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DMs: Halloween 2005
Posted: 10 Jun 2005 11:59 PM |
Well, I'm waiting for Team Vampire to get back so I can discuss a few things with them, but seeing that Maldovia's become quite active recently, and that both Ara and I are keen on redesigning the place to make it scarier, I thought I'd start jotting down a few things now.
1/ The vampires-picking-on-players storyline ought to conclude with the halloween event.
2/ Bunt has been invited back to Castle Valinor to hold a concert. Apparently, the Count was impressed and wants Bunt to return and entertain them, bringing as MANY people as possible to his concert. Unbeknownst to Bunt, the vampires have something more sinister planned (dunno exactly what yet).
3/ One fun idea is that, in a reversal of the Celebration of Life that only applied to Maldovia, it becomes a Celebration of Death where, um... okay, I'll get back to you on that one. *Scratches head* Maybe some sort of pilgrimage will take place leading players from the Thundering Cliffs to Maldovia in remembrance of the vampire slaughter that took place about a thousand years ago. Or something. I dunno. You know me. I like silliness.
4/ I am thinking of making up a few fun items as well as souvenirs that the players can keep.
5/ Maldovia will be a far scarier and more dangerous place by the time Halloween comes around, YUS.
6/ I think the Excrement Elemental should be involved somehow. And the Rainbow Quicklings. Oh, and the Dire Penguin of mine which seems to have taken permanent residence in Brandibuck. Teehee.
7/ Maybe the Dire Penguin works for the vampires. Hmm.
Right. I'm going to stop there before it becomes silly. Must... focus... on... HORROR...
*Waits for Team Vampire to return and plots other ideas* |
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Re: DMs: Halloween 2005
Posted: 30 Jun 2005 04:35 PM |
Related Posts
* Maldovia Victims
* Vives Background: Bloodwood
* Blood and Nightmares
Brainstorming II
More brainstorming (not coherent at the moment; it's not even 6am here and I'm already at work, bleah):
“The time draws near again. Something will wake from its slumber, a thousand years of blood in its mouth, a thousand years of nightmares on the brain. Something will wake and open its eyes, and pour out a single breath, and on that breath the nightmares will ride and escape from its mind, given true form.”
Halloween will be the grand opening of the new Maldovia areas. Including new critters.
Breakdown:
1/ Archiax is an Elder who sleeps beneath the Bloodwood and is sustained by it.
2/ Players going through the Bloodwood areas between now and Halloween will be encouraged to slay lots of things in the wood so that lots of yummy blood flows down into the earth to freed hungry Mister Archiax. Or maybe monsters will slay yummy adventurers, whatever works. Either way he gets fed.
3/ On Halloween Archiax will awaken for a brief instant — his nightmares will escape and stream forth, given true form, and migrate to Maldovia. Hence explaining the new critters that will be there from now on. And also explaining the tougher Maldovian vampires.
Sub-plots and whatnot:
~Malakhi~
Avadielle made a promise a long time ago to Malakhi's ancestor Charvanya (the first 'dragonborn' Aquistine - ie. a Half-Dragon) that she'd keep an eye on Charvanya's family to see if any had potential to realise their heritage. Any that showed potential would then be tested psychologically to see if they were worthy of earning a weapon [properties not yet determined].
That is the reason why she has been tormenting Malakhi and he knows it now (to an extent). He earned that knowledge on a trip to The Thundering Cliffs. Avadielle has told him bits and pieces of the promise but not all of it.
~Kan~
I'd like Kan and/or any goodly types to be responsible for blowing out parts of Syn's Bridge (those who've seen the preview areas will know what I mean).
Kan has twice been rescued from death by Avadielle and has also agreed to pay the price for having Roland raised. He made a deal with the vampiress. And then he lied about it and said he raised Roland.
The price.
The price Avadielle will demand for these three favours (two unwillingly made and one willingly made by Kan) is that Kan be responsible for awakening Archiax. One way or another, he will be. There'll be blood on his hands and he'll have to deal with that. More details on the rituals later.
~Avadielle~
Avadielle is a Celestial twice fallen.
The first time she fell, she fell willingly. She chose to lead a mortal life and start a family in Aristi. But a bloody battle in Fort Sihdail Rele claimed her husband, and the plague nearly claimed her son. She appealed to the Celestial Council (or whatever they have for leadership) to intercede and stop the plague but the Celestials didn't interfere at all. In fact, she ended up being excommunicated.
Avadielle's brother Rickard, however, did whisk away her son [Darius]. Rickard was, and still is, a Celestial. Darius got better and survived the plague, though he was never told about his true nature: he was left in the care of the group of refugees that eventually ended up meeting Aquinas in the north. Avadielle's modern day descendant is Melissa Lyle, who's a PC (not CPC) on my starryice account. I occasionally use Melissa's Shadow as a plot device, but Melissa herself is a normal PC, if a tad batty.
Darius was infected early on in the days of the plague and after he was spirited away, Avadielle saw no point in staying in Aristi. A friend of hers, the Lady Maldovia, was amongst the first to fall victim to the plague. Maldovia's widower invited Avadielle to come with him on his ship to start a new colony, along with numerous others. Avadielle agreed.
Will write more later. Work to do here. |
The subculture of my dreams
Is waiting for me to fall asleep.
I know you're scared—you should be.
I know you're scared. |
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Re: DMs: Halloween 2005
Posted: 30 Jun 2005 08:34 PM |
New Maldovia Areas
>> MAP <<
Been building these non-stop. Some quick notes:
The Thundering Cliffs :: The former home of the Bloodwood Rangers, who were slaughtered a thousand years ago by the Syncursed. The entrance to the city of Archiax is somewhere within these cliffs.
The Thundering Coast :: Off the east coast of Vives, in a place hard to find and hard to access, Lex Maloros waits to ferry travellers to the west coast of Maldovia... for a price. (Lex is a delightfully despicable character whom even the most ebil of ebils would hate utterly)
Syn's Cliffs :: Formerly Syn's Steppes, but the name didn't match the meaning. Harpies lurk in these jagged cliffs, the pointed rocks here bearing an eerie resemblance to fangs jutting upwards.
Syn's Bridge :: Bits of the old bridge will have been blown up by goody-goodies, making it a little harder to charge at the shadow skeletons. But not that much harder.
Frobozz Isle :: An isle rife with magical energies, thanks to the experimentation of Frobozz in the mines beneath the surface. Wild magic and weird creatures abound. And the shadow skeletons have been evicted.
Maldovia Coast - South :: Shipwrecks and Shades can be found here.
Maldovia Woods :: Can a forest be undead? This forest certainly is. A combination of Maldovia Woods and Maldovia Deep Woods... it's best not to stray too far off the path, or else you'll meet my lovely Creepers.
The Aquistine Residence :: Comprised of the family crypt, the backyard and the ruined mansion, this old residence still bears some of its former dignity and grandeur.
Maldovia :: The legendary city lies in ruins, a city of eternal fog and moonlight and death. Ravening beasts prowl the streets, and a lonely bell tolls eternally in the unseen distance. Few buildings remain standing: the tavern is a nest for vampires; the church lies abandoned, though is a safe haven in this city of horrors; and somewhere... somewhere you can find Jack and his pumpkin patch, always keen to make compost out of unwary adventurers...
Maldovia Outskirts :: Biohazard warning. It be stinky out here. All rotting and decaying and chock-full of diseased goodness, mmmmm.
Pricklewood :: West of the outskirts lies the Pricklewood, which used to be inhabited by a nutty old druid lady. Elsa foresaw the doom that would befall Maldovia, but being a batty old hermit who lived in the scary woods West of the outskirts didn't really help her cause any. She built her own natural defences to combat the Syncursed, but these days, they just roam the Pricklewood and attack anything they see.
Melody Marsh :: A bizarre place of beauty and tragedy, herein lies a memorial to the fallen angel, Avadielle. The ghost of a song still lingers in the air, a melancholy melody with no discernible source. Does it mourn Avadielle? Or is it some lost part of her that has been torn away?
Maldovia Coast - West :: Here's where Lex lands his ferry, and also a cozy abode (and respawn point) manned by his daughter... who, in total contrast to Papa Lex, is an absolute saint.
Valinor Hill :: North of the outskirts of Maldovia, across the Vandavian River where fishing boats used to enter the city, towers Valinor Hill... atop which perches the notorious Valinor Castle.
Syn's Tower :: Formerly a mage tower, the original name lost to time, this place now serves as a sort of birthing pit for new Syncursed.
Valinor Castle :: It's big, it's bad, and it is crawling with Maldovian Vampires. The Wings of the castle are open to explore, as are the dungeons (for those who dare) but access to the upper levels requires rescuing a chained maiden... who is not the damsel in distress she appears to be.
~ Characters ~
Lex Maloros :: A truly despicable and greedy character, Lex ferries adventurers to and from The Thundering Coast to Maldovia's West Coast. He'll try to buy some of your life essence [xp] for an item which will, once a day, aid you in Maldovia... and only Maldovia. And you can only have one. And it can't be sold, nor used by anyone else. But it could be the difference between life and death. Or undeath. If you let him sell it to you. If you want to pay that price. If you feel like dealing with scum like him.
Grace Maloros :: Grace is a living saint, and the one responsible for charging into places like the Valinor Castle Dungeons to retrieve hapless adventurers who might otherwise fall prey to the Syncursed. While Papa Lex uses his necromantic research for selfish purposes, Grace uses Papa's research for selfless heroic acts. As far as Papa Lex is concerned, Grace is an angel and a princess and can do whatever she likes. He doesn't disapprove of her actions and has been known to come up with items to battle the Syncursed at her request.
Avadielle :: I'm pretty sure I already handled this character's description and bio in various other places.
Charvanya :: The first dragonborn of the Aquistine line, Charvanya now exists as a rather lethal combination of fire and shadow, combining the strengths of both with the weakness of neither. She stands guard over the crypt that should have been her own, waiting for one of her descendants to claim what is rightfully theirs... while driving others away.
Threnody :: A chained damsel in distress! Well, it only seems that way at first. To get to the upper levels you need to free Threnody. When you do, she unleashes lots of fun screaming spells of death. Wheee!
~ Existing Characters Revisited ~
(Not sure if these have already been done, so here we go)
Natika Serilus :: She used to be Valinor's body guard. She still is, in a way. Natika stands watch over the upper levels of Valinor Castle, driving away those who would disturb her master.
Rastilan Vego :: Where Natika has dominion over the upper levels, Rastilan holds sway over the dark and sordid dungeons. The sort of man that Menarok would probably snatch up in an instant to work in the deepest depths of Nethar'u, Rastilan's an expert torturer and knows all the slowest and most painful ways to drain someone of their life essence. And he'll demonstrate them quite gladly if you happen to run into him. Go on. I dare ya.
Gromikus :: Rastilan's right-hand man... errr, Orc. Whatever. Where subtlety fails, there's always brute strength. And that's what Gromikus is there for. Snapping bones and whatnot. Pleasant fellow.
~ Hostiles ~
Syn's Creepers :: My pretties! Hello my pretties. These tentacular writhing shadow things are aspects of Syn and aren't truly individual entities. Think of a field of grass. Think of how all the blades of grass are connected. A creeper is a single stalk, and killing one will not kill the entire "field". But if you smack a Creeper enough times it might go away and sulk and not come back for a little while.
Maldovian Vampire Lord/Lady :: Apart from being more snappily dressed than the other vampires, the Lords and Ladies can be identified by a missing eye, sacrificed in some ghastly ritual that you probably don't want to think about in order to acquire the powers that they have. And boy, what powers they are. Whee! The Lords go around smacking things with big greatswords. The Ladies prance around slashing things to pieces with razor-edged fans. Fun fun fun.
Maldovian Vampire Priest/Priestess :: Uh, no explanation really necessary. These dudes and dudettes preside over the horrific and ghastly blood rites that the Syncursed can't seem to get enough of. Priestesses tend to flit around with a staff of bone in hand, topped off by a (100% authentic) skull. Priests aren't generally found in the upper levels and tend to lurk in the dungeons, presiding over snake pits.
Maldovian Vampires/Vampiresses :: If you see one, chances are you're already dead. The vampires like to sneak in close and whack you silly with their dual scimitars. The vampiresses hang back and pick you off with arrows that explode with negative energy on impact. You'd better have negative energy protection or you're toast.
Nightmare Hounds :: Trained by Avadielle when she was still mortal and one of Maldovia's defenders, these hounds are lean mean eatin' machines that like to munch on yummy adventurers. Raar. I bet Tarik would love a pack of these for Christmas.
Ravagers of Syn :: Not all have the strength to survive the Turning. Those that don't become vampires either die (if they're lucky) or become mutated (if not). The Ravagers of Syn are the most common form of weak Syncursed who did not survive the Turning and yet were not destroyed either. There are other forms too, if you're willing to journey into the dungeons to have a peek. |
The subculture of my dreams
Is waiting for me to fall asleep.
I know you're scared—you should be.
I know you're scared. |
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Re: DMs: Halloween 2005
Posted: 30 Jun 2005 10:36 PM |
| ((lol, that's excellent Ficcy. Cannot wait to see the finished results)) |
Purpose in life: finding better ways of allowing players to kill themselves. Repeatedly.
--
"...Cause he mixes it with love
And makes the world taste good."
--
<@James42> Lawful good isn't in your vocabulary, it's on your menu.
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Re: DMs: Halloween 2005
Posted: 01 Jul 2005 02:49 PM |
Wow, cool.
I like the Lex character! |
"ehehehehe,.."
Try to look unimportant, they may be low on ammo. |
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Re: DMs: Halloween 2005
Posted: 09 Jul 2005 11:48 PM |
Work continues! I've planted down all the areas now. Still on the list to do:
- Write an entry on Syn for the gods thread
- Import NESS scripts and NESS everything
- Lex
- Mystic Mirrors: if you've seen these, you'll know they tell the story of Maldovia
- Threnody, the key to getting upstairs
- Vampires-returning-to-coffins script
- Finish touching up areas (Especially Rastilan's Lair - the yummiest place on Vives! Dahahahahaha. It's like all of Nethar'u compressed into one area. If Nu'men ever pays a visit to Valinor Castle he and Rastilan would get along smashingly and could discuss torture methods over a cup of fresh hot steaming blood of innocents.)
- Elsa's story via convo with the chest of drawers in her shack
- Blade of Shadowfire: this will be a greatsword for Malakhi to find. I wouldn't mind it having the OnHit: Cast Spell: Inferno property that Charvanya's has... what's a good caster level? It has to be better than a Harbinger+3 (+3 enhancement, fire 1d6). Making items isn't really my specialty, not unless they are fun low-level items like the Lesser Ring of the Party Animal (teehee).
Countdown to Catastrophe
The story. At the moment I'm tossing up the possibility of an escape from Maldovia scenario where, on Halloween, you find yourself in Maldovia having been kidnapped to be a victim and have to escape. You won't be able to do it via the bridge (at least not on that day, will probably dm-lock off the gate) so you'll have to go west and take the ferry to the Thundering Cliffs.
Where you end up starting in Maldovia depends on your level. I doubt anyone will be down with Mr Rastilan, not unless they can beat a Search check of 55 to find the hidden doors to get out of the Dungeon!
I am thinking that anyone below level 5 can go about business as usual that day and if they want to put themselves in mortal peril, they can hop on the DM channel and I'll see if I can jump them in with an existing party who can protect them, or I'll grab Grace [NPC, remember] and take them from Maldovia to the west coast.
Paul mentioned having everyone take on a random undead appearance oncliententer, which is a pretty cool idea! :D Could be part of the scenario: escape, and shake off the curse before you become, well, curst. I'm sure Lex will charge handsomely to remove the appearance, ahahahahaha. Without telling you that once you leave the island, it will vanish of its own accord after a little while. Lovely fellow. I'm going to enjoy rping him.
There'll be little bits and pieces of slow lead-up around the Brandibuck area - anything from The Thundering Cliffs through Bloodwood to Brandibuck and then Mirghul and finally Syn's Steppes (soon to be Syn's Cliffs). Might import the new Syn's Cliffs in early and get the East Coast fixed once and for all. The only way in there now is through Mirghul's East or Midor Deep Forest. That way I can play around with NESS for the harpies in that area and see NESS in action.
A Further Note on New Areas
Vandavian River :: the south and north banks of this river replace Maldovia Outskirts and Valinor Hill (in name - same places, different name). This river was once a symbol of prosperity, being the main source of income for the city of Maldovia. Now its dark waters are filled with nightmare fish, skeletal things with bulging eyes and elongated teeth that devour any who fall into those poisoned waters.
Mount Valinor :: in the lead-up to Halloween, earthquakes will rock Vives, splitting the bridge and raising Valinor Castle up do that it perches atop a steep and rocky mountain, riven by a cleft up near the mountain's peak. (Kan isn't around that much these days and the earthquake seemed a better explanation for the split in the bridge, not to mention an entire new mountain!) Uhh, any gods out there mad enough to rock Maldovia? Midoran? Maybe it ties in with the emergence of the dragons? The earthquakes being a side effect of their emergence? Can we have worldwide earthquakes as part of that event?
Mount Valinor - The Brink of Sanity :: Now this is a place that deserves especial mention. It replaces Valinor Castle's exterior as my favourite place of all time. And, well, why paraphrase? Here's the area description: A breathtaking sight greets your eyes. The sky is painted in swirls of rainbow colour and cold darkness, like a madman's artwork - beautiful, disturbing and incomprehensible. Voices gibber from a bottomless chasm that stretches from horizon to horizon. Here, an echo lasts forever. Here, time and distance seem to become meaningless, and the void rules supreme.
Valinor Castle - Dungeons :: These are pretty much the same as before, at least at first. Venture deeper in and you'll find a series of progressively harder hidden doors that wind around the map, spiralling in towards a trap door that leads down to an oubliette. If you have a rogue with a really high disable trap/open lock/search (DC 55 or 60 for all, I think it was), you can take the shortcut to the east and skip most of the spiralling around.
Valinor Castle - Rastilan's Lair :: Some sick-minded ghoul must run this oubliette. Victims both living and dead lie strewn about, their bodies contorted in pain. A neverending chorus of screams and sobs rip through the air. A lovely place, the loveliest place on Vives, the first thing you notice upon entering is that it's a scene of gruesome torment. The second thing you notice is a map of the human body on an easel, which will [OnUsed event] reveal the map of the area to you ... and make you realise that the oubliette is shaped like a man and you are standing in the guts! Kudos to Chris Huntoon for the idea of using the mini-map in such an ingenious manner. I just had to use the idea.
Valinor Castle - Entrance :: The architecture of the ground floor levels is Drow and Illithid interiors, an idea from The Aielund Saga. Very purple and gothic and dark, trapped six ways from April and crawling with tough Maldovian Vampires and Nightmare Hounds and all sorts of yummy horrors.
Valinor Castle - West Wing :: This houses a chapel to Syn.
Valinor Castle - East Wing :: There are memorials here to the Lady Maldovia. The ladies of the castle float around this place. Will probably re-do the entire thing and put in a ball room.
Valinor Castle - Hall of Night :: A nice effect, this, and very simple. A cross-shaped corridor of darkness. Stars glitter from beneath the black floor, forming the illusion of a corridor of light. Can't enter this place if you are wearing light-emitting equipment or have a Light Spell on you [which will be a hard thing to check because it is apparently the only effect you can't check for with GetHasEffect]. Light-emitting equipment that you try to equip once you're in will be unequipped. Anti-magic, no-rest zone.
Valinor Castle - Throne Room :: This place has gotten a makeover. Dwarven Interiors, well, dwarf you as soon as you enter. Darkness is interrupted by slashes of blood-red light. Statues weeping blood line the aisle, a blood fountain (turn off your Shiny Water or you won't see it!!!) squats in the centre, giant marble statues kneel in poses of despair before the fountain and the throne. And the music is darn catchy. Thudding drums, screeching violins, blaring brass! The heart of evil resides here without a doubt. Yummy. Ebil!
The Thundering Coast :: North of The Thundering Cliffs, below the cliffs and below Bloodwood, a lone man stands by a ferry that can take you to Maldovia's west coast and back again... for a price. Will you part with gold? Items? Bits of your soul? Lex will leech whatever he can off you and enjoy every moment of it. And he has some darn handy Unique Power items that you can use in Maldovia [read: only areas tagged with 'Maldovia' as the Respawn point] but are you willing to sacrifice slices of your soul to ensure your survival? dang, he's despicable. Gotta love it. |
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Re: DMs: Halloween 2005
Posted: 10 Jul 2005 06:56 PM |
Area Progress [100% Complete as of 31 Oct 05 - WOOHOO!]
[1] The Thundering Coast [Done, LIVE and LINKED]
The Thundering Coast - A Strange Caravan
Deleting this area. Wasn't really necessary... it was a really, really spiffy and weird area but didn't serve any purpose really.
[2] Maldovia Coast - West [Done, LIVE and LINKED]
[3] Maldovia Coast - Lex's Abode [Done, LIVE and LINKED as of 2-90-9]
[4] Melody Marsh [Done, LIVE and LINKED]
[5] Pricklewood [Done, LIVE and LINKED]
[6] Pricklewood - Elsa's Shack [Done, LIVE and LINKED]
[7] Syn's Cliffs [Done, LIVE and LINKED as of 2-77-1]
[8] Syn's Bridge [Done, LIVE and LINKED as of 2-77-1]
[9] Frobozz Isle [Done, LIVE and LINKED as of 2-77-1]
[10] Maldovia Coast - South [Done, LIVE and LINKED as of 2-77-1]
[11] Maldovia Woods [Done, LIVE and LINKED as of 2-77-1]
[12] Maldovia - South Gate [Done, LIVE and LINKED as of 2-77-1]
[13] Maldovia - Aquistine Gardens [Done, LIVE and LINKED]
[14] Maldovia - Aquistine Family Crypt [Done, LIVE and LINKED]
[15] Maldovia - Aquistine Residence [Done, LIVE and LINKED]
[16] Maldovia [Done, LIVE and LINKED]
[17] Maldovia - Abandoned Church [Done, LIVE and LINKED as of 2-77-1]
Maldovia - Valinor Tavern
The Tavern has been burnt down and is goooone as of 2-89-6.
[18] Maldovia - North Gate [Done, LIVE and LINKED]
[19] Vandavian River - North [Done, LIVE and LINKED]
Vandavian River - Syn's Tower
The Tower was blown up and is gone as of 2-89-6
[20] Mount Valinor - Path of Twilight [Done, LIVE and LINKED]
[21] Mount Valinor - The Brink of Sanity [Done, LIVE and LINKED]
[22] Valinor Castle - Outer Wall [Done, LIVE and LINKED]
[23] Valinor Castle [Done, LIVE and LINKED]
[24] Valinor Castle - Entrance [Done, LIVE and LINKED as of 2-90-9]
[25] Valinor Castle - West Wing [Done, LIVE and LINKED as of 2-90-6]
[26] Valinor Castle - East Wing [Done, LIVE and LINKED as of 2-90-6]
[27] Valinor Castle - Dungeons [Done, LIVE and LINKED]
[28] Valinor Castle - Rastilan's Lair [Done, LIVE and LINKED as of 2-90-9]
[30] Valinor Castle - Hall of Night [Done, LIVE and LINKED as of 2-90-9]
[31] Valinor Castle - Throne Room [Done, LIVE and LINKED] |
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Re: DMs: Halloween 2005
Posted: 16 Jul 2005 04:03 AM |
---THE BIG PICTURE---
Blood and Nightmares
- Main plot
- Archiax will awaken and unleash lots of yummy monsters who will migrate over to Maldovia
- Vampires grow a little bolder (up until Halloween, then they go dormant again) for the bloodletting; a few victims turn up here and there, a few people start to go missing around the east coast (probably Paws, Brandibuck's recently been Drama Central :p)
- The Maldovian breeds of vampires will be introduced, they have become more diverse and sneaky because there will be lots of yummy sacrifice and blood rituals between now and Halloween to strengthen them a little - fortunately, these tend to stay within the Castle
- Climax = Halloween event
---THE LITTLE DETAILS---
The Bloodletting
- The Thundering Cliffs feel like they're coming alive
- No new monsters or anything during July, but players going through Bloodwood and The Thundering Cliffs that I catch IG will get lots of flavour text along the lines of the post I've linked to
- End of July: import Nightmare Hounds, pop them into The Thundering Cliffs and outside The Thundering Cliffs entrance
- August: Month of the nightmare hounds, lots of psychological feeding going on in addition to the bloodletting
- August: Lex should probably be introduced around this point so that Brandibuck can start getting defences set up and the vandalising team can start getting properly prepared (for a price... tee hee)
- September: there'll be some sort of party in the botanical gardens, a social event that will become an almost-murder mystery; Gasher and I have talked about this one and will run it together, should be suitably spookeh for all levels/classes/alignments with no Player bloodshed (well, except for mine, unless I find someone sadistic enough to be willing to be my victim, TEE HEE) - wouldn't mind advertising this one to NWConnections and NWVault to see if we can pull in new people
- September: vampires start becoming markedly active, people wandering around alone in the dark will be preyed upon (Bloodwood/Thundering Cliffs/Brandibuck wilds/Mirghul/Midor Deep Forest/Syn's Cliffs and everything from the cliffs to Maldovia)
- October: vampires become bolder, migration starts from The Thundering Cliffs to Maldovia, Nightmare Hounds and Shadow warriors and whatnot start moving through in packs, preying on anything in their way
- End of October: Halloween, escape from Maldovia
Rifts
- This will run concurrently with the emergence of the dragons - earthquakes will start to rock the east coast
- Syn's Bridge will be broken in some places (import in new Syn's Bridge, Syn's Cliffs and Frobozz Isle areas)
- The earthquakes will continue a little more quietly after the bridge is broken
- 3 days before Halloween a big earthquake will rock the east coast and Maldovia, conveniently forming Mount Valinor so that the castle now perches up on a mountain. Maldovia will be locked off until Halloween. All remaining areas will be imported in on Halloween for the event.
Power Plays
- Maria is jealous that SHE isn't queen of the castle and starts manipulating people into taking steps to oust Natika
- May or may not get rid of Natika depending on outcome (woohoo, object count reduced by 3!)
Player-Driven Stuff
- Maria capitalises on Conn, Jubei, Johe and others who hate vampires and starts steering them towards vandalising Maldovia, giving lots of vague misleading information. This will eventually lead to Valinor Tavern being burnt down, most of Maldovia trashed and becoming more ruined, and the road to the South Gate to the Woods being blocked off, presumably so that no one can ever enter Maldovia again, but that just ain't true... bwahahahaha.
- Malakhi continues to be tested by Avadielle. It seems the first half-dragon of his line, Charvanya, fled to Maldovia when the plague first broke out. Her sons left Maldovia before the vampire assault, the Aquistine family later settling back into Midor after it had been renamed, but Charvanya stayed in Maldovia. She has a family heirloom that Avadielle guards, something to pass on to one of her line who has followed the way of the dragon and become a full RDD, but if wielded by someone who isn't strong enough then it could possibly destroy them.
- Kan's probably going to miss out, Veran's computer is a mess and he can't play NWN. Will be faced with increasingly tough moral dilemmas whenever he gets back, the discovery of the memorial in Melody Marsh for this character should be the making/breaking of him. |
The subculture of my dreams
Is waiting for me to fall asleep.
I know you're scared—you should be.
I know you're scared. |
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Re: DMs: Halloween 2005
Posted: 17 Jul 2005 10:15 PM |
Wow, I am getting so much spamming—um, I mean writing—done at work.
Next Maldovian issue to tackle: the actual story of the fall of Maldovia. There are discrepancies between the story in the PHB and the story as told by the Mystic Mirrors, anything in the PHB will take precedence over the mirrors and the mirrors will be changed to reflect (*wince* pun) that.
Off the top of my head, the errors are:
Mirror: Maldovia was alive when the vampire assault occurred, she is shown in one scene with Rod Valinor.
PHB: Maldovia was already dead when Valinor arrived on the island, he named it after her.
Final version: Maldovia died early in the plague, that's why Valinor left Aristi. He named the island after her, she is buried in a tomb somewhere on the island, the location of which is unknown.
Mirror: The Bridge of Syn was built after the vampire assault by happy townsfolk on the mainland who had no idea what had happened to Maldovia.
PHB: The Syncursed built the bridge to reach Maldovia.
Final version: I don't like either of those, they're both rather silly. The Bridge, therefore, was constructed by the people of Maldovia. It took many years for Maldovia to become a flourishing community. The bridge was an early project, constructed under Valinor's orders, and it took them years to build. The Syncursed waited all those years to strike, gathering their forces and waiting until the construction was complete. By night, they even helped with the construction without the townsfolk knowing it, beginning construction from the mainland end of the bridge. The townsfolk thought it was the work of helpful fey or something and were happy to have unseen help. Ha. Ha, I say!
More character notes: Grace
Grace, as you might recall, is Lex's saintly daughter. Apparently.
Truth be told, she's Grace Valinor, Rod's daughter who was saved by being trapped inside a mirror. Seems that Papa Rod was a little shaken by Elsa the crazy hermit druid's predictions of coming doom, so he made preparations... just in case.
It's a tale that sounds like something out of the pages of a history book or fairy tale, involving hidden doors and passageways and escape routes and a guardian who was supposed to protect her but panicked and acted to kill her and save himself instead. Obviously he died and she lived... albeit in stasis.
Will be adding a post to 'Blood and Nightmares' soon concerning the topic. Some adventurers are greedy for treasure, some want power, some want respect. Lex just wants stories. He's got her under a sort of trance because she's a living relic and chock full of eyewitness accounts of what happened, so you can imagine why she's precious in his eyes.
The Spiral Portals
There are a few of these around the place. One of them is The Thundering Coast/Maldovia Coast - West portal that Lex defends zealously. One is defunct and lies outside the south city gates.
Haven't made up a definite story for these yet, will leave it open for future development, but they were there before Valinor settled the island and are therefore very old. |
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Re: DMs: Halloween 2005
Posted: 18 Jul 2005 04:24 AM |
Final version: I don't like either of those, they're both rather silly. The Bridge, therefore, was constructed by the people of Maldovia. It took many years for Maldovia to become a flourishing community. The bridge was an early project, constructed under Valinor's orders, and it took them years to build. The Syncursed waited all those years to strike, gathering their forces and waiting until the construction was complete. By night, they even helped with the construction without the townsfolk knowing it, beginning construction from the mainland end of the bridge. The townsfolk thought it was the work of helpful fey or something and were happy to have unseen help. Ha. Ha, I say!
*nods* I like it . I can picture a vamp working alongside some fool as they set the next bridge pillar !! "By the way pal, whatre ya doin after work ? care for .. a drink before sunup ?" |
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Re: DMs: Halloween 2005
Posted: 30 Jul 2005 12:58 AM |
Ahahahahaha... Gasher, that quote still cracks me up. Heh.
A few more brainstorming ideas, as things are starting to get rolling here and I'd like to get at least one event off before New Players Week:
Syn
Just talked to Mykal and Coruva and read Mykal's story again, so I've got a few bits and pieces of lore that are really handy that I might be using.
+ Syn was in exile for a long time
+ Valinor has an altar made of star metal
+ Mykal was sacrificed on that altar, and it brought Syn back from exile
More notes:
+ The gods combined are against Syn, yet it seems they unanimously agree to let him exist.
+ I doubt, for some of them, that the reason is so that he will keep suffering. Can you imagine Elbereth going, "Yes let's keep him around so he'll SUFFER, muhahahahaha"? No, didn't think so.
+ Hypothesis: the utter destruction of Syn (himself and everything that belongs to him, ie the Syncursed) is what will bring about the destruction of existence as we know it. Syn doesn't know that, but the other gods do.
+ Hypothesis 2: Once, a long time ago, a great hero once rallied other heroes and came very close to bringing this about, all unknowingly. Heck, it may even have been an ancestor of Mykal, maybe that's why he specifically was needed for the sacrifice. The gods were very alarmed and intervened, banishing Syn into exile for the safety of existence.
The Island of Maldovia
Brainstorming:
+ Maldovia is Syn central, if the entire place gets blown up, the resulting shockwave of dark energy might take out a big chunk of the mainland with it. This is a big no-no. Lex will be saying as much when he makes his debut.
+ Taking tiny bites out of Maldovia and razing buildings and collapsing walls etc is perfectly okay, though.
+ Taking chunks out of the castle is also a no-no. The city, the rest of the island, is okay. The castle, beware. It has almost mutated into an edifice of living stone.
Pre-Maldovia Brainstorming:
+ The star metal thing works really well, I am making up some creatures based on the Mooncalf in the Monster Manual (or was it Monster Manual II?) and it just fits really really well...
+ Why did Syn beckon the Syncursed to Maldovia? Why not vulnerable Brandibuck, or plague-ridden Aristi? The answer lies in the fact that the island has a long history with Syn. It was, in fact, once part of the mainland, but time and tide has cut it off (much like Tassie is no longer part of the Australian mainland).
+ Once, a very long time ago, an ancient civilisation of Syn-worshipping shadow-beings used to reside in Maldovia. However, they were trapped in their shadow city, surrounded on all sides by Mirghul Forest, which encircles what is now Syn's Cliffs. They did not dare to venture into Mirghul, for there resided the Rangers of Mirghul (woohoo! I recycled that idea from my PC Agnes) who had such a fierce hatred towards them that if they so chose, they could have sent a small band to the shadow city and eliminated them all. But the Rangers kept within their wood, and prowled the border vigilantly.
+ The Rangers of Mirghul were legends in their day, but now little trace of them exists. There are ruins in the eastern forest, now sadly overrun by goblins, which used to be their headquarters. No cataclysm wiped out this band of noble defenders. Time took its toll on their numbers. Here and there, in Mirghul, in Skarfell, one might see the occasional woodsman and note the tattoos of Mirghul on them. But alas, the rangers are all but extinct (unless Agnes has something to say about it... but that's a story for another time).
+ As for the shadow-beings, what became of them? Hedged in by Mirghul, they began consorting with Moon creatures, developing ways of bypassing the rangers of Mirghul. It took centuries, but at long last, portals were built that would allow the shadow beings to jump to areas such as The Thundering Coast and roam free. This would have been thousands of years ago, perhaps even around the time Lynaeum still flourished. The portals are harmful to living matter, being attuned to shadow-beings and undead. At best, they'll twist your soul inside-out and drain you. At worst, they'll kill you and make an undead creature out of you.
+ Quietly, the shadow-beings left their shadow city, moving beneath Bloodwood and building their city of Archiax. Here they performed a dark ritual of summoning the likes of which had never been seen before, binding a powerful and hungry entity to their city. Few Shades remain in Maldovia, though in the next few months, some will migrate from out of Archiax and trek to the cursed island.
Another Plot for the Distant Future
The Rangers of Mirghul.
I'd like to grab Agnes and do this one over a very long period of time, say several months, driving the goblins out of the East Forest and into the caverns and/or out to Bowness and restoring the ruins so that there is a nice low-level area (for the 3-6 range) for nature types to go without having to catch a boat to Ferein and go to Latonei, where everything is out of their level and price range anyways. A static quest or two in this area, a non-restricted lodge. Put some hunters in the uplands for rangers/druids/hippies/bippies to drive away.
It's still in the brainstorming stage and is by no means concrete. I'll pop it into its own separate thread later, I'm just jotting it down here so I have a record of it. |
The subculture of my dreams
Is waiting for me to fall asleep.
I know you're scared—you should be.
I know you're scared. |
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Re: DMs: Halloween 2005
Posted: 08 Aug 2005 02:07 AM |
For the sake of my sanity (or lack thereof), some more notes about happenings and goings-on:
Overview: Blood & Nightmares
* News
* Players’ Perspective
Phase I: The Bloodletting
Will end just before LLW (Low Level Week). Gonna post that things suddenly go quiet, very quiet. Will delete wolf howls and nightmare hounds from Bloodwood (though leave them in The Thundering Cliffs).
Phase II: Psychic Poison
The real damage begins. Wooo. PCs who've faced the Nightmare Hounds get wracked by nightmares or start becoming what they hate and fear the most. It's already affected the strongest—Luther, Vandle and Alton have succumbed to the psychic poison.
Very soon after LLW there'll be an event, a meeting at Swiftfoot Hall, which will quickly degenerate into something horrific. Got something planned which I'll be rehearsing and coordinating with Gasher. If executed right it will be a nice BIG shock. Yummy yummy shocking plot twist coming up straight after LLW to kickstart the storyline again, YUS!
Like many things with this storyline, the event that kicks off the Psychic Poison phase will be highly experimental, something which hasn't exactly been tried before. And I imagine there'll be lots of angsty writing for a little while as Phase II sinks in.
I imagine the Emergence of the Dragons story line will occur sometime around here, thereby allowing me to rock Maldovia, smash the bridge in some places, begin forming Mount Valinor, et cetera.
Phase III: The Lull
Things go even more quiet. Now the danger the PCs face is complacency. Basically a chance to watch people go stir-crazy and wonder what is going on.
Phase IV: Boom
Blowing up bits of Maldovia. I need this done. Seriously. And why do it myself when I have such willing and able PCs to redecorate for me? *Smiles*
Phase V: The Reckoning
Finale. Halloween. Will loose ends be tied? Will people be content with what has happened? Or will there still be a sense of unease... something unfinished, undone, that can never be done? Will they know what's truly happened here? The futility of resisting an ages-old cycle that will continue on through the ages?
The only thing that's certain is that many will be scarred and won't soon forget.
And deep beneath the earth... Archiax sleeps, as it has always slept... waiting to awaken again when called. |
The subculture of my dreams
Is waiting for me to fall asleep.
I know you're scared—you should be.
I know you're scared. |
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Re: DMs: Halloween 2005
Posted: 28 Aug 2005 04:37 AM |
Phase II: Psychic Poison
Phase II kicked in on 23 Aug 05.
Alton slashed Miramil into bloody shreds with a tainted dagger. And then he turned into a shadow/creeper/halfling thingymajub and led a bunch of PCs on a merry chase through the Bloodwood and The Thundering Cliffs as he tried to go through the mirror in the ranger lodge atop The Thundering Cliffs.
Miramil's pretty much brain-dead at the moment (see Blood and Nightmares - The Players Perspective), which frees me up to DM or play Agnes Myrhaile (Ranger of Mirghul).
I've stayed quiet again after that incident so that people can concentrate on the Dragons storyline; Maldovia will kick in again sporadically next week, but now that people are sufficiently mad at Syn, I need to get the demolition of bits of Maldovia happening.
Player Update
+ Malakhi still hasn't taken many steps to try to assemble a team to go explore Maldovia for his lost heritage. Sheikh's PMed me and said he can't be around much, but seeing that The Aquistine Residence is going to be the way in/out of Maldovia once bits of it get blown up, the discovery of The Aquistine Residence will have to take place soon.
+ Johe's still busy making preparations to blow up Maldovia, last I heard.
+ Kan is around but Veran can't do much at the moment because he's on a crummy old computer. He's tried to keep up to date on Maldovia stuff, but for the moment, Kan's pretty much on the fringe and is no longer a main character. Avadielle still has plans for him, though. Kan still owes her. I'm thinking he can be instrumental in the emergence of Morgaruva [Syn's Shadow Dragon and the High Priestess of Archiax]. Kan has been praying very hard and has been very repentant about the sins he's committed. Might be time to twist the guilt knife a little and see what I can do to try to corrupt him.
+ Connavar has been helping out Brandibuck. I started dropping hints to Salt about the Rangers of Mirghul and the historical part they had in defending the mainland against Maldovia. Connavar, Salt, Alton and Shihaya'zad have found and spoken to Agnes. As far as Connavar is concerned, the whole Maria story is over. Agnes pointed out to him, though, that vampires live a very long time and can afford to take actions that may take months, years or decades to come to fruition. For now, Maria's taken a back seat and has gone quiet, though.
+ Salt has spoken to Lex, who told him a whole BUNCH of things: the story of the bridge being built; the fact that SOMEone orchestrated the attack on Maldovia and may still be alive [note: that "someone" is Morgaruva, Syn's Shadow Dragon]; he's also said that there used to be Rangers in Mirghul who defended the mainland from Maldovia, though few of them remain to this day.
Salt has sought and found Agnes, my PC ranger of Mirghul. She knows nothing, by the way. This is a red herring. Agnes has told Salt that the only person who might know anything about the history of the Rangers of Mirghul is the local Druid of Mirghul. Problem is, no one knows who he is or where he is. He could be any bird or bear or fish in the forest. Long story short, the current lead they have on the druid is that Frobozz MIGHT know his name and MIGHT be able to help identify him. So, more Frobozz fun, woohoo! This is a total waste of time, by the way, and will yield no useful information. But it's a fun red herring!
Additionally, Salt [who is a Seer] has received a very vague and confusing vision about the emergence of the Great Wyrms. It was very entertaining to watch him and Alton try to make sense of it, but they're totally wrong in their theories. Heh. For your information, the two seem to think that all dragons are born of nightmares given physical form, are evolved forms of the Nightmare Hounds, and that all dragons are from Maldovia. That's the last theory I heard anyway, heh.
+ Alton is one of the people who the nightmares have found very yummy. Over the past few weeks, he's been plagued at night by an overwhelming urge to feed the Bloodwood. This came to a head on the 23rd where he slashed Miramil into bloody pieces and transformed into a shadow creeper thingymajub. After that incident, he can now fight Syn's influence without the help of spells. Will write a report at some point on how the psychic poison works, but it's not a spell, really. Miramil has dropped a few hints about the nature of the psychic poison and how to fight it. The short version is: it's not magic. You purge it by babbling your heart out or overcoming it mentally or psychotherapy. Whatever. Basically, you are fighting yourself. It's a psychological battle. Pray all you want, cast all you want, but at the end of the day, nothing more than your own personal strength of mind and willpower will overcome it.
+ Coruva is investigating and has been helping out Brandibuck by standing watch with the guards by night. He stood watch one night with Blanche and Lillian and it was revealed that the shadows and nightmares stay well back from the guards if their morale is high. No amount of magic weapons will stop the nightmare creatures from slipping through gates and walls and preying on the people of Brandibuck. As Coruva noticed the first time he met Lex, it's the hearts and minds of the people that need to be protected. In the coming days, it will become evident that this is a very unconventional war that is being fought, and cookies and lemonade may well do better to protect Brandibuck than adventurers with powerful weapons standing watch with the guards. He has a feeling that they will have to stop being defensive at some point and take the battle to Syn.
+ Norran has also been helping out with investigating. He's been around for a few of the impromptu events I've run where I've spouted a lot of helpful lore, so he's fairly well-informed.
+ Shihaya'zad is another one who's turned up to a few events and is fairly knowledgeable on what's happening.
Dragons
Morgaruva is the brains behind the operation, whereas Archiax is only the mindless mouth that feeds on anguish and spits out nightmare beasts.
There's a Dire Penguin hanging around the place that Alton has befriended, and the dangerous Dire Penguin has sort of taken on a bit of a little role as protector of Brandibuck. It started off as a running gag, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense that the Dire Penguin is Swiftfoot's Dragon's mortal avatar.
Will be posting from the Dire Penguin's point of view soon in Blood and Nightmares. Aellyndr and Morgaruva are going to have something of a punch-up, methinks.
Incidentally, the last time the nightmare critters were awoken, Aellyndr drove them back too. But no one remembers because Aellyndr made most of those who were present forget. Only Bibbido (the old drunk Gnome in Swiftfoot Hall) is old enough to remember it happened at all; no one else in the Vale was even born when the last nightmare awakening happened, nigh on 400 years ago. |
The subculture of my dreams
Is waiting for me to fall asleep.
I know you're scared—you should be.
I know you're scared. |
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Re: DMs: Halloween 2005
Posted: 01 Sep 2005 07:09 AM |
Phase II: Psychic Poison
1/ The Fate You Make...
Will be grabbing people affected by the psychic poison and running dream sequences with them. But basically, the idea is that there is no magical solution — it's a psychological battle.
So will be grabbing people when I see them IG (Alton, Conn, etc) and taking them into the "A Fateful Dream" area to have a chat with Zarathustra. To see what path they pick. Basically having little psychotherapy sessions with them, woohoo. Should provide some nice crunchy material there for us to use, as they'll be within the realm of their own mind, and will admit things that they would never admit in the waking world.
2/ Power Plays
A subplot that's pretty much unrelated to Blood and Nightmares, Barnas will be introducing some political intrigue and insight into vampire politics with Natika as she battles with Maria for supremacy over the vampires.
3/ March of the Shadow Giants
After a discussion in IRC the other day regarding the logic of having Shadow Giants at the Great River, Gasher and I had a nice babble session and considered having them invisibly and quietly march out to Maldovia by night over the next few weeks while everyone is distracted with Bloodwood and Brandibuck.
There'll be weird things happening along the route, like cows getting eaten and giant footprints being left behind. Mostly done through the forums, though if we catch anyone on the route they're supposed to be taking, we may have a few hints that something weird is happening.
The Shadow Giants will not reveal themselves, though I suppose if someone casts TS they'll be told they see the Shadow Giants. Who won't attack unless provoked.
The Shadow Giants can then move to Mount Valinor and settle on its slope somewhere, though there won't be many of them there — maybe just one or two. I might expand Mount Valinor later to make more room for them, but once they've moved to Maldovia, it'll be rare to see them at all (leaving them as nice special surprises that DMs can drop in when they feel like it).
As for why they're at the Great River... I dunno, maybe Naillamne stole them from Maldovia to guard the route to their tower and have enslaved them, but now they've broken free (like Vaastiliax has broken free... lots of that going on around Naillamne!) and are returning home. Which kinda fits in nicely with my next point...
4/ Zacch
Not entirely sure what I want to do with this guy, but I've been thinking of restoring the Hollow Tree to the dryads once and for all and having Zacch vanish. The march of the Shadow Giants can be his last chance to prove himself (the guy has a Lesser Staff of Syn, so I'm guessing he works for Syn). If he fails to bring them home, no more favours for him—he dies permanently.
What he doesn't know is that he's an abysmal failure anyway, and even if he succeeds in leading the Shadow Giants home, he'll be killed too.
This means we get to wipe 4 objects off the Object Count (woohoo). And I'll come up with a new quest for the Hollow Tree, worth the same amount of XP and of about the same difficulty, which the main dryad can give out as a static quest. At the moment, I'm thinking of having Zacch's two flesh golems lurking in a corner of Paws Woods, and the dryad asks you to get rid of them for her. |
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Re: DMs: Halloween 2005
Posted: 01 Sep 2005 07:12 AM |
Addendum: Power Plays
Just got struck by another thought.
Can get The March of the Shadow Giants done fairly quickly — so I'm thinking of maybe tying it in with the Natika/Maria fight. Maria can approach Zacch and tell him to rally the shadow giants for her. So the shadow giants are not going to Maldovia to reinforce it. They're going as part of Maria's plot to overthrow Natika.
But then when Maria gets defeated, Zacch gets killed by Natika, and Natika grabs the Shadow Giants for herself and takes them home to Maldovia with her. |
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Re: DMs: Halloween 2005
Posted: 01 Sep 2005 07:28 AM |
*nods*
That works just fine for me.
Can we take the "Static" Natika out of the Throne Room for the time being? She's around the lands too much ATM to be a "Kill me" monster...
-B |
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Re: DMs: Halloween 2005
Posted: 01 Sep 2005 07:36 AM |
Sure.
Though funnily enough, people seem to be reluctant to visit Maldovia lately anyway.
*Grins wickedly* |
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Re: DMs: Halloween 2005
Posted: 08 Sep 2005 08:40 AM |
Latest News
The silence continues...
+ The lull. People grow complacent and forget (or at least, that's the plan) while Syn moves other pieces into play elsewhere (eg Shadow Giants)
In apparently unrelated news...
+ The psychological battle. There is no instant magic solution or miracle for this. It's always been about the psychological side of things. In order to win, people actually have to CARE about the citizens of Brandibuck and take steps to look after their mental health. Right now, for the most part, they're being quite task-focused instead of people-focused. That needs to change.
There’s increased activity in the Mirghul woods...
+ Something of a red herring as the search for the Mirghul druid continues. The only relevant thing about this is the fact that a glowing spiral has been found in Mirghul - Clifftop Path (identical to the one in The Thundering Cliffs and Maldovia - South Gate).
The tremors rocking the east coast seem to be affecting The Great River as well... if tremors they be...
+ March of the shadow giants. The bat is Maria.
A sort of blight is spreading through Paws Woods...
+ Zacch is about to head out to meet Maria, but he's going to take some corrupted troopies with him.
Menmuir in Paws is looking slightly more haggard than usual...
+ Lex is back from Maldovia and being harboured by Menmuir. He's waited in Maldovia long enough. He needs to be out and about again to tell them what he's discovered about the "portals"... amongst other things. |
The subculture of my dreams
Is waiting for me to fall asleep.
I know you're scared—you should be.
I know you're scared. |
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Re: DMs: Halloween 2005
Posted: 16 Sep 2005 07:21 PM |
A Discussion Between Immortals
Well... more long-lived than immortal in Lex's case. Uncle V, I'm going to do a post up sometime soon about Lex and Vansane meeting in Ye Hole In Da Ground and saying hello and catching up. And maybe have an event where people can come in and chat with them and listen to them compare notes. Should be fun.
I need to decide on a date and figure out what sort of things they'd know/discuss, and how they know each other, etc. They would have met a few times over the years.
As for a day/time, maybe in about two weeks? |
The subculture of my dreams
Is waiting for me to fall asleep.
I know you're scared—you should be.
I know you're scared. |
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Re: DMs: Halloween 2005
Posted: 11 Oct 2005 04:58 AM |
+ The shadow giant army (an army a few thousand strong) was witnessed marching across The Great Plains, led by Zacch, by Conn, Gabriel Lighthall and Claudia.
+ Lex and Grace watched. Lex commentated and explained a little about what was going on: Maria needed Zacch because she had to figure out a way to transport the giants quietly and with a minimum of fuss. Ergo, during the day, they hide in his shadow; and come night time, they march out on their own.
+ Grace remarked that the coast might stop them. It's in the best interest of the PCs if the army finds a way across the sea to Maldovia (the bridge is broken, remember, but it wouldn't have held them anyway!) because otherwise there'll be an army of hungry giants rampaging around in the Mirghul/Paws Coast/Midor Coast/Midor Mountains/Midor Deep Forest Brandibuck/Great Plains areas. |
The subculture of my dreams
Is waiting for me to fall asleep.
I know you're scared—you should be.
I know you're scared. |
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Re: DMs: Halloween 2005
Posted: 15 Oct 2005 02:48 AM |
HALLOWE'EN IS COMING! WOOHOO!
Okay. So I am thinking with Halloween of running something across the various timezones with different DMs.
The main event will be the opening of new Maldovia/Mount Valinor/Valinor Castle, the emergence of Morgaruva, the procession of the shadows and return of the shadow giants to their home, and basically me tying up the Blood and Nightmares thing.
I thought maybe if people wanted to do related stuff in various other parts of the world, or run other spookifying stories, we could get some of those happening as well to get into the spirit of Halloween.
If you go to Pricklewood - Elsa's Shack and use the chest of drawers, you get this conversation, which explains the Maldovia situation a little:
This conversation is attached to a chest of drawers in Elsa's shack. Elsa was a druidess, a batty old hermit/seer/herbalist/witch who lived 1000 years ago and foretold the coming of the Syncursed. Too bad nobody believed her.
*You rummage around the drawers and find a surprisingly well-preserved journal*
*The journal appears to have once belonged to a woman named Elsa. The spelling is archaic and hard to follow, but as you skim through the pages, you get a general idea of the details of her life: she was a hermit, a medicine woman, a seer... and utterly batty.*
*A double page written in eye-catching green ink in an aggressive scrawl catches your eye*
I haff seen the cursed chyldren of SYN in my dreams. Theye wylle cross the sea on a stolen pathe that we didst help them to builde. And from out of the new citie of shadows, the olde shadows shall come home to claim whatte wass once theirs. For our citie doth lie on the foundations of the olde citie of shadow.
And so shalle this cycle of devouring continue for ages untolde, for the snake doth devour hisse own taile, and if he doth let go of his taile, then shall SYN turn his attention unto the worlde and devour it. Therefore let the shadows march and devour themselves, and let them war with themselves. And woe betide any who stande in their pathe.
Woe! Woe to Maldovia and Castlle Valinor, for they doth lie in the pathe of shaddowe. Yet none heede my warnings. May The Mother protecte these my demesnes. May the earthe itselffe ryse upp and drive backe this darknesse. For the pathe I do defende leads to all that remainsse upon this wretched islande that is yet sacred. And never shalle the snake devour what I hath preserved.
*An old, hand-drawn map of Vives is carefully drawn in jet-black ink upon the next double page. Strangely, the island of Maldovia is not separate from the mainland, but is actually connected by a narrow isthmus to Mirghul. In bright red, a snake devouring its own tail has been drawn over a segment of the map. The snake's jaws are positioned squarely over The Thundering Coast.* |
The subculture of my dreams
Is waiting for me to fall asleep.
I know you're scared—you should be.
I know you're scared. |
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Re: DMs: Halloween 2005
Posted: 17 Oct 2005 08:58 PM |
+ Demolition team has blown up bits of Maldovia and has demolished Syn's Tower
+ They witnessed Maria's giant army (led by Zacch) vs the Maldovian forces (led by Avadielle)
+ As of 2-89-6 nothing beyond the south gate is accessible
+ The way will be opened up on Hallowe'en during the first event (a path that goes via the Aquistine residence)
+ *Points up to area progress* As you can see, progress is happening and most of the areas are now in the green (finished, live and linked up)
+ Currently trying to figure out a way of getting some of what I want done without adding to the object count (*pats Paul on the head*)—for instance, I might skip Threnody completely and make it an ironic twist that Maria's statue serves as a sort of doorstop for the entrance to the Throne Room. Also considering skipping the East and West Wings and just making the ground floor of the Castle a little bigger (or hinting that there's more to the Castle, but you can't access it unless you're made of shadows and nightmares and can walk through walls). |
The subculture of my dreams
Is waiting for me to fall asleep.
I know you're scared—you should be.
I know you're scared. |
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Re: DMs: Halloween 2005
Posted: 17 Oct 2005 10:40 PM |
Ficcy, go ahead and do what you need to do.
The only hard limit is 16380.
I'll clear out what needs to be cleared out. |
Purpose in life: finding better ways of allowing players to kill themselves. Repeatedly.
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"...Cause he mixes it with love
And makes the world taste good."
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<@James42> Lawful good isn't in your vocabulary, it's on your menu.
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Re: DMs: Halloween 2005
Posted: 28 Oct 2005 01:46 AM |
Woohoo, nearly done!
At the moment, going to be running three things:
The Opening
Malakhi leads the way around the South Gate through the Aquistine residence, and finds the new side entrance to Maldovia.
The Escape
The Maldovian vampires kidnap a bunch of PCs to sacrifice them in a big blood ritual. Left for dead, the PCs have to escape. Depending on levels, might rescue them with NPC Lex Maloros if they are incapable of doing so themselves. At the moment I'm thinking he disguises them as Revenants of Syn (they're pretty dead-looking and won't be able to rest or recover until they've left Maldovia... similar to Dreamcatcher: Pit of Stars).
Depending on attendance of relevant parties, might also finally finish up the Maria storyline here and have her turned into a statue that will decorate Valinor Castle - Entrance, right smack in the middle of that ring of Mystic Mirrors.
(Need DMs)
The Serpent
Morgaruva vs Aellyndr in Brandibuck. If the players have been poking around and investigating, Bibbido will tell them that Swiftfoot saved Brandibuck last time Archiax threatened the area. So whether it comes as a surprise or not is up to the players, but this will be the (rather unorthodox) end of the psychological war and the triumph of happy good over naughty bad evil (until Archiax awakens again in a few centuries).
Might also splice a quest in here I've been meaning to do for a while—ever since Sirac mentioned he had the Deathdrinker floating around Bloodwood I've been thinking of having Lex and Morgaruva both figure out a way to capture the thing. So I might get Lex to grab the PCs beforehand and attempt to capture the thing. The Deathdrinker needs to be DM-possessed at all times so I'll need help there. If so, that particular quest will have to be run before "The Escape".
(Might need one more DM) |
The subculture of my dreams
Is waiting for me to fall asleep.
I know you're scared—you should be.
I know you're scared. |
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Re: DMs: Halloween 2005
Posted: 28 Oct 2005 07:10 AM |
More:
Going to temporarily set East Coast areas to "Always Dark" until Halloween (simply because I know that people don't always read the forums). I'm writing up a post as we speak which will basically say "The East Coast is very dark and very silent, something big is about to happen, there is a feeling of foreboding, etc etc etc"
So that's:
+ Brandibuck areas (except Lake of Mists)
+ Mirghul (only the areas that have already been "tainted", ie nothing too far from the coast)
+ Midor Deep Forest
Changes will occur as of 2-90-7 and I'll revert everything to normal after Halloween.
Mirghul will still be red by night; that can be fixed when the find-the-druid quest is run. The health of Mirghul is tied to the health of the Mirghul Druid. Once he's cured then the VFX over the Emitter in Mirghul - Clifftop Path will vanish and Mirghul will be as it always was. Also, Mirghul Coast will be opened up after the druid quest. Don't know when that one's going to take place; I'm sorting it out with renter6, as Salt is going to lead the search. Likely will take place after Halloween. |
The subculture of my dreams
Is waiting for me to fall asleep.
I know you're scared—you should be.
I know you're scared. |
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