Wrath of the Lich King session three: The Runecarvers and the Vrykul Pillar of Strength
Last session, the players delved into the tomb of the Runecarvers, seeking the ancient knowledge they possess. Of course, as they mentioned to the spirit, the knowledge is more of a bartering tool. But, if it's for the right cause, she was willing to test them.
(I started playing "Zanza" from the Xenoblade Chronicles soundtrack)
They fought three spirits, one leader (the lady that was the leader of the runecarvers) who was a modified spectre, and two modified wraiths.
Each had a set of spells and runecarver abilities they could use. The spirits would draw a mark in the air with their fingertip, and then a large, jagged line of coloured light would carve into the ground below them, and the area it encompassed would be affected. Usually these have a radius of 10 or 20 ft. The spirits carved runes of fear and runes of sickening - failing the save, they would be either cowering in place or nauseated for 5-7 rounds, but they all passed them! However, passing the save makes them shaken or sickened for fear and sickened runes respectively, for as long as they remain in the area.
It was kind of funny, but they kept asking "how long am I shaken" or something like that, and I'd have to reply "It's up to you," because since it was ancient knowledge, I couldn't exactly tell them how it worked. They figured it out eventually, though.
The coolest thing I enjoy about the runecarver prestige class, is that they can, a number of times per day equal to their level, form one spell into any other of the same level that is on the wizard/sorcerer, cleric/oracle, or druid spell lists as long as they pass a linguistics check equal to 10 + double the spell level. I did my best to represent the ability, by trying to narrate her carving a rune into the air, and casting lightning bolt, but when it passed through the rune, it formed into a small orange sphere that exploded when it reached them (aka fireball).
She also used enervation to turn into cone of cold - while this normally isn't possible (forming a 4th level spell into a 5th), it's specially learned by runecarvers of a higher level to do this once per day.
I think this prestige class is really cool. Potentially broken - but it is limited in its ability to do these things.
Anyways, onward! The defeated the spirits, and passed the runecarver's test. She offered them the belongings buried with her, since she felt it was wasteful not to, and warned them to bring the knowledge to her people properly. They retrieved the book, and brought it directly to Cragmire - and to Algriff.
He thanked them profusely, and had a celebration to thank them - and offered to make any ring they desire, as he is a ring forger (has the forge ring feat). And - after he was able to learn the ways of runecarving - teach them how to use it, if they wish (aka, retrain them with the prestige class if they want. However, only one is a caster that best serves it, Rosalia who prefers to stay a druid).
They asked if this would have consequences for his people - considering the laws - and Algriff told them it was worth the risk.
In northrend as a whole, two players, Soren and Magnus, had been searching for Brann Bronzebeard, the archaeologist.
They work with him, and he had been out of contact for a long time since reaching Northrend. Fearing he may be in danger/they follow him to find ancient powers/artifacts, they asked Algriff if they knew his whereabouts. Previously, Tirion mentioned he may have visited Cragmire as it represents the Pillar of Lore. Algriff had talked to Bronzebeard, and apparently Brann had been searching for whereabouts of ancient archives of Azeroth, and he had to seek out the Dragonflights for more information, in Dragonblight.
The players took their leave, giving Algriff his knowledge, and leaving with his support. They decided to seek out Ragefall, the place that houses the Vrykul Pillar of Strength - led by the Jarl their companion, Solessa Moonhollow, knows well.
(I started playing "Scavenger's Den" from the Destiny 2 soundtrack)
They entered to see a hundred or more Vrykul surrounding a massive fighting pit, many screaming "Finish him! Finish him!" They witnessed one massive 20-foot tall warrior wind up and knock out his competitor, and then flex and roar to the crowd in victory.
He yelled out that he was both a god, and Jarl Jorg! Soon after, he shrunk down to around 8 feet. He walked up to the side of the pit, and spoke with a vrykul in black full plate with the Lich King's insignia on his shoulder - who then motioned over to the players for Jorg, before walking down the road.
(Jorg is based off of the last character one of my players, Fish Breath Bard, had in the last campaign we did, named Jorgon Rockwielder, a bloodrager ogre)
Jorg came over and greeted them boistrously, and the players learned that Solessa and he trained at the same monastery, before their views on training diverged. She also was one of the few to actually beat him in single combat; the players hadn't actually seen her fight much (because the only combat so far was with ghosts...)
Being the Pillar of Strength, Ragefall respected that, and that alone. If they wanted Jorg's support in challenging or speaking with the King, they would have to prove their strength to him. They could do this in one of two ways: fight against his four champions with the four of them, or they could have one of them challenge Jorg directly.
Now, Jorg only offered the direct challenge because Solessa was with them. Normally,. he wouldn't bother with puny challengers he didn't know, but he knew that if she was there, they had to be worth something in a fight, and he lives to fight.
Choosing to fight Jorg directly would gain bonuses in a couple of instances. It certainly would win him over - and Magnus decided to challenge him! A very, very bold choice.
But the duel began! Magnus, son of Magnus, son of Magnus the Frozelia Dervish vs. the Mighty Vrykul, Jarl Jorg!
(I started playing "Dominus Ghaul" from the Destiny 2 soundtrack)
For reference, Magnus was a level 7 Dervish, he uses a sansetsukon, which is really cool. (It's a 3-sectioned staff/giant 3 piece nunchuk)
Jorg was a 4th level abyssal bloodrager, and 4th level windwalker monk, an archetype I made based on the world of warcraft spec. Close to the pathfinder monk, except their attacks generate ki points (starting with 0) and they can spend them to use attacks such as rising sun kick, which deals maximized damage. There is a maximum number of ki generated per day, however.
It was a long fight, a lot of miss-miss-miss-HARD HIT-miss-miss.
Jorg was generally difficult to hit, and Magnus was VERY hard to hit. Dervishes have a limited resource of enchantments, but if they're all used at once, they provide a lot of burst potential. Magnus souped up his AC, and used his healing domain he chose to channel energy to keep himself going through Jorg's dangerous strikes.
After a brawl, Jorg relented (being at 2 hit points, I think Magnus was very close to that) and Magnus successfully won the challenge! It came really close a couple of times on Magnus' part, but he kept healing up and going at it.
Although, at this point the player of Magnus and I agreed that the Dervish was a tad overpowered and we modified it to make it better.
During the fight, Soren and Rosalia noticed the Vrykul in dark armor watching them, and the fight. After the fight was won, he left down the road again. Soren had his homunculus follow behind to watch where he was going, only to find that he was headed into a building guarded by two warrior Vrykul, and the one in dark armor looked directly at the homunculus (he rolled a 20 on perception...) before walking inside.
To note, Soren makes poppets as well! A story/flavour thing the player chose for his character that I really like. Something different and neat!
Celebrations came! They won Jarl Jorg's support! Two out of four, 'two' to go. Magnus decided he wanted to flirt with Solessa and try to go further, so to speak, but he was unsuccessful despite his super high diplomacy. He did find out there was a specific reason behind it dealing with his connection to Soren, but doesn't quite know what it is.
He did find a nice Vrykul lady though! He was the champion, after all.
During the celebration, they learned a bit more about the different settlements - they learned that the Jarl of Halstaff, the Pillar of community, had been killed by his daughter, Ulrah. That's all he knew, that she was accused. They asked him about the knight in dark armor, who was Skadi the Ruthless - the second lieutenant of King Ymiron (The first being Svala, the lovely but also vicious lady they met in Cragmire) He didn't mind Skadi, as he kept to his business and let Ragefall work as it always has.
He did call Svala an outright bitch, though. Didn't trust her, doesn't like her, and thinks she should just die. Very kind, Jorg! However, it told the party something (that they kinda already knew), since Jorg isn't one to lie.
After the night of celebrations they grouped up again, and decided to head to Halstaff - to the settlement where the new Jarl Ulrah is accused of murdering her father - previous Jarl.
That was the time to end for that session! Next time the players venture to the third city of Halstaff, and the Third Pillar of Vrykul Society: Community.
Tomb of the Runecarvers (continued)
(I started playing "Zanza" from the Xenoblade Chronicles soundtrack)
They fought three spirits, one leader (the lady that was the leader of the runecarvers) who was a modified spectre, and two modified wraiths.
Each had a set of spells and runecarver abilities they could use. The spirits would draw a mark in the air with their fingertip, and then a large, jagged line of coloured light would carve into the ground below them, and the area it encompassed would be affected. Usually these have a radius of 10 or 20 ft. The spirits carved runes of fear and runes of sickening - failing the save, they would be either cowering in place or nauseated for 5-7 rounds, but they all passed them! However, passing the save makes them shaken or sickened for fear and sickened runes respectively, for as long as they remain in the area.
It was kind of funny, but they kept asking "how long am I shaken" or something like that, and I'd have to reply "It's up to you," because since it was ancient knowledge, I couldn't exactly tell them how it worked. They figured it out eventually, though.
The coolest thing I enjoy about the runecarver prestige class, is that they can, a number of times per day equal to their level, form one spell into any other of the same level that is on the wizard/sorcerer, cleric/oracle, or druid spell lists as long as they pass a linguistics check equal to 10 + double the spell level. I did my best to represent the ability, by trying to narrate her carving a rune into the air, and casting lightning bolt, but when it passed through the rune, it formed into a small orange sphere that exploded when it reached them (aka fireball).
She also used enervation to turn into cone of cold - while this normally isn't possible (forming a 4th level spell into a 5th), it's specially learned by runecarvers of a higher level to do this once per day.
I think this prestige class is really cool. Potentially broken - but it is limited in its ability to do these things.
Anyways, onward! The defeated the spirits, and passed the runecarver's test. She offered them the belongings buried with her, since she felt it was wasteful not to, and warned them to bring the knowledge to her people properly. They retrieved the book, and brought it directly to Cragmire - and to Algriff.
He thanked them profusely, and had a celebration to thank them - and offered to make any ring they desire, as he is a ring forger (has the forge ring feat). And - after he was able to learn the ways of runecarving - teach them how to use it, if they wish (aka, retrain them with the prestige class if they want. However, only one is a caster that best serves it, Rosalia who prefers to stay a druid).
They asked if this would have consequences for his people - considering the laws - and Algriff told them it was worth the risk.
In northrend as a whole, two players, Soren and Magnus, had been searching for Brann Bronzebeard, the archaeologist.
They work with him, and he had been out of contact for a long time since reaching Northrend. Fearing he may be in danger/they follow him to find ancient powers/artifacts, they asked Algriff if they knew his whereabouts. Previously, Tirion mentioned he may have visited Cragmire as it represents the Pillar of Lore. Algriff had talked to Bronzebeard, and apparently Brann had been searching for whereabouts of ancient archives of Azeroth, and he had to seek out the Dragonflights for more information, in Dragonblight.
###
Ragefall (The Pillar of Strength)
The players took their leave, giving Algriff his knowledge, and leaving with his support. They decided to seek out Ragefall, the place that houses the Vrykul Pillar of Strength - led by the Jarl their companion, Solessa Moonhollow, knows well.
(I started playing "Scavenger's Den" from the Destiny 2 soundtrack)
They entered to see a hundred or more Vrykul surrounding a massive fighting pit, many screaming "Finish him! Finish him!" They witnessed one massive 20-foot tall warrior wind up and knock out his competitor, and then flex and roar to the crowd in victory.
He yelled out that he was both a god, and Jarl Jorg! Soon after, he shrunk down to around 8 feet. He walked up to the side of the pit, and spoke with a vrykul in black full plate with the Lich King's insignia on his shoulder - who then motioned over to the players for Jorg, before walking down the road.
(Jorg is based off of the last character one of my players, Fish Breath Bard, had in the last campaign we did, named Jorgon Rockwielder, a bloodrager ogre)
Jorg came over and greeted them boistrously, and the players learned that Solessa and he trained at the same monastery, before their views on training diverged. She also was one of the few to actually beat him in single combat; the players hadn't actually seen her fight much (because the only combat so far was with ghosts...)
Being the Pillar of Strength, Ragefall respected that, and that alone. If they wanted Jorg's support in challenging or speaking with the King, they would have to prove their strength to him. They could do this in one of two ways: fight against his four champions with the four of them, or they could have one of them challenge Jorg directly.
Now, Jorg only offered the direct challenge because Solessa was with them. Normally,. he wouldn't bother with puny challengers he didn't know, but he knew that if she was there, they had to be worth something in a fight, and he lives to fight.
Image credit: Disney pictures
But the duel began! Magnus, son of Magnus, son of Magnus the Frozelia Dervish vs. the Mighty Vrykul, Jarl Jorg!
(I started playing "Dominus Ghaul" from the Destiny 2 soundtrack)
For reference, Magnus was a level 7 Dervish, he uses a sansetsukon, which is really cool. (It's a 3-sectioned staff/giant 3 piece nunchuk)
Gif from the movie "Fearless." Fantastic movie. Would recommend to anyone.
Jorg was a 4th level abyssal bloodrager, and 4th level windwalker monk, an archetype I made based on the world of warcraft spec. Close to the pathfinder monk, except their attacks generate ki points (starting with 0) and they can spend them to use attacks such as rising sun kick, which deals maximized damage. There is a maximum number of ki generated per day, however.
It was a long fight, a lot of miss-miss-miss-HARD HIT-miss-miss.
Jorg was generally difficult to hit, and Magnus was VERY hard to hit. Dervishes have a limited resource of enchantments, but if they're all used at once, they provide a lot of burst potential. Magnus souped up his AC, and used his healing domain he chose to channel energy to keep himself going through Jorg's dangerous strikes.
After a brawl, Jorg relented (being at 2 hit points, I think Magnus was very close to that) and Magnus successfully won the challenge! It came really close a couple of times on Magnus' part, but he kept healing up and going at it.
Although, at this point the player of Magnus and I agreed that the Dervish was a tad overpowered and we modified it to make it better.
During the fight, Soren and Rosalia noticed the Vrykul in dark armor watching them, and the fight. After the fight was won, he left down the road again. Soren had his homunculus follow behind to watch where he was going, only to find that he was headed into a building guarded by two warrior Vrykul, and the one in dark armor looked directly at the homunculus (he rolled a 20 on perception...) before walking inside.
To note, Soren makes poppets as well! A story/flavour thing the player chose for his character that I really like. Something different and neat!
Celebrations came! They won Jarl Jorg's support! Two out of four, 'two' to go. Magnus decided he wanted to flirt with Solessa and try to go further, so to speak, but he was unsuccessful despite his super high diplomacy. He did find out there was a specific reason behind it dealing with his connection to Soren, but doesn't quite know what it is.
He did find a nice Vrykul lady though! He was the champion, after all.
During the celebration, they learned a bit more about the different settlements - they learned that the Jarl of Halstaff, the Pillar of community, had been killed by his daughter, Ulrah. That's all he knew, that she was accused. They asked him about the knight in dark armor, who was Skadi the Ruthless - the second lieutenant of King Ymiron (The first being Svala, the lovely but also vicious lady they met in Cragmire) He didn't mind Skadi, as he kept to his business and let Ragefall work as it always has.
He did call Svala an outright bitch, though. Didn't trust her, doesn't like her, and thinks she should just die. Very kind, Jorg! However, it told the party something (that they kinda already knew), since Jorg isn't one to lie.
After the night of celebrations they grouped up again, and decided to head to Halstaff - to the settlement where the new Jarl Ulrah is accused of murdering her father - previous Jarl.
That was the time to end for that session! Next time the players venture to the third city of Halstaff, and the Third Pillar of Vrykul Society: Community.
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