# Deception, Revealed Early!



## EugeneZ (Oct 15, 2010)

This is a DM-only post, boys and girls. Players, do not read this thread.

Good, now I don't have to bother with spoiler tags.

So, we just started Tears. We're on our second session and so far it's been awesome. So much of the campaign has been building up to this adventure, so many threads coming together... not to mention that we've simply improved a lot as a group and this adventure seems to put us all at our best. Many kudos to Ryan and the rest of the team for building such a ridiculously awesome campaign that results in an experience that you just *can't* get by stringing together random adventures.

But this lovely complexity can get me into trouble sometimes! The party met Clan Millorn during the fight with the undead right outside the entrance to Korstull. Now, several of the PCs (one in particular) have made a point of jacking their insight way high. I think those kinds of player decisions should be rewarded -- Insight is not the sort of skill that's often actively used, so I tend to occassionally drop small hints to these players that tell them something about a character that they wouldn't normally glean.

If you recall that Ernest of Clan Millorn is actually Deception in disguise, you might guess where this is going. I mentioned that upon meeting the clan, quiet Ernest filled the insightful characters with an unknown dread that quickly passed. I kind of assumed this would be a brief teaser of what was, eventually, to come, but that the group would be motivated to not start trouble over an unknown feeling.

Well, no such luck -- after their diplomacy with the other Millorns was over, they began to talk OOC about whether Ernest might be a trillith. As soon as that idea came up, someone immediately guessed that it might be Deception. And as soon as someone guessed that, someone else suggested that an easy test would be to play the Song of Forms! I don't remember the as-written effect of the Song (there was a confusing thread about it earlier and I vaguely recall that I mis-understood it somehow) but in our campaign it turns insubstantial trilliths substantial and also causes them to revert to their true form.

I panicked, thinking "Well, sure, if they non-chalantly play the Song, it won't be seen as an offensive action, but Ernest will never-the-less be affected." So I asked the PCs to roll bluff checks to try to avoid being overheard (even though their conversation was OOC, if they were truly planning to sing the Song, their characters must have discussed it in whispers). They had no problem with that, and Ernest was able to beat their Bluff with his perception to overhear (even with a distance penalty). Hearing a mention of their suspicions and the song, I had him bolt for the entrance, thinking to create some confusion between the party and Clan Millorn (who will not appreciate the party suddenly giving chase to one of their henchmen). Ernest got a surprise round's worth of a head start (plus he was closest to the entrance to begin with), but one of the players has a long-range teleport and took 26x2 (52 fire necrotic) damage to get in front of him, attacks... crit. It's not looking good for Ernest.

The player with the lute just barely makes it within range to sing the Song and, boom, black writhing tentacles galore, preventing his escape. Had I known it would be that easy I would have had Ernest simply disappear right away with his clone power... I just figured a dramatic escape into the castle would still leave an open mystery as to his identity. Well, we played out one round of combat and stopped for the night since it was late. As soon as Clan Millorn saw their ally's true form, all my plans of Millorn opposing the party evaporated. Deception managed to wedge himself in the narrow hallway next to the inner gate. When he opens it next round, the Front Gate encounter will trigger, putting the PCs in hot water.

Still, I'm not sure what I should do at this point. I have some ideas but I'd love to hear the input of other DMs on this one. I'm aware that Deception's big reveal at the end of the adventure has been busted so my main concern is to ensure that the battle with Syana's bones still occurs somehow, or to think up something equally awesome to conclude the adventure. But I *also* don't want to undo what the PCs accomplished. I can have Deception try to run, and considering the Front Gates encounter is about to be triggered, he has a good chance of escaping -- but not guaranteed, nor do I wish it to be (the PCs earned a fair chance at an early victory against him). One of the PCs may slow, immobilize, or stun him or something. Any ideas on how to resolve the current situation and keeping the drama upstairs, particularly if Deception doesn't make it?


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## RangerWickett (Oct 15, 2010)

1. Cool stuff. I'm glad your group's having fun.

2. Deception doesn't really _want_ to stop the party. If he hasn't attacked anyone in the party yet, maybe you could start next session by having the trillith back away warily, saying he doesn't mean them any harm, then use an illusion to look like Ernest again. He will _of course_ lie, but not entirely. 

He won't play helpless, because he knows the PCs know better. Instead, he'll hold up his hands, say he's on the PCs' side, and offer to help them if they don't try to kill him. After all, back in Innenotdar all he really wanted was to free his brother Indomitability. Sure, he wanted to undertake a course of action that would have killed all the seelae, but he figured their lives were just constant suffering anyway. Even if he attacked the PCs, he might be able to convince them that his actions weren't malevolent. He was just being pragmatic.

Why is he here? He could say truthfully that he has another relative here whom he's trying to free. (Recall, he's trying to get a sliver of the soul of Trilla, the Mother of Dreams. A fragment of her soul was caught in the Torch, and the trillith believe that if they recover that, they'll be able to better control their imprisoned mother.)

"I don't want to take the Torch. But in order to use the Torch's power, you have to consume a soul as fuel. Upstairs we'll find a collection of gems, including some rather large diamonds. Before he was killed, Coaltongue would have his inquisitors trap souls in these gems, so he could always have at hand the fuel for his artifact. One of my relatives is trapped up there. I don't care if you take the Torch. I've just come to release more of my kin."

Ernest (because really, why would he want people to think of him as 'Deception'?) could offer to help the PCs scout, since he can move incorporeally. If they take him up on this, you might want to give him some restrictions, like say that the other undead spirits make it hard for him to enter into certain places. This keeps the onus of exploration upon the PCs.

He's not much good in a fight against mindless undead, but if the PCs actually agree to work with him, I think the coolness of hanging out with a villain makes up for the fact that the adventure will be a lot easier in parts. Hell, you might even drop hints about the nature of the trillith's homeland dreamscape if somehow the party gets into one of those 'campfire bonding' conversations.

Of course, no matter how much he likes the PCs, when they get up to the throne room, Ernest still plans to kill them and take the Torch. He doesn't like the threat posed by people who know about the trillith, and especially not if they know the Song.

3. Say the PCs don't listen, and they kill him. What makes you think that the first time you kill something called 'Deception,' you'll actually be killing it? Give him a few extra tricks if necessary, and let him fake his death, then come back later. Of course, after that you'll have to plan a way for the PCs to really _really_ kill him when they meet him again in the campaign's climax.


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## EugeneZ (Oct 16, 2010)

Exactly the kind of suggestions I was hoping for, one I couldn't have thought of on my own. Thanks a ton, Ryan. I will do exactly that and post the results!


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