Hook Mountain: Link from Fort Rannick to the Clanhold?


Rise of the Runelords


I'm running a group through Book 3, the Hook Mountain Massacre. The party is at Part 2, Retaking Fort Rannick. But I haven't found any clues or links that will eventually point them to the clanhold on top of the mountain (part 5). Once they've dealt with the flood and maybe checked out the Shimmerglen story, they'll have no reason not to return home, satisfied with a job well done.

Where's the link to the Clanhold?


Calybos1 wrote:

I'm running a group through Book 3, the Hook Mountain Massacre. The party is at Part 2, Retaking Fort Rannick. But I haven't found any clues or links that will eventually point them to the clanhold on top of the mountain (part 5). Once they've dealt with the flood and maybe checked out the Shimmerglen story, they'll have no reason not to return home, satisfied with a job well done.

Where's the link to the Clanhold?

To track down Lamatar's remains for the nymph or failing that to end the ogre threat once and for all. The latter might require an NPC nudge or some ogre raids on outlying villages.


This thread could use spoiler labels and tags.

Spoiler:

In addition to recovering Lamatar for Myrianna, any surviving Black Arrow should strongly advocate dealing with the Kreeg's at their source. And they know the way. Additionally, the Mayor of Turtleback Ferry could worry (out loud) about how the town will deal with the Kreeg's without the rangers. When the pc's encounter more Kreeg ogres at the dam, that should also suggest there's a larger problem than just the Fort.

If the pc's are still dealing with Rannick, it might be a good idea for Jakardros (or Vale) to point out the name of the Kreeg clan and suggest there are probably more of them at "the Clanhold." This way, even if the Black Arrows die retaking Rannick, the pc's know there is a place the ogres come from.


So, it hinges on there being a surviving soldier? That's not good. They only found Kaven, and they immediately sent him off to Sandpoint with an NPC guide "for his own safety."

I was hoping for a physical clue. Hmm, maybe I can come up with some notes in the commander's office or something.....


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No, there is not an explicit written clue or map.

Spoiler:

It is not dependent on the Black Arrows, that's just the most likely source of encouragement to go to the Clanhold. As stated by others, Myrianna gives them a mission to recover Lamatar - she doesn't tell them where to go but it's not a hard puzzle to figure out. And finding Kreeg ogres at the dam (presumptively after they've freed Rannick) is another clue.

The AP assumes the pc's will see the Kreeg's as one of the main sources of trouble in the region and will want to get to the root of the problem. If your group needs more explicit direction, you may have trouble later in the AP as well. At various points in Book 4-6 (especially 5 and 6) there isn't anyone around to tell the pc's where to go or what to do. No one tells them to go to Runeforge and make dominant weapons. No one tells them they need Sihedron items to defeat the Occluding field. For that matter, no one tells them to go to Xin Shalast. Though Karzoug does bait them...


Calybos1 wrote:
So, it hinges on there being a surviving soldier?

... and on the the mission to recover Lamatar's body

... and on the dozens of Kreeg Ogres still around and terrorizing the area

but if you want something physical, B21 or B30 in Fort Rannick are good rooms to include a map of the Hook Mountains that leads to the stronghold


Pathfinder Maps Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

You can always let them discover a previously unknown secret drawer/closet/room after a few nights spent at Fort Rannick. Incluide a few scrolls, weapons or items if you think the party is short of something they need.

You can even let them start to go back home, then have a seemingly random encounter draw them back to finish their unfinished business.

If your group is like mine, they become quickly attached to noncombattant NPCs... who can easily become bait after a naughty kidnapping.

In short, the DM is the final arbiter on how to get the players back on the railroad, or how long to let them wander off it. Would it really be so bad if they went back to Sandpoint without doing the clanhold, only to find out later that they need to go back and finish what they started, many days, weeks or months later?


Lucretia is also an option in that she can instill in the party the realizations that are not obvious. She isn't rounded out, so you can make her the sort of baddie that taunts them while fighting (or before fighting). She could lay out ever detail of what the party needs to know in a way that rubs the failure of the fort in their face.

-It's futile to fight her because the Clanhold will run roughshod over the are anyway now that the fort's gone.
-She can easily replace the ogres the party has killed with reinforcements from the Clanhold.
-These aren't the only ogres she has operating in the area, and this isn't their base of operations.
-She can tell them this is only the beginning of an invasion (and leave it vague enough that the party will assume it's an invasion of ogres rather than an invasion of stone giants)
-She can gloat about taking Black Arrows to the Clanhold to torture and play with.

This is off the top of my head... I'm sure there are other things that she could let slip while gloating and or baiting your party.

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