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DMs: Sirac's kidnapping
Posted: 23 Feb 2006 02:45 AM |
Ok, this plot took a few more twists than Barnas and I had originally planned for. And whilst I am happy to accept consequences for Sirac, I am struggling with some of what is lined up for him. Purely IC, not at all OOC, but nonetheless have an idea I want to run by Barnas, and the team.
First of all the setting for those who dont know. Sirac was cornered by Friel in public. He normally avoids her like the plague, but this time couldnt. So he ended up in a public confrontation with her, calling her a mass murdering psychopath and basically taking a stand against a woman he is absolutely terrified of, and loathes.
As such Friel ended up being forced to leave, and being a little "upset" with Sirac.
Friel saved Virallax, the last of the Night Mask assassins, at the end of that plot. She has totally changed his physical appearance, voice, etc. He is no longer a Night Mask obviously, but now serves Friel.
Virallax ambushed Sirac and Connavar. Knocked Conn out, then beat Sirac unconscious. Left a note claiming an evil artifact in return for Sirac's release, a ring that the FK have just discovered the locale of. This was meant to be the sole extent of the plot.
However Ficcy had been asking about Sirac sending a note to the NA reference the rescued Midorans currently lodging with the FK's, to the discomfort of both groups.
Anyway at the last minute, we incorporated that into this story. I gave Conn the letter to deliver to the NA, as Sirac still doesnt know how to reach them.
So that got taken by Virallax for Friel. The letter can be as detailed or vague as you like guys....likelihood would be more vague, but with enough info to be damaging.
After this, Friel handed Sirac over to one of her pet inquisitors. Not sure if actually in the Midoran dungeon, or just made to look like one. IC Sirac definitely thinks that is where he is.
Now comes the problem:
Sirac has been tortured to death once already, by the Night Masks, who as Menarokians with a lot of practise would have been pretty inventive. They didnt really want much info from him at the time, just did it for fun. Whilst his clone was off causing havoc and getting all the info they needed.
But having been through this once before, I just dont see Sirac being able to take it again, no matter how much he blusters. The set up as I understand it is Sirac is being tortured every minute of every day, without food and water, and Solitaire supposedly screaming in pain and calling for help from the next room. Now this last Sirac dismissed at the beginning, cos he is familiar with dark kenku, and mimicry, and knew that as he hadnt seen her it almost certainly wasnt her. But nonetheless, once he is irrational with pain, that is the one thing certain to send him into utter despair.
So what would he do. Inescapable pain and suffering. Believes the person he loves most in the world is also suffering because of him. Unlike the night mask situation, believes no one knows where he is, and no rescue is likely to be possible, as he is in the heart of the city of Midoran. If anything, more people he cares about are likely to die or suffer the same fate if a rescue attempt is made. And every minute he lives, he comes closer to revealing everything about the FK, the Midorans that he rescued, and every other secret he knows, and he believes that he would be doing so to the people he loathes most in the world, the Midorans. Another reason to end things.
So again, what would he do. Well, quite honestly if the choice was solely my own, I would perma-die the character. It would be the only IC option that makes total sense to me. The inquisitor has already shown herself to be capable of making mistakes, and being taken off guard. The cell he is in is electrified. She is torturing him with lethal instruments. He has been left alone in an iron maiden. Basically, if he waited for the right moment, and then determinedly sought to end his own life, I believe it would be very difficult if not impossible to stop him. And if he managed to die, then no means could restore him to life if he chose not to return. That is the premise I have always DM'd by at least, if others agree?
Now problems with this. Sol would be very unhappy. It would ruin one of the last things she enjoys about playing here. So I want her to read this and see how she feels, as to date she is against the idea but has said she will accept it if she absolutely has to. I also dont want to upset Barnas by de-railing his plot this far. But nor do I think he would be able / willing to just break.
So the alternative. Same basic premise. But isnt perma death. He kills himself when the opportunity comes. And his spirit flies as far as it can. Refuses to return. And will take a special plot to return him. Allows for investigation of the concept of where spirits go when people die. And means something very special needs to be done to bring him back. Be it negotiations with Gukathul, which would totally stump Friel. Or be it Pipidi being involved, and PCs hunting the spirit across the length of Vives trying to capture it and bring it back to Sirac.
Or countless other ideas around the same premise.
This way Friel doesnt get a total victory. And it is more believable than the alternatives. Sirac would end up breaking, and breaking utterly otherwise.
Thoughts and input welcome,
Sean |
'The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.' - Richard Bach, Illusions. |
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Re: DMs: Sirac's kidnapping
Posted: 23 Feb 2006 03:59 AM |
guidelines again - some thoughts.
then no means could restore him to life if he chose not to return
raises/rezzes are always the option of the spirit. The spirit knows who is calling it back and can willingly choose to accept or not.
in this case, death is a release with the hope that enough of the body can be found for a raise/rez
(true ressurection doesnt need a body, only someone who knows the deceased if you want to play by 3e rules)
- Paul |
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: Sirac's kidnapping
Posted: 23 Feb 2006 04:01 AM |
That is simpler, and fine by me.
Sean |
'The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.' - Richard Bach, Illusions. |
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Re: DMs: Sirac's kidnapping
Posted: 23 Feb 2006 06:09 AM |
As is entirely resonable, and I don't mean this as a rebuke at all, you're looking at this far too much from the perspective of a player.
Don't worry, man.
The first and foremost fact is that, whatever Sirac believes, this is a kidnapping. The purpose of the whole thing is to return his body in exchange for the ring. Getting information about the NA and FK is totally irrelevant, it's all a part of the smokescreen being thrown up to torment him.
Yes, he's obviously going through psycological hell at the moment. That's the idea. But the entire setup is done so that there's no risk of him killing himself- that's not the point. Fri'el doesn't care about the information, and she doesn't want him dead.
If the PCs are competant, he should be rescued before he breaks. I'll probably be running the "Getting ring" quest over the weekend, and even that's a delay due to getting people there in real life.
If not, it's more likely that the questioning will stop and he'll just be kept prisoner as opposed to pushing him to the point of suicide.
-Barnas
[Edit: Also, regarding the torture impliments/fence/Iron Maiden, none would be suitable for suicide. The torture implements arn't left lying around, and arn't in reach of the cage. The fence is only actually on when the Inquisitor's in the room; and the Iron Maiden is the variety that casts healing spells once/round for the exact purpose to prevent it being lethal. Again, that comes back to the point of it being a kidnapping, not a serious attempt to extract information.] |
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Re: DMs: Sirac's kidnapping
Posted: 23 Feb 2006 06:33 AM |
Hehe, may be best to chat in IRC to sort out properly. But yea, I am looking at it as a player, cos Sirac is a pure PC. Powerful, influential, sure. But very mortal, very vulnerable, and I like to keep him "realistic", otherwise I lose my enjoyment in playing him.
Sure you dont mind me sharing the PM about what he is undergoing at the moment:
Just a holdover until Friday, or whenever.
Bullet points:
Sirac isn't fed.
Sirac isn't given anything to drink.
Sirac is continually tortured, seemingly. Every minute that he's awake, he's on one of the machines.
It seems like there's more than one Inquisitor working on him.
"Solitaire" in the next room doesn't stop screaming. After a few hours, she starts crying Sirac's name, and crying for help. As far as Sirac can tell, it's definately Solitaire's voice.
The Inquisitor keeps on asking the same two questions. Over, and over, and over again.
(And, Sirac's bluster aside, she's dang well trained. Horrifically competant torturer.)
-B
As the above shows, you have done a good job on pushing all of Sirac's buttons. But I have to keep the PC "real" in how he would react to this. In all honesty, exactly as any other player would I hope.
So Sirac's only way out is suicide. Things Sirac has already learnt: The bars of his cell are -very- electrical. He has been left alone at times, either in the cell or in an iron maiden. And honestly man, given the determination and false courage he has shown, I believe it is the one option neither Friel nor his kidnappers have thought of.
Well apart from them gloating they had captured Sol, and him going for the inquisitors throat through the bars of the cage, and rolling a natural 20 of course! That was funny! :0)
*wry grin*
He would tear the rags he is wearing to a rope made of strips, and slip knot them about his wrists after putting his hands through the bars, carefully not touching them. Then pull the slip knot tight, and electrocute himself, tied tight to the bars even when unconscious.
Or otherwise, with all the torture implements he is facing, well I will leave it to your imagination how someone who has shown no suicidal tendencies might well be able to suddenly take advantage of a momentary lapse to kill himself.
I honestly cannot see any way Sirac would deal with this otherwise. Not IC.
I suppose this is part of why we have to tread carefully with how dark we make the world for PCs. Cos the PCs can feel so real to RPers. And leads to things like X perma dying.
So whilst Friel may not want him dead, I think the added complication of him depriving her of his continued suffering, beyond a day or two of torture, makes for a better story, and perhaps more importantly for me, a more believable one for the PC to still remain viable, playable and "realistic" for me.
Rather than being a gibbering loon! :0)
Cheers,
Sean |
'The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.' - Richard Bach, Illusions. |
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Re: DMs: Sirac's kidnapping
Posted: 23 Feb 2006 06:33 AM |
K definitely going to irc now as B is there. :)
Sean |
'The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.' - Richard Bach, Illusions. |
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Re: DMs: Sirac's kidnapping
Posted: 23 Feb 2006 07:07 AM |
Contents of the letter (for B's reference):
- 29 Midorans rescued from Isle of Midoran
- One is High Capt. Perriand Goodman
- Survivors shaken but otherwise physically well
- Another is a Righteous Sword who has been making some far-fetched claims (no real details on what those claims actually are, though)
- The FK want the NA to take the survivors off them ASAP (phrased in the most diplomatic way possible, of course) |
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Re: DMs: Sirac's kidnapping
Posted: 23 Feb 2006 10:17 AM |
Random notes on the plot, just in case anyone's interested.
Conn will be contacted by Lord Tag again today (Hopefully), and told to put together a small team of trusted people. He'll be sent to retrieve the ring.
Conn will be told everything that the FK know about the ring, which essentially boils down to:
@ It's very old. (They believe it to have been forged in Aristi.)
@ It's small and black.
@ It has magical properties, but they have no idea what.
@ It's hidden in a secret chamber in the Tomb of Kings- at the centre.
@ They must speak the words "I seek to serve Justice" to awaken the guardian.
So, Conn and team go to the secret chamber.
For the most part, it's going to be a non combat quest. They'll have to fight the normal undead on the way down, but no additional monsters.
Once they get through the Tomb of Kings, to the centre, and speak the words, they'll awaken the guardian.
To defeat the Guardian, they have to do either one thing, or three things.
One thing: Kill the guardian- and help which it summons. This is extremely hard, but not impossible.
Three things: Solve two riddles, and kill the guardian.
Makes no sense? Well, read on.
The Guardian is an old Golem whose purpose is to protect the ring from the forces of Evil, but allow its retrieval by Goodly forces with the wisdom and strength to protect the ring- the riddles and fighting it are a test.
The guardian will appear, and speak the first riddle. They won't get any explaination, just the riddle. They then have to solve another. After they do, it will explain that they now have to fight.
If they fail to solve the riddles and simply choose to fight, however, it summons help- instead of testing them, it's trying to protect the ring.
The Guardian will be a Mithral Golem. The help is two Adamatine golems.
Once the ring's retrieved, Conn has to take it back to Lord Tag, who'll do the trade.
Hopefully will provide an interesting evening's questing for the PCs, and have the plot wrapped up by the end of the weekend.
-Barnas |
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Re: DMs: Sirac's kidnapping
Posted: 23 Feb 2006 10:29 AM |
All sounds good to me man. Only thing to be aware of is if you have any PCs that went there before, it will obviously be different this time round. Easy enough to explain that, a different part of the tomb, or a baelnorn demands to know what they are doing there, etc.
And you probably know but there is no way into that room, needs a portal and dm jump. They can just walk out though, strangely enough. :0)
Anyway just a heads up so not caught unaware.
Sorry but cant remember who was there before, pdw might remember. Alton definitely was. Last time round it was a room full of Aristi and similar ancient artifacts, and they were only allowed to take what they came for.
Cheers,
Sean |
'The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.' - Richard Bach, Illusions. |
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Re: DMs: Sirac's kidnapping
Posted: 23 Feb 2006 10:37 AM |
*nodnods* Alright. Hmm.
I'll make it clear that they're in a slightly different part of the tomb than they've been in before, if they've been. Maybe even have a magical effect teleport them to the room once the Guardian dies.
-Barnas |
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Re: DMs: Sirac's kidnapping
Posted: 24 Feb 2006 05:41 PM |
Okies ... OOC Sol can't come tomorrow .
IC she's promised to help Conn and whoever goes with some artifacts (minor-medium ones) from Ka'azim. Would be good to give scrolls to the spellcasters that they might find useful too and maybe a few potions.
B, please can you give out a handful of useful things in total, based on who's there and what they would find useful please? Not too much and not too powerful, just thought it would be a nice thing to do .
Thanks
Sol |
- Solitaire, Wizard
- Ilyana Fiirhaart, High Priestess of Naruth |
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Re: DMs: Sirac's kidnapping
Posted: 24 Feb 2006 06:06 PM |
Wilco.
-Barnas |
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Re: DMs: Sirac's kidnapping
Posted: 17 Jul 2013 06:48 PM |
One for the public forums?
If ever you needed proof that we are crueller to other DMs and to our own characters than to the rest of our player base… |
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Re: DMs: Sirac's kidnapping
Posted: 17 Jul 2013 07:42 PM |
Fine by me....eeeevil Barnas! :P
Cheers,
Sirac |
'The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.' - Richard Bach, Illusions. |
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