TG503

Tools of the Trade

Episode Number: (TG503)
Original Airdate: 11/2002

The party rests and heads down into the very depths of hell to find the Penumbral Lord. After following the Oracles' instructions, they enter the realm of the Penumbral Lord. There, they attempt to strike a bargain to free their souls. But the price demanded is high, and as the party unwittingly makes a trade, they realize that the Penumbral Lord is not one to trust to his word. And the party's return goes not quite as well as could be expected.

Watch For:

• The very first use of the Trap the Soul spell, b) Variation, with the special gem tailored to the victim that bypasses the save.

Plot Points

• Tierney has apparently been returned to his body, but Arlemis has been taken in his place. The Claw of Chaos now controls Arly's body.
• Sendant is still trapped.
• The Penumbral Lord has demanded an item, a silver box with ebony inlay. He gave directions on how to reach the lair of the savage beast that guards the box.
• The party is split. Timus and Tierney are back in Twingate, but the rest of the party is apparently somewhere in the Southlands, in the middle of an olive grove. And Tim is having intermittent trouble with his teleportation spells.

Unanswered Questions

• What did Tierney mean when he asked if the Penumbral Lord is even the one who had him?
• What was wrong with Tim's spell?
• What does the Penumbral Lord have planned?
• Why take Arly instead of Tierney?

Analysis

• Now that we know that it was the Claw of Chaos that was responsible for some of Tierney's actions, it can be inferred from this that Richal's Flail was the blue-eyed one, and possibly the Ring of Fate was the white-eyed one.
• Exchanging Arly for Tierney may have something to do with one of the cards that Arly drew from the Deck of Many Things.

Notable Quotes

Gray: Wait, wait... (thinks) Okay. If I were to ask you... which door led to the Penumbral Lord... what would you tell us?
Colin: We're gonna go Left anyways, by the way. We're just curious.
Griffon: Sigh.

Colin: Nobody's shedding any light, right?
Mike: I'm an albino minotaur with a shiny coat.

DMP Speaks

Been awhile since I put up one of these. I do sorta like letting you guys put up what you thought really mattered and was important, but hey, it's good to update, too.

This is by far the largest plot-derailment of the campaign. Which is really fine with me. 'Cause honestly, once you get past the general scariness of the TBP, there's nowhere else to go. If the Penumbral Lord even KNOWS about the TBP, the party has no idea if he works for them, if he's fighting them in his own morally unbaggaged way, or if he's trying to escape.

Hopefully the planar stuff made it clear that the campaign would work well to say in the Prime Material as often as possible. It was really designed to make hell a not-fun place to be for good-aligned parties, and potentially dangerous for anyone.

Geordan Speaks

And all the party had to do was smash the gem, and we'd be all happy and done.

Of course, smashing the gem that holds the soul of a comrade probably isn't the very first thing that would come to one's mind.

Gryffid Speaks

I'll miss that suit of armor.

What? You want me to take on a powerful undead thing all by myself, possibly get horribly beaten, and then go in against the Penumbral Lord all bloody and bruised? You take me for a fool. I assure you that I am not.

There are things that matter more than shiny metal. True, it is very dear to my heart, but I do not fancy myself able to defeat the ruler of an alternate dimension. Or whatever Gray called it. I gave my word (in a sense) that I would get Sendant out of this bind, and that is what I intend to do. If giving up a suit of armor brings that goal closer, that is fine with me.

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