pukunui
Legend
Hi all,
I am running Tomb of Annihilation for the second time. The first time I ran it, the group met Valindra Shadowmantle in the Heart of Ubtao, but aside from having her send some Red Wizards to attack them in the jungle in an attempt to claim their map, I didn't have her return in the adventure.
My second group also met with Valindra in the Heart of Ubtao. One of the PCs is scholarly, and they rolled well on a History check and recalled that there was an infamous elf lich named Valindra Shadowmantle who had been a member of the Arcane Brotherhood in Luskan and had antagonized Neverwinter some time ago. This Valindra insisted it was a coincidence and besides, she was working with the Red Wizards, not the Arcane Brotherhood. Nevertheless, the players were rightly suspicious and weren't in the mood to tangle with someone who might be a lich.
But recently I got to thinking: rather than have her be a one-and-done cameo for fans of the Neverwinter MMO, what if I have Valindra show up again? Her orders from Szass Tam are to capture or destroy the Soulmonger. She tells the players she wants to 'quarantine' it so she can study it safely and argues that destroying it should be a last resort. To me, that suggests she wouldn't just sit back and leave it to the PCs (or her Red Wizard minions) to decide what to do with it.
So she needs a way to get into the tomb with the PCs. She can't just teleport in since Acererak has blocked that kind of magic.
I could have her show up in Omu in her living elf guise and offer to join the party. This might make parts of the tomb easier but I expect the players would spend the entire time wondering when she'll betray them. And sure enough, if she makes it through to the Soulmonger's chamber, she'd fight them if they insist on destroying it without even trying to "quarantine" it first.
And then maybe Ace shows up and it's a three-way battle between two liches and the party!
Another option I've thought of, though, is that she could have perhaps a magic item that lets her shape change into an animal and then she can pretend to be a cute cuddly pet (this particular group of players is into their pets) so she can hitch a free ride through the tomb without having to help the PCs get through it, and she can then change back into her normal form at the end to confront them. Very Wormtail-esque.
What do you folks think? Do you have a preference? Or a better idea? If you ran Tomb of Annihilation, how did you use Valindra?
I am running Tomb of Annihilation for the second time. The first time I ran it, the group met Valindra Shadowmantle in the Heart of Ubtao, but aside from having her send some Red Wizards to attack them in the jungle in an attempt to claim their map, I didn't have her return in the adventure.
My second group also met with Valindra in the Heart of Ubtao. One of the PCs is scholarly, and they rolled well on a History check and recalled that there was an infamous elf lich named Valindra Shadowmantle who had been a member of the Arcane Brotherhood in Luskan and had antagonized Neverwinter some time ago. This Valindra insisted it was a coincidence and besides, she was working with the Red Wizards, not the Arcane Brotherhood. Nevertheless, the players were rightly suspicious and weren't in the mood to tangle with someone who might be a lich.
But recently I got to thinking: rather than have her be a one-and-done cameo for fans of the Neverwinter MMO, what if I have Valindra show up again? Her orders from Szass Tam are to capture or destroy the Soulmonger. She tells the players she wants to 'quarantine' it so she can study it safely and argues that destroying it should be a last resort. To me, that suggests she wouldn't just sit back and leave it to the PCs (or her Red Wizard minions) to decide what to do with it.
So she needs a way to get into the tomb with the PCs. She can't just teleport in since Acererak has blocked that kind of magic.
I could have her show up in Omu in her living elf guise and offer to join the party. This might make parts of the tomb easier but I expect the players would spend the entire time wondering when she'll betray them. And sure enough, if she makes it through to the Soulmonger's chamber, she'd fight them if they insist on destroying it without even trying to "quarantine" it first.
And then maybe Ace shows up and it's a three-way battle between two liches and the party!
Another option I've thought of, though, is that she could have perhaps a magic item that lets her shape change into an animal and then she can pretend to be a cute cuddly pet (this particular group of players is into their pets) so she can hitch a free ride through the tomb without having to help the PCs get through it, and she can then change back into her normal form at the end to confront them. Very Wormtail-esque.
What do you folks think? Do you have a preference? Or a better idea? If you ran Tomb of Annihilation, how did you use Valindra?
