Need more information re: Areelu Vorlesh's history (spoilers)

[Story Archer]

It really bothered me that the PC's didn't get more time to explore Kenebres and some of the history and detail available on the city - in part because there is such a rich tapestry to draw from and in part because the more they come to love the city, the more appreciation they'll have for it and by extension the devastation they face at its fall. I also want the PC's to have a greater investment of hatred in Areelu beyond her simply being the bogey man that shows up at the end of Book 1 and then later as the next Boss they have to face.

Another concern is that the way I have our game set up, we're not using Mythic rules, but the party does see a two level jump upon the destruction of the wardstone fragment and the aftermath that comes with it... I'd like something to better satisfy that surge in power beyond a boom and a rush. So, what I've come up with is a bit of time travel... sort of. When the PC's strike the Wardstone with the rod of cancellation, one of the things that happens is that they begin to get visions of the Wardstone and the history surrounding it from the day it was created up until that moment - it occurs to me why not make them part of that history? I'm thinking of a brief adventure that occurs, set in Kenebres past involving the wardstone and Areelu before the height of her power, perhaps even before anyone knew the villain she would one day become... I'm thinking I write is as a mini-quest where the PC's realize when they are and make an effort to forestall disaster, but since they are merely witnessing a part of history firsthand, they can't. The adventure would bring them through various parts of Kenebres during more peaceful days, perhaps to uncover a cultist plot, and would culminate in their confronting Areelu, perhaps foiling an even greater plan in a dramatic moment where they flash back to themselves in the wardstone chamber the very instant the backlash tears Areelu apart.

At any rate, that's the rough idea, but I'm going to need to learn more about Kenebres and Areelu's history before WotR takes place. I've got access to the Inner Sea Guide and the Worldwound campaign setting - is there anywhere else I should look, online or in print, to give me the information I need to put this together?

[Caius]

If you're wanting to stick to canon it'd be very difficult. They weren't erected until the second crusade and Vorlesh was the one who opened the worldwound. She'd be a big deal well before the wardstone was around. To keep that I'd probably have an interlude where Iomedae (or another patron for the party) lets them glimpse back to the time before Sarkoris was torn asunder to see all that was lost. Not sure exactly how it was, but a bit of the glory days, back when they thought Aroden would return to lead humanity into the golden age and then everything goes wrong.

[Story Archer]

Caius wrote:

If you're wanting to stick to canon it'd be very difficult. They weren't erected until the second crusade and Vorlesh was the one who opened the worldwound. She'd be a big deal well before the wardstone was around. To keep that I'd probably have an interlude where Iomedae (or another patron for the party) lets them glimpse back to the time before Sarkoris was torn asunder to see all that was lost. Not sure exactly how it was, but a bit of the glory days, back when they thought Aroden would return to lead humanity into the golden age and then everything goes wrong.

That's kind of what I'm thinking... sort of a bit of time-jumping where they get to 'participate' even though they're just perceiving it, immersing them in the drama of the most important and historical moments. I'm not real sure how I'm going to do it but I think the idea has a lot of merit as a finale for book 1.

Maybe just encounters with Vorlesh, maybe a witness to history from the beginning in Sarkoris... I don't know if I want a series of battles they flash from, one to the other culminating with a battle against Areelu before snapping back to the present... or if I want to actually put together a mini-adventure in Kenebres at some key moment in history.

Really what I'm aiming for is a bit of time spent in the 'memory' of Kenebres as it was and a previous conflict with Areelu that can bounce them back to the here and now, as if the reverberations of that experience echoes back through time.

Am I over-reaching?

[Caius]

I don't think so, just need to focus on what you want to get out of it. The main point seems to be to help cement Areelu as threat and big villain since not much is made of her outside of historical knowledge. You can have NPCs explain the threat given that there are materials that mention her by name the pcs can find, but it violates to some extent the principal of show don't tell. I personally would go for the days leading up to the cataclysm. Kenabres despite being the place the first stone was erected doesn't seem to have too much interesting in history (you have the events that set off the 2nd and third(?) crusades, but getting into those would drag it some IMO).

Maybe have them flash to Sarkoris in its heyday, maybe a festival of some sort but also somewhat intangible. I'd try to give it the flavor of more a lucid dream. They have some RP during this time get to know the people and then they find themselves further forward. Whispers of witches and demon cults are growing, but overall most aren't paying too much attention. They want to focus on preparing for Aroden's return in the coming months. Then the last jump, panic in the streets and soldiers are rushing to where the worldwound will open. You could run a combat here an display Areelu's power without worrying about smashing the pcs (she had ascended to a half -succubus prior to opening the wound) it would make sense for her to target the npc "allies' because the PCs aren't really here. They can engage and strike down the rank and file cultists but an apparition of someone from that time rushed from their "body" showing it's more them acting in the place of others. It goes on for a while before all hell breaks loose.