Azalin in Vallaki: HELP STILL NEEDED! (with apologies)

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Azalin in Vallaki: HELP STILL NEEDED! (with apologies)

Post by thekristhomas »

Once the leap was complete, the group found themselves on a mountainside in the snow. Worse, they found themselves dying of hypothermia, as the life left them, a figure approached, summoning flame to warm them, ermine robes appeared at their shoulders, and soon they were restored.

When the figure spoke, it was in a voice they knew well, "Fear not simple peasants, I am a stranger here, I am the Azal Lan of Knurl, what is the name of this strange new land?"

Oh boy
For those who might not know, my current campaign involves the PCs travelling through time, inhabiting the bodies of others, a la From the Shadows and Quantum Leap. Thus far, they have attended the wedding of sergei & tatyana, assisted the fleeing Leo Dilysnya and watched him die at Strahd's hands. They then assisted Madame Eva in her negotiations with Strahd and "leapt" into the situation described above.

The trouble is, my players kinda sprung a session on me, I didn't really have time to prepare, so I winged it, and I think I messed a few things up, so this thread will be an attempt to look at my latest session, what information the group is working with etc and try to figure out what the "point" of this section of the campaign will be going forward.

I NEED YOUR HELP!
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Re: Azalin in Vallaki: HELP NEEDED!

Post by jamesfirecat »

thekristhomas wrote:
Once the leap was complete, the group found themselves on a mountainside in the snow. Worse, they found themselves dying of hypothermia, as the life left them, a figure approached, summoning flame to warm them, ermine robes appeared at their shoulders, and soon they were restored.

When the figure spoke, it was in a voice they knew well, "Fear not simple peasants, I am a stranger here, I am the Azal Lan of Knurl, what is the name of this strange new land?"

Oh boy
For those who might not know, my current campaign involves the PCs travelling through time, inhabiting the bodies of others, a la From the Shadows and Quantum Leap. Thus far, they have attended the wedding of sergei & tatyana, assisted the fleeing Leo Dilysnya and watched him die at Strahd's hands. They then assisted Madame Eva in her negotiations with Strahd and "leapt" into the situation described above.

The trouble is, my players kinda sprung a session on me, I didn't really have time to prepare, so I winged it, and I think I messed a few things up, so this thread will be an attempt to look at my latest session, what information the group is working with etc and try to figure out what the "point" of this section of the campaign will be going forward.

I NEED YOUR HELP!
Azalin is being strangely helpful and friendly here, especially given that (if I'm reading this correctly) he's just been overthrown by a rebellion and forced to flee into the mists to save his own "life".

Isn't he typically more the "I have saved your lives so that you may bend your knees in service to me, whatever days you have now are due to me, and thus are mine to command" type?
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Re: Azalin in Vallaki: HELP NEEDED!

Post by DeepShadow of FoS »

(Depending upon how much you've already told them, you could retcon this into one of several events, such as Azalin's first arrival in Darkon, or his arrival in one of the homeworlds during the GC. Based on the threat title, I'll assume you WANT this to be his arrival in Vallaki, right after leaving GH.)

While I see where JFC is coming from here, I don't think Azalin is being totally out of character. Presumably he lost his pursuers a long time ago, wandered in the Mists for hours, walked out of it to find these guys, and has spent a little while nursing them back from the brink of hypothermia. He's shrewd enough to figure out that they would be grateful, and that he can pump them for useful information, especially if he feigns helplessness in the face of his own situation. If they fail to see him as a superior after he's been so generous, demonstrated magical prowess AND given them his title, there's plenty of time to fix after he's gotten some use out of them. :azalin:

As for where to go from here, I'd say Azalin would hide a detect thoughts among the other incanctations so as to get the truth/rest of the information they provide, BUT that might reveal they are time-travelling from the future. Not sure if you want that paradox just yet.

If by "point" you mean a QL-style goal to lead to the next leap, it would presumably be something learned about Azalin himself, and/or about his rivalry with Strahd. Off the top of my head, learning his true name was a Big Deal in From the Shadows, as that could supposedly weaken/destroy him. I personally found that lame--what is he, Rumpelstiltskin?--so if I was running this, I'd say the goal would be to discover that his true name does NOT actually weaken him at all. Have them discover that his true name does not actually do more than just annoy him...which would reveal at some point that he was faking his destruction in RoE/FtS in order to escape the demiplane.

(And now I'm trying to remember if that's how the adventures were actually written, or my own retcon....maybe someone modified my memory! LOL)
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Re: Azalin in Vallaki: HELP NEEDED!

Post by Dark Angel »

From what I remember (granted never read King of the Dead or Lord of the Necropolis) he arrived in Barovia (I want to say in the heart land areas to the south of Castle Ravenloft) and then cleared out the manor home of a boyar or burgomeister and began to rebuild his operations there (pretty sure, this would be found within the sequel to I, Strahd). Granted, who knows? Maybe he was dropped in the middle of nowhere and then eventually reached the manor home (with some time travelling PCs along the way). Maybe they did something or interacted with some one in the past that altered the history as we know it and placed him father east (I have seen every episode of Quantum Leap, by the way. Maybe he used magic to travel to the manor, up to you.

As far as his magic use, he probably is (as he was) shrouded in illusions and using a spell to talk to these 'rubes'. He may be pleasant, but I would expect an arrogance about him that the PCs should recognize. I am not sure if he would have a spell compliment (I play 2nd edition, FYI) with those prepared spells (with components, memorization times, etc) ready for such a thing. I know in 2nd edition, it takes an 18th level mage almost an entire day (read day, not 'eight hours') to regain all their spells or change them out. Again a lich has no trouble do that as a mortal would, but a lich on the run would.

Now onto your adventure segment. Azalin lands in Barovia, sees the players (initially or eventually), questions them about where he is and trying to figure out his next few steps, right? The players recognize him, but should either be trying to distance themselves (realizing who he is) or figuring out what they must either witness or fulfill (not 100% on what your intentions are with the adventure arc as a whole) and deciding to stick with him. They would likely see some display of magic (likely from an item if he is trying to conserve his spell reserves) from a monster or some threat. If you are using the manor home situation, they can maybe see him take the place by force and 'remove' the former occupants. The 'next leap' could occur upon the meeting with Strahd for the first time. The questions are Would Alazin keep them around? Would they be charmed or otherwise altered as free guides to the area? Would that charm effect give them a more positive view and potentially disastrous insight into the future? Would he keep them around for that long?

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Re: Azalin in Vallaki: HELP NEEDED!

Post by Dark Angel »

Edit/clarification: I just flipped to the section of the sequel to I, Strahd (page 69-70) where Azalin first appears to the Count via a message from the wife (Zorah) of a Baron Cazi Latos. Latos lives in the west (not east or south) over the mountain (Mount Ghakis) and they were met by a stranger who was well spoken and well dressed, but demanded shelter for the night. Zorah was "frightened of him for reasons [she] could not understand" and Azalin showed no interest in their hospitality, just in her husband's books. Azalin and the baron spent hours in his study and Zorah went off to bed. She awoke when she heard shouting and a crash, saw Azalin leave with an ebony box his used to contain things of value to Cazi, found her husband asleep on the floor with his hands burned and his magical books smoldering in the fireplace.

Cazi had some spell effect on him (from Azalin) that erased all of his memory of what happened and who Azalin was. The players could be easily considered moot as they may be a part of his entourage of Azalin's and beneath her mentioning them in the letter to Strahd. Strahd immediately leaves and seeks out Azalin and meets with the baroness who informs him that Azalin has not returned. Strahd then interrogated the baron and resorted to magics of his own to learn the truth of what happened. Strahd ordered the destruction of very minor magical tomes that would only create more trouble than they are worth to the man (suggesting that Azalin was inquiring about them from others and managed to learn of the baron's collection).

Strahd then went to the town of Berez, south and west near the Luna River, looking for the lich. He interrogated one of four young men who tried to roughly deal with Azalin (and attempt nearly killing them with choking magic and an unnatural strength). He learned that Azalin now occupied the home of the first reincarnation of Tatyana, the old (and now abandoned) burgomeister's home (which really put him off as he had begun the process of converting her to vampirism and the butler ended up staking her). The place was shielded by powerful magical wards and then Azalin and Strahd exchange ominous greetings with each other (page 88) and they began posturing and making idle threats to each other.

So it seems that all of this happened in about a day and nothing was stated of the time spent in Barovia prior, but it could tie in easily and work with the stuff above. Hope this helps, let me know if there are other things/questions you may have.
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Re: Azalin in Vallaki: HELP NEEDED!

Post by Lord Cyclohexane »

Also, since they're trapped in the snow (which can be another metaphor for the Mists), this might not be the same Azal'Lan that they might expect. This could be a Mist-led version of Firan as he leaves his Barovian ordeals to face Darcalus in "King of the Dead."

If you have a need to drop some prophetic hints to your PCs, this might be a great time-out-of-time location for your PCs to run across Firan *after* his experiences in Barovia but *before* he goes into the oubilette version of Darkon. He would have already faced Strahd and might have some knowledge to accidentally pass along, but he is not the same merciless and cruel Azal'Lan that we are all familiar with. Instead, he may be giving genuine help to travelers who are in need, just as a noble person ought to and as a King would take care of his commoners.

Above all, remember that Firan's fall from grace is because his duty for his country as King was MUCH more important than his love for family. He became what he is because he could not allow his country to be ruled by a weakling, even if it was his own son. His country needed to have an ETERNALLY strong and ETERNALLY wise ruler, which is why he became what he is.

But those same motivations would have been in play BEFORE his choice, and as such, he would be VERY helpful to people he finds stranded in the snow. Duty is of utmost importance, so he would care for the PCs who cannot care for themselves. DUTY is more important above all else.

Anyway, please milk this scene for all its worth! If you're going to have a magic item go missing later on, this might be the right time-out-of-time for it to accidentally re-appear. Let this be the merciful half of Firan who gives true aid and comfort to the PCs.

Let them be shocked by the contrast later as they realize who it was who saved them... and by what he could still be if they could return the favor...
My name is lost to me
I know not who I am
And I await the crimson fires
That'll wash this world away!
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Re: Azalin in Vallaki: HELP NEEDED!

Post by Lord Cyclohexane »

Also, while I don't mean to question a FoS member...

The concept of "true names" has existed in mythology going back to Egyptian mythology if not earlier, where Isis draws most of her power from her knowledge of Ra's true name. As such, the concept has always existed in magical theory.

THAT SAID, in one of the D&D 3E books related to demonology, they mentioned that an entity's true name is a reflection of the being itself. As the entity grows and changes, its true name gains additional syllables. As such, if you cast a circle of binding based on that entity's true name, it will only last for a few decades or centuries (admittedly a long time to us) before the entity has grown and thus its true name has changed enough for the binding to not-quite bind it. In time, as the entity changes enough, the binding spell will be wholly insufficient and the entity will break free.

After all of the centuries he has spent in Ravenloft, is "Firan Zal'honan" really his TRUE name?
My name is lost to me
I know not who I am
And I await the crimson fires
That'll wash this world away!
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Re: Azalin in Vallaki: HELP NEEDED!

Post by thekristhomas »

I'm really sorry I had to post this before I'd finished (IRL stuff), so I haven't actually put up what happened yet, so with apologies, here's what happened next.

While Azalin was interrogating the PCs about Barovia, an image flickered into existence that only the PCs could see, it was Azalin, but from our time (it is he who sent the PCs back in time and has used this method to communicate before)

The Azalin from our time told the PCs that he had installed a psychic block upon them to prevent a repeat of the Madame Eva incident (where Madame Eva read the mind of the time travellers, which Azalin suspects is the source of Vistani fortune-telling, it's not) and that it was particularly important not to give any future info to this time's version of Azalin, saying "This moron has many mistakes yet to make before he becomes King of Darkon". He told them to follow "young" Azalin's instructions where ever possible. Then he vanished.

The "young" Azalin seemed pleased with the PCs answers, particularly when they told him Strahd was a vampire, as he strode away into the snow, the illusions of ermine robes, warm drinks and life giving flame disappeared and the PCs slipped into the waiting embrace of death...

The PCs remained dead for a disturbing amount of time before the blue light kicked in and they leapt forward again. Again, though, they found themselves in the presence of Azalin, this time they were kneeling at his feet, and Strahd himself stood behind Azalin, hand resting on the wizard's shoulder.

"This is my court wizard, with whom I am well pleased, you men have been selected to assist him in the construction of a manor house in Vallaki, follow his instructions, providing they do not contradict the three laws of our nation"

Taking a step back for a sec, to make a few things clear. IMC Azalin does not acquire his curse until he becomes DL, so from now until after I run House on Gryphon Hill he will be capable of research and learning spells. Secondly, I'm situating Azalin's manor and lab in Vallaki rather than Berez to match up with him having a crypt lair there in RoE.

The party travelled to Vallaki with Azalin and began to make arrangements for the construction, one of the PCs suggested that a display of magic might motivate the locals, Azalin smiled. A few moments later a local ran in saying there was a monster attacking the build site. The PCs and Azalin raced to the site to find a hydra, battle was joined, the PCs fought well but all could see it was Azalin's magical might that won the day, as they returned to the Blue Water Inn, Azalin said, "Thank you for your suggestion, I've always favoured the stick over the carrot, but I can see it's value here." After paying the landlord for drinks for the entire village Azalin departed to return to Castle Ravenloft, leaving the PCs in charge.

Without giving a blow by blow of the rest of the session the PCs appointed a foreman and investigated the town learning the following things

The local priest is an outlander from GH, who is sure that the hydra was not local, he thinks though that it was created by the land somehow.

A lone Vistani woman blames the Zarovan for the darkness in the land

Several villagers died in a snow storm three years ago, they seemed to be gathered round a fire though none was there

Thirty years ago a group of adventurers stormed the Castle Ravenloft killing the former Count

Some say that the adventurers were led by the wizard Azalin

Local records confirm this though they appear to have been altered

At this point Azalin stepped in, halting their investigation. Summoning them to a back room in the Inn, he informed them that he was aware of their prying and no longer trusted them, and required a show of faith. He produced a potion and asked them to drink it, knowing they were out gunned, they agreed...nothing happened

"Well," said Azalin "I was certain that would work, but you surprise me again. It has, however confirmed for me that it was not the vampire who placed the block upon your minds, and from that I will assume that you are not his spies against me. In that case, I will recruit you against him, I have a plan that will free us all. You will recruit and train an assault force to attack the Count, you shall not kill him, but you must remove a limb. Worry not, I'll not attempt to break through the block again, it was set by a master, and I know that if I had gone to such an effort I would have included a fail safe that killed you in the event of a breach, and I hope to make use of your...impenetrability."

And that's where we left off.
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Re: Azalin in Vallaki: HELP NEEDED!

Post by thekristhomas »

Lord Cyclohexane wrote:After all of the centuries he has spent in Ravenloft, is "Firan Zal'honan" really his TRUE name?
I seem to remember that in one of the Gaz it says something about "Firan Darcalus Zal'honan" so maybe he acquired some syllables when he reabsorbed the Darcalus persona
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Re: Azalin in Vallaki: HELP NEEDED!

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jamesfirecat wrote:Azalin is being strangely helpful and friendly here, especially given that (if I'm reading this correctly) he's just been overthrown by a rebellion and forced to flee into the mists to save his own "life".

Isn't he typically more the "I have saved your lives so that you may bend your knees in service to me, whatever days you have now are due to me, and thus are mine to command" type?
Hopefully him striding off into the snow and leaving them to die struck you as more in-character :)
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Re: Azalin in Vallaki: HELP NEEDED!

Post by thekristhomas »

DeepShadow of FoS wrote:If by "point" you mean a QL-style goal to lead to the next leap, it would presumably be something learned about Azalin himself, and/or about his rivalry with Strahd. Off the top of my head, learning his true name was a Big Deal in From the Shadows, as that could supposedly weaken/destroy him. I personally found that lame--what is he, Rumpelstiltskin?--so if I was running this, I'd say the goal would be to discover that his true name does NOT actually weaken him at all. Have them discover that his true name does not actually do more than just annoy him...which would reveal at some point that he was faking his destruction in RoE/FtS in order to escape the demiplane.

(And now I'm trying to remember if that's how the adventures were actually written, or my own retcon....maybe someone modified my memory! LOL)
IIRC You are right that in RoE the true name thing as used is a part of his deception of the PCs, but there other places which suggest that having a lich's true name does give one some advantage, IIRC VRGtL says that this is the reason lich's use pseudonyms like "Nightblood" (or, indeed, Azalin)
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Re: Azalin in Vallaki: HELP NEEDED!

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DeepShadow of FoS wrote:As for where to go from here, I'd say Azalin would hide a detect thoughts among the other incanctations so as to get the truth/rest of the information they provide, BUT that might reveal they are time-travelling from the future. Not sure if you want that paradox just yet.
Yeah, I'd thought enough ahead to realise this would be a problem, which is why I had future Azalin install the psychic block, unfortunately I hadn't really thought it through enough to realise that young Azalin would become aware of the block. It was one of the players who pointed that out (and I, like the master DM that I am, covered this mistake with a knowing smile and ominous chuckle :D )

Once I realised this, I did some quick thinking (ha), and figured that Azalin would initially suspect Strahd, and would therefore proceed with some caution, but that once he had eliminated Strahd as a suspect, he might consider the block a useful asset against Strahd
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Re: Azalin in Vallaki: HELP NEEDED!

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I should probably also point out that my PCs have an "unconventional" relationship with Azalin, at least for PCs, in that they have, thus far, been entirely loyal Darkonians. And I mean loyal. When asked by a priest of the Eternal Order to hand over their magical items, they did so with barely a complaint. They stopped attacking a vampire when he identified himself as a Kargat officer. Said Kargat has since become their "contact" and has sent them on several missions.

To top it all, they "volunteered" for the time travelling mission (no need for the Headless Horseman) were "whole" entering it, and when they discovered that Azalin had removed their heads, one of them said something along the lines of, "I wonder how much Lord Azalin will reward us once this mission is over."

These characters are NOT evil, they are Darkonians who believe, with some justification, that Darkon is truly the best domain, and that Azalin is responsible for that, and as a result have respect for the institutions which he has created.

That is not to say that they have not had some qualms, the party's priest has had some lively debates with the Kargat officer on the morality of using the undead as a secret service/police, but has generally been swayed by the "greater good" arguments of the vampire.

I would also like to point out, it was not my intent for it to turn out this way
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Re: Azalin in Vallaki: HELP STILL NEEDED! (with apologies)

Post by DeepShadow of FoS »

Okay, I want to keep helping, but I've lost track of what you still need. It sounds like you have a lot of this worked out.
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Re: Azalin in Vallaki: HELP STILL NEEDED! (with apologies)

Post by thekristhomas »

DeepShadow of FoS wrote:Okay, I want to keep helping, but I've lost track of what you still need. It sounds like you have a lot of this worked out.
Yes, I get that it has been a confusing thread.

Part of what I'm looking for is any glaring errors that I made while winging it

Mostly though, I'm looking for some ideas of what they could do before moving against Strahd, I hadn't wanted to rush into that, but had been running out of steam in the improvised session, so the next few sessions should be "henchman training" in some fashion.
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