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Ilsen
Acolyte
Italy
2 Posts |
 Posted - 08 Mar 2021 : 18:24:21
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I'm planning to start a campaign in Cormyr (in "contemporary" FR/5e) and I'm looking for some advices.
The base idea of the campaign is that the fate of a girl, daughter of the current ruler of Arabel, will bring havoc on Cormyr. I'll try to sum up the keypoints of the plot:
1)she is going to marry a cousin of Queen Raedra, although eventually the players should discover that she descends from a bastard of King Azoun IV and Tessaril Winter;
2) when she was born, a bad omen occurred (like a red comet in the sky) which might have given her sorcerer powers;
3) her father secretly made a pact with a coven of hags: giving them his daughter after her 16th birthday in order to end an extremely harsh winter;
4) the fact that she's going to marry a noble instead of being given to the hags is the reason of a strange dance plague that is spreading in northern Cormyr (this should be the plothook to start the whole thing);
5) when her bastard ancestor was born, the Court Wizard Vangerdahast had a vision/made a prophecy like this: "her blood will open the door to an ancient evil..."
So far, those are the main ideas. Problem is: who's the BBEG? I want someone/something maneuvering the hags, and I want to exploit both the girl's royal blood heritage (like having her used as a puppet for a nobles' rebellion) and the omen at her birth/the prophecy.
I've found this thread (http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=12203) hinting to a similar plot, although I was conceiving this campaign as something less political (I'm THAT kind of DM).
Maybe the Crystal Grot could play a role in the story, but I've no idea how. Same thing for the sword Ilbratha.
Any tips?
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ericlboyd
Forgotten Realms Designer
USA
2066 Posts |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11695 Posts |
Posted - 08 Mar 2021 : 20:52:14
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| with a grandmother like Tessaril Winter, this might be a weird take, but what if Tessaril's grandmother was a hag... a bheur hag from Rashemen. Maybe Tessaril's father was a hagspawn on dajemma, but one who had beseeched some power to make him not hideous? The result being that his children were also beautiful. Therefore this grandchild of Tessaril's blood is related to a being whose nature is winter on one side, but on the other side is royal blood. The hags involved might be bheur hags, and the BBEG might be a Durthan witch of Rashemen (that might also be a bheur hag, but with class levels... and may even be the great great grandmother). Maybe she needs royal blood for some ritual, such as to call to the Queen of Air and Darkness, but it also needs to be blood of her own lineage. Maybe even Tessaril's father (the hagspawn) wasn't so much on dajemma as on the run from his mother. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
Edited by - sleyvas on 08 Mar 2021 20:53:16 |
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TomCosta
Forgotten Realms Designer
USA
954 Posts |
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ericlboyd
Forgotten Realms Designer
USA
2066 Posts |
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Ilsen
Acolyte
Italy
2 Posts |
Posted - 09 Mar 2021 : 12:06:19
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quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
with a grandmother like Tessaril Winter, this might be a weird take, but what if Tessaril's grandmother was a hag... a bheur hag from Rashemen. Maybe Tessaril's father was a hagspawn on dajemma, but one who had beseeched some power to make him not hideous? The result being that his children were also beautiful. Therefore this grandchild of Tessaril's blood is related to a being whose nature is winter on one side, but on the other side is royal blood. The hags involved might be bheur hags, and the BBEG might be a Durthan witch of Rashemen (that might also be a bheur hag, but with class levels... and may even be the great great grandmother). Maybe she needs royal blood for some ritual, such as to call to the Queen of Air and Darkness, but it also needs to be blood of her own lineage. Maybe even Tessaril's father (the hagspawn) wasn't so much on dajemma as on the run from his mother.
Thanks for the idea, although I think that hags (at least in 5e) are created through rituals involving newborns, so...
quote:
Originally posted by ericlboyd
I would suggest reading George's marvelous work here:
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/202441/The-Lalya-Maurshanta
Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for!
The idea of having an elven secret group of "terrorists" that wants to kidnap the young girl and use her blood for a ritual perfectly suits the plot:
1) she's Obarskyr blood in her veins, so she could be used to replicate the high magic ritual that led to the creation of ghazneths - or the elves might even turn her into a ghazneth herself (being met certain conditions);
2) perhaps the red comet that crossed the sky at her birth is linked to some sort of Nalavarauthatoryl's magic leftovers. Maybe part of the red dragon lives on in her, like a magical curse?
Eventually the party might either stop Lalya Maurshanta's scheme, or face the new threat (the young girl's ghazneth - or even the reincarnation of Nalavarauthatoryl).
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11695 Posts |
Posted - 09 Mar 2021 : 13:02:06
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quote:
Originally posted by Ilsen
quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
with a grandmother like Tessaril Winter, this might be a weird take, but what if Tessaril's grandmother was a hag... a bheur hag from Rashemen. Maybe Tessaril's father was a hagspawn on dajemma, but one who had beseeched some power to make him not hideous? The result being that his children were also beautiful. Therefore this grandchild of Tessaril's blood is related to a being whose nature is winter on one side, but on the other side is royal blood. The hags involved might be bheur hags, and the BBEG might be a Durthan witch of Rashemen (that might also be a bheur hag, but with class levels... and may even be the great great grandmother). Maybe she needs royal blood for some ritual, such as to call to the Queen of Air and Darkness, but it also needs to be blood of her own lineage. Maybe even Tessaril's father (the hagspawn) wasn't so much on dajemma as on the run from his mother.
Thanks for the idea, although I think that hags (at least in 5e) are created through rituals involving newborns, so...
No problem. Also, while some "new lore" may say that there's one way for them to produce offspring, that doesn't mean its the only way, nor does it invalidate that the hags in the realms may be different (for instance, bheur hags aren't listed in the 5e monster manual, only in another resource). In all, its primarily, at least for me, "what makes a decent story" versus "what new change have they instituted". But, if you want to link it to another idea, that works too. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Looking for a BBEG in a Cormyr-based campaign
