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So, with the heroes having liberated and essentially 'cleaned up the town', and with the Sword of Valor firmly in place, what is the actual status of the land within that 10-mile radius? Does it slowly recover from abyssal influence? Can you actually grow crops or foodstuffs in that area? I ask because one of the PC's had the idea of making Drezen somewhat self-sufficient, by converting some places to terraced gardens and such to provide food for the crusaders that wouldn't need to be imported. Are the powers of the Sword of Valor enough to keep the Worldwound's taint at bay in this regard? Or is the land itself still too defiled?
The Sword of Valor has no capability to undo the Worldwound's influence.
However, you can always rule that Drezen is far enough away from the rift itself that the land isn't completely dead.
Hmmm... yeah, I wouldn't be surprised to find out if there's far to much corruption for any natural plant growth to develop for the rest of Golarions existence. That area is essentially tainted realm of the Abyss and the Sword of Valor would have as much to the environment in that part of Golaria as it would in the Abyss itself.
The banner in itself is meant to deter demons, not to revive or restore.
If this makes your group more attached to Drezen and the campaign, go for it. Its not like they'll be hauling the Sword of Valor all over the Worldwound anyway. Have the party's priest or Sosiel consecrate the land in a large ritual, to render it fertile once again. Of course, such a ritual might disturb some demonic undead who have been sleeping beneath the earth's surface...
Thanks everyone for your help! I didn't think it would be able to undo the taint, based off of the 'zero rule'.
Gwenton wrote: If this makes your group more attached to Drezen and the campaign, go for it. Its not like they'll be hauling the Sword of Valor all over the Worldwound anyway. Have the party's priest or Sosiel consecrate the land in a large ritual, to render it fertile once again. Of course, such a ritual might disturb some demonic undead who have been sleeping beneath the earth's surface... That's... actually a really cool idea! And a nifty optional side-trek, to find the missing lore for this ritual, etc. Probably some kind of lost druidic lore, maybe need to liberate a special menhir or something. A mythic un-blight spell?
With regards to the Undead though- doesn't the Sword also protect against Undead? It was first used against the Whispering Tyrant, after all. Or maybe they're all driven out, creating a fiendish undead army just outside of the 10-mile line... *thoughts in progress*
Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Changing Man wrote: That's... actually a really cool idea! And a nifty optional side-trek, to find the missing lore for this ritual, etc. Probably some kind of lost druidic lore, maybe need to liberate a special menhir or something. A mythic un-blight spell?
You could maybe attach it to the Sarkorsis Green Faith druids that used to thrive in the region of the Wordlwound before it was open. OR possibly a ritual those druids were developing shortly after the Worldwound just opened when they thought they had a hope of closing it. Maybe one of the missing pieces was the mythic potential the PCs have right now.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
I know realism isn't supposed to creep into our fantasy but I am allowing things to grow around Drezen. If not, its unrealistic to think of a large and growing city to thrive without fresh food.
Alternatively, you could have the PCs ship in fresh soil (that is blessed prior to its transport into the Worldwound) and put in greenhouses to grow food for people. Naturally you'd want to use the Ultimate Campaign rules to have the PCs pay for the buildings.
Changing Man wrote: That's... actually a really cool idea! And a nifty optional side-trek, to find the missing lore for this ritual, etc. Probably some kind of lost druidic lore, maybe need to liberate a special menhir or something. A mythic un-blight spell? A Terraform spell can create whatever kind of terrain you need, with the right application. A druid can get it as a 6th level spell (so once they hit level 12). It wouldn't likely be available to the PCs outright until they got almost to the end of Demon's Heresy, and you would need to renew it every so often (unless you did something like what Baba Yaga did with Irrisen when she created her Winter Towers to channel winter into it continually).
Base a ritual off that spell to get it at a lower level, or even have a NPC spellcaster cast the spell itself (I'm sure you can find a druid interested in reclaiming some of Sarkoris) while the PCs take part in a ritual that channels their mythic power into the spell for the non-mythic NPC spellcaster, since it requires MP expenditure to work.
Terraform is a Mythic spell. It's not accessible to anyone outside the PCs. Also, it only lasts for one day per level, so two weeks for non-Druids casting it (minimum).
Given the spiritual corruption of the land, a GM could rule that Terraform doesn't work - or rather it works but the land is still corrupted. There may be other spells available that can cleanse the land, however.
It's suggested Dresden imports food and is considered a strategic location which is why there'd be enough food to survive a small short siege for everyone there.
Tangent101 wrote: Terraform is a Mythic spell. It's not accessible to anyone outside the PCs. Also, it only lasts for one day per level, so two weeks for non-Druids casting it (minimum). Actually, it's not a "mythic spell" except that it makes use of the mythic power mechanics. Technically, non-mythic characters can get it, they just can't cast it (because it requires MP expenditure). In the same section there are also spells like Steal Power, Mythic Severance or Deathless, all of which are perfectly castable. Hence why I'm suggesting to adapt it into a ritual that the PCs can take part in - somebody else provides the 6th level spell slot, and the PCs provide the mythic power.
Do note that it includes reference to the GM's ability to adjudicate Terraform lasting longer or becoming effectively permanent:
"The GM can decide that certain terrain shifts are unsustainable and shorten the duration, or that some are suitable for the area and extend the duration."
It does come down to a GM call (as does this entire thread!), but the basics are all there.
Actually, no. When you go onto the Paizo PRD and click on the Spell Index (or the Spell List Index for various classes, for that matter), Terraform is not there. It IS however available under Mythic Spells. This suggests then that it is not a spell available for non-Mythic spellcasters.
Tangent101 wrote: Actually, no. When you go onto the Paizo PRD and click on the Spell Index (or the Spell List Index for various classes, for that matter), Terraform is not there. It IS however available under Mythic Spells. This suggests then that it is not a spell available for non-Mythic spellcasters. No it doesn't, it just suggests that it debuted with the Mythic rules. In fact, from this Mythic Spell Index page, at the very top:
"The following are new spells that affect the mythic rules or mythic creatures in some way. You don't need a mythic tier to cast most of these spells."
Emphasis mine. The only one of those spells that explicitly states that it requires a mythic tier to cast is Share Glory ("You must be at least a 1st-tier mythic character to cast this spell."). Even Terraform doesn't need a mythic tier, as long as you have some method of getting the mythic power necessary.
So, after a bit more thoughts, I may try and figure out a way to somehow tie this in with the 'Equinox Crown' from the Legendary Games plug-in, 'Road to War'. That way, it keeps on 'living' in the campaign instead of just being a 'one-off' series of side-treks. The idea of a Mythic Ritual is sounding better and better all the time!
As a side note (and I don't have the final book yet, so this may be covered in there), I'm wondering if there may be some way to un-do the massive spell that was cast which turned the last circle of heirophants (referring to the powerful druids fighting against the demons)into Siabrae (from PZO9259 - The Worldwound, pgs. 58 & 19). I mean, towards the end of the AP the characters are high-level mythic characters, and that certainly seems like a quest worthy of their level/tier/(fill in appropriate descriptive noun). Thoughts?
Tangent101 wrote: It's suggested Dresden imports food and is considered a strategic location which is why there'd be enough food to survive a small short siege for everyone there. You are indeed correct. Which is also why the idea even came up, of trying to cleanse the area, to make the area even more strategic, a safe-haven and major staging area within the Worldwound itself (with supplies beyond what's needed for a small siege. As an aside, the one character who is the medic/'hospitaler' intends to use part of the gardens as a tranquil recovery area for those crusaders needing a respite and relaxation from the horrors... Kind of a blend of food supply and zen-garden wellness centre. They're looking at the issue of 'limited food supply- must be imported' as yet another problem to be uniquely overcome with RP & cleverness.
How about this?
As your players recover from X (pick your book) a white haired, scarred man is brought before you by x (pick suitable NPC for your campaign). Then read or paraphrase the following ...
"I am Lorien Talmot a druid of the Sakorsis Green Faith order back when the worldwound first opened we began researching ways to fight the taint however when the demons surged out our orders headquarters where overrun and the research lost in the need to escape I was hoping you would travel there and recover the documents inside as they offer our best hope to recover from this affliction "
Insert mini adventure travelling across the terrain to a corrupted grove and fighting the insane twisted guardians there.
After another book during which a massive henge is built around Dresden he approaches again
"I understand now why they failed the ritual offers a way to restore the land but they never had the raw magical power necessary to charge it. Our order have studied the formulae and we believe that with a linkage to a pure environment and the power you possess it will be possible to restore the land. Will you help us with this?"
Preferably a druid but any arcane/caster could do in a pinch must stand at the heartstone and expend every spell slot/spell per day for a week and not do any other strenuous work light item creation (perhaps throw in a demon attack for the others to fight off and give them xp for it and the caster xp for the ritual) after which inside the henge becomes subjected to a permanent terraform spell. At which point now they begin building a series of menhirs throughout the worldwound as part of a plan to restore it all. Giving you little sidequests for the PCs as needed escorting druids to establish strongholds in dangerous places and the like.
EDIT
You should probably also have the casters expend all their uses of mythic power on the ritual as well for that period and if you have a couple e.g wizard and druid have one do it at the Drezen Henge and the other at the one in the great forest their linking it too.
That's a pretty neat idea.
Personally I just had the Vescavor Swarm holes filled in so that the West Sellen River could be directed down the canyon again, allowing them to actually boat in supplies. While you shouldn't rely on the fish, the chances of them being infected by something was reduced to 3% (unlikely for a PC but would regularly affect a few people in a city of 2000).
My player spotted in Kingdom Creation rules a way to create a continuous stream of water (everlasting springs in a fountain) so they no longer had to import fresh water.
My plans for this particular problem are similar. My PC's will be drawn in various ways to a gazebo in the worldwound. There will be a centaur Druid of the Green Faith that turned himself to stone after Sarkoris fell. He was one of a group (each tied to a PC of course) of heroes that tried to stop the demons. They got a hold of one of the Nyhandrian crystals (more rare, back then, but still causing problems). These heroes designed a ritual to purify its energy and infuse themselves with it. It backfired and killed or severely weakened them. It has taken almost 200 years, but fate has finally completed the ritual. The power now resides in the PC's.
These Sarkoran heroes also developed a purification ritual to cleanse the abyssal taint from the land that never worked (lacking the mythic power necessary).
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