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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 990791" data-attributes="member: 63">Broken BloodKey Characters.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Xenofahn, elder and shaman.  Minotaur Berserker 1/Mage 4.  Carries a staff, don't hear too well.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Gaurav Zeldathane, warrior and teacher.  Minotaur Berserker 6.  However, he refuses to get into fights now, because he's afraid of hurting someone like his children were harmed.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Haben Zeldathane, brain-damaged.  Minotaur Mage 2.  Prone to breaking pots and vases.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Boromen, Haben's old teacher, head arcane mage in Awenasa.  Minotaur Fighter 1/Mage 8.  He lost his right eye in battle.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Kowaru Shin, vampire.  Vampiric Innenlesti Elvish foe.  CR 16.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Hikanshethrin, undead hunter.  Innenlesti Elvish Ranger 10.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Huao, Tarrasque adventurer.  Tarrasque Rogue 16.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Laerapika, undead-hunting henchman.  Innenlesti Elvish Mage 4.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Renfeld, go-for for Kowaru.  Human Rogue 3.</li> </ul>Key Plot Points.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Anyone who tries to fly takes 1 point of damage per round.  Make sure people know they need to tell me when they're flying.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Write up full dreams for all the PCs except Sabri, and remember that any non-Tarrasque within 10 miles of a Tarrasque will have the same dream if they are away from their homeland.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Don't be afraid to give clues about what's going on.  Pay close attention to reflections, and don't pull punches.  The Orcs will arrive on the 22nd.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Vidania tries to communicate to them in mirrors, but they can only see her lips move, and cannot hear her.  Xenofahn can 'translate,' however.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The dreams should indicate slowly that the Trillith are meddling with the natural order of things, working with Pilus and Longinus to revive Trilla, at the expense of the Flameset Dragon.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Winds are messed up, and people can't travel by ship, nor can the wind ghost fly.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Kalil ruffles Damien's hair, thinking it's cute-looking, and black feathers come out.</li> </ul>Magic Item, Seela Wand of Naturalize.  This wand, which can be activated three times per day, requires a ranged touch attack to hit a target, with a range of 150 ft.  Non-biomanced creatures are completely unaffected.  Biomanced creatures take 3d6 points of damage, and must make a Fortitude save (DC 18) or have one of their biomantic alterations negated.Names of Importance<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Awenasa.  Minotaur village.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Ivayginerva.  Innenlesti village near Awenasa.  The two villages have been at peace for about 200 years, and have had yearly festivals for the past 100 years, but in the few thousand years before that, the Elves and Minotaurs were often at odds.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Sianno.  The previous owner of the Bokonen that Sabri left in Kazet.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Sabri.  The first holy warrior of the village.</li> </ul>GM Goals for this Adventure:I want the PCs to get the Amber Vessel.  They should be intrigued by why their flight ability is harming them, and should have an idea that they'll need to do research to fix this.  Also, they should know that the Amber Vessel possesses great air magical powers, and is somehow connected with the dead wizard Pilus.  I want them to go to either Lyceum or Aeriechellaak to do research, which will result in them thinking that opening the Amber Vessel is a good idea.  I want it to be clear that Pilus is working with the Nau-Hereth, and that he's responsible for this strange wind, and that he wants Vidania for some reason.  Okay, so I need Huao to fight off Kowaru when she tries to go for Vidania.  How's that going to work?I need to make them want to find out about the amber vessel.  Make it an enigma, so they think they have to use it to save the day.  Remember, the main plot is that Longinus and Pilus are trying to recover Long's body, then sacrifice Vidania so they can both have their powers back.Point-by-Point Plotline<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Prologue:One Minotaur from Kazet was out in the moutains, looking for rare plants for a magic potion he wanted to create.  He had a strange dream too, and he also experienced a sudden fatigue and sleepiness.  Before the PCs leave, Esca brings the Minotaur to talk to them, while they're attending to Vidania.  The Minotaur tells them what he knows, then leaves the potion he made in Vidania's hands, wishing them luck. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The PCs are visited by Scott and Tanadra.  Scott mentions that they'll be teleporting to Lyceum later today, and that he hopes he meets them again.  He gives a parting kiss to Hra', saying he was glad to nearly give his life to protect a lady.  Tanadra offers a small spell to put Vidania into a mild stasis, which will keep her from having to be fed or cleaned as often.  He'll enchant a small necklace and put it on her; to end the spell, just take off the necklace.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The PCs can spend the night figuring out what they need to do, and reading the material about Longinus and Pilus.  Late in the evening, a group comes by, including the family of Matus, Esca, and Myrmidion, wanting to hear the whole story.  If they paint Matus in a favorable light, the next morning they'll receive some gifts.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Act One:  This is a bit of sad homecoming.  Have a map of the village for them to know where things are.  Likely Sabri will go home first, but Kaiya has brought Haben with her to the caravan that is on the eastern edge of the village.  They can talk to her and find out that Gaurav is away at the mirror factory by the waterfall, about 6 miles away.  The caravan is a rare one, selling magical goods like potions and scrolls, and Kaiya went there hoping that maybe there might be something to help Haben.  Boromen is there too, with a student named Devon.  Bitter against Sabri and Gaurav, whom he both blames for Haben's injury, Boromen walks across the caravan to tell Sabri that she doesn't belong here.  It looks like she's found a group of even greater freaks to hide among, so she should stick with them and try not to ruin any more lives.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Caravan.  Eighteen wagons, 30 Elves, 12 humans, one vampire in a coffin.  Four supply wagons, three guard wagons (12 humans are guards), two wagons of trained animals (birds and serpents) whose owner also sells poison antidotes, four wagons of various charms and one-use items like potions and scrolls, a lavish wagon that belongs to a powerful enchanter who sells his services with love potions and does performances, one wagon that sells merely finely-made Elvish goods and clothes, another wagon that sells incidentals for small villages, and one wine wagon.  One wagon apparently has just magic dirt, and is with the group out of courtesy, not as a merchant. Gather Information DC 30 locates an elderly Minotaur who was once treated kindly by the old owner of the mirror factory, and recalls the man had a fascination with magical glass.  The Minotaurs are just too polite to really talk about themselves unless the PCs try really hard.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Temple.  One of the lesser priests just received a warning sending from some priestess named Esca that:  "From Esca, priestess of the Nameless in distant Kazet.  Sabri from Awenasa visited us, will see you soon.  Several hundred Orc soldiers attacking Minotaur villages."  The priest replied that he wants more information, and hopes to receive another sending tomorrow.  Apparently it took Esca a while to realize Xenofahn was deaf.  The old shaman wants to talk with Sabri, but first needs to call a council to discuss what to do, and talk to Gaurav about defending the village.  The temple has records, but aside from mentioning that they received the amber vessel, it's location is not known. Xenofahn wants Sabri to visit the temple tonight, to tell him about her travels, and so he can tell her what's happened with her family.  He's also a little worried, because last night three of the elders of the village were murdered in their sleep, throats slit.  All three were too senile to still serve on the council, but he's worried someone might be trying to disrupt the village's law. There was an older temple, from before the peace with the Elves, but it was mostly burned down and built over.  Right now an artificial hill, the caravan hill, covers it.  Just a red herring.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Old Temple.  Requires an Intelligence check (DC 20, takes an hour) to find the material that details where the entrance to the old temple is, and then another three hours of digging to find the entrance.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Town in General.  700 people, plus a few hundred more in low-lying farms scattered away over a 20 mile area.  No tavern, and no guest places.  Lots of shrines to different spirits, and many outside every house.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Mirror Factory.  Built across a waterfall that powers very old machines, the factory must be thousands of years old, but it has withstood the test of time enough to be worth renovating.  Its windows are broken, doors rotted away and roof falling in, but the machinery is intact enough to figure out how it works, and the foundation is sturdy.  Unfortunately, it's out of the way, so Gaurav and ten experienced guards from the village are there to protect those in charge of actually fixing the place.  In two days, the place will be blessed, and proper renovations can begin.  Right now people are just looking at what they need to do, and figuring out who's going to pay for it. Gaurav is casual, but uncomfortable around Sabri, and even more uncomfortable around her friends.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">First afternoon.  If they later return to the caravan, they'll meet Hikanshethrin and his henchman.  They're obviously experienced fighters, and they indiscreetly check every wagon one by one.  When they reach the wagon of magic dirt, Renfeld tries to bolt, and rides off in his wagon, trying to maneuver to the clear open roads, a mile away.  The wagon bolts away at a speed of 160 ft., or about 16 miles per hour.  If they capture him, he'll claim he was just supposed to be a decoy, and that his mistress is hiding somewhere he'll never see her.  If Hikanshethrin gets to Renfeld first, he'll kill him if he doesn't talk right away, then have his henchman Laerapika cast speak with dead to drag the answer out of him.  Hikanshethrin will plan to leave the next morning with the caravan, and spends this evening with Boromen, and old associate of his.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Act Two:First evening.  Anyone who's out might notice a figure sliding between the shadows of different buildings, the vampiress Kowaru, who will only kill two tonight before the sleepiness sets in.  Everyone who's a foreigner to the area falls asleep, and has dreams.  Will save (DC 18) to resist every minute, and the urge lasts 5 minutes.  You have to fail two saves to fall asleep. Kowaru is out trying to find a new henchman, and she tries to seduce Damien.  In the process, she learns about Vidania, and use either Damien or another random Minotaur henchman to steal Vidania's body in the night.  Unfortunately, Kowaru falls prey to the sleep around midnight, and a few people early the next morning spot a woman running through the streets, heading toward the woods, covering herself with her robes. After everyone's asleep, Huao confronts Sabri in the temple, and demands she turn over the amber vessel, or else Vidania will die.  This is not a threat, merely the knowledge of Foresight, and her knowledge of what her employers demand.  Both possess strong air magic, and right now, the woman is far more accessible.  "You made it possible for the storm to be unleashed, and you killed my friends.  Do you want to let the destruction of this village, and many other cities destroyed by the storm, rest on your shoulders?"</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Next morning.  Scared <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />less, the caravan leaves, but Hikanshethrin and Laerapika stay, believing wrongly that the dream has something to do with the vampiress.  With Boromen's urging, he'll look toward blaming Sabri.  Early in the morning, when everyone's still recovering, just after they notice Vidania's missing, he'll show up and start snooping.  Convinced that Sabri can't be trusted, he'll make an appointment with her to pleasantly discuss things later, at Boromen's place.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Random encounter.  Scouting the area around the mirror factory, a random encounter with a giant landsquid.  First let the PCs explore the place a little to see how nifty it is, then just as they start to get interested in the secrets of the place (a doorway with a riddle in anagrammed Innenlesti), the landsquid attacks.  Gaurav gets angry at Sabri if she goes into rage, or just angry at himself for not being able to fight, and they argue.  Gaurav tells her to get away from him, and hopefully she'll leave and leave the other PCs to look for other clues.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Attempts to find Vidania?  Tracks are rather pointless, and a spell won't show where Vidania is (the magic of the amber vessel masks her), but might show where Kowaru's thrall is.  Need another red herring.  Make Boromen seem to be a bad guy.  Boromen lures Sabri to his place with an illusion of her mother, and then he and Hikanshethrin trap her in a binding circle in a pit in the basement.</li> </ul>Good luck, me.</blockquote>

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