Phorros Irrendra
The next few sessions are from entering to exiting Phorros Irrendra. As an aside for
@RangerWickett - Is Rhuarc an homage to Wheel of Time?
Heading into the tunnel, the group was not so concerned about the lack of light... right up until combat started. As they ran into a couple women in the tunnel, they began talking to them. In the back, Rev was approached by a 3rd who attempted to charm him, but Rev was able to resist and realize he was being led away and call an alarm instead. The fight with the succubi began, but a casual casting of a fire spell forward resulted in everyone suddenly finding themselves back on the outside of the tunnel. A bit frustrated, they took the time to head back and start again, this time respecting the challenge that not allowing any forward facing magic would actually mean for everyone within the tunnel. I was probably a bit more strict with this than intended, but I wanted it to be meaningful for the party.
On the second attempt, the group took things more seriously and were rewarded. They defeated the succubi and then dispatched the other devil (though in doing so did prove their lust for power in Rhuarc's eyes). They moved up towards the last fight with the basilisk, and were so scared of being sent back that they never even considered risking the light and getting caught by its glare. A largely simple fight later, though very fun for me with a nearly full black VTT for all the players, and the group found themselves inside the constant dim light of Phorros Irrendra.
Initially, Jack decided to take a scouting flight around as an eagle with Winry on his back. Little did he know, but Rhuarc was ready for such things and shot at them with a shatterspell arrow, dispelling the polymorph and causing them to fall. Jack was able to maintain his composure, cast polymorph again, catch Winry, and get out of the area before getting disrupted again, but it served its purpose to make them paranoid of constantly being under threat.
They made their way next to the Grand Manor where they noticed someone was keeping up with things like cleaning and found themselves being attacked by the Droalesti women they were searching for. Even though the Droalesti said it was a good bit of sport and for fun, the group found themselves in a bit of bother as the women used the bridge and flight in combination to strike and run with large hits. Fortunately the poison on their weapons was saved from enough and the group was able to get in control of the fight, taking them both down to critical health before they surrendered. In return, the ladies answered the party's questions about Rhuarc, what happened, and the situation here in the empty city. Coaltongue's body was revealed causing great shock and the Aquiline Heart proving to be more than just legend. The main arcs of the plot really start kicking off at this point in my opinion, so it was a lot of wide eyes and consideration.
Having gotten all they could from them, the party decides to camp out in the manor for the night while the ladies leave Phorros Irrendra for good. I decided to allow them 1 good sleep since they had been good sports to this point, and I was rewarded with a couple of really good scenes as Jack went down to Coaltongue's body. I thought he might have been reviving it himself, but instead he plunged Parallax into it, hoping the the mix of Aquiline Heart blood and the remnant of the Stormchaser Eagle might result in something. In retrospect, I should have planned something for this as it was honestly a great idea, but I was caught off guard. I wish that I would have had this power up Parallax somehow so that each time it drank of the blood, it would have gained more control, more influence. Honestly, I might still do this and just have Parallax become more involved and sentient despite what he said... no one questioned that the sword said it didn't work after all...
Either way, in the morning they set out to hunt Rhuarc... but first do a bit of looting. Like good players of RPGs of old, you always choose the wrong way first, so they headed to the Library hoping for some secrets and goodies. Instead they got a few arrows to the face and a trap. While it didn't do too much damage, it did a good job of setting the stakes. Instead of continuing their searching, they decided to just go straight to the Grove after that, assuming this would draw out Rhuarc the most. They found the hut, sent a couple inside for the Torch, realized it was a fake, and then arrows started raining down again, this time supported by undead. Fortunately for them, they had used the scroll of Heroes' Feast they got in the previous adventure that morning in preparation, so the poison didn't mean much. The pollen was annoying for them though, but eventually they started to gain control again by killing off the undead and Rhuarc's Tragedy.
They were getting quite annoyed with Rhuarc's ability to hit hard and disappear, and just as he was about to pull back and run again, Bryn turned on True Sight. Suddenly he was in a pickle. He still tried to run, throwing a shattershot backwards to try to remove her spell, but failing, before trying to hide. Unfortunately, Bryn rolled incredibly well on her check to try to follow and find him, so she was able to give direction to the group where they trapped Rhuarc. With a half a round of full on attacks before it was his turn again, a couple of critical hits later and Rhuarc was dead on the ground for good. Myetharia landing the final blow with her swords before realizing she probably wanted to talk to him and trying to stabilize him. I reacted that it worked in the moment, though honestly I didn't want to have a long conversation with Rhuarc at this point, so I decided that he was dead enough that his sword ate his soul. While the body was living, there was nothing inside, and slowly it would die on its own without being of any use.
In the end, they buried him respectfully with his sword (as no one wanted to take the risk), but claimed for themselves the Torch of the Burning Sky. Realizing they could take their time now, they inspected the other locations, found all of Rhuarc's potential hiding spots and traps, and then took one more long rest in the Manor. Just for fun, and as a call back to another thread here in the past, Winry had a slice of the necromantic cheese from Castle Korstull and decided to eat it here with Jack. I thought the idea that someone in that thread had for it being the "best cheese you've ever eaten" because it kills you and resurrects you was perfect, so I went with it. Everyone loved it for what it's worth, though there is the tiny problem of someone potentially bonding Shaalguenyaver beforehand and being eaten by the sword that I hadn't considered....
The party took their leave from the empty city thinking their path clear and safe. When they exited, Fayne and some surviving Taranesti met them and asked about their success. The group decided to lie, thinking that the safest path was for no one to know they had the Torch now, but did tell the Taranesti that the city was safe again and they should return. Heading out they started to feel like they were being watched and Bryn's True Sight cast caught bright sensors watching the party. They dispel the first only for another to appear a few minutes later. Realizing they were infamous and in danger, they took to the skies to hasten their return to the Temple of Echoed Souls for pick up by Sheena Larkins only to notice huge groups of Shahalesti homing in on both their position and the Temple. Panicking but not wanting to sacrifice Trilla's soul for the Torch, they sought out other ways of escape only to feel the noose tightening. In the end, Parallax reminds them that they have a way out... unless Jack wants to deal further... but Jack decides they will be caught without activating the Torch.
Bryn takes out the gem with Trilla's soul, taps into it, and transfers the soul into the Torch. Instantly it flares with power, flames wreathing the group, bonding with her (I decided to forgo the Charisma saves for initial bonding as this was a repair job with checks already), and revealing to them the incredible power that it holds. She raises the Torch up, summoning the powerful magic for a teleport, and as the flame spin around them, the world winks out before they appear in front of the statue they helped build in Seaquen for Laurabec...
Thoughts on the adventure -
Honestly this was one of my favorite adventures so far that I've run. The combination of the temple (which feels so long ago already) and the epic moments at the end cemented it as a winner for our group. There have been so many reveals, so much really sought after information, and great opportunities to customize things for our party that have combined to make this really special. A lot of the other adventures to this point have felt mostly self-contained, the last couple a bit of a goose chase (which I know helps build to this), that getting long-term impactful information and items like this was such a great moment for everyone.
Changes to the module -
Not a lot. I had already talked about the changes with the Temple and Icengled, so those don't count. The tunnel I ran nearly exactly as written (though perhaps more strict?). Phorros Irrendra went nearly perfectly to script, though Rhuarc just couldn't get away in time from the Grove, otherwise he would have been leading them over to the Forge next for sure. I did skip the Torch bonding, but with how reluctant my group was to activate it already, I didn't want to make things more dangerous or difficult anymore than the dilemna already was for them. I did also take some liberties with Divination magic in this episode. While this wasn't a change to the module per say, it did cause things to run better. I wanted them to feel immediately hunted upon leaving Phorros Irrendra, so when scrying just wasn't enough (which already I gave the enemies some DM knowledge for), I gave the Shahalesti a more powerful version of Locate Object to help hunt them down. I really wanted to put the pressure on them and force the activation of the Torch, and I think this worked really well.
I have also made 1 change in preparation for the next adventure - the Torch lengthens the amount of time that Teleportation Circle portals stay open. We need some help teleporting large groups of people for the assault without fully activating the Torch... so this was my compromise. Hopefully that doesn't become too powerful and bite me back.