They ignored all the (literal) warning signs and knocked on the door as villagers stood by and snickered amongst themselves. One by one the PCs knocked on the door, and vanished.
I don't actually know where I sent them off to. I figure it's something that Elminster had set in place.
NOTE: I don't keep up on Realms history. I'm not that hardcore. I didn't know his tower was destroyed in canon fiction.
My question to you all is, where do YOU think they might have gone?
The one idea I had was: perhaps a basement on Storm Silverhand's farm?
I need to know before Saturday, as that's the next time I'm due to run the campaign.
Really its up to you where they went, I guess it would depend on what kinda mood Elminster was in, if we didnt want to be bothered, maybe they were teleported outside of town somewhere. If he was in a bad mood perhaps he had them teleported to the Abyss or something, or if he was feeling generous maybe theyd be teleported into the tower to meet with Elminster himself, or maybe the Old Skull for some drinks, or maybe into Elminster's pond, if he was looking for a good laff. Its really up to you, youre the DM right?
waterdeep is nice this time of year
But through the Grand History of the Realms book, we know that the Zhents failed and It's quite possible Elminster could just re-build himself (or magic one up from another Plane) in the time before the Spellplague (if your even incorporating that event into your games).
As for where they would go.................what level is your party?! lol. I say that because some Planes of existance would just be straight up murder for a low to mid Heroic party. But keeping in mind that Elminster considers others in the town (espically children that might knock on the door out of peer pressure), it's a safe bet that he wouldn't teleport them somewhere dangerous. I like the grand hall or Royal Court of Cormyr in Suzail. Plop them right in a big meeting or delegation. Whoever Cormyr's King is talking to might consider this a threat and disrupt negotiations.
I also like Twilight Hall, Silverymoon, Blackstaff Tower in Waterdeep, and for something extremely dangerous: The Barrens of Doom and Dispar.
Apparently I should have clarified something. The idea of flinging them off to some unexpected location far from Shadowdale is amusing. However, the campaign is centered around the Dales and Cormanthor, and I'd prefer to keep the PCs local so as to not have the story completely unhinge.
Mostly I asked because I'm not terribly familiar with Elminster's personality. I read on the Wiki that he's struggling with occasional madness when he uses magic, but it doesn't specify how crazy he gets. I also read that he spends a lot of time at Storm Silverhand's now, and before reading that the tower is no more, I imagined the teleportation as a kind of security measure for when he's not there.
So, my mistake for not clarifying that.
A better question would be: Where would Elminster send visitors to his tower if he's not there, but that could also be a relatively safe place for him (and/or for them, given Diffan's observation about curious kids!) to meet them if he chose to do so? Would he do so? How serious is he about that whole "no visitors" thing?
And the PCs are only 2nd level. :D
Really its up to you, do you want them to meet with Elminster? If yes then just have them teleport into his study inside the tower, if not then teleport them outside of town somewhere, maybe Waterdeep, Kara-Tur, who knows? Toril is a bof place, it could be anywhere. Perhaps he wants to test the mettle first, perhaps teleporting them into the dungeon beneath the Twisted Tower?
And I think the signs were more of a joke, after all Elminster did accept vistors from time to time. I think they were there just to keep out the traveling salesmen and Ao Witnesses. If youre buggin Elminster you better have a damn good reason!! Chances are Elminster already knew that they were coming, possibly even before they did! Hes just that good!
This is all the canon information. It sounds like you're game is already afield of canon (yay!), so you can do whatever you want and not worry about what has been published in regards to Elminster in the post-Spellplague realms. Maybe the "crazy wandering mage" is actually a story propigated by El to get people to leave him alone. Maybe the tower your PCs came upon is actually a permanent illusion and the teleportation deposits them to El's current location, which is actually a house just outside of Myth Drannor, where he's studying the effects of the Spellplague on magic.
Or he's actually in Suzail, masquarading as the Royal Magician since the real Mage royal has been trapped in a pocket of the Shadow plane and El is helping keep the ruse up while he, the Harpers and the ghost of Alusair try to figure out a way to bring Ganrahast home.
Or he has gone 'round the bend like Sammaster and Halaster before him and is trying to build an army of shapeshifting automatons to take over the dales and the PCs wandered through a teleportation portal that was intended only for his lackeys to deliver spell materials to him.
Or ... well, you get the idea. Have fun!
Maybe the "crazy wandering mage" is actually a story propigated by El to get people to leave him alone. Maybe the tower your PCs came upon is actually a permanent illusion and the teleportation deposits them to El's current location, which is actually a house just outside of Myth Drannor, where he's studying the effects of the Spellplague on magic.
Perhaps he wants to test the mettle first, perhaps teleporting them into the dungeon beneath the Twisted Tower?
I like these ideas! I think I'll end up using some combination of them. Thanks!
And I think the signs were more of a joke, after all Elminster did accept vistors from time to time. I think they were there just to keep out the traveling salesmen and Ao Witnesses.
lol!
Chances are Elminster already knew that they were coming, possibly even before they did! Hes just that good!
Good point!
This is all the canon information. It sounds like you're game is already afield of canon (yay!), so you can do whatever you want and not worry about what has been published in regards to Elminster in the post-Spellplague realms.
Indeed!
Perhaps he wants to test the mettle first, perhaps teleporting them into the dungeon beneath the Twisted Tower?
This is more or less where I was going, except to add that he might have rigged the teleporter to deposit would be supplicants in the face of some peril he was meaning to destroy but can't for whatever reason/doesn't have the time to take care of/hasn't got around to yet (could be anything from scheming nobles in Cormyr to undead horrors to a dragon, etc). I would recommend the first of those options (i.e., something the great Elminster can't kill, for some reason--like a magic devouring creature, or something that is specifically attuned to kill him, etc.), because it seems more heroic.
This strategy, El figures, A) gets rid of uninvited guests, or B) brings about the defeat of the danger, thus doing him a favor (and possibly he'll approach the PCs on his own). Which, when you think about it, is basically a win-win.
Cheers