The Liberation of Tenh Plot Thread

[Barastrondo]

Piratecat's co-conspirators feed him bizarre and sinister combinations of templates, monsters, spells and magic items with the intention of creating Evils Never Yet Seen By Man.

(contact)'s co-conspirators recommend spreading sinister rumors about Our Hero not being able to "rally his troops."

And yet, asks my wife, who is truly the more evil? (Well, in a petty way...)

The torrent of malicious tricks is just getting all the more vicious and inspiring (hats off, Capellan, I suppose Anon's good to fight that duel after all!). I thought I wouldn't have anything more to say today, but, y'know...

— If the HMHHC would love to find someone who stood a chance against Heydricus and get them to duel, well, now you've said it, you have to use that. What I would like to see is the HMHHC finding an existing Greyhawk "celebrity" to do so. Not necessarily some over-the-top legend like Robilar, but boy, if you could pull off someone like Otto showing up and huffing about the honor of his ladylove... ooh, comedy. Your players (certainly Heydricus' player) seem Greyhawk-savvy enough to appreciate the Guest Appearance Your Character Really Didn't Want.

— A perfect time for Heydricus to find out about these rumors (hell, any of them) would be the exact worst time to do anything about it; maybe something gets mentioned just before the teleport goes off, leaving Heydricus good and distracted until he can get back to Chendl and find out what's going on. I imagine your own gift for comic timing will be able to find just the right place.

— Come to think of it, the "standing on honor" aspect of Anon would actually fit really well if he keeps on kind of unwittingly being an accidental cover model for trashy romance novels; I can't help picturing him saying "Heydricus said what?!?" while wearing a tight pair of breeches and a blousy white shirt that's been strategically ripped. (Prisantha/false Prisantha in tears/leaning against his chest/caught in his arms optional.) Maybe that's a bit much, but... um, fear of being seen as "a bit much" hasn't seemed to be a factor either in this thread or in TOEE2.

And whenever the players get a little too close to resolving any of the social problems that are rapidly mounting, that's when you hit them with the guys who are content just to carve the Liberators up real good, just to distract them.

My word. This thread is getting more evil than a warehouse pallet full of Books of Vile Darkness. Won't somebody think of the children?!?

 

[(contact)]

Won't somebody think of the children?!?

You're right! The HMHHC should bring forward several women who claim that Heydricus fathered their children!

 

[Capellan]

So, looking at the latest post in the story hour, it seems that the LoT have a new bunch of mercenaries and ne'er-do-wells gunning for them. Any additional info you can share with us for this, (contact)?

Some things to consider:
- what sort of forces would the Baroness Talnith be sending after them?
- who might the Baroness do deals with to get her revenge?
- what non-combat pressures can the Baroness bring to bear? An unwanted and personally odious suitor for Pris might well be a good start. As would giving lots of support to Pris' long term rival (what was her name again?)

Let us know of any particular kinds dastardliness you'd like us to inflict on your players. I'm sure we'll be able to provide something worthwhile

And I've shamelessly quoted you in my .sig. Hope you don't mind!

 

[(contact)]

Quote away, kind sir--

I have nothing concrete for the Baroness. I've imagined that she's hired assassins to find and kill the people responsible for her son's death.

The Lord has frustrated them to an extent by killing everyone in his own organization who might rat him out, but there's no reason that given enough time, the baroness' henchpeople might show up to kick a little Liberator ass.

Mostly, I wanted to dangle the threat over Pris' head and see if she'd show any remorse for a really classically bone-headed move. She didn't.



I thought Pris' idea about getting to the king of Nyrond through Belvor, and hoping to make it more politically difficult for the Baroness to come after them was a really great plan. Very crafty and subtle.

 

[GreyShadow]

You're right! The HMHHC should bring forward several women who claim that Heydricus fathered their children!

How old is Heydricus? If he's old enough, perhaps he was ... a very naughty boy and an early starter... and he does have a son. Say about 12 years his junior. Perhaps a priest of Iuz or Pholtus.

Hmm... if the son was a priest of Iuz, if word got out to the HMHMMC I'm sure they could think of something to whisper in the right ears.

 

[Capellan]

I have nothing concrete for the Baroness. I've imagined that she's hired assassins to find and kill the people responsible for her son's death.

OK, here are some preliminary thoughts:

1. once she knows about Pris' involvement, the Baroness should be smart enough to do some investigation into the LoT. She should rapidly see that they are magic-reliant for combat. Any assassins she hires should be set up to counter that. I think I have just the PrC for that

2. Since Pris messed with her family, maybe the Baroness will mess with Pris's. They're pretty notable landowners by now, after all. She might approach them about a business deal, for instance. This could of course go sour, leading to Pris's family being carted off to debtor's prison (they could have Jespo's old cell!), or it could just be done to make Pris nervous.

3. maybe the Baroness has a particularly grotesque minor cousin. She contacts Pris's family and sounds them out about an arranged marriage between Pris and cousin Igor. Just think, a chance to join the nobility! Of course, Pris might not be so keen as her family are. And Heydricus and Anon are probably going to be upset as well, to say the least.

4. continuting to pick on Pris, the Baroness could sponsor her social rival (name?). If Pris suddenly found that her rival was being invited to all kinds of parties from which she herself was being pointedly snubbed, it might upset her somewhat.

 

[ThoughtBubble]

You know, I read the Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil in one night. I started on the LoT the next day. I got inspired to DM again because of them. I even registered just so I could say hi. So "Hi". Oh, and I really enjoy your writing.

A couple of ideas for the stew:

The church may wish to have Heydricus make an additional contribution in the way of mentoring a young believer. After all, "Tritherion kicks ass", and of course, our man H has done his share of kicking. Who better to teach a new potential champion? Then introduce him to his new, level one paladin (or plain commoner) page. Now, you have a dependant, someone who's mostly a pain in the ass waiting to happen. Sure Heydricus can kick the crap out of most things headed his way, but it's easy leverage to make his life a little more unpleasant.

To make things worse, his page can be female, cute, and naieve. Now we've got some complications to roll in. If she's a member of Heydricus's fanbase, she might do any number of stupid things to get his attention. If she's not combat worthy, Make sure Heydricus knows that he doesn't have to take her anywhere, just deal with her once in a while during down time. In that case, she may even get resentful for being left behind. Either way, she'd be easy prey for the HMHHC to make some machinations. After all, she'd probablly hear a few things, maybe know here Heydricus is when he goes on a mission, and I'm sure the HMHHC's got to have access to some charming people who could use her as a source of info. If she's not a member of his fanbase, she can greatly disapprove of some of his behavior, and try to reason with him. If she ends up having to put another layer of shine on his armor, she can resent him for it. And either way, she can add fule to the fire if a collision with Anon is imminent.

Of course, Heydricus does have plenty of people working under him allready, and it'd probablly be more fun if he stepped in a mess himself, and you've allready got a potential security leak in Jespo.

For Pris, the one thing that struck me is that, if her rival caught wind of any of this (the baroness, Anon, or Pris's reputation being dragged through the dirt), I'm sure she'd be willing to take it and run with it. She'd be a potentially powerful ally of the HMHHC, if they were ever to find out about each other.

And about Pris's part in the murder, I think it's perfectly in character to not worry about it. She went through the Temple of Elemental Evil. How many kills does she have? How much of her time is spent around horrible bloody death? You're bound to get jaded in a situation like that. And now she's supposed to worry about some situation she wasn't even paying attention to, with some guy who was probablly in the wrong anyway, that she didn't even deal that directly with? I can see how it'd be a small thing.

Anyway, hope I said something of use in there.

 

[Capellan]

To make things worse, his page can be female, cute, and naieve.

I like ThoughtBubble.

 

[(contact)]

You know, I read the Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil in one night. I started on the LoT the next day. I got inspired to DM again because of them.

Wow. That is about the highest compliment anyone could pay a D&D log, I think. Thank you. Just be sure to keep a log of your game and post it here in the Story Hour forum.

I even registered just so I could say hi. So "Hi". Oh, and I really enjoy your writing.

Thank you! Be sure to check out the Risen Goddess story hour, it's a fun one. The DM from the Risen Goddess and I take turns running the game, but despite the seeming incongruity of that, the campaign actually has a very tight focus. Plus, there's dick jokes.

To make things worse, his page can be female, cute, and naieve.

Done. (Rubs hands together evilly)

and you've allready got a potential security leak in Jespo.

Potential? Jespo's the guy who tipped the Iuzians to the Liberator's presence in Tenh!

For Pris, the one thing that struck me is that, if her rival caught wind of any of this (the baroness, Anon, or Pris's reputation being dragged through the dirt), I'm sure she'd be willing to take it and run with it. She'd be a potentially powerful ally of the HMHHC, if they were ever to find out about each other.

Except I don't really want to use Gwendolyn that way. A) she's a social-climber pure and simple, and would consider the HMHHC as 'beneath her'. B) She is not a bad sort, just really ambitious and vain, and kind of a dumb ass. She is Prisantha's rival not because they are opposed, but because they are so alike. Gwendolyn is Pris' rival by virtue of being the *other* young, beautiful, super smart wizardess protoge at the Chendl Academy.

A typical Pris and Gwendolyn interaction might go like this:

"I bought a new car today."
"Really, I bought two last week."
"Ah. Mine, of course, is a Mercedes."
"Oh, you still drive Mercedes? I guess the 80s *are* back."

Etcetera.

Anyway, hope I said something of use in there.

MWAH. And that's all I have to say about that.










(Hahahahahahahahahaha.!)

 

[Capellan]

I'm ashamed I didn't think of this earlier.

The LoT have lots of enemies, right? Many of whom are neither powerful enough to attack them personally, nor corrupt enough to assist the Iuzians or other evil force take them out.

But, as has been discussed in the story thread lately, the LoT are verging into some pretty 'grey' activities. Assisting in assassinations (however thoughtlessly). Doing secret deals with the Lord of Stoink. Tolerating 'regime change' as a political expediency.

So let's say someone - the Baroness, probably, since she would be working her way to the LoT from the Lord of Stoink. Now, whoever this person is, they haven't got the resources to hire the kind of firepower needed to take down the LoT, and they don't want to deal with the bad guys.

So they go looking for heroes.

Real, honest to god, "no trafficking with villains" heroes. The kind of people who do not agree that the ends justify the means.

And this person says to the heroes:

"Hey, those LoT guys. They're doing a great job, fighting Iuz, but have you ever stopped to ask yourself what their motivation is? Because I've found some worrying evidence that they're really just after personal power and riches. Here are some examples ..."

Suddenly, the LoT find genuinely good-aligned groups of heroes turning up, trying to warn the Tenhians about the LoT's 'suspect' motivations. Maybe even attempting to incite armed resistance.

How do they react?

The great thing about this is that the heroes don't even have to be anywhere near the LoT's power levels. Say a party of six 5th-7th level adventurers (or less). The kind of people who the LoT could annihilate in a round or two.

Warning them doesn't work: heroes don't quit. Arguing with them doesn't work: they have good evidence that the LoT are suspect. And meanwhile, the Lord of Stoink is getting agitated by the exposure, demanding a 'quick fix', or he'll take matters into his own hands.

In time, the LoT will probably find themselves with two choices: acquiesce to something that is unequivocally evil (say the murder by poison of the six adventurers and their rag tag group of followers) or finally take a stand on a moral point and work against the Lord of Stoink.

Could be fun