We know that after he graduated from Turandarok Tsuto moved to Magnimar, which is where he joined Nualia's group (about a year before the AP begins). She approached him, remember, after he was already living in Magnimar.
So where did he live? He left Sandpoint five years before joining Ameiko, and it seems reasonable that he spent at least some of those years in Magnimar. He got monastic training somewhere, and presumably has some sort of home that he left a week or two before Burnt Offerings to head to Thistletop, but the home might still be intact.
In my campaign, Tsuto has talked his way out of some things and has escaped to Magnimar with Nualia's body. He's scheming to get his hands on a scroll of Raise Dead. Any thoughts on what he used to do would help me figure out what he's likely doing now. He knows about Nualia's contacts, but I don't know if he ever met any Skinsaw Men personally.
I don't have this problem because in my campaign, Tsuto was trying to run away down the tunnel but one of the PCs managed to base him and rolled max damage. No more Tsuto.
I think you're pretty much on your own on this one. I don't recall seeing a lot of information posted about what Tsuto was up to in Magnimar or where he got his training from the Paizo folks are anyone else. I do think James Jacobs may have made a comment about whether or not Tsuto had met the Lamia or Ironbriar.
I know that some DM's have talked about a captured Tsuto or Nualia poping up in Ironbriar's court as part of RotRL 2. Obviously this is a possible problem for Ironbriar if you assume that they know him.
Even if Tsuto spent a lot of time in Magnimar, he may not have a residence to return to. He may have "given notice to his landlord" if he thought he was going to be away for a long time. I doubt he would have been successful enough to own property or afford a long term lease without direct support from a patron like Ironbriar. So he might not be going back to his old house, but it's likely that he would go back to his old neighborhood if he needed to lay low. Unless he was really freaked out and worried that someone would recognize him and turn him in. Sort of depends on his infamy versus how well liked he was in the old hood.
I think the key for you here is to decide if Tsuto has ever met the Lamia or at least knows about her. If he does, then it makes sense that he would try to get in touch. I think it would be within the Lamia's resources to get Nualia raised. She's an 8th level cleric and shouldn't have any trouble pulling together the funds for the scroll. And I think it is likely she would do it because she was "grooming Nualia for greater glories" (quote from James Jacobs).
So if you decide that Tsuto can contact the Lamia, Raising Nualia from the dead becomes a slam dunk. Then you have to decide where to put her and Tsuto. If you want to shock your PCs right away, you could have them hanging out at Aldern's townhouse. Or you could use them to beef up the sawmill a bit, since I've read complaints that the skinsaw men go down too easy. Since a lot of folks have complained that the Lamia is a TPK, it's probably not a good idea to put them in the Shadow Clock. Or you could be really sneaky and send them to Hook Mountain.
If you decide that Tsuto is unable or unwilling to contact the Lamia or Ironbriar, he could be almost anywhere in the city trying to lie low and gather funds for a raise dead. His problem is that there are going to be a limited number of Divine casters who would be willing to Raise someone who looks like Nualia, and he has no ranks of UMD. So if Tsuto tries to do it on his own, it's going to be tough for him and the PCs at least have a chance of tracking him down before Nualia comes back.
We know that after he graduated from Turandarok Tsuto moved to Magnimar, which is where he joined Nualia's group (about a year before the AP begins). She approached him, remember, after he was already living in Magnimar.
So where did he live? He left Sandpoint five years before joining Ameiko, and it seems reasonable that he spent at least some of those years in Magnimar. He got monastic training somewhere, and presumably has some sort of home that he left a week or two before Burnt Offerings to head to Thistletop, but the home might still be intact.
In my campaign, Tsuto has talked his way out of some things and has escaped to Magnimar with Nualia's body. He's scheming to get his hands on a scroll of Raise Dead. Any thoughts on what he used to do would help me figure out what he's likely doing now. He knows about Nualia's contacts, but I don't know if he ever met any Skinsaw Men personally.
SRD: "You can raise a creature that has been dead for no longer than one day per caster level." Travel time's going to make resurrection a necessity.
I don't recall seeing a lot of information posted about what Tsuto was up to in Magnimar or where he got his training from the Paizo folks are anyone else. I do think James Jacobs may have made a comment about whether or not Tsuto had met the Lamia or Ironbriar.
I haven't found it. Do you by any chance remember whether it was a "yes" or "no"?
Even if Tsuto spent a lot of time in Magnimar, he may not have a residence to return to. He may have "given notice to his landlord" if he thought he was going to be away for a long time. I doubt he would have been successful enough to own property or afford a long term lease without direct support from a patron like Ironbriar.
It will work best for my players if he returns to his old home, or at least the neighbourhood, so he will. :)
I disagree about how successful he was, though; this is a guy walking around wearing a 2000 gp ring. I think he could afford a decent place to live. I posit that he lived in Lowcleft. Magnimar normally has about 16000 people living there, but if all of the residents were ever there at once there'd be 24000 people. This means that there are a lot more houses than people at any given time, and that implies to me that it's hard to sell right now. (I'm in the opposite situation IRL, as are my players, so this will be on people's minds.)
The other thing is that Nualia lived in Magnimar too, and I think that she definitely was planning at least a few more trips there and so probably hadn't gotten rid of her place yet. If she lived in Lowcleft too then that could explain how they hooked up. Maybe they just ran into each other one day and she (remembering his history) invited him to join her schemes, and then one thing led to another.
I think the key for you here is to decide if Tsuto has ever met the Lamia or at least knows about her. If he does, then it makes sense that he would try to get in touch.
The source material doesn't spell this out, as far as I can tell, but I think that Tsuto knew that Nualia had contacts without knowing who they were. Maybe he knew one flunky; he could have met one of the Skinsaw cultists without discovering that the guy worked in a lumber mill, for instance. He's been spending the last day or so then trying to track this guy down.
I think it would be within the Lamia's resources to get Nualia raised. She's an 8th level cleric and shouldn't have any trouble pulling together the funds for the scroll.
Sadly, she's actually an eighth-level sorcerer who can cast cleric spells. This means that she'd need an arcane scroll of Raise Dead, and I just don't think that she'd have an easy time acquiring one. I think she'd be much more likely to order Ironbriar to use the scroll, but I also think that she'll make Tsuto pay for it.
So if you decide that Tsuto can contact the Lamia, Raising Nualia from the dead becomes a slam dunk.
I want it to be a little trickier. I think that Tsuto is getting desperate. It's been three days since Nualia died, and he either needs a Raise Dead or a Gentle Repose within the next day or two. I think that today he's spending time (and money) going after the latter, since his quest for the former has been so far unsuccessful. He'll easily find some wizard to cast Gentle Repose, and that'll buy him more time.
Tsuto thinks of the PCs as easily-duped idiots who can be used to further his schemes. The players realize this but their characters don't yet. If they meet Tsuto then I think he'll recruit them, and set them to work looking for the cultist (let's call him "Zhivko 'No-Nose'"). Tsuto is staying (with Nualia's body) in her place in Lowcleft, and he'll either put the PCs up in his place (also in Lowcleft) or get them rooms someplace in the Shadow. They'd certainly be less conspicuous in Underbridge (given that my PCs are giantkin goblins).
Unbeknownst to them, Tsuto is the one in possession of all of their stolen gear, including some valuable magic items. He'll have all these stashed at Nualia's place, and he's planning to use them as part of the payment for the scroll of Raise Dead, which he should be getting in the next day or two. Then, once he's made contact with No-Nose, he'll be put in touch with Xanesha, and Bob's your uncle! He and Nualia ("Thanks for bringing me back! Hell sucks! Oh, uh, yes, Sweetie, of course I would have done the same for you!") will hang out for a couple of days before heading back to Thistletop to rebuild the goblin alliance.
Timeline:
Day 0 (today): Tsuto buys a Gentle Repose.
Day 1: Tsuto continues searching for No-Nose, unsuccessfully.
Day 2: Tsuto pays for the scroll of Raise Dead, using the PCs' gear as part of the payment.
Day 3: Tsuto makes contact with No-Nose, after another hard day of searching.
Day 4: Tsuto is introduced to Xanesha, and gives her the scroll. She takes it and Nualia's body to Ironbriar, who raises brings Nualia back to life.
Day 5: Nualia, shaken from her time in Hell, has the shakes and spends a lot of time hedonistically enjoying being back on the material plane.
Day 6: Nualia and Tsuto meet with Xanesha and make preparations to return to Thistletop.
Day 7: Nualia and Tsuto travel to Thistletop.
Of course, the PCs will likely intercede at some point in this plan, but if they do nothing then this is how things shake out. Comments? Criticism? Suggestions?
SRD: "You can raise a creature that has been dead for no longer than one day per caster level." Travel time's going to make resurrection a necessity.
I disagree. Magnimar just isn't that far from Sandpoint, and the minimum caster level for Raise Dead is five. Given that Gentle Repose isn't that hard to find I think that a Raise Dead will suffice. If he needs a Resurrection then he's really screwed!
Besides, one of the PCs just died and I'd like to let the others steal Tsuto's scroll and use it on their buddy. :)
|
SRD: "You can raise a creature that has been dead for no longer than one day per caster level." Travel time's going to make resurrection a necessity.I disagree. Magnimar just isn't that far from Sandpoint, and the minimum caster level for Raise Dead is five. Given that Gentle Repose isn't that hard to find I think that a Raise Dead will suffice. If he needs a Resurrection then he's really screwed!
Besides, one of the PCs just died and I'd like to let the others steal Tsuto's scroll and use it on their buddy. :)
He doesn't even need the gentle repose if he has a Sihedron medallion.
He doesn't even need the gentle repose if he has a Sihedron medallion.
Good thought! Xenesha has one and she gave one to Nualia (which the PCs have now). Where did Xenesha get them? Did Karzoug give her two to start with, or does she have a stash someplace? I like this idea, but I'd want to know where they came from (if only because one of my PCs has some gloves of object reading).
|
|
My PCs captured Tsuto alive, and so I had to come up with some background story for him because I wanted him to play an active roll in the later adventure. I can tell you what I ended up developing, some of which you can use I hope, even though we are in slightly different situations.
As a note, to make some of this work I definitely made some assumptions(or rewrote facts all together to suit my purposes).
First, and probably the really biggie, I decided that Ironbriar was in fact Tsuto's father. He's an elf and Tsuto is a half-elf with an unknown father. There is even a mention in Ironbriar that with Xanesha he feels he has finally found love after all these years, which to me made me think that he might have been looking for it in a way before hand, which could have led him into the arms of many women, including Mrs. Kaijitsu.
Because of that, it led to the reorganizing of a few different things, first of all, after leaving the academy Tsuto sought his real father and found him. Ironbriar, seeing a perfect new recruit and possible successor brought him in to the cult easily. This means that Tsuto would actually have introduced Nualia to them(or perhaps they met through the cult) and they would have gone together to thistletop so that Tsuto could serve as Ironbriar's man, ensuring that the one he was grooming for greatness(Nualia) fulfilled his expectations. Of course Tsuto, being so in love with Nualia, would be thrilled at the assignment.
Now, that is when things likely would diverge between our two stories. My PCs captured Tsuto, and he was sent to Magnimar for trial. I wanted them to feel that having left him alive had some positive rammifications(Even if it could bite them in the rump some later) so when they were exploring thistletop, there is a journal left there by Lyrie(?) that talks of her love of Tsuto, and how she plans to go to Magnimar to tell his real father that he has been taken prisoner, as he can free him and Tsuto will certainly love her after that. So in thistletop the players don't have to fight lyrie and have an easier time because of it.
We haven't gotten to this point yet, but right now the PCs have heard the Tsuto ended up being found innocent, and they are planning on looking into how. I figure that this could add a bit of confusion later, and perhaps introduce Ironbriar before they have a showdown with him. They will go and suspect that he interfered with the law on behalf of his son, rather then because he is a cult leader. Then when they encounter him at the mill with Tsuto at his side they will realize how all the pieces fall together.
How I would tie all this in with your situation, is that Tsuto could fall back to Ironbriar. He is certainly wealthy enough and well connected enough that he could have a raise dead performed. There are enough shady dealings in Magnimar that for a price things can be had well enough. The question would be whether you thought your group could handle a fight with nualia, tsuto and ironbriar. It really is a pushover fight as is, and the party is higher level now so they should be able to handle the weaker people, but adding two more major players could raise the stakes a lot.
Hope some of that ended up giving you ideas.
-Tarlane
I really like the idea that Ironbriar is Tsuto's mysterious father. I don't know that I'm going to use it though, because I'm trying to give Tsuto a need for contacts and a use for clueless minions (ie the PCs). I could have it be the secret truth that neither of them know, and then reveal it if I need to add complications.
Regardless, thanks for the idea! It's a good one.
I really like the idea that Ironbriar is Tsuto's mysterious father. I don't know that I'm going to use it though, because I'm trying to give Tsuto a need for contacts and a use for clueless minions (ie the PCs). I could have it be the secret truth that neither of them know, and then reveal it if I need to add complications.
Regardless, thanks for the idea! It's a good one.
I'm going to use the Tsuto/Ironbriar link as well, but with an added twist. One of my players used the cliche half-elf orphan background. I'll just have to add another bastard to the judge's collection.