Session Notes – C01.S03.13
| Cycle 01 | Shield 03 | Session 13 | Notes |
What happens in this scene?
I initially had planned to go straight from Opening Ceremony to the first event of the games – The Stones Throwdown… but then I remembered the first time I wrote through this idea – a couple years back now – a trick was played on the PCs. The transport wagon taking them to Easthaven did not go to Easthaven but instead led them into a trap where they were attacked by crag cats.
I’m going to do the same, well, similar. The transport driver (along with his son) are paid (probably by Pakbak, but it could be any contestant at this point) to waylay their passengers. At this point, any tricks to remove contestants are fair game. Well… not fair… but the point is, their gold is in the pot. If they meet with unfortunate circumstances in between events they effectively lose the games and their gold goes to the winners. So the times in between the dangerous events are even more dangerous if there are any who would play dirty – and of course there are plenty this year.
I could not find a name for the forest that appears along the south of the Eastway between Bryn Shander and Easthaven… so I named it. Wayvern Silva. It is a dark forest with a thick canopy. The ground within sees very little snow and almost no light when the canopy is frozen with snow. Occasionally chunks of frozen snow may fall into the forest, glittering its way to the forest floor as ice crystals.
My first thought was to use the Gnoll Vampires from the Rime of the Frostmaiden adventure. Having read up a bit, I decided to leave them in the glacier (Tekeli-li) but I still wanted vampires to be the threat within the forest. So I did a search on monsters by habitat/environment and at the top of that list was the Giant Owl. Then it occurred to me that we have a new playable race of owl like beings from Strixhaven – the Owlin Race (or this). I decided to create an Owlin Vampire (vNPC) and give him/her a small troop of Giant Owl Thralls
Should this vNPC be male or female? [()] Female.
What are names like for Owlin? This resource gives descriptor names like Beak, Gizzard, etc
Maybe something like Screech? Screek? Screaka? Yes, Screaka.
Screaka is not from the Realms originaly… but from the Frostfell. She was banished from the plane by magic, but found her way to Icewind Dale where she found food far more plentiful – and the competition for it weaker. She began collecting Giant Owls to make Thralls of. She and her thralls have made Wayvern Silva home for over a year now.
Perhaps I ought to go back the first trip to Easthaven and include some rumor of dangerous owls? Maybe a warning not to travel the stretch until after first shadow – and certainly never during nhyx. And no matter how appealing the shelter of Wayvern Silva may appear – do not enter its shadow… something like that.
Even after handicapping Screaka from the default Vampire, she is still formidable and may be too much for Level 3 (original CR was 13…)
So I have this much
Party leaves Bryn Shander via pre-arranged transport sled
The transport driver and his son bail out, sending the sled headlong into the Wayvern Syliva.
There is a combat encounter with Giant Vampire Owls (Thralls of Screaka)
Screaka enters the combat at some point
Maybe that is too simple
I don’t want this session to drag out into multiple sessions… but it needs more.
Perhaps the Giant Owls steal one or more party members and fly away into the dark of Wayvern Silva – then the rest of the party must seek them out in the dark – find the lair of Screaka.
Who is on the transport?
Dawndra & Shent
Kildar & Rivereyes
Elly Rrika & ??? Maybe her husband? Father?
How many Owl Thralls are there? 2d4
[()] 5
So then 5 of the 6 party members are nabbed – or a nab is attempted – by owl thralls
DC 13 Dex Save
If fail, give another chance to wrestle free while in the air
DC 15 Str Save
See how it plays out… if a PC is taken, it might get interesting trying to split the party. If NPC only, then obviously there is a choice to be made – and of course they will try to save them for the sake of adventure and because of their Good alignments.
The Lair of Screaka
This is what was missing before… a location to explore within Wayvern Silva. What would an Owlin Vampire Lair look like? Borrow something from nature… perhaps… or what if there is structure within the forest – long abandoned. Would it have been Frost Giants? I’ve done plenty of that so far. It would not be Redhedmen, nor human. Gnomes maybe? Or Duergar? What if there is an entrance to Underdark within the forest? Gnomes…
Within the depths of Wayvern Silva is a long-abandoned Gnomish temple to Baervan Wildwanderer. The temple looks like a massive nest of branches that encompasses a dozen or more trees – something like a beaver damn hoisted into the tree tops. Within the nest are many passage ways and small rooms – all gnome-high – with the exception of the main worship chamber which is much larger. This is where Screaka made her lair. The original altar to Baervan remains along with many valuable items ‘sacrificed’ to the deity by gnomes hundreds of years ago. Not that it matters now, but the temple was once called Fastpaws Mantle. The temple is quite old, and sections have fallen away. Climbing the structure has a risk of falling along with chunks of the ancient raised structure.
The thralls deliver food to a chamber on top of Fastpaws Mantle to await feast hour. The party will have to climb the trees to rescue captured members. Maybe set a timer here? If they can make it the rooftop of the temple within so many minutes, then Screaka does not appear?