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Of the lovably hardassed face-punching enforcers of law that are the hellknights, the minor order known as the Order of the Coil, like that of the Orders of the Crux*, Pike, and Star, gets one brief paragraph of lore, be it on the preview blog, or on page 65 of AP #27:What Lies in Dust. And that's it, really.
In short, they're based in or around Eleder, and hunt down those who try to find, recover, and return Mwangi/Sargavan relics to civilization (especially the Pathfinders). Sadly, there's been zero discussion about them on the forums, and absolutely no mention of them in an AP that gives us the freaking gazetteer on Eleder.
To that note, I ask if and how any one used/had them show up in their Serpent's Skull games, and propose a thread (remarkably shaped like this one) for ideas thereof.
*Technically the undead leader of the now-mostly-destroyed Order of the Crux got his own writeup in Undead Revisited, but my point stands.
•The Order of the Coil works with the Order of the Pyre in Sargava, the former concentrating around Eleder, while sending info to the Pyre, who hunts for folks out in the field. Both sometimes band together to stop Pathfinder expeditions.
•Post-game, once the magical wards on Saventh-Yhi are down (or earlier if one of the Factions tip them off), the Coil and/or Pyre move in to the city in a desperate attempt to suppress the city's discovery and recovery.
•The Serpentfolk see the name 'Order of the Coil' as a sign to their Dark God™, and have either infiltrated them before the campaign or after, with a few extremely-law-leaning reincarneted Coils of Ydersius joining the organization as 'humans', while steering them to darker ends.
I had completely missed that. Good catch!
Or perhaps they are keeping something from being found? A tomb of a champion or something? who knows?
/evilgrin
So they already know where Saventh-Yhi is? Where would you station them?
So they already know where Saventh-Yhi is? Where would you station them?
Think I will keep them from knowing the location, just preventing it from being discovered. It would explain the heavy handed prevention of the spread of artifacts.
The blog post says "maintains holdings near the Sargavan city of Eleder". That seems good enough for me.
I haven't read the whole path yet. (shame on me) And we are about one foot into Racing to Ruin. However the idea that Savith might have inspired the hellknight order has my imagination running.
I'm interested in hearing how your idea develops after you've read chapter three. Keep us posted!
I'm interested in hearing how your idea develops after you've read chapter three. Keep us posted!
Gawd, what a monster!
tbug I fear the path you have set me on.
Game Play and Order of the Coil info
Seeding my idea I put a few extra encounters in the wilderness between Eleder and Kalabuto. First hit them with a random hellhound.
Then later I set up the Geir encounter, the vultures where eating on Ricket's thugs, and Ricket was next. His whole group had been staked out Mzali style (Punishment of Seven Angry Suns) but different in that they where placed in pentagrams.
A few hundred yards away they encountered their firest Hellknight. Who politely asked them to turn back and drop their foolish quest. Even going so far as to offer them their choice of other quest that the Hellknights would sponsor. He even parted with them peacefully (leaving behind some poisoned tea) in exchange for the man they had just saved.
I made Ricket an Aspis agent that had failed to heed the Hellknights warnings and was helping them with an expedition.
Of course my neutralish party let him take him back to his punishment.
After they discovered the poisoned tea however, they, decided the Hellknight was too dangerous to let live and "NIFO" until all that remained was the burnt armor.
Now they are in Kalabuto.
I am working on reading Part 3 now. Playing connect the dots and putting together more coincidences. I would like mix up at least one more Hellknight encounter in Kalabuto, but we will see based on how the reading goes. But at this point I need to know more info to work my angle. At this point I think Savith may have been the mother of heroes and quite possibly partially responsible for the Star fall. But for that knowledge I will have to read a different AP.
Thanks for the update! It sounds like you've got some great stuff cooking here!
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Below is how I have fitted in the Order of the Coil
The Hellknights found some prophecies that indicated that bad things would happen if/when Saventh-Yhi was rediscovered. As prophecies were no longer reliable, but due to the nature of the content of these ones, the Hellknights verified with some high level Devils. The Devils indicated that the danger still existed, so the Order of the Coil was created.
The Order of the Coil missed the implications of the find from the Shiv when the PCs first arrived in Eleder. They only realized what was going on a couple of weeks after the expeditions had left (the find didn’t come from the mainland and their fortress is not in Eleder). They mobilized enough members to send out their own expedition, but realized that they would need extra efforts to stop those out in front.
They used magic to locate all of the other expeditions and to locate the PC scouts. They then opened a gate from their keep to the location of the players (when the players are about 2 days out from Tazion). The view that the PCs had thru the gate showed one of the planes of Hell, with other Hellknights in the background (GM to decide if the interior of the keep looks like that or if it simply an illusion).
Five humans step thru the gate, one Hellknight and four Hellknight Armigers (buffed as necessary - though fire resistance is an appropriate buff). The Hellknight orders the PC to return to Eleder on pain of death. A fight likely ensues, as the Hellknights will not take no for an answer.
Once all of the expeditions arrive in Saventh-Yhi, the Hellknights will start raiding camps to steal recovered artifacts (exploration points). The Hellknights are also exploring - if they find the danger/artifact/etc. they may be able to destroy it, remove it or guard it.
Possible storyline modifications:
Have the Hellknights be the aggressive party in Vaults of Madness, with Ivo Haigan re-written as a Hellknight. The side benefit from my perspective for this is that my PCs really hate Dargan Etters, so having him stay around longer will be more fun.
The Hellknights will be a major force in fighting the serpentfolk in part 6 of the AP, if the PCs can convince them, and if the PCs are willing to pay the price. The price will be that the Hellknight hold the PCs responsible for releasing the serpentfolk from statis all over the darklands, and that the Hellknights expect the PCs to deal with the serpentfolk. That and working with a few Anti-Paladins that are part of the Order of the Coil.
Thanks for the update! It sounds like you've got some great stuff cooking here!
Ok, narrowed out what I wanted to do with the Order of the Coil, I will post my other musings in another thread when I finish them.
Spoiler Warning
First I sent this to my group when we restarted after a break, I needed to remind them of what was going on and at the same time decided to forshadow a bit my idea...
The story so far...
The small candle flickered on the Signifier’s desk, providing only the smallest light to the parchment that had been handed to him.
"Knights, the game is afoot. It appears that small group of survivors uncovered a clue to her location on Smugglers Shiv. Now they have set in motion another great race. There are five players, the Sargavans, the Captians, the Mantis, the Consortium, and the Society. It is the Society that the survivors sided with and now are leading through the jungle. They are a tough group, hardened by survival on the Island. They have been tested, putting down a Freeman revolt in the city, defeating and capturing the group’s leader and then selling him into slavery. It is also known they were able to secure the services of the Gozran mystic known as the Tempest. According to our hounds they left Eleder for Kalabuto a few days ago. By now they have made it to the Fzumi Salt Mines and found them unwelcoming. The others are also on their way to Kalabuto, let none go no further. I need volunteers to end this race. Let the dust stay settled."
The Signifier looks up into the shadows of the hall that surrounds his desk. As one, a hundred boots snap to attention, "Hail Asmodeus!"
In the pale light of his candle the Signifier smiles and softly repeats, "Hail Asmodeus"
and finally my version of the Order of the Coil
I am running the Order of the Coil as the legacy of an Azlanti order of knights also known as the Order of the Coil. The Azlanti order was founded by Savith to combat the forces of the Serpentfolk and their assassin group the Coils of Yderius. The original purpose was to root out the “polluted” Azlanti who served the serpertfolk and over time this has become perverted into the “pollution” of colonist by native cultures the Hellknight order protects. The Hellknight Order knows of its origins in Azlant and sees itself as the descendants of Savith. They believe that Savanth-Yi was lost and seek to prevent the further corruption of their Azlanti heritage and gather evidence enough to find Savith’s resting place and claim the city for the Order. They wield flame and poison to mimic the final battle of their hero. Fire(lava) to burn the head of Yderius and poison to mimic Savith’s death. They favor the Great Ax as it is a headsman’s tool for taking heads, much like their founder.
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Excellent ideas.
Of the lovably hardassed face-punching enforcers of law that are the hellknights, the minor order known as the Order of the Coil, like that of the Orders of the Crux*, Pike, and Star, gets one brief paragraph of lore, be it on the preview blog, or on page 65 of AP #27:What Lies in Dust. And that's it, really.
In short, they're based in or around Eleder, and hunt down those who try to find, recover, and return Mwangi/Sargavan relics to civilization (especially the Pathfinders). Sadly, there's been zero discussion about them on the forums, and absolutely no mention of them in an AP that gives us the freaking gazetteer on Eleder...
I am working in the Order of the Coil as well. I am retooling Patronicus Drendane Cleric of Asmodeus from the NPC Guide, page 8 - I have added a couple of levels of Hellknight Signifier from Paths of Prestige. He is going to be working a bit “behind the scenes” until it is time to kick the PCs in the face.
The Order of the Coil quietly sponsored the revolt in Racing to Ruin in a 'for the greater law' outcome, to stop the PCs' expedition in its infancy.
And
The Serpentfolk see the name 'Order of the Coil' as a sign to their Dark God™, and have ... infiltrated them...
In my story the Hellknights are going to unwittingly provide crack troops and magic to the Serpent's cause, and may even lead them to spy upon the various factions for the serpents. I plan on having the Order of the Coil hire the “Rival Agents” in Kalabuto in the guise of a neutral or even friendly faction to the PCs, hopefully causing PCs to form rivalries with possible allies (and off-stage doing the same to other groups).
The Order of the Coil is one of the smaller orders of Hellknights so I am giving them limited resources. For this venture they are committing the following troops:
Patronicus Drendane (mh Cleric of Asmodeus 6 / Signifier 2, CR 7)
Several under clerics – one of whom is the serpent infiltrator who has dominated both the Hellknights.
Two full blown Hellknights (mh Fighter 5 / Hellknight 1) CR 5; Pathfinder #30, the Twice-Damned Prince, pages 20 -21
Several Cruel Devotee (*h Monk 5th) CR 4; NPC Codex, page 98
And finally a couple dozen Hellknight Armiger (mh Fighter 3rd) CR 2; NPC Guide, page 37.
Unless backed up with many resistance spells, the Hellknights in Sargava wear lighter armor than usual due to heat & most do not have shields because of their chosen weapon, the greataxe.
While their primary objective is to stop the spread of "...a disease of savagery by (say pathfinders and PCs) carrying curios from the jungles into the world..." I have given them a secondary agenda as well - To weaken the Sargavan government in hopes of returning Sargava to the fold of Cheliax. This fits pretty well with their traditional primary objective. If Saventh-Yhi is found or even the way to find it is found, then Sargava – specifically Eleder – will see a huge influx of pathfinders, adventurers, sages, explorers, and con-artists. These in turn will bring gold, treasure and goods. If it controls the flow of artifacts from Saventh-Yhi then Eleder and Sargava only get stronger.
Hopefully this will help others with ideas on Hellknights in this AP.