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After 15 months of bi-weekly gaming, my group defeated the Evil Snake God and his followers in an epic battle. Hats off to all the fine folk on these boards, I couldn't have done it without you.
No, I'm serious, I couldn't have done this!
If you are reading this, chances are that you're familiar with the manyfold weaknesses of Serpent's Skull. So to salvage a campaign with a terribly underwritten centerpiece and some questionable plot twists (looking at you, Mr, Kline!), I had to liberally rob, steal and borrow from the excellent brains I've collected in jars in my basement encountered here.
But if you're willing to put in the work (and have a group of excellent players, I might add), Serpent's Skull is a blast. The sandbox structure of Saventh-Yhi allowed me to play with the five factions, integrate the personal character arcs of the PCs, and add more dinosaurs to the campaign (seriously, where are the dinosaurs in Serpent's Skull?).
So this post is a celebration of the fine folks at Paizo, my fantastic group, myself, and you guys. Give yourselves a round of applause!
And here's how the final battle went down.
The Cast:
Adrastos, male minotaur barbarian
Kameko, female human qinggong monk
Cole, male human pistolero gunslinger
Soraya, female human oracle (bones mystery)
Tatzlragg, male half-orc sorcerer (draconic bloodline)
After the heroes led a ragtag army of Pathfinders, Free Captains, Red Mantis, Sargavans, Troglodytes, Boggards (including a certain Green God), and Morlocks (who happened to venerate Kameko as a goddess) against Ilmurea, they entered the inner sanctum.
There, after beating the Emperor of Scales in a tense battle, they encountered Nazith-Yol, who made them an offer. "I will help you destroy Vyr-Azul, if you return to your overburn afterwards." The party accepted his help, fully aware of his possible betrayal.
After dispatching Khestath and his goons in seconds, the party entered Vyr-Azuls's cave. There, they fought a long, hard battle against him and his snake (who was downed by one flurry from Kameko). Nazith-Yol turned against his superior and joined them.
When Adrastos smashed the "Serpent's Skull" on the alter, it splintered like stone, not bone. This and Vyr-Azul's mocking telepathic laughter led our heroes to the conclusion that something was very wrong.
Meanwhile, Vyr-Azul was near death and surrounded by most of the PCs. Nazith-Yol seized the moment and cast Prismatic Spray, killing Adrastos with poison. Good thing Soraya had a scroll of Miracle to bring him back.
After some more rounds, both serpentfolk were down, but something came up the pit. Suddenly, Dargan Etters and a squad of Aspis goons entered the cave.
(Background info: My players hated the Aspis. Especially Cole, whose family died on the hands of some Aspis men years ago. Also, the Aspis consortium couldn't be bothered to join the attack on Ilmurea, possibly because Cole cut a bloody swath through their ranks).
The Aspis Consortium wanted to take what treasures and knowledge they could, but, boy, were they in for a surprise.
After 10.000 years of wandering the underworld, Ydersius finally rose again to claim Golarion as his! First order of business was casting Blasphemy, killing all those Aspis goons. Next, he would utterly annihilate Dargan Etters.
To even the odds, Tatzlragg used his scroll of Wish to bring General Aveshai from the battlefield to the sanctum.
So the heroes of Saventh-Yhi fought one last, desperate time to bring down the Snake God. In the end, Adrastos used Aveshai's sword to decapitate Ydersius, before Tatzlragg (in dragon form) bull rushed the Headless King down whence he came from.
After the battle, Chivane of the Red Mantis approached the party and offered to take care of the Serpent's Skull. Weary and happy to be rid of it, the party agreed. So if I ever plan a sequel, I've got a hook.
Anyway, that's it.
Congratulations on finishing the campaign!
We're currently at book 2. Can't wait to start book 3 where the real adventure begins.
How did they get the Green god's help?
How did they get the Green god's help?
By DM fiat. During the campaign, I dropped hints about the boggards doing strange rituals near the water...and something stirring beneath the surface. My players were intrigued, but then always something else took their attention.
So I decided to not let the GG go to waste by having him join his "children" for the final battle. Didn't really impact the outcome but was a cool moment.