...Alaznist!
They decided to talk to Nalfeshnikor, and he charmed their priest. I figured that Nalfeshnikor wants out, and having him with no way out was not interesting, so I decided that the BBG of #2 has a Sihedron amulet that will unlock Nalfeshnikor's prison.
The PCs know that their priest is magically influenced, but for complicated party-dynamics reasons are going along for now--they understand what's happening in terms of a conflict between Alaznist and Karzoug, and so far are much more comfortable with Alaznist. So they are working their way into #2 with a goal of finding the greedspawn and their masters, getting the Sihedron amulet, and then--well, if the priest is still charmed things will be complicated. Even if he isn't, they will probably be complicated.
I got to do a wonderful nightmare scene with the priest where he was pursued through a house he could not escape, and finally opened a door to find a glorious blue-black wolf. He and the wolf, working together, could finally turn the tables on their pursuer, so the nightmare ended.... (Knowing the player, I may be able to sell the priest on freeing Nalfeshnikor even if the charm does wear off.)
The PCs are all Varisian, and not comfortable with the strongly Chelish society of Sand Point. They keep having discussions--tying what is happening now in with the Founding and so forth--and I say at the end of the discussion, "So, the best solution is to burn Sand Point to the ground, is that what you're saying?" And they blanch. It *is* what they are inclined to feel, but it's also too awful for them to actually stomach. But on the other hand, this town bred Nualia, it bred Chopper, it bred Tsuto (the massacre at the Glassworks disturbed them very much)....
Greed is a very Chelish sin, so the old conflict is reflected in the modern one.
I am really liking this material. It seems to have a much more nuanced evil than the previous Adventure Paths.
Mary
I thought being inside Karzoug's head, with Karzoug's hologram in repeat mode, and the pillar of stacked gold coins meant that Malfishnekor was a general in Karzoug's army, not Alaznist's. As it is I was wondering why Nualia would ally with the catacombs of wrath when I pegged all of the Runelords as enemies of each other (except, perhaps, that Nualia sought to utilize anything that would destroy Sandpoint).
Meh, you didn't spell the Barghest's name right. It's Malfeshnekor. If you spell it witn an "N", it's a frozen dessert instead of a fiend's name. :^)
Also, by having the barghest talk to the party, you're "letting the cat out of the bag" much earlier. The adventure path as written has a much slower reveal on the nature and indenity of the rune lords. However, there is a whole thread devoted to whining about how long it takes for the Rune Lords to be revealed as the main bad guys, so there you go. I'm probably going to hop over to that thread and mention your solution to their problems.
Two other points:
1. The Barghest is supposed to have gone somewhat insane with hunger, so I'm not sure he's likely to try to get all sneaky and convince the party work for him and get him out. He's more likely to just eat anyone he manages to charm. "Come give your fluffy Uncle Mal a hug!"
2. Elsewhere on the boards, the editors have stated that there are no "release conditions" built into the Binding Spell. Karzoug's minions didn't care if he never got out. And a binding can't be dispelled. But it can be effected by an anti-magic shell or mage's disjunction. Since the antimagic is lower level (6th vs. 9th), that's probably the way to go. So the easiest way to spring Malfeshenekor is to get someone to cast anti-magic shell, perhaps from a scroll.
I thought being inside Karzoug's head, with Karzoug's hologram in repeat mode, and the pillar of stacked gold coins meant that Malfishnekor was a general in Karzoug's army, not Alaznist's. As it is I was wondering why Nualia would ally with the catacombs of wrath when I pegged all of the Runelords as enemies of each other (except, perhaps, that Nualia sought to utilize anything that would destroy Sandpoint).
The barghest is a captured lieutenant of Alaznist. That's why he's under the Binding Spell. You are correct that the rune lords are rivals. The Burnt Offerings adventure area actually stradles the border between the realms of Karzoug and Alaznist. The Thistletop "head" is all that's left of a Karzoug outpost, while the Old Light and the Catacombs of Wrath are the remains of an Alaznist outpost.
Keep in mind that although the Catacombs of Wrath were Alaznist's territory, the man she placed in charge was actually a double agent for Karzoug. But he was also Lamashtu worshiper. The Quasit Erylium was his familiar, and she also worships Lamashtu.
Nualia's influences are complicated. She originally came under the influence of Lamashtu. After she fled to Magnimar, she also came under the influence of the Lamia matriarch, who works for Karzoug. Nualia eventually went back to the Catacombs to meet up with the Quasit because Erylium was a fellow Lamashtu worshiper.
It's actually unimportant that they were technically hanging out in "Alaznist Country" (It's like "Flavor Country", but angrier) The real connection was Lamashtu, and Alaznist is not influencing the plot at this time. Only Karzoug is, through the series of minions that includes Giants, Ogres, and Lamia.
1. The Barghest is supposed to have gone somewhat insane with hunger, so I'm not sure he's likely to try to get all sneaky and convince the party work for him and get him out. He's more likely to just eat anyone he manages to charm. "Come give your fluffy Uncle Mal a hug!"
I know that's what the module says, but given the dynamics with my particular party it was a lot more interesting to ignore that and go with having him sane. Sane, he would much rather get out than eat just one person (and a too-low-level person at that).
In general, if I've got a choice between an anonymous monster who dies instantly, and a long-term involvement with a known villain, I'll always take the latter if I don't have to do too much forcing to get it. In this case, rather to my surprise, it didn't take any forcing: the PCs were willing to talk, even though I played Malfeshnekor as visibly eager to eat them.
2. Elsewhere on the boards, the editors have stated that there are no "release conditions" built into the Binding Spell. Karzoug's minions didn't care if he never got out. And a binding can't be dispelled. But it can be effected by an anti-magic shell or mage's disjunction. Since the antimagic is lower level (6th vs. 9th), that's probably the way to go. So the easiest way to spring Malfeshenekor is to get someone to cast anti-magic shell, perhaps from a scroll.
I figured it would be a bit inconvenient for Karzoug's mages if word came from Headquarters that M. should be sent to them, and they'd put him in a trap they couldn't get him out of.... Of course they could use anti-magic shell, but most mages I've seen hate casting that with a passion. Better to make a key.
Anyway, I don't feel obliged to run just what's in the module, and even less obliged to abide by rulings on the web boards (which I didn't see until after the event anyway). There's enough background and backstory given for RotRL that I'm pretty comfortable improvising.
I don't yet know what M. will do if they actually let him out. There are a number of interesting possibilities. I suspect the other PCs will prevent his release anyway, but they might surprise me.
Mary