What can I have happen to Shalelu?

[Halfhoot]

Okay so here's the deal. The sheriff sent Shalelu off to do some specific goblin scouting after the attack on Sandpoint with a mind to come back and give info to the players about the current state of goblin affairs. Off she went.

And then I promptly forgot about her and so did the players. Until finally after the first chapter but before the second they had plenty of downtime and one player thought about asking Shalelu something when they realized nobody had heard from her in days.

Thistletop is dealt with and the goblin threat is neutralized and I actually ended the session with a cliffhanger of the Sheriff coming up to them to tell them of the murders so they'll get caught up in that pretty quick I think.

Now I could just chalk it up as her going around to check on all the tribes and just coming back too late to be useful, but it might be fun to have had something happen to her. Captured by one of the later villains or caught up in having found something and followed a trail or whatnot. I have only really skimmed the chapters past the second one.

So does anyone have any nifty situations I could put Shelalu in that the players could find out about down the road and would explain her absence since she was specifically supposed to come back and report to the town and never did.

[The Shaman]

I would have her distracted by finding a ransacked farm (or even thorp), which was completely devastated by an orge attack. Since the farm was on the road to Sandpoint, she would want to check how long ago it happened, where the ogres were coming from and where they were heading to, in order to ensure they are not planning anything near Sandpoint and they didn´t have anything to do with the goblin attack.

She either had to retreat due to being spotted or she was able to determine they were not going to Sandpoint and had to report the attack to whatever settlement or garrison was close to the farm, so she was delayed.

Make it enough that it is believable, but not enough that the party starts chasing ogres... just yet.

[Latrecis]

For DM's only:

Spoiler:

She's tied into the action in Book 3 - she volunteers to journey with the pc's to Hook Mountain because she's looking for one of the Black Arrows. So be cognizant of that when you decide what (if anything) happened to her.

She's not critical path for Book 3 though she offers the pc's some extra muscle if needed and she's part of the character background and motivations (as written) for a surviving Black Arrow. So if she's not present, you might have some work to do, pending the level of engagement you/your pc's will leverage from the Black Arrows.

How long ago did she leave? Were there any survivors from Thistletop who may have escaped? Maybe she hunted them down. She could easily have been watching the Mosswood goblins and dealing with some shenanigans of theirs. Perhaps she prevented an allied force of goblins from reaching Thistletop?

[Halfhoot]

Ah thank you both. Yea she has been "missing" for only about 2 or 3 in-game days. The PCs are concerned but not enough to mount a search mission. I do like the idea of preventing an allied force of goblins from arriving which actually ties into some of the information they found. That could be good. Maybe I'll have her come back injured but successful and need some recovery time.

[RuyanVe]

You could use the sidetrek Boggards in Brinestump Marsh over from dorkistan.com--these are the same people who did Chopper's Isle which can be found in Wayfinder #7.

Ruyan.

[Qakisst Vishtani]

There is an easy way to tuck Shalelu away for a while in Skinsaw:

A Skinsaw Twist:

Put her in Habe's asylum. Say that she wound up in a fight with some of the Skinsaw Man's servants and was half crazed when Habe found her, but she managed to fight off the ghoul fever. So Habe kept her locked up to study. Then the PCs can rescue her and it fits into your overall story.

[Turin the Mad]

Also, keep in mind for future campaigns that she's rather important in starting up Jade Regent. Try not to kill her off. ;)

[Hythlodeus]

Qakisst Vishtani wrote:

There is an easy way to tuck Shalelu away for a while in Skinsaw:

** spoiler omitted **

oooh! good idea. I might do that. Not with Shalelu, I have another NPC in mind, that fits the bill

[Stebehil]

If you are really nasty

:

you could have her in Misgivings - perhaps she made a bad decision following some ghouls there, crawled into that damned place, and now she is unable to get out. Perhaps shes gotten into a stalemate with the revenant. I have to admit that Habe´s Asylum is a brilliant idea.

OTOH, I have heard of at least one campaign where she died in Thistletop, so she is not that crucial to the plot anyways.

[HellFire442]

I highly recommend boggards of brinestump marsh as a side quest. You could run it as the PCs are investigating the murders. Make it curious, but not immediate. I would consider running it just after Habes. Do not punish the party with extra murders, but do have them jump immediately into the ghouls.

Depending on their level, party comp, and need for rest after Boggards, either let them rest or don't.

[Tusk the Half-Orc]

I love the idea of finding her in Habe's sanatorium. In the campaign I'm running, I had her tracking goblin activity while the PCs were in the Catacombs of Wrath. Apparently, she got a little too close to Thistletop, and was surprised by a wandering patrol.

A local farmer found her wandering, delirious, a few days later, missing her right arm. Apparently she managed to kill all the goblin warriors but one, who got lucky and took off her arm above the elbow. She dispatched him with a dagger before shock and blood loss totally disabled her, and cauterized the wound with her torch before collapsing and spending the next two days unconscious on the forest floor.

Shalelu was the NPC my players liked best, after (or tied with) Ameiko. After she finished telling the PCs, Sheriff Hemlock, Father Zantus, and Mayor Deverin what happened to her, my players (my wife and our two kids, and their best friend, all relatively new to gaming) just stared at me for a full minute. I think that was the moment they realized that that bad stuff doesn't just happen to redshirts in this game.

The march on Thistletop began the next morning.

We're in Skinsaw now, and one of the things happening in the background is the town's fundraising campaign to pay for a Regenerate spell (maybe she'll accompany them to Magnimar when they go to investigate Aldern's townhouse - Regenerate is a little above Father Z's pay grade). I'm hoping they meet their goal in time for the Hook Mountain Massacre, or else she'll be a lot less helpful in combat.

[Stebehil]

Tusk, that is quite a story there! Kudos for that idea.

[Story Archer]

Don't know if this will help, but the way I used Shalelu was thus:

In the bowels of Thistletop, I had Bruthazmus flee the battle when the PC's got the upper hand and had Shalelu pursue him, playing a game of cat and mouse throughout the rest of the complex while the PC's faced Nualia. Eventually she rejoined them and told them that the fiend had fled the islet and had cut the bridge to prevent pursuit. When the group decided to return to Sandpoint with Nualia as their captive, Shalelu departed with the intentions of hunting down her long time nemesis. Later, I had Thistletop become occupied by some druids who helped the PC's clear it, intending to use it as a base from which to raise a new Druidic Circle.

Later, one of the Druids came to the group and told them that they had discovered Shalelu had been captured by Bruthazmus and a band of hobgoblins - the party set out to rescue them, finding her being held and tortured at the encampment of a hobgoblin tribe who were just about to hunker down for the winter. Along the way they also ran into a couple of ghouls hiding out in some ruins, a bit of foreshadowing for the next chapter. The side adventure also served as a nice way to introduce a new PC.

I'm a bit behind on our chronicle, but those events are detailed here.