Day 19 of #RPGaDay and the prompt is "Destiny"
Dice do not care for prophecy and destiny.
God help me, I used a lot of role-playing tropes in my college game, and the idea of "The Chosen Ones" I did far too early.
Because what happens when the Chosen Ones die... or just disappear. Talis vs Echellon - White Plume Mountain.
Very early on (episode #15) , our resident elf, Ashe Winnebago, purchased a giant oil painting at an auction in the capital city. He had the 5,000gp to burn and wanted to put it over the large mantle in their chateau.
In episode #36 they had the painting, "White Plume Mountain," appraised by an art historian:
"The White Plume Mountain is a famous volcano on the border with Aragain. If the deadly steam, choking ash, and magma won't kill you, the guardians inside will. Inside is rumored to be three weapons, the Blood-Brand, a life stealing sword once wielded by the Sorcerer-Kings of Senzar, the immortals of Prythax, and the ancient Ferasean Kings. Over-Whelm, a battle-axe wielded by the warlords of the half-dwarves of Hyperborea, and a trident named Wave, deposited by parties unknown. While not the most powerful relics, there have been rumors for hundreds of years, that when mankind is in terrible peril, those three weapons will help turn the tide. If you three are looking to save the world, you're probably out of luck. Thousands have face the mountain and died, plus who in the blue blazes of Hades knows how to fight with a tri..."
The appraiser was looking at the elf ranger (Ashe - sword), a dwarf (Norm - battle axe), and a peculiar cleric who was casually holding a trident (Echelon).
Funny thing, though, Ashe's player stopped showing up another week or so (#39).
Echellon is psychically slain by a mind flayer in a dream state (#50)
The party bard, a lech by the name of Talis Makolin swore he would take up the mantle of the sword, to ensure the prophecy. Finding a trident wielder this far inland was going to cause some trouble.
White Plume Mountain itself was too much for the party (#60). Battered and beaten, the party first went for Over-Whelm, Talis fell into a chamber of boiling mud and died, but that allowed Norm to defeat the vampire guarding it and obtain the artifact.
When they went for the Wave, the lost Ozark the cleric to the giant crab, only for Echellon to return from the dead and help slay the beast, and obtain the trident.
At that point, the weakened state of Echellon, and the losses already mounting, they said screw the sword and left for home....
The rest of the prophecy continued.
Another trope that I included in this campaign was the band of rivals: another team of adventurers, led by William of Arinka, who either ran parallel with the party, or cleaned up their messes.
This time William's party went into the volcano later and recovered the sword (#70) It did help kill the big bad evil dude during the finale, and by legend, helped pick the emperor for the Third Ferasean Empire.
FYI: Ashe and his brother Binklen did return for the finale, but someone else had now laid claim to the sword.
Day 19 – Destiny is a Bitch
Three weapons, which seemed to match up with three players
Whelm – Echelon
Darkrazor – Ashe Winnebago – elven ranger
Overslayers – Norm Dingleberry.
Burning Trogs Redux
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