen by an astral dreadnought. </p><p></p><p><em>Note: I wanted to one-up the dangers of the burning sky. At this point, my players had plenty of resources to protect themselves against the fire and they were not close enough to Korstull to have the necrotic effect kick in yet. I also didn't want them to solve basically everything travel related via teleport-spam. Used in healthy doses, teleport is fine. But especially Tinuviel's player tends to heavily over-do and sometimes outright abuse things that work fine per se which can easily lead to him becoming a one-trick pony. So yeah, educational reasons <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /> </em></p><p></p><p>When they finally arrive back on their home plane, they find themselves trapped in a cage besides a teleport beacon. Outside the cage, a group of massively armed guards demands that they explain themselves. Fortunately, they can convince the guards that they are what they are: A group of emissaries from Seaquen who wants to make contact with the Monastery of the Two Winds. The guard's captain, Fau Lu Pan, orders to have them released from the cage if they hand over their weapons in return. She then apologizes for the cold welcome. She explains that they are all in one of the Khagan's estates and that in times of war it is a wise decision to be cautious. </p><p></p><p>Fau Lu Pan asks them to wait in one of the estate's luscious waiting rooms until she has explained the whole situation to her Khagan. A short time later, she explains that the Khagan wants to see them all and she asks them to accompany them to the main villa where they will get the chance to meet her Lord. </p><p></p><p>The party is pretty impressed by all the splendor (and the color-matching guards) the Khagan has to offer in this special villa. After a short wait in a very comfy tea room they are finally introduced to Khagan Onamdammin. They are quite irritated by his strange appearance, but they manage to hide their surprises to his “orcified” half-elven face pretty well. </p><p></p><p>Onamdammin says that he's glad to finally meet the “saviors of Dassen” in person and that he's been very upset hat he didn't make it to the war council in person (an obvious, but polite lie). Cuin takes the opportunity to ask whether ambassador Kazhar Lonam's unreasonably high demands back then were actually meant as an honest offer. The Khagan grins visibly when he's asked that and replys that if Seaquen had agreed to his terns, he'd have known that they were all cowards with no backbones and would have totally deserved to be exploited. Cuin congratulates him on his cunning scheme and then asks him whether there could be a honest alliance between Ostalin and Seaquen, now that he knows they are “tough bones”. Onamdammin explains that he might agree to such an alliance, but they'd have to first convince his good friend and great judge of character, Master Pilus of the East Wind. The elf replies that this sums up quite nicely as they were on a journey to the Two Winds anyway, so they'll discuss the Alliance in addition to their other business.</p><p></p><p>When asked, they explain that they seek Master Longinus' wisdom and maybe an opportunity to learn his famed divination methods. The Khagan adds that they maybe want to order biomantic steeds, like he did a few weeks ago. He then concludes the talk and invites them all to have some fun in his harem tonight as they are his most honored guests. He then takes a glance at all the people assembled there and adds “or maybe some of you beauties wants to share the bed of a Khagan tonight?”. All but Sheena Larkis politely decline the offer, however. </p><p></p><p>After Onamdammin has left, Crystin, who has been shaking all the time and who was barely able to hold herself back, utters another of her visions: “Last of many, combatant in an unequal fight. Ambitiously you reach for the sky and dare to dance with the eastern storm. But know the storm's maw is full of greed and each pair of wings has its price”</p><p></p><p>Hearing that, Cuin, Torrent and especially Tinuviel are more than relieved that Crystin was able to hold back the vision as the Khagan might have wanted to keep the “little oracle” for himself.</p><p></p><p><em>Note: Khagan Onamdammin. I don't even know where to start... obviously both my players had problems with his name and I took great delight in rubbing “Onamdammin” under their nose this evening. (I studied chemistry and the Khagan's name is not too much of a difficulty when you're used to Hydrochinone or Phenylalanin or the like) “Khagan” did suffice though. </em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Reading his background, I really wanted to expand more on the Khagan and his two elder brothers, but I couldn't find the right hook and my players were not that much into Ostalin politics. I thought that his father would have made him Khagan because he was the smartest of his children. This is why I turned Kazhar's ridiculous demands into a test of will: The first steps of a man who wants to test his possible future allies' reactions. Nevertheless, he had some serious inferiority complexes which is why he'd let himself be biomantically changed to look more masculine. Cuin's player told me that the Khagan acted much like a spoiled, creepy brat with too many resources and too much power and that was exactly what I wanted to portray. I also thought that someone who's so much into exotic beauty like Onamdammin would offer each of them a night with him as well, even if I already knew that both PCs would decline the offer. I was kind of astonished that none of them wanted to go to the Harem though. Maybe they feared that the Khagan could be jealous, but I guess they were just too creeped out. </em></p><p></p><p>Tinuviel takes some time that night to contact Shalosha via a psionic version of sending. He asks her where she is and what she is up to as he fears for her safety. She replies that she's in Sindaire, looking for help for her people. She then asks Tinu what he and his crew are up to and he replies that he's in Ostralin, heading for Eresh. He asks her to stay safe as there might be Ragesians roaming around in Sindaire and she replies that she'll be okay as she not only has an escort, but is also quite able to defend herself.</p><p></p><p>The next day, the group decides to split up for the further journey. Tiljann and Sheena (who's obviously tired but claims that it was totally worth it) decide to stay in Yen Ching for a shopping spree and to visit some Wayfarer contacts while Tinu, Cuin, Torrent, Three Weeping Ravens and Crystin continue their journey to Eresh.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lylandra, post: 7257325, member: 6816692"] [b]One night in Yen Ching[/b] Hah, that's great! Kathor turned out to be one of the really well recieved NPC and I also instantly liked him when I read his journey throughout the campaign. Like the players, he just got thrown into the grand scheme of events and tries to find his role and identity over the course of the adventures. --- The group finally decides that they want to check up on what's going on in the Monastery and Eresh, so they meet up with Three Weeping Ravens (apparently a name that's too complicated for Tinuviel's player to remember...) and ask him about the encounter with the Monks of the Two Winds. The monk explains that his group was fleeing from the Ragesians in Sindaire after they heard that the Inquisitors were searching and abducting “mages”. They tried to find shelter within the monastery, but were not let in as the monastery's leaders feared that letting in refugees would attract the Ragesians. So they continued their journey until they found Seaquen. They also ask him about the “ancient evil” he spoke about the last time they mat and this time, Three Weeping Ravens takes them aside and tells them that this is a wound that's deeply rooted in his people. He says that they originally came from a monastery near Ycengled Phuurst and that their ancient home was taken over by someone who feasted on dark souls. He doesn't know much more and says that maybe Dreams No More will tell them more once she knows and trusts them more. Cuin is intrigued as Ycengled is the original home of the Taranesti people and Tinuviel plans to stay and meditate with the Echoed Soul Monks who just happen to be psionic “mental mages” as well once their mission is over. [I]Note: Coincidence? Not really as I made Trilla a soul-forged golden dragon. They just didn't know that back then :D I also went with Three Weeping Ravens as the monk/psychic warrior he was intended to be (the combination is pretty neat) and tried to improve him a bit. On a second thought, I could have gestalted him as well as the combo was not as effective as I thought. He really lacks some hit bonus and defense compared to the PCs. [/I] They do on and ask him whether he could be their guide to Eresh as Simeonne is missing a group of people who went there. Three Weeping Ravens agrees to lead the way and adds that he'd like to take the opportunity to talk to the monastery's masters should that be possible. As Three Weeping Ravens explains that one of the masters, a monk called Longinus, is said to be a great seer, Tinuviel asks Crystin whether she'd like to accompany them as well. After all, this might be the perfect chance to find someone who's psionically gifted who can teach her how to use her powers. Crystin is eager to learn and so she agrees to team up with them. Together, they arrange with Sheena, Tiljann and Kiernan to teleport to the city of Yen-Ching where Sheena knows a safehaven for them to land. Kiernan polymorphs them all into tiny fire elementals and off they go. Once they initiate the teleport circle, Sheena and Tinuviel realize that something is wrong. Instead of arriving at their target destination in an instant, they actually float through a burning astral plane for a while and barely manage to avoid being seen by an astral dreadnought. [I]Note: I wanted to one-up the dangers of the burning sky. At this point, my players had plenty of resources to protect themselves against the fire and they were not close enough to Korstull to have the necrotic effect kick in yet. I also didn't want them to solve basically everything travel related via teleport-spam. Used in healthy doses, teleport is fine. But especially Tinuviel's player tends to heavily over-do and sometimes outright abuse things that work fine per se which can easily lead to him becoming a one-trick pony. So yeah, educational reasons ;) [/I] When they finally arrive back on their home plane, they find themselves trapped in a cage besides a teleport beacon. Outside the cage, a group of massively armed guards demands that they explain themselves. Fortunately, they can convince the guards that they are what they are: A group of emissaries from Seaquen who wants to make contact with the Monastery of the Two Winds. The guard's captain, Fau Lu Pan, orders to have them released from the cage if they hand over their weapons in return. She then apologizes for the cold welcome. She explains that they are all in one of the Khagan's estates and that in times of war it is a wise decision to be cautious. Fau Lu Pan asks them to wait in one of the estate's luscious waiting rooms until she has explained the whole situation to her Khagan. A short time later, she explains that the Khagan wants to see them all and she asks them to accompany them to the main villa where they will get the chance to meet her Lord. The party is pretty impressed by all the splendor (and the color-matching guards) the Khagan has to offer in this special villa. After a short wait in a very comfy tea room they are finally introduced to Khagan Onamdammin. They are quite irritated by his strange appearance, but they manage to hide their surprises to his “orcified” half-elven face pretty well. Onamdammin says that he's glad to finally meet the “saviors of Dassen” in person and that he's been very upset hat he didn't make it to the war council in person (an obvious, but polite lie). Cuin takes the opportunity to ask whether ambassador Kazhar Lonam's unreasonably high demands back then were actually meant as an honest offer. The Khagan grins visibly when he's asked that and replys that if Seaquen had agreed to his terns, he'd have known that they were all cowards with no backbones and would have totally deserved to be exploited. Cuin congratulates him on his cunning scheme and then asks him whether there could be a honest alliance between Ostalin and Seaquen, now that he knows they are “tough bones”. Onamdammin explains that he might agree to such an alliance, but they'd have to first convince his good friend and great judge of character, Master Pilus of the East Wind. The elf replies that this sums up quite nicely as they were on a journey to the Two Winds anyway, so they'll discuss the Alliance in addition to their other business. When asked, they explain that they seek Master Longinus' wisdom and maybe an opportunity to learn his famed divination methods. The Khagan adds that they maybe want to order biomantic steeds, like he did a few weeks ago. He then concludes the talk and invites them all to have some fun in his harem tonight as they are his most honored guests. He then takes a glance at all the people assembled there and adds “or maybe some of you beauties wants to share the bed of a Khagan tonight?”. All but Sheena Larkis politely decline the offer, however. After Onamdammin has left, Crystin, who has been shaking all the time and who was barely able to hold herself back, utters another of her visions: “Last of many, combatant in an unequal fight. Ambitiously you reach for the sky and dare to dance with the eastern storm. But know the storm's maw is full of greed and each pair of wings has its price” Hearing that, Cuin, Torrent and especially Tinuviel are more than relieved that Crystin was able to hold back the vision as the Khagan might have wanted to keep the “little oracle” for himself. [I]Note: Khagan Onamdammin. I don't even know where to start... obviously both my players had problems with his name and I took great delight in rubbing “Onamdammin” under their nose this evening. (I studied chemistry and the Khagan's name is not too much of a difficulty when you're used to Hydrochinone or Phenylalanin or the like) “Khagan” did suffice though. Reading his background, I really wanted to expand more on the Khagan and his two elder brothers, but I couldn't find the right hook and my players were not that much into Ostalin politics. I thought that his father would have made him Khagan because he was the smartest of his children. This is why I turned Kazhar's ridiculous demands into a test of will: The first steps of a man who wants to test his possible future allies' reactions. Nevertheless, he had some serious inferiority complexes which is why he'd let himself be biomantically changed to look more masculine. Cuin's player told me that the Khagan acted much like a spoiled, creepy brat with too many resources and too much power and that was exactly what I wanted to portray. I also thought that someone who's so much into exotic beauty like Onamdammin would offer each of them a night with him as well, even if I already knew that both PCs would decline the offer. I was kind of astonished that none of them wanted to go to the Harem though. Maybe they feared that the Khagan could be jealous, but I guess they were just too creeped out. [/I] Tinuviel takes some time that night to contact Shalosha via a psionic version of sending. He asks her where she is and what she is up to as he fears for her safety. She replies that she's in Sindaire, looking for help for her people. She then asks Tinu what he and his crew are up to and he replies that he's in Ostralin, heading for Eresh. He asks her to stay safe as there might be Ragesians roaming around in Sindaire and she replies that she'll be okay as she not only has an escort, but is also quite able to defend herself. The next day, the group decides to split up for the further journey. Tiljann and Sheena (who's obviously tired but claims that it was totally worth it) decide to stay in Yen Ching for a shopping spree and to visit some Wayfarer contacts while Tinu, Cuin, Torrent, Three Weeping Ravens and Crystin continue their journey to Eresh. [/QUOTE]
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