Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Pallin Rahl 03-01-07, 12:43 PM	Pardon my starting a new thread related to my other one... but where that thread has taken a broad look at the plot I'm working-out, I wanted to hammer-out this specific detail in a more-focused manner. As some of you might know from a fairly-recent thread of mine... I have a doosey of a plot going on in my campaign... revolving around a celestial-blooded/fiendish-blooded (custom Aasimar/Tiefling hybrid) NPC ally of the party who is being overcome by her darker-side... See http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=786537 for further details and discussion. Essentially, it seems her destiny (well, if the PCs can't stop her) is to be the vessel for the fiendish spirit that is currently bound in the Silver Flame. It's your classic "friend of the party is going 'bad' against her will... how can she be stopped a) without killing her and b) without her freeing a great world-threatening evil". ;) I think I have the "how to stop her" thing down (i.e. the options available for the PCs to stop her)... but what I need help with is specifically what activity or ritual she should be required to perform to actually free the fiend bound in the Silver Flame. I want it to directly involve Jaela (possibly finding the vessal gal having to kill her)... and it will likely have to take place near the actual geiser thingie of the Silver Flame in Flamekeep... I'm not looking for mechanics or anything here, really... just a cool progression for the vessel gal to be working towards, that the PCs will have to (try to) stop, before the fiend is "freed". Any help appreciated. :) Note: The party is mostly level 10. ...the vessal gal will be a notably strong adversary... sitting around CR 15, all things considered. Notably, the vessal gal will have strong resistance to divine magic and have a way to deal with how powerful Jaela should be in the cathedral of Flamekeep.
goblin_pride 03-01-07, 02:50 PM	Any help appreciated. :) Remove the "Tied to Jaela" from the title of the thread double-quick or you'll find posts from members of the Forgotten Freedom Crew volunteering to be the anchor you tie her to.
The Fireballed Mage 03-01-07, 04:05 PM	Via some method (eldritch machine ritual), she seeks to corrupt one of the few remaining couatls. If the ritual is successful, the couatl gains the half-fiendish template. She then brings the half-fiend couatl to the Chamber of the Flame, and has Jaela there as well. She then has the couatl bite Jaela while they are both standing in the Font of the Flame. The concept here is to make an inverse of the sacrifice that Tira Mirron made. Instead of two good creatures dying to bind one evil, now it is two evil creatures killing one good one in order to free the evil. This gives the players the opportunity to stop her at a number of stages ie: adventure hooks: when they learn about the ritual, then try and save couatl, stop the ritual from corrupting the innocent, sneaking into Flamekeep, and the murder of the Keeper of the Flame. Maybe the knowlege of the ritual can only come from the Mirron currently held in Dreadhold. Maybe the BBEG in question will have to break her out in order to get the information she needs. Or maybe the PCs will have to.
Pallin Rahl 03-01-07, 04:10 PM	Interesting conceptually... but I really didn't want to bring a 3rd party (the couatl, in this case) into the picture...
Kreistor2 03-01-07, 04:34 PM	There ought to be two sides to her project (or at least two). She needs the ritual, but she also needs to get to the Flame in Flamekeep. Step 2 would require gathering aid. She would need to seek out the enemies of the Flame and organize them into a comprehensive attack. The forces she can expect to be arrayed against her are not only the denizens of Flamekeep, withh all its Paladins, Knights, Clerics, and Wizards, but also the military forces of Thrane, which will be heavily concentrated near the capital. Ideas: 1) Khyber for some of the lesser Rhakshasa. 2) Droaam to get the Hags on board. 3) Aundair to help push them towards getting the terrain they lost to Thrane back. This leads the party on a merry chase around Khorvaire, discovering some plots while unravelling others. The other step is one that I would suggst be more closely tied to the grandiose arcane rather than Eberron magictech (like eldritch machines). What she needs is a ritual that will suppress and/or disadvantage the Couatl for a peroid of time. I'd suggest something nasty, like a human sacrifice. Make certain she has a back-up so that the PC's can stop the sacrifice, but she still succeeds enough that the PC's have to fight the demon anyway (stripped down version... if they fail to save the sacrifice, the demon escapes and the story continues with the PC's trying to put the genie back in the bottle). Along the way you'll need to ensure the PC's gain access to allies. You're probably playing with big time power here, so the more standard Eberron as lower level realm is not going to work well. With too many Epic or near Epic baddies involved, you need to let the PC's play these various elements against each other. So where the NPC gathers Droaam, the PC's gather Lady Vol, or some such thing. There are lots of high level NPC's that we would normally be called Bad Guys that do not want to see that demon released, so this can lead to Eberron's second atory-type... it's a Pulp Noir setting: allies of convenience is a very Noir concept. So yeah, they may have to get dirty to get this stopped.
maollelujah 03-02-07, 10:36 AM	It sounds like having to kill Jaela is the way to go. I would have a certain weapon be needed to perform the ritual. A dagger from the original Rajah, that is locked away somewhere. An evil act, such as killing Jaela (I would just have an innocent of good alignment, so if Jaela is saved by the PCs Aria can still attempt to free the Rajah) in the room of the Silver Flame on a bed of khyber dust will distrupt the couatl's binding magic enough to allow part of the Rajah to escape into the vessel, which will give the Rajah the edge in freeing itself. Things she needs: khyber dust, dagger, and jaela. She will also need to probably corrupt several of the guards to help her gain.
Hopeless 03-02-07, 05:53 PM	It sounds like having to kill Jaela is the way to go. I would have a certain weapon be needed to perform the ritual. A dagger from the original Rajah, that is locked away somewhere. An evil act, such as killing Jaela (I would just have an innocent of good alignment, so if Jaela is saved by the PCs Aria can still attempt to free the Rajah) in the room of the Silver Flame on a bed of khyber dust will distrupt the couatl's binding magic enough to allow part of the Rajah to escape into the vessel, which will give the Rajah the edge in freeing itself. Things she needs: khyber dust, dagger, and jaela. She will also need to probably corrupt several of the guards to help her gain. But what if the whole point of this ceremony and the prophecy is to remove the evil side festering in the Silver Flame? Could someone in the faith be deliberately setting this up just so they can rush in to save Jhaele or insure they get control before a new leader is selected long enough to redirect the nation's anger towards some perceived goal such as another war? What if the ceremony is actually NOT to free the rajah but to imprison the silver flame so a new leader WOULDN'T be selected? In short leave the church without a leader or one whose seriously not good at all...
DyloniusFunk 03-03-07, 01:45 PM	But what if the whole point of this ceremony and the prophecy is to remove the evil side festering in the Silver Flame? Could someone in the faith be deliberately setting this up just so they can rush in to save Jhaele or insure they get control before a new leader is selected long enough to redirect the nation's anger towards some perceived goal such as another war? What if the ceremony is actually NOT to free the rajah but to imprison the silver flame so a new leader WOULDN'T be selected? In short leave the church without a leader or one whose seriously not good at all... I see someone behind all this and his name starts with K and rhymes with Rozen.:schemes:
Hopeless 03-04-07, 08:58 AM	I see someone behind all this and his name starts with K and rhymes with Rozen.:schemes: Yes I'd have to agree.
Joni-san 03-05-07, 08:53 AM	*Reads thread* For some reason I have this image in my head of the Lolipope having a teaparty with a Coatl, the Tiefling/Aasimar and the Rozen Maiden gang. I wonder if I can get somebody to draw that...
sooperspook 03-05-07, 11:55 PM	Yeah, first thing that popped into my head when reading the title is "Forgotten Freedom are at it again". On topic however, I wouldn't have the ritual kill Jaela. Thats too predictable. The PC's will expect it. Instead, I'd say the ritual requires Jaelas willing participation, Have it so that the ritual seems like a good idea to Jaela, perhaps it will save many lives or push back the mournland or something. That way, some Good people will be pushing to have her do it without realizing the full impact of what they ask. Have the Silverflame itself keep silent on the issue, maybe the Speaker has to decide using the wisdom granted her already. Maybe if the Flame speaks directly it will trigger a worse problem, whatever.