Powers of the Packlord's Heart, Wolfsongs, and The Devil in Grey


Carrion Crown


1 person marked this as a favorite.

Since I'm getting ready to post my review (still writing), I thought I'd paste some of my campaign notes for reference in one spot. Some of this is simple extrapolation on the ideas presented within the module while other parts are bits of lore hinted at, with a lot of it being my own creations. Some of this deals directly with the difficulty of running Lycanthropic characters (who have no free will during a full moon) with a couple of methods.

Powers of the Packlord's Heart:

'Rhakis Szadro, leader of the Prince's Wolves, tells you of some of the known powers associated with the Packlord's Heart. The legends about it having supernatural powers are correct; once someone has slain the current packlord and their heart is eaten, the power of that packlord and all of the ones before that one come flooding into the heart's eater. This had happened for thousands of years, at least until recent events. Fully intact, the Heart of the Packlord granted its possessor the following powers: the ability to command other Werewolves with a word, the ability to force a werewolf to change into any form with but a glare, the ability to ignore silver weapons, and the ability to grow enormous in strength and size. These abilites diminished in effect when the heart was cut into pieces, and the majority of its power now resides with Auren Vrood, leader of the Whispering Way cultists responsible for the events at Ravengro, Lepistadt, and recently, Ascanor Lodge.'

Basically as it sounds, plus it let me throw some control over the blood madness that was the Stairs of the Moon (in my campaign, 4 out of 5 had Lycanthropy during the Stairs encounter, but I wanted to let them have moments of lucidity. To this degree, I allowed Mathus the power to change them into human form with a glare (he bluffed, telling them he could take their 'gift' away since they weren't fit to carry such 'Royal' blood). I also gave Mathus DR 2/- to against silver to show the diminished abilities of the heart in him.


The Devil in Grey:

Legend:
"...Some of these powers of the packlord have given rise to the legend of 'The Devil in Grey', especially since the owner of the heart can grow in size, and not every pack leader has always seen humans as kin. Nonetheless, the legend of the creature is very real, one of the few menaces of the Shudderwood that the Werewolves have always gone out of their way to avoid. For the most part, the creature, which appears as a grey dire wolf of enormous size, seems to leave the werewolves alone, but not the communities that surround the forest. Despite having little contact with the creature, the werewolves have seen the aftermath of its hunts enough times over the centuries to have their own theories about the monster (a few even claimed to have known someone who knew somebody that talked to it). They claim it is a vengeance sent from The First World to wreak the works of man, a twisted guardian of the forest. That it seems to have appeared and disappearied throughout the millenia long history of the Shudderwood suggests an ancient unknowable force, one that despite supposably having been killed a few times throughout the years keeps coming back. Rhakis warns you that the rumors state that it often targets those trying to take things from the forest, such as trophies, and although the creature doesn't attack werewolves, it is rare for him and his kind to accompany humans to the edge of the forest, so he is unsure of what will happen should an encounter with the creature take place."

For statistics (since I had them encounter it before they left the forest), I used a Giant, Advanced Winter Wolf with Three Mythic Tiers. This was before the final book for Mythic was released, so I won't bother reprinting the erroneous stats, but I will detail the unique abilites I gave him, besides raising his Breath Weapon to 10d6.

Stormwinds The Devil in Grey can infuse the area around him with whirling snow and sleet, out to a radius of 15 feet around him. Within this area, all creatures within 5 feet of each other gain concealment, or total concealment if they are 10 or more feet away. Creatures within the effect automatically take 1d6 cold damage whenever they begin their turn within the radius of the effect. The Devil in Grey ignores this concealment.

Heart of Winter Any spell or spell-like ability with the Fire descriptor targeting the Devil in Grey or catching it in its radius most succeed on a DC 20 caster level check, or the spell is harmlessly absorbed by the sheer cold of the creature, having no effect. Whenever this occurs, treat the Breath Weapon's recharge roll as if it had rolled a 1.

Immortal: Despite having been killed several times, The Devil in Grey is a primal force and cannot be killed by normal means. 1 day after its apparent death, it returns to life as if a True Resurrection were cast on it. The only way to permenantly lay the creature to rest is to carve out the creature's heart and carry it to the center of an active volcano, immersing it in lava for one hour. Doing so forever renders the volcano inactive. Once cut out of the creature, its heart exudes a Dimensional Anchor effect on it (Caster Level 20), making arriving at at such a destination exceptionally difficult.

Lucimar:

I posted a thread elsewhere about this, but for sake of having everything in one place, its repeated beneath. It should be noted that I had Lucimar make an early appearance during the journey through the Shudderwood to Ascanor. I had him unleash a Baykok on the group and had him watch their tactics before disappearing. He taunted them, trying to get them to serve in earnest that which they already left in their wake, Death. He further taunted them, telling them that if they continued, they would help to kill the staunchest enemies of The Whispering Way (the werewolves, which is partially true). Anyway, the history I came up for him (Since I don't own Hungry are the Damned and think its probably too late to run it in this campaign anyways) is as follows:

"Rhakis also relegates the tail of Lucimar, the Lich Wolf, a former pack leader of a forgotten sixth tribe of werewolves. Comprised of Varisians who held deep fascination with the runes in the Shudderwood, the Varlith were a proud tribe of wanderers who became infected with Lycanthropy during their long journeys through a dark forest to the west (Darkmoon Vale). Having heard of the Shudderwood, the group came to settle among the others of their kind there and became nestled within its boughs. Storytellers and practicioners of ancient magic, the tribe, while small compared to others, quickly became intermingled with their shapeshifting cousins, and grew in size over the decades. Yet as they became embroiled in the politics of the packs, ambition grew in their ranks.

Seeking a way to claim lands for their own and cease their wandering, their tribal leader Lucimar, somewhat of a runt but said to be exceedingly clever, learned the stories of all of the tribes and eventually came to a revelation. Each of the tribes possessed a power that gave them advantages over the others except for his; the Dorzenhavs possessed strong ties to the natural world, the Mordinachts possessed the backing of wealth and nobility, the Prince's Wolves held numerous allies amongst the human population, the Jezelden's held the greatest in numbers and the means to increase them, while the Vollensag had their sheer size and primal ferocity. Digging deeper, Lucimar realized that his tribe's wanderings and stories would have to be the strength that carried them, and to this end, he scoured the collected treasures that they had amassed over the centuries of travel. No one knows where the item came from, but Lucimar supposably found a thing of great power that had been carried for decades unknowingly, an ancient Thassilonian spellbook of potent arcane might. This tome, said to be related to a Runelord Zutha of ancient times, was laced with spells of necromantic power, powers related specifically to the raising of undead. Utilizing the tome, Lucimar quickly solidifed the power of his tribe and staked out an area of the forest for his people. This created a schism within his tribe as many reviled the leader's use of an ancient, unknowable power while others believed that as Varisians, they were bound to wander as part of their blood. Refusing to accept the rejection of his plan and the sacrifices he had made to acheive it, Lucimar turned on his own people. Somehow, the spellbook had changed him, to the point that he saw his own tribe as a means to become Packlord. As each dissentor was killed and then re-animated to serve his cause without complaint, his tribe broke. A final stand was made by the tribe elders against him, where he in turn killed everyone with his unstoppable necromantic powers. Those that didn't attempt to make a final stand against him scattered to the far eaves of the forest, joining with other tribes and forgotting their own.
As Lucimar slaughtered the final elder of his tribe, it breathed a terrible Varisian Curse upon him, "You, who have killed your own people to further yourself, will forever be cursed by us, your blood. I Spite you Lucimar, may you forever be seen as the beast that you are, forever wander without ever resting, forever be seen as an enemy of your people" Supposably, his Thassilonian Tome burst into flames but the runes that ensorcelled it became burned upon his skin. Hindered but unrepentent, Lucimar set his sights on Packlord and marched his undead pack to HighThrone. Unfortunately, the five other tribes were ready for him. Silverhide blademasters joined fang with Primal tooth and claw while Broken One Druids wove powerful natural magics amidst the songs of The Prince's Wolves Even the Demon Wolves were said to wade in , conjuring abyssal horrors to counter the undead menaces of Lucimar. Though powerful, Lucimar stood no match against the collective might of the five tribes, especially without the ancient spellbook that had fueld his rise to power. Overwhelmed, he was executed within moments of his last zombie minion falling, his still beating heart cut out of his chest and devoured. Yet, he did not die. As the werewolves moved to destroy his body, he supoosably woke up and fled into the woods, where he disappeared for years. The legend has stuck with every werewolf in the Shudderwood over the years since its one of the few times in history that all five tribes worked together. As a result, a werewolf covered in Thassiloian runes has become akin to a Bogeyman to them, an enemy of all werewolves who was killed but did not die, someone who lurks in the forest waiting to snatch up lone children. This legend is about 500 years old."

Wolf Songs:

Since Rhakis is a Bard and one of our PCs is one as well, I knew I needed songs that the wolves would sing. I thought the idea of songs about the forest and its history as sung by the wolves would be pretty sweet, but I wanted to describe them as more than just howls, singing, or drumming. What follows is a collection of these that I used, including one I posted elsewhere as a 'fix' to the Lycanthropy problem that occured at the Stairs of the Moon, giving me another way to give the PCs lucidity while they dealt with a multi-stage combat

Rhakis further relates that songs have always been part of his tribe, and in a way, are a way for them to carry the stories of their people from generation to generation. Some of their songs have been adopted from the Varlith while others are their own, but all of them either have a significant moral, a historical connection, or a means to evoke supernatural power. The following are songs that Rhakis sings, their 'sound', their meaning if any, and any supernatural connection:

-Lucimar's Last Stand: A rousing chorus of uplifting voices and up-tempo major chords that change keys in verses that describe the defilement of the Lich-wolf. A historical relegation of the 5 tribes stand against the common foe, and mean to be an uplifting reminder of teamwork in the face of horror.

-Heart of the Forest: A slowly progressing build up of brooding notes, the song is meant to evoke the beauty and oldness of the Shudderwood. Subtle minor chords in the middle verses hint at hidden dangers residing within that rise to a crescendo of balance between the end and middle.

-Highthrone: A simple, non rhythmic vocal chord progression, the song ellicts a feeling of peace and contemplation. The progression of notes seems impossibly old but nonetheless unplaceable.

- Song of the Broken Boughs: A fast paced, ballad filled with ever changing note scales, the song evokes feelings of heroic defiance in the face of overwhelming odds. The song commemorates a particular battle that the Werewolves of the Shudderwood fought against the Whispering Way in days of old. Apparently, the werewolves lost the battle but ensured that the Way never invaded the woods again.

-Song of Packlord's Choosing: A somber battle hymn, this song draws into a steady, thrumming beat filled with repeating note structures. Meant to commemorate any fight for the choosing of any Packlord, the song is also hummed during many life or death struggles amongst the tribe.

-Ballad of the Fallen King: (For our Bard) Rhakis will inform you that the dream like-notes you've heard are part of a song, a Ballad used by the Bastard prince Andriadus Virholt, a member of the royal bloodline of Ustalav. During the War against The Whispering Tyrant, he abdicated his royal birthright in favor of recruiting and joining with the lycanthropic Sczarni of the Shudderwood. Supposably, this series of notes you've been hearing are similar to the main verse of the song, but its entirety has been lost over the years. Rhakis believes that the Varlith were collectors of every song, so if it survived at all, some of their descendents may carry it. However, since what was left of their bloodline either intermingled with the other tribes or left the forest entirely, tracking the whereabouts of any of such blood relative or a copy of the song would be difficult at best. Supposably, the song is Supernatural in nature and has the power to bend time, allowing Andriadus to accomplish incredible feats on the battlefield. (This would function as the Bardic Masterpiece The Requiem of the Fallen Priest King from Ultimate Magic, p.24.)

-Song of Moon's Ebb: This song is in fact a supernatural ballad capable of being performed by only a select few. Capable of surpressing Lycanthropy, this Bardic Masterpiece has been passed down through The Prince's Wolves to aid in their dealings with their human kin, and is has been used by Rhakis numerous times, including just recently.
Prerequisite: Perform (Sing) 5 ranks or Perform (String) 5 Ranks
Cost: Feat or 2nd Level Bard Spell Known
Effect: Upon beginning this Performance, all afflicted Lycanthropes that can hear this song may attempt to gain control of their mental facilities. A character who has lost control of their character to Lycnathropy may attempt a Will saving Throw (DC 15)at the beginning of their turn to act normally. They may take any actions that their current form allows, including changing forms, casting spells, and using magic items. Using this Masterpiece replaces any current Bardic performance the bard may have active and requires the normal action to maintain every round as a standard bardic performance. As long as this performance is maintained, afflicted Lycantrhopes may continue to gain control of their actions every round with successful saving throws. Additional performers of this Masterpiece do not grant multiple saving throws, but they do lower the DC required to gain control by 2 for each accompanying bard.
Use: 1 baric performance per minute
Action: Standard to begin, then as Bardic Performace to maintain.


I really enjoy some of your stuff

How did your players cure their curses?


They utilized the cache found beneath the Stairs of the Moon combined with Duristan's Werewolf trap to cure everyone, at least everyone except for the Dhampir Magus who still has it. We just completed Wake of the Watcher last night (review forthcoming), and the character is still infected and has about a week of game time until the next full moon. The players are all aware of this, but none of their characters are. Fortunately, we're using the Harrow card system, and they have the one card (The Eclipse) that cures Lycanthropy for one character, so I can see that being used before we start getting too many Twilight jokes (especially if he becomes a vampire).


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber

Thank you for posting Rak! I have just started prepping BM, and your material is a wonderful addition.


Glad you are finding it useful! As for my group right now, we're halfway through book 6. Our completion time has been stretched due to minor complications over the past few months (my house caught on fire). Once we're through, I'm going to have more stuff to post, especially for Renchurch.

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder Adventure Path / Carrion Crown / Powers of the Packlord's Heart, Wolfsongs, and The Devil in Grey All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.
Recent threads in Carrion Crown