Raven's Head - GMs only please

[Copernicus Mandrake I]

There's a question that's been bothering me ever since I first read through the Carrion Crown AP and I've reread several times trying to find an adequate answer but have so far failed to find anything official. So here goes:

Raven's Head is an essential component to creating the Carrion Crown formula but it (likely) falls into the hands of the PCs (despite Rask's attempt to retrieve it at the beginning of Ashes at Dawn). Without it, the formula is incomplete. But Shadows of Gallowspire insists that the reason the formula fails for AA is because it wasn't prepared specifically for him.

So, my question is, HOW did he finish the formula with any hope of it working on his intended vessel without Raven's Head? What component did he find on such short notice to replace it?

[Kalindlara]

As far as I know (and I consider myself an expert), there is no official answer in the AP - it's a pretty big plot hole.

[captain yesterday]

These things happen, if you have Rule of Fear Wes dropped some names of religious artifacts the Church of Pharasma has in their possession. In my mind it's more about the significance to Pharasma that Advion is after, obviously dredging the lake is way easier than breaking into the biggest church in a country that loves churches, but one must always have a plan B.

[Elorebaen]

He found something comparable, or perhaps went forward anyway, and that is why the ritual, sort of works.

[Damon Griffin]

I asked this same question. Here's what Neil Spicer told me in a PM:

Spoiler:

I believe this gets discussed in Chapter 6 (which I didn't write), but I'm not sure where and I don't have my books handy. The bottom line is that there are always "alternatives" in the recipe for the overall ritual the Whispering Way is pursuing. Some of those "alternatives" are less pure than others...and their use will have unexpected ramifications for the Whispering Way cultists as a result. Suffice to say that keeping Raven's Head out of their hands is very good thing in terms of countering the Whispering Way and making things more difficult for them, but it doesn't completely derail their plans. It forces them to use a substitute, which has a major effect on the primary villain and overall plot.

[captain yesterday]

So, what I said then :-)

[tbug]

The ritual rules are in Occult Adventures, which didn't exist when this AP was written. I'm playing it that the Raven's Head gives a significant bonus to the skill rolls of the ritual, rather than being a material component. Given that Adrissant fails the ritual, this can help explain why that happens.

[Gwaihir Scout]

Somebody else here had an idea which I stole. Raven's Head once struck the Whispering Tyrant, and has some of his blood on it which couldn't be removed. Failure to retrieve Raven's Head means Adrissant has to go to a backup source of blood, a descendant of the Tyrant. This has the unfortunate side effect of making the formula only effective on the descendant.

[Zhangar]

What I actually went with was that Raven's Head was needed to create a new phylactery outside of the Grand Seal.

Since TB already HAS a phylactery, it wasn't truly needed, but it would've been damn, damn nice to have.

[Richard D Bennett]

I'm using a riff on Gwaihir Scout's idea, in conjunction with a change to the end. Raven's Head has the Tyrant's blood on it, which is part of Adrisant's Incantation. When he doesn't get the blood, he grabs the Count. When the PCs rescue the count from Renchurch, it screws up the Incantation, which was designed to draw the Tyrant's power forth, but channel the Tyrant's mind to his blood, allowing Adrisant all of Tar-Baphon's power, while sticking the old lich himself somewhere convenient.

So when Adrisant actually does the ritual, and the Count isn't where he's supposed to be, he going to be possessed by Tar-Baphon himself. The PCs will, therefore, need those mythic tiers I've been handing them.

[Ravensrook]

This was something I was curious about too. I couldn't figure out the artifact's significance to the rest of the story.

I'm going to play it as a necessary piece for the ritual. But I'm also having Adrisant play as an ally of the players. He will meet them at the funeral posing as a friend of Lorimor. He will also be a member of the palantine eye. As I imagine someone with his obsession with bring back the whispering tyrant would try to use all possible avenues of resources. The eye has a fair amount, I figure he would use them as best he could.

When the players finish up ashes, they will think that both he and the count have been taken by the whispering way to renchurch and only find out that he is the one behind it all after rescuing the count.