NO SPOILERS
This third
instalment of the Pathfinder Legends audio version of Curse of the
Crimson Throne comes close to meeting the strong expectations set by the first
two. It’s an impressively faithful
adaptation of the written version of the AP.
Off-hand, I can’t even think of anything major that has been left out,
though perhaps some artistic liberties were taken with the climax. The voice acting remains strong. There’s perhaps less humor in this one than
in previous ones and a couple of confusing scenes, but the overall plot is
well-handled through some excellent exposition.
I probably understand a crucial sequence of background events better from
listening to this CD than I did reading and running the adventure!
Like all of these
Pathfinder Legends audio stories, the running time is relatively short (about an
hour and a half). I got the physical two-CD
format and, as with the previous ones, the paper insert has a nice spread of
the Iconic heroes.
SPOILERS!
In this version of
Escape from Old Korvosa, the four main Iconics (Valeros, Ezren, Merisiel, and
Harsk) have spent several weeks moving from inn to inn to stay one step ahead
of the Queen’s agents. Kyra, who has
been helping Ishani Dhatri address lingering illnesses from blood veil, arrives
with the startling news that she witnessed Queen Ileosa impossibly survive an
assassination attempt from Marcus Endrin—clearly, she has powers no ordinary
human could possess. Kyra’s description
is very vivid and handled well, and she also mentions Togomor and the Queen’s
new crown.
The rest of the
story plays out fairly similarly to that in the written adventure. The PCs go to Vencarlo Orisini’s academy in
Old Korvosa to find it burned to the ground, survive a sudden attack by Red
Mantis assassins while looking for him in his house, encounter the foppish (but
funny) Amin Jalento to get a lead that Vencarlo may be with “Sebastian” (not
Salvatore, for some reason) Scream, hear from Glorio Arkona that Scream is
probably with the “Emperor of Old Korvosa”, rescue Scream and learn about that
the castle’s seneschal (Neolandus) is still alive, and return to Arkona’s
palace looking for him and Vencarlo—only to be thrown into the Vivified Labyrinth
underneath. The climax falls into cliché
territory, with Glorio ordering the sphinx Sivit to kill his rakhasa sister
Vimanda, only for the PCs to then free the magically-enslaved creature which
promptly turns and devours Glorio himself.
I think I prefer the written ending, which has the characters faced with
the dilemma of choosing which of the siblings to support, with repercussions
that can echo throughout the rest of the adventure.
Throughout the
audio version, we’re treated to scenes of a demonic creature apparently spying
on the Iconics and manipulating them for his own ends. This turns out to be Bahor (Glorio’s alter
ego); I found it intrusive rather than compelling, but I *loved* the idea of
Glorio giving the heroes “House Arkona badges” ostensibly to ease their passage
throughout Old Korvosa only to use those badges for his magical scrying
attempts. I didn’t think the Bahor/Vimanda
rivalry was particularly well-portrayed.
I also found the Iconics’ time in the labyrinth confusing, and I imagine
listeners who weren’t familiar with the plot would be even worse off.
Perhaps my
favourite part of the adventure was the representation of Laori Vaus. Not only is she (somewhat creepily)
hilarious, but the audio version draws a compelling connection between her and
Merisiel, as both are Forlorn elves who experienced the short lifespans of
humans around them. Merisiel deals with
her pain by continually running away, while Laori embraced the pain through
worshipping Zon-Kuthon. It actually
explains a lot about Laori’s background and personality that I just couldn’t
quite get a grip on in the written version.
Other things I enjoyed include Valeros’ enthusiasm for Blood Pig (it does
sound really fun as long as you don’t think about the fate of the pig), Scream’s
exposition (it’s not only 100% canon, but so much more coherent than what I was
able to role-play), and the nice lead-in to Chapter Four.
All in all, I can’t
say it’s a *perfect* audio version of the adventure, but it’s pretty good.
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