Re: Scales of War: The Temple Between pt.2
"Yeah. Don't get caught," Mits agrees.
"Sorry about the arguing," Amyra says, "I'm afraid the Coalition has not been any better at agreeing with one another..."
Members of the Coalition that Amyria has managed
to put together are in Sayre, but she’s disappointed
that they’ve spent days bickering and disagreeing
about the best way to shatter the githyanki military
alliance. (In fact, they haven’t even been able to agree
on a name for the group, which is why Amyria refers
to the group as the Coalition. She hopes something
more inspiring will come out of their talks that will
help bind the leaders together.) She hopes that the
PCs’ reputations (all the members have heard about
the successful defense of Elsir Vale at this point), their
investigation of Telicanthus and the Bitter Glass, and
the membership of their new githzerai ally, Odos, will
help the alliance find focus.
"I can tell you about each member on our way..."
(( Amyra does not know any of the meta items. ))
Kalad: Last seen in “Siege of Bordrin’s Watch”
when he was rescued by the PCs, this heavily muscled
dwarven paladin no longer looks quite as haunted as
he did in the tunnels of Bordrin’s Watch. He is gruff
but friendly, and a staunch ally of the PCs. Kalad also
has spoken to Amyria several times, and he backs
her unflinchingly. Unfortunately, his seemingly blind
willingness to support the deva makes him look
intractable and foolish to the more politically savvy
members of the Coalition, and his staunch support
has almost proved a liability from time to time. If
Kalad didn’t survive “Siege of Bordrin’s Watch” in
your campaign, that’s okay. The priest of Moradin in
Overlook called in several favors and had Kalad’s body
sent across the land to have a ritual of Raise Dead
performed on it. He has been tasked with representing
Overlook’s interests in Amyria’s Coalition.
Fariex the Scalehammer: This adult copper
dragon has an unhealthy interest in the activities
of humans. He has spent his life in human or elven
form, living in human cities and studying their ways.
He is light-hearted by nature, and knows more jokes
than most jesters. He is far from a buffoon, however,
and expects respect. His one weakness is a tendency
to weigh the facts of a problem instead of quickly
making up his mind
Fariex has the ability to assume the shape of a
human, and he does this at all Coalition meetings—or
anywhere else he’s encountered in the city, for that
matter. He does not openly reveal his true nature, but
passes himself off as a powerful merchant with interests in various cities. Fariex does not represent a city
or other political body, but was invited because of his
connections to many far-reaching settlements, townships, and ports, and the wealth and military might
they represent. In meetings, Fariex is mostly quiet,
but will occasionally interject a pointed question,
especially if the topic of conversation touches on his
area of expertise (namely, money and its movement
through business affairs). He also has an interesting
sense of humor, and will sometimes try to openly
catch others in duplicity or engage in some word play
over a statement he perceives as absurd. The richest
member of the Coalition, Fariex is a key player to ally
with, since he can fund many of the operations the
Coalition is ambitiously interested in pursuing.
Caliandra of the Stagrunners: This ancient elf
can trace her descendants back to elves who migrated
from the Feywild almost eleven of her generations
ago. She leads not only her own tribe, the Stagrunners, but has also been named the voice of all the
tribes that live in the wild reaches to the north and
west of Elsir Vale. All told, she speaks for a group of
twenty-five tribes.
Fierce, wild, and haughty, she is stubborn and
opinionated, and isn’t afraid to engage in a protracted argument about aspects of history that most
people have long forgotten. She holds influence
with many gnome, elf, and eladrin leaders, much
as a respected grandmother and advisor might. In
a crisis, she leans toward solutions that provide the
most safety for the most people. She seems to expect
subservience, making Caliandra nearly intolerable
to deal with. But she also has tremendous in-roads
among the barbarian tribes she represents, making
her a valuable asset.
One of the naysayers of the Coalition, Caliandra
automatically assumes her age and experience make
her the voice everyone else should listen to. She talks
loudly, fiercely, and often, but she doesn’t mince
words. She gets to her point quickly. She favors action
of some sort, but is like a ship in need of a pilot. If
given a course that she can approve of—something
that will let her lead her people to glorious battle
against the invaders who have killed so many of her
people—she will fight honorably and without hesitation. But she demands respect, and is fond of rejecting
someone else’s idea out of hand, only to bring it back
up minutes later as a concept all her own.
Lord Divian Torrance: The ruler of Sayre,
elected by a fellowship of scholars and merchants,
is a potent and skilled politician. His goal, first and
foremost, is to see that his city comes out ahead in
the war. He’s not willing to side with the githyanki
invaders, but his goal is to lead this Coalition so that
his small city is given due representation. He knows
that Sayre’s leadership wouldn’t have been consulted
if not for the good fortune of hosting the first meeting and the absence of a representative from Nefelus,
Amyria’s first choice to host the meeting. But he plans
to make the most of the opportunity and makes it
clear at every opportunity how relevant and important Sayre is to the coming conflicts. Lord Torrance
can be wooed if he firmly believes Sayre will continue
to be an important player. He is opposed to any plan
that deals with bringing Nefelus into the Coalition,
although he won’t openly say so. He’s worried that if
Nefelus brings their magical expertise and knowledge
to the Coalition, Sayre’s position as a center of knowledge will be dramatically weakened. Thankfully, this
isn’t an issue that is likely to rear its head . . . yet.
Quelenna entromiel: The female eladrin
Quelenna Entromiel rules over the mercantile settlement of Dornaithos, which trades both fine craftwork
(including goods from the Feywild) and everyday
items. She has dealings with the Elsir Consortium,
a group of merchants from the Elsir Vale, and with
traders in every major settlement across this corner of
the mortal world. Gregarious and shrewd, Quelenna
is well known for her business acumen and efficiency.
It’s rumored she’s not afraid to resort to bribery if
doing so will get a project or deal finished quickly.
Quelenna wants Dornaithos’s fortunes to continue
and thinks running the Coalition is a way to make
herself more prominent and secure better deals for
Dornaithos to provide war material. While the Coalition’s first order of business is not to determine a
leader, she already has her sights set on the position.
Inogo Dravitch: A priest of Erathis, Inogo hails
from the distant city of Sherrbyr. This city lies far
to the northeast, beyond Elsir Vale by at least three
weeks’ travel. Inogo is the current leader of this city of
temples. A theocratic city state, Sherrbyr also boasts
a massive college of divinity, where worshipers of
nearly any deity can openly practice their faith.
As a result of its varied populace, the city’s leadership is formed of a council of priests of the most
worshiped deities in the city. The council changes as
the population changes. Some deities fall out of favor
while others rise. But Erathis’s worshipers have been
a power in the city for years, and Inogo is the most
recent in a long series of Erathis-worshiping council
leaders known as Deacons.
Sherrbyr is a city accustomed to nearly endless
debate, thanks to efforts to accommodate every faith
represented on the ruling council. As someone long
schooled in this approach to government, Deacon
Dravitch is well out of his league in a group that needs
to make decisions quickly and decisively. He represents a powerful city, however, in terms of both its
military and divine might. Sherrbyr could field a veritable army of healers, as well as a mounted corps of
paladins. Inogo is mostly quiet in Coalition meetings,
speaking up only when a plan of action is proposed.
He is, at first, unwilling to commit any resources
without first “exploring other options” or his personal
favorite, “negotiating with these githyanki to help
them see reason.” Odos despises Inogo immediately,
and Inogo reciprocates. As Sherrbyr has yet to experience anything like the githzerai have at the hands
of the invaders (in fact, Sherrbyr has been entirely
spared, to this point), it’s an understandable attitude.
odos: The githzerai leader firmly believes that Telicanthus is up to no good, and while he is mostly quiet
in all proceedings, when the issue of the githyanki
noble inevitably surfaces, he doesn’t hesitate to make
his opinion known. This is true whether or not the
characters succeeded in “The Debate” skill challenge
(see page 89). If the PCs failed at the skill challenge,
Odos can still be persuaded here, but he calls for
Telicanthus’s head at these opportunities rather than
backing Amyria’s call to investigate the powerful merchant. This drives Lord Torrance to distraction, and
Odos quickly finds himself on the outs with many
other members of the Coalition. But Odos represents
githzerai all over the mortal world and beyond, and
he knows the githyanki tactics and agendas. He’s perhaps the singlemost important ally in the defense of
the world, and most of the other Coalition members
know this—even if they won’t admit it openly.
And this is what the module says of Amyra:
Amyria: Not a member of the Coalition, the
extremely passionate and charismatic deva paladin
has rallied these leaders to meet in Sayre to discuss
the invasion. While she doesn’t have a vote on a
course of action, she has the right to speak freely—
something she hesitates to take advantage of in this
first meeting. When she does speak, Amyria almost
glows with her inspiration and belief in what is right.
The group arrives outside the destination by the time she finishes infodumping.
