Michael Adair 897's page

Considering how the faith of the Blood of Vol works, "fervent belief in one's left shoe" isn't even a stretch.

The Blood of Vol is one of my favorite faiths of the Eberron setting. It's so humanist in nature, focusing on not only the bonds of a strong community and looking out for one another but that the power of divinity is within YOU!

Don't pray to some far-off god that does jack-all for you! Believe in the you that can plow that field and make a good harvest! Believe in the you that can land that interview, graduate from a good college, master how to forge that new weapon!

Their official sales pitch for the religion is basically a vampire Billie Mays in my head.

Advice for Varnhold Vanishing – Book 3 Spoilers and adventure mixing.

So! Hello everyone in the Kingmaker forums. Back again for additional advice and suggestions.

My group simultaneously finished up their first year of running their kingdom and Book 2. I’ve recommended (as per the book) that the PCs take anywhere from 1 to 5 years of running their kingdom before we jump into Book 3.

Book 2 lasted a whopping 28 sessions compared to the 11 of the first book. While I feel there is a lot to cover in Book 3 I’m attempting to condense the events while also including a number of additional pathfinder modules.

So let me set the stage. First off, my PCs each have two characters that make up the majority of the ruling council of their country.

Close to half of these PCs will have Cohorts by the time we’re through Book 3 (currently 4 PCs have Cohorts with at least another two planning on picking it up in the future). This enables me to do some interesting things…such as have one group go off into the wilderness to explore and move the story forward there, while another group stays behind and deals with plot in their capital city.

The Plot Threads Thus Far
An invisible obsidian mirror larger than a person was discovered at Candlemere. This is the portal sealing Rhoswen into her demi-plane of shadow. The seal on it will be slowly cracking as the PCs discover the Faengard runes that reinforces the binding. The PCs know that something is sealed there by the First Council of the Fae but they don’t know what and what exactly they want to do about it. Unbeknownst to them their PR Director Dox the Changeling Bard has made brief enough contact with the mirror to be placed under a geas to find these mysterious Faengards though she doesn’t really understand why.

As the years pass and the runes slowly found and either broken, mishandled, or moved it will crack the seal enough that Rhoswen can break free back into the material plane.

Changes to Rhoswen: Like many in the Kingmaker forums I am making Rhoswen the forgotten daughter of Nyrissa, who was punished as a very young girl (physically 10-12 years old) by the First Council shortly after they tore out Nyrissa’s heart. To see if they had truly removed ‘love’ from Nyrissa they announced their plan of eternal solitude in a demi-plane in front of her to see her reaction. Satisfied with her cold unmoving face they dragged the girl to Candlemere and carried out the sentence.

Tens of thousands of years in solitude has shattered Rhoswen’s psyche, making her simultaneously a broken hearted child and the adult manifestation she created to help deal with her psychosis – the Queen of the Felnight. (Combat Wise this will be a literal split, while the adult Rhoswen confronts the PCs her shadow will be the child Rhoswen able to act independently. Most likely with separate builds as well)

So! My grand plan is to mix and match events from the following modules to add to the plot of Book 3.

Home Events
Carnival Of Tears: The Carnival itself will be the start leading up to the resolution of Realm of the Felnight Queen, with the icy fae being commanded by Rhoswen (who is leaking through her mirror prison thanks to the discovery of the Faengard runes across the country) to destroy the community for her mother’s plans – while at the same time wanting to save the children from its destruction by taking them into the Felnight to live with her forever. (And to my advantage is that one of the PCs has a seven year old daughter who will be taken as well)

Realm of the Felnight: This will be skipping a lot of the build up (replaced with Carnival) and contain only the confrontation in the castle.

Exploration/Standard Plot of Book 3
Meanwhile! A group of the other PCs will be attempting to find out what happened to Varnhold and encounter the Nomen tribe of Xen’drik Drow (of which one of our PCs is the adopted daughter of the Matriarch) and the ancient lich Vordakai.
Changes: Vordakai is the ancient giant word for “Cyclops”, making the ancient lich the first of his kind as a genetic mutation back during the heights of the ancient giant empire. Finally awake after ten thousand+ years (It’s time to conquer earth!) Vordakai will start making the attempt to recover the ancient technologies of the Giant empire of Xen’drik…this is where the third adventure module I’m throwing in will be.
Other Twists: Nyrissa has been around for a long time. She had a hand in the fall of the giant empire as she was such a trusted ‘advisor’ to the giants they didn’t realize how badly she was steering them in the wrong direction – resulting in its eventual retaliation and destruction by the dragons of argonnesson.
Vordakai is aware of her treachery making him an adversary but not necessarily a trusted one. This can also serve as additional hints as to the true villain of the AP and how far back she has been trying to bottle up the Stolen Lands.

Crucible of Chaos: Not only does it take place in a jungle, but it’s connected to giants. I am torn between either replacing Vordakai’s standard dungeon with this place, or making the buried flying city a location Vordakai is moving towards making it a race to get there before the PCs. While the city would largely be non-functioning for many years…Kingmaker is the perfect AP to throw in this kind of caveat and still be able to do something with it. And it would eventually allow the PCs the opportunity to add a Flying City to their Kingdom.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Is it trying to throw in too much at once for a single book?

2) I'm definitely leaning toward Hargulka the Bard. How does it sound if I give him a low voice, with an impeccable English accent, and have him say things like, "Why, yes, you have your little kingdom. And soon, my followers and I shall invade, throw down your walls, enslave your children, and bake your bones into bread. Canape?"

Yes. All of the yes. You should definitely do this. Classy villains are always fun, especially if they're expected to act like a hulking monster.

For fun examples there's the line "You do know what those who underestimate tigers say don't you?"

"No, what?"

"Oh god help me I'm being mauled to death by a tiger."
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/954/shazamtawkyew6.jpg

Tentative stats for the Big Bad Wolf OR "Making Mythic Story Monsters is fun but hard."

I wanted to approach this character from the standpoint of most stories that it would appear in. Little Red Riding Hood of course, The Three Little Pigs, and other cautionary tales such as Peter and the Wolf.

The main disctinctions that came to mind were...
1. Trickster. BBW enjoys bantering with its prey, often traveling in humanoid disguises to track something it likes before deciding if its food or not.
2. Lone Wolf. While the BBW has cultist followers and afflicted 'children' the Wolf himself rarely travels with a group or has followers at his beck and call. He hunts alone and lives by his own rules. In this instance, he owes Nyrissa a favor so decided to cause some trouble for "That little spat of a kingdom ruining the way my continent looks" according to the exiled fae queen.
3. The embodiment of what it means to be a Predator. This is not a distinction of good or evil, but the BBW symbolizes within nature the concept of a predator animal. One that hunts, kills, and rules the land that it resides in. This does not necessarily mean the *strongest* animal but the greatest *predator*.

Mythic Abilities (Mythic Rank 6)
+6 Natural Armor
+60 HP
DR 10/Silver and Cold Iron and Epic
Mythic Power - Surge (6/day +1d8)
Ability Bonus - +2, +2, +2
Mythic Feats - Three Mythic Feats (currently listed as Deflect Arrows, Vital Strike, and Power Attack)
Mythic Abilities (He gets up to 6. While I haven't settled on these, I've made a list of thematically appropriate ones so far.)

1. Greensight 60 ft. (Just makes sense for tracking people through the woods.)
2. Dual Initiative.
3. No One of Consequence (allowing him to travel unseen and unremembered through populated areas)
4. Shadow Stealth (for tracking enemies and moving through shadows)
5. Menacing Whisper - playing up to the hunter and trickster aspects of just f%@@ing with people that he's hunting.
6. Impossible Speed.
7. That One Ability that allows someone to "mark" a target and be able to track them to the ends of the earth. (Don't have my book in front of me at the moment...)

Unique Weapon
The BBW, when in a humanoid form always carries a simple dagger on his person that was fashioned from his own fang. Stronger than steel its name is Fang of the Wolf (this will likely either be just a strong magical weapon or a minor artifact since it was fashioned from one of his own teeth.)

Mythic Weakness: Fae love stories. They love the spreading of tales from the mouths of mortals because it gives them strength. The more people that know or interpret legends and stories add to the belief that powers these unique fae that sometimes spawn from those stories. This path to power however is a double edged sword. All Mythic Storybook characters are permanently attached (almost as if spiritually chained) to the *first ever written version* of their own story.

Words carry power, and by writing down what this Fae is and how it behaves gives it greater strength, but also permanently binds it to this interpretation in some fashion. It is the core of its being, and while later interpretations may allow the Mythic Storybook character to change part of its nature - it will always remain true to the original interpretation. If this Book was somehow found and re-written (in whatever the original language was of course) it can affect the very soul of the creature.

Destroying the Book will similarly remove its Mythic Subtype and all Mythic Abilities, making it a normal creature of its type.

In addition to its humanoid form, the BBW is able to take the shape of a Wolf, Dire Wolf, or Huge Sized Wolf as a standard action at any time it chooses.

Thoughts? Questions? Criticisms? All are welcome.
Again I would like to thank the awesome people on the Kingmaker forums for offering up these interesting ideas to work with.

Alright, so my players are about 1/3 of a way into the events of Rivers Run Red and one of the goals of my Kingmaker In Eberron game has been to emphasize the Fairy-Tale aspect of the Adventure Path.

Nyrissa is in large part (to me at least) a tragic fairy tale character that was cursed by the other High Fae. When Briar was created and Nyrissa became aware of the 'prophecy' that would eventually kill her what she was actually doing was being written into a Fairy Tale.

My PCs unbeknownst to them (so far) are also regular mortals that will be weaving their way into the story until their final confrontation with Nyrissa. I've been making ample use of the 6-player conversion as well as many of the other suggestions here on the Kingmaker page (you guys are awesome btw).

Anyways, the first "Set Event" involving Kundal the afflicted werewolf provided me with an opportunity to make things a little more Fairy Tale-ish rather than have it be a standard werewolf. Part of my approach to this was due to my game being in the Eberron setting where Lycanthropes of all flavors are considered to be fairly rare after a Crusade nearly wiped them all out.

Rather than have it be a standard werewolf I decided to throw in a few elements to make the situation more...interesting.

"The Big Bad Wolf" is in fact a Unique Fae that has the ability to infect people with its 'disease' much in the same way a True Lycanthrope can - however it comes with some varying abilities and powers that I added onto the 6-player Kundal conversion to throw at my players.

This is by no means a complete monster template to add onto anything, just a few changes that struck me as being fun and interesting to add onto an encounter. Balance was not intended or sought after in these changes.

I'll Huff and I'll Puff All Big Bad Wolves have the ability to puff themselves up (appearing a size category larger while they do so) with air before releasing it as a viciously powerful wind. The current version of this afflicted wolf was able to use Quickened Gust of Wind as a Spell-like ability. Anything equal to or smaller than the size of the Big Bad Wolf counts as Small Size for the purpose of the difficulty of walking through the wind or being knocked over.

And I'll Blow Your House Down All afflicted Big Bad Wolves gain Power Attack and Improved Sunder and deal double damage to all unattended objects (such as houses).

But Grandma what Big Eyes you have Big Bad Wolves have an innate ability to sound like someone their intended victim would want to see. An elderly relative perhaps or the voice of a friend from their childhood. This acts as a suggestion effect intended to draw the victim off the beaten path and into the wilderness where it can be attacked and dragged off to be eaten.

The Hair of your Chinny-Chin-Chin One of the more disturbing powers, this is really more of an innate effect of being hunted down and eaten by a Big Bad Wolf. Depending on how long the creature is hunting you, and how afraid the victim is they begin turning into a pig. Both victims (the shepard boy and the maid of the inn) had some of their internal organs transform into pig organs which my players discovered through an autopsy. Some of the 'sheep' that were eaten by the wolf as well were similarly found as fully changed pig carcasses.
(I don't know if pig organs are actually distinguishable from human ones, it was for the sake of the adventure. Also magic.)

While being an afflicted Big Bad Wolf can be 'cured' the same way as normal Lycanthropy, the curse/disease is more powerful and never be truly removed without a Wish or Miracle. To keep the disease at bay the infected can never ingest meat again for as long as he lives.

So my players face the moral dilemma of curing the poor killing machine, and they did. But now they are concerned that there is an original creature out there somewhere that seemed to intentionally infect someone and send them into their town to cause mayhem. So the posse is getting rounded up to go hunting the original Big Bad Wolf in my next session.

I have a few options in this case. Most of these involve making this wolf a 'mythic' monster.

1. Considering that it is a storybook character I have considered making the Wolf an ally of Nyrissa - possibly a recurring villain that could be faced in Thousandbreaths in Book 6. I would likely pump up his abilities in this case so it would be highly unlikely my group could currently face off against him.

2. Make this a memorable one-off encounter. Have a slightly scaled down but beatable Mythic Big Bad Wolf fight in the forest to save their town. This would be the easiest thing to do but I'm not sure how satisfying it would be.

3. Make him the villain of book two. Replace Hargulka and the majority of his forces with The Big Bad Wolf. The motivations could remain largely the same in a "You don't belong here" kind of way. I'm not sure if replacing Trolls with Werewolves would be balanced but it could make my players much more invested in dealing with the problem since they haven't officially met Hargulka yet.

Since the Kingmaker forums have been awesome to me this is just a small attempt to give back to the community. Please let me know if you have any questions or criticisms - definitely looking for some feedback before my next session (which will be Tuesday the 4th of February).

I look forward to hearing how the encounter goes Pennywit. I really like #4 here as well, and plan to use a similar situation.

The last moments of Hargulka that I am planning involve a similar "Did you really think I would bet the soul of this country solely on the outcome of a fist fight with you?" in kind of a Joker-at-the-end-of-The-Dark-Knight kind of way.

Then flash to the citizens in the capital city seeing a form moving through the nearby trees snapping them as they move (though I am sorely tempted to pull an "Attack on Titan" moment over any city walls they have.)

Hello fellow Kingmaker fans. So my group is just starting Rivers Run Red and we are working on the kingdom building rules for about a year before jumping back into the game. During this year of settling their land, there are hints that I want to slowly drop on my players to build evidence towards

1. Zuddiger's Picnic and its importance
2. and the idea that there are powerful fae working behind the scenes.

My hints in this case are coming in the forms of dreams for two of my characters so far. While I plan to eventually give dreams to all of my PCs only two have shown themselves to be easy to write for so far.

But before I get to that, the reason for the title of this thread. I like the idea of Zuddiger's Picnic. And I really have found the fan art of the book that has been created to be a wonderful instrument for furthering the story. I intend to use both versions of the story - the light fully colored children's book version (and I apologize for not looking up the creators names before starting this thread) for when the players discover the old book in its publicated form, and the dark creepy wood block prints of the *original* version of the book from Karn Zuddiger himself if they track down his old publisher.

So to create this scenario I wanted to add a bit of background to Karn Zuddiger and the Zuddiger family. While my current game assumes the world of Eberron which has a somewhat more advanced civilization than standard Golarion, I hope that this can be edited rather easily to fit anyone elses version of Kingmaker.

The Story of Zuddiger Publishing
Talented children’s book author and painter, Karn Zuddiger (gnome) is from a long line of storytellers of the Zuddiger family. Every book of the family line begins with the ominous or playful line “All of what follows is true”

The secret to the Zuddiger family’s inspiration is their bloodline dates back to a connection with the First World, and they would often have dreams or inspirational bouts of madness that would allow stories or creatures to be captured with words and pictures. This was never discussed publicly or openly even among the eldest of the family, though a reason for the secrecy was never given.

Famous titles of the Zuddiger family include…
“Through the Looking Glass” – contains information on The Tane, the weapons of destruction of the First World
“Grimm Fables” – contains many of the classic fairytales (with a twist if one so desires to account for the races of the fantasy world)
As well as a slew of other children’s books – feel free to use the titles of childrens books like the works of Dr. Suess to give your players an immediate idea of the kind of books these are. Here are a few suggestions…
“Oh the Planes you will go”
“The Avorial in Boots”
“Blink Dogs with Hats”
“Dorton Hears a Fae”
“The Treax”

Karn Zuddiger, unfortunately the last of his line as he had no surviving descendants, passed away nearly 40 years ago. Two years before his death, Karn was exploring Xen’drik with a hired expedition looking for inspiration for a new children’s story – trying to get away from the onslaught of war propaganda that had filled the newspapers and libraries to justify the ongoing war for succession in Khorvaire. The message changed by country but the players all remained the same. In one book the heroic Aundairian Legion of Dragonhawk Riders would foil the plot of the evil Cyran Nobility. In another the Aundairian Wizards were attempting to destroy the Cathedral of the Silver Flame, only to be thwarted by a small squad of Silver Flame faithful.

All of it was about death. About murder. Karn hoped to find something beautiful and primal in Xen’drik – and he found it. A rare convergence of the planes created a gateway that Karn slipped through by accident…finding himself in the realm of Thousandbreaths. There he met the exiled queen Nyrissa. Days later Karn re-emerged unharmed from the fae realm…but the man was possessed of a passion once back on the material plane.

Karn returned to Khorvaire and spent the next three years working on his next bestseller while ignoring any and all other projects that he was charged with writing. The business was going bankrupt, everything hinged on the last Zuddiger’s “Story to end all Stories”.

A week after the final extended due date, Karn’s friend and publisher went looking for him…and found his home in tatters as if a storm had hit it. It’s said that only Karn’s closest friend and publisher ever saw the room where the original wood block prints were created. The contents found within were never revealed to the public.

Karn Zuddiger was found later that day at the site of a murder, captured, deemed insane and sentenced to death. There were several murders committed by Karn that day with nonsensical images painted on nearby surfaces with his victim's blood. (In the original text in Book 6 it mentions a murder was performed each week until he was caught, either timeframe is viable. This change was largely to show that the events while horrible, were swallowed up and forgotten by the ongoing events of the war being more important. While the murders were scandalous for weeks, perhaps even months, by the end of the year people had moved on through necessity.)

The murders were largely covered up, the scandal of a beloved book author becoming a mass murderer was moved to the back pages of local papers as the news of the ongoing war consumed the daily lives of the people of Khorvaire. Karn was quickly forgotten.

The publisher performed one last act for his friend, to leave a small drop of light on the blotted end of Karn’s legacy. The business’ accounts were settled, the employees laid off, and one final book given a limited run to appease the investors of the company.

One last children’s book – changed drastically from the original woodblock prints found in the dark soot stained room within Karn’s home – was released in a limited run. “Zuddiger’s Picnic”

The prophetic images within have gone unknown in the world for over four decades.

That's what I have so far. Thoughts?

Now to the dreams I have for my PCs so far.

The first dream is for the Ruler of the Kingdom. It's meant to be a part of Nyrissa's story before she became increasingly involved with Ranalc and before her punishment by the rest of the Eldest. It's intended to have kind of a 'cinderella' twist to its feel. Right now it's simply a description of experiences and thoughts and I would really appreciate any assistance in bringing it more to life.

The reason the Ruler got this dream is because of some similarities she has had in her own life so far. While she is the ruler of the kingdom, she recently revealed to the rest of the players that she contains an Aberrant Dragonmark (an Eberron thing that is a social stigma and can be likened to having a mutant power from X-Men. Some go nuts, some are okay, it really depends on who's telling the story.) If it is ever revealed that she has an Aberrant mark, it could cause an uproar of drastic levels (oh I'm looking at a nice increase in Unrest when this eventually happens - though my players will already have issues with declaring that Intelligent Undead and Warforged will be considered citizens with full rights)

The Ruler has also been a disappointment to her parents, a failure to her Dragonmarked House (Lyrandar) and been harassed by an evil stepsister for most of her life.

Here is what I have so far for the dream...
Sometime during your first few months of building your kingdom…you dream. You have another name but you can’t recall it. You are ‘you’ and yet not ‘you’ at the same time. The people around you dress in fine clothes though yours are often ratty and in need of repair. Most of your days are spent toiling thanklessly for your family. But you know that time will soon come to an end. Your beloved, a noble who has begun courting you, has promised to take you away from all of this. Ranalc. He has eyes of purest midnight and a spirit that loves adventure and spontaneity, but you know that you are the one constant in his life. Once you are joined you will be one forever and finally take your rightful place among the first.

Simple and short, but providing a few hints that something weird is going on.

The other dream I have written so far is for the Bard and Investigator in the party. She's distant from her family and often found meaning in reading up on ancient civilizations (attempting to discover what happened to the ancient Giant civiliazation of Xen'drik is one of the reasons she's here).

Here is what I have so far...
Sometime during your first few months of building your kingdom…you dream. You fall asleep at your desk as you do sometimes, and you have a sensation of falling…falling…becoming smaller and smaller until you slip between the very pages of your books. Time has no true meaning in the land of your dreams and so you have no true sense of how long you’re here…but this ever changing landscape resembles old folksy towns, then suddenly vast untamable forests. You travel through the lairs of evil witches with houses suspiciously made of baked goods, and raid a house against your better judgment to eat porridge of varying temperatures. And then there are even stranger scenarios. Colors are more vibrant and alive. Emotions feel more intense than you thought possible. At one point you are a dog that stands on two legs greeting another atop a hill, comparing elaborate hats before passing each other by. You continually try to outdo one another with your elaborate hats. The night continues like this – living or visiting a dizzying number of scenarios where you change form and gender repeatedly. As Auchs wakes you with a gentle shaking of your shoulder in the morning there is only one thing you remember as a single constant of the whirlwind of experiences you lived through the night. One phrase kept repeating in every place, every time, every area. Painted on the walls or spoken by yourself or another – in some way it appeared in every dream.

All Of What Follows Is True.

So! Please let me know what people think. To heavy handed? To vague?

This is officially one of my favorite threads in the Kingmaker forum.

Kingmaker in Eberron.

My group is still on Book 1, about six sessions in having recently dealt with the Mites and Sootscales and just hitting level 3. They're close to the end of the Book aside from exploration and the big bad.

Please feel free to take a look. Questions and criticism are always welcome and appreciated.

I've been wanting to run Kingmaker for a couple of years now. There is just something incredibly enticing about a sandbox campaign that plays out over years, possible even generations of PCs.

So finally I started getting things organized and gathered a group of awesome PCs together to start exploring the Stolen Land and forge a new kingdom.

I will admit my favorite tabletop setting is Eberron, so that is the world I am running Kingmaker in (3.5 edition, 4e Eberron and I disagree on some things.)

Rather than be associated with Restov or Brevoy, all of my PCs have a connection to one of the mercantile Dragonmarked Houses, that for millenia have been bound by the Edicts of Korth restricting them from owning any personal land or noble titles within the Kingdom of Galifar. Well thanks to the Last War, the Kingdom of Galifar doesn't exist anymore.

So the think tank of The Twelve that all the Houses have representatives in are sending a group of explorers to Xen'drik the unexplored continent across the sea to initially explore and tame the land - and hopefully in the future found a kingdom by and for the Dragonmarked Houses.

My PCs are...
Alanea Shercroft (d’Medani) (Half-elf Bard (Archaeologist) 1)
A 25 year old female somewhat introverted half-elf from House Medani, Alanea spent most of her youth with her face in a book. Multiple books. Perhaps even all of the books. Rather than possessing the knack for detective work that House Medani is known for, Alanea is a lover of history. Ancient knowledge, lost stories, histories of pre-human cultures…there’s so much knowledge just waiting to be rediscovered! Alanea finished her schooling in multiple subjects at Morgrave University in Sharn and received a degree in Archaeology.

Sidney Xavier d’Cannith – Dragonmarked Scion (Human Artificer 1)
The love child of Tony Stark and Maes Hughes, Sidney d’Cannith is a prodigy of House Cannith’s Southern Division with the ego to back it up. His impressive skills would have led to a promising career climbing the ladder of the House, having obtained a Dragonmark has all but assured it. His precise reasons for traveling to Xen’drik have yet to be revealed though if Sidney is looking to break into uncharted territory for the House – then Xen’drik is the perfect proving ground.

Korin d’Kundarak (Dwarf Barbarian (Invulnerable Rager) 1)
Relatively young by dwarven standards 50 year old Korin is from a great bloodline within the Kundarak House with four older brothers and two younger – each with a Dragonmark. Korin never manifested his own and has struggled to find his place within the house ever since. Still considered a Scion of the upper families of the House Korin could not find his place with the lower families…though due to his failure at the Test of Siberys his place among the higher families was shunned. Living most of his life in Stormreach Korin learned to make friends with other delinquents and oddballs, mostly from other Dragonmarked Houses. Unfortunately many of his friends died in the Last War. Those that did not are slowly moving into their twilight years. Largely written off by his parents Korin views the Charter to explore and tame Xen’drik as his best chance of proving himself to his family and House. Korin’s expertise is largely based in accounting and business management with an unfortunate streak of anger management issues. (One his direct influences is Terry Tate: Office Linebacker)

Tarvis Eathro d’Lyrandar (Half-elf Magus (Staff Magus) 1)
A gifted youth who lived on the streets of Aundair until being found by another member of House Lyrandar. Recognizing that the boy developed a Dragonmark, Tarvis was declared an ‘orphan’ and welcomed into House Lyrandar under the wing of his mentor. Since then Tarvis has grown into his station though to the rest of proper dragonmarked society he’s still ‘new money’. Xen’drik is a proving ground for Tarvis and his first venture out from under the wing of his mentor.

Valerie Anona Ardovini d’Lyrandar (Half-elf Rogue 1)
Valerie is another scion of House Lyrandar though her history differs greatly from Tarvis’. Other Dragonmarked Scions whisper behind Valerie’s back, saying that she is cursed. Valerie’s mother (Anna Colleen d’Lyrandar) was involved in a scandal after she became pregnant after having a little too much to drink at a masquerade ball. Normally such an implication, especially resulting in a pregnancy (since Dragonmarked Houses frequently hold arranged marriages and controlling bloodlines as a high priority for the continuation of Dragonmarked Lines…), was enough to hold the threat of Excoriation over Valerie’s mother…but after seeing her child was a half-elf, House Lyrandar decided not to punish the child for the mistakes of its parent. Eventually Valerie’s mother married another scion of the House (David Mathieu Evered d’Lyrandar), bringing a stern step-father into Valerie’s life along with a jealous step-sister (Roberta Catherine Evered d’Lyrandar) who never forgave her new ‘sister’ for having her father ‘marry down’ in the hierarchy of the House.

David’s stern hand with raising Valerie assured she got into good classes and received the best training though sometimes he pushed the young girl too hard. As with most scions of a Dragonmarked House, Valerie’s future built towards her eventual Test of Siberys to see if she would manifest a Dragonmark. The test went horribly wrong, and her left arm was mangled in the process.

Years have passed since then and the family has since been blessed with three new children. Jackalyn Nadia (13), Sara Garnette (11), and Carl Ignatius (6). Valerie loves her family though stayed out of the public eye as often as she could – eventually emerging back into the political light with a completely prosthetic left arm.

The group is only two sessions in but have decided to take the fight to Kressle's bandit camp as soon as they can, which is where we will pick up in session 3.

It's been really fun so far and the group is excited about the sandbox nature of the area, the quests that give incentives for exploration, and even the cartography aspects of filling out their own map.

So she's a more likeable asian version of Morrigan from Dragon Age? I am totally okay with this.

...and now she's a tsundere in my head.

Cayden Cailean's "Okay what did I do last night and where are my pants?"
Material component is a cup of coffee.

Using the guide to Darkmoon Vale, the Falcons Hollow modules could easily have "Tower of the Last Baron" and "Treasure of Chimera Cove" added as adventures after Carnival of Tears and possible before or after Hungry are the Dead.

The rationale for this is continued recognition by the Andoran Eagle Knights of the heroic nature of the party coming from such a small lumber town. This would serve as a way to change their starting village in a powerful way (hopefully for the better) by the end of D4 and serve to open up the world for further adventures by becoming allied with the Andoran military and starting to explore the rest of the world through Tower and Chimera Cove.

Despite it not being an official Adventure Path, there could be an epic journey to save the town of Falcon's Hollow and become influential forces for the entire nation of Andoran.