Rel
Liquid Awesome
Ok I'm going to make a concerted effort to catch things up this week. I may be a bit sparse with some of the details but feel free to ask questions of either myself or the players.
The PC's were met at the doorway by a pale-skinned bald man with the glowing eyes they had come to associate with the minions of Mayaheine. He led them into the ice fortress where they found The White Queen. She stood some eleven feet tall and glowed from within. They got the distinct sense that she was working to contain her brilliance such that they would not be blinded by her.
She explained at some length that she was an "aspect" of the lost god Pelor, being a physical manifestation of his "Wisdom and Insight". Her brother had been a similar representation of Pelor's Righteousness. As such he had been unable to resist the urge to try and help the mortals of the world some 500 years ago when the Mists came, despite the fact that she had warned him that it would bring about his doom.
Her brother became corrupted by the Mist and was since known as The Dweller, the mysterious and feared god of the people of Opkhar. After a couple hundred years of saying, "I told you so", Mayaheine had set about trying to cleanse her brother of the taint of the Mist and restore him to his rightful place by her side. Because she too was highly susceptable to the influence of the Mist, she could not do this directly. Nor could she dispatch any of her special minions. She instead needed to recruit mortals to undertake this task.
Thus the "cult" of the Dark Moon was created in order to try and free The Dweller from his corruption. But over time the Dark Moon became more about gaining power for its own sake and less about cleansing The Dweller. Then the PC's destroyed one of the primary sects of the Dark Moon and turned their leader, Rhazul, over to King Klo for his various crimes (the most egregious of which was, in the eyes of the King, the destruction of the bridge to Semma).
Thus Mayaheine now desired for the PC's to pick up the task of cleansing her brother. Mayaheine instructed them that she would richly reward their cooperation with their choice of either making them immortal or else telling them anything they desired to know. She didn't belabor the point that their refusal would vex her and very possibly cause her to destroy them.
The PC's said they could use a minute to think about her offer. Mayaheine blew a puff of air toward the group, as a man would seek to rid himself of a bothersome insect, and they were instantly teleported many miles down the mountainside. A brief discussion pointed up that none of them were particularly enthusiastic about pursuing her goals but that doing so might be for the greater good. And they didn't want to earn her ire in any event given her apparent power. Since it was well below freezing outside they kept the conversation brief and as soon as they generally desired to give her an answer they were immediately teleported back into her chambers. This called into question how private their conversation had really been but it seemed impolite to bring this up.
They agreed to undertake her task so long as they could do so at a pace of their choosing. Mayaheine indicated that she had waited 500 years and could wait a bit longer. But she also said that she would know if they had effectively abandoned her quest and her retribution would be swift if that happened. With the conversation over she blew on them once more and they found themselves in a snowstorm, just outside the dwarven aerial tramway.
They descended the mountain and returned to the chambers alotted to them where Mialain discovered a note from one of the priests with whom she had entrusted the body of the dead Eladrin girl who had carried a holy symbol of Melora. The Priests of Karak Tor had successfully raised the girl and were keeping her in a cell. Mialain entered and spoke to her, discovering a bevy of useful information.
The Eladrin's name was Thierastra and she had been a member of the crew of one of the winged ships. They had struck a bargain with the Arcanon Confederacy in exchange for the AC's help on a problem plaguing the Feywild. However prior to crossing over from the Feywild, Thierastra had met a charming Elf who preached the return of the goddess Melora. This was of course Mialain's long lost brother Sellarian. Thierastra became a secret follower of Melora before she was called into duty for the Arcanon Confederacy. When she saw Mialain's holy symbol tatooed on her arm, she knew that she could not allow her to be killed by the other Eladrin or the AC Wizards. So she had crashed the ship hoping that it would allow Mialain and her friends to escape.
Mialain thanked her for helping them. She asked what Thierastra intended to do now and the Eladrin responded that it was a tremendous honor to stand in the presence of the High Priestess of Melora and she fervently hoped that she would be allowed to follow her and be of service in any manner possible. Mialain wasn't used to being regarded in this way and seemed a bit embarassed. But she did say that, for the time being at least, Thierastra was welcome to accompany them.
Finally she thought to ask why it was that the Eladrin had struck some kind of bargain with the Arcanon Confederacy. Thierastra rather sheepishly revealed that all was not well in the Feywild. The Mist had started coming through one of the old Fey Gates that led back to this world and all attempts to stop it had failed. Knowing that the Arcanon Confederacy was probably the leading authority about teleportation and things like interplaner Gates, they offered their assistance in the hopes that the AC could help them close that Fey Gate. From what she knew, their efforts thus far had been unsuccessful...
*******
Ok so heavy duty roleplaying stuff for most of this session. We get to some action very shortly.
The encounter with Mayaheine was one of those times when I had no real idea how things would turn out. Given the PC's reluctance to help her before I hadn't ruled out things coming to blows. It would have been ugly for the PC's but I had made a few contingency plans that I'll reveal someday when the campaign is over.
The one major way that this session relates to my view of 4e is with some of the charges that have been leveled that the system precludes much in the way of roleplaying. Almost the entirety of this session was pure roleplay with a sprinkling of skill checks added in as appropriate. The players seemed to have no problems at all with this and were not trying to hurry through the RP stuff in order to get to the next combat. I think that if you have good players and put forth a plot that involves their backgrounds in an interesting way then there is absolutely no reason why 4e would interfere with plenty of good roleplaying.
The PC's were met at the doorway by a pale-skinned bald man with the glowing eyes they had come to associate with the minions of Mayaheine. He led them into the ice fortress where they found The White Queen. She stood some eleven feet tall and glowed from within. They got the distinct sense that she was working to contain her brilliance such that they would not be blinded by her.
She explained at some length that she was an "aspect" of the lost god Pelor, being a physical manifestation of his "Wisdom and Insight". Her brother had been a similar representation of Pelor's Righteousness. As such he had been unable to resist the urge to try and help the mortals of the world some 500 years ago when the Mists came, despite the fact that she had warned him that it would bring about his doom.
Her brother became corrupted by the Mist and was since known as The Dweller, the mysterious and feared god of the people of Opkhar. After a couple hundred years of saying, "I told you so", Mayaheine had set about trying to cleanse her brother of the taint of the Mist and restore him to his rightful place by her side. Because she too was highly susceptable to the influence of the Mist, she could not do this directly. Nor could she dispatch any of her special minions. She instead needed to recruit mortals to undertake this task.
Thus the "cult" of the Dark Moon was created in order to try and free The Dweller from his corruption. But over time the Dark Moon became more about gaining power for its own sake and less about cleansing The Dweller. Then the PC's destroyed one of the primary sects of the Dark Moon and turned their leader, Rhazul, over to King Klo for his various crimes (the most egregious of which was, in the eyes of the King, the destruction of the bridge to Semma).
Thus Mayaheine now desired for the PC's to pick up the task of cleansing her brother. Mayaheine instructed them that she would richly reward their cooperation with their choice of either making them immortal or else telling them anything they desired to know. She didn't belabor the point that their refusal would vex her and very possibly cause her to destroy them.
The PC's said they could use a minute to think about her offer. Mayaheine blew a puff of air toward the group, as a man would seek to rid himself of a bothersome insect, and they were instantly teleported many miles down the mountainside. A brief discussion pointed up that none of them were particularly enthusiastic about pursuing her goals but that doing so might be for the greater good. And they didn't want to earn her ire in any event given her apparent power. Since it was well below freezing outside they kept the conversation brief and as soon as they generally desired to give her an answer they were immediately teleported back into her chambers. This called into question how private their conversation had really been but it seemed impolite to bring this up.
They agreed to undertake her task so long as they could do so at a pace of their choosing. Mayaheine indicated that she had waited 500 years and could wait a bit longer. But she also said that she would know if they had effectively abandoned her quest and her retribution would be swift if that happened. With the conversation over she blew on them once more and they found themselves in a snowstorm, just outside the dwarven aerial tramway.
They descended the mountain and returned to the chambers alotted to them where Mialain discovered a note from one of the priests with whom she had entrusted the body of the dead Eladrin girl who had carried a holy symbol of Melora. The Priests of Karak Tor had successfully raised the girl and were keeping her in a cell. Mialain entered and spoke to her, discovering a bevy of useful information.
The Eladrin's name was Thierastra and she had been a member of the crew of one of the winged ships. They had struck a bargain with the Arcanon Confederacy in exchange for the AC's help on a problem plaguing the Feywild. However prior to crossing over from the Feywild, Thierastra had met a charming Elf who preached the return of the goddess Melora. This was of course Mialain's long lost brother Sellarian. Thierastra became a secret follower of Melora before she was called into duty for the Arcanon Confederacy. When she saw Mialain's holy symbol tatooed on her arm, she knew that she could not allow her to be killed by the other Eladrin or the AC Wizards. So she had crashed the ship hoping that it would allow Mialain and her friends to escape.
Mialain thanked her for helping them. She asked what Thierastra intended to do now and the Eladrin responded that it was a tremendous honor to stand in the presence of the High Priestess of Melora and she fervently hoped that she would be allowed to follow her and be of service in any manner possible. Mialain wasn't used to being regarded in this way and seemed a bit embarassed. But she did say that, for the time being at least, Thierastra was welcome to accompany them.
Finally she thought to ask why it was that the Eladrin had struck some kind of bargain with the Arcanon Confederacy. Thierastra rather sheepishly revealed that all was not well in the Feywild. The Mist had started coming through one of the old Fey Gates that led back to this world and all attempts to stop it had failed. Knowing that the Arcanon Confederacy was probably the leading authority about teleportation and things like interplaner Gates, they offered their assistance in the hopes that the AC could help them close that Fey Gate. From what she knew, their efforts thus far had been unsuccessful...
*******
Ok so heavy duty roleplaying stuff for most of this session. We get to some action very shortly.
The encounter with Mayaheine was one of those times when I had no real idea how things would turn out. Given the PC's reluctance to help her before I hadn't ruled out things coming to blows. It would have been ugly for the PC's but I had made a few contingency plans that I'll reveal someday when the campaign is over.
The one major way that this session relates to my view of 4e is with some of the charges that have been leveled that the system precludes much in the way of roleplaying. Almost the entirety of this session was pure roleplay with a sprinkling of skill checks added in as appropriate. The players seemed to have no problems at all with this and were not trying to hurry through the RP stuff in order to get to the next combat. I think that if you have good players and put forth a plot that involves their backgrounds in an interesting way then there is absolutely no reason why 4e would interfere with plenty of good roleplaying.
