How to Catch a shadow

238MoPooSh

Darkness was the first sensation that the party felt when they walked through the portal that had literally ripped open. The bright light from the room that they came from seemed to force the portal open but even then the tendrils of darkness were trying to knit the wound closed. As they stepped in colour seemed to fade as well where only things immediately in front of their face held the slightest trace of what it used to be. The further they looked ahead the more coloured seemed to disappear until just ten feet way their vision failed. Even those with darkvision struggled to see in a place devoid of all light.

Lighting torches didn’t do much and only brought back the smallest flicker of colour and light in this world and even the warmth from the fire was taken away before it could push back the numbing feeling from their fingers.

“You must be very brave or very dumb to come into my lair. Your corpses will entertain my pets for days to come and your bones will be sewn into my walls” a voice mocked from behind them. Whirling around there was nothing there but the burst of light that was suddenly too bright. Turning around the party started to stride into the dark. The pocket of shadow was oppressive and the flickering light of the torch failed to push past fifteen feet and what it did touch summoned phantoms of nightmares from their darkest dreams.

“Run!” a voice said from somewhere in the dark. “Run from here!” the same voice called out. “Tell Takeo that the shadow gathers at obsidian peak!” a shriek of pain followed the warning and then silence.

Looking amongst each other the party pushed back fear as shapes in the murky shadow twisted into forms and voices from their past and present spoke to them from just outside the torchlight.

238TuThLo

The creature stalked the maze like halls that it had constructed with but a thought the moment it created a rift to its lair. Melding and knitting shadow and reality together to create something of its own was childs play and these foolish mortals were stepping into a realm that they had no hope of contending with the power it had here.

But as the light flooded from the previous room and the tendrils of shadow struggled to knit the opening back together the Lómipilu felt a trickle of fear for the first time in centuries. Soon the creatures moved into the dark interior of the dimension it had created, a little pocket of shadow and the Lómipilu’s fear quickly began to disappear. Soon a plan began to form in the mind of the creature as he released its hands from the old man and summoned forth dense shackles that bound his mouth and limbs so he could not speak or move.

Stalking one of the many halls the creature climbed higher into the dimension it had created and watched a the party one by one drifted further apart from each other as the dimension they found themselves in constantly folded out before them forcing them to loop around until they were back in the starting room that they entered. The creature smiled and watched the creatures looked baffled at what had happened. In fact the creature was so amused by the wonderment of the adventurers that it giggled. It knew these halls better than any and that the only path forward as the least obvious, all others led to confusion and death.

The creature lay on its stomach and watched the adventurers move around and start discussing their predicament – each one of them not aware that those they were talking to were not what they seemed to be.

238WeThDo

As the party member move around the corner they find a familiar set of faces looking back at them. “What happened to you? Where did you go? You were with us a second ago and then you disappeared and we heard noises from behind us…” the look on the party members in front turned to concern and fear. “There is something behind you…”

Turning around the party turned to see shadowy blurred faces that looked very much like the party members who stood behind them. They reached out, pointing and shouting at the party members behind them telling the person to get away from them, that they were dangerous. However it was too late as The Doppelganger had already weaved itself into the minds of all those involved and was playing its part perfectly.

As chaos broke out in the mind of that party member the doppelganger was busy in creating similar chaos elsewhere.

Meanwhile…

The rest of the group could not find where their party member had gone – they had disappeared but a minute ago as a gust of shadow like gas had gushed from the wall. Racing through it to try and find their missing member they found a dreadful scene where the finishing blow was given to a creature of bone and flesh by their party member.

“Thank the gods you showed up. There were more of these creatures. Several more. They live in the walls and emerge in a puff of smoke and attack without warning.” The party member leant over and breathed heavily with exhaustion. “We will have to be careful moving forward..” he said as another gust of shadow infused smoke erupted from the wall and the party scattered into the surrounding rooms to avoid the gas.

Behind the gas the Lómipilu made its move and changed the rooms that they were in, creating new passages, new rooms and changing the perspective of the players in an instance. One moment they were facing what would be due north, the next they were looking south west at a new door opening into a different hallway. Separated from the rest of the party, well those who were not already taken over by its created doppelgangers.

As the party members began to descend into chaos it made its move, slashing out in violence and the first drops of mortal blood were dropped onto its lightless glass floors and shadowy walls.

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NPCs – 237TuWiotDa

NPC’s and faces of the Void

The NPC faces are probable the same, some real people some the Lómipilu.

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Environment and running the adventure

Lair of the Lómipilu–

The additional thing to remember about this lair is the extreme lack of light. Darkvision is good only to 10 feet and all sources of light, except daylight, are reduced by around a quarter. This effectively means that the party has to balance their equipment and light sources for this encounter and with the lair actions and abilities of the Lómipilu it becomes half the battle.

The idea behind the Lair of the Lómipilu is simple. Each time the party members leave a room or hallway the Lómipilu will change where they were moving and where they moved from. For this purpose I have a bunch of rooms or areas that are shrouded in darkness each with a few 1″ grid width (5ft) exits/entrances. For my implementation of this I would print out the maps (or edit them in GIMP or another image manipulation software) and roll a dice per entrance/exit per room/hall.

For simplistic play

Assign the large central room with only one exit with the number 6. Each other entrance/exit roll a 6 and assign it either a 1-2, 3-4 and 5-6.

Do this for all rooms so they have no duplicate ranges. Then try and map them out so that the portal room is somehow connected to the large room. Any entrance or exit that doesn’t have a number allocated to it and a room next to it is considered to be “lost” and you end up back on the portal room.

For complex play

Keep the dice rolled but each time they leave a room they roll a dice (effectively a d3) and they move to a random room that has that number. This becomes an issue of chance and luck rather than skill, role playing or problem solving and so could be more troublesome and it would rely on rolling well multiple times. The caveat to this system would be that they add a +1 to the roll for each room they have visited and make the end room a 7 (so they cant roll 6 then a 6 straight away and head to the final room). This rewards exploration and doesn’t feel as much of a “Game of chance” as a “after 3 rooms you have a 50% chance to get to the boss room”.

However…

This adventure we are doing it a bit differently and incorporating lair actions into the rooms.

The Lómipilu lair is in reality a large (60ft x 60ft) pocket dimension where it the Lómipilu has brought in elements of the shadowlands (Shadowfell / Shadowplane) into the dimension. The dimension swallows dim light completely, bright light is reduced to a quarter of its normal range (torches are now only 5ft bright and a further 5ft dim) and only daylight seems to piece the veil.

Generally the Lómipilu creates illusionary structures from condensed shadow that are so real that they are physical to touch and only those who can convince their own minds that its not an illusion can see the room for what it really is.

Lair Actions

The nature of the Dimension and thus the Lómipilu’s lair is of unbridled chaotic illusion and the creature that calls this liar home is its embodiment. On initiative 20 the Lómipilu takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects. The Lómipilu can’t take the same action 2 rounds in a row.

• The rooms shift, doors that used to lead to halls or other rooms change to a new position and the lair reforms around its central core.

• Creatures made of shadow shift in and out of existence and throw themselves at invaders of their territory at the behest of the Lómipilu. These creatures are called Lómipilu Shades (Shadowless Shades). They take the form that the Lómipilu desires, have 7ac and 1 hp and cause no damage on an attack. They also die after 1d4 rounds.
• The Shadow energy of the pocket dimension erupts forth and causes all exposed flames and non-permanent magical lights to go out.

The Lomipilu

Aftermath…

As the creature fell writhing to the ground as the final blow struck the walls of the dimension shook and shuddered before the light from the portal could be seen pushing back all traces of shadow. A single pile of glittering treasure could be seen next to a man in the same uniform as Takeo who lay unconscious in the room as the light began to flood in.

A voice, familiar yet estranged whispered past the party “The dimension is collapsing. Hurry” as what could be seen of the pocket dimension began to distort and wobble. Rushing forwards the party manage to grab the man and some treasure before they were violently thrown backwards through the light drenched portal in a cascade of treasure, stolen goods and artefacts mainly, into the room where they cornered the Lómipilu. With a definitive tearing sound the portal between this plane and the pocket dimension tore apart and the way Into the Lair of the Lómipilu was closed.

How to Catch a shadow

237MoShTr

After returning to Takeo to reveal what they had seen in the Library as well as heard from the staff in the castle. “It sounds like its as master Fukiyomo was right. A lot of the characteristics of the creature appear to be similar to the Lóminau.” Takeo said nodding, but his affirmation never reached his eyes. “However something doesn’t add up. The Lóminau are said to be vengeful demons who prey on others life force as only once bathed in the light of a creatures failing life do they regain their shadow and leave for their own plane of existence. But this creature, to our knowledge, hasn’t killed anything so according to the scripts it can’t be a Lóminau but there is another creature that it could be,” Takeo began before a sound came from a corner of the room.

Two daggers were hurled through the wall at incredible speed from Takeo’s however the figure caught the blades before they hit the figure. “Good Takeo. But it is most definitely a Lóminau. I have seen it myself” Master Fukiyomo said as he moved forward and handed the daggers back to Takeo. Clasping Takeo’s shoulder the master spy bowed deeply to Kyoko but averted his gaze from Liz. “It is not often that we see one who is blessed by the light in this castle. I dare say its your presence that has the Lóminau stalking these halls.” the old man said with reverence. “The sooner we get you and your guardians away the better, the safer for you and I dare say Lady Kyoko as we will be able to better trap the Lóminau outside of the castle.

Takeo nodded but the party caught the flicker of confusion in his eyes. Walking over to a desk in LIz’s room he grabbed a quill and paper and scribbled something down quickly, folding the paper twice before muttering a short incantation of words.

“Another one of your tricks Takeo?” his master said as he walked over to him.

“Just a list of reagents and supplies to catch the Lóminau” he said as he handed the note to Master Fukiyomo. Taking the note he unfolded the paper and read through it.

“Powdered iron, crushed garnet, Lotus petal. Good. I’d suggest silk as well for good measure but each to their own” the old spy said as handed the note back to Takeo who scribbled down silk before taking it to the party.

“Whilst you follow this note to the letter can you do me a favour my friends?” he said, strange emphasis placed on the words he spoke. “I have neglected my knives – When we fought the Kapa I chipped the top of my knife in the cave. Are you able to get it sharpened?” he said as he clamped the letter tightly in the closest party members hand and nodded knowingly to them. “Remember what I said to you in the Kapa’s lair after we had fought the wolves?” he said – blocking the view of others when he moved in closer to the party as he muttered a string of words. “A blessing for you all. May the light reveal what we seek.”

With that Takeo and his mater left the room.

Unravelling the note the party were confused, there was no record of the ingredients on the note apart from the hastily written “SILK” over the top of a few words.

“Wall”, “Shade”, “Knife” and a single word that was foreign to them “Lómipilu.”

Kyoko looked over their shoulder, a best as she could. “Lómipilu– that’s a name I am not familiar with” she pondered. “but I do know someone in Heavens reach who would know. Che Shenyuo” she said as one of the more astute party members crept towards the wall where Takeo had thrown daggers. Two indents in the wall were present which matched the size and shape of Takeo’s daggers.

237WeCaSh

As Kyoko lead the party through the final halls in the castle heading past the servants quarters they appeared at a sliding door to a small outside courtyard. The central portion of the courtyard saw a large fountain fed pool that was designed in such a way that the trickling of water resonated through the enclosed area. Kyoko nodded to two guards that stood in the courtyard and walked forward, leading the party and Liz through the tranquil surroundings.

Moving through the courtyard Kyoko led them towards a large curtain of vines and flowers where the slightest trace of diffused smoke and low singing could be heard from within the tangled mess of foliage.

“It must be a rare day indeed for the Princess of the Harimasu to visit me today” a voice said from behind the curtain of leaves. “What can I be of service for our bringer of light?”

Kyoko smiled and pushed past the curtain of vines, her chipper and unable to hide the mirth in her voice. “Master Che, you don’t need to be so formal. You are probably the oldest citizen in then land and the one deserving the most respect here.” she said as the party followed her into a well hidden house under the cascading vines and leaves. “But you are right. I do have service of you.” she added as she sat next to the old man who smiled at where she sat, his eyes unfocused.

“I will be as useful as an old blind man can be princess.” he said turning his head towards the party. “I have had odd dreams of late princess. A shadow in the halls playing tag with a ball of light. The shadow cant capture the light but nor does it want to because the shadow fears what the light will do to it – but it is also drawn towards it. The light doesn’t want to be near the shadow but lingers, waiting and watching. Stepping out to confuse the shadow when it sneaks too close or gets too ambitious.” he said as he reached over for a pot of tea that had been placed next to him. His fingers and hands moving with muscle memory he poured himself a pot of tea, the worn indent of the pot and cups evident that this was a habit of his. “The ball of light has visited me as well. Said sweet things and plied me with riddles that amuse me to no end. It has also helped me around the hut. A kind stranger it is.” he added.

“I fear that these aren’t dreams Che. There is a shadow at court. My spy believes that its something called a Lómipilu. I thought that you may remember something of it and be our best bet. The library was ransacked and our tomes regarding the creatures of The Shadow have been removed or destroyed so we are in the dark.” Kyoko said as she patted the old mans hand.

“The Lómipilu, Shadow Thief. They are creatures much like the Lóminau but instead of having no shadow of their own they are shadow. Able to harness the shadows of this world to stich their own world into ours and fusing their own reality with ours.” Che answered as he turned his head to stare at one of the party members, he was starting to sweat and his eyes were wide with fear.

“Do you remember how to kill them or trap them?” Kyoko pressed, Che was shaking now.

“Alas no princess, I never fought one but I remember my mother, the light prophet, mentioning them. There was an old proverb about catching shadow that she used to say but I took it as a child story or something to praise the light.” he said as he wiped tears from his eyes. The weight of the war and his memories getting too much for him.

“One by one the shadows gathered and writhed like beasts on the prowl. One by one the Shadows tricked their owners until all was dark. One by one they grew and merged into the one true Shadow. But one by one they split from their form….” She began to recite the story.

Kyoko squeezes his hand and started to speak “One by one the lights surrounded the beast and one by one they shrank down. One by one the lights grew and truth was revealed and one by one the shadows hid from the light. One by one the shadows cowered under a box and one by one the lights held the box closed and the world was bathed in light and truth and warmth.” Kyoko finished the story and smiled at the party. “My mother also used to say the same thing to me when I was worried about the monsters under my bed. She would light candles and place them around the room, where the shadows would gather so that they didn’t look so scary when they had no where to gather.”

Che nodded and sipped from his tea. “I wish I could be of more use princess but I can hear my friend calling me.” he said as he lay back slowly, his eye lids fluttering before falling asleep in his chair. As he fell asleep his hand opened and a light shone form his palm. Frowning Kyoko reached in and plucked out a single finger-nail sized scale that glowed and shone like the sun.

“Interesting. I wonder where Che got hold of a dragon scale…”

237ThOrOLi

As the party of adventurers, Kyoko and Liz left the cascade of leaves and vines that separated Che from the outside world a single mote of light drifted down from the unseen canopy. As the mote of light drifted down Che began to stir and though his half closed eyes could not see he smiled at the light.

“My little friend. You have come back to me.” he said as she shakily went to pour a tea – but the stone pot was not where he had left it. As panic began to set into the old mans mind he knocked the cup off the little wooden log he used as a table and reached for the cup as it fell.

Golden digits and golden claws caught the cup and clasped it tightly as they lifted it to the shaking mans hands. As they touched the cup to the man the relief that welled up inside the man overflowed into his face and a peaceful smile replaced the look of concern. “You have saved me again my friend.” he said as he placed the cub down into the little groove it lived in. As golden digits moved the pot back to where it lived Che poured a cup of tea and offered it in thanks to the creature of light.

Sitting in silence and listening to, albeit noisy, slurping from the creature the old man smiled contently and swung his legs. “The young princess is chasing shadows again.” he said with a light giggle. “Much like mother used to when she was young. I don’t suppose you know how to catch the darkness that hides in our halls do you?” he asked the light. After a moment sound of china being placed down onto wood clinked a happy sound.

“I am afraid I do not” said the light. A deep rumbling sound as a creature that was neither light nor flesh but both opened its whiskered covered lips. “But I have faith in the princess and her hunting partners. They will think of something.”

Che nodded and looked towards the light. “I can still see them, the creatures of The Shadow. They dance with mirth as they rip us apart. I can see them reaching into my mind and take my sanity. I fear its slipping little orb of light.” Che said as he sipped on his tea.

“But perhaps I can still help the princess one last time. But I may need your help my little orb of light, my friend.” Che added as he turned to the creature who was floating above the chair. “Can you help her catch the shadow?”

The creature remained quiet for a moment as if weighing up the question and the decision. “I will do what I can – but I must not interfere.” it began to speak before pausing. After a moment it continued as if considering its options “there are things that we can not do and things we can.”

“Thank you my friend.” Che asked as he sipped from his tea. The sound of freshly falling rain splattering on the dark green curtain of leaves brought hope of a cool night.

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NPCs – 237TuWiotDa

NPC’s and faces of the Void

The NPC faces are probable the same, some real people some the Lómipilu.

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Environment and running the adventure

Inside of the castle – A few hallways but it’s a well flowing castle that provides ample hiding positions for the creature to disappear from sight.

Adventure

237FrPlDiAd

This week has a problem to solve. How do you catch a shadow. Whilst not like the incorporeal shadow creature this one is something that uses the shadow to move between the material plane and pocket dimensions it creates. The question is how do we catch it.

For me this week is easy. The first cool sounding, plausible solution the party comes up with we go for. No holding back and jump with two feet. The outcomes is what we will cover tonight.

What ever the solution the creature will dive towards and into the nearest patch of shadow (remember that it’s human size so its got to make sense.) And it will create a portal to its central pocket dimensions. The portal will be big enough for the party to fit through (big-medium or smaller) and it will remain open as long as a source of light is present on both sides of the portal.

Our orb of light friend may pose a solution here but more on that this weekend.

Once open we cut to next weeks adventure, fighting the creature in it’s home turf.

Suggested help from the Orb.

When we look at how to catch a shadow we need to understand what is possible in this world. For us that’s easy as the above adventure states – pick something that sounds plausible that would work that the party can think of.

The orb of light can help us in our task by laying a path of dragon scales (I think we can all see where I am going with this…) to lead the shadow somewhere, provide a burst of light randomly in the room or otherwise lure, pin, or herd the creature somewhere. Perhaps for a few nights the party wakes up with more glowing dragon scales at their bed, or finds them through the room. Maybe the party fashioned weapons out of them or items that can give of bursts of light. If they want to see if a merchant or artisan is available to creature something then I would say that Heavens Reach city is the place to find them.