I am looking for advice on how to handle Orik beyond simply his appearance in Burnt Offerings. In Burnt Offerings I played up his "clueless mercenary in over his head" bit quite a bit and he not only led the PCs to Nualia but aided them in the fight. Despite this my players refused to lie to the Sandpoint authorities and still turned him in to the Sheriff. Now, I plan to introduce Ironbriar during Orik and Lyrie's trial and I know Lyrie will likely receive jail-time. Orik, however, I am a little unsure of.
Option one would be to have him turned over to the Black Arrows and have him reappear later as a possible cohort when rescued from the farm in HMM(I only generally allow existing NPCs to become cohorts in my games). I've seen many people do this already.
I have my own idea as well though. Seeing as he flat out betrayed Nualia I figure Xanesha might not be too happy with him. I hatched an idea for her to kidnap him from prison and use him to her own benefit. I thought that perhaps she'd use him as spare parts for the Scarecrow. This would certainly up the horror factor in that part of the path. I mean, imagine the players' surprise at seeing this hulking beast with Orik's head on its shoulders?
Thoughts?
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I don't think Nualia or Orik were ever on Xanesha's radar. She wouldn't care about him. If Justice Ironbrar thinks Orik's particularly greedy, which he isn't, then he could be a candidate to be sacrificed by the Skinsaw Cult, but I just don't see it.
Lyrie, on the other hand, seems like someone Ironbrar might recruit. He probably wouldn't let her into the full cult right away, but I could see him using his position as a justice to get her out of jail if she agrees to work for him, then using her for some dirty work. She might even get some new spells out of the deal, if he shares the stolen wizard spellbook from his loot (see Ironbrar's chest in the Seven's Sawmill).
I am looking for advice on how to handle Orik beyond simply his appearance in Burnt Offerings. In Burnt Offerings I played up his "clueless mercenary in over his head" bit quite a bit and he not only led the PCs to Nualia but aided them in the fight. Despite this my players refused to lie to the Sandpoint authorities and still turned him in to the Sheriff. Now, I plan to introduce Ironbriar during Orik and Lyrie's trial and I know Lyrie will likely receive jail-time. Orik, however, I am a little unsure of.
Option one would be to have him turned over to the Black Arrows and have him reappear later as a possible cohort when rescued from the farm in HMM(I only generally allow existing NPCs to become cohorts in my games). I've seen many people do this already.
In my first run I had him turn up at Turtleback Ferry as one of the gaming patrons aboard the Paradise... allowed him to give the PC's some insight as to what went down there. He joined up with them for part of the adventure and was eventually stayed with the Black Arrows to help rebuild after the HMM was completed.
True, I suppose it would be Ironbriar himself who would take Orik in that scenario. Hmm... I've read your ideas on Orik Story Archer and I like them quite a bit.
I don't really think Ironbriar would go out on such a limb as to try and use or abuse either Lyrie or Orik considering he gets by in his double-life by being very careful and not overstepping his boundaries too much.
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That was my read on the situation as well, Fromper, though I figure it was Xanesha that decided Lyrie should join them. After all, she's the one calling the shots these days. I included her in the Sawmill as backup for Ironbriar, and I limited her new spell selections to pretty much whatever was in the spellbook in the Sawmill. They'd convinced Orik to turn over a new leaf, but if things went bad, I was planning on sending him on to the Black Arrows - the characteristic luck of the Vancaskerkins would have continued!
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Have Orik taken to Magnimar. Have him in jail awaiting trial when the characters take care of Ironbriar. In the wake of the Ironbriar debacle, Magnimar sentences Orik to service with the Black Arrows. He travels with the heroes to Turtleback Ferry, then Fort Rannick. From there, he might live or die as a Black Arrow.
-Skeld
True, I suppose it would be Ironbriar himself who would take Orik in that scenario. Hmm... I've read your ideas on Orik Story Archer and I like them quite a bit.
I don't really think Ironbriar would go out on such a limb as to try and use or abuse either Lyrie or Orik considering he gets by in his double-life by being very careful and not overstepping his boundaries too much.
I'm actually going to be running an expanded version of RotRL with three books from SS and one from CotCT and I'm thinking this time of having Orik turn up with his sister (from Shattered Star) later in the campaign in Mangimar as a (somewhat) friendly face... that's assuming he survives Thistletop, of course. The Vancaskerkins are Golarion bluebloods, they deserve to show up as often as is reasonably possible.
In my campaign, Lyrie will be Nualia's lover and Tsuto's infatuation will be with his half-sister Ameiko, leaving Orik with little to no ties or loyalties to the gang in Thistletop.
I like the fact that creative things are being done with Orik. In my campaign he is recruited by the pcs and turned into and npc. He's also a love interest for the sorcerer. Mainly cause she's angry and mouthy as well. Since he seems to like that in a woman
I'm about to start up again after a gap with the beginning of HMM. In our game both Lyrie and Orik were captured at Thistletop.
In case my players come on here...
They were both sentenced to the Black Arrows at the end of Burnt Offerings. The party will encounter both in HMM. Orik will replace Vale in the Graul cellar and he will be desperate to get back to the fort to find out if Lyrie is safe.
Lyrie is still alive though, she turned against the Black Arrows during the attack when she saw which way the fight was going. Her actions in helping the ogres win impressed Lucrecia enough to keep her alive.
I imagine that when the party retakes the fort she'll be found hiding somewhere or perhaps locked in a room pretending to be a prisoner.
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Since he managed to survive my game I did something similar to what is suggested above.
The party just found him as a stand-in for Vale at the Graul farm. My intention is to make him a red herring suspect as the traitor that brought down Rannick. I think my players will jump at it because they have learned since the first book that letting NPC's be captured is a terrible idea.
Why they decided to capture Mammy Graul I will never fathom.
I don't think Nualia or Orik were ever on Xanesha's radar.
Nualia and Xanesha have met. It was Xanesha that gave her the Sihedron Medallion. Nualia enlisted the help of the Skinsaw cult in Magnimar to murder her ex-lover. Xanesha then told Nualia to "follow her dreams." This led to the visions from Lamashtu that inspired Nualia to enter the catacombs of wrath and then seek Malfeshnekor under Thistletop.
Nualia's henchmen and hirelings though would be unknown to Xanesha. So Xanesha would have no idea who Orik is, unless Nualia's name got dropped.
I love the idea of Orik being drawn into a plot to "test" how greedy he was and then dying in the Sihedron ritual. I always played him as a guy who would do just about anything for money, which is why he was still with Nualia in the first place.