Tolamaker
Adventurer
Session 51: It's Quiet... Too Quiet
Half of the party succumbs to a strange lethargy, with Corban and Aripos able to fight it off. As a test, Corban punches Mishka in the face, and is able to shake her out of it. Aripos gleefully flicks Eluriah the spider, and punches Gwenevere in the face as well. Assuming that everyone else here is under the same effect, the party wanders around the Ragesian camp, facing no opposition from the humans, orcs, and half-orcs. They come across a lieutenant, attempting to drink from an empty whiskey bottle, and discover that his general will be coming soon, and he believes he will be executed for failing to storm the village and retrieve the Orb of Storms. The party experiments with the lieutenant, and determine that the people are not charmed, and more amenable, they simply do not care to act, or hide information.
Going into town, the group sees that a dicta labeled as a fire shrine has been desecrated. Mishka is able to determine that the Ragesians did this, and Eluriah feels a faint tug from the Plane of Fire when she is near it. The other shrines in town are unmolested. The group goes into an inn, and find that there is one of the Lyceum party sent here. He is a human ranger named Eril, and he is unaffected by the lethargy because he broke his ribs in a landslide coming up the mountains. He tells them that Torrent and the rest got no cooperation from the monastery's masters, but that another monk told them that they could find more information in the Storm Valley. He says they left shortly before the Ragesians attacked, and the calm passed over the town. He's confused about the information the group has, as according to him, the party sent accurate information to Simeon, which they did not receive.
Deciding that they need to go up to the monastery for answers, the group begins to ascend, but Mishka hears a voice whisper "Sister?" to her. She whips around, and sees a figure walk into a building. She follows, and surrounded by silks, the voice tells her "No... you have merely met my kin." The voice identifies itself as Balance, and it fears that Mishka and the others will tip over the scales. The voice recedes, and the party resumes their trip up.
Halfway up the winding path, a new voice upon the wind asks the group for a password. Swordfish is not the answer, so two elementals appear, throwing the group about, and attempting to knock them off the mountain. The group is able to defend themselves, and continue up to the doors of the monastery.
Post-Session Thoughts
This was a fun session to play, because the flat, cooperative tone was so unexpected for everyone. I left out some more hijinks, but it was a very fun time. Honestly, there's not much to say, other than I think I got more than a few things wrong, and I'll have to decide whether to incorporate them into the adventure, or own up later. I'm fairly certain I've created a conspiracy about Torrent's messages that didn't exist in the book, but I'll likely handwave that with Caela's interference. I believe the book wants me to level the group up before the Ragesian attack, so I'll likely do that after the monastery.
Changes to the Module
Because of the changed timeline I accidentally made, Eril had no reason to hide from the Ragesians, so he's in the Peak's Shadow Inn. Honestly, I ran this session pretty straightforward. To make up for that, I'll likely be completely winging the next session as they enter the monastery! Will Caela be there? How creepy/charming will Pilus be? Who knows!
Half of the party succumbs to a strange lethargy, with Corban and Aripos able to fight it off. As a test, Corban punches Mishka in the face, and is able to shake her out of it. Aripos gleefully flicks Eluriah the spider, and punches Gwenevere in the face as well. Assuming that everyone else here is under the same effect, the party wanders around the Ragesian camp, facing no opposition from the humans, orcs, and half-orcs. They come across a lieutenant, attempting to drink from an empty whiskey bottle, and discover that his general will be coming soon, and he believes he will be executed for failing to storm the village and retrieve the Orb of Storms. The party experiments with the lieutenant, and determine that the people are not charmed, and more amenable, they simply do not care to act, or hide information.
Going into town, the group sees that a dicta labeled as a fire shrine has been desecrated. Mishka is able to determine that the Ragesians did this, and Eluriah feels a faint tug from the Plane of Fire when she is near it. The other shrines in town are unmolested. The group goes into an inn, and find that there is one of the Lyceum party sent here. He is a human ranger named Eril, and he is unaffected by the lethargy because he broke his ribs in a landslide coming up the mountains. He tells them that Torrent and the rest got no cooperation from the monastery's masters, but that another monk told them that they could find more information in the Storm Valley. He says they left shortly before the Ragesians attacked, and the calm passed over the town. He's confused about the information the group has, as according to him, the party sent accurate information to Simeon, which they did not receive.
Deciding that they need to go up to the monastery for answers, the group begins to ascend, but Mishka hears a voice whisper "Sister?" to her. She whips around, and sees a figure walk into a building. She follows, and surrounded by silks, the voice tells her "No... you have merely met my kin." The voice identifies itself as Balance, and it fears that Mishka and the others will tip over the scales. The voice recedes, and the party resumes their trip up.
Halfway up the winding path, a new voice upon the wind asks the group for a password. Swordfish is not the answer, so two elementals appear, throwing the group about, and attempting to knock them off the mountain. The group is able to defend themselves, and continue up to the doors of the monastery.
Post-Session Thoughts
This was a fun session to play, because the flat, cooperative tone was so unexpected for everyone. I left out some more hijinks, but it was a very fun time. Honestly, there's not much to say, other than I think I got more than a few things wrong, and I'll have to decide whether to incorporate them into the adventure, or own up later. I'm fairly certain I've created a conspiracy about Torrent's messages that didn't exist in the book, but I'll likely handwave that with Caela's interference. I believe the book wants me to level the group up before the Ragesian attack, so I'll likely do that after the monastery.
Changes to the Module
Because of the changed timeline I accidentally made, Eril had no reason to hide from the Ragesians, so he's in the Peak's Shadow Inn. Honestly, I ran this session pretty straightforward. To make up for that, I'll likely be completely winging the next session as they enter the monastery! Will Caela be there? How creepy/charming will Pilus be? Who knows!