RangerWickett
Legend
Spoilers!
[sblock]I see that you're trying to preserve the climax of the adventure. While I really like the climax, and put a lot of effort into tweaking Caela to make her a tough but fun encounter, I think your best bet might be to, well, let the party 'win' easily.
The party goes to the Monastery. The monks haven't gotten the okay from their masters for them to let the party in, but Pilus has been watching what's going on, and he realizes he's going to have to change his plans. The heroes haven't fallen into the trap he set for them by abducting Torrent, and any action he takes now is going to be scrutinized by his brother, who he doesn't want to risk alienating.
He sees now that it's better to use the heroes as pawns than to waste resources trying to kill them. He also realizes he's going to have to offer a queen sacrifice in order to checkmate this little situation, because the party suspects the monastery, so he has to give them someone to blame. But Pilus is a slick liar, so he concocts a plan quickly.
So anyway, the party goes to the monastery, and the monks at the gate refuse initially, but then a message on the wind quietly informs them to let the heroes in. They are escorted to a meeting with the two brothers, where Pilus and Longinus listen to their story. They are both grateful (Longinus sincerely, Pilus convincingly fake) for the PCs solving the problem with the Ragesians and lifting the 'curse,' and they want to help. Longinus offers to divine where Torrent has been taken (if the PCs haven't already guessed), and Pilus says that he will send some of their monks to assist the heroes in retrieving their friend, including his most skilled warrior, Caela.
And then when the brothers call for Caela, the other monks are like, Um, we can't find her. And Longinus casts divination and gets back a haiku saying that Torrent is being held by a traitor in the forbidden valley. Pilus says that he and his brother cannot leave the monastery on such short notice, but that he can follow their progress. He gives them a black mask to carry with them (like from adventure 8), and says that they can speak to him through this.
Ultimately, the PCs (perhaps with monk allies if they want the help) set out to the valley. The brothers warn them there might be guardians, which lets you use the mantidrake, but I'd ditch the mishaps and ettins, and just let them get to the laboratory. Inside, play up how quiet and ominous it is, and how they hear quiet creaking of the roof as wind flutters in and out.
Then, when they're halfway through the biomancy vats, Caela addresses them via magic, saying something like, "Damned meddling foreigners. You weren't content escaping my storm over your city; you had to come stick your unclean noses into matters far beyond you. No one can stand against the eldritch might of Leska, and I was smart enough to ally with her. You may have defeated our plans here, but you will not escape."
At the end of her speech (or as soon as any of the PCs make for the door the office), the wind begins to pick up very suddenly, and Aurus attacks. The heroes can hear the sound of the tornado approaching, that wonderful low moan mixed with the roar of an oncoming train, and they don't have long before it strikes. Aurus keeps the heroes busy, while the wind slowly builds as the tornado approaches.
It's strong winds in round one, severe wind in round two, windstorm in round three (the doors to the office blow open and the skylight shatters), hurricane in round four (the roof of the laboratory tears off), and finally tornado in round five (debris begins to lift into the air and whirl around). Now sure, the PCs with the boon won't have to worry about the winds, but they will have to worry about being smashed by bits of laboratory components. I'd put it at Reflex DC 22 each round to avoid 3d6 damage. If they look up, they can see they're just outside the edge of the funnel cloud.
At some point during this, the Pilus mask animates and he tells the heroes that he and his brother sense the storm, and will try to keep it at bay. This gives you an off the cuff way to keep from killing the PCs while they defeat Aurus and rescue Torrent. Then, as soon as they're out of the laboratory, the tornado drifts just a bit more and totally annihilates the place.
Now, what happened behind the scenes is that Pilus sending'ed Caela and told her to wait for the heroes to show up, then to sic Aurus on them to make the situation convincing. Caela is gone (courtesy of dimension door) long before the heroes ever make it to the office, and the tornado is there to cover Pilus's tracks so people can't connect it to him. Caela 'gets away,' which means she'll be staying full-time on Pilus's airship, ready to level up and fight the PCs for real should they make it to adventure 11.
For right now, the heroes should think that Caela was working with the Ragesians, but they thwarted her plan and drove her off. The brothers will be thankful, and Pilus chagrined that he did not realize he had a traitor in his midst, and they will offer to help the heroes reach the castle in the firestorm for adventure 6. Only much later will they realize that Pilus was actually behind the whole thing. [/sblock]
How does that sound?
[sblock]I see that you're trying to preserve the climax of the adventure. While I really like the climax, and put a lot of effort into tweaking Caela to make her a tough but fun encounter, I think your best bet might be to, well, let the party 'win' easily.
The party goes to the Monastery. The monks haven't gotten the okay from their masters for them to let the party in, but Pilus has been watching what's going on, and he realizes he's going to have to change his plans. The heroes haven't fallen into the trap he set for them by abducting Torrent, and any action he takes now is going to be scrutinized by his brother, who he doesn't want to risk alienating.
He sees now that it's better to use the heroes as pawns than to waste resources trying to kill them. He also realizes he's going to have to offer a queen sacrifice in order to checkmate this little situation, because the party suspects the monastery, so he has to give them someone to blame. But Pilus is a slick liar, so he concocts a plan quickly.
So anyway, the party goes to the monastery, and the monks at the gate refuse initially, but then a message on the wind quietly informs them to let the heroes in. They are escorted to a meeting with the two brothers, where Pilus and Longinus listen to their story. They are both grateful (Longinus sincerely, Pilus convincingly fake) for the PCs solving the problem with the Ragesians and lifting the 'curse,' and they want to help. Longinus offers to divine where Torrent has been taken (if the PCs haven't already guessed), and Pilus says that he will send some of their monks to assist the heroes in retrieving their friend, including his most skilled warrior, Caela.
And then when the brothers call for Caela, the other monks are like, Um, we can't find her. And Longinus casts divination and gets back a haiku saying that Torrent is being held by a traitor in the forbidden valley. Pilus says that he and his brother cannot leave the monastery on such short notice, but that he can follow their progress. He gives them a black mask to carry with them (like from adventure 8), and says that they can speak to him through this.
Ultimately, the PCs (perhaps with monk allies if they want the help) set out to the valley. The brothers warn them there might be guardians, which lets you use the mantidrake, but I'd ditch the mishaps and ettins, and just let them get to the laboratory. Inside, play up how quiet and ominous it is, and how they hear quiet creaking of the roof as wind flutters in and out.
Then, when they're halfway through the biomancy vats, Caela addresses them via magic, saying something like, "Damned meddling foreigners. You weren't content escaping my storm over your city; you had to come stick your unclean noses into matters far beyond you. No one can stand against the eldritch might of Leska, and I was smart enough to ally with her. You may have defeated our plans here, but you will not escape."
At the end of her speech (or as soon as any of the PCs make for the door the office), the wind begins to pick up very suddenly, and Aurus attacks. The heroes can hear the sound of the tornado approaching, that wonderful low moan mixed with the roar of an oncoming train, and they don't have long before it strikes. Aurus keeps the heroes busy, while the wind slowly builds as the tornado approaches.
It's strong winds in round one, severe wind in round two, windstorm in round three (the doors to the office blow open and the skylight shatters), hurricane in round four (the roof of the laboratory tears off), and finally tornado in round five (debris begins to lift into the air and whirl around). Now sure, the PCs with the boon won't have to worry about the winds, but they will have to worry about being smashed by bits of laboratory components. I'd put it at Reflex DC 22 each round to avoid 3d6 damage. If they look up, they can see they're just outside the edge of the funnel cloud.
At some point during this, the Pilus mask animates and he tells the heroes that he and his brother sense the storm, and will try to keep it at bay. This gives you an off the cuff way to keep from killing the PCs while they defeat Aurus and rescue Torrent. Then, as soon as they're out of the laboratory, the tornado drifts just a bit more and totally annihilates the place.
Now, what happened behind the scenes is that Pilus sending'ed Caela and told her to wait for the heroes to show up, then to sic Aurus on them to make the situation convincing. Caela is gone (courtesy of dimension door) long before the heroes ever make it to the office, and the tornado is there to cover Pilus's tracks so people can't connect it to him. Caela 'gets away,' which means she'll be staying full-time on Pilus's airship, ready to level up and fight the PCs for real should they make it to adventure 11.
For right now, the heroes should think that Caela was working with the Ragesians, but they thwarted her plan and drove her off. The brothers will be thankful, and Pilus chagrined that he did not realize he had a traitor in his midst, and they will offer to help the heroes reach the castle in the firestorm for adventure 6. Only much later will they realize that Pilus was actually behind the whole thing. [/sblock]
How does that sound?
