My players completed 13 Cages last night but using a mixture of spells and luck they pretty much drove straight for the tree, killed dyr'ryd, deactivated the tree and retreated without the aide of any wish. So the following Cagewrights still live - Thearynn, Grehlia Cairnis, Shebeleth, Ardeth Webb and Nulin Wiejoron. They also have no idea about Shatterhorn but know about Adimarchus being the true enemy.
What should I do here? I am not even clear how the players would know about Shatterhorn even if they had cleared the Fiery Sanctum.
Easy enough for me to relocate the surviving Cagewrights to Shatterhorn but I wouldn’t be surprised if my characters decided to try and get to Carceri. I could also send the survivors out as a hit squad and drop some kind of hint about shatterhorn that way. Or just let the players decide to do what they like. They have deactivated the tree but they have no destroyed it for example.
Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.
_
If I wished to punish a province, I would have it governed by philosophers.
-Frederick II, the Great
Interesting situation.
Well, on one hand, the heroes did end the threat of the Cagewrights. Dyr'ryd is dead, and can't be resurrected. He was the heart of the group, and with him dead, I doubt the other cagewrights would restart his scheme. The tree is pretty much out of the action once it's been deactivated.
So, what would the remaining cagewrights do? There is some guidance for this at the end of Shatterhorn, and if I remember correctly, the heroes should really only worry about Embril Aloustinai.
Still, some of the remaining cagewrights from the sanctum would probably decide to join up with their colleagues at Shatterhorn. This, in turn, could lead to conflicts, and it's not impossible that those would be in some way noticable to the heroes. Perhaps "neat freak" Freija Doorgan has finally had too much from Alurad Sorizan and ambush him with a cascade of evocation spells? Or perhaps the heroes learn the names of some of them from an NPC, and they thus get a way to scry on them?
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More than likely the individual Cagewrights would go back to their respective bases across the world and try to beging their plan anew. Remember, most of the Cagewrights only came to Cauldron recently and that was because it was where the Tree was being built. Most of them are the heads of their own criminal organizations in other cities/kingdoms/etc. and have homebases to return to. Also remember that the "Cagewrights" as a group has been planning this for several centuries with Dry'ryd being the only member alive for all those years. Here is what I see happening:
-The remaining Cagewrights come together in Shatterhorn BRIEFLY to discuss their next move. There are a few things they could decide...
*Bring Dry'ryd back to life with powerful divine magic or a wish.
*Bring back other dead members of the 13 using Embril's magic.
*Carry out Embril's plan to find Skullrot using Nerull.
*Begin a new century spanning plan.
-After this meeting the Cagewright just LEAVE. They are all high level and have their own lives and there is no profit for most of them in tracking down such powerful PCs.
Now if your PCs have no interest in chasing the remaining Cagewrights then thats that. Don't railroad them into it. Shatterhorn is a crappy adventure but as a location is a good forward HQ. The Cagewrights might stay in it for a few days, but likely not forever. Let your PCs go after the Big A. After that if they still show no interest in tracking down the 13 then thats the end of the adventure path. Sometime in the distant future the Cagewrights will likely bring a new plan to fruition, but thats no longer the job of your PCs.
I don't think the Cagewrights should just leave.
Yes, the plan involving the shackleborn is ruined. But even though it seemed like the only method at the time, the Cagewrights will find another way to free the demon prince. They are not a member of this organization just for s!$%s and giggles. Many of them are under the strong influence of Adimarchus. They feel a strong compulsion to free him. Some of them even start to believe they ARE Adimarchus.
They would regroup and make a new plan. Embril has a backup plan in which she will offer the soul of a powerful hero to her deity in order to find and free Adimarchus. The other cagewrights would likely be willing to assist in that endeavor.
That means luring the party into a terrible trap, then stealing a soul or two. And that's exactly what they'd do... if only for revenge.
This gives you a great opportunity to re-write the entire Shatterhorn dungeon, making it more dangerous and exciting instead of "you are in a room. you fight one boss till they're dead. move on to the next room." Which as other people have already pointed out, is lame and way too easy.
Thanks for the feedback. I am still of two minds and just going to let the players decide what they want to do.
If they decide they want to find and neutralise Adimarchus as the big-bad then I will let them go to Carceri and start their search and skip Shatterhorn. The core group consists of a level 18 sorcerer, 17 bbn/ftr (Zarik Dhor), 17 cleric, 16 pally, 14 cleric (cohort) and 15 rogue (cohort). I actually think they may have a chance against Adimarchus but even if they didn’t it would be a heroic way to go out.
If they show any interest in tracking down the Cagewrights that will determine what the Cagewrights do. If they decide to go for them I will play through Shatterhorn throwing in the left-over Cagewrights and assume the CW decided to go with Embril's plan. If the group decides to go for Adimarchus I will have the CW meet, set a new century spanning plan into action and disperse.
I still cant see the connection between 13 Cages and Shatterhorn. How do the PCs find out about Shatterhorn at all?
Hmmmm... A new plan would have to be century-spanning... their last attempt took them 30 years. If anything faster had occurred to them, they'd have ditched the slow route already. So if they do try again, it would have to be something suitably enormous. Furthermore, given that Dyr'ryd is dead, and likely Fetor Abradius as well, alternate plans would not come as easily. Come to think of it... that dispersal collar seems like a worse and worse idea by the minute. =)
If they choose to go after Adimarcus, they really only know he is trapped in Carceri. I think some research could reveal a portal that leads to a location suitably near Skullrot. And I think it would make sense that there would be a strong Cagewright contingent there, if just to study it. Thus, an ideal location for this portal would be the "egg" in the middle of Shatterhorn.
Alternatively, you could make the adventure in Carceri much more extensive. An imprisoned demon prince should be hard to find and that would probably require some sort of adventure. And imagine all the cool bad guys that would be in the prison plane.
Dedekind
If they choose to go after Adimarcus, they really only know he is trapped in Carceri. I think some research could reveal a portal that leads to a location suitably near Skullrot. And I think it would make sense that there would be a strong Cagewright contingent there, if just to study it. Thus, an ideal location for this portal would be the "egg" in the middle of Shatterhorn.
Alternatively, you could make the adventure in Carceri much more extensive. An imprisoned demon prince should be hard to find and that would probably require some sort of adventure. And imagine all the cool bad guys that would be in the prison plane.
Dedekind
Thats what I am working on now. Adventures in Carceri. Going to spring the Vahalantru encounter on them to "guide" them towards it. Instead of spending time kicking down doors in Shatterhorn they can deal with treachrous petitioners, angry yugololths, entreat titans and, just maybe, run like hell from a Baernalolth.
Sounds more fun to me than Shatterhorn. But I still need to pull it off!
All those old Planescape books coming into their own again.
Just remember that the Cagewrights have all been deeply affected by Adimarchus. Consiquently, they are all b*!*+$$ crazy. Nothing they do now needs to make sense. The only one that the hardcover lays out a set plan for is Embril (as mentioned above). Past her, the others couuld show up in the Coy Nixie drinking and complaining about what to do now.
Good luck!
-c
This is what I did to Asylum assuming Shatterhorn was missed:
http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/dungeon/shackledCity/extraCarceriEncou nters&page=1#369083