Okay, so there have been a few threads dealing with the problems people have with Drathkar's Way. The specific problems that I see are:
a) the setup is too similar to Life's Bazaar; the initial NPC contact is coerced into helping the villains.
b) the main villain's weaknesses are too similar to those of one of the Adventure Path's classic encounters, Tongueater, making the second encounter easy if the PCs have weapons to deal with Drathkar.
c) the premise of the adventure seems weak; smuggling mercenaries into the city when they have a perfectly legitimate invitation to march through the gates in a later chapter.
So let's fix these problems and give the adventure a more meaningful point, tying it more tightly into the campaign setting and giving the PCs a different challenge to overcome. I'll be borrowing some ideas from other threads, specifically the one about 'Skipping Drathkar's Way.'
Okay, so let's fix the first problem. Instead of Orak being dominated and coerced into helping, why can't he be a willing participant? Let's make him a fence/smuggler working with the Last Laugh guild. He built the bathhouse overtop of the natural caves he discovered years ago while he was working out of the Malachite Fortress before it was abandoned. Being exceptionally greedy even for a dwarf, he set himself up as a legitimate businessman, working with the thieves' guild as a smuggler and fence, and working with the goblins in the caves to ensure safe passage of the goods.
Now for the third problem. Instead of smuggling in mercenaries, Chef's Slaad, on the other thread, suggested that the Cagewrights could be smuggling in materials for the Tree of Shackled Souls. The PCs could intervene and intercept the final shipment. They wouldn't know what the purpose of the materials is, but when they find the Soulcage in the Temple of Wee Jas in chapter 7, they just might put together a few interesting clues.
Now for Drathkar himself. The idea of a bugbear vampire is quite cool, and should be used elsewhere. It doesn't work here because the odds are that once they figure out what Drathkar is and destroy him, the PCs are likely to be loaded with silver and magic weapons, which makes Tongueater a pansy. This Must Not Be.
So let's change Drathkar. My initial suggestion on the other thread was to make Drathkar an enchanter or a sorcerer with a focus on enchantment spells, but once I changed Orak's focus from coerced victim to willing participant, there was no need for charm spells to be prominent in the adventure.
So what to do with the erstwhile proto-vampire bugbear? We could just make him a leader of the goblin tribe, perhaps even a partner of Orak's. Or we could take him in an entirely different direction, one that still gives us much of the atmosphere of the original adventure. Let's see...he summons swarms of animals, hunts as a wolf, uses fog, is very dangerous in melee combat, and is very much at home in the dark caverns below Cauldron. Can anyone think of a character class that would fit these traits?
Yep. Let's make him a druid. So there are two options; in the first option, he becomes a 3rd-level druid (keeping his CR at 4). In the second, his level is increased to 5th, giving him access to 3rd-level druid spells and the Wild Shape ability (and bumping his CR to 6). I'm going to use the second option for my campaign.
The only thing I'm still working out is how to connect Drathkar to the smuggling operation. Why would a pack of goblins let a bugbear druid be in charge? Well, the easiest answer is that they believe that Drathkar really IS a vampire. After all, he does all those vampiric things, like summon fog, changes into a wolf, summons hordes of animals...if Drathkar is careful to maintain the ruse (not to mention using magic fang to impress them once in a while), the goblins could easily be fooled into thinking that the bugbear is undead. Of course, the problem with that is that the players might think the same thing, causing them to load up on silver and magic weapons...Alas, no plan is perfect.
I'll post revised stat blocks for Orak and Drathkar in a little bit, once I've figured out how to alter them. Any comments are welcomed.
Here's Orak, revised. He's got a lot more skills, but he's not much of a combat monster. His base abilities are unchanged from the original.
Orak Stonehaven CR 4
Dwarf Fighter 1/Rogue 3
LE Medium Humanoid
Init +1; Senses Listen +5, Spot +5
Languages Common, Dwarf, Goblin
AC 11, touch 11, flat-footed 10
hp 36 (1d10+3d6+12)
Resist Evasion
Fort +6, Ref +4, Will +2
Speed 20 (4 squares)
Melee handaxe +5 (1d6+1/x3) or
Ranged handaxe +5 (1d6+1/x3)
Base Atk +3 Grp +4
Atk Options Combat Reflexes, sneak attack +2d6
Combat Gear handaxe
Abilities Str 14, Dex 13, Con 17, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 6
SQ Trapfinding, Trap sense +1
Feats Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Weapon Focus (handaxe)
Skills Appraise +4, Forgery +4, Gather Information +2, Intimidate +2, Knowledge (local) +4, Listen +5, Sense Motive +5, Spot +5, Speak Language (goblin)
Possessions handaxe, eyepatch with ruby worth 200 gp
Any corrections are more than welcome. I'm not going to get to this part of the campaign for at least one more session, so I've got time to make revisions.
And here's my revised Drathkar. I'll write up his animal companion later on; it'll probably be a wolf, but I'll have to sleep on it. Note that the spells he's got will allow him to simulate vampiric traits, with a few surprises thrown in. I'll leave it to others to decide if a 5th-level druid is a match for an underpowered vampire.
Drathkar CR 6
Bugbear druid 5
NE Medium humanoid (goblinoid)
Init +8; Senses Darkvision, Listen +7, Spot +7
Languages Common, Goblin
AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 16
hp 52 (8 HD)
Resist +4 against spell-like abilities of fey
Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +5
Speed 30 feet (6 squares)
Melee club +4 (1d6/x2) or
Ranged dart +2 (1d4/x2)
Base Atk +5 Grp +5
Atk Options
Special Actions wild shape (1/day)
Combat Gear leather armor, light wooden shield, club, 10 darts, potion of spider climb, potion of gaseous form
Spells Prepared 3rd-level: Meld Into Stone, Summon Nature’s Ally III.
2nd-level: Bull’s Strength, Fog Cloud, Summon Swarm.
1st-level: Faerie Fire, Jump, Magic Fang, Shillelagh.
0-level: Cure Minor Wounds, Detect Magic, Flare, Know Direction, Resistance.
Abilities Str 17, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 12
SQ animal companion, link to companion, wild empathy, woodland stride, trackless step
Feats Alertness, Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus (club)
Skills Concentration +6, Knowledge (nature) +4, Listen +7, Move Silently +10, Spot +7, Survival +7
Possessions Combat gear
Again, feel free to correct any obvious errors, especially with the skills; I assumed that as he started off as a humanoid, he doesn't get the x4 skill point bonus for being a 1st-level character, since he already started with 12 points just for being a bugbear. If this is incorrect, please let me know.
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I don't have Drakthar's way, but a few comments anyway if I may... Your solution may not solve the Tongue Eater problem, because as you say the PCs may stock up on silver for the perceived vampire threat anyway!
In this case you may wish to beef up TE a little bit, so he still poses a challenge to your (inadvertantly) prepared characters. Check out the TE as a Natural Lycanthrope thread for a couple of ideas in this regard.
I like the idea of smuggling in materials for the Soul Cages. Might be nice for your players to see some evidence that their stopping the last shipment had some impact on slowing down the Cagewright's plans. As a quick thought, maybe they find a note later in the AP somewhere, saying how the Gate opening ceremony in 13 Cages had to be pushed back a month (or what have you) due to this shipment being lost. Your players will breath a sigh of relief that they didnt have to face Foundation of Flame and 13 Cages a month ago when they were X levels lower!
Also, when the PCs find the abandoned workshop in the Kopru Ruins where the Ebon Triad made a soul cage for the Cagewrights, they may find traces of the same materials or packaging of the shipment they stopped.
I agree that it might not solve the problem with players stocking up on silver. The other idea I had (that literally just popped into my mind) is to make Drathkar a sort of eco-terrorist, using the goblins to attack certain businesses or industries in the city.
As for beefing up Tongueater, I'm definitely going to be bringing in the 'feralized' version someone posted on another thread a few eons ago. I fully intend for the players to have nightmares about this guy, regardless of what I do with Drathkar.
That's pretty much how I envisioned it as well, without the disguise kit. I figured Magic Fang could provide the cosmetic appearance of nasty, sharp, pointy teeth if it's needed.
One possibility around the problem of the party prepping for a vampire is this: instead of buying the weapons, they might get them on loan from one of the Temples. I especially like the idea of using the temple of Wee Jas for this; they agree to supply the party with the silver weapons, just this once. Embril and Ike know that Drathkar's not really a vampire, so it's not going to make any difference in the battle, but if the party doesn't know any better, then after the battle they can return them and be none the wiser.
Any of the temples would work for this, really, but using Wee Jas makes it that much better. Their rationale could be that Drathkar is stepping out of bounds, and they're not going to cry about his loss; goblins are, after all, easily replaced, especially with more tractable leaders than a bugbear druid with delusions of undeath.
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I love all of the ideas you're coming up with on this thread, they're going to be extremely helpful when I get to running this adventure. That last idea about getting the silver weapons on loan is particularly good; you can use it even if Drakthar actually turns out to BE a proto-vampire. That way you can reward the party for planning ahead on Drakthar, and still nail them with Tongueater.
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As for beefing up Tongueater, I'm definitely going to be bringing in the 'feralized' version someone posted on another thread a few eons ago. I fully intend for the players to have nightmares about this guy, regardless of what I do with Drathkar.
Yep, I used the feralised TE that was posted here .... memorable...... I think its a good option.
Besides all the issues with Drakthar being a vampire viz Toungueater, I have another problem: his Will save.
In my case, I have a necromancer in the party who I know for a fact has taken Control Undead as a 2nd lvl spell. Given the player's 16 INT, Drakthar will have to make 1 to 3 Will saves vs 16 or be controlled by my PC for 3 DAYS. I figure that would qualify as a game-stopper. While the spell doesn't result in a dominate effect, it's still pretty good, serving as a long lasting Charm Person for undead. I'll post it below to show you what I mean:
Command Undead
Necromancy
Level: Sor/Wiz 2
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Targets: One undead creature
Duration: One day/level
Saving Throw: Will negates; see text
Spell Resistance: Yes
This spell allows you some degree of control over an undead creature. Assuming the subject is intelligent, it perceives your words and actions in the most favorable way (treat its attitude as friendly). It will not attack you while the spell lasts. You can try to give the subject orders, but you must win an opposed Charisma check to convince it to do anything it wouldn’t ordinarily do. (Retries are not allowed.) An intelligent commanded undead never obeys suicidal or obviously harmful orders, but it might be convinced that something very dangerous is worth doing.
A nonintelligent undead creature gets no saving throw against this spell. When you control a mindless being, you can communicate only basic commands, such as “come here,” “go there,” “fight,” “stand still,” and so on. Nonintelligent undead won’t resist suicidal or obviously harmful orders.
Any act by you or your apparent allies that threatens the commanded undead (regardless of its Intelligence) breaks the spell.
Your commands are not telepathic. The undead creature must be able to hear you.
I like the ideas presented in this thread. Thanks, Borealis, for taking the time to open this discussion.
I think I'm going to take a similar approach but avoid the vampire references as I don't think they're really necessary. The grafitti and other vampire references throughout the adventure primarily serve to foreshadow the final battle, giving characters the opportunity to prepare appropriately and I would rather not have them prepare and then have the rug pulled out from under them as all the foreshadowing turns out to be for a false conclusion.
So I'll change some of the grafitti and see if I can find a way to give the group enough hints to prepare for the fight without so many that they are led to false conclusions.
Shannon
I thought about this some more last night and I think I'm inclined to foreshadow the theme of fiendish corruption and redemption by changing Drakthar into a former holy warrior (either paladin or cleric) now corrupted and twisted by fiendish energy. Seeing him (or posibly her for added impact) still wearing armor emblazoned with symbols of a known diety of right and good (possibly Heironeous or Mayaheine), I can see the group being faced with an opportunity to capture the villain in the hopes of later redemption or just killing the villain outright. Might be a tough choice for some of them. Either way, I think it's the kind of thing that will make them wonder what kind of evil forces they're dealing with in Cauldron.
Still in the thinking phase right now though so if anyone has any other suggestions or improvements, I'm all ears.
Shannon
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Okay, so there have been a few threads dealing with the problems people have with Drathkar's Way. The specific problems that I see are:
a) the setup is too similar to Life's Bazaar; the initial NPC contact is coerced into helping the villains.
b) the main villain's weaknesses are too similar to those of one of the Adventure Path's classic encounters, Tongueater, making the second encounter easy if the PCs have weapons to deal with Drathkar.
c) the premise of the adventure seems weak; smuggling mercenaries into the city when they have a perfectly legitimate invitation to march through the gates in a later chapter.
I will say that the faux vampire idea is clever: not sure if I want to use that though.
I really like the idea of the alternate smuggling operation. What would be part of that final shipment? A WHOLE cage intact? or unassembled cold iron rods or what?
Finally, thinking outside the box, why not change Tongue-Eater? I'm thinking instead of lyncanthropic, make him a half-fiend (Bar-Lgura) or an actual Bar-Lgura demon. They are ape-like so they follow the same theme - they're tied to being demons which are hands of evil gods, and if you saw and like my earlier thread about having Tongue-Eater and friends be fiends of Demo-gorgon for the purpose of working with the evil gods that make up that Ebon Triad, AND be a grounds-layer for the Savage Tide campaign for those of you who are going on to run that.
For me, I already intended to swap Tongue-eater with one of those two options. If you did this, also, you wouldn't have to worry about the silver weapons as it requires either good or cold iron.
Robert
Borealis, right on! This is a great thread, I am going Brambleys way (sorry if I missspelled your name). I really like the bugbear vampire. The plot changes I think really make a difference in "beleivablity". Thanks!
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How about making him a villain corrupted by Adimarchus' dreams?
The Cagewrights are just using him, until he becomes too bothersome for them (i.e. the Last Laugh is ordered to stop the threat because his actions have become too obvious). Change the graffitis to include the Smoking Eye and other things you want to foreshadow about Adimarchus.
How about making him a villain corrupted by Adimarchus' dreams?
The Cagewrights are just using him, until he becomes too bothersome for them (i.e. the Last Laugh is ordered to stop the threat because his actions have become too obvious). Change the graffitis to include the Smoking Eye and other things you want to foreshadow about Adimarchus.
I think this is a great idea. I'm planning to start up a SCAP campaign soon, and Drakthar's Way is one of the weak points that I really want to shore up. The following are all great ideas that I plan on using:
1.) Tie Drakthar to Adimarchus through corrupted dreams (with appropriate graffiti).
2.) Have the smugglers bring in supplies for the Tree, instead of mercenaries. The smugglers themselves are still mercenaries, however.
3.) Have Orak be a complicit accomplice who works against the party. Maybe he tries to play the reluctant victim at first, and looks for an opportunity to betray the party.
I would still like to move more of the adventure into the city itself and out of the caves, as one thing I'm concerned about is the "yet another dungeon beneath the city" syndrome. Orak and the Last Laugh seem like good candidates for expanding the adventure into Cauldron. Does anyone have any good ideas here? The first thing that comes to mind is some sort of assassination attempt orchestrated by Orak.
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1.) Tie Drakthar to Adimarchus through corrupted dreams (with appropriate graffiti).
2.) Have the smugglers bring in supplies for the Tree, instead of mercenaries. The smugglers themselves are still mercenaries, however.
3.) Have Orak be a complicit accomplice who works against the party. Maybe he tries to play the reluctant victim at first, and looks for an opportunity to betray the party.
I think these are great ideas, and was already intending to use some of them.
The one thing that still eludes me as to its execution is how to really "tie" Drathkar into the big A?
Robert
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What are some possible alternative graffiti signs if Drakthar is a mad Bugbear Druid corrupted by Adimarchus?
Thats a good question. For record, I still intend for Drathkar to be a vampire; albeit one that was affected by big A's madness.
And his involement for the purpose of smuggling cage parts; not half-orcs.
Grafitti:
Hail Drathkar the Mad!
All bow to the (insert goblin word here for "crazy wolf")
Mad Dreams make Drathkar mad!
Robert
Borealis,
How did I miss this thread?! What a great idea. I always thought the explaination of the use of the tunnels beneath Cauldron was very ordinary and didn't make sense.
As you have already stated - Whay smuggle in half-orc guards who can just walk through the front gates anyway?
The idea of using the tunnels to smuggle in materials for the Tree of Shackled Souls is excellent! If you made the materials rare and readily identifable - perhaps the sheets of metal are shaped like skeletal ribs and barbed, or bear strange runes (spellweaver? Canceri?) or are a metal not found on the material plane or all three?
This way when the party finds scraps of the metal in the Kopru Ruins, around the Fire Giant's anvil in the Demonskar and in the Church of Wee Jas as Mothman suggested, they will make the connection without too much prompting from the DM.
I like Drakthar but I can see what you are saying about the doubling up. In some ways though I don't see this as a problem, especially if you intend to use the 'fertilised' version of Tongue Eater. My players had trouble with him I didn't have access to this write up at that point so any help, such as a few silver weapons, would be very useful.
Oliver's idea is a good one, and I know you probably wouldn't believe this Oliver, but as I was reading down I came upon a very similiar idea...I promise :)
Drakthar's Way doesn't really fit anywhere and was written as after thought. The idea of using it to smuggle half-orcs in was an attempt to link it to the SCAP plot.
Adding to Oliver's idea, you could have Drakthar missing an eye with a tatoo of smoke ringing the absent orb. Drakthar would be touched by Adimarchus' Insanity but not completely mad.
Drakthar could be a follower of Fetor, smuggling in the metal to release the 'Smoking Eye' or searching through the caverns to find any further traces of Spellweaver Lore secreted away.
He could be working for the 'Veiled Lady' (Thifirane), Shebeleth or even the Last Laugh Jester ('The Fish')who has given him the task of smuggling the goods into the city. Perhaps the goblins are part of the LL and the Half-Orc Mercanies responsible for escorting the material to him?
Alternatively Drakthar could be a LL member himself?
Sorry I've run out of time. I'll write some more tomorrow.
Delvesdeep
I had an idea for possible motivation while I was playing around with the Goblin Graffiti - particularly "Drakthar is dead! Long live Drakthar!" Perhaps Drakthar believes (partly because of Admimarchus's mad whispers in his dreams) that he and his goblin ilk are on a crusade for reclamation of their ancient throne. Before Surabar arrived, the crater was controlled by a natural hierarchy, one in which the strong survived and the weak perished. Drakthar believes such is the way things ought to be and that human presence inverts this natural order, simply because Humans are so inherently weak compared to the rest of the animal kingdom. They survive, in his opinion, only because they surround themselves with complex (at least in his eyes) and unnatural technology.
The goblins follow him not out of any mind-effecting compulsion, but just out of a simple lust for better territory (As well as a respectable measure of fear). None of the goblins are entirely sure what exactly Drakthar is, and speculation ranges from him being a simply overfed goblin to an ancient vampire to a divine manifestation of Maglubiyet's will. Drakthar does little to set these rumors straight.
That's pretty good. I was thinking about Fetor, and the touch of Adimarchus seems to lead the person to things that would help free Adimarchus, even if the person is unaware of it, so that could certainly be the case here - the dreams of madness have placed Drakthar in his position in order to enable smuggling in materials for the Tree of Souls, even though Drakthar doesn't realize it.
To clue the PCs in a little more, I like Delvesdeep's idea of a missing eye with a tattoo of a ring of smoke. Captured goblins could tell a story about how Drakthar "tore out his own eye and ate it in front of the clan, frothing at the mouth and raging all the while." In fact, maybe he inspired a couple of other goblins to do this as well, in order to prove their courage and ferocity.
Some additional graffiti could be good:
"Drakthar dreams of a 6-fingered demon"
"Drakthar dreams of a 6-fingered angel"
Combined with Robert Brambley's suggestions above, these will help paint Drakthar as somewhat insane and also foreshadow Adimarchus.
Also, I think that some of Drakthar's possessions should reflect his dreams. Either a journal where he talks about dreaming of an imprisoned lord with two faces, or crude drawings on animal skns of Occipitus, or even a collection of two-faced masks.
Adding to the idea of expanding the adventure into the city, I'd like to place some of the smuggling operation in a safe-house in Cauldron. I'm thinking of making a group of 3 or 4 mercenaries who are a go-between. They've been hired by a nameless person they cannot recognize, who is supposed to pick up the supplies once they arrive at the safe-house.
When the mercenaries get wind of the adventurers hunting down the goblins, they get a little spooked, fearing that the PCs will uncover Drakthar's Way. So they try a bribe first, followed by intimidation, followed by an outright assassination attempt. All the while, the party can try to track down leads in the city to determine who these people are, possibly enlisting the aid of the Last Laugh (maybe Jil) or the Striders. Finally, the party uncovers the safe-house and can infiltrate it, capturing some mercenaries and learning about Drakthar's Way.
In fact, I think I'll cut out the first part of the caves and put a lot of those goblins in the safe-house. This could be one of the sources of the goblin vandals, so that more than one lead will point back to the safe-house as opposed to the bathhouse.
Obviously, the nameless stranger who hired the mercenaries won't show up to collect the goods, as the stranger will have learned that the gig is up.
I'll have Orak be a paid accomplice who plays the role of an innocent victim when the PCs eventually come knocking.
The only question I see with this set-up, is why have a safe-house in the first place? Why not make the transfer of goods from the bathhouse?
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Adding to the idea of expanding the adventure into the city, I'd like to place some of the smuggling operation in a safe-house in Cauldron. I'm thinking of making a group of 3 or 4 mercenaries who are a go-between. They've been hired by a nameless person they cannot recognize, who is supposed to pick up the supplies once they arrive at the safe-house.
When the mercenaries get wind of the adventurers hunting down the goblins, they get a little spooked, fearing that the PCs will uncover Drakthar's Way. So they try a bribe first, followed by intimidation, followed by an outright assassination attempt. All the while, the party can try to track down leads in the city to determine who these people are, possibly enlisting the aid of the Last Laugh (maybe Jil) or the Striders. Finally, the party uncovers the safe-house and can infiltrate it, capturing some mercenaries and learning about Drakthar's Way.
In fact, I think I'll cut out the first part of the caves and put a lot of those goblins in the safe-house. This could be one of the sources of the goblin vandals, so that more than one lead will point back to the safe-house as opposed to the bathhouse.
Obviously, the nameless stranger who hired the mercenaries won't show up to collect the goods, as the stranger will have learned that the gig is up.
I'll have Orak be a paid accomplice who plays the role of an innocent victim when the PCs eventually come knocking.
The only question I see with this set-up, is why have a safe-house in the first place? Why not make the transfer of goods from the bathhouse?
I think these ideas have a lot of merit. I would be interested in seeing just what the events are that are undertaken by your PCs throughout the city to uncover this all. I have tried thinking about how this could work - but i am simply not catching on.
here are questions that I think I need to have answered in my own mind before I can figure out how this would work.
According to the SCAP, where are the soulcages being sent? (I havent read that far yet).
If the soul cages aren't being sent to Cauldron, then why would there be a smuggling operation connected to the bathhouse to smuggle in something that isnt suppose to be smuggled to the city in the first place.
The only counter to that I can think of is: IF the soul cages need to go on elsewhere, perhaps this safe-house you were speaking of is one of the warehouses near the docks (potential tie in with Maavu or Vanderborens). The reason for the necessity of the warehouse-safehouse is:
1) parts for soul cages must get to (HERE) whereever that is - again I dont know.
2) theres some way to get the parts (HERE) from inside that warehouse - a magical portal, a hidden tomb, sewers, a seperate area of catacombs, a extra-planar gate, an extradimensional space, whatever.
3) the catacombs depicted in Drathkar's Way do NOT connect to this warehouse-safehouse thus....
4) since there IS egress to the surface via the bathhouse, Drathkar is using Orak to get the parts into the city and then must be transported somehow to the warehouse to be hidden and guarded - (enter your ideas of the extra goblins and/or mercenaries)
In my proposed scenario: PCs would have to A) go through the Drathkar thing in the module B) find clues as to the warehouse-safehouse. C) find it, sack it, and defeat its guards and somehow close down the magical portal or whatever.
Again, being a warehouse it could potentially be a foreshadowing for Maavu if it was one of his warehouse and the PCs liberated it, it would create an ally with Maavu; or if the warehouse was one of the Vanderborens, it could ingratiate the nobles towards the PCs - pissing off Todd of course :-)
Robert
OK I had a rethink about the adventure and the perceived problems of the plot and main villain.
Without changing the whole adventure it is difficult to blend it seamlessly and meaningfully into the SCAP plot as a whole.
But I few a few potential ideas for people to deliberate over –
Use of the Passage
The Soul Cages are built with an infusion of Canceri metals, spellweaver lore and dark magic.
Idea One
Dry’yrd believes that the remaining materials that were not used in the creation of the Soul Cages and Tree of Shackled Souls should be secured in a safe location for insurance.
While such a location is still being secured, Vhalantru has offered his manor and secret abode - Oblivion. The relatively close proximity of manor to the Fiery Sanctum beneath the city, makes it ideal is case the materials need to be quickly smuggled to the locations manually.
Vhalantru’s Discovery
In his exploration of the region and the caverns beneath Cauldron, Vhalantru came across a series of tunnels that lead directly from the base of the mountain and into the city. While exploring the tunnel he was confronted by a crazed bugbear and his goblin followers. The bugbear had one missing eye which he had crudely encircled with tattoo of black smoke – a symbol he was very familiar with.
Rather than dispose of the pitiful creature immediately and his cowering followers, Vhalantru asked the creature about his eye which the bugbear began to rave about –the ‘Smoking Eye’, ‘Caged Wings’ and ‘Dark Dreams’. Vhalantru told the creature, who he learned called itself Drakthar, that he also followed the Smoking Eye and that he could teach Drakthar more of the cages that filled his dreams.
Drakthar agreed and Vhalantru told him to guard the tunnels from intrusion until he or one of his followers returned to reveal the truth of his visions.
Thifirane
Years have passed since this meeting but now Vhalantru seeks to use the tunnels and Drakthar, its guardian. Vhalantru commanded his apprentice Thifirane to make contact with the Bugbear to begin his ‘education’ and to promise membership into the group if he proves valuable to their cause.
Thifirane appeared to Drakthar veiled and hidden in robes, and found that he had further descended into obsessed madness over his dreams. Scrawled over his wall were crude pictures depicting his visions – A black barbed cage, a white skull the size of a mountain that spewed flame from one of its vacant orbs and an angel and demon locked in combat. Other images that were also barely recognisable also filled every space upon his chamber including a depiction of a great and frightening beholder.
Thifirane began to instruct Drakthar of what he needed to do to appease the dreams and join her powerful group she referred to as the ‘caged ones’. His role was to secure the safe passage of the metals through the tunnels and into a warehouse within the city. Half-Orc mercanies will transport the metals to the entrance outside the city but he needed to move the goods without discovery.
In return Thifirane began to intermittently teach him of the power of the eye.
The Warehouse
There are two options to use here –
1The warehouse can be exchanged for the Bathhouse
Or
2 The warehouse can be placed next to Maavu’s warehouse.
The warehouse can be locked except at night when the alley door is opened and small wagons roll up to it driven by a human driver. Within the Warehouse the party can find goblins sneaks, adepts and even a couple of Worg Riders being overseen by either Orak or a half-goblin.
Vhalantru intends to, with Thifirane’s assistance, transport these materials magically on mass once they have all been stored here.
Potential Foreshadowing
There are a number of potential foreshadowing opportunities using this option.
One is the Smoking Eye and therefore Adimarchus. Crazed creature bearing such a disfigurement which seem to regularly appear will start to stir up the parties suspicions and curiosity about the signs significance.
Drakthar’s crude scrawling upon the wall of his chamber may also reveal an window into his madness and dreams. The player who possesses the Dream Haunted Trait may also recognise some of the images that have been drawn. The picture of Orbius may also arise the parties suspicions particularly considering the freshness of their past encounter with the beholder the chapter previously.
Thifirane may also be foreshadowed here. The goblins or Drakthar himself may tell the party of the veiled lady and her terrifying magical powers. They may also describe her necklace, a symbol that all the Cagewright Apprentices wear.
Finally within the warehouse and perhaps with the half-orc mercenaries, the cage materials which are blanketed in strange Canceri symbols, radiating dark magic, bearing wicked barbs and made from adamantine and mithril, will certainly give the party an idea that something sinister is being constructed…but what. Attempting to sell the metal may draw the Cagewrights attention quickly than normal and the metal will in most likelihood be reclaimed by the Cagewrights in an event.
Hope this idea can be of use
Delvesdeep
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Wait a minute, everyone. I think we're forgetting the REAL reason Vhalantru can't just bring the half-orcs in through the city gates...there's a 1sp per non-citizen entry fee! If there are 600 troops, that's 60gp. Come on, people, that's some serious cash. I mean, being in charge of the town treasury he could probably waive it or just pocket it again once the fees were paid, but who wants to go through the hassle?
I hope it goes without saying that I love this thread and plan on using a lot of this content. Thanks again, everyone!
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Also, to answer your question, Robert, the soulcage materials would first be shipped to the Ebon Triad's base in the Cauldron area. Upon completion, the finished cages go to the Cagewrights' stronghold deep under the volcano (I forget the name of it right now, but the PCs reach it in "Thirteen Cages").
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Also, to answer your question, Robert, the soulcage materials would first be shipped to the Ebon Triad's base in the Cauldron area. Upon completion, the finished cages go to the Cagewrights' stronghold deep under the volcano (I forget the name of it right now, but the PCs reach it in "Thirteen Cages").
Then if thats the case, then my idea has merit I think:
The items have to be shipped through Drathkar's way and up into the Bathhouse and then on to the Warehouse; waiting to go on to their next stage - the Ebon Triad's base.
I'm going to run with that. I'll work on a warehouse type encounter/map etc for it. I'll put it near Maavu's place - he can brought into the game then perhaps having information about strange things he's seen about that warehouse next door.
I'm going to use Delvesdeep idea with Drathkar's raving madness and cave drawings.
I'm having my party begin the campaign in Eleder (converted from Sasserine for Pathfinder) hired to escort a Garthun wagon train caravan to Cauldron. They are responsible for 3 wagons with highly valuable cargo; 1 hauling silver, platinum, and adamantine bars (which the wagonmaster indicates has been a large volume of his cargo over the past few years). The Stormblades are escorting a stagecoach in a separate section of the caravan, hauling Mahd the vampire. Mahd dominates and feeds on the teamster (named Polk Drak Thar)driving one of the party's wagons. He survives until arriving in Cauldron when she finally kills him and turns him into a vampire spawn to guard the tunnels (in lieu of Drakthar the bugbear), which have been used to smuggle part of the precious metals needed for the Tree of Shackled Souls. Vahlantru introduces Mahd into noble society in preparation for his eventual takeover. He has similar plans for some of the other potential Cagewrights introduced in Strike on Shatterhorn.