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  1. #1
    Senior Member Delazar's Avatar
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    Kal-Saitharak - Lair of the Gorgon

    After many Birthright campaigns, and many hero-kings reaching the highest level of power, I wanted to give my players a shot at taking on the Gorgon!

    Now, apart from the many considerations about the "readiness" of the Gorgon, and how to even get near enough to meet him, what kind of famous (or less famous) dungeon/fortress/lair would you use in this case?

    I'm not looking to draw the whole thing from scratch, just looking for a good map/adventure to modify for my purposes.

    The best I found so far is an old MERP module called Dol Guldur... that seems to fit perfectly with my purposes, but I was wondering if anyone has some suggestion.

    cheers!

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    Site Moderator Sorontar's Avatar
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    My party took him on after he had ported through a Shadow Gate to the fields outside of the city of Anuire, where the defeated/allied armies of Boeruine and Avanil stood. The party had to destroy the gate to stop any more of the Gorgon's army advancing and prevent his lieutenants interfering in the duel between the Gorgon and Teodor Profiev.

    It is a long story, but let's just say that Teodor had an ulterior motive. From memory, one of us was able to supply a certain Khinasi magical weapon that killed the Gorgon.

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    But the Gorgon was backstabbed or the weapon was some sort of nuke and Teodor did a suicide attack? Seems too weird beating Gorgon in a fair duel even with a better weapon unless you get always 20 with the dice.

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    I'm not sure what map to recommend, but i'd expect the Gorgon's citadel to be, impressive yet menacing. He is after all, Prince Raesene, the rightful ruler of Cerilia, and would insist on an impressive court. So this would not be a dump or ruin. I recall reading somewhere that the "walls hum with confined power".

    The dungeons below could be almost anything. They're described as extensive, and may have both constructed and natural passageways.


    -Fizz

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    Site Moderator Sorontar's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by vota dc View Post
    But the Gorgon was backstabbed or the weapon was some sort of nuke and Teodor did a suicide attack? Seems too weird beating Gorgon in a fair duel even with a better weapon unless you get always 20 with the dice.
    [reading my old campaign notebook]
    The party's problem was actually that we discovered Teodor was in league with the Cold Rider so the Gorgon surviving was actually a better option. In the end, Teodor was cooked by a bolt of fire and the Gorgon was "backstabbed" in his chest by an invisible Khinasi princess (who is also his distant relative) who had been assisted by her uncle (one of the party). She used the Sword of Roele, was unblooded and possessed the Book of Days. In the end, the Gorgon's blood was grounded and she gained Michael Roele's bloodline.

    Any way, this is diverting from the topic of this thread. The point I was making is that 1) the party doesn't always have to be the one to kill the Gorgon, and 2) the final battle need not be in his lair. Of course, it is your campaign, but I am just suggesting that you might find it easier to change things to surprise your players.

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    Senior Member Delazar's Avatar
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    What do you think you will come upon in the Lair of the Gorgon (apart from death...)?

    Post your suggestion for an interesting, non-combat scenario/room that you think would be cool to find in the Gorgon's castle.

    I'm not referring to monsters (but feel free to mention them if they make for an interesting story!)

    For example, I'm imagining "a long hall, similar to a museum exposition, filled with the statues of the heroes the Gorgon has petrified during the last 2,000 years"

  7. #7
    I've always thought about creating a Gorgon's Crown Sourcebook.

    If I were creating something for him, I'd probably go with a citadel of some sort. I've always been impressed with Mont Saint Michel in France as a possible design.

    I've always envisioned him as a bit of a demi-god with the "Hand of Azrai" being a succubus. So, I thought it would be REALLY REALLY REALLY hard for a bunch of PCs to kill him.

    It is possible. But, he was a military genius (in battle and hand-to-hand combat) when he was living and he's had 1,500+ years of massacring invading armies and killing off errant scions. So, I would think that (as old versions of deities and demigods described gods) the DM should leave his spell list blank and assume that he has thought out and anticipated whatever the PCs have planned -- reacting accordingly with the most appropriate response.

    I also gave him the traits of a paragon human and a demigod with a golem form -- possibly with a "heart of stone" spell someplace. (Maybe, like Davy Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean II, that's his only weakness.)

    I figured he had fallen into what might be considered a vampiric torpor and that explains why he's not motivated to more aggressively pursue the conquest of Anuire:

    http://vtmb.wikia.com/wiki/Torpor_%28VTM%29

    I think that's consistent with a near immortal being like him and it goes well with his awnsheghlien transformation. I picture him as having taken almost a statuesque form similar to Enkil and Akasha in the Queen of the Damned:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Queen_of_the_Damned

    Anyway, I'd have a system of checks and rolls to awaken him -- depending upon how the PCs interact with his domain, whether they lead an army into his realm, how strong their bloodlines are, how closely they come to him personally, any relation to the Roeles or Andurias bloodline, etc.

    That's my two cents.

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    Site Moderator AndrewTall's Avatar
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    I extended the Crown into the Underdark and into the Shadow World, and had him much more active in the Shadow World - his true foes were the Lost and nascent gods of the realm of dreams.

    I removed his magic as to me it was unnecessary, I also removed almost all his holdings, as I saw him as very detached, you'd never face him, even during the opening stages of an invasion, as he had minions to deal with such matters, he drained regency from them through vassalage and the vassals constantly jockeyed for position, allowing people to oppose the Crown at realm level without necessarily opposing the Gorgon himself - of course if the vassal lost too heavily they would have to turn to their master for help, but none would show such weakness to their master lightly.

    I gave the Gorgon a core of loyal Andu knights who saw him as the true heir of the Andu and a vast court, you could, in theory attend his court and carry out diplomacy with one of his nobles or merchants, if you dared, but failure in the correct etiquette could bear a heavy price...

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    Quote Originally Posted by Delazar View Post
    What do you think you will come upon in the Lair of the Gorgon (apart from death...)?

    For example, I'm imagining "a long hall, similar to a museum exposition, filled with the statues of the heroes the Gorgon has petrified during the last 2,000 years"
    I think that meeting the Gorgon could be only slightly more difficult than meeting the regent of any other domain. The Gorgon isn't a mindless beast waiting for hapless adventures to come steal his stuff. He is a regent, the True Ruler of Cerilia. While he plots for domination, he does engage in diplomacy. In Atlas of Cerilia, Caliedhe Dosiere discusses his meeting with the Gorgon; sent as an emissary to discuss trade routes.

    So no reason that a PC might be placed in a similar situation. Death is not automatic. (Now if they challenge or insult him, well....)

    As such, i don't think the Gorgon would keep statues of his victims in the throne room. The Gorgon considers himself a civilized Anuirean, and thus would not keep what are effectively dead bodies in the throne room.

    That said, maybe he has a trophy room, but i would think it only consist of worthy foes.

    The throne room would be oppulent, designed to express his power and greatness and intimidate. I see a long room with a tall ceiling and columns. While not needed for protection, elite guards (probably goblin-kind) stand at attention between the columns, giving no doubt as to who is in charge. Other retainers do their duties. The side walls would contain banners and coats-of-arms. The throne would be elevated by 4-5 steps over the rest of the floor. On the back wall (behind the throne) would possibly be some tighmaevril weapons. Obviously, anyone who tries to take one wouldn't get far.

    In many ways, i see it as a court that any regent would have, but the most oppoulent and menacing of any in Cerilia.


    -Fizz

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