This is mostly a repost following the crash. I've also added in a couple of bits from the lost Tarrasque thread.
***********************************************
The current focus of my 4e game - which is now at 30th level, the top end of Epic tier - is the fate of the multiverse: will it be engulfed in an imminent Dusk War, or is there some way of averting such a thing?
Our session on May 29 began with a transition scene (to borrow the MHRP terminology). The PCs erected a magic circle around the Mausoleum of the Raven Queen, in order to prevent anyone from entering it and potentially learning her true name (backstory here); then rested; then scried on the tarrasque, which they knew to have recently begun marauding in the mortal world, identifying its location and noting that it was being observed by maruts. They decided that, to return to the mortal world to confront the tarrasque they would first teleport to their abandoned Thundercloud Tower, and then take that with them through another conjured portal and fly it to where the tarrasque is.
Tarrasque stats here: [sblock]The tarrasque Level 30 solo brute
Gargantuan elemental magical beast XP 95,000
Hp 1420 Bloodied 710 Initiative +23
AC 43 Fort 49 Ref 38 Will 32 Perception +19, blindsight 20
Speed 8, burrow 8, climb 8 (earth walk, forest walk)
Immune charm, fear Resist 10 all
Saves +5 Action Points 2
Traits
Earthbinding: any flying creature within aura 40 has its fly speed reduced to 1 and its maximum altitude reduced to 20 feet (any creature above this altitude at EitsT falls to an altitude of 20 feet)
Terrifying embodiment of wanton destruction: any square it enters become DT
Elder of annihilation: its melee attacks ignore all resistances, if slowed its speed is only halved, and at the end of its turn any one condition on it ends
Eternal slumber: if reduced to zero hp, the tarrasque sinks back into the world’s core and slumbers once again
Standard Actions – at will
* Piercing bite (melee 3 vs 1 target): +34 vs AC for 2d12+21 and OG 30
* Rending bite (melee 3 vs 1 target): +34 vs AC for 6d12+21 and -5 penalty to AC til ETarrasque’sNT
Frenzy (only if bloodied; creatures in cl burst 3): as either piercing or rending bite against each target
Move Action – at will
Trample: it moves up to its speed (provoking OAs as normal) and may enter enemy’s spaces (but may not end its move in an occupied space); if it enters an enemy’s space it makes a melee attack: +33 vs Ref for 2d12+25 & knocked prone
Minor Actions – at will
Tail slap (melee 3 vs 1 target not attacked with any bite this turn): +32 vs Fort for 6d12+21, push 4 sq & knock prone Miss: creates a collapsing fissure extending 10 sq from a sq adj to the target, in a direction of the tarrasque’s choosing, that lasts until E of a T in which the fissure makes an attack; if this inc a sq occupied by a Medium creature or if a Medium creature enters a sq, attacks as free action: +32 vs Ref for 2d12+9, restrained & OG 10 (escape DC 32 ends both)
Bite (R5,6 only if not bloodied): make a piercing bite or rending bite attack
Hurl rubble (ranged 20 vs 1 creature): +32 vs Ref for 4d12+19, push 3 sq and knock prone
Triggered Action – at will
Reflective carapace (immediate reaction if a ranged or area attack misses the tarrasque): repeat the attack against another target within 20 sq of the tarrasque
While bloodied, on an initiative of 10+its initiative check, it may use a free action to trample (if it is immobilised, restrained or unable to take free actions, that effects ends instead)
STR 42 (+31) DEX 26 (+23) WIS 18 (+19)
CON 36 (+28) INT 3 (+11) CHA 7 (+13)
Alignment Unaligned Languages –[/sblock]
When the PCs step through the portal from their resting place to the top of the tower, they find that it is not where they left it - on the disintegrating 66th layer of the Abyss - but rather in the palace of Yan-C-Bin on the Elemental Chaos. This brought the PCs, and especially the chaos sorcerer, into discussion with the djinni who had retaken possession of the tower and were repurposing it for the coming Dusk War. Mechanically, this situation was resolved as a skill challenge.
Sirrajadt, the leader of the djinni, explained that the djinni were finally breaking free of the imprisonment they had suffered after fighting for their freedom the last time (ie with the primordials against the gods in the Dawn War), and were not going to be re-imprisoned or bound within the Lattice of Heaven, and hence were gearing up to fight again in the Dusk War. He further explained that only Yan-C-Bin (Prince of Evil Air Elementals) and the Elder Elemental Eye could lead them to victory in the Dusk War.
The PCs both asserted their power (eg the paladin pointed out that the reason the djinni have been released from their prisons is because the PCs killed Torog, the god of imprisonment), and denied the necessity for a coming Dusk War, denouncing warmongers on both sides (especially the Elder Elemental Eye, whom Sirrajadt was stating was the only being who could guarantee the Djinni their freedom) and announcing themselves as a "third way", committed to balancing the chaos against the heavens and ensuring the endurance of the mortal world.
Sirrajadt was insisting that the PCs accompany him to meet Yan-C-Bin, declaring that mercy would be shown to all but the sorcerer. (The reason for this is that the chaos sorcerer - who is a Primordial Adept and Resurgent Primordial - has long been a servant of Chan, the Queen of Good Air Elementals, who sided with the gods during the Dawn War and is resolutely opposed to the Prince of Evil Air Elementals; hence the sorcerer is a sworn enemy of Yan-C-Bin.) As the PCs continued to debate the point and explain their "third way" reasoning (mechanically, getting closer to success in the skill challenge), Sirrajadt - sufficiently unsettled by their claims - invited them all to resolve the matter in conversation with Yan-C-Bin, who moreso than him would be able to explain the situation. The PCs therefore went to meet Yan-C-Bin himself, as guests and not as prisoners - not even the sorcerer.
Yan-C-Bin greeted them, but mocked the sorcerer and his service to Chan. There was some back and forth, and some of the same points were made. Then the PC fighter/cleric Eternal Defender, who has recently taken up the divine portfolio of imprisonment (which position became vacant after the PCs killed Torog), spoke. Both in the fiction and at the table this was the pivotal moment. The player gave an impassioned and quite eloquent speech, which went for several minutes with his eyes locked on mine. (We tend to be quite a causal table as far as performance, in-character vs third person description of one's PC vs out-of-character goes.) He explained (in character) that he would personally see to it that no djinni would be unjustly imprisoned, if they now refrained from launching the Dusk War; but that if they acted rashly and unjustly they could look forward to imprisonment or enslavement forever.
The player rolled his Intimidate check (with a +2 bonus granted by me because of his speech, far more impassioned and "in character" than is typical for our pretty laid-back table) and succeeded. It didn't persuade Yan-C-Bin - his allegiance to the Elder Elemental Eye is not going to be swayed by a mere godling - but the players' goal wasn't to persaude Yan-C-Bin of the merits of their third way, but rather to avoid being imprisoned by him and to sway the djinni. Which is exacty what happened: this speech sufficiently impressed the djinni audience that Yan-C-Bin could not just ignore it, and hence he grudgingly acquiesced to the PCs' request, agreeing to let the PCs take the Thundercloud Tower and go and confront the tarrasque - but expressing doubt that they would realise their "third way", and with a final mocking remark that they would see for whom the maruts with the tarrasque were acting.
The player of the eternal defender had already noted that, when I read out the description of maruts and their contracts earlier in the sessin, the only being actually mentioned by name was the Raven Queen. So he predicted (more-or-less in line with what I had in mind), that the maruts observing the tarrasque would be there at the behest of the Raven Queen (who is served by three of the five PCs), to stop it being interfered with.
When the PCs then took their Tower to confront the tarrasque, that was indeed what they found. Upon arriving at the tarrasque's location they found the tarrasque being warded by a group of maruts who explained that, in accordance with a contract made with the Raven Queen millenia ago, they were there to ensure the realisation of the end times, and to stop anyone interfering with the tarrasque as an engine of this destruction and a herald of the beginning of the end times and the arrival of the Dusk War.
(Why the Raven Queen wants the Dusk War has not fully come to light, other than that it seems part of her plan to realise her own ultimate godhood. One idea I had follows in sblocks.)
[sblock]With Ometh dead, it seems possible that those souls who have passed over the Bridge that May be Traversed But Once might be able to return - repopulating a world remade following the Dusk War and the restoration of the Lattice of Heaven.[/sblock]
I wasn't sure exactly what the players would do here. They could try and fight the maruts, obviously, but I thought the Raven Queen devotees might be hesitant to do so. I had envisaged that the PCs might try to persuade them that the contract was invalid in some way - and this idea was mentioned at the table, together with the related idea of the various exarchs of the Raven Queen in the party trying to lay down the law. In particular I had thought that the paladin of the Raven Queen, who is a Marshall of Letherna (in effect, one of the Raven Queen's most powerful servants), might try to exercise his authority to annual or vary the contract in some fashion.
But instead the argument developed along different lines. What the players did was to persuade the maruts that the time for fulfillment of their contract had not yet arisen, because this visitation of the tarrasque was not yet a sign of the Dusk War. (Mechanically, these were social skill checks, history and religions checks, etc, in a skill challenge to persuade the maruts.)
The player of the Eternal Defender PC made only one action in this skill challenge - explaining that it was not the end times, because he was there to defeat the tarrasque (and got another successful intimidate check, after spending an action point to reroll his initial fail) - before launching himself from the flying tower onto the tarrasque and proceeding to whittle away around 600 of its hit points over two rounds. (There were also two successful out-of-turn attacks from the ranger and the paladin, who were spending their on-turn actions in negotiating with the maruts.)
The invoker/wizard was able to point to this PC's successful solo-ing of the tarrasque as evidence that the tarrasque, at least on this occasion, could not be the harbinger of the end times whom the maruts were contracted to protect, because it clearly lacked the capacity to ravage the world. The maruts agreed with this point - clearly they had misunderstood the timing of celestial events - and the PCs therefore had carte blanche to finish of the tarrasque. (Mechanically, this was the final success in the skill challenge: the player rolled Insight to see what final argument would sway the maruts, knowing that only one success was needed. He succeeded. I invited him to then state the relevant argument.)
That was the end of that session. Due to a conference commitment that I had for June 18, our next session was four weeks later (three weeks ago tomorrow). It was a short session, and it encompassed two events. First, the PCs defeated the tarrasque. With no need anymore to worry about the maruts, and hence focusing all their attacks upon the monster, it lasted maybe three more rounds. The sorcerer/bard unleashed a Climactic Chord, which always tends to bring things to a resolution (just as it says on the tin); and there were multiple crits from the cleric/ranger, a crit from the invoker/wizard, and I think a crit also from the fighter. Another thing I remember was that, for his Climactic Chord attack, the invoker/wizard charged the tarrasque and attacked it in melee with his Rod of Seven Parts (this may even have been the crit).
The other event was a long discussion about what the PCs shoud do next, where they tried to itemise various foes still active, contemplate metaphysical possibilities, and come up with a common plan of action. The paladin of the Raven Queen was arguing for an assault upon Vecna, but found no support for that idea. The final agreement was to travel to Carceri and confront Miska the Wolf Spider (who was sent to that prison plane when the invoker/wizard freed him from the Crystal of Ebon Flame so that Ygorl could be trapped within that artefact instead).
The session ended with the PCs plane shifting their Thundercloud Tower (which was upgraded by the djinni, and now has plane shifting capabilities as well as granting a +2 to lightning and thunder attacks from its control circle). They arrived at the gates of Carceri, and now have to decide how to enter. (One school of thought has it that the Eternal Defender can just demand entrance, as the god of prisons, but this has not yet been tested. We are playing tomorrow, but not everyone will be there so we may end up playing Burning Wheel rather than D&D - so it might be another few weeks before we find out.)
****************************************************
The session with the djinni and the maruts I found pretty interesting. This was the first time that the players (in character) concretely articulated their commitment to a "third way", between a divine victory in the Dusk War that would reinstate the Lattice of Heaven, and a victory for the elemental chaos that would see the mortal world reduced to its constituent parts so that it might be rebuilt.
Relating this to some of the "RPG theory/method" discussions that take place on these boards, this is a very clear example of the players imposing their wills upon the fiction. Their "reading" of certain key setting ideas (eg the Lattice of Heaven, which the players have interpreted as fascistic stasis; the nature of chaos/motion, the natural order, etc, which most of the players have seen as somehow connected to mortal life and wellbeing) is informing the way they respond to challenges and engage key NPCs; and success in these challenges is then vindicating those readings of what the setting is about. They have conceived of a "third way", and have now brought the duergar, the djinni and these maruts into alignment with it.
It's true that the idea of a Dusk War comes from the pre-authored setting material via me as GM. But the players have chosen their PCs' orientations towards that Dusk War via choices both of PC build (class, theme, epic destiny) and via declared actions. Their play of their characters, therefore, is making it true, in the fiction, that those who seek the Dusk War are warmongers; that a god of imprisonment need not be insane (as Torog was); that elemental chaos can be accommodated within the plan for mortals of at least some of the gods (eg Corellon); etc. It also reveals new things about the gameworld, and the metaphysics and ethics of order and chaos.
Also, and from my point of view quite interestingly and impressively, they have manged to hold together as a group despite my various efforts to wedge them apart by playing on various differences of allegiance (to or against the Raven Queen; to or against Erathis's "game of making" which will see the Lattice of Heaven rebuilt; etc).
Not bad for a bit of miniatures skirmishing linked by freeform roleplay! (Even if I do say so myself.)
***********************************************
The current focus of my 4e game - which is now at 30th level, the top end of Epic tier - is the fate of the multiverse: will it be engulfed in an imminent Dusk War, or is there some way of averting such a thing?
Our session on May 29 began with a transition scene (to borrow the MHRP terminology). The PCs erected a magic circle around the Mausoleum of the Raven Queen, in order to prevent anyone from entering it and potentially learning her true name (backstory here); then rested; then scried on the tarrasque, which they knew to have recently begun marauding in the mortal world, identifying its location and noting that it was being observed by maruts. They decided that, to return to the mortal world to confront the tarrasque they would first teleport to their abandoned Thundercloud Tower, and then take that with them through another conjured portal and fly it to where the tarrasque is.
Tarrasque stats here: [sblock]The tarrasque Level 30 solo brute
Gargantuan elemental magical beast XP 95,000
Hp 1420 Bloodied 710 Initiative +23
AC 43 Fort 49 Ref 38 Will 32 Perception +19, blindsight 20
Speed 8, burrow 8, climb 8 (earth walk, forest walk)
Immune charm, fear Resist 10 all
Saves +5 Action Points 2
Traits
Earthbinding: any flying creature within aura 40 has its fly speed reduced to 1 and its maximum altitude reduced to 20 feet (any creature above this altitude at EitsT falls to an altitude of 20 feet)
Terrifying embodiment of wanton destruction: any square it enters become DT
Elder of annihilation: its melee attacks ignore all resistances, if slowed its speed is only halved, and at the end of its turn any one condition on it ends
Eternal slumber: if reduced to zero hp, the tarrasque sinks back into the world’s core and slumbers once again
Standard Actions – at will
* Piercing bite (melee 3 vs 1 target): +34 vs AC for 2d12+21 and OG 30
* Rending bite (melee 3 vs 1 target): +34 vs AC for 6d12+21 and -5 penalty to AC til ETarrasque’sNT
Frenzy (only if bloodied; creatures in cl burst 3): as either piercing or rending bite against each target
Move Action – at will
Trample: it moves up to its speed (provoking OAs as normal) and may enter enemy’s spaces (but may not end its move in an occupied space); if it enters an enemy’s space it makes a melee attack: +33 vs Ref for 2d12+25 & knocked prone
Minor Actions – at will
Tail slap (melee 3 vs 1 target not attacked with any bite this turn): +32 vs Fort for 6d12+21, push 4 sq & knock prone Miss: creates a collapsing fissure extending 10 sq from a sq adj to the target, in a direction of the tarrasque’s choosing, that lasts until E of a T in which the fissure makes an attack; if this inc a sq occupied by a Medium creature or if a Medium creature enters a sq, attacks as free action: +32 vs Ref for 2d12+9, restrained & OG 10 (escape DC 32 ends both)
Bite (R5,6 only if not bloodied): make a piercing bite or rending bite attack
Hurl rubble (ranged 20 vs 1 creature): +32 vs Ref for 4d12+19, push 3 sq and knock prone
Triggered Action – at will
Reflective carapace (immediate reaction if a ranged or area attack misses the tarrasque): repeat the attack against another target within 20 sq of the tarrasque
While bloodied, on an initiative of 10+its initiative check, it may use a free action to trample (if it is immobilised, restrained or unable to take free actions, that effects ends instead)
STR 42 (+31) DEX 26 (+23) WIS 18 (+19)
CON 36 (+28) INT 3 (+11) CHA 7 (+13)
Alignment Unaligned Languages –[/sblock]
When the PCs step through the portal from their resting place to the top of the tower, they find that it is not where they left it - on the disintegrating 66th layer of the Abyss - but rather in the palace of Yan-C-Bin on the Elemental Chaos. This brought the PCs, and especially the chaos sorcerer, into discussion with the djinni who had retaken possession of the tower and were repurposing it for the coming Dusk War. Mechanically, this situation was resolved as a skill challenge.
Sirrajadt, the leader of the djinni, explained that the djinni were finally breaking free of the imprisonment they had suffered after fighting for their freedom the last time (ie with the primordials against the gods in the Dawn War), and were not going to be re-imprisoned or bound within the Lattice of Heaven, and hence were gearing up to fight again in the Dusk War. He further explained that only Yan-C-Bin (Prince of Evil Air Elementals) and the Elder Elemental Eye could lead them to victory in the Dusk War.
The PCs both asserted their power (eg the paladin pointed out that the reason the djinni have been released from their prisons is because the PCs killed Torog, the god of imprisonment), and denied the necessity for a coming Dusk War, denouncing warmongers on both sides (especially the Elder Elemental Eye, whom Sirrajadt was stating was the only being who could guarantee the Djinni their freedom) and announcing themselves as a "third way", committed to balancing the chaos against the heavens and ensuring the endurance of the mortal world.
Sirrajadt was insisting that the PCs accompany him to meet Yan-C-Bin, declaring that mercy would be shown to all but the sorcerer. (The reason for this is that the chaos sorcerer - who is a Primordial Adept and Resurgent Primordial - has long been a servant of Chan, the Queen of Good Air Elementals, who sided with the gods during the Dawn War and is resolutely opposed to the Prince of Evil Air Elementals; hence the sorcerer is a sworn enemy of Yan-C-Bin.) As the PCs continued to debate the point and explain their "third way" reasoning (mechanically, getting closer to success in the skill challenge), Sirrajadt - sufficiently unsettled by their claims - invited them all to resolve the matter in conversation with Yan-C-Bin, who moreso than him would be able to explain the situation. The PCs therefore went to meet Yan-C-Bin himself, as guests and not as prisoners - not even the sorcerer.
Yan-C-Bin greeted them, but mocked the sorcerer and his service to Chan. There was some back and forth, and some of the same points were made. Then the PC fighter/cleric Eternal Defender, who has recently taken up the divine portfolio of imprisonment (which position became vacant after the PCs killed Torog), spoke. Both in the fiction and at the table this was the pivotal moment. The player gave an impassioned and quite eloquent speech, which went for several minutes with his eyes locked on mine. (We tend to be quite a causal table as far as performance, in-character vs third person description of one's PC vs out-of-character goes.) He explained (in character) that he would personally see to it that no djinni would be unjustly imprisoned, if they now refrained from launching the Dusk War; but that if they acted rashly and unjustly they could look forward to imprisonment or enslavement forever.
The player rolled his Intimidate check (with a +2 bonus granted by me because of his speech, far more impassioned and "in character" than is typical for our pretty laid-back table) and succeeded. It didn't persuade Yan-C-Bin - his allegiance to the Elder Elemental Eye is not going to be swayed by a mere godling - but the players' goal wasn't to persaude Yan-C-Bin of the merits of their third way, but rather to avoid being imprisoned by him and to sway the djinni. Which is exacty what happened: this speech sufficiently impressed the djinni audience that Yan-C-Bin could not just ignore it, and hence he grudgingly acquiesced to the PCs' request, agreeing to let the PCs take the Thundercloud Tower and go and confront the tarrasque - but expressing doubt that they would realise their "third way", and with a final mocking remark that they would see for whom the maruts with the tarrasque were acting.
The player of the eternal defender had already noted that, when I read out the description of maruts and their contracts earlier in the sessin, the only being actually mentioned by name was the Raven Queen. So he predicted (more-or-less in line with what I had in mind), that the maruts observing the tarrasque would be there at the behest of the Raven Queen (who is served by three of the five PCs), to stop it being interfered with.
When the PCs then took their Tower to confront the tarrasque, that was indeed what they found. Upon arriving at the tarrasque's location they found the tarrasque being warded by a group of maruts who explained that, in accordance with a contract made with the Raven Queen millenia ago, they were there to ensure the realisation of the end times, and to stop anyone interfering with the tarrasque as an engine of this destruction and a herald of the beginning of the end times and the arrival of the Dusk War.
(Why the Raven Queen wants the Dusk War has not fully come to light, other than that it seems part of her plan to realise her own ultimate godhood. One idea I had follows in sblocks.)
[sblock]With Ometh dead, it seems possible that those souls who have passed over the Bridge that May be Traversed But Once might be able to return - repopulating a world remade following the Dusk War and the restoration of the Lattice of Heaven.[/sblock]
I wasn't sure exactly what the players would do here. They could try and fight the maruts, obviously, but I thought the Raven Queen devotees might be hesitant to do so. I had envisaged that the PCs might try to persuade them that the contract was invalid in some way - and this idea was mentioned at the table, together with the related idea of the various exarchs of the Raven Queen in the party trying to lay down the law. In particular I had thought that the paladin of the Raven Queen, who is a Marshall of Letherna (in effect, one of the Raven Queen's most powerful servants), might try to exercise his authority to annual or vary the contract in some fashion.
But instead the argument developed along different lines. What the players did was to persuade the maruts that the time for fulfillment of their contract had not yet arisen, because this visitation of the tarrasque was not yet a sign of the Dusk War. (Mechanically, these were social skill checks, history and religions checks, etc, in a skill challenge to persuade the maruts.)
The player of the Eternal Defender PC made only one action in this skill challenge - explaining that it was not the end times, because he was there to defeat the tarrasque (and got another successful intimidate check, after spending an action point to reroll his initial fail) - before launching himself from the flying tower onto the tarrasque and proceeding to whittle away around 600 of its hit points over two rounds. (There were also two successful out-of-turn attacks from the ranger and the paladin, who were spending their on-turn actions in negotiating with the maruts.)
The invoker/wizard was able to point to this PC's successful solo-ing of the tarrasque as evidence that the tarrasque, at least on this occasion, could not be the harbinger of the end times whom the maruts were contracted to protect, because it clearly lacked the capacity to ravage the world. The maruts agreed with this point - clearly they had misunderstood the timing of celestial events - and the PCs therefore had carte blanche to finish of the tarrasque. (Mechanically, this was the final success in the skill challenge: the player rolled Insight to see what final argument would sway the maruts, knowing that only one success was needed. He succeeded. I invited him to then state the relevant argument.)
That was the end of that session. Due to a conference commitment that I had for June 18, our next session was four weeks later (three weeks ago tomorrow). It was a short session, and it encompassed two events. First, the PCs defeated the tarrasque. With no need anymore to worry about the maruts, and hence focusing all their attacks upon the monster, it lasted maybe three more rounds. The sorcerer/bard unleashed a Climactic Chord, which always tends to bring things to a resolution (just as it says on the tin); and there were multiple crits from the cleric/ranger, a crit from the invoker/wizard, and I think a crit also from the fighter. Another thing I remember was that, for his Climactic Chord attack, the invoker/wizard charged the tarrasque and attacked it in melee with his Rod of Seven Parts (this may even have been the crit).
The other event was a long discussion about what the PCs shoud do next, where they tried to itemise various foes still active, contemplate metaphysical possibilities, and come up with a common plan of action. The paladin of the Raven Queen was arguing for an assault upon Vecna, but found no support for that idea. The final agreement was to travel to Carceri and confront Miska the Wolf Spider (who was sent to that prison plane when the invoker/wizard freed him from the Crystal of Ebon Flame so that Ygorl could be trapped within that artefact instead).
The session ended with the PCs plane shifting their Thundercloud Tower (which was upgraded by the djinni, and now has plane shifting capabilities as well as granting a +2 to lightning and thunder attacks from its control circle). They arrived at the gates of Carceri, and now have to decide how to enter. (One school of thought has it that the Eternal Defender can just demand entrance, as the god of prisons, but this has not yet been tested. We are playing tomorrow, but not everyone will be there so we may end up playing Burning Wheel rather than D&D - so it might be another few weeks before we find out.)
****************************************************
The session with the djinni and the maruts I found pretty interesting. This was the first time that the players (in character) concretely articulated their commitment to a "third way", between a divine victory in the Dusk War that would reinstate the Lattice of Heaven, and a victory for the elemental chaos that would see the mortal world reduced to its constituent parts so that it might be rebuilt.
Relating this to some of the "RPG theory/method" discussions that take place on these boards, this is a very clear example of the players imposing their wills upon the fiction. Their "reading" of certain key setting ideas (eg the Lattice of Heaven, which the players have interpreted as fascistic stasis; the nature of chaos/motion, the natural order, etc, which most of the players have seen as somehow connected to mortal life and wellbeing) is informing the way they respond to challenges and engage key NPCs; and success in these challenges is then vindicating those readings of what the setting is about. They have conceived of a "third way", and have now brought the duergar, the djinni and these maruts into alignment with it.
It's true that the idea of a Dusk War comes from the pre-authored setting material via me as GM. But the players have chosen their PCs' orientations towards that Dusk War via choices both of PC build (class, theme, epic destiny) and via declared actions. Their play of their characters, therefore, is making it true, in the fiction, that those who seek the Dusk War are warmongers; that a god of imprisonment need not be insane (as Torog was); that elemental chaos can be accommodated within the plan for mortals of at least some of the gods (eg Corellon); etc. It also reveals new things about the gameworld, and the metaphysics and ethics of order and chaos.
Also, and from my point of view quite interestingly and impressively, they have manged to hold together as a group despite my various efforts to wedge them apart by playing on various differences of allegiance (to or against the Raven Queen; to or against Erathis's "game of making" which will see the Lattice of Heaven rebuilt; etc).
Not bad for a bit of miniatures skirmishing linked by freeform roleplay! (Even if I do say so myself.)
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