Side Trek: Through the Cotillion of Hours

[Raven Crowking]

This room is filled with racks of hanging cloaks, coats, and other garments of costly make and antique fashion. The smell of the hanging clothing reminds you of the forgotten joys of childhood – the tobacco smell of a father’s pipe, perhaps, or the tart smell of sour apple tarts from a street vendor’s cart. You see no other exits.

A chime rings as you enter the room. Now 8 chimes remain.

The simple act of entering the room immerses you in memories you thought long gone. Cisneros, the sight of a doe in a sun-dappled clearing, long minutes before it is startled and springs away. Daryll, his first taste of honey fresh from the honeycomb, stolen from his uncle’s hives. Jed, the feel of his grandmother’s soft-wrinkled fingertips, soothing on his forehead when he were fevered.

It will require a Will save (DC 15) to leave this place. You are allowed one attempt, and then one attempt per chime that rings thereafter. If you make the first roll, and then wait around for your friends to make theirs, you will have to make another, as another memory arises.

NOTE: Canadian Thanksgiving is this weekend, so I might not be able to check in until Tuesday.

[beermotor]

Haha, ugh.

Daryll = 5 (-1) ...

Cisneros = 4 (+1) ...

Will see if Jed bails or not.

[beermotor]

Next chime, Darryl rolls: 4
Cisneros rolls 17. Seeing the predicament, he leaves the way they came... then ignores the woman and goes back to the Oracle of Deeper Dreaming.

[Raven Crowking]

Cisneros eventually pulls himself free, crossing the threshold after two chimes, and triggering a third.

He ignores the women, although a new elf in a star-shaped mask also implores his attentions (so that three now do so). Going back through the secret door triggers another chime. Cisneros is now located in the Oracle of Deeper Dreaming.

Jed (who I rolled a 5 for) and Daryll therefore have two additional rolls in which they can leave prior to Cisneros reaching his goal.

Now 4 chimes remain.

[beermotor]

Cisneros will speak aloud to the Oracle.

"Where is the closest place that I can obtain a suitable red gemstone to satisfy my patron and restore my shattered body?"

Daryll rolls, no joke, 3, 4, 3, 20. Heh.

Good luck, Jed.

Man this module is TOUGH.

[Raven Crowking]

Cisneros will speak aloud to the Oracle.

"Where is the closest place that I can obtain a suitable red gemstone to satisfy my patron and restore my shattered body?"

Cisneros falls into a deep sleep, within his own dream.

Cisneros and Daryll may each have 2 XP.
If I don't hear from Dumnbunny soon, I will assume that Jed also fails to escape the Cloakroom of Forgetfulness before the dream ends.

Man this module is TOUGH.

Do you really think so?

When I ran my first playtest, one player stationed a character inside the Oracle of Deeper Dreaming so that, should they fail, they could obtain the consolation prize. They got within 2 chimes of solving the adventure on the first go, and I had designed it under the assumption that most groups would require a second attempt. I was beginning to think it was too easy! A clever and lucky party can solve the Cotillion with 8 chimes remaining.

[beermotor]

DC15 will saves are tough... But really the ding every time you cross a threshold is what's tough. I kinda figured that each door would loop to the same end, but that's apparently wrong. So I guess Cisneros got the consolation prize?

[Raven Crowking]

The module can be replayed, so failing on the first go at least tells you what not to do on the second.

In my home game, I have been doing an average of one go per level.

In any event, the consolation prize may well be what Cisneros most needs!

[beermotor]

Boy, that'd be nice. Daryll will be exceedingly pissed if it is, haha. "YOU MEAN I LOST AN EAR AND A POINT OF STAMINA FOR NOTHING?!?!?"

[Dumnbunny]

If I don't hear from Dumnbunny soon, I will assume that Jed also fails to escape the Cloakroom of Forgetfulness before the dream ends.

Jed rolls a 4, then a 20.

Mindful of the chimes, Jed hustles back to the entrance chamber then, time permitting, through the opposite door (from the staircase, the left-hand door).

[Raven Crowking]

If I don't hear from Dumnbunny soon, I will assume that Jed also fails to escape the Cloakroom of Forgetfulness before the dream ends.

Jed rolls a 4, then a 20.

Mindful of the chimes, Jed hustles back to the entrance chamber then, time permitting, through the opposite door (from the staircase, the left-hand door).

Okay, then, Jed is in the same boat as Cisneros, operating with 4 chimes remaining by the time he reaches the entry hall. Crossing the Hall of Sweeter Dreams, he notes that a weasel-masked woman has now joined the other two in beckoning him on. However, Jed pushes through the far door, and into the entry chamber. Before he can enter the far door, however, a man in a jasmine-flower mask calls out to him, "Wait a moment, friend!"

4 chimes remain.

[Dumnbunny]

Before he can enter the far door, however, a man in a jasmine-flower mask calls out to him, "Wait a moment, friend!"

Painfully mindful of the chimes, but hating to be rude, Jed pauses. "Yes? How may I be of service?"

[Raven Crowking]

"Time in this dream-world is no constant thing; it can stretch and contract by the will of Somnos. You will not lose time by acting with forethought, although you may well lose time by acting hastily!"

The man then turns from Jed, and passes through the north doors.

[Dumnbunny]

Jed takes a few deep breaths, calms himself, and ponders his choices. The west door was a whim, chosen for no reason save perhaps being s straight shot from the east door. He takes a couple more deep breaths, then as gracefully as this farmhand can manage he follows in the path of the helpful stranger in the jasmine-flower mask, nodding at any fellow revelers he passes, entering the north door.

[Raven Crowking]

As Jed passes through the door, a chime rings.

You are now down to 3.

The great octagonal chamber beyond is open to the night sky.

A low wall of polished jasper subdivides the area between a terrace of marble and sardonyx and a jasmine-scented garden with a turquoise fountain at its center. Four half-doors allow access from one area to the other. These are placed in the center of the northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest walls of the low wall. The garden is filled with jasmine, lavender, lilies, roses, and night-blooming moonflowers. Four statues on basalt plinths grace the garden: a cat to the north, an owl to the south, to the east a night heron, and to the west a great bat.

The costumed guests seem content to make polite small talk along the terraced walk. There are doors leaving the large chamber -- one to the east, one to the west, and a set of double doors to the north.

The moon shines full and bright overhead, turning all to silver and black.

[Dumnbunny]

Jed will take a closer look at the fountain, see if there's anything in the water, perhaps anything visible at the bottom of the fountain.

[Raven Crowking]

Jed will take a closer look at the fountain, see if there's anything in the water, perhaps anything visible at the bottom of the fountain.

A low wall of polished jasper subdivides the area between a terrace of marble and sardonyx and a jasmine-scented garden with a turquoise fountain at its center. Four half-doors allow access from one area to the other. These are placed in the center of the northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest walls of the low wall.

From where you are at, you cannot see the bottom of the fountain.

[Dumnbunny]

Ok, I think I'm with you now.

Jed will pass through the south-west half-door, glancing around as he does so, looking at the other revelers. Does he see the helpful stranger in the jasmine-flower mask, or other other familiar masks?

[Raven Crowking]

Ok, I think I'm with you now.

Jed will pass through the south-west half-door, glancing around as he does so, looking at the other revelers. Does he see the helpful stranger in the jasmine-flower mask, or other other familiar masks?

As Jed glances around, he is certain that the jasmine-flower-masked stranger is not in this room. He does take note of a woman wearing a full moon mask; she seems somehow familiar, although he cannot say why. Passing through the half door to the southwest causes another chime to ring.

You are now down to 2.

A cat appears, as though it had leapt from somewhere higher up -- although the only thing above it is the full moon and the trembling stars. It sits at the edge of the fountain, and begins to clean its fur with its tongue, in the normal manner of cats.

[Dumnbunny]

Jed will approach the cat carefully, aware of it's body language, put out a couple fingers for it to sniff. If it accepts him, he'll try to figure out how it likes to be scratched, on the head, behind the ear, under the chin, and so forth.