The Final Battle:Malikane vs. pureWasted

[Colatine]

So here we are; the field of 12 narrowed to just the two of you. I wish you both luck, and a reminder that the optional ingredients are only optional; you may choose as many as you want to use, or none, if you so wish. The judge will only consider their use if he feels the competition too close to call; in this instance, the bad use of an igredient will count against you, while a good use will be rewarded. Your ingredients, gentlemen:


Main Ingredients
Legendary Monarch
Phantasm
Unique handle
Way of the blade
Dancing steps
Primordial fear

Optional Ingredients
Devils garden
Patchwork Dress
Isle of the beast
Bloody drama
Lost tongue

[Malikane]

Rathyrian Black

An adventure for a party of 10th level adventurers, best served cold with a malicious grin. Maniacal laughter is optional.

Synopsis The characters arrive in Tannerbury Bridge, a small village. That night, they are attacked by invisible assailants who cry out in a strange and archaic language. Upon seeking more information, they learn about the Tower of Kohn Rathyr. Investigating the strange tower leads to conflict with more invisible assailants, several rooms full of strange occurrences, a dragon, and the emperor of old, Kohn Rathyr himself.

History Nearly 3000 years ago, Tan Burah, the capital city of the Rathyrian Empire, housed some of the greatest artists and philosophers of the time. This led to a golden age for the empire. The ruling family, the Rathyr's, used this golden age to fuel higher ambitions—a quest for immortality. Unfortunately, this quest failed, leaving the former king dead and his 3 sons fighting over the remains of the empire. However, for Kohn, the youngest scion of the Rathyr line, time was on his side. While not achieving true immortality, the magic of the rituals that were performed infused within the boy the essence of a black dragon, giving him a far extended lifespan. Within a human generation, he had restored all of the former territories of the Rathyrian Empire. However, he found that the magic that made him outlast his brothers also rendered him sterile and mentally unstable. After several hundred years of ruling over his subjects in a terrible and corrupt manner, an order of paladins finally stood up to the emperor. Unable to confront his power directly, they worked together with a powerful wizard to create a prison for him to rot in until he died of old age. They imprisoned the half-dragon Kohn Rathyr within a tower specially designed to contain him. With his absence, the Rathyrian Empire was fractured into a multitude of smaller ruling states. In time, Tan Burah fell into extreme disrepair, being plundered and torn down several times. It eventually turned into the small village of Tannerbury Bridge. Stories are still told about the depravities of the “demon-emperor” Kohn Rathyr, slain by those valiant knights so long ago. Kohn Rathyr has still not died of old age, however. He has studied his family's ancient arts of sorcery and used summoned agents to try to find a way out his prison. Recently, he finally discovered this knowledge. Now he just needs heroes to take down the seals that bind him...

Chapter 1: Tannerbury Bridge The heroes arrive in Tannerbury Bridge, either just passing through or having been sent there for some reason. The small village is home to 950 souls. The architecture is relatively modern, but some of the stones used in the buildings are worn down from the wear of uncountable years. The only structure of significance is a large tower on the eastern side of town, right next to the edge of a large forest. The characters stay in Tannerbury Bridge is uneventful for the first couple of hours. If the DM has sent them on an errand there, than it could be resolved in this time. Otherwise, the characters could find an inn to stay at for the night, a small market to shop for basic supplies, or townspeople to ask about the strange tower. Many different rumors can be heard about the tower, ranging from a fairly faithful adaptation of the first two paragraphs in the 'history' section to wild rumors about fey, demons, devils, undead, and other troublesome creatures. Regardless of what the characters do or learn, they are attacked either as they try to leave the town or as night settles in and they are alone, whichever happens first. They are attacked by two invisible stalkers, both of which cry out to the party in a strange language that none of the characters understand without magical help. If they have a tongues spell or similar, they can understand the following words. ”The Eternal Emperor will rise again! Long live Emperor Kohn Rathyr!” The two invisible stalkers will fight to the death. When the characters investigate the attack, the constable of the town tells them that “hauntings” have been occurring recently, most often on passing adventurers. These “phantasms” shriek and cry out in a language that has not been used for thousands of years—Rathyran. This can only lead to one conclusion—that the last emperor of the Rathyrian Empire is still alive, close to breaking out, and using his family's “ghosts” to attack those who would threaten his power. After they learn this information, the constable begs the characters to investigate the tower and eliminate the threat of the Rathyr family once and for all. Assuming that vengeance and the begging of the constable aren't enough to get the party to investigate, the constable offers them everything in the town's treasury, as well as whatever they find in the tower.

Chapter 2: The Tower of Kohn Rathyr Approaching the tower, the party notices its large size. Easily 100 feet high and 40 feet across, it is by far the largest structure for many miles. The door in the front is the only way in, and it is sealed with a very well built lock (DC 35). The room is huge, filling what looks like the entirety of the tower. The only thing of note is the staircase that zigzags around the tower at random, seemingly unsupported. Nothing strange happens until one of the characters steps on the third step of the staircase. Immediately the stairs rearrange, throwing off whoever is on them. After shuffling around for a bit, they stop moving. Closer inspection reveals that the stairs now lead to a door about 30 feet above the ground, still zigzagging. Stepping on any stair that is a multiple of three will cause the stairs to rearrange again. Four arrangements are possible with this stairs. The first leads to nowhere, the second leads to a door 30 feet up in the side of the tower, the third leads to a door 50 feet up, and the fourth leads to a door 70 feet up. It rearranges in that order every time. All of the doors are built into the side of the tower. By all conventional laws of physics, they should lead outside. The first door/portal leads to a room that is filled with red plants. The plants are spiky, thorny, prickly and generally unpleasant. They mimic the effects of a Wall of Thorns which covers the entire room, apart from a small walkway to squeeze through. The only thing of note is a strange metal disc on the far wall. It has 4 holes in it, and is able to turn both clockwise and counterclockwise when the characters twist it. It clicks once with each rotation. However, nothing happens until it is rotated two complete rotations clockwise and the disc is pulled outward. A Int check at DC 14 is enough to figure it out. A shift shakes the room and the disc evaporates into smoke. Two invisible stalkers are in this room, hiding. They do not attack until the characters discover the secret of the disc. Once all the characters defeat the stalkers and leave the room, the stairs reset themselves. They do not lead to that room again. It is simply removed from the order the stairs go in. The second door/portal leads to a room that is 70 feet high and 40 feet across. The door is 60 feet off the ground. A small bridge connects the portal on one side to a 5-foot landing directly across from it, 35 feet away. The bridge is only 3 inches thick. A quick look down reveals a multitude of blades on the ground, pointing up. If a character attempts to balance across the bridge, then nothing exciting happens until the character reaches the other side. At that point, two more invisible stalkers in the room attack the now-separated group. If a character attempts to fly across, the invisible stalkers both attack the flying character. After the stalkers are defeated, the characters are able to examine something on the far ledge. Three swords stick out of a stone, blade outward. Each can be moved up or down, but doing so does one point of slashing damage to any character that does not have protection of some kind. Once the sword on the right is up, the sword in the middle is straight, and the sword on the left is down, the room rumbles and shakes. Anyone on the bridge must make a Balance check at DC 25 to stay on. An Int check DC 12 can be used to figure out the solution. Once all the characters leave the room, the stairs reset themselves again. They do not lead to that room again. It is removed from the order in which the stairs rearrange. The third door/portal leads to a room that is small with nothing but another door on the end. Once that door is opened, the other one (leading from the stairs to the room) shuts. The portal is closed and opening it again reveals only the stone wall. The next room is a vast cavern, within which is an adult black dragon named Taevarthinai. It has been held in stasis by the same magic that is driving the rest of the tower. Once the door is opened, it is released from stasis. It fights to the death. The seal in this room is located inside a pool next to the back wall. A dragon tooth must be fitted into a hole on the bottom of the pool. Draconic writing on the wall next to the pool reveals this fact, as does a combined Spot check DC 15 and Int check DC 12. Once the tooth is in the hole at the bottom, the room rumbles like the other two, and the door/portal back to the moving staircase is revealed. Once the characters have left the room, the portal shuts behind them and the stairs rearrange again, back to the original position. It does not go to that room again. Once all three seals have been broken, the staircase gains an additional position—one leading up to the top of the tower, in a doorway right next to the ceiling. This room leads to the prison cell of Kohn Rathyr. The characters find him inside, simply sitting there meditating. Unless they attack immediately, he speaks to them first in Rathyran. Unless one of them has a spell to understand the ancient language, he soon gives up and attacks. He is a half-black dragon Sorcerer 10. Upon defeating him, much of the curse holding the tower together is broken, and the tower begins to fall apart. The characters have 1 minute to descend the erratic staircase and exit the tower before it falls upon them.

Chapter 3: The Aftermath Assuming the characters survive, they will have to explain to the residents of Tannerbury Bridge what happened in there. No further implications from the adventure are expressly given, but the DM could find other ways to include the ancient Rathyrian Empire in the campaign.

Notes/FAQ Q: Why are the rooms outside the tower? A: The magic of the tower creates a variety of extradimensional spaces, each opening like a giant Bag of Holding. Q: Why does the Rathyr family use Invisible Stalkers? A: The applications for an invisible assassin that is smart enough to carry out most tasks are self-explanatory. It is also plausible that if a family specialized in using them, the servants would eventually learn to use their master's language—in this case, Rathyran. Q: If Kohn wants to escape, then why are the Invisible Stalkers trying to kill the characters? A: While not expressly said, the Invisible Stalkers primary task is defending their master. They know his goal is to escape, but being the authority-hating beings they are, it is not a stretch to assume that they would follow this goal to the letter. His safety would be preserved by keeping him locked up forever. Also, on a side note, being enslaved for 3000 years is bound to make any being rather upset. “Dying” at the hands of adventurers would release the Invisible Stalker back into the Plane of Air. Q: What in the bloody hells is a black dragon doing in the tower? A: Again, not expressly said, the arcanist who designed the tower felt that it would be ironically fitting to guard the partially black dragon emperor with one of his own. The paladins agreed because it would be removing two powerful evil beings from terrorizing townspeople while putting them at odds with one another. Q: What is the difference between the words Rathyrian and Rathyan? A: Rathyrian with an “i” refers to the people, culture, and empire, while Rathyan without the “i” refers to the language. It is similar to Arab people/Arabic language in a real world analogy. Q: Where do I send my hate mail? A: Private messages work just fine, thank you. Q: Any last words? A: Regardless of how this turns out, I had a great time competing against all of my opponents. The level of competition in each round has been incredible, and I have grown as a DM and as a person because of it. Thanks to everyone who sent me private messages wishing me luck. Cheers, mates.*lifts a cold beverage in everyone's general direction.*

Ingredients Legendary Monarch – Kohn Rathyr, half-dragon scion of the Rathyr family and last ruler of the Rathyrian Empire. Phantasm – The Invisible Stalkers that Kohn Rathyr binds to his will with summoning magic used by his family. Unique Handle – All three of the seals are unique levers of some kind. Way of the Blade – Walking the thin bridge over lots of spikes to find blades you have to move. Dancing Steps – Stairs that dance around in sequence. If it were random, then it wouldn't be dancing. Primordial Fear – Literally the black dragon's frightening presence that it gains for being an adult. Figuratively, the dragon itself. Optional: Devil's Garden – The first room, with lots of red, spiky plants. Lost Tongue – The ancient language of Rathyran

[ridin gaijin]

Malikane, you have won by default, but that doesn't change the level of attention you put into your submission (whatever level that was). Let's have a look under the hood, shall we, for the final entry and ultimate winner of the battle in kitchen forum stadium!

Regarding ingredient use, I found a satisfactory sampling, with the exception of Primordial Fear, which was pretty disconnected. The Dancing Steps and the Way of the Blade are well-used. The Lost Tongue is a bit pedestrian, but you certainly don't lose anything for it.

To begin with, you imply that being sterile and crazy is too steep a price to pay for long life. I ask you, is it really? Most of the world's population is already insane; and if one were to have gotten busy before the semi-botched ritual, lack of heirs wouldn' t be so much a problem as outliving them might. Other than that, you've provided a textured and comprehensible backstory as appetizer. Now that the table is set...will the entree sizzle...?

The conclusion the PCs are led to regarding the hauntings is a bit deterministic. There are other ways to interpret attacks on strangers by empty air spouting gibberish than by deducing the mostly-forgotten Emperor is back and about to bust out. Of where? If everyone knows, someone would've done something about it by now, no...?

Last round's submissions, ancient history though they may seem, lived on in this judge's disused brain for a preponderance of situations such as: "The door in the front is the only way in..." Really? For a bunch of surly 10th level PCs? Maybe in other DMs' campaigns, but never in mine. My players would Craft an army of mechanical badgers and tunnel underneath the wall, then invoke some obscure rule to cause a horde of Earth Elementals to wreck the damn foundation just so the party can burst up through the floor dramatically.

Even so, I'd have preferred to see a REF or DEX roll to avoid being chucked off the staircase. It won't take too many d6 of falling damage per 10' for the party wizard to get all hissy, and we want the player to feel like s/he has a chance, or else use their noggin and just Fly up...Next, Fireball the red plants and another fight--good stuff. The second room is my favorite, especially with Stalkers waiting to punish players whose cleverness may have had them zipping around earlier whilst thumbing their noses at the land-bound party members. A little dragon dentistry solves the next room--I wonder if neutral players would try to talk with the dragon, possibly then persuading it to voluntarily contribute a tooth in exchange for an escape, and the freedom to eat everything in the nearby town? Just a thought.

Would've liked a bit more meat on the bad guy's bones, but a few messy rounds later, the masonry is coming unglued and the party's dodging rubble without any cash to show for their troubles. The concept of the old Empire leaves some room for the DM to imagine more deviltry later on.

All in all, I found this adventure coherent, well-plotted, and a good mix of traps and fights, although with a dearth of NPCs. This is a good example of what we like to see in these annual culinary exercises--enough adventure to tax a few players with, maybe a springboard to greater things, all done with weird ingredients.

Well done, Iron DM Malikane, and it would be terrific to see you again next year!