Dissolution Notes: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 00:14, 15 March 2011

Presentation

Around 8,000 years ago, during an era of peace following a long war against a great evil, the world was largely at peace. With evil cowed and in hiding, a cleric named Danar Rotansin sought to eradicate all the evil magical items he could find. He quickly became convinced, however, that destroying them just released their evil back into the world, so constructed a great underground vault called Tremoc Korin. He spent his entire life filling this vault with these evil "banes", leading the vault to also be called the "banewarrens".
- Danar
- Banwarrens interior
Within 50 years, the concentration of evil within the banewarrens grows so repugnant that the earth itself thrusts it away, forming the Spire, with Danar Rotansin's fortress Mosul Pearl at the tip.
- Spire
- Mosul Pearl
Thirty years later, a lifetime in proximity to these banes (and acquisition of a bane called the Book of Inverted Darkness) corrupts Danar Rotansin. He becomes the Dread One, taking the name Eslathagos Malkith. He changes the name of his castle to Jabel Shammar and begins using the banes he once strove to keep out of evil hands to create more wicked servants.
- Dread One
He emerges a few years later, launching an attack so devastating, it threatened to tear the world asunder. Only the actions of all the mortal races, led by powerful and stalwart heroes—many of whom had been friends and companions of Danar—stopped the forces of Eslathagos Malkith, most of them giving their lives and souls in the process.
- Skull banner
- Heroes
The Banewarrens remained completely impervious to penetration of any kind for thousands of years. Rumors say that one can enter the Banewarrens through Jabel Shammar. In fact, some say the Dread One was killed in the warrens, though the heroes to did the deed entered through Jabel Shammar. If there is such a connection, that would be good to know.
- Door
Then the Vallis Moon returned. When it appeared, seals on the Banewarren doors started failing. It took a while for anyone to notice, but over the past few days some parties have gone into the Banewarrens.
- Valis Moon
Cassiadora wants you to go in for her, to discover the fate of Saggarintys, a silver dragon who helped Danar design, build and organize the Banewarrens. When Danar became the Dread One, most mentions of the dragon stop, but Cassiadora has found some ancient documents that suggest Saggarintys may have been imprisoned in some kind of suspended animation. She wants the group to go into the Banewarrens to see if this is true and, if possible, revive Saggarintys. If he still lives, and is not corrupted himself, he would be the most likely to know how to reseal the Banewarrens.
- Silver dragon
The Inverted Pyramid sent in a small research team, but they did not go in that far. They were only there to get a feel for the aura of the place, to better be able to reseal it. This task currently occupies the entirety of the Inverted Pyramid, and they may be able to accomplish it. Once they do, chances are anyone in the Banewarrens won't be able to get back out.
- Inverted Pyramid
Others are likely planning (or already executing) their own expedition into the Banewarrens. One such group has been sent by the Church of Lothian. Or, at least, a faction within it. This group is dangerous to Cassiadora's purposes, because they are a part of the church that seeks to re-impose the Edict of Deviltry, which bans all arcane magic. To this end, they seek a historically important weapon against the arcane called the sword of truth. Cassiadora wants this weapon kept out of the church's hands.
- Church imagery
- Sword of truth
Cassiadora sent her own team into the Banewarrens already, but they were all killed shortly after penetrating an inner vault. They carry a device that will allow her to teleport the group to her team's location.
Cassiadora's Goodie Bag

Banewarrens

Cassiadora calls in her marker.
- Sent a team into the Banewarrens. They got killed.
- Wants to discover fate of silver dragon.
- Team also had a marker, so she can teleport in the party in, as long as the complex remains unsealed.
- Knows the Knights of the Pale are interested in the sword of truth, and wants them stopped. (Maybe she is part of the inverted pyramid?)
- Knows that the Inverted Pyramid wants to re-seal the Banewarrens, and needs to focus her efforts on interfering with this until the party succeeds.
- Only then, would like party to seal the Banewarrens, if possible.
Ignore…
- …the House Vaadim stuff.
- …the banewarrens key.
- …the three part staff.

Team Quaan

The Pactlords of the Quaan want the black grail from the Banewarrens. They are found towards the end, having found (and eliminated) the secret door in room #2 of the inner vault. It takes the team quite a while to drag the beholder past the anti-magic cave, which is why they haven't penetrated further, even with their head start. Perhaps mind flayer charms brutes into carrying? But maybe they have to wait for them to regenerate, having wailed on them before? Once on the level with the chain devil, team coerces devil to giving location of grail. When they find out, the beholder says it "will go on ahead", as they it flies, leaving the others behind (perhaps the mind flayer has an injury that prevents him from levitating, or is just afraid to confront the beholder alone). In reality, the beholder wants the grail for itself. Realizing this, the mind flayer knows it needs support to confront them, so is trying to come up with a plan (probably charming the devil) as the players arrive on the level. Meanwhile, the beholder is stopped outside of room 25, trying to figure out how to bypass it without getting shifted away (ironically, only the mind flayer below would be able to shift back).

beholder (CR 13)
Vendarlik, mind flayer (CR 8)
Saphix, female dark naga (CR 8)
Nihil, female green hag rogue (CR 8, rogue 3)
By the time the PCs meet the team, the mind flayer will also probably have charmed the Master of Chains (CR 8).
team had a troll (CR 5) and a number of bugbears (CR 5), but all have been lost along the way. Perhaps a bit of a trail (with bone quaan rings) for the PCs to follow. Might be interesting if the troll just got tossed down the baneheart, and his regeneration managed to save him; however, the vrock had a chance to capture him, and wants to use him as an ever regenerating source of food.

Team Tech

(CL 12) The Shuul want to learn the secrets of the warding generators. Probably come in just before the party does. Might be found in the cataclysm chamber (as the sound of gunshots would be useful to draw the party that direction). The rhodintor would probably be casting stuff, risking rift formation and sucking in additional outsiders. (Good way to make the Slaadi more dangerous.)

Melirix, male human priest of Teun (cleric 7)
Kithsul, male gnome fighter (figher 5, shadowdancer 2)
Tole, male sniper human (rogue 7)
Movendy Vadhaghan, male half-elf druid (druid 7)
Greli, female dwarven war priest (ranger 4, cleric 3)
Scarfur (rhodindor, sarycal, CR7)

Team Lothian

(CL 12) Wants the sword of truth. Come in after the party, probably will be found when the party backtracks. Would fight both the Shuul and Team Evil. Traitor among them can act as a conduit for Mind Flayer. In combat, Flayer would probably use psionic blasts if it thought they could be pinned on others.

Moston Ferelurth, male human priest of lothian (cleric 8). Skilled, but arrogant.
Sharah Nestor, female human paladin (paladin 7). Devout, but aggressive in combat. Has crush on Vaesillian.
Tilani Vash, male aasimar paladin (paladin 7). Methodical and efficient, but sweet.
Vaesillian Moonheart, male elf priest, a voidmind traitor (cleric 7)
Gribblevin Thistle, male halfling priest, (cleric 4,wizard 3) Not particularly devout.
Urdas, justice archon (cleric 1 (CR7)). Pure and narrow-minded.

Team Dragon

Working for Cassiadora, got killed by godslayer sent specifically after them.

Wildcards

Bluespawn Godslayer sent in after Team Dragon, as well as to make sure silver king is dead. Kills most of team dragon. A couple escape, but get finished off by pudding. After just forcing his way through the prismatic wall in room #35, slayer finds dragon room, but can't figure out how to get to the silver king. He's been "sleeping on it" (also to digest the meal of Team Dragon).

@@ Line 84: / Line 84: @@
 {{ #ifeq: {{CURRENTUSER}} | Wordman |
 == Zombie Plague ==
+Shortly after the Vallis moon returned, [[Aggah-Shan]] sent Team Evil into the Banewarrens looking for three items: the ''[[malady case]]'', the ''[[osseous redoubt]]'' and the ''book of inverted darkness''. They found the first two in the outer vaults, but never discovered the inner vaults. Knowing that the ''redoubt'' contains the ''havoc crown'', Kaliu, one of the more ambitious members of Team Evil, opened it to get at the crown. Unfortunately for her, Aggah-Shan anticipated this betrayal, so reversed the descriptions of the two boxes when briefing the team. In fact, Kaliu opened the ''malady case'', releasing the [[Malady]] and destroying her body completely. While some of the other members of the team are immune to disease, others were infected without realizing it.
+Aggah-Shan used them to infect selected victims at both the White House and the Cock Pit, before telling them of the disease and allowing them to heal themselves. The new victims were selected specifically to transfer the disease to as many people as possible. In the case of the White House, most of the prostitutes were infected through sex and, in turn, have been passing the disease onto their customers, assisted by lowering of rates "in honor of the city's salvation".
+Even while Ptolus was celebrating the [[Unlikely Six]] as its saviors, the disease was slowly spreading through the city. Team Evil carefully managed the infect prostitutes in the White House, sequestering them under the brothel once they fully turned, and replacing them with fresh (similarly infected) prostitutes (leading to even more rate reductions and "specials" on "new, fresh faces"). But, by the time the Six were meeting [[Cassiadora]], Team Evil was getting sloppy, and several prostitutes fully turned while with customers, then ran amok in the White House. Team Evil did little to stop this, knowing that something like it was inevitable sooner or later. They allowed customers to get bitten, then run away, knowing it would carry the disease even further. They through those killed into the alley, knowing they would soon animate and search for flesh.
+As they day progressed, Team Evil launched the next phase of Aggah-Shan's plan: they visited the safe houses Aggah-Shan provided to the remaining chaos cultists left over from his earlier Night of Dissolution plans. Having previously infected some of these cultists, and also throwing turned prostitutes into the safe houses, they locked the safe house doors and let the zombies rampage until nightfall, infecting everyone inside. At night, a similar scene was carried out at the Cock Pit. Several gladiators were forced to drink the blood of the infected "to help them in the arena". Their transformation into undead, therefore, occurred more rapidly. Team Evil orchestrated a very crowded night in the Cock Pit, then barred the doors and unleashed the infected gladiators. Though numerous patrons managed to make it out alive, few escaped getting bitten or scratched by the infected, and now carry the disease into the city. A few hours later, they opened the doors to the chaos cult safe houses, flooding hundreds of zombies out into the night.
+Aggah-Shan, meanwhile, had finished the last act (and true purpose) of the chaos cults' thrall program by infecting dozens of gestating venom-shaped thralls with the disease. These hatched at about the same time the infected cultists were released, and were unleashed on the streets as well.
+Stories about the outbreaks at the White House and the Cock Pit make a couple of special edition broadsheets, but by then the city is in turmoil. Zombies actively roam the city, biting any they find. Victims rise shortly after and begin to hunt as well. People infected at the White House and the Cock Pit transform as well, attacking family members and infecting them in turn.
+By the time the Six return from the Banewarrens, the city is in chaos. Oldtown is the worst hit by the infection, but most neighborhoods have at least some infected, and several parts of the city are on fire. Pythoness House is compromised when one of Cassiadora's employees, having been infected in his secret trips to the White House, turns and infects most of the staff. One of them surprises Cassiadora, biting her while she is in human form. After blowing her Fort save, the disease starts to transform her immediately, and she winds up in dragon form in the courtyard, writhing, her dragon nature dueling with the disease, which is where the players will find her.
+If phylactery put in box, then if lich is killed by a non-evil character, regeneration is faster and increases the lich's power.
+If zombies botch a save against positive energy, they take double damage. If they die from this, they explode with a chance to infect people.
+Oddly, recently infected who have ''remove disease'' cast on them come back to life, cured. If someone controls the ''malady case'', remove disease can cure the infection in any within 100'. With control, can also make the disease globally non-contagious.
+People killed don't rise as quickly during the day.
 === Team Evil ===
@@ Line 96: / Line 118: @@
 * spectre (CR 7, controlled by Curuk's feat)
 * 3 gnoll skeletons (CR3, animated by Curuk from the outer vaults)
+* Ghost of Kaliu?
+Reactions
+* Inverted Pyramid has hands full with sealing Banewarrens. Convinces themselves that the release of the infection is related, so double their efforts to do so. These appear to restore the seals, even though [[Saggarintys]] is really responsible.
+* Knights of the Pale - probably running riot control, trying to organize people.
+Neighborhoods
+* Posh section: One manor house infected due to resident frequenting the White House.
+* Fort into posh section: on lock down, using magic to scan people going in and out.
+* Oldtown: Arena turned into a corral of sorts, but this backfires.
+* Necropolis: Focus of wrath of populace, even though innocent of the Malady. Strife within as some use the plague as excuse to venture out, others make a point of staying in to calm the population.
+Realities
+* Disease related magic items nearly impossible to find.
+* Looters.
+* Paranoia.
+* Barricades.
+Scenes
+* Coming out of the portal. Abandoned rooms. One person with back turned making odd sounds. Hears group and turns, revealing zombie.
+* Cassiadora in court yard
+* Reading broadsheets and making link to Aggah-Shan
+* Dealing with sword?
+* White House: Team Evil initial confrontation.
+* Catacombs under the White House. This is mostly a trap for the Six. Aggah-Shan needs his ledger back because, in reality, it contains notes of how to access Guhl Whatever. Writing appears when special talisman touches book. Talisman is with a bunch of similar journals (from further in the past) in Aggah-Shan's main lair. Any time the talisman is used, Aggah-Shan knows and can teleport the book it enchants to his hand. His plan is to get killed at the hands of the Six, leaving the journals for them to find. As they read through the journals and figure out how the talisman works, Aggah-Shan will be regrowing in the ''osseous redoubt'', far from his lair (maybe in the wreckage of the chaos machine). Probably some undead/chaositech experiments in the lair. Eropodi in the "false" throne room.
+* Hint somehow leads to dungeons under Dark Reliquary. Probably journal entries about the sleeping gods and how what the Fallen want to do about them doesn't match what Aggah-Shan wants.
+* Eventually leads to Ghul Whatever, where Aggah-Shan has taken up residence, with the malady case.
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