The Mésalliance. Part 1. (Updated 4/18.)

[Jackylhunter]

Fantastic as always Sep.

Wonder if Eadric even knew about the assassination attempt, and I wonder what the Sela is planning to do with Nehael, now that he has rescued her. Will Eadric still go through with the plot to kill graz'zt if he finds out she is free?

One final thought, with Mostins new epic INT augment spell, is he able to get more information from the Web of Motes than Jovol/Fillein was??

Thanks again Sep, and grats on the new home.

 

[Salthorae]

Nehael's fate

I don't think that she was "rescued" in the traditional sense of the word. I may have misread the post, but I thought that she was left in her prison, but that the nature of the prison had changed for the (much) better...but i could very well be wrong

 

[Joshua Randall]

Rintrah laid her by the bole of the tree, hallowed the sphere, and vanished. Nehael slept for the first time in her immeasurably long existence.

I take this to mean that Nehael is now mortal?

The Sela shifted his position, and a single bead of sweat trickled from his temple. It had been a particularly difficult meditation.

This is a great use of understatement. If something makes a god sweat -- !

 

[dream66_]

And if you ever need any proof of how many people love your writing, Sep, then think about this: despite the (approximate) two-month posting haitus while you moved, so much interest was shown in this storyhour that it pretty much NEVER left the front page.

Actually, I think that was proven long ago when Sep posted just one post of his story and thinking no one liked it he didn't come back again for 6 months, during this time it never left the front page! Some of us checked for an update DAILY for 6 months after only one post.

 

[Roman]

Actually, I think that was proven long ago when Sep posted just one post of his story and thinking no one liked it he didn't come back again for 6 months, during this time it never left the front page! Some of us checked for an update DAILY for 6 months after only one post.

I participated daily in this two month hiatus - I am sure I would have done so for 6 months had I known about this story hour at the time. This story hour is simply addictive! I hope Sep continues writing it for a long time to come.

 

[Sepulchrave II]

Just how many cubic gates does Graz'zt own, btw?

Forty, or thereabouts. Of the five hundred or so worlds which Graz'zt has an investment in, activities within the most intractable, lucrative or politically sensitive are overseen by nalfeshnees with cubic gates. Bear in mind that each cubic gate can be keyed to five planes other than Azzagrat. This requires a little mutitasking from the nalfeshnees, who each may have several worlds to administer.

Speaking of the Web of Motes, Sep, how have the players worked through what they want the PCs to do while under its effects?

We actually ran several 'what if' scenarios - e.g. putting Eadric up against Graz'zt and then Ainhorr in combat in order for the players to determine the likely course of events should it happen for real, and where possible lines of attack might lie. The most useful thing, however, was information.

Shomei 'knew' the areas of Zelatar which were accessible, and where Graz'zt would be at a certain time. Mostin determined the involvement of Kostchtchie and his allies, and the point of their arrival. The reactions by individuals (Menicau, Graz'zt, Samodoquol etc.) to certain events - if they occurred - were also revealed. This meant me keeping a big list of 'what ifs' and sticking to the outcomes as closely as possible.

Any kind of prescience in a game is difficult to run - this goes for augury and divination as much as for interpreting the web of motes. I was flexible after the augmentation had ended as well - there would have been information garnered during the divination which the characters would have known without the players necessarily having directly asked the questions - they spent time analyzing many aspects of Afqithan's politics. So a conversation might later go:

Dan (Mostin's player): "How many knights does Shondipere have?"

DM: "Nine."

Dan: "Are any areas of his fortress dimensionally locked"

DM: "No."

Dan: "Can he be scried?"

DM: "Yes."

etc. The amount of information that I would divulge would decrease over time, until a point arrived whereby 'normality' would return to the game wrt the players' knowledge. But the aftermath of the web of motes was actually harder to judge than the experience itself.

Just thought of something. How is Shomei conjuring and commanding Glooms?

Epic spell, cast twice.

For that matter, how can Mostin become a Hellfire Wyrm? Aren't they like 25 HD?

Shapechange 3.5.

I would like to ask whether the campaign still continues today,

Yes, if sporadically at present.

how many sessions behind the campaign is the story now

Too many to count. This last one was from October.

and how whether one update equals approximately one session?

No, even though I've glossed over or omitted a lot of stuff to try and speed things through.

Thanks for your continued interest, all.

 

[Roman]

We actually ran several 'what if' scenarios - e.g. putting Eadric up against Graz'zt and then Ainhorr in combat in order for the players to determine the likely course of events should it happen for real, and where possible lines of attack might lie. The most useful thing, however, was information.

This is a very innovative way to handle prescience. I like it a lot!

 

[Talix]

Huh - if it's that "easy", I'm surprised that the heroes aren't focusing on getting a few epic, good, cold-iron weapons, and summoning a few more glooms, and letting them take Grazzt out.

 

[Roman]

etc. The amount of information that I would divulge would decrease over time, until a point arrived whereby 'normality' would return to the game wrt the players' knowledge. But the aftermath of the web of motes was actually harder to judge than the experience itself.

Hmm, this is highly interesting. How long, approximately, after prescience or divination do you keep on divulging some information to the players?

 

[Roman]

Hmm, I am wondering what is with Neahel now. She has been released from her suffering, but had already experienced indescribable pain beforehand. I wonder how she will be changed by the experience. Will she fall again, or perhaps be fully redeemed? It may even be that the suffering she had to endure was necessary to complete her repentance. Opinions?