The Company of the Random Encounter story hour just blipped on my 'must read' radar.
Woo hoo!
Though I should mention that CotRE is a little unusual:
lots of players (operating on a rotating basis) and a light, sometimes almost farcical, tone.
Mind you, if you think of it as ToEE2 without the rampant character death, you'll probably feel right at home
.
However, I hadn't considered that the Pholtans would have celestial might backing them up. That will be fun, since the Liberators have never fought with the 'good guys'.
I actually had assumed you had, given that you mentioned them under the Pholtus entry for potential enemies. In any case, they could be a nasty surprise for a party that is kitted out to fight evil. I'm not sure if the moral quandary would work or not - the Liberators may be a little too brutalised by their previous struggles to quibble over breaking a few celestial heads - particularly if all that happens is the Celestials get banished from the Prime.
Though maybe, if those Celestials had been
called, rather than
summoned ...
The Pholtans won't be able to get as far North as the Liberators are any time soon. Right now, there is a buffer between the Pholtans and Cur'ruth-- the Troll King. The PCs have been yawning to themselves about the trolls, so I was going to use the Pholtans to remove that plot hook.
I would suggest having the Pholtans move in that direction: don't be surprised if that alone makes the PCs more interested in looking into the Troll King ("what do the Pholtans know that we don'?"). This would be particularly true if someone matching Tau's description is seen accompanying the Pholtan forces. Which brings me to your next point ...
I had imagined that Tau was being 'put to the question' in Wintershiven. He pretty much ruined his relationship with Pholtus during the play of the game, and his higher-level spells aren't being granted at all. I imagined that either the Liberators rescue Tau, or he would be executed for Intolerable Heretical Practices and Ideas Contrary to the Law.
However your post made me consider this point: The hierarchy of the church needs Tau in order to advance their political agenda. Yes, he is bordering on heresy with his unique ideas and his crazy 'think for yourself' attitude, but he is Heydricus' childhood friend, and the Liberators are the wildcard in the Pale's plan to annex Tenh and 'unify' the Flan people under the Right Lordship of Pholtus' Chosen.
Would Tau give up his suspicions about the emotes and what the mines at Cur'ruth really are? How complete is his disenchantment with the Church?
To start with the last question, Tau might not need to "give up" anything. There are a lot of ways of getting information out of people, and a Lawful Neutral church will not be averse to trying all of them, I expect. Mind reading magics, torture, compulsion spells - they're all of use (consider the use of a poison that reduces Wisdom, followed by compulsion magics against the reduced Will save).
I agree that the Church needs Tau: he's a powerful figure, he has the trust of the Tenha, and he is friends with the Liberators. The only problem is how to get him back "in the fold". Compulsion - powerful magical ones - might be the easiest way.
Now normally the Church might not stoop to such tactics (or maybe they would), but in a situation like this, where Pholtus' Will is presumably very clear, I'd expect the ends to justify the means.
So the Church "re-educates" Tau, causing him to "see the light". He then leads an attack into the Troll King's territory. That should draw your players like flies to honey ... and then they will want to stick around, doubtless being suspicious of this "reformed" Tau.
Or maybe Tau really
does see the light. I mean, what's a Priest to do if his own God tells him that he
must obey? Can he really believe that his own conscience would take precedence over his God's commands? And if he does, where does it leave him? (obviously ultimately he could become the first cleric of the Tenha God, but in the short term?)
If Tau is brainwashed / persuaded to rejoin the fold, then I suggest that the emotes be made the key to restoring him to himself. Perhaps he learned something critical before he was captured, and experiencing the emotes again would unlock that hidden knowledge.
But in any case, with or without Tau, I think now is time for the Pholtans to begin to move. There are still sufficient evil forces in the area for them to portray their act as a virtuous crusade, but at the same time those forces have been weakened enough to make Pholtan victory all but assured - except, of course, for the Lierators.
Here's another question-- now that the PCs have defeated the Bleeding Stone, what are the Iuzians going to do to get retribution against the PCs?
It's not clear to me if the Stone was actually destroyed, or just driven off ... but in either case, I would surmise that the Iuzians can strike back through a number of options:
1. Hit them where they aren't.
Launch random terror attacks on the populace. If you massacre a few villages, you'll hurt the LoT just as much as if you attacked directly.
2. Impersonate them
The forces of Iuz can issue a false call on the LoT's behalf, calling for an army of volunteers to assemble at a certain point to help them clear out the rest of the land. The LoT would almost certainly
have to go there, for fear of a massacre. But the Iuzian plan is simpler than that: they just want to lumber the LoT with providing food and lodgings for their several hundred volunteers (which should keep them busy) and maybe even work a couple of spies or assassins into the recruits.
3. Disappear
Oernight, all Iuzian agents vanish from Tenh. Where are they? What are they doing? What will happen now that any kind of authority has completely vanished?
This kind of sudden action will have two effects: one, the PCs will get jumpy when they can't find their enemies; and two, run them ragged trying to restore order to everywhere at once.
Those are just some thoughts, anyway - see what you can do with them.
