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I have been having Lashonna visit the party mage in his dreams. She is alluring and always sympathetic to his plight. The smell of jasmine always preceeds her. She does her best to comfort him and always sings a song, with some romantic slant to it, but still elusive enough to leave him guessing.
I have toyed with the idea of having her let him know there is a piece of her that wants out of the evil business. But how to do it without the cheesy cliche's? That's a god question.
I think according to the story her mind has been warped just like the archons in Spire of Long Shadows. I would not allow it, because I think she adds more to the story as a manipulator of the PC's than as an ally, but I would not say it is unreasonable. It depends on how much good you think is left in her, if any at all.
In my campaign, I had the ghosts of all important dead NPCs who were on the "good" side appear after Kyuss was defeated. Alastor Land, Balakarde, Maralee, Zosiel, Icosiol, the druids from the library of Last Resort and some of my own NPCs appeared and thanked the PCs for their efforts.
Some of them had a personal message for the PCs, e.g. the druids asked the druid PC to create a new order of the Storm to protect the world from future harm.
The last one to appear was Lashonna, in dragonform. She thanked the PCs for saving the world and fulfilling the ideals she once strived for, before she was corrupted. She also appologized for the evil she committed and expressed her gratitude for being freed from Kyuss' hold. Her soul was free once more and she rediscovered her old ideals in the hereafter.
On this note we concluded the campaign.
In my campaign, I had the ghosts of all important dead NPCs who were on the "good" side appear after Kyuss was defeated. Alastor Land, Balakarde, Maralee, Zosiel, Icosiol, the druids from the library of Last Resort and some of my own NPCs appeared and thanked the PCs for their efforts.
Some of them had a personal message for the PCs, e.g. the druids asked the druid PC to create a new order of the Storm to protect the world from future harm.
The last one to appear was Lashonna, in dragonform. She thanked the PCs for saving the world and fulfilling the ideals she once strived for, before she was corrupted. She also appologized for the evil she committed and expressed her gratitude for being freed from Kyuss' hold. Her soul was free once more and she rediscovered her old ideals in the hereafter.
On this note we concluded the campaign.
How did you explain not fighting Kyuss, or did they not ask about it?
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In my campaign, I had the ghosts of all important dead NPCs who were on the "good" side appear after Kyuss was defeated. Alastor Land, Balakarde, Maralee, Zosiel, Icosiol, the druids from the library of Last Resort and some of my own NPCs appeared and thanked the PCs for their efforts.
Some of them had a personal message for the PCs, e.g. the druids asked the druid PC to create a new order of the Storm to protect the world from future harm.
The last one to appear was Lashonna, in dragonform. She thanked the PCs for saving the world and fulfilling the ideals she once strived for, before she was corrupted. She also appologized for the evil she committed and expressed her gratitude for being freed from Kyuss' hold. Her soul was free once more and she rediscovered her old ideals in the hereafter.
On this note we concluded the campaign.
Very nice, I like it.
In my campaign, I had the ghosts of all important dead NPCs who were on the "good" side appear after Kyuss was defeated. Alastor Land, Balakarde, Maralee, Zosiel, Icosiol, the druids from the library of Last Resort and some of my own NPCs appeared and thanked the PCs for their efforts.
Some of them had a personal message for the PCs, e.g. the druids asked the druid PC to create a new order of the Storm to protect the world from future harm.
The last one to appear was Lashonna, in dragonform. She thanked the PCs for saving the world and fulfilling the ideals she once strived for, before she was corrupted. She also appologized for the evil she committed and expressed her gratitude for being freed from Kyuss' hold. Her soul was free once more and she rediscovered her old ideals in the hereafter.
On this note we concluded the campaign.
This is a very nice and satisfying ending for the campaign. It would me even sweeter if the PCs did anything to help the corrupted souls to shake off the corruption and reach their original afterlife. Of course, it should not be possible to just talk Lashonna out of it, she´s been in too deep for that. The PCs will have to fight her, but then they will have to do something giving her a chance at redemption, even if it is only offering a prayer for her soul or something like that. Perhaps she lingers long enough to have a redemption scene like Darth Vader in Star Wars - I think she is a villain of a similar importance to the story. (Of course, if the PCs invest more into her redemption, the stronger the scene would be - this way, some great storytelling could be had.)
Well, that leads to another interesting question: Is even Kyuss himself redeemable? Was there a point in history when he was not evil? Or would this be too much, do the PCs need an ultimate villain to defeat?
Stefan
I think according to the story her mind has been warped just like the archons in Spire of Long Shadows. I would not allow it, because I think she adds more to the story as a manipulator of the PC's than as an ally, but I would not say it is unreasonable. It depends on how much good you think is left in her, if any at all.
I'd generally avoid allowing the PCs to save her. Really I think her story - while a pretty minor sub plot to the whole campaign is a really compelling and tragic one. I'd be inclined to possibly bring that out more if I were to put some extra focus on her as opposed to having the hero's save her.
That said having the hero's free her soul as part of their denouement is an excellent idea.
I think according to the story her mind has been warped just like the archons in Spire of Long Shadows. I would not allow it, because I think she adds more to the story as a manipulator of the PC's than as an ally, but I would not say it is unreasonable. It depends on how much good you think is left in her, if any at all.I'd generally avoid allowing the PCs to save her. Really I think her story - while a pretty minor sub plot to the whole campaign is a really compelling and tragic one. I'd be inclined to possibly bring that out more if I were to put some extra focus on her as opposed to having the hero's save her.
That said having the hero's free her soul as part of their denouement is an excellent idea.
I liked the idea of her soul being freed, but I cant think of a way for the PC's to find out about her past. I cant use something as simple as a gather info check.
I liked the idea of her soul being freed, but I cant think of a way for the PC's to find out about her past. I cant use something as simple as a gather info check.I think according to the story her mind has been warped just like the archons in Spire of Long Shadows. I would not allow it, because I think she adds more to the story as a manipulator of the PC's than as an ally, but I would not say it is unreasonable. It depends on how much good you think is left in her, if any at all.I'd generally avoid allowing the PCs to save her. Really I think her story - while a pretty minor sub plot to the whole campaign is a really compelling and tragic one. I'd be inclined to possibly bring that out more if I were to put some extra focus on her as opposed to having the hero's save her.
That said having the hero's free her soul as part of their denouement is an excellent idea.
There was a dream episode that showed Lashonda fighting the DracoLich. Or something like that. Once the PCs have that info, they can start to narrow the search some.
There was a dream episode that showed Lashonda fighting the DracoLich. Or something like that. Once the PCs have that info, they can start to narrow the search some.I liked the idea of her soul being freed, but I cant think of a way for the PC's to find out about her past. I cant use something as simple as a gather info check.I think according to the story her mind has been warped just like the archons in Spire of Long Shadows. I would not allow it, because I think she adds more to the story as a manipulator of the PC's than as an ally, but I would not say it is unreasonable. It depends on how much good you think is left in her, if any at all.I'd generally avoid allowing the PCs to save her. Really I think her story - while a pretty minor sub plot to the whole campaign is a really compelling and tragic one. I'd be inclined to possibly bring that out more if I were to put some extra focus on her as opposed to having the hero's save her.
That said having the hero's free her soul as part of their denouement is an excellent idea.
I had forgotten about that, I guess because I had written it out of my campaign. I will have to find a way to write that dream sequence back in.
There was a dream episode that showed Lashonda fighting the DracoLich. Or something like that. Once the PCs have that info, they can start to narrow the search some.
A big part of what made her role so tragic. She gave her life the first time around to stop the Age of Worms but Evil raised the stakes on the price she paid for her good deed and instead of giving up her life as she expected she was forced to sacrifice her immortal soul to the service of very evil she had died to prevent.
A simple but compelling story. In many ways she outshines the Dracolish himself as a compelling NPC in this AP.
Well, that leads to another interesting question: Is even Kyuss himself redeemable? Was there a point in history when he was not evil? Or would this be too much, do the PCs need an ultimate villain to defeat?
I'm actually working on an epic level adventure where something like this is the ultimate result.
Very interesting ideas here.
Lashonna is an advanced paeliryon devil in my campaign (the Fiend Folio version), and I don't plan on redeeming her. She'll continue as the primary antagonist after Kyuss is destroyed and the PCs chase after her through Hell during their epic levels.
Very interesting ideas here.
Lashonna is an advanced paeliryon devil in my campaign (the Fiend Folio version), and I don't plan on redeeming her. She'll continue as the primary antagonist after Kyuss is destroyed and the PCs chase after her through Hell during their epic levels.
She'd make an extremely compelling recurring villain for later campaigns as well.