The Tol Vehara Story Hour
Back to the Manor
The party returned safely to the farmhouse Haven and are greeted at nightfall by George's ghost. He tells Valar that he and Martha are much happier now that the party has gotten rid of "that evil young woman" they brought with them the last time. He mentions that the goblin chef has been doing a good job of keeping the rat population down, and George is rather happy to hear that the kobolds are in the hands of clerics who will, at the very least, keep them gainfully employed and receiving payment and food. George mentions needing to go milk the cows, and fades away in the darkness.
Laeka, meanwhile, has another disturbing dream. She dreams of falling down a place of darkness and dissolving away slowly into nothingness in the shape of a woman filled with the starry void. She awakes in a cold sweat and feels that time is somehow running out. The party discusses what this dream could possibly mean, and they determine that perhaps Ymanoura is still somewhere inside Dorecan Manor. They count the days and determine that if they don't find her soon, there's little hope for her being able to resist the Taint. In many ways, the party wonders whether or not saving her would do more good or more harm, to Ymanoura and her family. They decide that, in all probability, she's being held in the basement somehow, and they also decide that they need to try one of the back entrances to the Manor, to avoid any traps or ambushes.
The party is surprised in their attempts to circle around the back of the manor by several gnolls led by a gnoll ranger, with four worgs mounted by goblins. For all of the element of surprise, Yovaire and Laeka quickly wade through the gnolls, while Skalar picks off the riders with his longbow. Arien is able to entangle several of the gnolls, and Marcus wreaks havoc among the entangled monsters with his flaming sphere. Tanin joins the fray with his dog and together the party manages to overcome what they feel must be a patrol or a scouting party.
Feeling confident from their victory over the gnoll party, our stalwart heroes decide to enter the Manor and continue to press their luck. They find a servant's entrance near the ruins of the back patio and gardens, an area now overrun and crumbling, with the pristine first floor of the house still standing thanks to the abjuration magic woven into the actual building itself. Valar is easily able to pop the lock on the door made of smoky glass, to bring the party into a short hallway that leads into the western wing of the Manor House on one side, up to a grand set of intricately scrolled double doors to the east side, and with another door leading into a long and narrow garden completely surrounded by the manor itself. In the garden there is only a moderate amount of overgrowth, and the preservation magic seems to have maintained two large statues, one of a man with wings outstretched pointing a sword to the sky and without recognizeable facial features, and the other a woman with outstretched wings reaching her hands out to the man. They can see that the eastern wall of the garden is panelled in the same smoky glass that the hallway is constructed out of, a material that apparently allows those on the inside to look out, but maintains privacy for anyone on the outside trying to look in. The same ornate door dressings are found on the doors that lead through the eastern walls of glass panels, and the flagstones of white marble are still visible in places in the garden, indicating possible tracks or trails from creatures moving through it.
The group decides it is better to examine the Western side of the Manor, and begins going from room to room, looking for treasure, adventure, and to save the damsel possibly still in distress. They begin to move methodically through the house, and soon surprise a pair of ogres and several goblin guards. Because of the element of surprise, Laeka and Yovaire are able to move into position relatively quickly on either side of the door, and with Skalar and Valar well back in the hall firing arrows into their visible enemies while Hack and Slash do their slicing and dicing, the ogres and crew are quickly destroyed, without Arien or Marcus needing to cast a spell. Tanin, however, bored with the proceedings, decided to move down the hallway and investigate the next set of rooms with only his hound for backup.
... a most foolhardy decision, as we shall see.
The party returned safely to the farmhouse Haven and are greeted at nightfall by George's ghost. He tells Valar that he and Martha are much happier now that the party has gotten rid of "that evil young woman" they brought with them the last time. He mentions that the goblin chef has been doing a good job of keeping the rat population down, and George is rather happy to hear that the kobolds are in the hands of clerics who will, at the very least, keep them gainfully employed and receiving payment and food. George mentions needing to go milk the cows, and fades away in the darkness.
Laeka, meanwhile, has another disturbing dream. She dreams of falling down a place of darkness and dissolving away slowly into nothingness in the shape of a woman filled with the starry void. She awakes in a cold sweat and feels that time is somehow running out. The party discusses what this dream could possibly mean, and they determine that perhaps Ymanoura is still somewhere inside Dorecan Manor. They count the days and determine that if they don't find her soon, there's little hope for her being able to resist the Taint. In many ways, the party wonders whether or not saving her would do more good or more harm, to Ymanoura and her family. They decide that, in all probability, she's being held in the basement somehow, and they also decide that they need to try one of the back entrances to the Manor, to avoid any traps or ambushes.
The party is surprised in their attempts to circle around the back of the manor by several gnolls led by a gnoll ranger, with four worgs mounted by goblins. For all of the element of surprise, Yovaire and Laeka quickly wade through the gnolls, while Skalar picks off the riders with his longbow. Arien is able to entangle several of the gnolls, and Marcus wreaks havoc among the entangled monsters with his flaming sphere. Tanin joins the fray with his dog and together the party manages to overcome what they feel must be a patrol or a scouting party.
Feeling confident from their victory over the gnoll party, our stalwart heroes decide to enter the Manor and continue to press their luck. They find a servant's entrance near the ruins of the back patio and gardens, an area now overrun and crumbling, with the pristine first floor of the house still standing thanks to the abjuration magic woven into the actual building itself. Valar is easily able to pop the lock on the door made of smoky glass, to bring the party into a short hallway that leads into the western wing of the Manor House on one side, up to a grand set of intricately scrolled double doors to the east side, and with another door leading into a long and narrow garden completely surrounded by the manor itself. In the garden there is only a moderate amount of overgrowth, and the preservation magic seems to have maintained two large statues, one of a man with wings outstretched pointing a sword to the sky and without recognizeable facial features, and the other a woman with outstretched wings reaching her hands out to the man. They can see that the eastern wall of the garden is panelled in the same smoky glass that the hallway is constructed out of, a material that apparently allows those on the inside to look out, but maintains privacy for anyone on the outside trying to look in. The same ornate door dressings are found on the doors that lead through the eastern walls of glass panels, and the flagstones of white marble are still visible in places in the garden, indicating possible tracks or trails from creatures moving through it.
The group decides it is better to examine the Western side of the Manor, and begins going from room to room, looking for treasure, adventure, and to save the damsel possibly still in distress. They begin to move methodically through the house, and soon surprise a pair of ogres and several goblin guards. Because of the element of surprise, Laeka and Yovaire are able to move into position relatively quickly on either side of the door, and with Skalar and Valar well back in the hall firing arrows into their visible enemies while Hack and Slash do their slicing and dicing, the ogres and crew are quickly destroyed, without Arien or Marcus needing to cast a spell. Tanin, however, bored with the proceedings, decided to move down the hallway and investigate the next set of rooms with only his hound for backup.
... a most foolhardy decision, as we shall see.
Down the Hall
As the party continued to deal with the ogres and goblins up the hall, Tanin, the fearless (and some would argue 'brainless' as well) fighter and his trusty dog companion decided that it was the perfect opportunity to go off on their own for a bit and investigate the next set of rooms. Tanin tried the first door and found it locked, and moved on to the next door, which by chance was open. He opened the door and came upon a group of goblins who immediately cried the alarm and swarmed out into the hallway, overrunning the fighter and swiping at his dog, which yipped in pain from several attacks that connected.
Tanin held his own in the doorway for a bit, but the door which had been locked was part of the same room, and within a matter of seconds the goblins were out in the hallway, circling around behind the fighter and attempting to flank him. After receiving a few scratches and losing a small quantity of blood, the party up the hall finally realized where he had gone and why the hall was suddenly full of goblins. Marcus used one of his flaming spheres and Laeka and Yovaire quickly dealt with the goblins. By the time that the fight was joined by the rest of the party, it was more or less over, and the arguing began.
Although the alarm had been sounded, nothing came down the hall or emerged from the next door facing the gardens. After some healing cast by Laeka and Arien, the party regrouped with a rather sullen Tanin leading the way. At the next door, they found their way locked. Valar was called to the vanguard, and he quickly set about his thievery. Nothing unusual being spotted or detected after a brisk search, he rolled out his canvas container of thieves' tools and began to pick the lock. It was with great elation that he finally (after a few aborted attempts and 10 minutes later) managed to pick the lock, quite the tricky little thing. However, when he turned the handle and pushed to open the door, there was a moment's pause, and then the door slammed back shut and his tools were forced from the keyhole.
Grumbling perplexedly, Valar decided to try one last time, setting his stubborn will against the barrier that should have yielded easily to his expertise. As he was picking the lock this last time, however, the rest of the party drew back suddenly as an incorporeal woman's face emerged from the center of the door above the crouching rogue. Valar failed to notice anything, and the rest of the party was rather afraid to move by that point and time (having failed a Will save, the lot of them). The woman looked old and elegant, dignified even in her ghostly apparition. She bent down stiffly to observe the thief with a scowl on her face, and by this time Valar felt the air begin to chill around him and looked up.
A moment of stunned silence passed as Valar and the ghostly woman regarded each other, then the woman opened her mouth and yelled loudly just above his head. Valar was more than just afraid, (of course he failed his save, it's what Valar does best), and he panicked. He dropped his tools and bolted clear on back to the grand double-doors and the servants' entry that the party had used to gain access to the manor this time. The party watched the woman for a moment longer as she turned to regard them. With an imperial finger she pointed, still sticking half out of the door, indicating that they should go away, and then she faded back into the locked room.
Relieved at not having to deal with incorporeal apparitions of any sort, evil or otherwise, the party skedaddled back to rejoin 'Valar the Valiant, Rogue to the Rear'. After ascertaining that apparently no one had heard the alarm raised by those goblins (they had depopulated the western wing of the manor quite nicely and the ghost didn't seem to care whether the goblins lived or died), the party decided to risk one more room, and snuck a peek into the huge double doors. . .
As the party continued to deal with the ogres and goblins up the hall, Tanin, the fearless (and some would argue 'brainless' as well) fighter and his trusty dog companion decided that it was the perfect opportunity to go off on their own for a bit and investigate the next set of rooms. Tanin tried the first door and found it locked, and moved on to the next door, which by chance was open. He opened the door and came upon a group of goblins who immediately cried the alarm and swarmed out into the hallway, overrunning the fighter and swiping at his dog, which yipped in pain from several attacks that connected.
Tanin held his own in the doorway for a bit, but the door which had been locked was part of the same room, and within a matter of seconds the goblins were out in the hallway, circling around behind the fighter and attempting to flank him. After receiving a few scratches and losing a small quantity of blood, the party up the hall finally realized where he had gone and why the hall was suddenly full of goblins. Marcus used one of his flaming spheres and Laeka and Yovaire quickly dealt with the goblins. By the time that the fight was joined by the rest of the party, it was more or less over, and the arguing began.
Although the alarm had been sounded, nothing came down the hall or emerged from the next door facing the gardens. After some healing cast by Laeka and Arien, the party regrouped with a rather sullen Tanin leading the way. At the next door, they found their way locked. Valar was called to the vanguard, and he quickly set about his thievery. Nothing unusual being spotted or detected after a brisk search, he rolled out his canvas container of thieves' tools and began to pick the lock. It was with great elation that he finally (after a few aborted attempts and 10 minutes later) managed to pick the lock, quite the tricky little thing. However, when he turned the handle and pushed to open the door, there was a moment's pause, and then the door slammed back shut and his tools were forced from the keyhole.
Grumbling perplexedly, Valar decided to try one last time, setting his stubborn will against the barrier that should have yielded easily to his expertise. As he was picking the lock this last time, however, the rest of the party drew back suddenly as an incorporeal woman's face emerged from the center of the door above the crouching rogue. Valar failed to notice anything, and the rest of the party was rather afraid to move by that point and time (having failed a Will save, the lot of them). The woman looked old and elegant, dignified even in her ghostly apparition. She bent down stiffly to observe the thief with a scowl on her face, and by this time Valar felt the air begin to chill around him and looked up.
A moment of stunned silence passed as Valar and the ghostly woman regarded each other, then the woman opened her mouth and yelled loudly just above his head. Valar was more than just afraid, (of course he failed his save, it's what Valar does best), and he panicked. He dropped his tools and bolted clear on back to the grand double-doors and the servants' entry that the party had used to gain access to the manor this time. The party watched the woman for a moment longer as she turned to regard them. With an imperial finger she pointed, still sticking half out of the door, indicating that they should go away, and then she faded back into the locked room.
Relieved at not having to deal with incorporeal apparitions of any sort, evil or otherwise, the party skedaddled back to rejoin 'Valar the Valiant, Rogue to the Rear'. After ascertaining that apparently no one had heard the alarm raised by those goblins (they had depopulated the western wing of the manor quite nicely and the ghost didn't seem to care whether the goblins lived or died), the party decided to risk one more room, and snuck a peek into the huge double doors. . .
Having a Ball
Inside the double doors, the party got a glimpse of the majesty and splendor which once was displayed by House Dorecan, now forgotten and long gone, whose only remaining testimony to their existence at all was the ruined palatial manor house which now housed evil and monstrous races amid the desolation of the magical wasteland caused by the advancing miasma of the Blasted Lands. Faceless statuary lined the walls, the suggestions of human features smoothed over by the hands and tools of master craftsmen ages dead. Winged figures and caryatid columns lined the sides of the exquisite ballroom, a resplendant and decadent ballroom of luxury, filled with the echoes of slippers of finely dressed ladies on the arms of dashing and debonair gentlemen. Overhanging galleries look on over the balustrades to allow for the elite of society to snicker at their supposed inferiors or political rivals dancing below. The intricacy of the carvings and the molding that remained on the crumbling ceilings (well above the protective dweomer of the bottom story of the manorhouse) let the wind inside in convoluted sighs that suggested to the party the whispers of conspiring lovers and plotting lordlings engaged in intrigue. House Dorecan's crown jewel opened before them in the ballroom beyond, cluttered from disuse and home to the defilement of ogres at their own parody of a banquet feast.
Slipping in the doors, the party watched as several goblin guards and kobold servants attended to the four ogres sitting behind the only banquet table not yet broken or scarred from misuse or violent behavior. As the party took stock of their surroundings and noted the elegant glass walls on the western side of the ballroom, the remaining balcony in the southeastern corner borne aloft by winged female statues holding ascending stairs and disappearing into the decrepit ruins of the second floor, one of the ogres and several of the kobolds took notice of the party, standing for a moment in awe at the splendor and faded majesty of the ballroom.
Both groups noticed each other noticing the other, and both acted together. The ogres bellowed out to sound an alarm and tossed over the last table, pinning several kobolds and scattering their food over the floor. Valar and Skalar began to pepper the ogres with arrows, and Marcus let loose with another magic missile spell. Arien cast barkskin on Yovaire, who advanced with his double sword flashing in a lazy butterfly pattern that quickly dispatched several of the goblins who rushed him.
Laeka attempted to get to one of the ogres, but unfortunately a small troop of goblins delayed her. They quickly fell prey to her spiked chain, their deaths adding to the glory of Povra, God of War. One of the ogres bypassed the threat that Tanin posed, and managed to impale Valar with a javelin the size of a small tree trunk that he threw.
Tanin's dog advanced and began to harry some of the goblins at the same time that all of the kobolds, now out from under the watchful eyes of the ogres, turned tail and scurried up the grand staircase to the southeast and disappeared out of sight in the ruined second story. Tanin himself did credit to his profession by taking out several goblins, and Yovaire managed to close with one of the ogres, nearly decimating him in a single round's attack.
By this time Laeka managed to finish off the goblins on her, Marcus was busily manipulating his last flaming sphere, and Arien was doing her part to cast cure spells on the greatly-diminished Valar. Once Yovaire was able to polish off the first of the ogres, and Skalar managed to fell a second with his arrows, Laeka and Tanin each managed to deal with the other two.
Unfortunately for the party, several of the goblins used the deaths of their ogre commanders to take the opportunity to run out the eastern doors from the ballroom, scattering into the Manor.
Spelled out, wounded, and barely victorious, the party prepared to retreat back to their haven when alarm gongs sounded along with the sound of marching feet quickly approaching the ballroom from , north, south, and east entrances. For a moment, a pallor of fear fell upon them all, since the marching of feet was accompanied by the shouts of several ogres in giantish, which Skalar understood (as his favored enemies were Giants, he could comprehend their language, the better to hunt them and anticipate their moves). The ranger gave a quick accounting of the numbers of troops he felt were coming, and the fact that the ogres were calling for the mobilization of the outside patrols.
The party gave a sigh and prepared for what could well have been their last stand. One of the doors to the east burst open and ten goblins rushed in. The party began to marshall their strength to face this, the first of the onslaught's waves, when from above came the sound of running feet.
Arien turned just in time to see one of the kobolds in a small black tunic take a flying leap off of the second floor balustrade, landing quite adeptly and firing off a spell into the midst of the goblins, summoning forth the shadows to wreath them in darkness. Another kobold, an older kobold, came halfway down the stairs and beckoned to the party for them to follow them up the stairs to safety now that the goblins couldn't see them.
Another kobold came down the stairs with a small troop of kobolds following him. With a wave of his hands and a few arcane words, the small troop of kobolds looked rather like the party did, just with a few details off and slightly smaller in stature. As the party advanced up the stairs, the party of kobolds let loose with light crossbows into the darkness and struck several of the goblin troops as they were emerging from the cloud of inky darkness that had enveloped them. Once the illusion-clad kobolds had been spotted, they turned tail and ran off into the western hallway, out the doors that the party had come into.
With a few lucky rolls on the part of the party, and several bad spot checks on the part of the goblins, the ruse was pulled off, and the party found themselves being shuffled off into one of the ruined rooms at the top of the stairs, a place rotting and open to the elements, but safe for the moment. Other kobolds took up positions at the top of the stairs and just out of sight to provide guards, and three more kobolds in small black tunics came forth with a rather wizened-looking kobold between them.
The wizened kobold held up his clawed hand in greeting and said, "I am Tuck, the leader of the kobolds, and the rightful king of Dorecan Manor. I have been told by the hailstone clanleader, Pook, that you are honorable and keep your word well. If you will swear to me that you will aid us, I will reveal a place of power to you."
Marcus didn't even wait for Tuck to finish, nodding eagerly and asking, "What power? Can we have it? Any spells?"
Arien shook her head and clucked her teeth, then said, "If you will abide by our agreement with Pook, we will gladly accept any help you may give us in undermining the powers that control Dorecan Manor."
Tuck nodded. "Step this way, and I will show you the mirror of Dorecan Manor. If you can unlock its secrets, you shall earn our allegiance and assistance."
Inside the double doors, the party got a glimpse of the majesty and splendor which once was displayed by House Dorecan, now forgotten and long gone, whose only remaining testimony to their existence at all was the ruined palatial manor house which now housed evil and monstrous races amid the desolation of the magical wasteland caused by the advancing miasma of the Blasted Lands. Faceless statuary lined the walls, the suggestions of human features smoothed over by the hands and tools of master craftsmen ages dead. Winged figures and caryatid columns lined the sides of the exquisite ballroom, a resplendant and decadent ballroom of luxury, filled with the echoes of slippers of finely dressed ladies on the arms of dashing and debonair gentlemen. Overhanging galleries look on over the balustrades to allow for the elite of society to snicker at their supposed inferiors or political rivals dancing below. The intricacy of the carvings and the molding that remained on the crumbling ceilings (well above the protective dweomer of the bottom story of the manorhouse) let the wind inside in convoluted sighs that suggested to the party the whispers of conspiring lovers and plotting lordlings engaged in intrigue. House Dorecan's crown jewel opened before them in the ballroom beyond, cluttered from disuse and home to the defilement of ogres at their own parody of a banquet feast.
Slipping in the doors, the party watched as several goblin guards and kobold servants attended to the four ogres sitting behind the only banquet table not yet broken or scarred from misuse or violent behavior. As the party took stock of their surroundings and noted the elegant glass walls on the western side of the ballroom, the remaining balcony in the southeastern corner borne aloft by winged female statues holding ascending stairs and disappearing into the decrepit ruins of the second floor, one of the ogres and several of the kobolds took notice of the party, standing for a moment in awe at the splendor and faded majesty of the ballroom.
Both groups noticed each other noticing the other, and both acted together. The ogres bellowed out to sound an alarm and tossed over the last table, pinning several kobolds and scattering their food over the floor. Valar and Skalar began to pepper the ogres with arrows, and Marcus let loose with another magic missile spell. Arien cast barkskin on Yovaire, who advanced with his double sword flashing in a lazy butterfly pattern that quickly dispatched several of the goblins who rushed him.
Laeka attempted to get to one of the ogres, but unfortunately a small troop of goblins delayed her. They quickly fell prey to her spiked chain, their deaths adding to the glory of Povra, God of War. One of the ogres bypassed the threat that Tanin posed, and managed to impale Valar with a javelin the size of a small tree trunk that he threw.
Tanin's dog advanced and began to harry some of the goblins at the same time that all of the kobolds, now out from under the watchful eyes of the ogres, turned tail and scurried up the grand staircase to the southeast and disappeared out of sight in the ruined second story. Tanin himself did credit to his profession by taking out several goblins, and Yovaire managed to close with one of the ogres, nearly decimating him in a single round's attack.
By this time Laeka managed to finish off the goblins on her, Marcus was busily manipulating his last flaming sphere, and Arien was doing her part to cast cure spells on the greatly-diminished Valar. Once Yovaire was able to polish off the first of the ogres, and Skalar managed to fell a second with his arrows, Laeka and Tanin each managed to deal with the other two.
Unfortunately for the party, several of the goblins used the deaths of their ogre commanders to take the opportunity to run out the eastern doors from the ballroom, scattering into the Manor.
Spelled out, wounded, and barely victorious, the party prepared to retreat back to their haven when alarm gongs sounded along with the sound of marching feet quickly approaching the ballroom from , north, south, and east entrances. For a moment, a pallor of fear fell upon them all, since the marching of feet was accompanied by the shouts of several ogres in giantish, which Skalar understood (as his favored enemies were Giants, he could comprehend their language, the better to hunt them and anticipate their moves). The ranger gave a quick accounting of the numbers of troops he felt were coming, and the fact that the ogres were calling for the mobilization of the outside patrols.
The party gave a sigh and prepared for what could well have been their last stand. One of the doors to the east burst open and ten goblins rushed in. The party began to marshall their strength to face this, the first of the onslaught's waves, when from above came the sound of running feet.
Arien turned just in time to see one of the kobolds in a small black tunic take a flying leap off of the second floor balustrade, landing quite adeptly and firing off a spell into the midst of the goblins, summoning forth the shadows to wreath them in darkness. Another kobold, an older kobold, came halfway down the stairs and beckoned to the party for them to follow them up the stairs to safety now that the goblins couldn't see them.
Another kobold came down the stairs with a small troop of kobolds following him. With a wave of his hands and a few arcane words, the small troop of kobolds looked rather like the party did, just with a few details off and slightly smaller in stature. As the party advanced up the stairs, the party of kobolds let loose with light crossbows into the darkness and struck several of the goblin troops as they were emerging from the cloud of inky darkness that had enveloped them. Once the illusion-clad kobolds had been spotted, they turned tail and ran off into the western hallway, out the doors that the party had come into.
With a few lucky rolls on the part of the party, and several bad spot checks on the part of the goblins, the ruse was pulled off, and the party found themselves being shuffled off into one of the ruined rooms at the top of the stairs, a place rotting and open to the elements, but safe for the moment. Other kobolds took up positions at the top of the stairs and just out of sight to provide guards, and three more kobolds in small black tunics came forth with a rather wizened-looking kobold between them.
The wizened kobold held up his clawed hand in greeting and said, "I am Tuck, the leader of the kobolds, and the rightful king of Dorecan Manor. I have been told by the hailstone clanleader, Pook, that you are honorable and keep your word well. If you will swear to me that you will aid us, I will reveal a place of power to you."
Marcus didn't even wait for Tuck to finish, nodding eagerly and asking, "What power? Can we have it? Any spells?"
Arien shook her head and clucked her teeth, then said, "If you will abide by our agreement with Pook, we will gladly accept any help you may give us in undermining the powers that control Dorecan Manor."
Tuck nodded. "Step this way, and I will show you the mirror of Dorecan Manor. If you can unlock its secrets, you shall earn our allegiance and assistance."
The Mirror of Dorecan Manor
With the sounds of pursuit quickly fading below, the party breathed a sigh of relief.
"Arien," Skalar said, "I hate to remind you, but we'll need to get back to the haven soon. We can't rest here in the manorhouse, it lies within the Blasted Lands."
"He has a point," Laeka said, turning to Tuck. "We can't stay here."
Tuck smiled and the other black-clad kobolds nodded to themselves. "That is why we trust you to leave Dorecan Manor to our keeping. It is death for your kind to remain here, no matter how rich the place may seem. But it is too dangerous for you now. They will loose the worgs and riders now, and they can track you by scent. Even if you managed to evade the search parties and patrols, you wouldn't be able to avoid an ambush in the night, at the place you call a haven. Tammishka lost several of her Trolls and Ogres to the minotaur who lived there before, but she knows that you are no longer in his company."
"Great," Valar said. "So now what are we supposed to do? Make a dash for the border of the Blasted Lands? Lead them out and back to Tol Vehara? Would they follow?"
"If you can solve the riddle of the Mirror of Dorecan Manor, you will find a place of safety. Come, it is time to test your wits against your ancestors of old." Tuck nodded and the four kobolds walked off a ways through the ruined second story, until they came to a room that had all four walls intact, but no roof. There, on one side of the room, was a full-length mirror of such shine and brilliance that it still shone true. Marcus used a detect magic spell and determined that the mirror was indeed magical, but Valar quickly discovered that the mirror was actually constructed right into the wall somehow.
The black-tunicked kobolds whispered for a bit with Tuck, then bowed to the party and headed back the way they came. The old kobold settled down in a squat, out of the way in a corner, watching the party knowingly.
"Maybe if we break it..." Tanin suggested. His suggestion met with snorts of contempt, and the party continued to stare at the mirror. Finally, hours after they had come into the room, Valar sat down on the floor across from it, as Marcus and Arien continued to poke and prod. It was from this vantage point that he noticed a glint of gold coming from the mirror itself, and stood up to regard it.
Sure enough, in the fading light of afternoon, he could see the glint of something gold shining in the mirror's reflection. When he looked further, it showed a small hook on the wall he had been leaning on, from which hung suspended a small gold key. When he turned about to investigate the wall, however, the key was nowhere to be found, nor the hook. However, while the wizard and the druid continued to try and puzzle out the mirror from a magical point of view, Valar stared at the reflection of the key and backed up, feeling the wall behind him while he watched his reflection in the mirror.
His efforts were not in vain. Although there was nothing on the wall to be seen, when he used the reflection to guide his hand, he discovered the hook and key quite easily, and was amazed when he drew the key off of the hook only to see it appear in his hand. The mirror swirled then and the reflection faded, revealing a door of stone with a heraldic crest of three chevrons superior, crowned with a winged and faceless woman whose hands reached down over the crest and clasped together in just such a way as to present a keyhole.
Marcus and Arien stepped back in amazement and watched as Valar inserted the key into the hole and turned it with a snap. The stone door faded to nothingness, revealing a secret chamber beyond it. Tuck stood up and stretched his back, nodding. "I knew you would puzzle it out. Please, step beyond, before someone sees us. Only you and I know the secret of the mirror. My clanlords suspect, but they do not know for certain."
The party stepped into the room beyond, and found themselves in some kind of extradimensional space, a place outside of their own plane yet attached to it, and therefore quite free of the Taint of the Blasted Lands. All of the party breathed a sigh of relief... and then they noticed what had lain guarded by the magical mirror of Dorecan Manor.
With the sounds of pursuit quickly fading below, the party breathed a sigh of relief.
"Arien," Skalar said, "I hate to remind you, but we'll need to get back to the haven soon. We can't rest here in the manorhouse, it lies within the Blasted Lands."
"He has a point," Laeka said, turning to Tuck. "We can't stay here."
Tuck smiled and the other black-clad kobolds nodded to themselves. "That is why we trust you to leave Dorecan Manor to our keeping. It is death for your kind to remain here, no matter how rich the place may seem. But it is too dangerous for you now. They will loose the worgs and riders now, and they can track you by scent. Even if you managed to evade the search parties and patrols, you wouldn't be able to avoid an ambush in the night, at the place you call a haven. Tammishka lost several of her Trolls and Ogres to the minotaur who lived there before, but she knows that you are no longer in his company."
"Great," Valar said. "So now what are we supposed to do? Make a dash for the border of the Blasted Lands? Lead them out and back to Tol Vehara? Would they follow?"
"If you can solve the riddle of the Mirror of Dorecan Manor, you will find a place of safety. Come, it is time to test your wits against your ancestors of old." Tuck nodded and the four kobolds walked off a ways through the ruined second story, until they came to a room that had all four walls intact, but no roof. There, on one side of the room, was a full-length mirror of such shine and brilliance that it still shone true. Marcus used a detect magic spell and determined that the mirror was indeed magical, but Valar quickly discovered that the mirror was actually constructed right into the wall somehow.
The black-tunicked kobolds whispered for a bit with Tuck, then bowed to the party and headed back the way they came. The old kobold settled down in a squat, out of the way in a corner, watching the party knowingly.
"Maybe if we break it..." Tanin suggested. His suggestion met with snorts of contempt, and the party continued to stare at the mirror. Finally, hours after they had come into the room, Valar sat down on the floor across from it, as Marcus and Arien continued to poke and prod. It was from this vantage point that he noticed a glint of gold coming from the mirror itself, and stood up to regard it.
Sure enough, in the fading light of afternoon, he could see the glint of something gold shining in the mirror's reflection. When he looked further, it showed a small hook on the wall he had been leaning on, from which hung suspended a small gold key. When he turned about to investigate the wall, however, the key was nowhere to be found, nor the hook. However, while the wizard and the druid continued to try and puzzle out the mirror from a magical point of view, Valar stared at the reflection of the key and backed up, feeling the wall behind him while he watched his reflection in the mirror.
His efforts were not in vain. Although there was nothing on the wall to be seen, when he used the reflection to guide his hand, he discovered the hook and key quite easily, and was amazed when he drew the key off of the hook only to see it appear in his hand. The mirror swirled then and the reflection faded, revealing a door of stone with a heraldic crest of three chevrons superior, crowned with a winged and faceless woman whose hands reached down over the crest and clasped together in just such a way as to present a keyhole.
Marcus and Arien stepped back in amazement and watched as Valar inserted the key into the hole and turned it with a snap. The stone door faded to nothingness, revealing a secret chamber beyond it. Tuck stood up and stretched his back, nodding. "I knew you would puzzle it out. Please, step beyond, before someone sees us. Only you and I know the secret of the mirror. My clanlords suspect, but they do not know for certain."
The party stepped into the room beyond, and found themselves in some kind of extradimensional space, a place outside of their own plane yet attached to it, and therefore quite free of the Taint of the Blasted Lands. All of the party breathed a sigh of relief... and then they noticed what had lain guarded by the magical mirror of Dorecan Manor.
Beyond the Mirror
Once the group had stepped into the secret chambers hidden behind the magical mirror-door, the old kobold Tuck stepped through as well, and showed the group how to close off the mirror from the other side, revealing a hazy view of the room they had just left. They were in a small rectangular space with an archway leading into a room beyond, but there were several chests, sacks, and crude pottery vessels full of coins. Tuck gestured to the coins expansively.
"This is our treasure. When Tammishka came to us, we moved all of the treasure we had to here, knowing that we could not afford to let our wealth fall into her hands. We ask that you do not take the coins. It represents our hope for the future, in being able to buy goods and services to make Dorecan Manor our home."
"Kind of hard to do that when there's ogres and trolls running amok in the place," Skalar pointed out.
Tuck nodded. "Of course, what you say is true. But I have been king kobold here for seven years, twice as long as my predecessor, and I am charged with guarding the treasure against our future hope. It is enough for us to continue to allow it to grow. Someday, we will be able to spend it for ourselves when our race is delivered out of slavery to those more powerful than we are, but until then it is my goal to keep it safe and out of anyone else's hands."
"You're taking a risk with us by showing it to us, aren't you?" asked Valar. "I mean, what's to stop us from taking the treasure and killing you?"
"Your ethics," Tuck replied. "You've already demonstrated that you believe as I do, in the cause of goodness."
"How can you be good?" Tanin asked, disgustedly. "You're just a kobold. Aren't all kobolds evil?"
Tuck sighed. "Normally, yes. But the divine right of our kings was handed down by Miko the First Kobold King. It was he who unlocked the secrets of Dorecan Manor, and it changed him. He grew strong, and wise, and taught us how to advance beyond our humble beginnings, unlocking the powers within us, or training ourselves to fight and scheme. He also brought us the Cups."
"Cups?"
Tuck nodded, and pointed to the archway. "Beyond there lie the three Cups of Dorecan Manor."
The party moved beyond the smaller antechamber and came into a decent sized room with a large stone table in the center, of seamless construction with the floor. Marcus examined it and, using his knowledge of Spellcraft, he determined that it was most likely constructed with a stone shape spell. On the table itself were seven white candles, thin pillar candles that Valar thought should last about an hour each. In the center of the ring of candles was an ornate box about one cubit in length, made of ivory and gold, a small book written in an unknown language, and a sword with the faint shimmer of arcane energy whose crosspiece resembled the now-familiar faceless winged humanoid woman common throughout the manorhouse. Behind the table on the wall was a masterwork carving in stone, again seamless, of the same coat of arms that had granted access to the secret chamber. On this coat of arms, however, the winged woman superior held her arms out to the sides, palms and face upwards as though in supplication to the gods. An inscription was deciphered by Valar to read "A House in Order, a Land in Law." Seven pillars bearing seven torches illuminated by continual flame spells ringed the room.
The centerpiece of the table, however, was a set of three ornate and stylized cups, resting upon separate bases. Each cup was apparently made from a different material: one of material that resembled diamond, one of material that resembled ruby, and one of material that resembled onyx. The bottom part of each cup dwindled to a point, meaning that the cup could not be set down unless it was returned to its base or something of similar functional shape. The bases were even more ornate. The base to the diamond-like cup resembled a slender woman's hand with feather patterns beginning at her wrist, curling up from the table to wrap around the diamond-like cup. The ruby-like cup was held by a gloved hand, and the onyx-like cup was held by a black, reptillian claw. All three hands bore the resemblance of a ring upon their forefinger, and the ring was carved with a device that resembled a stylized set of balanced scales.
"What do they do?" breathed Arien, taken aback by the beauty of the cups. Tuck smiled at her.
"They are sought by Tammishka Li, for they are items of great power. I am not permitted to tell you what they do, for I have been sworn to preserve the secrets of this chamber by my predecessors, all the way back to Miko himself, thirty-five years ago." Tuck nods sagely at this, impressed by the continuity of a kobold holding for so long. "I would not have revealed them to you, except that I know now that until the cups are removed from here, Tammishka Li will not leave us. I would have you take them away. Perhaps you will be able to puzzle out their power, the way that you puzzled out the Mirror."
At that time, a shimmering note sounded faintly from the other room, and Tuck blinked in surprise. "Someone is in the chamber with the Mirror." He bobbed out of the room, followed by Skalar. They peered through the glass of the mirror and saw the smoky reflection of one of the other kobolds in black tunics, poking about the place. "I must go. Upoh wouldn't be here if there weren't problems."
"But if you step out of the mirror now, won't he know the trick of it?" Skalar asked.
"He would, but there are powers here that will allow me to leave and be someplace else." Tuck moved his hands slightly while Skalar was looking at Upoh, and the mirror's view changed to a different room entirely.
"Hey, how'd you do that?"
"Not all of my secrets are to be yours. You are helping me, not replacing me. Remember that. Go back and rejoin the others in the inner chamber, ranger. I will set the door back to the mirror room for you and return in the morning. Rest now, for you will need all of your strength if you are to make it past the patrols in the morning."
With that, Tuck stepped into the glass itself and into the scene. The smoky glass remained for a moment more, and then faded back to show Utoh still poking about in the mirror's outer chamber. Skalar watched until several minutes later Tuck appeared again, and the two kobolds headed off, out of view.
Back in the inner room, a debate was ensuing as to the magic of the cups. Laeka had investigated the small ornate box with Valar's help, and once opened it revealed what Marcus believed was some kind of magical rod, bejewelled and gilded. Since Laeka had picked it up and the men in the room noticed that she looked much more attractive and compelling with it in her hands then she had when it was out of her hands, Marcus hesitated a guess that it was a Rod of Splendor, drawing on his knowledge of things Arcana. He wasn't certain, though, so the party decided not to field test it until they were safely back in the haven, or perhaps back in Tol Vehara itself where it could be identified.
The candles also radiated magic, and the sword was revealed to be at the very least a +1 sword. Since Laeka preferred the spiked chain and Yovaire fought with Double Sword, the sword was given to Tanin for safekeeping, something that the party would soon rue.
Beneath the box that had contained the rod the party found a neatly folded green cloth that looked as though it could be used as a tablecloth for a banquet table. It too radiated magic, as did two small boxes stacked on the floor next to the archway entrance. Four words were carved into the plain wooden boxes, words that the rogue was able to decipher. When asked what they were, he said, "Small, --" and abruptly stopped as the box he had been holding unfolded magically and became a small sailboat that now completely filled the one side of the room, pinning Valar beneath it. After Yovaire and Laeka helped lift the boat up some, Valar croaked out "Box!" and the boat shimmered and folded back up into a box.
Making sure he wasn't near the boxes, Marcus grinned and asked, "Let me guess... the other two words on it were 'Medium' and 'Large'?" Valar gulped and nodded. "Two folding boats. Convenient, if no immediate help to us. For all of the magic we found here it doesn't look like we've got anything that can help us out of the Manorhouse, or to get rid of this Tammishka person."
"Of course not," Yovaire pointed out. "If there was something like that here, the kobolds would already be using it."
"If they knew what it did," Laeka pointed out.
"Speaking of which," Arien said, all too innocently, her canteen in hand, "I wonder what this cup does." Before anyone could stop her, she picked up the rubyesque cup and sloshed a bit of water into it, then sipped from it.
And nothing happened. On the outside. Arien herself, however, suddenly felt as though she had been awakened to new possibilities. She reviewed her past life, honoring good above all else (NG), and suddenly saw her error. It was not in the pursuit of good beyond all else that the druidess should have been devoting her efforts. It was in the pursuit of order beyond all else that truly merited her time (LN). [Luckily for Arien the druid she picked up the cup that turned her alignment Lawful Neutral, not one of the others. She narrowly missed losing her class abilities because of her rash decision. Others in the group were not so lucky.].
When she explained her new worldview to her brother, Marcus declared unilaterally that no one was to drink from any of the cups until they were all completely identified and their full effects known. The party agreed to this, and set about to make camp and rest in the room, allowing themselves to return to full.
In the middle of the night, with Valar and Tanin on watch, however, disaster struck. Tanin, unable to contain his curiosity in the face of his boredom, waited until Valar was poking around the kobolds' chests, lightening the wealth in the hoard slightly himself, then Tanin, able to move quietly enough to avoid alerting the sleeping party, took up the onyx-looking cup, filled it with water, and drank from it.
Valar failed his spot check, so engrossed in the temptation of plunder and loot as he was, and Tanin managed to cold-clock him hard enough that Valar slipped into unconsciousness (and down hit points as he was, the CG rogue couldn't withstand the +2d6 of Lawful damage that the Lawful Sword +1 provided on top of the subdual damage Tanin dealt him. I did give Valar a chance to spot Tanin advancing on him with weapon in hand, but Valar failed the crucial roll, since that's what Valar does.)
The next morning, the party awoke, fully rested and refreshed... except Valar, who was still semi-comatose with a nasty burn mark on the back of his head from contact with the sword. The black cup and its base were missing from the table, and Tanin and his dog were nowhere to be seen. The party had been betrayed.
Once the group had stepped into the secret chambers hidden behind the magical mirror-door, the old kobold Tuck stepped through as well, and showed the group how to close off the mirror from the other side, revealing a hazy view of the room they had just left. They were in a small rectangular space with an archway leading into a room beyond, but there were several chests, sacks, and crude pottery vessels full of coins. Tuck gestured to the coins expansively.
"This is our treasure. When Tammishka came to us, we moved all of the treasure we had to here, knowing that we could not afford to let our wealth fall into her hands. We ask that you do not take the coins. It represents our hope for the future, in being able to buy goods and services to make Dorecan Manor our home."
"Kind of hard to do that when there's ogres and trolls running amok in the place," Skalar pointed out.
Tuck nodded. "Of course, what you say is true. But I have been king kobold here for seven years, twice as long as my predecessor, and I am charged with guarding the treasure against our future hope. It is enough for us to continue to allow it to grow. Someday, we will be able to spend it for ourselves when our race is delivered out of slavery to those more powerful than we are, but until then it is my goal to keep it safe and out of anyone else's hands."
"You're taking a risk with us by showing it to us, aren't you?" asked Valar. "I mean, what's to stop us from taking the treasure and killing you?"
"Your ethics," Tuck replied. "You've already demonstrated that you believe as I do, in the cause of goodness."
"How can you be good?" Tanin asked, disgustedly. "You're just a kobold. Aren't all kobolds evil?"
Tuck sighed. "Normally, yes. But the divine right of our kings was handed down by Miko the First Kobold King. It was he who unlocked the secrets of Dorecan Manor, and it changed him. He grew strong, and wise, and taught us how to advance beyond our humble beginnings, unlocking the powers within us, or training ourselves to fight and scheme. He also brought us the Cups."
"Cups?"
Tuck nodded, and pointed to the archway. "Beyond there lie the three Cups of Dorecan Manor."
The party moved beyond the smaller antechamber and came into a decent sized room with a large stone table in the center, of seamless construction with the floor. Marcus examined it and, using his knowledge of Spellcraft, he determined that it was most likely constructed with a stone shape spell. On the table itself were seven white candles, thin pillar candles that Valar thought should last about an hour each. In the center of the ring of candles was an ornate box about one cubit in length, made of ivory and gold, a small book written in an unknown language, and a sword with the faint shimmer of arcane energy whose crosspiece resembled the now-familiar faceless winged humanoid woman common throughout the manorhouse. Behind the table on the wall was a masterwork carving in stone, again seamless, of the same coat of arms that had granted access to the secret chamber. On this coat of arms, however, the winged woman superior held her arms out to the sides, palms and face upwards as though in supplication to the gods. An inscription was deciphered by Valar to read "A House in Order, a Land in Law." Seven pillars bearing seven torches illuminated by continual flame spells ringed the room.
The centerpiece of the table, however, was a set of three ornate and stylized cups, resting upon separate bases. Each cup was apparently made from a different material: one of material that resembled diamond, one of material that resembled ruby, and one of material that resembled onyx. The bottom part of each cup dwindled to a point, meaning that the cup could not be set down unless it was returned to its base or something of similar functional shape. The bases were even more ornate. The base to the diamond-like cup resembled a slender woman's hand with feather patterns beginning at her wrist, curling up from the table to wrap around the diamond-like cup. The ruby-like cup was held by a gloved hand, and the onyx-like cup was held by a black, reptillian claw. All three hands bore the resemblance of a ring upon their forefinger, and the ring was carved with a device that resembled a stylized set of balanced scales.
"What do they do?" breathed Arien, taken aback by the beauty of the cups. Tuck smiled at her.
"They are sought by Tammishka Li, for they are items of great power. I am not permitted to tell you what they do, for I have been sworn to preserve the secrets of this chamber by my predecessors, all the way back to Miko himself, thirty-five years ago." Tuck nods sagely at this, impressed by the continuity of a kobold holding for so long. "I would not have revealed them to you, except that I know now that until the cups are removed from here, Tammishka Li will not leave us. I would have you take them away. Perhaps you will be able to puzzle out their power, the way that you puzzled out the Mirror."
At that time, a shimmering note sounded faintly from the other room, and Tuck blinked in surprise. "Someone is in the chamber with the Mirror." He bobbed out of the room, followed by Skalar. They peered through the glass of the mirror and saw the smoky reflection of one of the other kobolds in black tunics, poking about the place. "I must go. Upoh wouldn't be here if there weren't problems."
"But if you step out of the mirror now, won't he know the trick of it?" Skalar asked.
"He would, but there are powers here that will allow me to leave and be someplace else." Tuck moved his hands slightly while Skalar was looking at Upoh, and the mirror's view changed to a different room entirely.
"Hey, how'd you do that?"
"Not all of my secrets are to be yours. You are helping me, not replacing me. Remember that. Go back and rejoin the others in the inner chamber, ranger. I will set the door back to the mirror room for you and return in the morning. Rest now, for you will need all of your strength if you are to make it past the patrols in the morning."
With that, Tuck stepped into the glass itself and into the scene. The smoky glass remained for a moment more, and then faded back to show Utoh still poking about in the mirror's outer chamber. Skalar watched until several minutes later Tuck appeared again, and the two kobolds headed off, out of view.
Back in the inner room, a debate was ensuing as to the magic of the cups. Laeka had investigated the small ornate box with Valar's help, and once opened it revealed what Marcus believed was some kind of magical rod, bejewelled and gilded. Since Laeka had picked it up and the men in the room noticed that she looked much more attractive and compelling with it in her hands then she had when it was out of her hands, Marcus hesitated a guess that it was a Rod of Splendor, drawing on his knowledge of things Arcana. He wasn't certain, though, so the party decided not to field test it until they were safely back in the haven, or perhaps back in Tol Vehara itself where it could be identified.
The candles also radiated magic, and the sword was revealed to be at the very least a +1 sword. Since Laeka preferred the spiked chain and Yovaire fought with Double Sword, the sword was given to Tanin for safekeeping, something that the party would soon rue.
Beneath the box that had contained the rod the party found a neatly folded green cloth that looked as though it could be used as a tablecloth for a banquet table. It too radiated magic, as did two small boxes stacked on the floor next to the archway entrance. Four words were carved into the plain wooden boxes, words that the rogue was able to decipher. When asked what they were, he said, "Small, --" and abruptly stopped as the box he had been holding unfolded magically and became a small sailboat that now completely filled the one side of the room, pinning Valar beneath it. After Yovaire and Laeka helped lift the boat up some, Valar croaked out "Box!" and the boat shimmered and folded back up into a box.
Making sure he wasn't near the boxes, Marcus grinned and asked, "Let me guess... the other two words on it were 'Medium' and 'Large'?" Valar gulped and nodded. "Two folding boats. Convenient, if no immediate help to us. For all of the magic we found here it doesn't look like we've got anything that can help us out of the Manorhouse, or to get rid of this Tammishka person."
"Of course not," Yovaire pointed out. "If there was something like that here, the kobolds would already be using it."
"If they knew what it did," Laeka pointed out.
"Speaking of which," Arien said, all too innocently, her canteen in hand, "I wonder what this cup does." Before anyone could stop her, she picked up the rubyesque cup and sloshed a bit of water into it, then sipped from it.
And nothing happened. On the outside. Arien herself, however, suddenly felt as though she had been awakened to new possibilities. She reviewed her past life, honoring good above all else (NG), and suddenly saw her error. It was not in the pursuit of good beyond all else that the druidess should have been devoting her efforts. It was in the pursuit of order beyond all else that truly merited her time (LN). [Luckily for Arien the druid she picked up the cup that turned her alignment Lawful Neutral, not one of the others. She narrowly missed losing her class abilities because of her rash decision. Others in the group were not so lucky.].
When she explained her new worldview to her brother, Marcus declared unilaterally that no one was to drink from any of the cups until they were all completely identified and their full effects known. The party agreed to this, and set about to make camp and rest in the room, allowing themselves to return to full.
In the middle of the night, with Valar and Tanin on watch, however, disaster struck. Tanin, unable to contain his curiosity in the face of his boredom, waited until Valar was poking around the kobolds' chests, lightening the wealth in the hoard slightly himself, then Tanin, able to move quietly enough to avoid alerting the sleeping party, took up the onyx-looking cup, filled it with water, and drank from it.
Valar failed his spot check, so engrossed in the temptation of plunder and loot as he was, and Tanin managed to cold-clock him hard enough that Valar slipped into unconsciousness (and down hit points as he was, the CG rogue couldn't withstand the +2d6 of Lawful damage that the Lawful Sword +1 provided on top of the subdual damage Tanin dealt him. I did give Valar a chance to spot Tanin advancing on him with weapon in hand, but Valar failed the crucial roll, since that's what Valar does.)
The next morning, the party awoke, fully rested and refreshed... except Valar, who was still semi-comatose with a nasty burn mark on the back of his head from contact with the sword. The black cup and its base were missing from the table, and Tanin and his dog were nowhere to be seen. The party had been betrayed.
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[META] Tanin's departure
The scene around the gaming table was priceless. Tanin's player handed me the 'stab-your-buddy sheet' of paper with his intentions on it. I asked, "Are you sure?", he said yes, so I turned to Valar and asked him to make a spot check, resolved the subdual attack with lawful damage on the poor chaotic rogue, and then asked if I could see Tanin's sheet, same as I had with Arien's player.
Tanin's player willingly handed it over to me, and stood near my chair waiting for it back like I had done for Arien (after erasing and replacing her Alignment). As the rest of the party watched with a sort of dread fascination on their faces, I calmly said "Thank you for playing Tanin, he's now an NPC. Valar, take 12 points of burn damage [lucky roll] and 9 points of subdual damage. So, what kind of character do you want to play next?"
Normally I don't make such draconian decisions for my players. In fact, if Valar had made his spot check then Tanin's player would have gotten his wish to play evil for at least the scene, and there would normally have been the chance that the party could subdue him or destroy him, and Arien would have easily been willing to make him drink from her cup... however, for those GMs out there who want to know, once you drink from one of the cups, none of the other cups will work for you for a year and a day, and no attempt to shift alignments, willingly or not, would succeed without making a successful DC 35 Will save every day for one lunar month. Clerics and Paladins or other faith-based classes could make an 'extended care' kind of check against their Knowledge, Religion or Perform, Oratory skill, whichever was higher, to help them 'reform their evil ways'. But they couldn't do anything else during that time. However, I would have bent my own rules if they had managed to subdue Tanin, and allowed the Lawful Good cup to work on him.
The reason that I felt it necessary to remove Tanin was the history of anti-party behavior his player was exhibiting, and the fact that the players around the table all pretty much universally told each other that since the red cup had turned Arien Lawful Neutral, and with the inscription on the family crest on the wall they had translated, the black cup most certainly would turn someone Lawful Evil, and the diamond cup would most certainly turn them Lawful Good.
I'm happy to say that Tybok, Tanin's player's replacement character (A gnome illusionist), has been much more fun for the party to play with, even when he gets bored. Downright useful, too, actually.
And I must admit... the rat bastard side of me found it slightly rewarding to be able to recoup my frustrations with Tanin's behavior and anti-party sentiments by turning him into an NPC. An NPC, by the way, with a cup that forcibly turns the drinker's alignment to Lawful Evil. Watch for Tanin's someday return to the party. . .
. . . with reinforcements.
The scene around the gaming table was priceless. Tanin's player handed me the 'stab-your-buddy sheet' of paper with his intentions on it. I asked, "Are you sure?", he said yes, so I turned to Valar and asked him to make a spot check, resolved the subdual attack with lawful damage on the poor chaotic rogue, and then asked if I could see Tanin's sheet, same as I had with Arien's player.
Tanin's player willingly handed it over to me, and stood near my chair waiting for it back like I had done for Arien (after erasing and replacing her Alignment). As the rest of the party watched with a sort of dread fascination on their faces, I calmly said "Thank you for playing Tanin, he's now an NPC. Valar, take 12 points of burn damage [lucky roll] and 9 points of subdual damage. So, what kind of character do you want to play next?"
Normally I don't make such draconian decisions for my players. In fact, if Valar had made his spot check then Tanin's player would have gotten his wish to play evil for at least the scene, and there would normally have been the chance that the party could subdue him or destroy him, and Arien would have easily been willing to make him drink from her cup... however, for those GMs out there who want to know, once you drink from one of the cups, none of the other cups will work for you for a year and a day, and no attempt to shift alignments, willingly or not, would succeed without making a successful DC 35 Will save every day for one lunar month. Clerics and Paladins or other faith-based classes could make an 'extended care' kind of check against their Knowledge, Religion or Perform, Oratory skill, whichever was higher, to help them 'reform their evil ways'. But they couldn't do anything else during that time. However, I would have bent my own rules if they had managed to subdue Tanin, and allowed the Lawful Good cup to work on him.
The reason that I felt it necessary to remove Tanin was the history of anti-party behavior his player was exhibiting, and the fact that the players around the table all pretty much universally told each other that since the red cup had turned Arien Lawful Neutral, and with the inscription on the family crest on the wall they had translated, the black cup most certainly would turn someone Lawful Evil, and the diamond cup would most certainly turn them Lawful Good.
I'm happy to say that Tybok, Tanin's player's replacement character (A gnome illusionist), has been much more fun for the party to play with, even when he gets bored. Downright useful, too, actually.
And I must admit... the rat bastard side of me found it slightly rewarding to be able to recoup my frustrations with Tanin's behavior and anti-party sentiments by turning him into an NPC. An NPC, by the way, with a cup that forcibly turns the drinker's alignment to Lawful Evil. Watch for Tanin's someday return to the party. . .
. . . with reinforcements.
Black Bard
First Post
I'm still workin on post #8, but I wished to congratulate you anyway...
It's a really interesting scenario, the way you depict it...
Congratulations, man!!! You have a reader here!
It's a really interesting scenario, the way you depict it...
Congratulations, man!!! You have a reader here!
