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<blockquote data-quote="Fuzzybear" data-source="post: 9063343" data-attributes="member: 6917259"><p><h3>Into the Fires</h3><p>A week long trip across Sindaire later, the group finds themselves on the outskirts of a massive firestorm raining bloodlike drops of flame. Activating the orb they recovered, they head in. They are surprised to find a small caravan already arrived at the castle laden with a troupe of halflings. Suddenly, a black lightning bolt crashes down as they arrive at the massive bear skull of a front door and the dead animate before their eyes; flames lighting their eye sockets. The skeletons do not prove to be much of an issue once Bryn steps forward and turns them. I even managed to box myself into having a second group harassing Clan Millorn once the party started asking if they were just hanging around or what while this was all going on.</p><p></p><p>Some negotiations ensue, but I had previously seeded this adventuring group with my party back during the first time in Seaquen as one of the groups hanging around the Royale. This helped them be recognized, but I was careful to note that they are not an official group from Seaquen and the resistance, merely out for their own treasure hunting. A compromise was struck on splitting the potential loot, though the discussions about the Torch and its future were immediately in play as the group did not want to keep anything to themselves. In the end, Clan Millorn did not want anything to do with the Torch anyway and were planning on trying to destroy it should it be found, so they were able to negotiate giving that to the party as long as they were able to secure more of the standard gold. Largely this is just for fun as I am planning on the group doing nearly all of the work within the castle and gaining effectively all of the treasure listed in the adventure.</p><p></p><p>The next few sessions go quickly, the group deciding to head left per the halflings suggestion. The battles at the front gate and the barracks go smoothly, and the extra treasure in the armory is found by the group, though not without triggering the trap and taking some bonus damage. It did annoy me that the prison was mapped while the armory is not on the official map which made things a bit more difficult for the group using active exploration. Either way, a placed a +1 shield here for the party instead of what was originally there (a rapier I believe?) which Bryn happily took for herself being the only shield user. </p><p></p><p>Next they headed up to the chapel above. Here they got into a lot of trouble. They first started sneaking around, but were loud enough that the devils heard them coming. The imp purposefully got seen to try to draw them back from the side passages and into the main one, but the group quickly jumped towards them and took down the imp before it could get fully away. It did serve its purpose though as they then headed down the now open main corridor. Things got even better when Jack and Winry explored it separate from the rest of the group and I was able to separate them with the chained devil! This made the encounter suddenly very dangerous. I even got to have the other devils ambush the others by teleporting into the hallway through the peek holes in the side chambers. Eventually they battered down the door with some help from the inside just before Winry and Jack went down to the devils inside the chapel. Having back up and healing, they finish things up, but not without spending a ton of resources. I counted this as a huge success for me as I taxed them greatly without killing anyone and it was a really memorable encounter area.</p><p></p><p>The real shocker of the day though was at the end of the encounter in which they very nearly died, Winry grabs Jack and kisses him! We were all so shocked that we thought she was either joking or didn't understand what she was saying at first. This has been hanging over the group since then as she told him to wait until he could think it over before responding, but she didn't want to die without having done it. I had told the group coming in that I wasn't going to do much in regards to romance unless they pushed it. The last campaign had a bit of love and romance with the DM (me), so I didn't want to have to deal with it personally again. I told them they were welcome to, but I wasn't going to unless they pushed for it. I guess this is Winry pushing for it.</p><p></p><p>While exploring further, they did get to have a brief visual encounter with the inquisitor. They all assume this is Guthwulf who they have heard about (surprise on that in the future). Rev ends up breaking the mirror, fearing what might come of it. They do find the healing items which was great for them (and hopefully set things up for the 2nd floor ghosts as well) before they head back downstairs and into the grand foyer. They met back up with Clan Millorn here who were contemplating their next move. I had them wait here to allow the pump station encounter for the party and this allowed me to give the party the knowledge of the pump being needed before being able to head up as well. Getting directions, Rev decides to fully ignore them and check literally every other door on the way. First they head into the guest rooms and fight there. Jack charms the bulette and then pins it in place with an immovable rod which was fun. Then they opened the lift room and got ambushed by the Feaster within. This was another really memorable encounter for them as I had Bryn soul linked in the surprise round, Rev and Winry grabbed right after, and then even got to Suggestion Jack to run. Ultimately the feaster did not have quite enough HP to survive, but they were truly on the edge of a full wipe there with another couple bad rolls.</p><p></p><p>Licking their wounds, they prepare to make one final push to the pump station before wrapping up for the day. Hopefully this will go well as we are finally getting all together for an in-person session! Wish us luck as in just a few days we will be all meeting up and playing in person for the first time in like 10 years since we all started having kids!</p><p></p><h4>Small changes -</h4><p>The group clearing out the barracks quickly does change things a bit for the random patrols, but my plan was to have the Assassination event happen after they take their first long rest. I also plan to involve the bulette which the group pacified instead of kill. That should make that encounter a bit more interesting in the future.</p><p></p><p>I am having Clan Millorn have a pretty understated role in the Castle exploration, really using them to avoid certain encounters and give information more than anything. I'm hoping this will still be enough of a role to allow the surprise at the end to be worthwhile. I've so far avoided just the horse track encounter as that was the way they were to go originally. I'm having them deal with the stone while the party heads to the pump to activate it together.</p><p></p><p>Myetharia has been having something of a bad time also. She took flametongue as an enchantment on her weapon, so when it healed the skeleton she was quite upset. She isn't the type to truly be mad thankfully as she understands that I'm not out to get her in specific, but it did get a rueful shake of the head for sure. Winry on the other end has truly been destroying with all the skeleton's weakness to bludgeoning. Feast and famine I suppose.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Fuzzybear, post: 9063343, member: 6917259"] [HEADING=2]Into the Fires[/HEADING] A week long trip across Sindaire later, the group finds themselves on the outskirts of a massive firestorm raining bloodlike drops of flame. Activating the orb they recovered, they head in. They are surprised to find a small caravan already arrived at the castle laden with a troupe of halflings. Suddenly, a black lightning bolt crashes down as they arrive at the massive bear skull of a front door and the dead animate before their eyes; flames lighting their eye sockets. The skeletons do not prove to be much of an issue once Bryn steps forward and turns them. I even managed to box myself into having a second group harassing Clan Millorn once the party started asking if they were just hanging around or what while this was all going on. Some negotiations ensue, but I had previously seeded this adventuring group with my party back during the first time in Seaquen as one of the groups hanging around the Royale. This helped them be recognized, but I was careful to note that they are not an official group from Seaquen and the resistance, merely out for their own treasure hunting. A compromise was struck on splitting the potential loot, though the discussions about the Torch and its future were immediately in play as the group did not want to keep anything to themselves. In the end, Clan Millorn did not want anything to do with the Torch anyway and were planning on trying to destroy it should it be found, so they were able to negotiate giving that to the party as long as they were able to secure more of the standard gold. Largely this is just for fun as I am planning on the group doing nearly all of the work within the castle and gaining effectively all of the treasure listed in the adventure. The next few sessions go quickly, the group deciding to head left per the halflings suggestion. The battles at the front gate and the barracks go smoothly, and the extra treasure in the armory is found by the group, though not without triggering the trap and taking some bonus damage. It did annoy me that the prison was mapped while the armory is not on the official map which made things a bit more difficult for the group using active exploration. Either way, a placed a +1 shield here for the party instead of what was originally there (a rapier I believe?) which Bryn happily took for herself being the only shield user. Next they headed up to the chapel above. Here they got into a lot of trouble. They first started sneaking around, but were loud enough that the devils heard them coming. The imp purposefully got seen to try to draw them back from the side passages and into the main one, but the group quickly jumped towards them and took down the imp before it could get fully away. It did serve its purpose though as they then headed down the now open main corridor. Things got even better when Jack and Winry explored it separate from the rest of the group and I was able to separate them with the chained devil! This made the encounter suddenly very dangerous. I even got to have the other devils ambush the others by teleporting into the hallway through the peek holes in the side chambers. Eventually they battered down the door with some help from the inside just before Winry and Jack went down to the devils inside the chapel. Having back up and healing, they finish things up, but not without spending a ton of resources. I counted this as a huge success for me as I taxed them greatly without killing anyone and it was a really memorable encounter area. The real shocker of the day though was at the end of the encounter in which they very nearly died, Winry grabs Jack and kisses him! We were all so shocked that we thought she was either joking or didn't understand what she was saying at first. This has been hanging over the group since then as she told him to wait until he could think it over before responding, but she didn't want to die without having done it. I had told the group coming in that I wasn't going to do much in regards to romance unless they pushed it. The last campaign had a bit of love and romance with the DM (me), so I didn't want to have to deal with it personally again. I told them they were welcome to, but I wasn't going to unless they pushed for it. I guess this is Winry pushing for it. While exploring further, they did get to have a brief visual encounter with the inquisitor. They all assume this is Guthwulf who they have heard about (surprise on that in the future). Rev ends up breaking the mirror, fearing what might come of it. They do find the healing items which was great for them (and hopefully set things up for the 2nd floor ghosts as well) before they head back downstairs and into the grand foyer. They met back up with Clan Millorn here who were contemplating their next move. I had them wait here to allow the pump station encounter for the party and this allowed me to give the party the knowledge of the pump being needed before being able to head up as well. Getting directions, Rev decides to fully ignore them and check literally every other door on the way. First they head into the guest rooms and fight there. Jack charms the bulette and then pins it in place with an immovable rod which was fun. Then they opened the lift room and got ambushed by the Feaster within. This was another really memorable encounter for them as I had Bryn soul linked in the surprise round, Rev and Winry grabbed right after, and then even got to Suggestion Jack to run. Ultimately the feaster did not have quite enough HP to survive, but they were truly on the edge of a full wipe there with another couple bad rolls. Licking their wounds, they prepare to make one final push to the pump station before wrapping up for the day. Hopefully this will go well as we are finally getting all together for an in-person session! Wish us luck as in just a few days we will be all meeting up and playing in person for the first time in like 10 years since we all started having kids! [HEADING=3]Small changes -[/HEADING] The group clearing out the barracks quickly does change things a bit for the random patrols, but my plan was to have the Assassination event happen after they take their first long rest. I also plan to involve the bulette which the group pacified instead of kill. That should make that encounter a bit more interesting in the future. I am having Clan Millorn have a pretty understated role in the Castle exploration, really using them to avoid certain encounters and give information more than anything. I'm hoping this will still be enough of a role to allow the surprise at the end to be worthwhile. I've so far avoided just the horse track encounter as that was the way they were to go originally. I'm having them deal with the stone while the party heads to the pump to activate it together. Myetharia has been having something of a bad time also. She took flametongue as an enchantment on her weapon, so when it healed the skeleton she was quite upset. She isn't the type to truly be mad thankfully as she understands that I'm not out to get her in specific, but it did get a rueful shake of the head for sure. Winry on the other end has truly been destroying with all the skeleton's weakness to bludgeoning. Feast and famine I suppose. [/QUOTE]
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