|
| Courts of the Shadow Fey [Parsantium] - session notes |
« View previous topic :: View next topic » |
| Author |
Message
|
| Wolfgang |
 Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 2:24 pm Post subject: |
 |
|
Kobold Overlord
Joined: 30 Dec 2007
Posts: 5008
Location: The Mines
|
Yep, the majority of those NPCs are taken from the book (Revich, Akyishigal, Moggo, Jurok, Sorreminx, Flame-Cloaked, Silver-Chained, and the Black Prince are all NPCs from CSF---Laurian the pixie is new, and maybe Shimmer as well). River King is actually from a different Open Design adventure.
In several cases Rich is clearly making them his own and/or playing off the quirks of his PCs as well, and Jurok is playing a much bigger role than I recall he has in the text as written (he's just a duelist option). I love the writeups.
_________________
Wolfgang Baur
Publisher, Kobold Press |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
| richgreen01 |
| Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2012 11:05 am Post subject: The Swan Festival |
|
|
Patron
Joined: 06 Apr 2008
Posts: 784
Location: London, UK
|
Hi,
Latest write up below. Had a LOT of fun with the horrible foods at the Swan Festival!
8th December (contd.)
The PCs return to their living quarters to fetch Saethus, only to find their rooms are filled with growing flowers that give off a soporific perfume. Krivinn and Ella fall asleep but Saethus is able to drag them outside and wake them up. They also find an invitation to the Swan Festival pinned to the doors.
The party return to the Tower of the Lords of Light where Saethus impresses Revich enough to be invited to join the faction. He gains a glowing halo and a lantern dragonette called Fenegle, and promises to help drive the Demon Lord of Roaches from the Courts.
When the PCs return to their rooms for a second time, they interrupt some kind of council meeting being held by dozens of mice. Khuma bends down to listen more closely to what they are squeaking about and they scatter in all directions.
9th - 13th December
Ella fights a duel with the roachling Yikrugrak – the ranger wins, but only just as the roachling's four blades reduce her to 2hp.
Saethus learns the True Sight ritual at the Tower of Light.
Smooth-talking* Krivinn successfully woos the Silver-Chained Courtesan, Lishekki. Ella does less well with Hargos, the Flame-Cloaked Consort who says he will listen to her entreaties if she can impress him by defeating Lord Chelessfield in a duel. Unfortunately the eladrin noble declines Ella's challenge on account of her low status.
Khuma whiles away the time drinking with the goblins.
14th December
The duelling season over, the PCs attend the Swan Festival with Krivinn escorting Lishekki. The paladin and Ella are ushered into the Great Hall; Saethus ends up in a side room and Khuma has to stand at the back with the other servants (despite dressing up in his white suit and gold turban!)
The feast begins with the first of many bizarre and disgusting courses served. Krivinn drinks the Prince's Ale; Ella and Saethus drink the Queen's Wine. After the dances by Hargos and Mora, the Rain-Cloaked Courtesan, the Black Prince orders Krivinn to fetch Ulara of Seven Veils, the courtesan who was meant to be performing the third dance. The paladin goes to her apartments and persuades her to perform.
As the feast goes on Ella impresses the court by shooting down several birds from the Raven's Pie With Archery and sending one to the Queen. She also manages to eat Jellied Badger and drink Skull Wine without being sick. Saethus and Krivinn don't do so well with the maggot-ridden Memorial Beef and throw up, losing status. Meanwhile, Khuma is enjoying the simpler food at the back and manages to swipe a swan's carcass as the plates are cleared away.
After dessert, which includes Smoke Pastry With Gold Centre which burns Ella's tongue, cockroaches sent by Akyishigal swarm all over the food and tables, bringing the feast to an abrupt end as the diners run for it.
That night, Krivinn is seduced by Ulara's kiss of fiery lust. He returns to his room in the early hours, exhausted and with only dim memories of what happened.
15th December
The PC receive an invite to go hunting with the Black Prince. Saethus pays a visit to Revich in the Tower of Light.
16th December
The hunting expedition sets off for the forest. As well as the Black Prince and the Pale Witch, Lord Chelessfield, Kolya the Kennelmaster and Lord Suvid are also on the trip.
17th December
The hunting begins with both Ella and Khuma impressing with their skills. As the PCs walk back through the forest to the Prince's lodge they are attacked by swarms of death butterflies and moths which deal a lot of damage with their deadly attacks. After a few rounds, though, the PCs get the upper hand and destroy the insects.
* in his own way, obviously - "I am a paladin of Bahamut and will rescue you from your enslavement"
Cheers
Richard |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| richgreen01 |
| Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 3:41 am Post subject: Firebird query |
|
|
Patron
Joined: 06 Apr 2008
Posts: 784
Location: London, UK
|
Hi Wolfgang,
I've got a query on the firebird chase scene. What does this mean?
"The firebird flies away with two moves (8 squares) whenever the party comes within 6 squares of it and it can move through the central black circle out to anywhere on the edge (but not the reverse)."
Does the firebird move into the black circle and then reappear at any edge? That's what I think it means but thought I would check before running this next session.
Cheers
Richard |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Wolfgang |
| Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 8:19 am Post subject: |
|
|
Kobold Overlord
Joined: 30 Dec 2007
Posts: 5008
Location: The Mines
|
Correct, the firebird can move into the black circle and reappear at any edge. It cannot fly off the edge and reappear at the circle.
Basically, the PCs need to spread out and hope to spook it into the direction of an invisible or stealthy PC (or find other tricks to catch it).
_________________
Wolfgang Baur
Publisher, Kobold Press |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| richgreen01 |
| Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 9:21 am Post subject: |
|
|
Patron
Joined: 06 Apr 2008
Posts: 784
Location: London, UK
|
| Wolfgang wrote: |
Correct, the firebird can move into the black circle and reappear at any edge. It cannot fly off the edge and reappear at the circle.
Basically, the PCs need to spread out and hope to spook it into the direction of an invisible or stealthy PC (or find other tricks to catch it). |
Thanks! Jolly helpful!
I've got another query. If the PCs get the Firebird and take it to the Queen, does this happen in the Great Hall? The text seems to imply this but the Queen's Audience Chamber map is on this page which confused me. It seems to me that presenting the Firebird should be public and then the PCs get the private audience later.
And one more - the status tables imply the PCs both gain and lose status for defeating death moths and butterflies! My group defeated the swarms in the forest while hunting with the Prince - do they gain or lose status for this?
Cheers
Rich |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Wolfgang |
| Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 1:44 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Kobold Overlord
Joined: 30 Dec 2007
Posts: 5008
Location: The Mines
|
You've got it exactly right: presenting the firebird is public, and the resulting renown gets them a private audience later. I think the layout is probably somewhat deceptive, but sometimes the map just fits better in one place than another.
For the moths/butterflies, I think that is an odd little error: good eye catching it. Killing death moths provides a status bonus. Not sure how the penalty got on that table.
_________________
Wolfgang Baur
Publisher, Kobold Press |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| richgreen01 |
| Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 9:20 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Patron
Joined: 06 Apr 2008
Posts: 784
Location: London, UK
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| richgreen01 |
| Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 12:50 pm Post subject: The Firebird |
|
|
Patron
Joined: 06 Apr 2008
Posts: 784
Location: London, UK
|
Hi,
Here's what happened in our game last night. They caught the Firebird very easily by using teleport and a grab attack.
17th December (contd.)
As the PCs head back through the forest to find the Black Prince, they run into a familiar face - the wizard-hating genasi swordmage Mal’uk, last seen chasing after a thieving kobold in the tunnels beneath Zobeck. Their former adventuring companion has come to the forest in search of the Shadow Courts, having heard that a copy of a rare ritual he is after can be found in the library. The PCs shrug their shoulders and allow Mal’uk to tag along as they join the Prince and his entourage at their camp in a forest glade.
Here, Lord Chelessfield, Master of the Alpine Marches, finally deigns to duel with Brave Ella and is quickly taught an archery lesson, losing the duel before he can land a single blow. After listening to the Prince’s hunting stories and enjoying some roast boar, the party set off after the White Hart (a hart is a mature stag). As they wander the forest, they spot a smouldering nest up a tree. Krivinn climbs up for a closer look and catches a glimpse of the legendary golden Firebird in the distance. The PCs, having decide earlier not to hunt the bird, change their minds and go after the creature. When Ella drives the Firebird towards the other PCs, Krivinn teleports next to it and grabs hold of it. With help from Saethus, the paladin bundles it into his bag of holding.
Returning through the woods to the Prince’s lodge, the party are attacked by a group of centaurs and firbolgs led by a satyr. The centaurs fire volleys of arrows into the PCs as the satyr gives three of the party living nightmares. The centaurs don’t survive very long though, as Saethus takes them down with a storm cage, followed by a fireball, after Khuma’s opening attack. Krivinn, Mal’uk and Khuma attack the three firbolgs as Ella fires arrows into the fey giants. Khuma charges and falls over, but despite this, the PCs are victorious. Only the spellcasting satyr survives, slipping away to fight another day.
Back at the lodge, Krivinn opens the bag of holding to let the Firebird have some air; its screeches are masked by Khuma’s awful fiddle playing and Ella’s even worse “Nee Ha” song.
18th December
The hunting trip is over and the Prince’s party returns to the palace. The PCs go back to their living quarters to make themselves presentable where they are met by the antenna’ed servant of the Demon Lord of Roaches, Akyishigal. They are invited to meet the demon “at the bottom of the Black Well tonight at moonrise.” The party have more pressing business, though, and head for the Great Hall to present the Firebird to the Queen.
The Queen of Night and Shadow is delighted with the party’s gift but is not impressed when Krivinn turns down her invitation to become the royal consort and her lover. The ungrateful paladin is sent packing and the Queen is then not mindful to listen to Ella’s entreaties. The PCs have no alternative but to leave the hall.
Meeting Krivinn at the top of the Black Well, the party descends into the darkness. At the bottom, Akyishigal awaits and asks the party if they are servants or food. The paladin replies with “no, we are your killers” and battle is joined. The demon lord is defended by seven roachlings who are either hard to slay or explode when the PCs deliver one a fatal blow. Akyishigal is even more fearsome, grabbing the PCs and engulfing them in hundreds of biting cockroaches. When bloodied, he splits into nine separate swarms which the party have to destroy one at a time. Saethus flees in terror but the other PCs stand firm and Mal’uk finally brings down the Demon Lord.
Cheers
Rich |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Wolfgang |
| Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 1:08 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Kobold Overlord
Joined: 30 Dec 2007
Posts: 5008
Location: The Mines
|
From the heights to the depths. Great writeup!
_________________
Wolfgang Baur
Publisher, Kobold Press |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| richgreen01 |
| Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 6:03 am Post subject: |
|
|
Patron
Joined: 06 Apr 2008
Posts: 784
Location: London, UK
|
Hi,
Tomorrow night we have the Black Prince's revenge, and an audience with the Queen. There may even be time for the first encounter in the Maze. What are those X's on the map? It says "Shadow Gate" against them, but can't find this term in the text.
Cheers
Rich |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Wolfgang |
| Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 6:13 am Post subject: |
|
|
Kobold Overlord
Joined: 30 Dec 2007
Posts: 5008
Location: The Mines
|
Shadow gate is the same as shadow doors, might be a terminology error. The portals the fey use to pop around, at any rate.
_________________
Wolfgang Baur
Publisher, Kobold Press |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| richgreen01 |
| Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 6:38 am Post subject: |
|
|
Patron
Joined: 06 Apr 2008
Posts: 784
Location: London, UK
|
| Wolfgang wrote: |
| Shadow gate is the same as shadow doors, might be a terminology error. The portals the fey use to pop around, at any rate. |
Thanks - suspected this was what they were. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| terraleon |
| Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 9:18 am Post subject: |
|
|
Contributor
Joined: 16 Jan 2008
Posts: 2032
Location: upstate NY
|
| Wolfgang wrote: |
| Shadow gate is the same as shadow doors, might be a terminology error. The portals the fey use to pop around, at any rate. |
These are probably the secret shadow doors discussed in the beginning of Act III?
-Ben.
_________________
progressio sine timore aut praejudica - Spectemur agendo |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| richgreen01 |
| Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 12:27 pm Post subject: An Audience with the Queen of Night & Magic |
|
|
Patron
Joined: 06 Apr 2008
Posts: 784
Location: London, UK
|
Hi,
Here's what happened in Monday night's game. I had to write Krivinn the paladin out of the story for a bit as his wife has just had another baby.
25th December
The PCs wake up following a well-earned extended rest after their trip into the Black Well. Now that Ella is of high status, she has two lantern dragonettes following her; Mal'uk, meanwhile, seems to be cloaked in perpetual shadows.
Krivinn receives a challenge to a duel at midnight on the Bridge of Night with Lightning Lord Suvid, Quickling Lord of Blades, to settle a matter of honour on behalf of the Black Prince. The dragonborn, of course, accepts.
That night, the PCs and the Black Prince witness the duel. Lord Suvid is very fast and scores four hits on Krivinn very quickly, winning the contest. The bridge fades into nothing beneath the paladin's feet and he falls into the darkness below. Ella and the others go down to have a look but there is no sign of the body.
Ella tries to get an insight into what happened from the obsequious Eracen, and Saethus visits the Tower of the Lords of Light – neither learn anything useful. Meanwhile, Mal'uk visits the Librarium in search of the ritual he came to the Courts looking for, but the books all seem torn or moth-eaten, and he's put off staying too long by the sleeping shadow mastiffs who wake up and start growling at him.
Later that night, the Raven Demons, firbolgs in the service of the Black Prince, break into the party's living quarters and attack the PCs while they sleep. Mal'uk saves Ella by drawing the firbolg bloodbear away from the ranger and forcing him to attack one of his companions. Ella keeps firing arrows from the door of her room, and Saethus' flaming sphere proves effective as he uses it to finish off the last two opponents.
26th December
A herald arrives from the Queen of Night and Magic, inviting Ella and the other PCs to an audience.
The party ascend the thousand steps to the Queen's audience chamber in the clouds, and ask her to intercede on behalf of Parsantium. Her Majesty is swayed by Ella, Saethus and Mal'uk's carefully-chosen words and extravagant gift, and agrees to hold off sending her viceroy to the city if the PCs will go into the Spiral Maze, enter the Tower of the Moon, and return with the Moonlit King's agreement and his orb. The Queen gives the PCs ceremonial daggers with her owl symbol – these will allow them access to the labyrinth.
Returning to the palace below, Saethus visits Revich again and asks for advice on dealing with the Maze and the King. Ella goes to the Librarium where she is able to see through the illusions hiding the books, but cannot figure out what they are telling her. The pair meet up to compare notes, and spend some time talking to various courtiers in an attempt to find out more information.
Cheers
Rich |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| richgreen01 |
| Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 12:49 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Patron
Joined: 06 Apr 2008
Posts: 784
Location: London, UK
|
Hi,
Here's the write up for last night's game. Just the Eye Golem and the Moonlit King to go!
27th December
The PCs go to see if Maggo the goblin “king” knows anything about the maze or the Moonlit King. He warns the party not to let the King see their true forms. Perhaps they can disguise themselves magically, or else, with large hats. Sceptical, Saethus goes to see Revich again and is told the goblin is talking nonsense.
There’s nothing for it but to head into the Spiral Maze, using the ceremonial daggers they were given by the Queen to get past the monolith footmen and open the door. The PCs enter the labyrinth, using the tried and tested tactic of always turning left until they end up back where they started. As they wander through the dark avenues between the thorny hedges and black stone walls, the party glimpse a floating eyeball watching them. As soon as they notice it, it disappears into the foliage.
Mal’uk uses his teleport power to get on top of the maze walls and works out where the Tower of the Moon is located. The PCs set off again, trying to aim for the light coming from the tower. In a clearing, lantern dragonettes gather around a brazier for warmth. Ella approaches recklessly, and the dragonettes flee to their roosts as the brazier’s magic roots her to the spot and shadow demons rise out of the ground to attack the party. Both demons surround themselves and the party with magical darkness, although Saethus is able to dispel one of the zones quite quickly. Mal’uk tries to get close enough to the brazier to destroy it but keeps getting immobilised by its magic and attacked by a shadow demon. Eventually he is able to banish the annoying magical trap to another plane, and Khuma slays the first shadow demon after Ella has weakened it with her radiant longsword. The second demon flees into the walls of the maze and the lantern dragonettes reappear. Mal’uk creates a magical campsite for them with a campfire to keep them warm after getting rid of their brazier. The little dragons talk to the PCs for the first time, telling them where to search beneath the maze walls for treasure. The genasi conjures an unseen servant to dig it up – it finds a chest containing a +4 duelist’s bow and two potions of vitality.
The party continue to wander the labyrinth, entering a dense, confusing hedge maze after leaving the dragonettes behind. Their route leads them into a large area with a vine-covered tree in the centre. Four gaunt troll skeletons and an evil-looking dryad stand underneath the dead branches. The duskthorn dryad traps Mal’uk in her briar cage as the troll skeletons go to attack the other PCs. Saethus conjures his flaming sphere to stop the trolls regenerating and after knocking nearly all of them down, Ella uses her new bow to shoot at their hearts hidden in the branches of the tree, killing them for good. With the trolls destroyed, the dryad fades into the ground along with the vines.
Cheers
Rich |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
|
|
