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Tolamaker's Burning Sky
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<blockquote data-quote="Tolamaker" data-source="post: 8992167" data-attributes="member: 7031495"><p><strong>Sessions 52 & 53 - Broken Calm</strong></p><p></p><p>The party makes it to the gates of the monastery, where they are reluctantly let in by two monks, Bailan and Kai Lei. They are afraid that the town of Eresh is cursed. They are led to the Masters of the Two Winds, Su Pli and Su Ilgon. Su Ilgon is covered head to toe in robes, and wears a silver mask, while Su Pli is much more relaxed, and welcomes them with a smile.</p><p></p><p>Speaking with the masters, the party learns that the Lyceum party did arrive, and were denied entrance to the Valley of Storms. The Valley is considered sacred, as the Stormchaser Eagle once nested there, and it's elemental energy still permeates the area. Monks are only allowed to travel there once as part of an initiation rite upon completing their training. However, upon receiving the news that Ragesia is at the gates, and more may be arriving, Su Ilgon relents, and gives them permission to go into the valley. Su Pli is shocked, and tells the party that normally Ilgon is quite set in his ways. Pli is happy, because as talk turns to war, it is obvious that he relishes the idea of driving the invading foreigners out of Ostalin. He tells the party that if they can end the fog of malaise over the village, the monks will come to the aid of the town. If that is not possible, the masters suggest leading the uncaring townspeople up to the monastery.</p><p></p><p>When the party leaves their audience with the masters, they learn from Bailan that Kai Lei overheard that they were allowed to go into the Valley, and stormed off. Bailan says that no one has been allowed to go into the valley for almost three years, and Kai Lei was assumed to be the next in line. When Corban tries to find Kai Lei, he catches sight of her "flying" down the mountainside, heading towards the Valley of Storms. He warns Su Pli, who sighs, and says that she may be frustrated, but that doesn't excuse her actions. He says she will be expelled from the monastery when she returns.</p><p></p><p>The next morning, the Gwenevere receives a panicked message from Eril, saying that someone is in his room, telling him to stop resisting, and then the message goes silent. The group rushes down the mountain to find an androgynous monk standing over the now calm form of Eril. The being introduces themselves as Balance, and admits to being the person responsible for the malaise. Eluriah, frustrated at Balance's nonchalance at subduing an entire town, slaps them. Balance falls over, but does not retaliate, insisting that they must submit in order to allow Balance to maintain the calm.</p><p></p><p>Mishka asks about being called "sister" earlier, and Balance admits to being a Trillith, a child of Trilla. They describe traveling through earth and arriving above-ground, attempting to provide calm dreams for their mother. "For that is what we are... dreams... nightmares."</p><p></p><p>The party begins to slap nearby townsfolk, to make them gather other people and take them to the monastery, when Balance collapses, and begins to moan. "Oh, he is so angry. He does not see war, he sees only cowards. He is striding through, he sees the man who failed him, he raises his sword, and-" Balance screams, and the calm breaks.</p><p></p><p>Outside, the Ragesian soldiers who were still in town are going berserk, slashing out at anyone who is nearby. The party subdues them, and begins attempting to direct villagers up to the monastery. Corban plays a ringing single note, that echoes through the valley, but is unable to gather many people before the outside Ragesians attack.</p><p></p><p>The party is assaulted by wyvern riders dropping dragon bombs. One keeps their distance, attacking from afar, while another comes in close to slash and poison, while a riderless wyvern grabs Eluriah, and drops her from 80 feet in the air.</p><p></p><p>Theparty reels, but is able to pull their way back after Corban drops a mass heal. Mishka cleaves through the neck of the close wyvern, Gwenevere and Aripos are chipping away at the riderless wyvern. Will they survive? Hopefully! Is this the last wave of enemies? Definitely not!</p><p></p><p><strong>Post Session Thoughts:</strong></p><p>As I mentioned last time, the monastery session was almost entirely ad-libbed, but it went well. As always, my players are very interested in the politics and following up on things, so I cut a lot of discussion about trillith and where the Masters came from in the recap. They are very charmed by the masters, even if Ilgon (Longinus) is a little creepy.</p><p></p><p>The second session with Balance and the soldiers was very tense. It was pretty clear that there was a split among the group over whether Balance is an evil trillith, or just doing what they think is best. Eventually, the discussion went long enough that I felt like they had enough information, and started the chaos. The first fight was a bit of a cake walk, but the second fight, after a wyvern crit against Eluriah, was immediately more concerning. I'll likely cut the optional hellhound fight before the general arrives. Very fun sessions, and they reached level 10 before the fight, so they're getting to try out some new tricks.</p><p></p><p><strong>Changes to the module</strong></p><p>Edit: How could I forget that I changed Pilus and Longinus' names AGAIN? I was originally going with their original Ostalin names (Lsi Pu and Lsi Nu Gon), but I got to a point where I laughed each time I said Pu, so I went with another rearrangement. Bailan was added to give a little more flavor to Kai Lei's character, and to make the final chase after her more interesting.</p><p></p><p>I opted to make Balance just annoyingly calm, instead of speaking in metaphors. I think Eluriah's player slapped them simply because of how obtuse they seemed. I still got to be plenty mysterious, without having to come up with airy metaphors for trillith on the side. I might have given more information than was necessary, but I think it's fine. They've been getting so little Trillith info, I think they were happy with what they got. My favorite question was when Balance was describing leaving Trilla, the party was confused, and asked if it was a physical tunnel, or a kind of liminal metaphorical tunnel. Balance replied "yes."</p><p></p><p>The fights I ran largely as written, though I added the second wyvern, simply because of how easy the first fight had gone. I was immediately reminded that the wyverns are the heavy-duty damage dealers in this situation, but I think it will go fine. Not sure if I'll adjust the general fight or not yet.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tolamaker, post: 8992167, member: 7031495"] [B]Sessions 52 & 53 - Broken Calm[/B] The party makes it to the gates of the monastery, where they are reluctantly let in by two monks, Bailan and Kai Lei. They are afraid that the town of Eresh is cursed. They are led to the Masters of the Two Winds, Su Pli and Su Ilgon. Su Ilgon is covered head to toe in robes, and wears a silver mask, while Su Pli is much more relaxed, and welcomes them with a smile. Speaking with the masters, the party learns that the Lyceum party did arrive, and were denied entrance to the Valley of Storms. The Valley is considered sacred, as the Stormchaser Eagle once nested there, and it's elemental energy still permeates the area. Monks are only allowed to travel there once as part of an initiation rite upon completing their training. However, upon receiving the news that Ragesia is at the gates, and more may be arriving, Su Ilgon relents, and gives them permission to go into the valley. Su Pli is shocked, and tells the party that normally Ilgon is quite set in his ways. Pli is happy, because as talk turns to war, it is obvious that he relishes the idea of driving the invading foreigners out of Ostalin. He tells the party that if they can end the fog of malaise over the village, the monks will come to the aid of the town. If that is not possible, the masters suggest leading the uncaring townspeople up to the monastery. When the party leaves their audience with the masters, they learn from Bailan that Kai Lei overheard that they were allowed to go into the Valley, and stormed off. Bailan says that no one has been allowed to go into the valley for almost three years, and Kai Lei was assumed to be the next in line. When Corban tries to find Kai Lei, he catches sight of her "flying" down the mountainside, heading towards the Valley of Storms. He warns Su Pli, who sighs, and says that she may be frustrated, but that doesn't excuse her actions. He says she will be expelled from the monastery when she returns. The next morning, the Gwenevere receives a panicked message from Eril, saying that someone is in his room, telling him to stop resisting, and then the message goes silent. The group rushes down the mountain to find an androgynous monk standing over the now calm form of Eril. The being introduces themselves as Balance, and admits to being the person responsible for the malaise. Eluriah, frustrated at Balance's nonchalance at subduing an entire town, slaps them. Balance falls over, but does not retaliate, insisting that they must submit in order to allow Balance to maintain the calm. Mishka asks about being called "sister" earlier, and Balance admits to being a Trillith, a child of Trilla. They describe traveling through earth and arriving above-ground, attempting to provide calm dreams for their mother. "For that is what we are... dreams... nightmares." The party begins to slap nearby townsfolk, to make them gather other people and take them to the monastery, when Balance collapses, and begins to moan. "Oh, he is so angry. He does not see war, he sees only cowards. He is striding through, he sees the man who failed him, he raises his sword, and-" Balance screams, and the calm breaks. Outside, the Ragesian soldiers who were still in town are going berserk, slashing out at anyone who is nearby. The party subdues them, and begins attempting to direct villagers up to the monastery. Corban plays a ringing single note, that echoes through the valley, but is unable to gather many people before the outside Ragesians attack. The party is assaulted by wyvern riders dropping dragon bombs. One keeps their distance, attacking from afar, while another comes in close to slash and poison, while a riderless wyvern grabs Eluriah, and drops her from 80 feet in the air. Theparty reels, but is able to pull their way back after Corban drops a mass heal. Mishka cleaves through the neck of the close wyvern, Gwenevere and Aripos are chipping away at the riderless wyvern. Will they survive? Hopefully! Is this the last wave of enemies? Definitely not! [B]Post Session Thoughts:[/B] As I mentioned last time, the monastery session was almost entirely ad-libbed, but it went well. As always, my players are very interested in the politics and following up on things, so I cut a lot of discussion about trillith and where the Masters came from in the recap. They are very charmed by the masters, even if Ilgon (Longinus) is a little creepy. The second session with Balance and the soldiers was very tense. It was pretty clear that there was a split among the group over whether Balance is an evil trillith, or just doing what they think is best. Eventually, the discussion went long enough that I felt like they had enough information, and started the chaos. The first fight was a bit of a cake walk, but the second fight, after a wyvern crit against Eluriah, was immediately more concerning. I'll likely cut the optional hellhound fight before the general arrives. Very fun sessions, and they reached level 10 before the fight, so they're getting to try out some new tricks. [B]Changes to the module[/B] Edit: How could I forget that I changed Pilus and Longinus' names AGAIN? I was originally going with their original Ostalin names (Lsi Pu and Lsi Nu Gon), but I got to a point where I laughed each time I said Pu, so I went with another rearrangement. Bailan was added to give a little more flavor to Kai Lei's character, and to make the final chase after her more interesting. I opted to make Balance just annoyingly calm, instead of speaking in metaphors. I think Eluriah's player slapped them simply because of how obtuse they seemed. I still got to be plenty mysterious, without having to come up with airy metaphors for trillith on the side. I might have given more information than was necessary, but I think it's fine. They've been getting so little Trillith info, I think they were happy with what they got. My favorite question was when Balance was describing leaving Trilla, the party was confused, and asked if it was a physical tunnel, or a kind of liminal metaphorical tunnel. Balance replied "yes." The fights I ran largely as written, though I added the second wyvern, simply because of how easy the first fight had gone. I was immediately reminded that the wyverns are the heavy-duty damage dealers in this situation, but I think it will go fine. Not sure if I'll adjust the general fight or not yet. [/QUOTE]
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