Whispering Cairn timeline issues

[Black Dougal]

I love the Whispering Cairn adventure in 124, its as good as anything I've ever seen in Dungeon and I have been buying it since 1986.

However, just a few questions because I love details and a few minor timeline issues cropped up when reading the issue.

1A. Ellival MoonMeadow is said to have lived in Diamond Lake for over 100 years, longer than any other living resident..however..

1B. The Dourstone mine is said to have been in operation for centuries, and Ragnolin Dourstone has managed the mine since the begining

1.C. Dourstone was said to have picked the mine location through the influence of the faceless one..which implies that this happened hundreds of years ago..however

1.D. The faceless one is human and so unlikely to have lived for centuries, and even if he has he is said to have arrived at the mine 6 months ago..

So how to reconcile this? I am going to fudge things and assume that Dourstone inherited the mine and his ancestors were guided by the cult, and the faceless one is simply the agent who has recently been assigned to the mine.

Ok, next one...

2.A. The seekers broke into the cairn 50 years ago, and one stole the red lantern. So

2.B.Alastor broke into the mine 30 years ago. How did Alastor get to the final trap without having all the lanterns (since the red had been stolen 20 years previously and stuck in another part of cairn?).

I am fixing this by assuming the seekers broke in 25 years ago as opposed to 50 years ago.

All very minor stuff but I love the details, which is why this is such a great adventure. I'm the type of DM that loves to list the type of each gem and if my characters cared I'd also break the coins out of country of issue...

[ultrazen]

For question #2, see page 26, "Ghosts in the machine."

For question #1, the description of the mine managers on page 52 seems more consistent with rest of the information in the first two adventures than the Dourstone Mine description on page 63. That, or your idea or whatever a friendly editor may come along and post.

[Sean Mahoney]

Black Dougal wrote:

1B. The Dourstone mine is said to have been in operation for centuries, and Ragnolin Dourstone has managed the mine since the begining

Centuries = Decades

There you go... all fixed.

Note that the faceless one did not have to be in the area to influence someone in the area doing something. It could have been something he put in motion with the intention of showing up well down the line.

[Rob Bastard]

ultrazen wrote:

For question #2, see page 26, "Ghosts in the machine."

It's a bit more complicated than that. Check this thread for some possible solutions: http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/dungeon/ageOfWorms/spoilersAnySolution ToTheAlastorLandMystery

[silver dragon]

hey I've got a question. If a player steps into the false elevator trap in area 7 ... and it retracts into the floor, the the ceiling comes down and crushed a player(and he survives)does it resets in 2 rounds and crush him again and again until the other players manage to turn the sarcophagas to the proper position to recall the elevator. just wonderin'

[K]

Black Dougal wrote:

I love the Whispering Cairn adventure in 124, its as good as anything I've ever seen in Dungeon and I have been buying it since 1986.

However, just a few questions because I love details and a few minor timeline issues cropped up when reading the issue.

1A. Ellival MoonMeadow is said to have lived in Diamond Lake for over 100 years, longer than any other living resident..however..

1B. The Dourstone mine is said to have been in operation for centuries, and Ragnolin Dourstone has managed the mine since the begining

1.C. Dourstone was said to have picked the mine location through the influence of the faceless one..which implies that this happened hundreds of years ago..however

1.D. The faceless one is human and so unlikely to have lived for centuries, and even if he has he is said to have arrived at the mine 6 months ago..

The Faceless One doesn't have to be completely human. There are any number of spells, PrCs, and temaplates that allow a character to either "leapfrog" through time by spending time in stasis, or negate the aging process entirely.

Even a 5th level Wizard can jump through time by repeatedly hitting himself with a Sepia Snake Sigil, and anyone can afford a Reincarnation, reversing the aging process entirely.

Black Dougal wrote:

2.A. The seekers broke into the cairn 50 years ago, and one stole the red lantern. So

2.B.Alastor broke into the mine 30 years ago. How did Alastor get to the final trap without having all the lanterns (since the red had been stolen 20 years previously and stuck in another part of cairn?).

My fix is this: give the boy 2 ranks of Use Magic Device. Explain it away as a boyhood obsession with a wizard or fairy or something (which is why he ran away to a dangerous trapped cairn in the first place.)

The door opens by a set of magic conditions, so its a magic device by the definition that DnD uses. Assuming he got a natural 20 on a Activate Blindly check, his Charisma is high enough that he can hit the DC of 25 and open the door without the red lantern.

[MadBlue]

K wrote:

My fix is this: give the boy 2 ranks of Use Magic Device. Explain it away as a boyhood obsession with a wizard or fairy or something (which is why he ran away to a dangerous trapped cairn in the first place.)

The door opens by a set of magic conditions, so its a magic device by the definition that DnD uses. Assuming he got a natural 20 on a Activate Blindly check, his Charisma is high...

The only problem is that he didn't have a 17 Charisma until after he died. The Ghost Template grants a +4 Charisma, which means his Charisma was 13 when he was alive. It's a neat fix, otherwise, though.

MadBlue