| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Rhewtani |
Posted - 17 Feb 2011 : 15:35:41
I've been doing my best to allow one of my players run his character, Heiratess (drow wizard), by e-mail while he is out of state for an indefinite amount of time. Heiratess was part of the group that liberated Phlan from the evils of Tyranthraxus. Since Phlan at the time was very backwater and people were contending with imminent threats of peril in every direction, this "drow" eventually became regarded as a dark angel, so to speak. After the third council member was assassinated, Heiratess was able to both convince House Kovel* and the Council to allow her to take a seat on the council, primarily as bait.
Cadorna supported her, because of the work the group had done for him (flying his flag alongside the flag of Phlan at the reclaiming of Sokol Keep, liberating the textile house, etc); as did Heron Valjevo*, since she is good at heart and he is noble. She survived the assassination attempts (i.e. Cadorna didn't send anyone after he didn't mind losing, and no one he thought could put her in real danger). And after the battle of Phlan the council was down to 5-6/10 members, even after replenishing their ranks with Nat Wyler and Matteo the smith. So, she kept her position right up through the final fight with Tyranthraxus, in which he was able to take the power of the pool of radiance. The backlash from this covered all of the PCs in the rapidly dissipating pool water and they were all turned to mithral before they became buried under the collapsing castle.
It took 10 years to get them out, as even with the support of the dwarven Clan Mastemyr (the family of one of the PCs), the ground was horribly unstable and constantly shifting (due to an a creature of Moander living within it, unknown to all).
In the interim, of course, the council was replenished and since she had technically vacated her post (as had Cadorna, also mithral) her position was filled. In the interim they moved to a democratically elected council members. In 1350, the pool of radiance flared back to life, this time with dark energy, not radiant energy. A wizard (actually, the lich Aeskempus in disguise) was able to use the pool (he thinks) to fuel a spell that returned the heroes to flesh.
Heiratess has been acting as a special advisor to the council while trying to piece together the result of various actions she put into motion before the battle with Tyranthraxus. She had put out a call to followers of Eilistrae to aide Phlan. They had come, but became suspected of being responsible for the murders than Ian Cockburn had been committing. She had begun work to build an orphanage in Phlan and her henchmen, the last surviving Welcomer of Phlan who had surrendered to her has actually rebuilt the thieves guild using the orphans. She hasn't quite gotten to the end of either of those investigations.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group has been using the pools of darkness as portals between the towns of New Verdigris, Hulburg, Phlan, and Melvaunt (all of which have been pulled into the Astral Sea, I think I forgot to mention that) and returning them to the Prime Material plane, more or less where they belong.
On arriving in Hulburg, they picked up a great deal of information. It's possible the Zhentarrim sack of Hulburg in 1347 was to set the stage for the experiments Marcus the Red conducted in order to create the pools of darkness. However, it seems Fzoul Chembryl has sent a group of Zhents through into the cities to investigate ~ so maybe he's not behind it (He is, of course, the investigators are cleaning up the mess. Plan A was to get Phlan and Melvaunt out of the way as Moonsea powers and claim the newly re-opened mines of New Verdigris. Plan B was to use the portals created by the pools to sneak into Old Verdigris and grab the Blade of Lathander, since Tyranthraxus is out and about again and he might find use for the weapon [in curse of the azure bonds] at some point [7 years from now]). They got trounced heartilly by Kalistes, a Marilith in Hulburg, and ended up seeking out Lord Hulmaster's assistance.
One a side note, these portals were not supposed to be accessible after Plan B. In a short amount of time (no more than a day), they would shrink to being no more than a few inches in diameter. However, Elminster followed Fzoul through, and after Fzoul escaped, Elminster held the portals open, fueled the mithral to flesh spell with silver fire, and has advised the PCs as best as he can, while actively holding the portals open with silver fire.
Which is where the DM flips open the Hulburg entry in Moonsea and sees that Lord Hulmaster needs to marry off his children. Reading the short story in Realms of the Dead, I see that the child that should become Harmach by the 1360s-1370s didn't care for his dad overmuch, I get a feel for the kind of man he is. And so he offers to assist in the destruction of the demon, in exchange for a promise of marriage and the creation of an heir, from one of the PCs. They were, after all, knighted by Phlan. A side effect of their time turned to mithral has left all of their metal gear mithral, as well, so they appear quite wealthy. And then, one of the PCs, says - somewhat unexpectedly, "I accept." Lord Hulmaster declares them married and agrees to fight the next day. All survive.
So, now, the PCs are returning to Phlan and have a series of horrifying encounters ahead of them. They will battle the spawn of Moander (but, really, who hasn't battled a spawn of Moander?), Thorne the Red Dragon that escaped their fight in Melvaunt, Marcus the Red Wizard of unfortunate naming, and Gothmenes the Balor who Marcus happens to think is Tanetal the Pit Fiend. Most of this battle will take place atop Moander's floating corpse in the astral sea.
When, if, they return victorious ~ Ericon will be the son of Lord Hulmaster, married to the 17 year old Amali, and will one day have to contend with his sons, who raised poorly, will also become horrid people.
The campaign will move forward over 1350-1357 (until curse of the azure bonds) using adventures from Dungeon Magazine. In the meantime, Ericon will be expanding Hulburg from a single castle manor to a large town if not a small city. Heiratess is seeking to reclaim a council position in Phlan.
What resources should I be using to run this aspect of the game? The geo-political, social, and even logistical side of everything? For that matter, did anyone actually make it to the bottom of this post? Let me know. |
| 1 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Rhewtani |
Posted - 22 Feb 2011 : 15:24:49
<alas>
Got a hold of a copy of Fields of Blood to flip through. I guess it could work (not anticipating warfare, so it seems a little overly complicated). I wish there was something like "kingdom builder" or somesuch ~ a guide to going from a keep to a village to a town. |
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