Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 54 [RPG]

[Moonday, 13 Erastus 4708 A.R. continued]

 

After weeks traversing the rocky red wilderness of the Cinderlands, the Harrowed Heroes have returned to Korvosa!  But plumes of smoke indicate portions of the city are aflame, and patrols of Gray Maidens on hippogriffs, lances gleaming in the sun, are also visible.  The group decide to visit Hedge Wizardry first, so The Reckoner expends several charges from a magical wand to allow them to glide over the city undetected.  But when they arrive at Eodred’s Walk (the collection of permanent stores next to the temporary stalls of the Gold Market), they find the place almost completely deserted!  An unfurled scroll tacked to the front door of the shops proclaim a week of feasting through Founders Day in honour of Queen Ileosa and her founding of “New Korvosa”. 

 

Fortunately, Phaeton Skoda is visible through the window of his shop, apparently trying to bring a semblance of order to the cluttered and chaotic shelves inside.  The Reckoner taps on the glass to get his attention, and Phaeton ushers his visitor in quickly.  Still grateful for the rescue of his cousin months ago, Phaeton’s willing to do business despite the official ban.  He explains that an enormous statue of Ileosa has been built on Jeggare Isle and is to be officially unveiled tomorrow, on Founders Day, and that pretty much everything in the city has been closed to “encourage” residents to attend.  When asked, Phaeton explains that the fires were set deliberately by the Gray Maidens to destroy any houses or buildings they suspect are linked to the rebellion that started in the Shingles.  And apparently, it’s now public knowledge that Grau Soldado is the leader of the rebellion as he was attacked by Red Mantis assassins and is now believed either dead or in hiding.

 

Once outside, The Reckoner shares what he’s learned and turns everyone invisible again as they use the Sun Shaman’s spell to drift silently to the former’s safehouse in Old Korvosa.  Perhaps surprisingly, this area of the city—recently a place of rioting, anarchy, and would-be warlords like the “Emperor of Old Korvosa”—seems safer and more sedate.  Visible patrols of guards wearing the livery of House Arkona indicate that perhaps Glorio has decided to expand his influence and fill the vacuum of authority in the area.  Anorak checks over his nearby workshop and finds everything exactly as he left it—including the mysterious box given him to by the strange baker, Mortimont.

 

[Toilday, 14 Erastus 4708 A.R.]

 

Founders Day is traditionally a day of feasting and frivolity in Korvosa, a holiday for the primarily Chelish population to celebrate the establishment of the colony 300 years ago.  But today, as the Harrowed Heroes discover walking the streets invisibly, the mood is not one of joy.  Instead, a gloomy air of resignation fills the few citizens visible on the streets.  Patrols of Gray Maidens are everywhere, and martial law and the hunt for suspected rebels continues.

 

The newly-returned travellers make their way to the Gray District, the massive cemetery overseen by the Church of Pharasma.  Goldcape and The Reckoner lead Anorak into the utter stillness of Potter’s Ward, the final resting ground for Korvosa’s poor and homeless.  There, in one of the many crumbling mausoleums, Cressida Kroft’s own band of rebels have been planning a dramatic strike for several weeks.  But when The Reckoner notices a gravedigger lurking around the mausoleum, he suspects either a spy or a trap.  Still invisible, the vigilante silently approaches and then leaps on the man, grabbing him around the shoulders and demanding to know what he’s doing there.  The man is shocked, even moreso when he sees the crudely-disguised Red Mantis mask that The Reckoner wears.  The man puts up a struggle, and the fact that the edges of his shovel have been sharpened to a razor-edge demonstrate he’s no mere gravedigger.  Goldcape intervenes, as everyone’s heard of “The Golden Monkey”, but still the shaken man is suspicious it could be illusion magic.  When Goldcape allows him to (painfully) pull a yellow hair from her arm, the man is finally satisfied.  He doesn’t apologise, but tells the group he’ll deliver the message that they’ve arrived and then unlocks the door to the mausoleum and disappears inside.

A few minutes later, Cressida Kroft emerges, looking bemused.  “You have got to stop wearing those Red Mantis masks,” she says wryly.  It looks as though the past few weeks have done wonders for both her mood and her health—she no longer looks as exhausted, mentally and physically, as she did when she was leading the Korvosan Guard under Ileosa’s reign.  She leads the visitors through a trap door in the floor of the mausoleum and into an ossuary below that is lit with torches on the walls and the strange blue light from patches of glowing mold.  There, it is clear that final preparations are in way for today’s operation, as several individuals bustle about preparing weapons and looking at maps.  Kroft points out Bishop d’Bear, the head of the Church of Pharasma, who has been the rebellion’s liaison with The Reckoner during his time in the Cinderlands.  With a sigh, Kroft points out another individual—a florid and heavyset man with short brown hair and dark eyes.  Goldcape recognises him as Boule, Guildmaster of the Cerulean Society!

 

Kroft introduces Boule, her words bitter but resigned.  “Tell them, Boule,” she says.  “Tell them why I’m tolerating your presence.”  After a smirk and an exaggerated bow, Boule replies.  “Yes, let me get right to the point.  We may operate on different sides of the law, but we can agree that Ileosa is not good for Korvosa.  I want her gone as much as you.  And while I feel that neither I nor my . . . associates . . . are the right ones for the task, you, brave adventurers, have proven time and time again that you are precisely what Korvosa needs.  Without the Gray Maidens to police the streets or the Red Mantis to stalk the alleys, Ileosa’s grip on Korvosa will slip.  Yet in their fortress at the Longacre Building, the Red Mantis and the Gray Maidens are bolstered against attack, and many who work within the building may yet be innocent, forced to comply with the queen against their will.  But as it happens, I know of a back door into the chambers below.  I know the secret . . . to Deathhead Vault!”

The Reckoner is immediately put off both by Boule’s mannerisms and his association with Glorio Arkona, suspecting this may be part of a stratagem to gain influence within the resistance as a natural alternative to Ileosa as leader of Korvosa.  Wary of a trap, The Reckoner grabs Boule by his shirtfront and almost growls for assurance that whatever plan Boule is proffering is legitimate.  Boule is definitely shaken, but as he gives those assurances, he is also clearly seething at the indignity of being threatened—especially so publicly.  Kroft interjects, and says Boule has explained the situation poorly.  She says the reason they’ve been waiting for Founders Day is that much of Ileosa’s security forces will be at the statue unveiling.  This makes it feasible to launch hit-and-run raids on the Longacre Building from the surface (by she, d’Bear, and their allies) to draw out defenders, while another group (The Reckoner, Goldcape, and Anorak) enter the Deathhead Vaults from below to free prisoners, steal plans, and generally throw the Gray Maidens into disarray.  Regaining his composure, Boule explains that he knows about the secret entrance because the Cerulean Society once used it to smuggle out valuable Guild members and others who happened to find themselves incarcerated.  He shows the group a map with a route through the sewers, points out where the secret door is, and even proffers a key.  And with a flourish, he reveals something even Kroft didn’t know: he’s “leaked” a set of fake “coded documents from the rebellion” into the hands of Kordaitra, the Gray Maiden’s second-in-command, who fancies herself a codebreaker—and thus, she will likely be in the building during the raid and vulnerable to capture or assassination! With the attacks planned for noon (the same time Ileosa’s statute is to be unveiled), the Harrowed Heroes agree to the plan despite strong reluctance on The Reckoner’s part over Boule’s involvement.

Boule’s map leads the group through the sewers of Korvosa all the way from Midland to North Point.  Long stretches of the route are through ancient, abandoned sewers that are completely dry, and fortune seems to favour the group as they encounter no obstacles for most of their journey.  But then the map leads them into a brick-lined tunnel that has a wide trough of murky water on one side and a narrow, slimy walkway on the other.  After some minutes, a wall of rusty iron bars with an equally rusty gate atop the walkway blocks passage further into the tunnel, but the map indicates the secret door should be along the wall at a point somewhere past the gate.  Before they can decide how to proceed, a strange half-roar, half-bleating sound echoes down the tunnel and then a massive beast with a boar-like head, antlers, a thick bullish body, and cloven hooves charges the gate from the far side!  With just seconds to act, the Harrowed Heroes prepare their defences.  The beast snorts and bleats again, and then exhales a cloud of horrid gas that fills the tunnel.  The Reckoner and Goldcape each catch a whiff and rapidly become deathly ill.  The creature charges the gate again and again to break through, but—despite its appearance—it’s actually of new, solid construction and holds.  The Reckoner and Goldcape retreat while Anorak launches a few fireballs to drive the beast back into the darkness.

Although Anorak and Rocky managed to hold their breath and are completely fine, The Reckoner and Goldcape barely survive whatever toxins were in the monster’s breath.  Knowing they can’t go forward in their present state, The Reckoner volunteers to make the trek back to Eodred’s Walk alone.  It takes him a good 45 minutes to get there through the sewers, and when he emerges, he finds Phaeton isn’t there!  He decides to try to pick the lock to the back door, but receives a nasty electrical shock for his effort.  A look at the windows reveals magical alarms that he’s not equipped to deal with.  Stymied, The Reckoner knows time is of the essence if the planned simultaneous assault from above and below is to work—yet time is slipping away . . .

---------------------------------------------

GM's Commentary

A giant statue of Ileosa being unveiled?  That sounds like. . . foreshadowing!

I always like working in natural holidays on the calendar, so when I saw Founders Day coming up, I made sure it served multiple purposes.

I don't remember the name of the beast at the end, but its poison breath attack sure was nasty--I think it did something like Constitution damage.

Starfinder Society Scenario # 4-99: "A Time of Crisis" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

A Time of Crisis is a multi-table Starfinder Society Special for characters leveled 1-6.  I experienced it at the high-subtier with my embri Mystic of Pharasma, Speaker for the Dead, though because that was a year ago and my memory is fuzzy (time creates crises in all of us . . .), this review is primarily based on reading the adventure afterwards (and for whatever reason, I read the low-subtier version of the scenario--I'm not sure if there are changes in substance or just encounters between them).  Anyway, awkward introduction aside, I think there's a lot to like in this Special.  It starts out with a bang (and a classic sci-fi premise), makes good use of teamwork with a variety of mission types, and (perhaps refreshingly, even though I love continuity) serves well as a standalone adventure that doesn't require anything in the way of storyline lore knowledge to enjoy.  It's more streamlined than some past PFS/SFS specials that got pretty bloated with detail.

Also--cool cover!

SPOILERS!

As the title hints at, A Time of Crisis officially introduces the Drift Crisis event to Starfinder Society.  I'm not a big fan of the Drift Crisis concept, but it works out in a cool way here as the Special starts with the PCs aboard a ship about to crash planetside!  I have long advocated for some different and more original ways for scenarios to start (instead of the traditional exposition- and question- heavy briefing), and we certainly get that here.  The premise is that the PCs are aboard a ship that's part of a fleet under the command of a veteran Starfinder named Bennock Gunstrel.  The fleet is on its way toward a planned archaeological dig in the Vast, but when the Drift Crisis occurs, it shunts the fleet out of the Drift and towards a crash landing.  In essence, the fleet is stranded on an unknown planet in the uncharted Rucabi system and the Starfinders have to survive for as long as they can until (hopefully) help arrives.

Unlike many past Specials, there aren't set Mustering activities--just role-playing as people get seated.  

In Part 1, the adventure itself really kicks off with everyone planetside and Gunstrel handing out tasks the survivors of the crash need to complete urgently.  These are called "Recovery Missions", and there are four of them.  If a table finishes one before it's time to transition to Part 2, they can move on to another one.  The missions include "We're Going Down" (trying to keep a freighter with a decaying orbit from crashing hard; essentially a very easy skill challenge with no actual danger); "What's Out There" (a basic combat against a "dromaeosaurid" on the verdant planet the fleet crashed on), "Stuck and Sinking" (a more intensive mission to rescue the crew of a ship sinking in thick mud--again, no real danger), and "We're Not Alone" (the longest mission, involving exploration of a crashed ship that is not one of the Starfinder fleet!).

Part 2 starts after an hour, and assumes the Starfinders have weathered the immediate crisis, established a base camp, and have spent some days getting to know their local area.  The premise of this part is that the PCs need to improve their camp and secure it for the long haul.  These are called "Build Missions", and there are six options.  "Improve the Camp" is very open form, and allows PCs to use pretty much any skill they can justify.  "Gather Supplies" has a battle with the multi-armed monsters on the cover, "hepongols".  "Transport Materials" has the PCs sent out to gather a mineral called mekerite (something that can be processed into fuel) but attacked by crest-eaters.  "Guard Duty" has the PCs manning fixed turret emplacements (fun!) during an attack by ravenous drakes.  "Repair Work" has the PCs trying to scale communication towers to fix them but having to fend off aerial devils at the same time (the complications of three-dimensional combat likely arises here).  "Making Friends" is the role-playing mission of the bunch, as the mysterious crashed ship from Part I turns out to be a Weydanite ship, and the survivors are located and can be interacted with for help.

Part 3 is "Defend the Camp!"  The "Defend" missions are premised on the idea that the buildup of planar energy on the planet's crust from the Drift Crisis manifests as openings to the Plane of Elemental Earth, spilling forth threats like "earthtouched hepongols" ("Defend Mission # 1: Intruders!"), earth elementals ("Defend Mission # 2: Planar Incursion"), and thoqquas ("Defend Mission # 3: Good Neighbors").  

100 minutes after Part 3 begins, the Special ends with a Conclusion that has a rescue fleet arrive to take everyone back to the Pact Worlds.  There's thus no big "boss battle" like in most previous Specials, and so the ending might feel a little anti-climactic.  Because the transitions between each Part occur based on (real-world) time even if no missions are completed successfully, there are really no consequences for failure, either.  It would be interesting to see a Special with very real stakes, where future storylines really do depend on how events are resolved.  All in all though, I think A Time of Crisis was a fun, solid experience and especially well-suited for players who are new or unfamiliar with the history of the Starfinder Society.

Pathfinder Playtest: "Belgian Grapefruit Wit T-Shirt" [RPG]

 I've been playing Pathfinder for a long time and I'm still not sure what the connection/joke is between goblins and beers.  But I do like this shirt--it's fun, colourful, and just a little weird.  What more could you ask for?

Pathfinder Map Pack: "Labyrinths" [RPG]

I took off the cling-wrap to Labyrinths last night and used it for the first time in a session.  The adventure I was running says there's a labyrinth full of traps and monsters the PCs have to navigate but provides little in the way of detail and no map of the labyrinth, so I thought it was a good opportunity to test out the map pack.  Essentially, the cards in the map pack are a bunch of narrow, one-square wide stone corridors branching off in multiple directions on each card.  Depending on how you configure them, you could have a path through to some goal or just a bunch of dead ends.  The corridors are fairly plain, with some occasional subtle details like an arrow or a cracked tile--nothing to write home about.  Honestly, I'm not really sure there's a lot of use for them apart from something a GM can slap down on the table when they need some narrow corridors and don't know what else to do.  I guess if a GM planned carefully and set them up ahead of time, they could construct a path through and have all the cards the PCs aren't currently on be face-down to help emphasize the "labyrinth" part of the cards.  So, mildly interesting but definitely inessential.

Pathfinder: "Paizo GenCon 2013 Pin Set" [RPG]

The Paizo GenCon 2013 Pin Set is a set of five round pins with the traditional "don't mess up or you'll blood" clasp on the back.  According to the website, the pins were released to celebrate Mythic Adventures, Season 5 of PFS, and the Wayne Reynolds' book Visions of WAR.  One of the pins depicts a goblin, one depicts classic Valeros, one depicts the PFS Season 5 "Year of the Demon" logo, and the other two are more Wayne Reynolds art.  I can't really foresee a use for these pins, but a collector's gotta collect, so in my display cabinet they'll stay!

Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 53 [RPG]

[Sunday, 12 Erastus 4708 A.R., continued]

The Battle of Flameford isn’t over yet!  The Reckoner persuades his allies to give chase to the Cinderlander, the feared Shoanti-killer, who had just disappeared over the side of the plateau.  After pausing briefly to heal and renew magical protections, the Harrowed Heroes rush to the cliff-side and search for their foe.  The Cinderlander is adept at hiding, as even The Reckoner’s perceptive eyes can’t spot him—but when Goldcape casts a spell to detect magical auras in the area, the Cinderlander strikes!  He emerges on a ledge just below the top of the plateau and shoots at Rocky, no doubt hoping to deprive his pursuers of their aerial advantage.  But this time, fate is against him, as his crossbow jams.  The Reckoner leaps down to the edge and begins doing what he does best and, realising there is no escape and preferring death over capture, the Cinderlander manoeuvres himself to the very edge of the cliff so that, with a final blow from The Reckoner, his body is swept off the plateau to fall to certain death.

The victorious trio make their way carefully down the cliff and see the devastation wrought upon Flameford from the giants’ hurled boulders.  They help with the wounded, pulling many victims out from under crushed yurts and shattered rock.  Soon, Thundercallers carry Krojun’s body down from the top of the plateau, and the camp takes on an even more mournful aspect than before.  Goldcape asks if she could assist with bringing Krojun back to life, but is told such an act is for the Sun Shaman to decide.  The Reckoner notes that battle was the closest he’s come to his own death in many battles.

Some hours later, the wind carries the Sun Shaman, Chief Ready-Klar, and their escorts back to Flameford.  Ready-Klar assesses the situation immediately, and begins gathering his people.  Meanwhile, the Sun Shaman tells the clan’s new allies that he is prepared to share the secrets they seek.  He takes them to his own yurt where the sacred flame of the Sklar-Quah burns without fuel.  This is the tale he relates:

“Many hundreds of years ago, a man named Mandraivus gathered a small group of heroes to fight a despotic blue dragon named Kazavon, and my ancestor was one who joined this crusade.  This ancestor, a shaman named Amarund, was gone for months.  When she finally returned she was not the same woman—her hands shook, her eyes carried a haunted stare, and she cried out in fear at night.  She spoke little of what she had experienced while fighting at Mandraivus’s side, but she did say that they were successful in defeating Kazavon and that the dragon’s fortress of Scarwall in Belkzen was now under Mandraivus’s control.”

“While Kazavon had been defeated, his will to live was so immense that even the remains of his body twitched.  The heroes attempted to destroy the remains, but key fragments of the dragon’s skeleton resisted even their most destructive spells.  Mandraivus tasked the seven surviving heroes, among them Amarund, with each claiming one of the bony relics of Kazavon’s body and taking them far from Scarwall.  None of the seven would communicate where they were going to the others or to Mandraivus in hopes of ensuring that their chosen relics would remain hidden and guarded for all time in order to prevent the dragon from returning to life.”

“Amarund told this story to her fellow shamans and revealed that her selected relics were the dragon’s fangs, which she called Midnight’s Teeth.  She and the other shamans chose the ancient pyramid on the shores of Conqueror’s Bay as the fangs’ reliquary.  After hiding them in a secret room deep inside the pyramid, Amarund and her descendants swore to ensure the fangs would remain safe.”

“For generations, they maintained their task—until Cheliax invaded and drove us off.  The few survivors who knew the secret of the fangs were forced to flee with their kin into the Cinderlands.  For the next three centuries the knowledge was passed from Sun Shaman to Sun Shaman, and we have watched with fearful eyes as the city of Korvosa has grown up around our ancient reliquary.”

“The fragments of Kazavon’s soul are like seeds—once they find soil in which to grow, they can bloom into a mighty tree.  Doubtless, this is the case with the Queen of Korvosa—her innate cruelty has been enhanced greatly by the Midnight’s Teeth.  Worse, she now possesses two souls—her own, and one grown from the fragment of Kazavon’s.  Having two souls in one body must grant her incredible power over her own mortality.”

“Yet, there is a way these souls can be weakened.  Kazavon’s soul is fuelled by the power of the spirits trapped within Castle Scarwall, a haunted place of dread since Mandraivus and his band invaded, slew the dragon, and dispersed.  If the curse can be lifted, Kazavon’s soul and Ileosa’s will no longer lend her body immortality.  But my people know little of Scarwall since Amarund fled with the Midnight’s Teeth.  I have spoken with Thousand Bones, and his people relate to me a song carried by mournful spirits on the wind.”

Fate of steel—Serithtial

Her cage for years sustained.

Four enthralled in lost Scarwall;

Undead to keep her chained.

A spirit first, red war his thirst

Still stands at post of old;

A second foe, infernal soul

Waits high in tower cold.

In kennel’s grime, third bides his time

Then vents his killing breath.

And on a stone ‘mid ash and bone,

The final dreams of death.

The spirits worn and battle torn

And locked in their damnation,

The chained one’s hold at last grows old

And ushers in salvation.

Yet hope remains amid the chains

When blade’s stone cage has crumbled,

Friends to dread and death of the dead,

Keys to Kazavon humbled.

“Those are the secrets of my people, and that is what I have to offer to the friends of the Sklar-Quah this day.”

The listeners thank him and express their hopes that if the information is used well, the Shoanti will benefit as well.  The Sun Shaman says he knows little of Scarwall as it stands now, only that legend says it is a haunted place, and neither the living nor the dead may depart once they enter within.  When asked about Krojun, the Sun Shaman says he was the mightiest and bravest warrior of the Sklar-Quah and died an honourable death.  His body will be taken to the Kallow Mounds, and if the shamans of the Skoan-Quah believe his spirit should be returned, then it will be so.  Anorak asks if a message containing his respect and promise to remember Krojun forever can be delivered as well.  Hearing Chief Ready-Klar’s voice fade away outside and knowing the time for talking has come to an end, the Sun Shaman anticipates his listeners’ request for aid in travelling to Korvosa quickly and says he can summon the wind spirits to hasten their journey.

Outside, it’s clear that Ready-Klar has made a fateful decision.  Flameford will be abandoned at dawn, and the Sklar-Quah will return to their nomadic ways.  The warriors will head to the north and drive the giants out of the Cinderlands, while those who cannot fight will shelter in caves out of harm’s way.  Goldcape suggests to him that the Sklar-Quah form an alliance with the other clans of the Cinderlands, and Ready-Klar nods that it may be time to put past differences aside for the sake of all Shoanti.  He nods his farewell to the Korvosans, and says they’ll be welcome to stay with the Sklar-Quah again should they return to the area.  Anorak seeks out the brave Thundercaller who joined in the battle on the plateau, and gifts the man his horse—a gift that carries with it much honour in the ways of the Sklar-Quah.

[Moonday, 13 Erastus 4708 A.R.]

At dawn, as the Sklar-Quah pack their mounts, the Harrowed Heroes make their final farewells and then experience the Sun Shaman’s mastery over the wind spirits first-hand.  Their bodies grow almost weightless as they rise into the air and, with but a thought, they can turn themselves nearly as transparent as the air itself!  The winds propel them in their desired direction at incredible speeds, allowing them to cover in an hour the same distance it would take three days to walk!

Their first destination is the strange, octagonal-walled city of Kaer Maga.  This time, the travellers are intent on getting in and out of the city quickly, before the Sun Shaman’s magic wears off.  They unload thousands and thousands of gold pieces of treasure found during their adventures in the Cinderlands.  In addition, knowing they’ll have an even longer trip in the future to Scarwall (in the orc-infested Hold of Belkzen), they seek out a place to purchase teleportation magic.  In a dimly-lit and cluttered shop, an obsequious figure—surely a vampire!—has what they’re looking for, even if the scrolls he sells them are covered in greenish slime and a book of spells for Anorak has “paper” made from human skin!  The shopkeeper offers to pay Goldcape for a small patch of her skin or a taste of her blood, but the vanara adamantly refuses. 

As the group is leaving the shop, two orcs rudely push their way in and Goldcape recognises their tribal markings as belonging to orcs of the One Eye tribe of the Blood Plains—from Belkzen!  Hearing this, The Reckoner tries to strike up a conversation but is mocked by the surly orcs until, in a misunderstanding, they take him to be a slave trader and offer to buy Goldcape and Anorak from him.  He declines, but in the course of the conversation is able to gather two potentially useful pieces of information: the giant army of the north has not pushed into Belkzen, and the area around Scarwall is the territory of a tiny orc tribe (the Deadwatchers) because no one else wants it.

Fortunately, unlike last time they visited the city, the travellers are able to leave Kaer Maga without bloodshed.  Anorak persuades the group to head to Janderhoff so he can warn the people of his birthplace about the giant army’s use of “portal spikes” to make surprise raids.  At the gates of the largely-subterranean city, they see security has in fact been tightened already, and every visitor is questioned and searched.  The gate guards disbelieve Anorak’s tale (deeming it too fantastical), but The Reckoner manages to persuade them to deliver the information to their superiors.  Anorak also has a message delivered to Kaptra Dorethain, the dwarf who aided them on their last visit to the city, explaining that they’re not able to accept the job of searching for her missing husband.

The group set off again.  Travelling a mile every minute (and with Goldcape’s keen sense of direction), the travellers finally see Korvosa on the horizon.  But in the bright light of the mid-afternoon sun, plumes of smoke are clearly visible: the city is in flames! 

After leaving Kovosa for weeks under the thrall of the cruel Queen Ileosa, will the Harrowed Heroes find there’s nothing of the city left to save?

-----------------------------

GM Commentary

I always have some players who hate the critical fumble rules when they roll one, but when it's a bad guy like the Cinderlander suffering them, those complaints don't arise :)

The AP's scripted speech of the Sun Shaman was fantastic.  It's hard to convey so much exposition in a way that's interesting, and I thought the writing here was great.  I think I tinkered a little with the last bit, because I wanted to emphasise that lifting the curse on Scarwall was what was necessary to remove Ileosa's immortality, with Serithtial just a nice, optional bonus (the whole "need super enchanted magic weapon to defeat the bad guy" was both cliche and already done in Rise of the Runelords).

Anorak does some good role-playing bits here in relation to Janderhoff, something I should have given him more credit for at the time.

Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 52 [RPG]

 [Fireday, 10 Erastus 4708 A.R. continued]

 

One purple worm has been slain, but a second is rapidly approaching!  Goldcape struggles as poison courses through her body, turning her muscles into jelly—even her nature magic doesn’t seem able to overcome it.  Seconds later, crashing into the adventurers like a tidal wave, the other subterranean monster makes its appearance—and it’s even larger than the first one!  Anorak weakens it with a powerful fire spell, but when The Reckoner tries to close the distance, he takes a vicious smash from its tail and is sent flying backwards!  Anorak unleashes a second fireball and Rocky joins the fight, but the roc is impaled by the worm’s stinger and poisoned.  After a short but intense battle, the worm collapses, dead, after The Reckoner leaps into the air and finishes it with a powerful downward slam of his war-maul.

 

With both Goldcape and Rocky suffering from purple worm venom, the decision to escape the tunnels as soon as possible is an easy one.  Hours pass as the travellers, with Krojun still trailing behind, navigate the labyrinthine tunnels.  During their walking, two members of the group receive magical messages, but from quite different sources.  From Korvosa, Bishop Keppira d’Bear tells The Reckoner that the resistance operation is still going forward: “Kroft says can’t delay. Operation only works during Founding Festival.  Will proceed without you, but if can make it, meet at same place for briefing.”  The Reckoner replies he and the others will try their best.  Sometime later, Goldcape receives a series of sendings from Yraelzin, last seen heading north to try to slow the giant armies encircling Urglin before they can continue south: “Goldcape, you won’t believe who I ran into!  You remember those other tshamek the Moon Maidens spoke about?  It’s the Kodar Kneecappers & Trinia! I--”  “Stupid spell.  Important: We’re going to raid giant leader’s camp to stop siege on Urglin, but they’ve been practicing with magic portal spike that can—“ “Last one—have to save my energy!  The portal can take a dozen giants anywhere—Korvosa, Janderhoff, who knows! Be careful and talk soon.”  Goldcape replies that Yraelzin should hurry as the group need him, and she also reminds him of the resistance’s plan for an operation during the Founding Festival.

When the group reach the surface a couple of hours before dawn, they’re tired but decide to try to press on for Flameford as only a few days remain until the Founding Festival on 14 Erastus.  With Rocky incredibly fatigued from the purple worm poison, Goldcape decides to try something new.  After asking his permission, she draws a magical scroll from her bag and turns him into a small, hand-sized figurine!

But navigating the largely barren landscape of the Cinderlands is harder than it seems, a fact Krojun knows well as he watches silently.  After realising they’ve been heading in the wrong direction, and with the day’s heat rising, the group decide to find a shaded overhang to camp under.

[Starday, 11 Erastus 4708 A.R.]

After sleeping all day, the group finish their journey to Flameford as the sun sets.  Before leading the others through the maze of spike stones, Krojun hands his earthbreaker to Anorak, telling him to hold it for him to help him avoid temptation.  He then leads The Reckoner off to the side for a private conversation.  Krojun says it is abundantly clear that The Reckoner and his companions are adept warriors, and that as they have endured the Trial of the Totems, he will not stand in the way of them obtaining information from the Sun Shaman.  But, Krojun adds, he’s not fooled about the group’s motivations for coming to the Cinderlands.  Despite them being named tribal allies, Krojun says the group have simply come to take from the Sklar-Quah and will depart, never to return once they have what they want.  The Reckoner concedes his reason for coming is to help his own people in Korvosa, but that doesn’t mean he and the others will never return.  And, he adds, perhaps it is Krojun who will come to Korvosa for aid in the future.

Once in Flameford, Krojun confers privately with the Sun Shaman.  Afterwards, the Sun Shaman confirms that the visitors have earned the full respect of the Sklar-Quah and can be trusted with the secrets of the tribe.  He says he must consult with his ancestors by communing with them in the Kallow Mounds, but will return the next day.  With a whisper to the spirits of the land, a powerful wind lifts him, Chief Ready-Klar, and four of the tribe’s thundercallers into the air and towards the east.

Later that evening, as Krojun is carving a spear, The Reckoner talks to him about how he met the others and about how Queen Ileosa has brought so much suffering and cruelty to Korvosa.  He says Ileosa is a danger to the Shoanti as well, as she’ll never be satisfied with peace.  Krojun, however, reminds The Reckoner that the Sklar-Quah never endorsed the Skoan-Quah’s treaty embassy to Korvosa.  Indeed, Krojun muses, perhaps the time has finally come for a war that will reclaim the ancestral Shoanti lands taken from them when the invaders first laid claim to the land that became Korvosa.

Before turning in for the night, Goldcape gives The Reckoner a sredna loop as thanks for saving Rocky (now returned to normal form) from the purple worm that had swallowed him weeks earlier.

[Sunday, 12 Erastus, 4708 A.R.]

Early in the morning, as the camp is preparing for another day in the harsh environment around them, The Reckoner is out checking the camp’s defences when he notices a strange, purplish-green glow coming from the top of the eighty-feet-high cliffs that loom over the camp.  He’s not sure what to make of it, but brings it to the attention of Goldcape and Anorak—and each recognise it as some kind of teleportation magic.  Goldcape hops on Rocky’s back to check it out, and is stunned to see a strange glowing device that looks like a giant metal spike has been stuck into the top of the cliff, and behind it is a glowing circular doorway to another place!  Giants, each marked on the brow with a seven-pointed star, can be seen through the portal, lined up near an identical glowing spike.  Near the magical spike on the clifftop side of the portal, undoubtedly the one who activated it, is a rugged-looking human wielding a crossbow, seemingly guarded by a firepelt cougar—surely this must be the Cinderlander!  Goldcape yells “Giants!” and rouses the camp to battle.

While Anorak and The Reckoner spend precious seconds preparing themselves for the battle to come, Goldcape engages the enemy with magical hailstorms and a flurry of arrows.  But in return, she has to dodge a volley of crossbow bolts from the Cinderlander and rocks hurled by the giants.  Realising the camp has been alerted, the giants on the clifftop begin their assault by hurling boulders, crushing yurts and any Shoanti unlikely enough to be inside.  Krojun tries to rally his warriors to counterattack, but hurled spears barely reach the clifftop and scaling the steep side of the plateau will take time—and with every passing moment, more and more giants pass through the portal!  But then Anorak and The Reckoner are ready to get into the fight, and Anorak conjures a magical doorway to take himself, The Reckoner, Krojun, and a nearby Thundercaller to the clifftop.

The Reckoner decides he needs to stem the flow of enemy reinforcements, and heads straight for the magical portal spike.  As he starts smashing it with his enchanted war-maul, the enemy—hill giants, stone giants, and even their apparent leader, a cloud giant—converge to try to stop him.  Anorak is drawn into the fight, while Goldcape continues circling on Rocky’s back, wisely using spells and arrows to stay out of the giants’ reach.   Meanwhile, Krojun sees the Shoanti’s most hated enemy—the legendary Cinderlander—and charges in, rage fuelling his attacks!

The battle around the portal spike is one of the most intense the Harrowed Heroes have ever had.  The cloud giant—almost twenty feet tall—repeatedly slams his tree-trunk sized morningstar into The Reckoner.  Anorak manages to dispatch two of the weaker giants with carefully-placed fireball after fireball, finishing them off with his waraxe.   But concentrating on magic makes the dwarf lose concentration on defense, and he’s battered to the ground, unconscious.  The Reckoner, badly wounded, manages to shatter the portal spike with another mighty swing, and the portal fades away into nothingness.  Finally able to concentrate on the foes around them, he smashes the kneecap of the cloud giant and finishes him off once he crumbles to the ground.  But the others have lost sight of Krojun in the midst of the melee, and discover why the Cinderlander is so feared by the Shoanti—enchanted bolts tear gaping holes in the brave’s flesh before he can even reach the crossbowman, and a nearby hill giant delivers a final, killing blow, smashing Krojun’s spine!  Still, seeing the tide of battle turning and the portal closed, the Cinderlander picks up the body of his animal companion (slain by Krojun’s dying blows) and starts making for the side of the plateau to escape.

Goldcape uses some of her most powerful magic to heal Anorak’s wounds.  With a hide-clad hill giant looming over him, the dwarf cleverly rolls into another conjured magical doorway to reappear some distance away.  The Reckoner shouts for the others to stop the Cinderlander before he can escape, but confronting the Cinderlander is like playing with fire, and The Reckoner gets burned!  A crossbow bolt, enchanted to wreak havoc with human physiology, crunches into the costumed vigilante’s sternum, leaving him dying in the dirt.  Goldcape uses the last of her magic to get The Reckoner back into the fight, and he and Anorak manage to dispatch the last remaining giants on the plateau.  The Reckoner jumps on Rocky’s back to pursue the Cinderlander, but Goldcape offers the Shoanti-killer a truce.  The Cinderlander nods, drinks a potion, and disappears over the side of the cliff.

The giants’ raid on Flameford has been repelled, but not without cost: Krojun slain, much of Flameford in ruins, and two of the Harrowed Heroes near death.  But is the battle of Flameford truly over?

--------------------------------

GM Commentary

The sending spells proved a great way to keep the PCs aware of off-screen things going on back in Korvosa, or with Yraelzin's mission to Urglin.  I think it's great for verisimilitude for the players to know that they're doing something important, but they're not the only ones trying to do important things.  And, it's always fun to see what the 25-word-limit allows depending on the caster's personality.

The PCs had some trouble getting out of the worm caves.  Survival is an underestimated skill!

As we near the end of Chapter Four in the recaps, one of the things I'm proudest of with my run of Curse of the Crimson Throne is how I ran this section.  I'm really happy with how my (and Paizo's!) portrayal of the Shoanti in the Cinderlands turned out.  It was respectful, avoided stereotypes, and provided insight into a really cool fictional culture.

The written adventure has an attack on Flameford, but it's with Red Mantis assassins carried there by gargoyles.  I really wanted to do something more interesting and continue to bring home the fact that there's a war going on (because of the failure to win Rise of the Runelords in my last campaign).  Having the Cinderlander bring a small army of giants to the top of the plateau overlooking the camp turned out to be pretty cool (in my humble opinion) and was certainly one of the most intense encounters in the campaign.  Anorak and The Reckoner spent several rounds buffing, leaving Goldcape and Rocky to hold the line alone!  Goldcape deserves more credit than she got for keeping party members alive, as The Reckoner would be well and truly dead if it wasn't for her.  I knew introducing the portal spikes into the campaign could have some pretty big consequences if the PCs got their hands on the pair, but the destruction of one took care of that.

It was sad to see Krojun die.  The Cinderlander's human bane bolts were pretty nasty.