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Message: <blockquote data-quote="thekwp" data-source="post: 7075055" data-attributes="member: 56444">Session 14 - 2017-03-08Player SummaryAct Two:  Rivers Flow to the DeepScene Six:  Kazyk's OfferAs the party recovered from dealing with the Rast and readied to proceed up the White River again, the bearded devil teleported before the group again in a blossom of fiery chrysanthemums.  Bowing to the party, he placed his glaive on the ground, and backed up a few steps, then called out to the party in greeting."Hail, champions! It is sad that we meet in such a vile place, and under such cruel conditions.  You flee Gate Pass, under the descending fist of the Ragesian Empire, toward a temporary safety. You and I both know Ragesia won’t let you escape as easy as that, but we don’t have to have this come to blows."He pointed to his neck with a gnarled, green finger, showing off an iron collar.  “Indeed, I am one of their dogs, leashed and collared by one of their inquisitors.  You may call me Kazyk.  I am bound to their letter, but I bear them no respect.  You, though, you have my respect.  You fight well, I’ve seen.  I have no desire to throw more lives than is necessary, particularly not my own, and I share with you the desire to escape this place as soon as possible."I think we can work together, to find a way out of this fiery wood. As nice as it is for me, I do not think you like it so much. Well, do I have your ear? Are you interested in alliance?"The party briefly listened to Kazyk's proposal, which would be to find the fey he described as "wicked and twisted" at the lake downriver, and end their singing, thus freeing the creature trapped by their song in the lake.  Doing so would allow it to leave; after its departure, the fire would burn itself out.  With no fire forest to remain within, the part of his contract compelling him to kill the party before they leave the fire fores would not apply.  The party questioned if he had been approached by Indomitability, and the devil granted that he had.  Bosma declined the offer of an alliance "for now," saying that they did not know enough to commit at this point.  Appearing to accept this, the bearded devil picked up his glaive, and teleported away.The party discussed the offer in more detail, trying to determine if ending the burning of Innenotdar would be more strategically helpful or not, concluding that while Gate Pass still withstood the 4th Army, no serious change in the overall strategic map.  Torrent did point out that it would make pursuit by small forces from Ragesia possible, but conceded that this would be smaller forces that could work their way through the mountain in some manner.  If Gate Pass fell, though, it would offer a new avenue for the invasion of Dassen, rather than just Alydi Gap in north western Dassen.Scene Seven:  The Mouth of the White RiverContinuing upstream for another hour they finally came to mouth of the White River in the forest, where the it feeds from the mountains into the valley of Innenotdar.  Here, a beautiful waterfall cascaded over the sheer side of a tall cliff face.  The water poured off the roof of a small shrine built on an island in a small lake at the base of the waterfall.  The area around the pool, the cliff face, and the pool itself, all held burning vegetation on them, but it remained very thinly spread.  Strong winds formed from the confluence of cold mountain air and fiery draft, creating a constant haze of steam and fog.Through this haze the party managed to spot an elderly unicorn watching them from the island.  The party waded across to the island, some riding the horses, others holding their breaths for the deeper section of the lake.  On the island they called out to the unicorn, and were greeted in return.  The old unicorn introduced himself as Nelle, and his white coat had turned gray by ash.  He seem emaciated with age, his horn chipped and burnt, but his patience and dedication appeared undimmed.The party discussed at length with Nelle the history and current situation of the fire forest.  Nelle explained to the party a bit more of the history behind the legend of Anyariel: that she had been beloved by the forest of Innenotdar, and in particular the rivalry between the dryad Timbre and nymph Gwenvere.  Timbre had bestowed upon her love a weapon made from the living wood of the First Tree.  Anyariel wielded this sword for many years, until finally the great stag came to Innenotdar.    The beast had ragged across Innenotdar disrupting the natural flow of the forest, until Anyariel had confronted it.  No matter how many wounds she dealt it, the beast would not die.  Realizing this, she lured the stag to the lake at the end of the White River, and then forced it into the lake.  There, she pinned it with the sword of the First Tree, and trapped it at the bottom of the lake.  Nelle confessed that he too believed that was the end of the matter, save for the need of the fey to keep singing their song around the creature.Years passed, Nelle told the party.  Anyariel died from her injuries, and Timbre felt great despair at her loss.  The elves of Innenotdar built Shrine of Anyariel in her honor at the village of Serni Bui-Duin, and Timbre gave a lock of Anyariel's hair to be kept there.  Then the goblins and orcs came, setting fire to the forest.  And the burning never stopped.  Since then, Nelle explained, he has stayed mostly here on the island under the waterfall, somewhat protected from the never ending fires.   For a while he was visited by Bhurisrava, who's faith was troubled by the apocalyptic inferno consuming his home.  When the party told them of finding his body in the Shrine of Anyariel, Nelle was extremely saddened to learn that his friend has died violently rather than escaped.  However, he took comfort that Bhurisrava's last call was answered by the ghaele Eteranth as sign of new faith, hoping that this meant his friend has found comfort in the next life.Gath and Dom asked about the Shahalesti elf kept in stasis and kept secure by Eteranth.  Nelle confirmed that Bhurisrava had told him of the elf, a soldier for Shahalesti named Diashan Shediell, who has been caught in the fire.  Bhurisrava had tended to him, despite the suspicious circumstances under which he found the elf soldier.  Nelle believes both the torment he endured from the unending fire and Bhurisrava's continued efforts brought the soldier to repentance, and he had confessed to Bhurisrava that Shahalesti had set the fires intentionally, attempting to frame Ragesia.  Nelle had told the party that Bhurisrava had intended to bring Diashan to the island as well for Nelle to watch over, as he had the other refugees from the Shrine of Anyariel, but had never returned from that last trip.Nelle then took the party to the small shrine directly under the waterfall, where the eighteen elves he guards over lay moaning and cursing in unending suffering.  There also they could see a small sculpture of an eagle and dragon chasing each other in a circle, located near the back of the shrine, formed of clay, feathers, scales, and many other small beautiful items.  Khrombholz asked first why they did not just take the elves out of the forest to which Nelle replied that Bhurisrava did.  Unable to travel the roads, he had climbed the sheer cliff bearing one of the survivors on his back the entire way, but once free and out of sight of the forest, his life had guttered out like a candle snuffed out in the wind.  Khrombholz asked why Nelle didn't just leave then, and Nelle asked him if he, like other Dassen warriors the unicorn had known, carried some of his home's dirt in his shoes, so he would never loose touch with his homeland.  After Khrombolz admitted he did, Nelle asked him did the dwarven stonesmiths and craftsmen still spend their time and attention carefully building and creating works of great skill, which they in turn defended with great zeal and vigor.  So too, Nelle said, did he love this forest, did he care for it as his home, as had his ancestors for generations.Bromsby asked what Nelle had meant by "the First Tree" that the dryad Timbre belonged to.  Nelle said that it was, quiet simply that: the first tree that grew in the world, and which had been cared for ever since.  Upon hearing this, several members of the party who had felt sorrowful for Innenotdar's fate, but felt that they had other higher commitments began to reassess their priorities.  Bromsby also asked what Nelle knew of the stag trapped in the lake.  Nelle explained that he knew the creature called itself Indomitablity, but that it also sometimes called itself a "Child of Trilla," and the occasionally, he heard the world "trillith" rumble through the forest, but did not know what these meant.  Bromsby was able to recognize that name as having a draconic sound and style, but did not know anything else.Dom and Gath volunteered what they experienced under the influence of the dream seeds.  Nelle confirmed that the channels of power they had seen flowing through the forest were powerful ley lines, and that these were the avenues by which the creature had spread its influence through the forest.  Currently, of the three great lines, only the one that ran along the river remain free from the creature, and only by the efforts of himself and Gwenvere.  Twisted by her jealousy and her guilt as she was now, she still protected the forest from the other end of the river's run.  Crystin spoke up mentioned that she and Bromsby had felt the purity of the line here but been able to atune to it.  Nelle offered to assist.  Before settling down to guide them, Nelle bade Gath go and pull three feathers from the eagle, and three scales from the dragon; that these might help them in there efforts.   Gath did so, and felt the magic that lay within them.  Meanwhile, with Nelle's guidance and Crystin's help, Bromsby finally attuned to the ley line here.Nelle pleaded with the party to find some way to help the forest, some way to save it, though he did not know how.  If any did, he thought it would be Timbre.  The party left, heading down stream with the intent to find Timbre, and pass along Nelle's greetings as well as see if she knew a way to save the forest.Scene Eight:  The Trouble with TiljannUnlike moving upriver, the party found little conflict as the traveled down river toward the Seela's Lake.  Bromsby and Ceilthanus speculated that this was because they moved in the direction that Indomitablity wanted them to go.As they approached the bridge crossing the White River by Serni Bui-Duin, wisps of song emerged from the ever-present roar of the forest fire. Sung in a mournful minor key, but with a discordant trace of hope in the voice, the strange melody sounded like something from the swallowing depths of an endless dream.  For a moment the party thought they saw images of tragedy and history at the edges of their vision, but then their attention snapped back to the real world as they realized the song was real, and its singer close.  Through the ever present haze and smoke, Khrombolz spotted a young woman with deep, vivid eyes full of fey mystery and cautious curiosity. Emaciated, she looked as if she had never had a full meal in her life, and light leather armor clung to her waifish body. Dark green hair floated around her shoulders almost gray with the ash in the air, and faintly glistening wings twitched behind her back, withered like a dragonﬂy that got too close to a ﬂame.  She was climbing out of the river bank onto the bridge, and approaching the tower.  Before the party could call out to her, six male fey of the same variety appeared out of thin air surrounding her, and attacked brutally.Uncertain if they were aiding the right side, but unwilling to let a viscous ambush go down unopposed in front of them, Bosma called for the party to move in and help her.  The battle was swift, with Bromsby unleashing his strengthened magic to great effect.  Dom healed her, while Gath moved to keep the young fey from being killed.  Torrent moved to give Ceilthanus some cover, while Bosma backed up Gath while disrupting the fey's attacks on Khrombolz and Bromsby.  Clearly unprepared for combatants with the party's skills and coordination when they had planned to attack a single figure, the attacker's morale broke, and a few attempted to run.  One fled across the bridge to Serni Bui-Duin, only for Khrombolz's carefully placed shot to drop him in his flight.  Another fled down the river bank, only to be run down by Ceilthanus.With the battle over, the young female fey cheered for the group in Sylvan, then switched to a heavily accented Common when the party spoke back to her in a different language.To be continued[HR][/HR]Story Deviation & Extra DetailsIn accordance to include the mythic elements, I changed the definition of the "First Tree" from being the first tree of Innenotdar, to the First Tree of the world.Why would Nelle not have visited the Seela village over the decades?  He can teleport anywhere with the forest, and would know the lake itself would not be aflame.  Conversely, Tiljann came up river to the village.  Why wouldn't the seela travel the full length of the White River to come visit Nelle periodically?  A unicorn's healing powers alone would give reason for the visit, even if not just to see the beauty of the aging guardian.  I decided that they had visited each other, albeit irregularly over the decades, and only recently with the incendiary augmentation to teleportation had the visits stopped.I skipped the "Fiery Rapids" fire elementals on the river encounter.  To me, the encounter felt like just an extra wandering monster encounter and not something that add to the story.  I probably should have included it after they talked with Nelle and began down the river, just to increase the number of encounters and emphasis the risks of the fire forest.  However, I think that getting to Tiljann in this session proved more important, and helped move the story along.Tactical Notes and ConversionsI did not increase the number of fey attack Tiljann.  Nine became too large a number to make sense from a village with only forty.  Leaving it as six made it an easy encounter relatively for the party, with the only challenge being if they party could defeat the seela attackers before they had done critical injury to Tiljann.Mechanics IssuesI'm not handling the multiple NPCs well here as I want to.  I keep thinking of things later that I wanted the NPCs to say or do, and missed out on the chances for them to contribute to the interactions.  I am going to start trying to prepare a few key pieces of dialog for each NPC with the party before each session, to prompt me to have them contribute and interact with the party.  I envy the ability of a few other GMs I know who seem to effortlessly include voices and interactions for their NPCs.  I am writing this review after Session 16, so the impact of my efforts will take a few more sessions to show up in these summaries.The encounter with the seela rebels in "The Trouble with Tiljann" was the first encounter post the reversion to normal AC rules.  The encounter went very smoothly.  It did give Bromsby a moment to shine a bit with casting "burning hands (electric arc version)" with the boosted dice of damage.The party had gotten to the point in this session where they earned the experience points for 4th level.  I did not have them level until the next session during the rest at the seela village.  However, it did cause me to look at the experience points for the party, and it does not look like they will have enough from the last third of the adventure to earn 5th level.  I am debating if I want to leave them as for this adventure, and supplement the travel to Seaquen to bring them up the expected experience level, or add to this adventure's final encounter run. The check to identify Trilla almost succeeded, surprisingly enough; Bromsby came very close failing by only 2, so I gave him the bit of information about the name sounding draconic, and familiar, but not  being able to place it exactly.Notable player reactionsBosma's player was out for this session, which lead to a moment in dealing with Kazyk's offer where the players called him to make sure they had his buy in on what his character would do.  Krombholz enjoyed teasing the party, pointing out that he did seem to offer a possible solution that would work for the party's goals.  The player did this more out of enjoyment with provoking the other players and suggesting actions he know will provoke the more heroic members of the group.  Still, it was interesting to see the players express their reasons to reject the devil's offer.  Some, like Bromsby rejected it out of hand as a Ragesian agent.  Others, because it was from a devil, and some, like Ceilthanus, rejected it most firmly because of the implied slaughter.What was not discussed in the player summary was the great amount of time spent in game with player's reconnecting the dots that other players had already drawn in previous sessions.  Most of the players seem to now being current on the mystery of the fire forest and the factions involved so far.Props, music, images, supporting handouts, etcMusic for this session was:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Kubo and the Two Strings by Dario Marianelli</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Abyss by Alan Silvestri</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Fernando Velazquez</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Captain America: Civil War by Henry Jackman</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Legends of the Fall by James Horner</li> </ul>The image of Nelle, with the burning victims in the background, was used, and the party commented how thin he looked.  I wish I could have come up with something for the shrine, to show the dragon and eagle statue.I used the color image for Tiljann from the 4E release of the, which caused Bosma when he saw after the session it to note that her hair color in the image didn't match her hair color in the description.</blockquote>

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