RangerWickett
Legend
I mean, if I were writing it, I would be very tempted to have a tragic falling out between the two main leads leading to them turning against each other in the climax.
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ZEITGEIST Tizbiz Zeitgeist Campaign
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Andrew Moreton
Adventurer
Long like King Aodhan for an unlikely survivor , Pemberton for the suprise death. Not sure I see the main characters turning on each other but a tragic seperation with Auryn needing to be in Elfaivar to manage the return of the Eladrin woman and Carlyle chained by duty to Risur and it's Monarchy. Although maybe a clash over how to build the world anew could divide them along philosphical grounds
Some interesting suggestions, and I can see how some of that could have happened with a few different circumstances. There will be quite a few surprises, I promise 
A battle before the storm
When we move out of Sechim's Alkahest factory, we take a few moments to look at the magical dome around the governor's mansion. From the sheer magical emanation, we realize that getting through there will require some really strong magic. Which means we'll have to resort to either Shealis and the Eye of Yeref or the Coaltongue's main cannon, or possibly both.
(One cannot fire too many lasers)
As we are about to leave for the warehouse, we spot something very unusual from the glance of our eyes. First we believe it to be a mere shooting star, but as the fall continues, we are startled to see that this is an actual star falling from the sky. As we very much know that many of our stars are planar objects, we are now fully convinced that our guess about the Obs' ritual must have been correct after all. Which sends shivers down our spines. Still we urge ourselves to move on with our plan to get more technical resources and move towards the warehouse district.
When we arrive in front of the correct warehouse, we are positively surprised to meet up with Michael Carlyle, who was sent here by Fordren “in case of events”. He explains that he is tasked to give us access to the warehouse in the name of his employer, Mr. Fordren, despite the fact that Fordren is still a Danoran citizen. We thank him and enter quickly. At first glance, we only see lots of crates which are filled with completely unsuspicious materials. But when we tell him about Lady Vantrys and our friend Shealis, Carlyle the younger tells us that there must be another hidden cellar with what he calls experimental materials. Said “cellar” turns out to be a storage place for some torpedoes, which were probably also used in their prototype state by the Danorans. So we familiarize our teen dragon friend with the tech and tell her the few bits we know so far about the magic dome around Stanfield's palace.
Finally, we come to an agreement on the order of missions: We'd free the Coaltongue first, and then to play it safe and shoot at the dome at the same time with Yeref's eye and the main gun of the battleship. Even though the ship will then probably have to defend itself against some of the Danorans in the harbor. However, to shift the scales a bit in our favor, we still want to get some of our allies to capture some of the smaller Danoran ships while Shealis takes care of the larger ones surrounding the Coaltongue with the torpedoes.
So we rally reinforcements in the person of Miggs Maloney, who in turn would mobilize the Flint police to stage a fake revolt alongside the dockers. This would ensure that the other rebels could move close enough to the ships and the royal dock for their respective jobs.
Lastly, we check out Pine Island and the military academy, where we are greeted by Lauryn Cyneburg. The elf grins at us triumphantly as she completed her teleport compass just in time and was able to teleport into the city as an advanced vanguard. She promises us to get artillery in position with the help of the military so that we can bombard the Danoran ships should the need arise. Even though we hope that maybe Lya Jierre, who had been spotted as a ghost on one of the Danoran ships, can be brought to her senses.
(Yeah, and it would also be really helpful if she just told the rest of Danor that we didn't purposefully kill her and the Danoran soldiers with a toppling tower...)
As we set up our plan to take the Coaltongue, more and more stars are falling from the sky, so we feel pressured to hurryeven more. We ask Asrabey to join the attacks on the Danoran ships, while we head towards Coaltongue with a group of dockers, Bravuras and policemen. Meanwhile, Geoff Massarde and Shealis man a small boat and load it with the torpedoes.
Carlyle and Auryn spearhead the main squad, as they'd clear out the field a bit to make this an easy game for the Bravuras, Dockers and Policemen. As we spot several groups of Danorans blocking the road to the Royal Dock, we first separate the groups by conjuring magical mist while making it look like a totally normal phenomenon. Auryn then sneaks invisibly to the group on the right and stuns them with a perfect note. Meanwhile, Carlyle ethereal jumps directly into the group on the left, hurls an etherwave at them and attacks the soldiers with several quick, successive slashes of his kukris. As they don't provide much resistance, he then knocks out the ones still held in a frozen state by Auryn. Then we signal our allies that the first path is clear before we move through the mist and repeat the procedure with the next groups. We then free the crew of the Coaltongue before Carlyle takes care of the two giant mechs guarding the ship, while Auryn keeps the Danoran gunners at bay. We thus open the way to the ship, with more and more local sailors joining our attack.
Next we overwhelm the Danorans aboard the Coaltongue and tie them up. Then we get the ship running with the help of Massarde, and head for one of the Danoran ships guarding the Coaltongue. Meanwhile, we signal Shealis to attack. The combined assault is quick and brutal, as the Danorans really didn't see us coming. Shealis and the Coaltongue's cannons sink three Danoran ships, while we and some of the sailors enter the last one and capture it. Soon that ship is flanking the Coaltongue, giving us more leverage in what we expect to be the upcoming naval battle.
Just as we are about to move towards the Governor's palace, a tentacle-armed sea-fey, who we identify as none else but Beshela, jumps aboard and warns us that "She's coming." before she jumps back into the ocean.
Since we must assume that she means the Kraken She who Writhes, Carlyle uses the wind feather to ask Gale to be allowed to use her magical projection. Gale agrees, asking no further questions. So Carlyle uses the projection to make his face appears in the clouds above Flint.
“Citizens of Flint, Danoran soldiers, all who are currently in the harbor region, hear me out. I am Baron Carlyle and an agent of King Aodhan. And I have to inform you that She who Writhes, the Titan of the Sea, is about to arrive in our harbor very soon. If you value your lives, then hurry ashore, and leave this area. Please heed my warning. Stay safe. Leave the harbor!” he exclaims his city-wide warning.
The ships taken over by the Risuri turn around and head to shore or docks, while the Danorans appear to hold out at sea. We, on the other hand, know that we have little choice and keep heading for the governor's fortress with the Coaltongue. But our advance does not go unnoticed for too long. A small group of Danoraan ships, led by Lya Jierre's ship drives directly towards , entering a course of interception. Still hoping to dissuade our adversary from following the path of the Obsany further, or at least convince her of the insanity of her endeavor especially as she endangers her whole crew, we soar to the sky and fly toward her position, stopping in mid-air directly above her deck and hailing her.
The ghost of Lya seems determined to intercept the Coaltongue by any means necessary and orders a ghostly construct to fire in our direction.
“This is nothing personal, I assure you. All I do is for the best of the world”, she explains with very little expression.
“Lya, Jierre why do you insist on doing this? You do see the stars falling just as we do. The Obs have already won, and we cannot foil your plans from here”, Auryn calls to her, trying to reach the reasonable, logic-driven woman Lya once was.
“But we would like to get our city back, and take care of the traitor that is Roland Stanfield. In return, we offer you a truce, since no better world would be worth all those Risuri and Danoran sacrifices.”
Lya doesn't react at all and keeps firing in our general direction. While we dodge her attacks, she also calls for what appears to be a mechanical dragon as reinforcement.
“Remember who you were when you called us for help. You were meant to bring peace to both our nations, to unify what had been broken for so many years. An apostle of peace. And now you are just one of many puppets, just as Nicodemus had planned the Jierres and all of Danor to be from the very founding of your nation. But your lives mean nothing to him and if you continue following Nicodemus' plans without question, you will join the ranks of all the Jierres before you - being just another subject and bootlicker of a foreign mind.”
As she says this, Auryn flies closer to Lya's position, hovering safely above her, looking down upon her ghostly figure with pity.
“You are the one who doesn't understand, my dear. This was my destiny from the very beginning”, Lya replies coolly.
(Damn you, Reida!)
“And you have learned nothing from our previous encounter”, Auryn returns before she looks straight at Lya's mechanical dragon and seizes control of it with her apparent master spell. She directs the dragon to attack the cannon, while the ghost of Lya takes on a defensive stance.
(With a bit of investigation Lya could have come to the conclusion that it was one of the gang who let the construction golems venture straight into the prairie during the Cantabrilla Railroad Challenge)
Carlyle sees this as a signal that the talk is officially over, and ethereal jumps at Lya. Auryn meanwhile focuses on the cannon as she fears that it could seriously damage the Coaltongue.
“At least keep your crew safe, Lya. He wasn't joking about the Kraken. The Titan is coming and she will be here very soon”, Auryn pleads, still trying to reach Lya. But the latter orders her crew to raise the flag signal for “full speed ahead”. Meanwhile, Carlyle cuts through Lya's conglomerate shield and states that time is running out, and she should seriously consider changing her course now.
Auryn takes one look at the flags and remembers what she had learned about signals during her time aboard the Aurora with Morris and the rest of the crew. She mentally asks Gabriel to keep Lya busy, while performing a double decoy: she simultaneously conjures an illusion of Lya Jierre at the time of the peace conference and implores Lya that this is her true self, the woman she she once wanted to be, while at the same time setting the illusionary flags for "retreat, dangerous sea monster."
Carlyle ultimately cuts through Lya's defenses and causes that spectral body to fray. As her current incarnation dissipates, Carlyle turns to her.
“We must part now. But the next time we meet, it will likely be words of deep regret we'll hear from you. So until then, Lya Jierre.”
(As Carlyle firmly believes the Obs' plan will end in disaster. Seeing Lya in a state like this really came as a shock, as she was quite the adversary at times, but always had her own will. And yep, there you have the parallel between Auryn and her again. Lya is a dreadful reminder for what could have happened had Auryn chosen to follow Nic's path back during the Obscon).
The fight with Lya and the confusion caused by the flags ultimately buys the Coaltongue enough of a lead that she is able to pass Lya's ship by a hair's breadth.
As soon as the Coaltongue comes in firing range for the dome, Shealis and Geoff Massarde activate both the Eye of Yeref and the main cannon in unison. Just as we had hoped, the combined magical energies are enough to tear a hole in the shield around the Governor's mansion, just large enough that we can slip through it as quickly as possible.
( we imagined a gigantic energy beam a la Kamehameha or the Colossus' main gun from Legend of Korra)
Just as we set out to confront Stanfield, we hear something large arrive in the harbor behind us, accompanied by the sound of wood and metal breaking. We take one quick look back and see giant, writhing tentacles breaking the ships still at sea one by one.
A battle before the storm
When we move out of Sechim's Alkahest factory, we take a few moments to look at the magical dome around the governor's mansion. From the sheer magical emanation, we realize that getting through there will require some really strong magic. Which means we'll have to resort to either Shealis and the Eye of Yeref or the Coaltongue's main cannon, or possibly both.
(One cannot fire too many lasers)
As we are about to leave for the warehouse, we spot something very unusual from the glance of our eyes. First we believe it to be a mere shooting star, but as the fall continues, we are startled to see that this is an actual star falling from the sky. As we very much know that many of our stars are planar objects, we are now fully convinced that our guess about the Obs' ritual must have been correct after all. Which sends shivers down our spines. Still we urge ourselves to move on with our plan to get more technical resources and move towards the warehouse district.
When we arrive in front of the correct warehouse, we are positively surprised to meet up with Michael Carlyle, who was sent here by Fordren “in case of events”. He explains that he is tasked to give us access to the warehouse in the name of his employer, Mr. Fordren, despite the fact that Fordren is still a Danoran citizen. We thank him and enter quickly. At first glance, we only see lots of crates which are filled with completely unsuspicious materials. But when we tell him about Lady Vantrys and our friend Shealis, Carlyle the younger tells us that there must be another hidden cellar with what he calls experimental materials. Said “cellar” turns out to be a storage place for some torpedoes, which were probably also used in their prototype state by the Danorans. So we familiarize our teen dragon friend with the tech and tell her the few bits we know so far about the magic dome around Stanfield's palace.
Finally, we come to an agreement on the order of missions: We'd free the Coaltongue first, and then to play it safe and shoot at the dome at the same time with Yeref's eye and the main gun of the battleship. Even though the ship will then probably have to defend itself against some of the Danorans in the harbor. However, to shift the scales a bit in our favor, we still want to get some of our allies to capture some of the smaller Danoran ships while Shealis takes care of the larger ones surrounding the Coaltongue with the torpedoes.
So we rally reinforcements in the person of Miggs Maloney, who in turn would mobilize the Flint police to stage a fake revolt alongside the dockers. This would ensure that the other rebels could move close enough to the ships and the royal dock for their respective jobs.
Lastly, we check out Pine Island and the military academy, where we are greeted by Lauryn Cyneburg. The elf grins at us triumphantly as she completed her teleport compass just in time and was able to teleport into the city as an advanced vanguard. She promises us to get artillery in position with the help of the military so that we can bombard the Danoran ships should the need arise. Even though we hope that maybe Lya Jierre, who had been spotted as a ghost on one of the Danoran ships, can be brought to her senses.
(Yeah, and it would also be really helpful if she just told the rest of Danor that we didn't purposefully kill her and the Danoran soldiers with a toppling tower...)
As we set up our plan to take the Coaltongue, more and more stars are falling from the sky, so we feel pressured to hurryeven more. We ask Asrabey to join the attacks on the Danoran ships, while we head towards Coaltongue with a group of dockers, Bravuras and policemen. Meanwhile, Geoff Massarde and Shealis man a small boat and load it with the torpedoes.
Carlyle and Auryn spearhead the main squad, as they'd clear out the field a bit to make this an easy game for the Bravuras, Dockers and Policemen. As we spot several groups of Danorans blocking the road to the Royal Dock, we first separate the groups by conjuring magical mist while making it look like a totally normal phenomenon. Auryn then sneaks invisibly to the group on the right and stuns them with a perfect note. Meanwhile, Carlyle ethereal jumps directly into the group on the left, hurls an etherwave at them and attacks the soldiers with several quick, successive slashes of his kukris. As they don't provide much resistance, he then knocks out the ones still held in a frozen state by Auryn. Then we signal our allies that the first path is clear before we move through the mist and repeat the procedure with the next groups. We then free the crew of the Coaltongue before Carlyle takes care of the two giant mechs guarding the ship, while Auryn keeps the Danoran gunners at bay. We thus open the way to the ship, with more and more local sailors joining our attack.
Next we overwhelm the Danorans aboard the Coaltongue and tie them up. Then we get the ship running with the help of Massarde, and head for one of the Danoran ships guarding the Coaltongue. Meanwhile, we signal Shealis to attack. The combined assault is quick and brutal, as the Danorans really didn't see us coming. Shealis and the Coaltongue's cannons sink three Danoran ships, while we and some of the sailors enter the last one and capture it. Soon that ship is flanking the Coaltongue, giving us more leverage in what we expect to be the upcoming naval battle.
Just as we are about to move towards the Governor's palace, a tentacle-armed sea-fey, who we identify as none else but Beshela, jumps aboard and warns us that "She's coming." before she jumps back into the ocean.
Since we must assume that she means the Kraken She who Writhes, Carlyle uses the wind feather to ask Gale to be allowed to use her magical projection. Gale agrees, asking no further questions. So Carlyle uses the projection to make his face appears in the clouds above Flint.
“Citizens of Flint, Danoran soldiers, all who are currently in the harbor region, hear me out. I am Baron Carlyle and an agent of King Aodhan. And I have to inform you that She who Writhes, the Titan of the Sea, is about to arrive in our harbor very soon. If you value your lives, then hurry ashore, and leave this area. Please heed my warning. Stay safe. Leave the harbor!” he exclaims his city-wide warning.
The ships taken over by the Risuri turn around and head to shore or docks, while the Danorans appear to hold out at sea. We, on the other hand, know that we have little choice and keep heading for the governor's fortress with the Coaltongue. But our advance does not go unnoticed for too long. A small group of Danoraan ships, led by Lya Jierre's ship drives directly towards , entering a course of interception. Still hoping to dissuade our adversary from following the path of the Obsany further, or at least convince her of the insanity of her endeavor especially as she endangers her whole crew, we soar to the sky and fly toward her position, stopping in mid-air directly above her deck and hailing her.
The ghost of Lya seems determined to intercept the Coaltongue by any means necessary and orders a ghostly construct to fire in our direction.
“This is nothing personal, I assure you. All I do is for the best of the world”, she explains with very little expression.
“Lya, Jierre why do you insist on doing this? You do see the stars falling just as we do. The Obs have already won, and we cannot foil your plans from here”, Auryn calls to her, trying to reach the reasonable, logic-driven woman Lya once was.
“But we would like to get our city back, and take care of the traitor that is Roland Stanfield. In return, we offer you a truce, since no better world would be worth all those Risuri and Danoran sacrifices.”
Lya doesn't react at all and keeps firing in our general direction. While we dodge her attacks, she also calls for what appears to be a mechanical dragon as reinforcement.
“Remember who you were when you called us for help. You were meant to bring peace to both our nations, to unify what had been broken for so many years. An apostle of peace. And now you are just one of many puppets, just as Nicodemus had planned the Jierres and all of Danor to be from the very founding of your nation. But your lives mean nothing to him and if you continue following Nicodemus' plans without question, you will join the ranks of all the Jierres before you - being just another subject and bootlicker of a foreign mind.”
As she says this, Auryn flies closer to Lya's position, hovering safely above her, looking down upon her ghostly figure with pity.
“You are the one who doesn't understand, my dear. This was my destiny from the very beginning”, Lya replies coolly.
(Damn you, Reida!)
“And you have learned nothing from our previous encounter”, Auryn returns before she looks straight at Lya's mechanical dragon and seizes control of it with her apparent master spell. She directs the dragon to attack the cannon, while the ghost of Lya takes on a defensive stance.
(With a bit of investigation Lya could have come to the conclusion that it was one of the gang who let the construction golems venture straight into the prairie during the Cantabrilla Railroad Challenge)
Carlyle sees this as a signal that the talk is officially over, and ethereal jumps at Lya. Auryn meanwhile focuses on the cannon as she fears that it could seriously damage the Coaltongue.
“At least keep your crew safe, Lya. He wasn't joking about the Kraken. The Titan is coming and she will be here very soon”, Auryn pleads, still trying to reach Lya. But the latter orders her crew to raise the flag signal for “full speed ahead”. Meanwhile, Carlyle cuts through Lya's conglomerate shield and states that time is running out, and she should seriously consider changing her course now.
Auryn takes one look at the flags and remembers what she had learned about signals during her time aboard the Aurora with Morris and the rest of the crew. She mentally asks Gabriel to keep Lya busy, while performing a double decoy: she simultaneously conjures an illusion of Lya Jierre at the time of the peace conference and implores Lya that this is her true self, the woman she she once wanted to be, while at the same time setting the illusionary flags for "retreat, dangerous sea monster."
Carlyle ultimately cuts through Lya's defenses and causes that spectral body to fray. As her current incarnation dissipates, Carlyle turns to her.
“We must part now. But the next time we meet, it will likely be words of deep regret we'll hear from you. So until then, Lya Jierre.”
(As Carlyle firmly believes the Obs' plan will end in disaster. Seeing Lya in a state like this really came as a shock, as she was quite the adversary at times, but always had her own will. And yep, there you have the parallel between Auryn and her again. Lya is a dreadful reminder for what could have happened had Auryn chosen to follow Nic's path back during the Obscon).
The fight with Lya and the confusion caused by the flags ultimately buys the Coaltongue enough of a lead that she is able to pass Lya's ship by a hair's breadth.
As soon as the Coaltongue comes in firing range for the dome, Shealis and Geoff Massarde activate both the Eye of Yeref and the main cannon in unison. Just as we had hoped, the combined magical energies are enough to tear a hole in the shield around the Governor's mansion, just large enough that we can slip through it as quickly as possible.
( we imagined a gigantic energy beam a la Kamehameha or the Colossus' main gun from Legend of Korra)
Just as we set out to confront Stanfield, we hear something large arrive in the harbor behind us, accompanied by the sound of wood and metal breaking. We take one quick look back and see giant, writhing tentacles breaking the ships still at sea one by one.
Andrew Moreton
Adventurer
My group found Lya as a Ghost council controlled ghost lacking her spirit and honour to be equally depressing and made a great effort to get her ressurected before they went off to save the world. Dead without a body is hard to fix in this world given the general lack of level 14+ spellcasters but they had by the time they left the ability to cast True Ressurection so they could manage anyone,
And you are right you can never have too many lasers, particularly if you can attach them to sharks
edit a question, I am considering the next game for my monday group after our current one. What were your impressions of War of the Burning Sky as it is one of the things on my short list
And you are right you can never have too many lasers, particularly if you can attach them to sharks
edit a question, I am considering the next game for my monday group after our current one. What were your impressions of War of the Burning Sky as it is one of the things on my short list
RangerWickett
Legend
I love that sound effect.
In hindsight, I don't think that Korra really justified the technological leap to get that colossus as the final antagonist, but it was still cool. But season 3 was the best.
We never tried this, as we were convinced that her as part of the ghost council was some sort of binding of her soul.
War of the Burning Sky is a really great AP if you handle it with the same care as ZG. I DMed WotBS and it offers both a great narrative and much freedom - I'd say it is the more robust of the two APs, where ZG is a bit more delicate. I definitely recommend reading through it beginning to end, familiarize the most important NPC and their role, so you may make custom changes if needed. What you do get here and there is the fact that it was written 18 years ago, which is why I did some genderbending and put emphasis on handling darker themes with respect (no probs with a mature group). The Players (or you
) also should put some work into tieing in the PCs to the setting. fromour POV either among the best or the best (according to Carlyle's player) published AP.same, same
The flying bots were believeable, but the Colossus was a bit off. S3 was the strongest, but S4 is probably the most relevant in terms of ideological conflict. Also, I do see some parallels between Hiroshi Sato and Pemberton/Fordren. Maybe it is just the visuals...
When you wish upon a star
Shortly after we arrive in the courtyard of the Palace, the dome closes behind us again and we find ourselves standing in what appears to be a deserted square. As we go looking around for the prisoners, we meet a human-looking man who turns out to be the very first Stanfield. He seems to be friendly towards us and urges us to put an end to his other incarnations. He explains that "he" thankfully had enough decency to call forth all of his incarnations and that he never wanted any of this. All he wanted was to serve Risur and protect Flint, not to surrender the city to Danor. When we ask him about the prisoners, however, we realize that this Stanfield is actively avoiding to give us any concrete answers, so we get that even the most decent of the Governor's incarnations is merely trying to play for time, and still the stars are falling one by one.
Carlyle therefore decides to knock him unconscious as a precaution, whereupon the incarnation dissolves. With nothing more to lose, we move on towards the donjon of the castle and soon find ourselves in front of a barricaded gate. Carlyle uses a charge of alchemical flash powder to blow it open and together we storm into the inner area. Whereupon we are being shot at by several groups of elite Risuri soldiers, led by none other than Chief Inspector Delft.
"Delft", however, accuses us of being mere doppelgängers who want to kill Stanfield and orders the soldiers to stop us with all means necessary. We, in turn, realize that there is no way that this is our Delft, a suspicion which is confirmed by Carlyle as he muses that Delft might have had yet another mimic for breakfast and sees not the slightest twitch in the man's face.
“Soldiers of Risur, cease your attacks! We have come to liberate our city from the Danorans!”, Carlyle shouts towards the soldiers.
“We already cleared the harbor and repelled Lya Jierre's fleet.”, Auryn adds.
In reaction, the soldiers are very much confused, whereupon one of the Stanfields (some of which are apparently also present) shows himself and explains that they should not be distracted. He then turns to us and reproaches us for the fact that, apart from him, no one had really cared about the citizens of Flint, most prominently not the King, who was ultimately responsible for the forced industrialization and the misery it brought. And that we, as so many just enjoyed the rich and comfortable life that came with being both RHC agents and friends of King Aodhan.
Both of us are at first baffled by the sheer audacity of Stanfield. And it is Auryn who first turns to the multiple images of Flint's Governor and hold the mirror right up to him.
“Is this really your excuse? Trying to point fingers at us? Easing your consciousness for doing literally nothing to improve the life of the working population of Flint when you, their Governor, had all the power to do so? We were mere agents back then, but we fought with every fiber of our being to help the people of Flint. It was us, who ended the imprisonment of workers. Who inspired the Humanist League. Yes, we rose through the ranks by merit and by example. But you accuse us of lying on a comfortable cushion while you've been reveling in wealth and 'good company' for decades. It was up to you to craft a path towards industrialization, a path set up by the Obscurati, and even with all that you still failed to serve your citizens. If there was a definition of hypocrite, it would be Roland Stanfield”, she spits out angrily.
“And in the end, accumulating wealth wasn't enough. You also betrayed your people by giving the Danorans free entry into Flint, by enabling the Obs to build the Colossus, by betraying dear Morris Dawkins' fleet. I ask you now: How can you look at your reflection and not be ashamed oft he man you've become. To not be ashamed of turning back on caring for your citizens?”
Carlyle then calls on the soldiers to use their common sense:
“Do you really think we would have gone that far were we mere doppelgängers? We are acting on behalf of good King Aodhan, who is already en route to Flint despite barely surviving multiple assassination attempts. Meanwhile, it was the traitor Stanfield who sent the fleet that could have protected Flint harbor from the Danorans to a trap at Elba. Do you not see that he actively aided the Danorans in invading our beautiful city?”
(Carlyle's player pointed out that this would have been more effective or epic if he had already been named King of Risur by then, but he knew Aodhan and his personality well enough to be able to speak for him. Some moments surely were a bit diminished by our previous efforts, but they nonetheless were worthwhile. And yeah, Stanfield was acting for the best of Flint before, like during the menace of the witches, but he was apparently led astray by Nic and the Obs. He has had all the means to fulfill Aodhan's wish of progress towards more technology and making Flint the industrial heart of Risur without purely oppressing the working class. A wish that was ultimately fueled by the Obs' schemes during Yerasol IV on top)
Chaos then breaks out as the Druids among the defending forces feel convinced of our authenticity and turn their spells on Stanfield. Carlyle lunges at one of the mage Stanfields, while Auryn, using the star metal from the Arsenal in her rapier reveals that Delft is in fact a doppelgänger by applying a small prick to his butt.
One by one, the soldiers join ourside as we fight our way through the Stanfields. During the fight, Carlyle tries to make mental contact with the real Delft and initially gets only pain in response. Upon further insistence, Delft signals him that he is being held captive in one of the houses of the donjon. He gives Auryn the general direction of Delft and we both storm the house and dispose of more Stanfields entering melee along the way.
Inside the house, we have to face a horrible sight, as Delft, Flying Spark and Margit are all tied to a ritual table and suffering terrible pain. We get that their essence must be powering both the ritual and the magic dome in some form by their connection to both the Land and the Sovereign. We make haste to end the ritual, whereupon the outer protective shield collapses at last.
But before we can rejoice for a mere moment, we suddenly hear the sputtering of the sea as the Kraken Titan rampages through the harbor. And then, we also hear thunder rumbling from afar, growing stronger and angrier every second.
We quickly release our friends and Delft who are all more than glad at our sudden return. Carlyle then informs Delft in all his wooden glory that this time, Delft was mimicked by a "mimic", but that one wasn't enough to convince him. We also inform everyone about our part in the defense of Torfield Palace during the Oscurati assault and tell them about the situation in Slate.
Since Carlyle is especially concerned about the whereabouts of Lord Vantrys, he presses for information and is sent to another door behind which the missing industrialists are located. Carlyle is happy to see that Nathaniel Vantrys is unharmed and he releases them all with the warning that Flint won't be safe right now, so they all better stay with Margit, Delft and the cute fairy dragon while we set out to take care of the last of the Stanfields.
We take a closer look around and see that there is only one spot left where Stanfield could be hiding, and this place is located straight upstairs in the nearby tower.
Unfortunately, the stairway to the tower turns out to be a mimic all in itself, which we quickly “disarm”. Needless to say that Delft, who watches the scene from the corner of his eye, faints anyway. After disposing of the mimic, we are left with no choice but to fly to the remaining Stanfields in the tower. We are being met with attacks and spells from above in return, and do our best to avoid them.
We land on the platform of the tower and fight back accordingly, whereupon the Stanfields switch tactics and utilize the multitude of magical lanterns as weapons against us. This comes as quite the surprise, as we so far assumed them to be necessary only as part of the Obs' ritual.
The lanterns turn out to be quite powerful, as each of them and their respective planar power manages to and burn us or hold us down for quite a while, while the Stanfields use their own abilities to strike at us. We fight the Stanfield images to the best of our own abilities, and they seem to concentrate their fire on Auryn.
Meanwhile, the roaring thunder has turned into a full-blown storm inside the harbor area and we understand that this must be the true storm fey form of Old Stag takes on on the Kraken with the best of his abilities.
Little by little we get rid of the Stanfield images, but the "main" Stanfield continues to maltreat us with highly potent spells, with which he severely harms Auryn.
Trying to catch her breath and fight through the pain, she glares at the Governor with a mixture of determination, defiance and pity.
“Why... why do you fear me that much?”, she asks, without any actual hope for an honest answer. Then she turns around to disable the last of the machines powering the ritual for good.
Carlyle, in turn, takes on the last remaining Stanfield, ready to duel him one on one.
“No matter the answer,one thing I know for sure: You do not deserve the grace and power that was given to you by Srasama.”, he declares, Kukris drawn, before he jumps right at the Deva. As Auryn is about to finish the mechanism, and while the lanterns turn dark for good, Carlyle then raises his eyes to the heavens above to call to the goddess who made him:
“Srasama, this creature has brought so much harm to the world and your children. He is not one of your kin anymore. I ask you to, please take his essence back. Remove the spark that was given, so I may enact justice upon him!”
And in response to his plea, one of the last stars, Mishados, a healer aspect of Srasama, detaches from the sky and starts falling right towards the tower. We warn the group of Delft & co. below us and barely manage to get to safety at the edge of the platform, while the star comes crashing down as a meteor, seemingly taking Stanfield down with it. As large parts of the tower crumble, the essence that made Stanfield a Deva emerges and unites with Carlyle's own.
(This was such a powerful moment. Carlyle's player did not know what was coming, and the whole “taking the essence of Srasama back from Deva who betray her” agenda started way back with Nicodemus at the Spire. So he merely declared his challenge towards Stanfield and was utterly surprised when Srasama actually aided him in return. Pure brilliance.)
At the same time, we see a huge fireball emerging in the west, followed by the storm dying off abruptly as the tentacles of the Kraken fall back into the water.
Auryn looks at the scenery unfolding at sea with shock, but she doesn't get the time to truly process what happened yet, as Stanfield doesn't stay "dead" for long. Still the Deva is no more, as he climbs back in the form of a giant Rakhshasa to face us again and roar full of rage.
(this isn't even his final form, eh?)
Carlyle realizes that his Kukris will do very little against this mythical demon, so he teleports down the tower to gather pieces of the fallen star to use as weapons. Auryn, meanwhile, gives Stanfield a death stare, produces her rapier and performs a single well-aimed strike against the Rakhshasa. She breaks through its fur and seemingly injures him only slightly. Nevertheless, as the wound was inflicted by the fabled Arsenal of Dhebisu, it begins to burst open and the Rakhshasa burns from the inside until only a tiger-like skeleton remains. Thus, it becomes crystal clear why Stanfield feared Auryn so much...
Just as Carlyle climbs back up the tower again, he sees Stanfield going down in fire, shrugs and stows away the twin meteorite blades he had gathered with a satisfied smile.
Just as we are about to regroup and heal the remaining wounds, we notice that all magic disappears suddenly. To be more precise, we still sense it existing, just not being accessible to us at the moment. We climb back the tower and agree to not think too much about that phenomenon right now as we wish to make sure our comrades are safe. But soon we realize that the storm which died off moments ago appears to be is rising again. But this time, with no Kraken around to combat, it seems to direct its fury against the city...
(Oh my... so much that happened in these last few moments. I agree with Carlyle's playerthat a PC being King/Queen at this moment would be pure gold, but we do not regret our choices in hindsight. Regarding Stanfield... well,the end was truly satisfying and it somehow concluded one of Nevard's prophecies. It came a bit out of nowhere though. We had suspected that Stanfield was complicit from adventure 2 on, but couldn't find any proof. Not sure how I would have handled the situation as a DM...trying to throw some bones at the PCs without completely spoiling the story.
Regarding the Storm...well, things are about to get dramatic. Seems like one climax is not enough for this party...)
Shortly after we arrive in the courtyard of the Palace, the dome closes behind us again and we find ourselves standing in what appears to be a deserted square. As we go looking around for the prisoners, we meet a human-looking man who turns out to be the very first Stanfield. He seems to be friendly towards us and urges us to put an end to his other incarnations. He explains that "he" thankfully had enough decency to call forth all of his incarnations and that he never wanted any of this. All he wanted was to serve Risur and protect Flint, not to surrender the city to Danor. When we ask him about the prisoners, however, we realize that this Stanfield is actively avoiding to give us any concrete answers, so we get that even the most decent of the Governor's incarnations is merely trying to play for time, and still the stars are falling one by one.
Carlyle therefore decides to knock him unconscious as a precaution, whereupon the incarnation dissolves. With nothing more to lose, we move on towards the donjon of the castle and soon find ourselves in front of a barricaded gate. Carlyle uses a charge of alchemical flash powder to blow it open and together we storm into the inner area. Whereupon we are being shot at by several groups of elite Risuri soldiers, led by none other than Chief Inspector Delft.
"Delft", however, accuses us of being mere doppelgängers who want to kill Stanfield and orders the soldiers to stop us with all means necessary. We, in turn, realize that there is no way that this is our Delft, a suspicion which is confirmed by Carlyle as he muses that Delft might have had yet another mimic for breakfast and sees not the slightest twitch in the man's face.
“Soldiers of Risur, cease your attacks! We have come to liberate our city from the Danorans!”, Carlyle shouts towards the soldiers.
“We already cleared the harbor and repelled Lya Jierre's fleet.”, Auryn adds.
In reaction, the soldiers are very much confused, whereupon one of the Stanfields (some of which are apparently also present) shows himself and explains that they should not be distracted. He then turns to us and reproaches us for the fact that, apart from him, no one had really cared about the citizens of Flint, most prominently not the King, who was ultimately responsible for the forced industrialization and the misery it brought. And that we, as so many just enjoyed the rich and comfortable life that came with being both RHC agents and friends of King Aodhan.
Both of us are at first baffled by the sheer audacity of Stanfield. And it is Auryn who first turns to the multiple images of Flint's Governor and hold the mirror right up to him.
“Is this really your excuse? Trying to point fingers at us? Easing your consciousness for doing literally nothing to improve the life of the working population of Flint when you, their Governor, had all the power to do so? We were mere agents back then, but we fought with every fiber of our being to help the people of Flint. It was us, who ended the imprisonment of workers. Who inspired the Humanist League. Yes, we rose through the ranks by merit and by example. But you accuse us of lying on a comfortable cushion while you've been reveling in wealth and 'good company' for decades. It was up to you to craft a path towards industrialization, a path set up by the Obscurati, and even with all that you still failed to serve your citizens. If there was a definition of hypocrite, it would be Roland Stanfield”, she spits out angrily.
“And in the end, accumulating wealth wasn't enough. You also betrayed your people by giving the Danorans free entry into Flint, by enabling the Obs to build the Colossus, by betraying dear Morris Dawkins' fleet. I ask you now: How can you look at your reflection and not be ashamed oft he man you've become. To not be ashamed of turning back on caring for your citizens?”
Carlyle then calls on the soldiers to use their common sense:
“Do you really think we would have gone that far were we mere doppelgängers? We are acting on behalf of good King Aodhan, who is already en route to Flint despite barely surviving multiple assassination attempts. Meanwhile, it was the traitor Stanfield who sent the fleet that could have protected Flint harbor from the Danorans to a trap at Elba. Do you not see that he actively aided the Danorans in invading our beautiful city?”
(Carlyle's player pointed out that this would have been more effective or epic if he had already been named King of Risur by then, but he knew Aodhan and his personality well enough to be able to speak for him. Some moments surely were a bit diminished by our previous efforts, but they nonetheless were worthwhile. And yeah, Stanfield was acting for the best of Flint before, like during the menace of the witches, but he was apparently led astray by Nic and the Obs. He has had all the means to fulfill Aodhan's wish of progress towards more technology and making Flint the industrial heart of Risur without purely oppressing the working class. A wish that was ultimately fueled by the Obs' schemes during Yerasol IV on top)
Chaos then breaks out as the Druids among the defending forces feel convinced of our authenticity and turn their spells on Stanfield. Carlyle lunges at one of the mage Stanfields, while Auryn, using the star metal from the Arsenal in her rapier reveals that Delft is in fact a doppelgänger by applying a small prick to his butt.
One by one, the soldiers join ourside as we fight our way through the Stanfields. During the fight, Carlyle tries to make mental contact with the real Delft and initially gets only pain in response. Upon further insistence, Delft signals him that he is being held captive in one of the houses of the donjon. He gives Auryn the general direction of Delft and we both storm the house and dispose of more Stanfields entering melee along the way.
Inside the house, we have to face a horrible sight, as Delft, Flying Spark and Margit are all tied to a ritual table and suffering terrible pain. We get that their essence must be powering both the ritual and the magic dome in some form by their connection to both the Land and the Sovereign. We make haste to end the ritual, whereupon the outer protective shield collapses at last.
But before we can rejoice for a mere moment, we suddenly hear the sputtering of the sea as the Kraken Titan rampages through the harbor. And then, we also hear thunder rumbling from afar, growing stronger and angrier every second.
We quickly release our friends and Delft who are all more than glad at our sudden return. Carlyle then informs Delft in all his wooden glory that this time, Delft was mimicked by a "mimic", but that one wasn't enough to convince him. We also inform everyone about our part in the defense of Torfield Palace during the Oscurati assault and tell them about the situation in Slate.
Since Carlyle is especially concerned about the whereabouts of Lord Vantrys, he presses for information and is sent to another door behind which the missing industrialists are located. Carlyle is happy to see that Nathaniel Vantrys is unharmed and he releases them all with the warning that Flint won't be safe right now, so they all better stay with Margit, Delft and the cute fairy dragon while we set out to take care of the last of the Stanfields.
We take a closer look around and see that there is only one spot left where Stanfield could be hiding, and this place is located straight upstairs in the nearby tower.
Unfortunately, the stairway to the tower turns out to be a mimic all in itself, which we quickly “disarm”. Needless to say that Delft, who watches the scene from the corner of his eye, faints anyway. After disposing of the mimic, we are left with no choice but to fly to the remaining Stanfields in the tower. We are being met with attacks and spells from above in return, and do our best to avoid them.
We land on the platform of the tower and fight back accordingly, whereupon the Stanfields switch tactics and utilize the multitude of magical lanterns as weapons against us. This comes as quite the surprise, as we so far assumed them to be necessary only as part of the Obs' ritual.
The lanterns turn out to be quite powerful, as each of them and their respective planar power manages to and burn us or hold us down for quite a while, while the Stanfields use their own abilities to strike at us. We fight the Stanfield images to the best of our own abilities, and they seem to concentrate their fire on Auryn.
Meanwhile, the roaring thunder has turned into a full-blown storm inside the harbor area and we understand that this must be the true storm fey form of Old Stag takes on on the Kraken with the best of his abilities.
Little by little we get rid of the Stanfield images, but the "main" Stanfield continues to maltreat us with highly potent spells, with which he severely harms Auryn.
Trying to catch her breath and fight through the pain, she glares at the Governor with a mixture of determination, defiance and pity.
“Why... why do you fear me that much?”, she asks, without any actual hope for an honest answer. Then she turns around to disable the last of the machines powering the ritual for good.
Carlyle, in turn, takes on the last remaining Stanfield, ready to duel him one on one.
“No matter the answer,one thing I know for sure: You do not deserve the grace and power that was given to you by Srasama.”, he declares, Kukris drawn, before he jumps right at the Deva. As Auryn is about to finish the mechanism, and while the lanterns turn dark for good, Carlyle then raises his eyes to the heavens above to call to the goddess who made him:
“Srasama, this creature has brought so much harm to the world and your children. He is not one of your kin anymore. I ask you to, please take his essence back. Remove the spark that was given, so I may enact justice upon him!”
And in response to his plea, one of the last stars, Mishados, a healer aspect of Srasama, detaches from the sky and starts falling right towards the tower. We warn the group of Delft & co. below us and barely manage to get to safety at the edge of the platform, while the star comes crashing down as a meteor, seemingly taking Stanfield down with it. As large parts of the tower crumble, the essence that made Stanfield a Deva emerges and unites with Carlyle's own.
(This was such a powerful moment. Carlyle's player did not know what was coming, and the whole “taking the essence of Srasama back from Deva who betray her” agenda started way back with Nicodemus at the Spire. So he merely declared his challenge towards Stanfield and was utterly surprised when Srasama actually aided him in return. Pure brilliance.)
At the same time, we see a huge fireball emerging in the west, followed by the storm dying off abruptly as the tentacles of the Kraken fall back into the water.
Auryn looks at the scenery unfolding at sea with shock, but she doesn't get the time to truly process what happened yet, as Stanfield doesn't stay "dead" for long. Still the Deva is no more, as he climbs back in the form of a giant Rakhshasa to face us again and roar full of rage.
(this isn't even his final form, eh?)
Carlyle realizes that his Kukris will do very little against this mythical demon, so he teleports down the tower to gather pieces of the fallen star to use as weapons. Auryn, meanwhile, gives Stanfield a death stare, produces her rapier and performs a single well-aimed strike against the Rakhshasa. She breaks through its fur and seemingly injures him only slightly. Nevertheless, as the wound was inflicted by the fabled Arsenal of Dhebisu, it begins to burst open and the Rakhshasa burns from the inside until only a tiger-like skeleton remains. Thus, it becomes crystal clear why Stanfield feared Auryn so much...
Just as Carlyle climbs back up the tower again, he sees Stanfield going down in fire, shrugs and stows away the twin meteorite blades he had gathered with a satisfied smile.
Just as we are about to regroup and heal the remaining wounds, we notice that all magic disappears suddenly. To be more precise, we still sense it existing, just not being accessible to us at the moment. We climb back the tower and agree to not think too much about that phenomenon right now as we wish to make sure our comrades are safe. But soon we realize that the storm which died off moments ago appears to be is rising again. But this time, with no Kraken around to combat, it seems to direct its fury against the city...
(Oh my... so much that happened in these last few moments. I agree with Carlyle's playerthat a PC being King/Queen at this moment would be pure gold, but we do not regret our choices in hindsight. Regarding Stanfield... well,the end was truly satisfying and it somehow concluded one of Nevard's prophecies. It came a bit out of nowhere though. We had suspected that Stanfield was complicit from adventure 2 on, but couldn't find any proof. Not sure how I would have handled the situation as a DM...trying to throw some bones at the PCs without completely spoiling the story.
Regarding the Storm...well, things are about to get dramatic. Seems like one climax is not enough for this party...)
Last edited:
Andrew Moreton
Adventurer
The big question is did anyone get hit with a train? I seem to remember that one of the Stansfields has an ability to summon a train which hits the target. It did not do a lot of damage in my fight but I know that my players wanted a way to copy that ability
hit... with a train? Uh, I don't think so. Maybe that's a 4e version power... and it sounds both ridiculous and awesome!
Andrew Moreton
Adventurer
His final technologist incarnation in pathfinder has
Subrail Strike (Su) Once per day as a standard action, the technologist incarnation can
activate a small contraption that quickly grows and disgorges a full-sized locomotive
engine made of force. The engine is 10 feet wide and 30 feet long, and it moves 50
feet in a straight line before vanishing. It passes through physical obstructions harm-
lessly, but all creatures in its path must take 10d6 points of force damage (DC 20
Reflex for half). Creatures who fail their save are pushed 5 feet along the train’s path
and knocked prone. Creatures who succeed immediately leap 5 feet to a space out of
the train’s path.
Subrail Strike (Su) Once per day as a standard action, the technologist incarnation can
activate a small contraption that quickly grows and disgorges a full-sized locomotive
engine made of force. The engine is 10 feet wide and 30 feet long, and it moves 50
feet in a straight line before vanishing. It passes through physical obstructions harm-
lessly, but all creatures in its path must take 10d6 points of force damage (DC 20
Reflex for half). Creatures who fail their save are pushed 5 feet along the train’s path
and knocked prone. Creatures who succeed immediately leap 5 feet to a space out of
the train’s path.
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