I have an adventure coming up where I am dual DMing with a friend of mine for seven other people. The game will be for four solid days (dawn 'til dawn sort of thing). Every gamer is a veteran roleplayer for years in the double digits. I have DMed a bunch but never for so many nor such experienced players. I am asking for the assistance of the collective minds of the members of EN World.
I have MANY ideas and I am trying to formulate them all into a functioning story. I would love to hear your thoughts/suggestions/advice on any or all of the material below. I warn you, it is alot. I scribed some things directly from Lords of Darkness (the FR supplement).
Thanks in advance,
One player has a PC from the Shades. I wrote this to him for background info:
What you know:
The history of the Netherese reaches far back into the mists of time, beginning well over five millennia before the present day. The history of the Netherese relates that what would later become a mighty empire was at first little more than a cluster of fishing villages that hugged the banks of the Narrow Sea in what is now the eastern central portion of Anauroch. What eventually became a desert was then a verdant land, with abundant water and fertile soil capable of supporting vast populations of flora and fauna, including humans. The earliest roots of the empire can be traced to the time when the fold of the fishing villages united to stave off the attacks of marauding humanoids. The coalition remained unified after it had defeated its enemies, becoming a small kingdom that grew rapidly under a series of expansion-minded monarchs. This young kingdom was energetic and aggressive, but barely civilized. It was during this period, which Shadovar history calls the First Age, that the Netherese made initial contact with the elves from whom they first learned about magic.
The shadovars accept as truth the notion that the ancestors had a strong, natural affinity for arcane magic. Their historical accounts note that after their first contact with the elves, the Netherese took to magical study with uncommon enthusiasm and quickness. Unlike many other societies, the Netherese soon considered arcane magic to be an essential component of their lives, and they made a concentrated effort to master its secrets. Every citizen was tutored in basic spellcraft after reaching the age of ascension (13 years old), and by the age of majority (18 years old) was able to cast a range of 0-level spells. Those who showed aptitude above the norm were placed in special academies for the purpose of enhancing and increasing their magical proficiency, where they learned to cast 1st-level and more powerful spells. The most talented became arcanists (the Netherese term for a wizard or sorcerer) and rose to great heights of political and social power. Many devoted their lives to expand their society’s understanding and mastery of the Art. The arcanists soon became the second most important and respected class of citizens, just below the nobility and surpassing the clergy. The Netherese royalty were the most powerful arcanists in the empire.
The true flowering of the Netherese Empire was dependent not on the experiments of its early arcanists, however, but on the fortuitous discovery of the Nether Scrolls. Unearthed in the ruins of some even older and long forgotten civilization, the Nether Scrolls were a trove of arcane spells as well as an advanced treatise on spellcraft, the combination of which propelled the fledgling empire’s magical knowledge forward at least a hundred fold. As the arcanists studied these ancient texts, they unlocked secrets of spellcasting that had vanished from the world untold millennia before the Netherese people came into being. As the arcanists deciphered these secrets, nearly every citizen of the empire reaped the benefits of their research. In particular, the scrolls provided the key to an invention that would shape the remainder of the Netheril’s future, catapulting the civilization to undreamed-of summits of power: the mythallar.
Using the incredible arcane power provided by the mythallar, the Netherese were able to construct architectural marvels that have not been seen in Faerun since the fall of their Nation. Craftsfolk and arcanists worked in concert to design and construct ever more breathtaking buildings and civic improvements. They levitated entire buildings and balanced them permanently atop impossibly tiny surfaces, creating unusual dwellings that delighted the population and impressed other races. Artists designed public sculptures on a massive scale, and arcanists and laborers made these dreams a reality, shaping enormous quantities of precious metals into beautiful images that floated in a lazy circuit above the city streets to be enjoyed by all at different intervals of the day. Finally, they learned to shear off the very summit of a mountain and suspend it upside-down. They then placed a mythallar within a mirrored crystalline structure designed to reflect the power of the device back onto itself in such a way that it allowed the overturned mountaintop to float in midair. Netheril’s artisans, crafts folk, and laborers then constructed a city upon the inverted mountaintop, and the empire filled these structures with citizens who henceforth lived among the clouds. At the height of Netheril’s power, during what its history refers to as the Golden Age, the empire boasted a total of thirteen flying cities.
The Netherese Empire continued to grow and thrive in the centuries that followed, As the arcanists continued to plumb the depths of magical investigation, always pushing the envelope of their knowledge, they refined their understanding and control of their abilities. Eventually, they began to conceive and design spells of such might that arcane power of their magnitude has not been seen in Faerun since Netheril’s destruction (and for very good reason). The empire used its flying cities to explore more of the world, to locate more raw materials for its industries, to carry out trade with other races, and to acquire more and more territory so that it population would have all the food and space it required. It also utilized the cities as airborne platforms from with it launched deadly attacks against its enemies, wiping out enormous numbers of hostile humanoids that might threaten Netheril’s peace and prosperity. The Netherese Empire became, with the passing of the years, the preeminent magical civilization of this time and indeed perhaps in all the history of Faerun. Its achievements only make its decay and downfall all the more tragic. Unknown to the Netherese, their greatest enemies were not the vast tribes of orcs, gnolls, and goblins that roamed the land, but a foe that remained completely undetected until it was all but too late. A renegade arcanist, dissatisfied at his people’s wholesale slaughter, and the enslavement of anyone not born Netherese, departed the empire with a band of like minded followers. Seeking a safe haven, they ventured into caves and caverns, eventually making contact with a subterranean race of creatures that called themselves the phaerimms. This fateful meeting was the beginning of the end for Netheril, though neither the disgruntled arcanist nor his associates could know the impact they would have on their homeland’s future.
Befriending the human in the guise of a peaceful and concerned race, the phaerimms tricked him into revealing vital information about the empire. Their dissembling was successful. Without realizing the enormity of his mistake, the well-meaning arcanist revealed to his new “friends” some of the most closely guarded secrets of his country, including the existence and uses of the mythallar. What the young arcanist did not know was that the phaerimms possessed but one goal: the eradication of all other beings in Faerun. After the arcanist and his comrades departed the phaerimms’ caverns, the evil creatures used their newly gained knowledge to begin planning Netheril’s destruction. Employing the information given to them by the young arcanist, the phaerimms raided Netherese outposts, caravans, and outlying settlements, from which they stole a considerable amount of magical knowledge and a number of wondrous items. Their savage attacks left no survivors, leaving the imperial arcanists to wonder futilely who was behind these murderous incidents. The phaerimms used their plundered knowledge to advance their own study and understanding of the Art and then turn it against their chosen enemies. Eventually, they were able to capture a mythallar from a caravan outpost, and then the true war began.
Using the mythallar as a model, the destruction-minded phaerimms created their own version of an arcane device to access the Weave directly. Even as Netheril reached the zenith of its power and glory, the phaerimms directed terrible lifedrain spells at the empire’s fertile lands. Their spells leached the very life from the land itself. The process was slow, but the Netherese could do nothing but observe the effect – large tracts of fertile, green land became sandy, useless deserts before their eyes. Alarmed, the empire’s foremast arcanists sought the cause, even as they strove to limit the damage with their own powerful spells. But the time they discerned the intelligence behind this phenomenon, vast sections of their home had succumbed to the phaerimm assault. But even as the empire prepared to defend itself against its newly identified foe, the phaerimms attacked openly.
Arcane energy exploded across the land in a magical duel of immense proportions, adding to the level of destruction already caused by the phaerimms’ life-draining magic. Neither side was able to gain a distinct advantage, however, and the war raged out of control. The phaerimms’ continual bombardment of lifedrain spells increased the area of desertification, eventually forming the barren waste of the Great Desert. The Netherese responded in kind, employing arsenals of magical weaponry and arcane spells to rain destruction upon the phaerimms and their underground homes. Both Netherese and phaerimms suffered tremendous losses of life and property but the fighting continued unabated, with each side determined to extinguish the other.
The Shadovars records grow vague and contradictory at this point. Netheril prided itself on keeping an accurate account of its cultural and societal progress, but the prolonged war against the phaerimms made it difficult to conduct civic and economic affairs in the accustomed fashion. Many records were lost amid the destruction of buildings and entire communities. The City of Shade possesses numerous accounts of the war’s most important battles, as well as more mundane records from that era, but there was no means of obtaining complete information on all that was transpiring during that confusing and deadly time. The Shadovars themselves do not actually know for a certainty what caused the cataclysm that destroyed Netheril. Most blame the phaerimms, believing that the enemy contrived to launch a final, devastating attack that called upon some kind of unknown arcane power. All the Shadovars really know for certain is that had their city not shifted into the plane of Shadow and remained there, their ancestors would also have perished in the disaster.
The City of Shade’s ruling noble, a powerful arcanist, had for some time been experimenting with movement between Faerun and the Plane of Shadow. His studies eventually enable him to move not only himself freely between the two, but other people and objects as well. In the weeks preceding the cataclysm, the arcanist – known as the Lord Shadow – had already contemplated the feasibility of moving an entire flying city into the plane to which he had been traveling for some time. He gave the order for the city to prepare itself for the experiment mere days before the cataclysm and transported the entire city and all of its inhabitants there. Once there, he was pleased to see that his predictions were correct. The city and its citizens suffered no immediate ill effects from the journey. However, he was concerned and dismayed by the discovery that, for reasons he did not yet understand, he was unable to move the city back to Faerun.
Unraveling this mystery took weeks, and when the city returned to Netheril, its inhabitants could only gape with horror at what it found. For days the city journeyed across the ruins of Netheril, searching desperately for survivors, to no avail. The seething hatred that is felt by all Shades towards the Phaerimm manifested in ever greater proportions with the hideous revelation of the source of this destruction and the Netherese thirsted for revenge. Lord Shadow realized, however, that a single flaying city was no match for the phaerimms. Moreover, he considered it likely that the Netherese dwelling in his city might well be the last of their race. He concluded that he could not afford to risk losing his city and subjects as well. Vowing that one day the city would return to Faerun to reestablish the ruined empire, the arcanist transferred his city back into the Plane of Shadow, where through unforeseen circumstances, it remained far longer than he had originally planned.
Stats:
City of Shade
- Normally located floating above Anauroch, just off the northeast coast of the Shadow Sea (or, to give it its Netherese name, the Hidden Lake).
- Population = ~500 shades and ~25000 Shadovars (either direct descendants of the Netherese race, another human race enslaved by the Netherese, or non-descendent humans of another race also enslaved either from Faerun or the Plane of Shadow
- Militaristic Hierarchy of power
- Ruler = Telamont, High Price of Shade has absolute authority (ruled with 12 under ranking princes)
- Religion = Shar
- Alignment = NE, LE
- Discrete culture and civilization. Shadovars dress in clothing that seems (to other residents of Faerun) outdated to the point of antiquity; their courtly attire may appear outlandish and alien. They favor dark colors such as black, burgundy, charcoal gray, dark green, and midnight blue. Members of the upper class wear a great deal of jewelry; gems and jewels are also often cunningly woven into their ensembles. They are also found of gilt, gold thread, and cloth-of-gold accents. Common fold wear simpler garb as befits their trade, and slaves are permitted only serviceable, unadorned clothing that is only marginally better than simple homespun.
Shade template:
Speed: +20’ in darkness
AC: +4 deflection in darkness
Attack/Damage: +2/+2 competence in darkness
Special: control light (decrease level of light 10%/level w/in 100’ radius)*, +1 bonus to hide in area/25% decrease, fast healing 2/round*, cannot regain hp in bright light, invisibility – spelllike ability 1/turn as sorcerer of level*, 60’ darkvision that functions in any darkness, Mirror Image 3x/day*, Spell resistance 11+CL*, +4 luck to all saves in darkness, con +2*, chr +2*, Listen +4*, Spot +4*, Hide +8*, Move Silently +8*
* = functions only in darkness
Level adjustment - +2- meaning you count as a sixth level character when you only have 4 character levels.
I wrote this to the other DM for supplemental information to what's above:
The High Prince, his sons, and certain members of the city’s clergy know much more about the destruction of their homeland than is brought out in the official history. Ironically, it was not the phaerimms that struck the final blow against Netheril – it was one of their own. During the city’s time in the Plane of Shadow, it was cut off from Faerun and unable to return. The clerics of Shar were able to cast divination spells successfully, however, and their dark deity provided them with information that enabled them to discern the truth about what befell Netheril – or, at least, the truth that Shar would have them know.* According to the cleric’s findings, one of the most skilled and potent arcanists of the empire, known to history as Karsus, attempted to end the war with one decisive blow. When the nature of the phaerimms’ lifedrain spells became known, Karsus began work on a spell of his own that he believed would enable him to save his people. Without a doubt, it was the mightiest arcane magic ever wielded by a mortal in the history of Faerun. Karsus’s spell would enable him to merge temporarily but directly with the essence of any deity. He would, in effect, temporarily become a deity, gaining access to divine power.
He planned to wield this divine might to destroy the phaerimms and end their threat forever. Though he was aware that the spell might well cost him his life, Karsus deemed the sacrifice worth the risk. However, something went terribly wrong.* Karsus lost control of his spell, and the resulting arcane backlash nearly destroyed the Weave, wreaking havoc throughout Faerun. Karsus was killed by the unrestrained magical energy, and the magnitude of the damage to the Weave sent Netheril’s flying cities plummeting to the ground, killing all their inhabitants. Enclaves, outposts, and communities of all sizes across the empire suffered similar fates, as their mythallars exploded and their immense architectural achievements cam crashing down atop their citizens. Only the High Prince’s cit, safely within the Plane of Shadow, was spared this fate.
High Prince Telamont and the other Shadovars who are aware of these facts are content to allow their subjects to believe that the phaerimms caused their empire’s downfall.
What Really Happened
Karsus the arcanist decided to merge with Mystryl, the Netherese deity of magic. The result was catastrophic. When his essence combined with Mystryl’s, the deity lost the ability to maintain the Weave. The goddess sacrificed herself to save the Weave before the damage became irreparable, but in so doing she temporarily obstructed the Weave, ending its connection with Faerun. Karsus was killed by the experience, just as he had predicted, but he did not gain Mystryl’s divine power for a period long enough to wield it successfully. The wholesale cessation of magical energy sent arcane shockwaves throughout Faerun, since all spells and wondrous items ceased to function abruptly. The survivors of this catastrophe and their descendants were responsible for ht rise of the now ruined empires of Anauria, Hlongath, and Assam, but Netheril itself was gone. Eventually, Mystryl was able to reincarnate herself and restore the Weave to its proper state, but it was too late for the people of Netheril. The folly of Karsus had done what the phaerimms had been unable to do: The Netherese Empire was no more.
The body of Karsus, made gigantic by the influx of divine energy, fell to earth as he died. It shattered, leaving a silent reminder of his folly to future wizards – a single red stone butte at the base of a high cliff in what is now the Dire Wood.
The High Prince is a Wizard 20, Archmage 5, Shadow Adept 10. His sons are all 20th level casters.
*While this is not written in any of the source books I was thinking for our adventure we could add in the following information to the history.
Shar caused Karsus’s spell to fail. This is not as easy to incorporate as it sounds because Shar as the deity who controls the shadow weave, holds no sway over the Weave and its magical properties. Karsus did not cast from the shadow weave so we will have to figure out how she did this. She did this with the intention of killing Mystryl – remember, Mystryl was created out of the essence of Selune, and Shar hates the both of them. She would gladly, knowingly sacrifice the Netherese to kill Mystryl, especially because so many of the Netherese practiced magic from the Weave, and not the Shadow Weave. Only a select few, like the High Prince, practiced magic from the shadow weave, and she saved them. Of course, she would not let the shades know this. It would be one of her darkest secrets.
While on the plane of shadow, the mythallars, made by the weave was sustained by the shadow weave as a direct result of Shar’s intervention. Thus it was not effected. Moreover, most of the upcoming arcanists all practiced from the Shadow Weave rather than the Weave. Shar is subtle and wants to garner power to eventually defeat Selune. This could be accomplished by 5000 years of powerful arcanists converting to completely practice Shadow Weave Magic. Moreover, I was thinking that they would make more floating citadels while on the Plane of Shadow – they were there for 5000 years! All the future mythallars and all the magic items and all magic practiced would be almost exclusively shadow magic. There of course could be a few Weave magic praciticers – it could in fact be like the reverse of Faerun, in which almost everyone draws from the Weave rather than the Shadow Weave.
Anyway, the point is that they are all mounting an attack on Faerun, to control the planet. This attack originates from two completely distinct goals. One is the High Princes notion infused into the rest of the population by nationalism, that Faerun is rightfully theirs. The other is spawned by Shar. Again, with her subtlety this would not be entirely obvious. However, in dominating over all of Faerun, the Shades would suddenly instate a regime practicing mostly shadow magic. This would severely alter the power structure of Mystra (the current God of magic, Mystryl’s reincarnation) and tip the scales in Shar’s favor so she could end the existence of the Weave forever. Again, only the highest clergy members of the Shades would even have an inking of knowledge about this.
However, when the High Prince comes to the realization that Faerun is no longer really the Shadovars’ home, Shar will be deeply disturbed because the force behind the nationalism will have been completely wiped out. Even if it has been engrained in them that Faerun is their rightful home, it will take away some of the oomph. Moreover, if a faction of the Shadovars remained behind in the Plane of Shadow, it only adds weight to the attack not continuing. Now, the leader of the Shades is in complete opposition to Shar’s goals – and this could be completely unforeseen by her. As a result she will send a group of assassins – Shades – to kill the High Prince. The High Prince is a powerful arcanists but uses shadow magic which Shar can completely cut off. She does this and the High Prince is powerless. He can’t even use magic items requiring spell completion or spell trigger. Perhaps 1 or a few city states that came from the Plane of Shadow will remain behind to continue the assault. Not exactly sure how to run this, any thoughts?
Anyway, so I was thinking that the introduction of the shade attack could be an independence day like advance over the center of every city. We could have the city states have powerful magical weapons that could send down a beam of energy perhaps with so much heat that it would make the magma below the crust erupt outward destroying the city. We could have the realization to end the attack, happen any time, even after they start attacking. They would not use this method against Waterdeep because of the value of maintaining the pseudo mythal (different than a mythallars) protecting it. This is where Yong Jin’s character comes in. Given the power level of the high prince and his sons, they would never give a mythallars to him to place. They might send him on a scouting mission though. Moreover, they might send him as part of a larger group to implant a mythallars. Either could be his source for going to Undermountain.
Another thought is for the PC’s to find out about the assassination and try and stop it. With no magical ability, the High Prince could be taken out by assassins of even the PC’s level.
To add another twist to this, we could have some of the Shades find out about Shar’s treachery with Karsus. That could cause the high clergy to reevaluate their loyalties and perhaps even switch to worshipping Selune.
Anyway, I envision that at some point the PC’s are trying to get onto the floating citadel. Enter the airship. You were thinking of having a gnomish invention convention in Waterdeep. It is a great way to tie in Rachel’s PC but would be unlikely to be located in Waterdeep if it was exclusively gnomish. Waterdeep prides itself on being a mixing bowl, so most likely it would be sponsored by gnomes but be open to all inventors. We could definitely have a gnome have invented the airship though. Perhaps a friend of Rachel’s character. I was really hoping that Rachel would take the gnome artificer because it would make it so easy, but if she is not, we are going to have to have other artificers there who would have made such an invention. Another thing I am thinking is that this would be a closely guarded secret. At the convention they would probably have a smaller model, perhaps made for just one person – a slight upgrade on the hang glider or something.
More twists – the red wizard that created Snake casts geas on the party to retrieve the mythallar. He can find out about it somehow, but the key is that he plans to remove the mythallar and consequently send the city state crashing to the ground to destroy it. If we go with the independence day like attack, this would destroy the city underneath as well. As a red wizard he is part of a group who also hopes to rule over all of Faerun. If the city state above Waterdeep were targeted, it would take out one of the largest opposing power centers known to the Red Wizards. Thus, two birds, no three birds with one stone – get rid of powerful enemy – Shades, take out Waterdeep, and obtain incredibly powerful magical item – mythallar.
How do you get to the mythallar? I envision it is buried deep in the inverted mountain top and heavily guarded. It is supposed to be a secret so they would not expect it to be attacked, especially if there was no real way to get to it – it was surround by tens of thousands of feet of solid rock. I am not sure how the red wizard would figure this all out, but let’s say he did. He then sends the group up with his pet – enter tunneling creature. I was thinking either Ankeg, Bulette, or Thoqua (would have to be oversized). When he casts geas on the party he sends his charmed monster pet with them to dig them through the rock to tunnel their way to the mythallar. The catch is that once they remove it they have to get back out before the entire city state crashes to the ground. Another catch could be that the mythallar is surrounded by a disintegration field – or some powerful magical barrier. They could learn this by for example the land shark (my personal preference) losing its head to disintegration and falling in a lifeless heap. It would definitely have powerful magical protections especially after 5000 years. However, with the way they described it, it sounded like the mythallar was not accessible to the people actually on the inverted mountaintop. Rather it sounded like it was balanced underneath (or what makes more sense, inside).
Another thing is the Phaerimms. The Shades will utterly hate them and want to destroy them on site. We could definitely throw a few at the party. This could also be an avenue for the PCs (non Shades) to learn more about them. This also can tie in the lifedrain spells that Ed’s character would be interested in (for the stored energy). There are Phaerimms in Undermountain.
Now how do we arrange these ideas – I don’t know. We could have the retrieval of the mythallar occur before the High Prince has his epiphany or perhaps after the rogue shades remain to attack. We would have to make it make sense that they would stay behind however. It would mean that they would have to still be powerful enough to take on Faerun!
This utterly ties in Yong Jin’s character to the story.
Neil’s character can be tied in by the red wizard geas’ing the party to get the mythallar. Oh yeah, the other thing is, the reason the red wizard would do this to the party is because Neil’s character took out the last of the soldiers that were engineered and subsequently ordered to take out #43. The Red Wizard could look at #43’s “malfunction” as an evolution and the fact that he took out all the other super warriors could be evidence to that end. The Red Wizard would view #43 as the epitome of the ultimate soldier and the fact that he reasons and thinks for himself was a necessary step in creating the ultimate soldier that the red wizard simply neglected to realize. As a result, he would be very hesitant to harm #43. Therefore, the red wizard could be very, VERY powerful – and it would not mean a total party kill, or player deaths. Moreover, as the best soldier, he would be happy to use #43 to retrieve the mythallar as he would have a scientists like idolization of his own successful work.
We also have the gnome tied in because of the air ship. Getting Neil to Waterdeep like you said should not be difficult at all. He could just wakeup on any road as all roads lead to Waterdeep. I was thinking that people might not start out all together though. I was thinking of starting with like one or two people and then introducing people. Neil’s character’s introduction could be the PC(s) coming upon him fighting other individuals appearing physically similar to #43 but more mechanical. They could come upon the end of the fight and then inquire as to what happened. #43 could go into another lapse or perhaps have to try and explain what happened – whatever would be easiest for making it convenient for #43 to join the PC(s).
Yong Jin’s character could be encountered in Waterdeep, outside it, or in Undermountain itself. I don’t think Yong Jin and Alex will arrive until Friday. So they won’t be there for the first day which is why I was thinking that both would be encountered in Undermountain.
I am not real sure how to incentivize going into Undermountain for the gnome and #43. If you have any ideas great. If Alex, goes with a drow, he has several options. He could be in Undermountain, arriving their from the Underdark, he could be a member of Xanathar’s guild (the thieves guild in Undermountain primarily located on the 3rd level controlled by a beholder), he could be a resident or visitor to SkullPort (basically a blackmarket/city located also on the third level of Undermountain), or he could be a member of the male drow group right outside of Skullport that has recently killed all of their female members and any male members loyal to Lloth. The latter could be the easiest because it provides a reason for him to encounter the party – his group could have been wiped out by Lloth’s personal assassins (a group of 15 extremely powerful members all with a very wide array of powers) and he could be on the run. – So Yong Jin and Alex could be squared away. I was thinking that the Shade may even shadow the party for a while as his only purpose would be to scout the dungeon (or scout for a good location for the mythallar).
I haven’t thought at all about Ken’s psychic warrior. There is a school for Psionic characters in Waterdeep and it is very recent. In fact it was founded and funded by one of Neil’s old characters as a tribute to his one and only friend. This adds another element to the game because the Psionic school is at odds with the magic school there and magic schools everywhere as psionics are completely different than magic. This could also be the place of origin for Neil’s back up character. Any thoughts I would accept freely. For your thoughts, mostly the only Psionic creatures on Faerun are illithids, yuan-ti, and duergar. Psionic humans or other standard races is rare if not unheard of. The school in Waterdeep is the only Psionic school in all of Faerun (though perhaps not all of Toril). I was thinking that psionics could be much more prevalent on Kara Tur, the other major continent on Toril, although I have no support for this from 2E stuff.
Ed’s character is from Silverymoon. He wanted to be from the forest region that Drizzt would stop off at in his travels from Mithril hall to Waterdeep. I searched for a while to finally figure out that Silverymoon is where the location he as talking about had to be. Silverymoon is actually much like Waterdeep except it is mostly comprised of elves, dwarves, and humans in equal proportions. It is not quite as much of a trade or power center either, but is a metropolis. I have a phenomenal amount of info on the Silver Marches (the area where Silverymoon is). I will need to look more at it for further background. However his desire to travel to Waterdeep could be due to any number of things. He could want to visit the bardic college there. I was thinking something focused around his disease. Perhaps he heard something about the lifedrain spells being connected to phaerimms with his bardic knowledge and learned that there are phaerimms in Undermountain. Again, I don’t know – thoughts? I really, REALLY, liked your idea of him trying to find a seed for his cure and this works perfectly with the lifedrain spells (although not official). Moreover, it is very likely that Halaster would have at some point found such a “seed” . Halaster is also a powerful arcanists – around 30th level. And if you look at the Stardock Undermounatin supplement it shows that Halaster is actually still in Undermountain. Halaster’s background and Undermountain also open up possibilities with the Cult of the Dragon. Although, I have not thought much about that avenue.
Lastly there is Kirk’s character. I have but one thing I would like to see in the game for his character – halfling outriders. Not sure if I mentioned to you the PrC for halflings where they are mounted and good mobility abilities. I made up a halfling outrider guard contingent for a small halfling town. While this does not directly correlate to Kirk’s background, it could very well be the same place as to where his character’s sister moved to. That would mean that we would have to get the PC’s there somehow and provide incentive to do so (probably something having to do with the sister).
I have a gnome giant killer PC that we could use if appropriate – I envisioned a rambo like scene where the gnome is in a wall of mud setting up an ambush for some giants. The PC’s could walk into the trap area before the giants – perhaps unawares of the trap and/or the giants – and the NPC could have to stop them. I also have a group of elven guardians including clerics and bladesingers that could very well guard silverymoon (have to check if that is legit from my background info in the books first) that could be very cool.
If we bring in the gnome artificers I was also thinking of a human artificer assassin that I had rolled up a while ago. He could have been trained by any one of the gnomes there at the convention. Also, we could use him against the PCs and then they learn about him via the gnomes.
I have MANY ideas and I am trying to formulate them all into a functioning story. I would love to hear your thoughts/suggestions/advice on any or all of the material below. I warn you, it is alot. I scribed some things directly from Lords of Darkness (the FR supplement).
Thanks in advance,
One player has a PC from the Shades. I wrote this to him for background info:
What you know:
The history of the Netherese reaches far back into the mists of time, beginning well over five millennia before the present day. The history of the Netherese relates that what would later become a mighty empire was at first little more than a cluster of fishing villages that hugged the banks of the Narrow Sea in what is now the eastern central portion of Anauroch. What eventually became a desert was then a verdant land, with abundant water and fertile soil capable of supporting vast populations of flora and fauna, including humans. The earliest roots of the empire can be traced to the time when the fold of the fishing villages united to stave off the attacks of marauding humanoids. The coalition remained unified after it had defeated its enemies, becoming a small kingdom that grew rapidly under a series of expansion-minded monarchs. This young kingdom was energetic and aggressive, but barely civilized. It was during this period, which Shadovar history calls the First Age, that the Netherese made initial contact with the elves from whom they first learned about magic.
The shadovars accept as truth the notion that the ancestors had a strong, natural affinity for arcane magic. Their historical accounts note that after their first contact with the elves, the Netherese took to magical study with uncommon enthusiasm and quickness. Unlike many other societies, the Netherese soon considered arcane magic to be an essential component of their lives, and they made a concentrated effort to master its secrets. Every citizen was tutored in basic spellcraft after reaching the age of ascension (13 years old), and by the age of majority (18 years old) was able to cast a range of 0-level spells. Those who showed aptitude above the norm were placed in special academies for the purpose of enhancing and increasing their magical proficiency, where they learned to cast 1st-level and more powerful spells. The most talented became arcanists (the Netherese term for a wizard or sorcerer) and rose to great heights of political and social power. Many devoted their lives to expand their society’s understanding and mastery of the Art. The arcanists soon became the second most important and respected class of citizens, just below the nobility and surpassing the clergy. The Netherese royalty were the most powerful arcanists in the empire.
The true flowering of the Netherese Empire was dependent not on the experiments of its early arcanists, however, but on the fortuitous discovery of the Nether Scrolls. Unearthed in the ruins of some even older and long forgotten civilization, the Nether Scrolls were a trove of arcane spells as well as an advanced treatise on spellcraft, the combination of which propelled the fledgling empire’s magical knowledge forward at least a hundred fold. As the arcanists studied these ancient texts, they unlocked secrets of spellcasting that had vanished from the world untold millennia before the Netherese people came into being. As the arcanists deciphered these secrets, nearly every citizen of the empire reaped the benefits of their research. In particular, the scrolls provided the key to an invention that would shape the remainder of the Netheril’s future, catapulting the civilization to undreamed-of summits of power: the mythallar.
Using the incredible arcane power provided by the mythallar, the Netherese were able to construct architectural marvels that have not been seen in Faerun since the fall of their Nation. Craftsfolk and arcanists worked in concert to design and construct ever more breathtaking buildings and civic improvements. They levitated entire buildings and balanced them permanently atop impossibly tiny surfaces, creating unusual dwellings that delighted the population and impressed other races. Artists designed public sculptures on a massive scale, and arcanists and laborers made these dreams a reality, shaping enormous quantities of precious metals into beautiful images that floated in a lazy circuit above the city streets to be enjoyed by all at different intervals of the day. Finally, they learned to shear off the very summit of a mountain and suspend it upside-down. They then placed a mythallar within a mirrored crystalline structure designed to reflect the power of the device back onto itself in such a way that it allowed the overturned mountaintop to float in midair. Netheril’s artisans, crafts folk, and laborers then constructed a city upon the inverted mountaintop, and the empire filled these structures with citizens who henceforth lived among the clouds. At the height of Netheril’s power, during what its history refers to as the Golden Age, the empire boasted a total of thirteen flying cities.
The Netherese Empire continued to grow and thrive in the centuries that followed, As the arcanists continued to plumb the depths of magical investigation, always pushing the envelope of their knowledge, they refined their understanding and control of their abilities. Eventually, they began to conceive and design spells of such might that arcane power of their magnitude has not been seen in Faerun since Netheril’s destruction (and for very good reason). The empire used its flying cities to explore more of the world, to locate more raw materials for its industries, to carry out trade with other races, and to acquire more and more territory so that it population would have all the food and space it required. It also utilized the cities as airborne platforms from with it launched deadly attacks against its enemies, wiping out enormous numbers of hostile humanoids that might threaten Netheril’s peace and prosperity. The Netherese Empire became, with the passing of the years, the preeminent magical civilization of this time and indeed perhaps in all the history of Faerun. Its achievements only make its decay and downfall all the more tragic. Unknown to the Netherese, their greatest enemies were not the vast tribes of orcs, gnolls, and goblins that roamed the land, but a foe that remained completely undetected until it was all but too late. A renegade arcanist, dissatisfied at his people’s wholesale slaughter, and the enslavement of anyone not born Netherese, departed the empire with a band of like minded followers. Seeking a safe haven, they ventured into caves and caverns, eventually making contact with a subterranean race of creatures that called themselves the phaerimms. This fateful meeting was the beginning of the end for Netheril, though neither the disgruntled arcanist nor his associates could know the impact they would have on their homeland’s future.
Befriending the human in the guise of a peaceful and concerned race, the phaerimms tricked him into revealing vital information about the empire. Their dissembling was successful. Without realizing the enormity of his mistake, the well-meaning arcanist revealed to his new “friends” some of the most closely guarded secrets of his country, including the existence and uses of the mythallar. What the young arcanist did not know was that the phaerimms possessed but one goal: the eradication of all other beings in Faerun. After the arcanist and his comrades departed the phaerimms’ caverns, the evil creatures used their newly gained knowledge to begin planning Netheril’s destruction. Employing the information given to them by the young arcanist, the phaerimms raided Netherese outposts, caravans, and outlying settlements, from which they stole a considerable amount of magical knowledge and a number of wondrous items. Their savage attacks left no survivors, leaving the imperial arcanists to wonder futilely who was behind these murderous incidents. The phaerimms used their plundered knowledge to advance their own study and understanding of the Art and then turn it against their chosen enemies. Eventually, they were able to capture a mythallar from a caravan outpost, and then the true war began.
Using the mythallar as a model, the destruction-minded phaerimms created their own version of an arcane device to access the Weave directly. Even as Netheril reached the zenith of its power and glory, the phaerimms directed terrible lifedrain spells at the empire’s fertile lands. Their spells leached the very life from the land itself. The process was slow, but the Netherese could do nothing but observe the effect – large tracts of fertile, green land became sandy, useless deserts before their eyes. Alarmed, the empire’s foremast arcanists sought the cause, even as they strove to limit the damage with their own powerful spells. But the time they discerned the intelligence behind this phenomenon, vast sections of their home had succumbed to the phaerimm assault. But even as the empire prepared to defend itself against its newly identified foe, the phaerimms attacked openly.
Arcane energy exploded across the land in a magical duel of immense proportions, adding to the level of destruction already caused by the phaerimms’ life-draining magic. Neither side was able to gain a distinct advantage, however, and the war raged out of control. The phaerimms’ continual bombardment of lifedrain spells increased the area of desertification, eventually forming the barren waste of the Great Desert. The Netherese responded in kind, employing arsenals of magical weaponry and arcane spells to rain destruction upon the phaerimms and their underground homes. Both Netherese and phaerimms suffered tremendous losses of life and property but the fighting continued unabated, with each side determined to extinguish the other.
The Shadovars records grow vague and contradictory at this point. Netheril prided itself on keeping an accurate account of its cultural and societal progress, but the prolonged war against the phaerimms made it difficult to conduct civic and economic affairs in the accustomed fashion. Many records were lost amid the destruction of buildings and entire communities. The City of Shade possesses numerous accounts of the war’s most important battles, as well as more mundane records from that era, but there was no means of obtaining complete information on all that was transpiring during that confusing and deadly time. The Shadovars themselves do not actually know for a certainty what caused the cataclysm that destroyed Netheril. Most blame the phaerimms, believing that the enemy contrived to launch a final, devastating attack that called upon some kind of unknown arcane power. All the Shadovars really know for certain is that had their city not shifted into the plane of Shadow and remained there, their ancestors would also have perished in the disaster.
The City of Shade’s ruling noble, a powerful arcanist, had for some time been experimenting with movement between Faerun and the Plane of Shadow. His studies eventually enable him to move not only himself freely between the two, but other people and objects as well. In the weeks preceding the cataclysm, the arcanist – known as the Lord Shadow – had already contemplated the feasibility of moving an entire flying city into the plane to which he had been traveling for some time. He gave the order for the city to prepare itself for the experiment mere days before the cataclysm and transported the entire city and all of its inhabitants there. Once there, he was pleased to see that his predictions were correct. The city and its citizens suffered no immediate ill effects from the journey. However, he was concerned and dismayed by the discovery that, for reasons he did not yet understand, he was unable to move the city back to Faerun.
Unraveling this mystery took weeks, and when the city returned to Netheril, its inhabitants could only gape with horror at what it found. For days the city journeyed across the ruins of Netheril, searching desperately for survivors, to no avail. The seething hatred that is felt by all Shades towards the Phaerimm manifested in ever greater proportions with the hideous revelation of the source of this destruction and the Netherese thirsted for revenge. Lord Shadow realized, however, that a single flaying city was no match for the phaerimms. Moreover, he considered it likely that the Netherese dwelling in his city might well be the last of their race. He concluded that he could not afford to risk losing his city and subjects as well. Vowing that one day the city would return to Faerun to reestablish the ruined empire, the arcanist transferred his city back into the Plane of Shadow, where through unforeseen circumstances, it remained far longer than he had originally planned.
Stats:
City of Shade
- Normally located floating above Anauroch, just off the northeast coast of the Shadow Sea (or, to give it its Netherese name, the Hidden Lake).
- Population = ~500 shades and ~25000 Shadovars (either direct descendants of the Netherese race, another human race enslaved by the Netherese, or non-descendent humans of another race also enslaved either from Faerun or the Plane of Shadow
- Militaristic Hierarchy of power
- Ruler = Telamont, High Price of Shade has absolute authority (ruled with 12 under ranking princes)
- Religion = Shar
- Alignment = NE, LE
- Discrete culture and civilization. Shadovars dress in clothing that seems (to other residents of Faerun) outdated to the point of antiquity; their courtly attire may appear outlandish and alien. They favor dark colors such as black, burgundy, charcoal gray, dark green, and midnight blue. Members of the upper class wear a great deal of jewelry; gems and jewels are also often cunningly woven into their ensembles. They are also found of gilt, gold thread, and cloth-of-gold accents. Common fold wear simpler garb as befits their trade, and slaves are permitted only serviceable, unadorned clothing that is only marginally better than simple homespun.
Shade template:
Speed: +20’ in darkness
AC: +4 deflection in darkness
Attack/Damage: +2/+2 competence in darkness
Special: control light (decrease level of light 10%/level w/in 100’ radius)*, +1 bonus to hide in area/25% decrease, fast healing 2/round*, cannot regain hp in bright light, invisibility – spelllike ability 1/turn as sorcerer of level*, 60’ darkvision that functions in any darkness, Mirror Image 3x/day*, Spell resistance 11+CL*, +4 luck to all saves in darkness, con +2*, chr +2*, Listen +4*, Spot +4*, Hide +8*, Move Silently +8*
* = functions only in darkness
Level adjustment - +2- meaning you count as a sixth level character when you only have 4 character levels.
I wrote this to the other DM for supplemental information to what's above:
The High Prince, his sons, and certain members of the city’s clergy know much more about the destruction of their homeland than is brought out in the official history. Ironically, it was not the phaerimms that struck the final blow against Netheril – it was one of their own. During the city’s time in the Plane of Shadow, it was cut off from Faerun and unable to return. The clerics of Shar were able to cast divination spells successfully, however, and their dark deity provided them with information that enabled them to discern the truth about what befell Netheril – or, at least, the truth that Shar would have them know.* According to the cleric’s findings, one of the most skilled and potent arcanists of the empire, known to history as Karsus, attempted to end the war with one decisive blow. When the nature of the phaerimms’ lifedrain spells became known, Karsus began work on a spell of his own that he believed would enable him to save his people. Without a doubt, it was the mightiest arcane magic ever wielded by a mortal in the history of Faerun. Karsus’s spell would enable him to merge temporarily but directly with the essence of any deity. He would, in effect, temporarily become a deity, gaining access to divine power.
He planned to wield this divine might to destroy the phaerimms and end their threat forever. Though he was aware that the spell might well cost him his life, Karsus deemed the sacrifice worth the risk. However, something went terribly wrong.* Karsus lost control of his spell, and the resulting arcane backlash nearly destroyed the Weave, wreaking havoc throughout Faerun. Karsus was killed by the unrestrained magical energy, and the magnitude of the damage to the Weave sent Netheril’s flying cities plummeting to the ground, killing all their inhabitants. Enclaves, outposts, and communities of all sizes across the empire suffered similar fates, as their mythallars exploded and their immense architectural achievements cam crashing down atop their citizens. Only the High Prince’s cit, safely within the Plane of Shadow, was spared this fate.
High Prince Telamont and the other Shadovars who are aware of these facts are content to allow their subjects to believe that the phaerimms caused their empire’s downfall.
What Really Happened
Karsus the arcanist decided to merge with Mystryl, the Netherese deity of magic. The result was catastrophic. When his essence combined with Mystryl’s, the deity lost the ability to maintain the Weave. The goddess sacrificed herself to save the Weave before the damage became irreparable, but in so doing she temporarily obstructed the Weave, ending its connection with Faerun. Karsus was killed by the experience, just as he had predicted, but he did not gain Mystryl’s divine power for a period long enough to wield it successfully. The wholesale cessation of magical energy sent arcane shockwaves throughout Faerun, since all spells and wondrous items ceased to function abruptly. The survivors of this catastrophe and their descendants were responsible for ht rise of the now ruined empires of Anauria, Hlongath, and Assam, but Netheril itself was gone. Eventually, Mystryl was able to reincarnate herself and restore the Weave to its proper state, but it was too late for the people of Netheril. The folly of Karsus had done what the phaerimms had been unable to do: The Netherese Empire was no more.
The body of Karsus, made gigantic by the influx of divine energy, fell to earth as he died. It shattered, leaving a silent reminder of his folly to future wizards – a single red stone butte at the base of a high cliff in what is now the Dire Wood.
The High Prince is a Wizard 20, Archmage 5, Shadow Adept 10. His sons are all 20th level casters.
*While this is not written in any of the source books I was thinking for our adventure we could add in the following information to the history.
Shar caused Karsus’s spell to fail. This is not as easy to incorporate as it sounds because Shar as the deity who controls the shadow weave, holds no sway over the Weave and its magical properties. Karsus did not cast from the shadow weave so we will have to figure out how she did this. She did this with the intention of killing Mystryl – remember, Mystryl was created out of the essence of Selune, and Shar hates the both of them. She would gladly, knowingly sacrifice the Netherese to kill Mystryl, especially because so many of the Netherese practiced magic from the Weave, and not the Shadow Weave. Only a select few, like the High Prince, practiced magic from the shadow weave, and she saved them. Of course, she would not let the shades know this. It would be one of her darkest secrets.
While on the plane of shadow, the mythallars, made by the weave was sustained by the shadow weave as a direct result of Shar’s intervention. Thus it was not effected. Moreover, most of the upcoming arcanists all practiced from the Shadow Weave rather than the Weave. Shar is subtle and wants to garner power to eventually defeat Selune. This could be accomplished by 5000 years of powerful arcanists converting to completely practice Shadow Weave Magic. Moreover, I was thinking that they would make more floating citadels while on the Plane of Shadow – they were there for 5000 years! All the future mythallars and all the magic items and all magic practiced would be almost exclusively shadow magic. There of course could be a few Weave magic praciticers – it could in fact be like the reverse of Faerun, in which almost everyone draws from the Weave rather than the Shadow Weave.
Anyway, the point is that they are all mounting an attack on Faerun, to control the planet. This attack originates from two completely distinct goals. One is the High Princes notion infused into the rest of the population by nationalism, that Faerun is rightfully theirs. The other is spawned by Shar. Again, with her subtlety this would not be entirely obvious. However, in dominating over all of Faerun, the Shades would suddenly instate a regime practicing mostly shadow magic. This would severely alter the power structure of Mystra (the current God of magic, Mystryl’s reincarnation) and tip the scales in Shar’s favor so she could end the existence of the Weave forever. Again, only the highest clergy members of the Shades would even have an inking of knowledge about this.
However, when the High Prince comes to the realization that Faerun is no longer really the Shadovars’ home, Shar will be deeply disturbed because the force behind the nationalism will have been completely wiped out. Even if it has been engrained in them that Faerun is their rightful home, it will take away some of the oomph. Moreover, if a faction of the Shadovars remained behind in the Plane of Shadow, it only adds weight to the attack not continuing. Now, the leader of the Shades is in complete opposition to Shar’s goals – and this could be completely unforeseen by her. As a result she will send a group of assassins – Shades – to kill the High Prince. The High Prince is a powerful arcanists but uses shadow magic which Shar can completely cut off. She does this and the High Prince is powerless. He can’t even use magic items requiring spell completion or spell trigger. Perhaps 1 or a few city states that came from the Plane of Shadow will remain behind to continue the assault. Not exactly sure how to run this, any thoughts?
Anyway, so I was thinking that the introduction of the shade attack could be an independence day like advance over the center of every city. We could have the city states have powerful magical weapons that could send down a beam of energy perhaps with so much heat that it would make the magma below the crust erupt outward destroying the city. We could have the realization to end the attack, happen any time, even after they start attacking. They would not use this method against Waterdeep because of the value of maintaining the pseudo mythal (different than a mythallars) protecting it. This is where Yong Jin’s character comes in. Given the power level of the high prince and his sons, they would never give a mythallars to him to place. They might send him on a scouting mission though. Moreover, they might send him as part of a larger group to implant a mythallars. Either could be his source for going to Undermountain.
Another thought is for the PC’s to find out about the assassination and try and stop it. With no magical ability, the High Prince could be taken out by assassins of even the PC’s level.
To add another twist to this, we could have some of the Shades find out about Shar’s treachery with Karsus. That could cause the high clergy to reevaluate their loyalties and perhaps even switch to worshipping Selune.
Anyway, I envision that at some point the PC’s are trying to get onto the floating citadel. Enter the airship. You were thinking of having a gnomish invention convention in Waterdeep. It is a great way to tie in Rachel’s PC but would be unlikely to be located in Waterdeep if it was exclusively gnomish. Waterdeep prides itself on being a mixing bowl, so most likely it would be sponsored by gnomes but be open to all inventors. We could definitely have a gnome have invented the airship though. Perhaps a friend of Rachel’s character. I was really hoping that Rachel would take the gnome artificer because it would make it so easy, but if she is not, we are going to have to have other artificers there who would have made such an invention. Another thing I am thinking is that this would be a closely guarded secret. At the convention they would probably have a smaller model, perhaps made for just one person – a slight upgrade on the hang glider or something.
More twists – the red wizard that created Snake casts geas on the party to retrieve the mythallar. He can find out about it somehow, but the key is that he plans to remove the mythallar and consequently send the city state crashing to the ground to destroy it. If we go with the independence day like attack, this would destroy the city underneath as well. As a red wizard he is part of a group who also hopes to rule over all of Faerun. If the city state above Waterdeep were targeted, it would take out one of the largest opposing power centers known to the Red Wizards. Thus, two birds, no three birds with one stone – get rid of powerful enemy – Shades, take out Waterdeep, and obtain incredibly powerful magical item – mythallar.
How do you get to the mythallar? I envision it is buried deep in the inverted mountain top and heavily guarded. It is supposed to be a secret so they would not expect it to be attacked, especially if there was no real way to get to it – it was surround by tens of thousands of feet of solid rock. I am not sure how the red wizard would figure this all out, but let’s say he did. He then sends the group up with his pet – enter tunneling creature. I was thinking either Ankeg, Bulette, or Thoqua (would have to be oversized). When he casts geas on the party he sends his charmed monster pet with them to dig them through the rock to tunnel their way to the mythallar. The catch is that once they remove it they have to get back out before the entire city state crashes to the ground. Another catch could be that the mythallar is surrounded by a disintegration field – or some powerful magical barrier. They could learn this by for example the land shark (my personal preference) losing its head to disintegration and falling in a lifeless heap. It would definitely have powerful magical protections especially after 5000 years. However, with the way they described it, it sounded like the mythallar was not accessible to the people actually on the inverted mountaintop. Rather it sounded like it was balanced underneath (or what makes more sense, inside).
Another thing is the Phaerimms. The Shades will utterly hate them and want to destroy them on site. We could definitely throw a few at the party. This could also be an avenue for the PCs (non Shades) to learn more about them. This also can tie in the lifedrain spells that Ed’s character would be interested in (for the stored energy). There are Phaerimms in Undermountain.
Now how do we arrange these ideas – I don’t know. We could have the retrieval of the mythallar occur before the High Prince has his epiphany or perhaps after the rogue shades remain to attack. We would have to make it make sense that they would stay behind however. It would mean that they would have to still be powerful enough to take on Faerun!
This utterly ties in Yong Jin’s character to the story.
Neil’s character can be tied in by the red wizard geas’ing the party to get the mythallar. Oh yeah, the other thing is, the reason the red wizard would do this to the party is because Neil’s character took out the last of the soldiers that were engineered and subsequently ordered to take out #43. The Red Wizard could look at #43’s “malfunction” as an evolution and the fact that he took out all the other super warriors could be evidence to that end. The Red Wizard would view #43 as the epitome of the ultimate soldier and the fact that he reasons and thinks for himself was a necessary step in creating the ultimate soldier that the red wizard simply neglected to realize. As a result, he would be very hesitant to harm #43. Therefore, the red wizard could be very, VERY powerful – and it would not mean a total party kill, or player deaths. Moreover, as the best soldier, he would be happy to use #43 to retrieve the mythallar as he would have a scientists like idolization of his own successful work.
We also have the gnome tied in because of the air ship. Getting Neil to Waterdeep like you said should not be difficult at all. He could just wakeup on any road as all roads lead to Waterdeep. I was thinking that people might not start out all together though. I was thinking of starting with like one or two people and then introducing people. Neil’s character’s introduction could be the PC(s) coming upon him fighting other individuals appearing physically similar to #43 but more mechanical. They could come upon the end of the fight and then inquire as to what happened. #43 could go into another lapse or perhaps have to try and explain what happened – whatever would be easiest for making it convenient for #43 to join the PC(s).
Yong Jin’s character could be encountered in Waterdeep, outside it, or in Undermountain itself. I don’t think Yong Jin and Alex will arrive until Friday. So they won’t be there for the first day which is why I was thinking that both would be encountered in Undermountain.
I am not real sure how to incentivize going into Undermountain for the gnome and #43. If you have any ideas great. If Alex, goes with a drow, he has several options. He could be in Undermountain, arriving their from the Underdark, he could be a member of Xanathar’s guild (the thieves guild in Undermountain primarily located on the 3rd level controlled by a beholder), he could be a resident or visitor to SkullPort (basically a blackmarket/city located also on the third level of Undermountain), or he could be a member of the male drow group right outside of Skullport that has recently killed all of their female members and any male members loyal to Lloth. The latter could be the easiest because it provides a reason for him to encounter the party – his group could have been wiped out by Lloth’s personal assassins (a group of 15 extremely powerful members all with a very wide array of powers) and he could be on the run. – So Yong Jin and Alex could be squared away. I was thinking that the Shade may even shadow the party for a while as his only purpose would be to scout the dungeon (or scout for a good location for the mythallar).
I haven’t thought at all about Ken’s psychic warrior. There is a school for Psionic characters in Waterdeep and it is very recent. In fact it was founded and funded by one of Neil’s old characters as a tribute to his one and only friend. This adds another element to the game because the Psionic school is at odds with the magic school there and magic schools everywhere as psionics are completely different than magic. This could also be the place of origin for Neil’s back up character. Any thoughts I would accept freely. For your thoughts, mostly the only Psionic creatures on Faerun are illithids, yuan-ti, and duergar. Psionic humans or other standard races is rare if not unheard of. The school in Waterdeep is the only Psionic school in all of Faerun (though perhaps not all of Toril). I was thinking that psionics could be much more prevalent on Kara Tur, the other major continent on Toril, although I have no support for this from 2E stuff.
Ed’s character is from Silverymoon. He wanted to be from the forest region that Drizzt would stop off at in his travels from Mithril hall to Waterdeep. I searched for a while to finally figure out that Silverymoon is where the location he as talking about had to be. Silverymoon is actually much like Waterdeep except it is mostly comprised of elves, dwarves, and humans in equal proportions. It is not quite as much of a trade or power center either, but is a metropolis. I have a phenomenal amount of info on the Silver Marches (the area where Silverymoon is). I will need to look more at it for further background. However his desire to travel to Waterdeep could be due to any number of things. He could want to visit the bardic college there. I was thinking something focused around his disease. Perhaps he heard something about the lifedrain spells being connected to phaerimms with his bardic knowledge and learned that there are phaerimms in Undermountain. Again, I don’t know – thoughts? I really, REALLY, liked your idea of him trying to find a seed for his cure and this works perfectly with the lifedrain spells (although not official). Moreover, it is very likely that Halaster would have at some point found such a “seed” . Halaster is also a powerful arcanists – around 30th level. And if you look at the Stardock Undermounatin supplement it shows that Halaster is actually still in Undermountain. Halaster’s background and Undermountain also open up possibilities with the Cult of the Dragon. Although, I have not thought much about that avenue.
Lastly there is Kirk’s character. I have but one thing I would like to see in the game for his character – halfling outriders. Not sure if I mentioned to you the PrC for halflings where they are mounted and good mobility abilities. I made up a halfling outrider guard contingent for a small halfling town. While this does not directly correlate to Kirk’s background, it could very well be the same place as to where his character’s sister moved to. That would mean that we would have to get the PC’s there somehow and provide incentive to do so (probably something having to do with the sister).
I have a gnome giant killer PC that we could use if appropriate – I envisioned a rambo like scene where the gnome is in a wall of mud setting up an ambush for some giants. The PC’s could walk into the trap area before the giants – perhaps unawares of the trap and/or the giants – and the NPC could have to stop them. I also have a group of elven guardians including clerics and bladesingers that could very well guard silverymoon (have to check if that is legit from my background info in the books first) that could be very cool.
If we bring in the gnome artificers I was also thinking of a human artificer assassin that I had rolled up a while ago. He could have been trained by any one of the gnomes there at the convention. Also, we could use him against the PCs and then they learn about him via the gnomes.
