Can anyone tell me what the Wind Dukes have to do with the AP. I looked in the archives, but really didn't find anything.
Beldar
It's my understanding that they have absolutely nothing at all to do with Kyuss and the Age of Worms. It's simply coincidence that Diamond Lake has some of their burial tombs littered about the region (including Whispering Cairn).
I think their inclusion is an awesome touch. The little touches of Wind Duke lore take me back to my 2E campaign where we ran through the entirety of The Rod of Seven Parts. The Wind Duke Qadeej was a reoccuring NPC during the latter stages. It was a lot of fun role-playing the party wizard researching the Rod and its pieces, collecting the ingredients necessary to merge the pieces, and undergoing the changes that go along with it (he went from LG to LN during the process). The search for each piece was fun. Fending off the spyder fiends was tons of fun. The final confrontation against Mishka was titanic.
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I might have to change the rod piece in Icosiol's tomb and make it the first piece, or perhaps the second or third piece, giving PCs a definable path to the next fragment should they choose to seek it out. It could make for a fun epic romp collecting the pieces from desolate locales or from the clutches of powerful beings.
It's my understanding that they have absolutely nothing at all to do with Kyuss and the Age of Worms.
The Wind Dukes taught their lore to an ancient sect of druids. Those druids became the Order of the Storm and stopped Kyuss' first attempt 1500 years in the past to begin the Age of Worms.
The Wind Dukes also apparently had contact with the ancient human population of the Cairn Hills region, as Allastor Land and the PCs (or some of them) share some sort of Wind Duke ancestry (as revealed in KotR).
On the whole, the Wind Dukes are peripheral to the plot, but their tombs provide some useful items to the heroes for their quest to stop the Age of Worms.
I thought of this as well. I love the legend of the Vaati, I think it's one of the best story lines in D&D lore.
I wanted them to be more important in the game, so I created some more links to the Wind Dukes similar to the Order of Storms and put in more opportunities to find sections of The Rod.
The biggest one, and this will certainly shock the players when they find out about it, is that Kyuss as a mortal was a worshiper of the Queen of Chaos (King, in my world, since I subbed the Queen for Hastur. ALL HAIL THE KING IN YELLOW! >_<.)) instead of Nerull, who I don't use in my campaign.
I think it'll blow up very nicely when the players reveal that little secret.
Converting things to Eberron, I found the Wind Dukes a nice addition as allies to the couatl and dragons. I am also using the full Rod of Seven Parts, and to help speed things up I had an opposing part start collecting pieces, and eventually they faced off against the players, Rod fragments vs. Rod fragments. The players won, of course, but it was a rough fight, and at the end they had two halves of the rod to show for it; the only piece they're missing now is the center piece, which Manzorian still has locked up in his hoard.
I also took the time to flesh out how the Wind Dukes might be related to the different members of the party; I took quite a few liberties, including making them responsible for the changeling race ;)
I also took the time to flesh out how the Wind Dukes might be related to the different members of the party; I took quite a few liberties, including making them responsible for the changeling race ;)
I've been thinking about that concept. I'm very interested in having the characters feel personally connected to the wind duke legends and feel wrapped up in the great doings of the world. However, I've been worried about having Alastor come back so much later. I'd like to make that occurrence have punch and not become a "it turns out that your parents found you as a baby and you're really the rightful prince and ruler of the land" plot device. Could you share your notes or ideas?
I am also using the full Rod of Seven Parts, and to help speed things up I had an opposing part start collecting pieces, and eventually they faced off against the players, Rod fragments vs. Rod fragments. The players won, of course, but it was a rough fight, and at the end they had two halves of the rod to show for it; the only piece they're missing now is the center piece, which Manzorian still has locked up in his hoard.
YOINK!
could you give me a few more details of how you put this together? I was already considering having Darl & co have one part of the rod, tenser has a section, the PC's have a section, Dragotha's horde has a section, but a solid fight for the other three sections would rock. maybe some kind of ambush inside the wormcrawl fissure... hmm...
The Wind Dukes -
IMC, I was struck by the fact that the Wind Dukes were described (somewhat) similarly to what changelings look like; pale skin, androgynous or washed-out features, etc. So I took it a step further and said as beings of formless air, the Vaati in Eberron were shapeshifters. The couatl made contact with them and formed an alliance in the Age of Demons to fight the rakshasas; after the war, many stayed on Khorvaire and 'went native'. The resulting offspring were similar to changelings, and blended into the races of the world like their forebears.
Then came the fleshwarping daelkyr. They took the changelings and twisted them into modern dopplegangers, corrupting them for their invasion. The dopplegangers lived, and started breeding as the years passed. The Vaati blood remained strong in their veins, though, and after some time exerted itself again. That evolutionary leap resulted in the current race of changelings.
To tie things in, I turned the Lands into a changeling family, made Alastor Zosiel's offspring, and made the player's character Icosiol's offspring. I also had Alastor comment on the "airy" nature of each member in the party to show their connection to the Wind Duke bloodline; the wizard who loved lightning bolts was the "Lightning Child", the ninja shifter was the "Nightwind", etc.
The Rod of Law -
First, I listed where each of the rod pieces was currently located in Eberron (they're listed shortest to longest, so 7 is the headpiece in Icosiol's tomb).
1. Tirra
2. Couatl Temple - Talenta Plains
3. Manzorian
4. Inspired Lord
5. Kalashtar Master Monk
6. Pit Fiend
7. Headpiece - Icosiol's Tomb
Here's how things went chronologically in the campaign: the players found the headpiece (7) in Icosiol's Tomb. They took it to Allustan, and were attacked en route by fiends serving the Pit Fiend (who possessed 6). The players opted to keep the Rod, working with Manzorian on a container that might keep others from tracking them down.
While they continued adventuring, the quori Inspired Lord came into possession of fragment 4. The quori knew of the Vaati and their weapon, which they both feared and coveted. He tracked down the next piece (5) at an Adaran monastery, where he cut down the kalashtar master and claimed the fragment. He then made his way to Khorvaire and dealt with the Pit Fiend possessing fragment 6 and claimed it for his own.
The fiend's defenses took apart most of the quori's forces, so he started looking for replacement goons. He discovered Zyrxog, the mind flayer below Sharn the players had destroyed in Hall of Harsh Reflections. The illithid had become an alhoon thanks to the Cult of the Dragon Below, so he stole its phylactery and forced it to take its best minions to fight the players.
--More to come--
At this point, I had two groups actively pursuing the rod, so I figured they'd eventually go after each other. The players had picked up 1 and 2 on their own, but weren't pursuing the leads I left, so I put the evil party on their tails.
Due to a carefully-worded diviniation on the part of the PC's enemies ("When will they be at their weakest or most vulnerable?"), I gave myself a free ticket to have them ambush the party whenever I wanted.
They ended up jumping the party after a prolonged battle during the siege in Kings of the Rift. The casters were out of spells, everyone was at half HP or less, and they were neogtiating with the fire giants for access to the vault. Once the Inspired showed up, the giants went nuts and the whole thing turned into a battle royale.
The players ended up killing everyone and taking everything they owned :)
Now they have six pieces of the rod, but without the middle piece it's not nearly as powerful as it could be. I don't plan on giving them the last piece until they go see Manzorian, just before Dawn of a New Age.
Since it's in Eberron, I plan on adding a special ability to the fully-completed Rod of Law similar to the retributive strike of the Staff of Power or Archmagi. It would act like an epic-level banishment that would remove Kyuss from the multiverse, and since Katashka's bound to him the rajah would go too. The rod would, of course, split as part of the strike, and there would be a decent chance the wielder would go too.