I'm tossing around an idea to make a small Children of the Night based on the dread elementals. Its just four creatures and associated adventures rather than 13, to fit the idea elemental idea. Here's a general sketch of what I've got and am open to any advice and suggestions (I'm basing it around 5e as that's all I know)
Specimen 26: A Large Blood Elemental. Summoned by a arrogant mage of Darkon (maybe a member of the Kargat?) who fled into Lamordia, feeding of the blood of local animals. Eventually found by a mad scientist who had for years be doing expirements with all things relating to blood: Vampires, blood types, lineages, ect. He saw the elemental as the jackpot, referring to it as a "Plasmatic Amorphous Lifeform", and taking it captive for his experiments.
Specimen 26 has the odd ability to influence any being who has its blood inside it. Its just small things, giving them the memories or abilities of the beings it has taken blood from. The mad lamordian who has taken it now plans to use this to implant his own psyche onto the minds of all in lamordia!
Adventure: Blood Type.
Kinda a general thing. Takes place in Lamordia, at an out of the way small town. The town as recently gotten onto a blood craze with the recent theory of bloodtypes and a healthy blood drive to physicians. The mad scientist has been a part of this blood drive effort and has been filtering the blood through Specimen 26, planning on using its abilities to implant his mind into all who have the blood in them, specifically those of his bloodtype. Would have blood donor/blood-type mechanics, and would feature the weird and dangerous effects of the scientist ramping up his experiments, with npcs including a heavily incestuous family that due to the blood and inbreding can now hear each others thoughts. Ends with a confrontation with the scientist, his minions, and Specimen 26 in his lair.
Children of the Night: Elementals
Re: Children of the Night: Elementals
Witch's Bane or The Gift of Belenus: (Cant decide to call either it or the adventure its used in one of these)
A rather strange Fire Elemental. Having suddenly appeared one day in a particularly religious village in Tepest, it was taken as a miracle and a sign of Belenus' favor. Soon it got pilgrims from all over Tepest, was used in the furnaces and hearths of the entire village. One day, it was used for the most holy of tasks: to rid the world of witches and magic users. And so its corruption began.
The Fire Elemental has slowly been corrupted by its new purpose as a witche's pyre and is soon to become a pyre elemental. This is reflected in all the places that hold its fire: The hearth's now sometimes burn with a blue, sinister light. The blacksmith's furnace now burns out of control, burning it down. The town is on edge, fearing a witche's curse and so are all the more eager to put the Fire to it's new, sinister purpose.
Adventure: Taking place in Tepest, I kinda don't have much on this one. I can only really think of a finale, where they have to convince the town not to go through with a witch burning. If they fail, the Fire Elemental turns into a Pyre Elemental and burns the town to ashes, killing everyone, with corrupt fire mephits erupting all over. If they try to douse the elemental without proof its not a miracle, then they face the town. (This one I need the most help filling)
A rather strange Fire Elemental. Having suddenly appeared one day in a particularly religious village in Tepest, it was taken as a miracle and a sign of Belenus' favor. Soon it got pilgrims from all over Tepest, was used in the furnaces and hearths of the entire village. One day, it was used for the most holy of tasks: to rid the world of witches and magic users. And so its corruption began.
The Fire Elemental has slowly been corrupted by its new purpose as a witche's pyre and is soon to become a pyre elemental. This is reflected in all the places that hold its fire: The hearth's now sometimes burn with a blue, sinister light. The blacksmith's furnace now burns out of control, burning it down. The town is on edge, fearing a witche's curse and so are all the more eager to put the Fire to it's new, sinister purpose.
Adventure: Taking place in Tepest, I kinda don't have much on this one. I can only really think of a finale, where they have to convince the town not to go through with a witch burning. If they fail, the Fire Elemental turns into a Pyre Elemental and burns the town to ashes, killing everyone, with corrupt fire mephits erupting all over. If they try to douse the elemental without proof its not a miracle, then they face the town. (This one I need the most help filling)
Re: Children of the Night: Elementals
Fouling Fog (really can't think of a name for these 3, just a working title for now)
Every so often, a man just goes mad. He burns his home, he murders his family, he runs through the streets raving like a loon. And all to often they claim the same when asked why: The mists, the fog. They told me to, they made me.
Many have called this phenomenon "Fouling Fog" or "Mist Madness", with "bad vapors" causing men to go violently mad.
The true culprit is a trio of Mist Elementals, each cruel and mischievous, they have made a game of hidding in the mists and fog of city canals and infusing men with evil, delighting in the violent mayhem that follows. They have wandered near and far, from the foggy canals of Paridon, the streets of Port-a-Lucine, even to Barovia.
Adventure : Whispers on the Wind
Can take place in any city, though Port-a-Lucine or Paridon would be recommended. The city is abuzz with rumor and activity with a recent crime spree. Murder, theft, insanity. As time goes on, the madness only grows, with the Trio of Mist Elementals causing chaos, planning on turning a very special social gathering that is soon to happen into an orgy of crime and madness. The characters must put a stop to there mad games. If any one of the elementals dies, the others will flee but with vengeance in mind.
Every so often, a man just goes mad. He burns his home, he murders his family, he runs through the streets raving like a loon. And all to often they claim the same when asked why: The mists, the fog. They told me to, they made me.
Many have called this phenomenon "Fouling Fog" or "Mist Madness", with "bad vapors" causing men to go violently mad.
The true culprit is a trio of Mist Elementals, each cruel and mischievous, they have made a game of hidding in the mists and fog of city canals and infusing men with evil, delighting in the violent mayhem that follows. They have wandered near and far, from the foggy canals of Paridon, the streets of Port-a-Lucine, even to Barovia.
Adventure : Whispers on the Wind
Can take place in any city, though Port-a-Lucine or Paridon would be recommended. The city is abuzz with rumor and activity with a recent crime spree. Murder, theft, insanity. As time goes on, the madness only grows, with the Trio of Mist Elementals causing chaos, planning on turning a very special social gathering that is soon to happen into an orgy of crime and madness. The characters must put a stop to there mad games. If any one of the elementals dies, the others will flee but with vengeance in mind.
Re: Children of the Night: Elementals
The Mound: It lies just outside of town, far older than the town itself. A large hill, covered with gravestones. All know of the mound, all treat it with fear and reverence. The dead are not buried there, just left to lie, all knowing that they will be in the ground soon enough.
The Mound is an ancient Grave Elemental, possibly as old the plane itself. It is a very inactive being, content to lie sleeping and absorbing all that lay upon it. Should it ever be woken from its pleasent dreams, its wrath will be terrifying.
Adventure: Night on the Mound.
A simple enough adventure, it can take place in any little village, but is best in places like Barovia or Invidia or somewhere like that. A necromancer has come into town, setting up shop near the mound thinking it is merely a place of power. Players go in to stop it, like ya do, facing the powerful undead the necromancer has wrought. They catch the necromancer in a ritual (maybe he's trying to become a lich, maybe summon a bunch of undead from the mound, ect). Players fight him, yada yada. Suddenly, the ground begins to shake, a deep ominous moan is heard, as the Mound begins to wake up. The ground spits up undead, which the necromancer will try to take control of if he's still alive (maybe give him an item for it or just say he can), the Mound begins to take a humanoid shape, taller than many of the trees. The players can do anything from here: They can flee and let the Mound destroy everything in its path, they can fight it, they can and most likely should try putting it to sleep.
The Mound is an ancient Grave Elemental, possibly as old the plane itself. It is a very inactive being, content to lie sleeping and absorbing all that lay upon it. Should it ever be woken from its pleasent dreams, its wrath will be terrifying.
Adventure: Night on the Mound.
A simple enough adventure, it can take place in any little village, but is best in places like Barovia or Invidia or somewhere like that. A necromancer has come into town, setting up shop near the mound thinking it is merely a place of power. Players go in to stop it, like ya do, facing the powerful undead the necromancer has wrought. They catch the necromancer in a ritual (maybe he's trying to become a lich, maybe summon a bunch of undead from the mound, ect). Players fight him, yada yada. Suddenly, the ground begins to shake, a deep ominous moan is heard, as the Mound begins to wake up. The ground spits up undead, which the necromancer will try to take control of if he's still alive (maybe give him an item for it or just say he can), the Mound begins to take a humanoid shape, taller than many of the trees. The players can do anything from here: They can flee and let the Mound destroy everything in its path, they can fight it, they can and most likely should try putting it to sleep.
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ewancummins
- Evil Genius
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Re: Children of the Night: Elementals
THE MOUND, FTW!
Easily my favorite of that lot, although they all look game-worthy.
Easily my favorite of that lot, although they all look game-worthy.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.
-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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brilliantlight
- Evil Genius
- Posts: 1003
- Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2009 8:02 pm
Re: Children of the Night: Elementals
Yeah, they all have a lot of potential.ewancummins wrote:THE MOUND, FTW!
Easily my favorite of that lot, although they all look game-worthy.
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The Lesser Evil
- Evil Genius
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Re: Children of the Night: Elementals
I like these ideas; you've taken the time to put these elementals into contexts and thereby making them special, something hard to do with elementals as they're usually reduced to stereotyped behavior if given any particular personality or role at all beyond destructive combat monsters. The Mound and the Fouling Fog have distinct motivations yet their background origins are a mystery. The Mound has contrasting desires of wanting to be left alone yet wanting sacrifices, and the Fouling Fog are particularly social, deliberate organized in their missions of corruption- I wonder how they got that way. Exploring the ideas of how the Mound and the Fouling Fog came to be might be worthwhile in their write ups- exploring their origins could be the subject for a Recurrence section.
On the other hand, the background/situational context of Specimen 26 and Witch's Bane are more developed but their personalities/motivations are greyer. What you have for them how society is reacting to them, as opposed to their reactions to society. Perhaps it's because in the cases of Specimen 26 and Witch's Bane, their personalities could be said to be developing in a strange sense- something I'd never thought I'd see for elementals. As with what you've highlighted with Witch's Bane, the direction these unusually dynamic elementals take might be affected by the PCs. Exploring how they transition from where they start- and where they might end up- might be things to highlight in your write-ups. How might the blood elemental- and its scientist "caretaker"- might react to the return of its original summoner- alive or undead- might be something for the Recurrence section or a further complication in the adventure.
Regarding the Witch's Banes adventure, what goes on will largely depend upon the situational specifics you've defined for it. Tepest has a particular setup for fire related sacrifice (the Harvest End's festival, which calls for the burning of a goblin or similarly villainous creature), but the set up you've detailed sounds a lot more rapid in scope- the elemental is been using to consume several people in (relatively rapid) succession in several days or weeks- due to the fear of the curse working up an anti-witch hysteria. One thing you will need to determine is how "right" that hysteria is- what percentage of the entities being burned are malicious fey/witches and what percentage are innocent. Are friends/allies of the player characters targeted?
If there are malicious fey/witches, then what does (or what do the Tepestanti think is done) to the burned so as to engender keeping the elemental around? Does it keep the burned from coming back from the grave? Are the flames thought to purify the soul and thus save from damnation? Do the end the curses/evil magics of those consumed? The potential existence of vengeful witches and fey provides a potential complication for the scenario to explore and muddles the moral waters- providing an alternative to the elemental could be an adventure element- even if quelling any anti-witch hysteria.
Outing the fire elemental as something unholy potentially unholy could involve exploring its origins. If material evidence can be found of its origins coming from an evil (or fey like) source, the player characters could come up with a way to legitimize an ending to the witch burnings. Another possible complication/development is the involvement of the Tepestani Inquisition- what does Quinn or Wyatt think of the situation, and do they agree? Has the village been up front about the elemental's existence, or has it been a closely guarded secret hidden from the Inquisition and the other villages? Do the players invite the Inquisition's involvement, or do they try to deflect it?
One final thing to consider is how far along has the elemental's corruption and the anti-witch hysteria progressed? The adventure doesn't need necessarily to start at the height of things- the adventure could begin with the players witnessing the witch burning and the unusual nature of the elemental as it begins to manifest the new color. This would allow for some time to investigate and research the elemental, its origins, and its nature. The players might investigate, what does the faith of Belenus have to say about the manifestation of such an unusually colored flame mean, for example. Has there been prior examples of this happening? The adventure could involve visiting previous examples of where pyre elementals have been born and ravaged through and encountering any number of undead remnants- rushlights, ghosts, dread scarecrows, or the like.
On the other hand, the background/situational context of Specimen 26 and Witch's Bane are more developed but their personalities/motivations are greyer. What you have for them how society is reacting to them, as opposed to their reactions to society. Perhaps it's because in the cases of Specimen 26 and Witch's Bane, their personalities could be said to be developing in a strange sense- something I'd never thought I'd see for elementals. As with what you've highlighted with Witch's Bane, the direction these unusually dynamic elementals take might be affected by the PCs. Exploring how they transition from where they start- and where they might end up- might be things to highlight in your write-ups. How might the blood elemental- and its scientist "caretaker"- might react to the return of its original summoner- alive or undead- might be something for the Recurrence section or a further complication in the adventure.
Regarding the Witch's Banes adventure, what goes on will largely depend upon the situational specifics you've defined for it. Tepest has a particular setup for fire related sacrifice (the Harvest End's festival, which calls for the burning of a goblin or similarly villainous creature), but the set up you've detailed sounds a lot more rapid in scope- the elemental is been using to consume several people in (relatively rapid) succession in several days or weeks- due to the fear of the curse working up an anti-witch hysteria. One thing you will need to determine is how "right" that hysteria is- what percentage of the entities being burned are malicious fey/witches and what percentage are innocent. Are friends/allies of the player characters targeted?
If there are malicious fey/witches, then what does (or what do the Tepestanti think is done) to the burned so as to engender keeping the elemental around? Does it keep the burned from coming back from the grave? Are the flames thought to purify the soul and thus save from damnation? Do the end the curses/evil magics of those consumed? The potential existence of vengeful witches and fey provides a potential complication for the scenario to explore and muddles the moral waters- providing an alternative to the elemental could be an adventure element- even if quelling any anti-witch hysteria.
Outing the fire elemental as something unholy potentially unholy could involve exploring its origins. If material evidence can be found of its origins coming from an evil (or fey like) source, the player characters could come up with a way to legitimize an ending to the witch burnings. Another possible complication/development is the involvement of the Tepestani Inquisition- what does Quinn or Wyatt think of the situation, and do they agree? Has the village been up front about the elemental's existence, or has it been a closely guarded secret hidden from the Inquisition and the other villages? Do the players invite the Inquisition's involvement, or do they try to deflect it?
One final thing to consider is how far along has the elemental's corruption and the anti-witch hysteria progressed? The adventure doesn't need necessarily to start at the height of things- the adventure could begin with the players witnessing the witch burning and the unusual nature of the elemental as it begins to manifest the new color. This would allow for some time to investigate and research the elemental, its origins, and its nature. The players might investigate, what does the faith of Belenus have to say about the manifestation of such an unusually colored flame mean, for example. Has there been prior examples of this happening? The adventure could involve visiting previous examples of where pyre elementals have been born and ravaged through and encountering any number of undead remnants- rushlights, ghosts, dread scarecrows, or the like.
Re: Children of the Night: Elementals
Thanks for the replies and ideas.
I've made a few changes so far and cemented a few ideas
-The Fouling Fog (again, still not sure on the name) was summoned early in Paridon's History by a mage wanting his own spies, invisible on the winds. Chafing under his control, they did they're task as spies, but delighted in witnessing Paridon spiral into chaos as starvation and riots ran rampant. In particular they enjoyed witnessing the intrigue and paranoia of the Doppelgangers. Upon witnessing one of the Red Jack murders, and the terrified frenzy that followed, they were inspired. Over the course of weeks they whispered lies, promises, and paranoid musings into the mind of their sleeping master, eventually driving him to madness and a murderous spree. As he was shot down to end his mad rampage, they were free. Free to spread fear and chaos wherever they wish
---The Trio has a sort of instinctual camaraderie, sticking together cause its what they've always done. There main goal is to spread chaos, to drive people to violent madness, and watch the fear and chaos that follows. They particularly like starting large events that drive the people into panic. Fun to watch, fun to do.
---Sodo is aware some force has been watch him and his Doppelgangers from time to time, and it is but one in a tangle of paranoid fears that mingle in his thoughts, and he has his own supsicions about the fog. Should he learn enough about them to realize they are too hard to control for his own ends, he might (throught several proxies) give the players a clue about the Fog.
---The trio of mist elementals enjoy cities as they are a perfect breeding ground for madness, and a perfect canvas to see it upon. As such they tend to the cities. While they mainly go about Paridon, Sodo ends up making things hard for them and so they are forced to take they're game on the road, lay low. They have a home away from home in Port-a-Lucine, but have been to Lekar, Pont-a-Museau, even a holiday in Dominia once. Overall, they stick to civilized domains.
---The adventure itself will be Dementliu, but I'll include some possible variant material/guides to put it Paridon or somewhere else. But mainly it will be built for Dementliu
-The Mound really isn't meant to have much of an origin. It's always just sorta been, and that's meant to be the point of his horror. The Mound has just always been there, on that hill, as that hill. Its so old that its almost suggestible that its not a corrupted elemental, but was actually made whole-cloth by the mist. If he has an origin, its lost in the mists of time.
---It really is meant to be a very general adventure, very customizable with any sorta threats you wish. It will have about 3 real locations: The town, an old abandoned mine, and the mound itself. Maybe make a rolling table for intrigue in town, for stuff in the mine, ect.
---The hint that something is more to the mound will begin in the mine, an old workshop for the necromancer before he set up his ritual on the mound. There's some undead there, a few magic traps, his research notes. As they go through, the mine begins to shift and have some caves collapse, a sign that the mound is beginning to stir (maybe have a small hint of the mounds true nature in the necromancers notes)
---Might include a druid or somebody in the adventure to help the players, a way to make the mound go back to sleep. Its possible to kill the mound, but its a real challenge.
---The Mound will wake up in the adventure, its kinda the climax. If they interput the necromancer easily, I might have the Mound sorta half wake up, like it forms a giant hand to swat at the players like a sleepy guy would a noisy alarm clock. Makes its awakening happen slowly.
---If the mound isn't stopped, it will destroy the town. It will wander for a few days before eventually beginning to fall back to sleep, possibly melting back into the ground. From there, it might just show up again anywhere.
-I supposed I should clarify: Specimen 26 isn't really the focus or the intended villain of the adventure, the mad scientist that is using it is. Specimen 26 doesn't really have much to it: its basically a captured and abused animal. Its constantly being fed then drained, its stuck in a glass bowl and from time to time is shocked horribly with electricity. It reaches out as much as it can to get someone, anyone, to help it get out. Its evil, but has also been driven to violent madness by its abuse.
---I like the idea of having the summoner want the elemental back, but that feels like a recurrence thing. He just wouldn't fit into the adventure
---If unleashed, he will kill the scientist first, his assistants second, and its really kinda up to dm choice if it attacks the players or not. If the players help it escape and leave it alone, it probably will leave them alone. More than anything else, it just wants out of lamordia, and really want's out of its laboratory prison
---Specimen 26 isn't the only possible recurrence, cause if the scientist succeeds on his plan to copy his mind onto people who have his blood in them, he could show up to plague the character, and in any number of bodies, perhaps dozens! So even if they kill him, if they don't stop him in time, they might be dealing with him again, and again, and again.
-The Gift of Belenus (I'm going with that for the name. Witch/Fey burnings are the focus of the adventure so Witch's Bane will be the adventure name) is sorta an example of bad timing on all accounts. Basically a Seelie fey was rather upset with the cold winter as it prefered the summer. So it decided to summon a Fire Elemental, a trick it picked up at some point in its immortal life. As luck should have it, also during this time a village in Tepest (still picking a name) prayed for something to deliver them from the cold, for they had already lost several of there own to the winter snow. At that moment, the fey completed its summoning, but had misjudged just where the elemental would appear. Manifesting as a bolt of light from the sky, the Elemental manifested before the praying villagers. Praising it as a miracle of Belenus, they found the fire did not go out all winter despite little feeding, that the furnaces and hearths feed its "holy" flame burned hotter and longer. The elemental itself was kinda chill with the whole thing, as the winter cold took much of its power and the gifts and prayers of the people keep it appeased. While it would prefer burning would, setting holy passion alight served it just fine.
---The Inquisition have visited the Flame several times and consider it a momentous thing, having no evidence as of yet of fey involvement. The problem is they would much prefer the inquisition control the flame, to use it as a holy weapon against the fey threat. The village doesn't want their peace and quite reverence for the gift to be disturbed, but the Inquisition is beginning to put the pressure on, and have decided they will bring the witches here for burning. Very soon.
---The elemental for now is very relaxed, though it has tasted goblin flesh, and that has made it begin to grow an appetite. Should it taste more, its corruption will begin. A few goblin ghosts actually manifest from time to time near the edge of the town at night. The flame doesn't cause this, but could be used as evidence
---The Fey which summoned it is kinda miffed about not getting the elemental it asked for, and only by chance has it not heard of the village where it really turned up at. If it learns about this, it will actually go so far as to walk into town and demand they give it back. Its only proper, after all, he did summon the thing. (Really just something to put in if the players really can't find any other way to stop the witch burning. Of course, this also gurantees the inquisition will crack down on the village. Hard.)
---I figure it will work in rule of three for the burnings and corruption of the flame. The adventuer will take place over a few weeks, as the next burning incident happens and the corruption worsens. The people will be wary as the corruption happens, as the furnaces and hearths that houses some of the Gift of Belenus will start to glow blue from time to time and burn out of control. The inquisition will at first take it as a sign of Belenus's approval of the burnings, but might be convinced that something is wrong as it progresses.
I've made a few changes so far and cemented a few ideas
-The Fouling Fog (again, still not sure on the name) was summoned early in Paridon's History by a mage wanting his own spies, invisible on the winds. Chafing under his control, they did they're task as spies, but delighted in witnessing Paridon spiral into chaos as starvation and riots ran rampant. In particular they enjoyed witnessing the intrigue and paranoia of the Doppelgangers. Upon witnessing one of the Red Jack murders, and the terrified frenzy that followed, they were inspired. Over the course of weeks they whispered lies, promises, and paranoid musings into the mind of their sleeping master, eventually driving him to madness and a murderous spree. As he was shot down to end his mad rampage, they were free. Free to spread fear and chaos wherever they wish
---The Trio has a sort of instinctual camaraderie, sticking together cause its what they've always done. There main goal is to spread chaos, to drive people to violent madness, and watch the fear and chaos that follows. They particularly like starting large events that drive the people into panic. Fun to watch, fun to do.
---Sodo is aware some force has been watch him and his Doppelgangers from time to time, and it is but one in a tangle of paranoid fears that mingle in his thoughts, and he has his own supsicions about the fog. Should he learn enough about them to realize they are too hard to control for his own ends, he might (throught several proxies) give the players a clue about the Fog.
---The trio of mist elementals enjoy cities as they are a perfect breeding ground for madness, and a perfect canvas to see it upon. As such they tend to the cities. While they mainly go about Paridon, Sodo ends up making things hard for them and so they are forced to take they're game on the road, lay low. They have a home away from home in Port-a-Lucine, but have been to Lekar, Pont-a-Museau, even a holiday in Dominia once. Overall, they stick to civilized domains.
---The adventure itself will be Dementliu, but I'll include some possible variant material/guides to put it Paridon or somewhere else. But mainly it will be built for Dementliu
-The Mound really isn't meant to have much of an origin. It's always just sorta been, and that's meant to be the point of his horror. The Mound has just always been there, on that hill, as that hill. Its so old that its almost suggestible that its not a corrupted elemental, but was actually made whole-cloth by the mist. If he has an origin, its lost in the mists of time.
---It really is meant to be a very general adventure, very customizable with any sorta threats you wish. It will have about 3 real locations: The town, an old abandoned mine, and the mound itself. Maybe make a rolling table for intrigue in town, for stuff in the mine, ect.
---The hint that something is more to the mound will begin in the mine, an old workshop for the necromancer before he set up his ritual on the mound. There's some undead there, a few magic traps, his research notes. As they go through, the mine begins to shift and have some caves collapse, a sign that the mound is beginning to stir (maybe have a small hint of the mounds true nature in the necromancers notes)
---Might include a druid or somebody in the adventure to help the players, a way to make the mound go back to sleep. Its possible to kill the mound, but its a real challenge.
---The Mound will wake up in the adventure, its kinda the climax. If they interput the necromancer easily, I might have the Mound sorta half wake up, like it forms a giant hand to swat at the players like a sleepy guy would a noisy alarm clock. Makes its awakening happen slowly.
---If the mound isn't stopped, it will destroy the town. It will wander for a few days before eventually beginning to fall back to sleep, possibly melting back into the ground. From there, it might just show up again anywhere.
-I supposed I should clarify: Specimen 26 isn't really the focus or the intended villain of the adventure, the mad scientist that is using it is. Specimen 26 doesn't really have much to it: its basically a captured and abused animal. Its constantly being fed then drained, its stuck in a glass bowl and from time to time is shocked horribly with electricity. It reaches out as much as it can to get someone, anyone, to help it get out. Its evil, but has also been driven to violent madness by its abuse.
---I like the idea of having the summoner want the elemental back, but that feels like a recurrence thing. He just wouldn't fit into the adventure
---If unleashed, he will kill the scientist first, his assistants second, and its really kinda up to dm choice if it attacks the players or not. If the players help it escape and leave it alone, it probably will leave them alone. More than anything else, it just wants out of lamordia, and really want's out of its laboratory prison
---Specimen 26 isn't the only possible recurrence, cause if the scientist succeeds on his plan to copy his mind onto people who have his blood in them, he could show up to plague the character, and in any number of bodies, perhaps dozens! So even if they kill him, if they don't stop him in time, they might be dealing with him again, and again, and again.
-The Gift of Belenus (I'm going with that for the name. Witch/Fey burnings are the focus of the adventure so Witch's Bane will be the adventure name) is sorta an example of bad timing on all accounts. Basically a Seelie fey was rather upset with the cold winter as it prefered the summer. So it decided to summon a Fire Elemental, a trick it picked up at some point in its immortal life. As luck should have it, also during this time a village in Tepest (still picking a name) prayed for something to deliver them from the cold, for they had already lost several of there own to the winter snow. At that moment, the fey completed its summoning, but had misjudged just where the elemental would appear. Manifesting as a bolt of light from the sky, the Elemental manifested before the praying villagers. Praising it as a miracle of Belenus, they found the fire did not go out all winter despite little feeding, that the furnaces and hearths feed its "holy" flame burned hotter and longer. The elemental itself was kinda chill with the whole thing, as the winter cold took much of its power and the gifts and prayers of the people keep it appeased. While it would prefer burning would, setting holy passion alight served it just fine.
---The Inquisition have visited the Flame several times and consider it a momentous thing, having no evidence as of yet of fey involvement. The problem is they would much prefer the inquisition control the flame, to use it as a holy weapon against the fey threat. The village doesn't want their peace and quite reverence for the gift to be disturbed, but the Inquisition is beginning to put the pressure on, and have decided they will bring the witches here for burning. Very soon.
---The elemental for now is very relaxed, though it has tasted goblin flesh, and that has made it begin to grow an appetite. Should it taste more, its corruption will begin. A few goblin ghosts actually manifest from time to time near the edge of the town at night. The flame doesn't cause this, but could be used as evidence
---The Fey which summoned it is kinda miffed about not getting the elemental it asked for, and only by chance has it not heard of the village where it really turned up at. If it learns about this, it will actually go so far as to walk into town and demand they give it back. Its only proper, after all, he did summon the thing. (Really just something to put in if the players really can't find any other way to stop the witch burning. Of course, this also gurantees the inquisition will crack down on the village. Hard.)
---I figure it will work in rule of three for the burnings and corruption of the flame. The adventuer will take place over a few weeks, as the next burning incident happens and the corruption worsens. The people will be wary as the corruption happens, as the furnaces and hearths that houses some of the Gift of Belenus will start to glow blue from time to time and burn out of control. The inquisition will at first take it as a sign of Belenus's approval of the burnings, but might be convinced that something is wrong as it progresses.
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The Lesser Evil
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Re: Children of the Night: Elementals
snipKingCorn wrote:Thanks for the replies and ideas.
I've made a few changes so far and cemented a few ideas
-The Fouling Fog (again, still not sure on the name) was summoned early in Paridon's History by a mage wanting his own spies, invisible on the winds. Chafing under his control, they did they're task as spies, but delighted in witnessing Paridon spiral into chaos as starvation and riots ran rampant. In particular they enjoyed witnessing the intrigue and paranoia of the Doppelgangers. Upon witnessing one of the Red Jack murders, and the terrified frenzy that followed, they were inspired...
So it sounds like the trio is evolving an unusual amount of intelligence or at least understanding of human behavior through watching mankind. This increased awareness/understanding could be a building threat if the mist elementals are not stopped: their tactics become more and more advanced, spreading farther out and becoming harder to foil.---The Trio has a sort of instinctual camaraderie, sticking together cause its what they've always done. There main goal is to spread chaos, to drive people to violent madness, and watch the fear and chaos that follows. They particularly like starting large events that drive the people into panic. Fun to watch, fun to do.
Given that you're setting the adventure in Dementlieu, Chateaufaux might be a good place to set the adventure. There is already a high incidence of madness occurring there, and the people are starting to blame
Do you think would be something for a Recurrence type thing, or would the players run into one/some of his agents in the Dementlieu adventure?---Sodo is aware some force has been watch him and his Doppelgangers from time to time, and it is but one in a tangle of paranoid fears that mingle in his thoughts, and he has his own supsicions about the fog. Should he learn enough about them to realize they are too hard to control for his own ends, he might (throught several proxies) give the players a clue about the Fog.
If they've observed Dominia, they might have gained an understanding of how mental illness is supposed to help people recover from madness (with Dr. Heinfroth being an obvious exception since he's an evil wretch). Therefore, somebody like Dr. Vilhelm Mikki of Chateauxfaux could very well represent a threat to the madness they might like to perpetuate. Or perhaps driving him over the edge might be fun for them in that they might make him just as bad as Heinfroth.---The trio of mist elementals enjoy cities as they are a perfect breeding ground for madness, and a perfect canvas to see it upon. As such they tend to the cities. While they mainly go about Paridon, Sodo ends up making things hard for them and so they are forced to take they're game on the road, lay low. They have a home away from home in Port-a-Lucine, but have been to Lekar, Pont-a-Museau, even a holiday in Dominia once. Overall, they stick to civilized domains.
---The adventure itself will be Dementliu, but I'll include some possible variant material/guides to put it Paridon or somewhere else. But mainly it will be built for Dementliu
In any case, with its already high rate of madness and mental illness in Chateaufaux, that town might make for a natural setting for the Fouling Fog to visit. There is already a hysteria building against Mikki as the one responsible, so pushing the people into murdering him might not be that difficult either. Perhaps the mist elementals could be attracted by the fiendish energies in the water? (as suggested by the "Something's In the Water" dread possibility).
http://fraternityofshadows.com/wiki/Som ... ementlieu)
This all looks pretty solid. I don't have a lot more to add here.-The Mound...
Sounds good. So I guess then the question might be what drove the mad scientist to get such grandiose ideas of powers in his head?-I supposed I should clarify: Specimen 26 isn't really the focus or the intended villain of the adventure, the mad scientist that is using it is.
And how does he do it? Does he mix in some of his blood with the elemental's and then inject that into people?
Good point. Do you have any ideas on who he has already infected and who might be infected over the course of the adventure?---Specimen 26 isn't the only possible recurrence, cause if the scientist succeeds on his plan to copy his mind onto people who have his blood in them, he could show up to plague the character, and in any number of bodies, perhaps dozens! So even if they kill him, if they don't stop him in time, they might be dealing with him again, and again, and again.
Some good complications here. The Fey might not start out by being direct at first (as fey can be cryptic and hard to understand by mortal standards). The Fey could start out with omens that could potentially hint to the nature of the elemental, then if that fails switch to harsher strategies (crop spoilings, etc.) before a direct confrontation. Of course, the townspeople might see this as evidence of a worsening witch's curse and cling even more to Belenus' Gift. The players might be more perceptive in recognizing the Fey's clues as what they are, additional hints into the origins of the elemental.---The Fey which summoned it is kinda miffed about not getting the elemental it asked for, and only by chance has it not heard of the village where it really turned up at. If it learns about this, it will actually go so far as to walk into town and demand they give it back. Its only proper, after all, he did summon the thing. (Really just something to put in if the players really can't find any other way to stop the witch burning. Of course, this also gurantees the inquisition will crack down on the village. Hard.).
Of course, once the nature of the elemental is discovered, what to do with it could remain a dilemma. Handing it over to the Fey might appease it and might even help against the approaching winter, but then that could bring down the wrath of the Inquisition. On the other hand, seeing its destruction could appease the Inquisition, but thereby earn the wrath of the Fey. The players could invite in the Inquisition to deal with both the elemental and the Fey, but that might cause a crackdown against the townspeople and provide an excuse for furthering the Inquisitions power, possibly even causing another wave of witch hunts.
Re: Children of the Night: Elementals
Does that mean cut that, or what?snip
I'm admitidly still unsure of how intelligent elementals are supposed to be. I figure they sorta vary between barely sentient to slighty above animal intelligence, so I figured the Fouling Fog trio could be slightly tricky. If it doesn't make sense for them to deliberatly drive there summoner insane, they could have done it just on implus by mimicking what they heard in the riots of Paridon
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ewancummins
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Re: Children of the Night: Elementals
The Monster Manual (AD&D 1E) rates the standard four elemental types all as Low intelligence, which means 5-7. That's the same as ogres, ettins, gorillas, owlbears, and quasits.
The range is pretty similar in 2E and 3E, with elder 3E elementals being smarter but still only hitting average levels (about 10)
Elementals in most editions:
The range is pretty similar in 2E and 3E, with elder 3E elementals being smarter but still only hitting average levels (about 10)
Elementals in most editions:
- have ruler types
speak languages/can communicate in a complex fashion
may make bargains or pacts with mortals
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.
-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
Re: Children of the Night: Elementals
I kinda wanted to go with the Keith Baker Eberron model, where pure elementals like fire or pyre elementals have about animal level intelligence, running on instinct. I also kinda based it around the depiction of Boreas in CotN: Demons, being a force of nature.ewancummins wrote:The Monster Manual (AD&D 1E) rates the standard four elemental types all as Low intelligence, which means 5-7. That's the same as ogres, ettins, gorillas, owlbears, and quasits.
The range is pretty similar in 2E and 3E, with elder 3E elementals being smarter but still only hitting average levels (about 10)
Elementals in most editions:If you want them to be lower INT, that's cool. It's your game.
- have ruler types
speak languages/can communicate in a complex fashion
may make bargains or pacts with mortals
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ewancummins
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Re: Children of the Night: Elementals
Sounds cool.
I've no doubt forgotten much about Eberron since I sold the books. I ran a short Eberron campaign once. It was a cool setting but the hardbacks didn't make my cut when I downsized my print D&D collection (only Greyhawk and Ravenloft made it.)
I've no doubt forgotten much about Eberron since I sold the books. I ran a short Eberron campaign once. It was a cool setting but the hardbacks didn't make my cut when I downsized my print D&D collection (only Greyhawk and Ravenloft made it.)
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.
-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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The Lesser Evil
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Re: Children of the Night: Elementals
I wasn't making any suggestion to cut their intelligence or alter their activities/modus operandi, just merely noting these Fouling Fog seemed to have an higher connection to/understanding of human mindset than your average elemental. You may or may not wish to make them higher than average comprehension/intelligence- certainly it's possible to take advantage of players' expectations of dumb elementals and create horror/tension by having the elementals use some unexpected dirty tricks and tactics. I think the most important thing is to depict the elementals as inhuman in psychology regardless of their intelligence or mental faculties.
If you wanted an explanation for the Fouling Fog's unusual natures, they could be justified any number of ways- some kind of spell from the summoner. Or perhaps they gained an increased understanding of humanity/social awareness from spying on other people. On the other hand, your suggestion of them observing the Paridonian masses riot in the streets could be a good solution too. It all just depends on how you interpret the situation and what you want to do for your game.
If you wanted an explanation for the Fouling Fog's unusual natures, they could be justified any number of ways- some kind of spell from the summoner. Or perhaps they gained an increased understanding of humanity/social awareness from spying on other people. On the other hand, your suggestion of them observing the Paridonian masses riot in the streets could be a good solution too. It all just depends on how you interpret the situation and what you want to do for your game.
Re: Children of the Night: Elementals
Right. I'll keep with the fog having higher than usual intelligence due to it observing humans. I'm admit idly split on what to have them do, cause I originally based them on the Stephen King story "Strawberry Spring" where the narrator is implied to be a serial killer who goes mad in the evening fog. I liked the idea of mists intentionally driving people to madness but am split whether to go the "makes serial killers" route or "makes riots" route. Cause the casues large scale havoc thing feels to close to Boreas from CotN: Demons. What do you think?The Lesser Evil wrote:I wasn't making any suggestion to cut their intelligence or alter their activities/modus operandi, just merely noting these Fouling Fog seemed to have an higher connection to/understanding of human mindset than your average elemental. You may or may not wish to make them higher than average comprehension/intelligence- certainly it's possible to take advantage of players' expectations of dumb elementals and create horror/tension by having the elementals use some unexpected dirty tricks and tactics. I think the most important thing is to depict the elementals as inhuman in psychology regardless of their intelligence or mental faculties.
If you wanted an explanation for the Fouling Fog's unusual natures, they could be justified any number of ways- some kind of spell from the summoner. Or perhaps they gained an increased understanding of humanity/social awareness from spying on other people. On the other hand, your suggestion of them observing the Paridonian masses riot in the streets could be a good solution too. It all just depends on how you interpret the situation and what you want to do for your game.