I had a chance to play this online some weeks ago, and two things came up.

The first was a group-wide issue. Though there was no actual choice in the mod to do so, there was a drive to destroy the key. Nobody much trusted Xerxes, and that not surrendering the key meant unavoidably (as it was communicated to us) killing his brother is what ultimately swayed the table.
That and it being made clear we weren't making a decision, so much as we were convincing ourselves we were doing the right thing in doing what we had to.
My take away was a choice was badly needed, and framing the circumstances as "you MUST kill this eedjit if you refuse" felt forced.

The second is entirely mine.
The big reveal vis-a-vie the long held question about who Elorii PC's are as a nation in the mod seems...implausible.
The Elorii rebelled against Sstheric slavery and then, although slowly if I recall right, re-established a cultural system of bondage. Why?
As it was laid out...there was no why.
The Kelekene decided (though probably not as a monolithic block given how contentious they're supposed to be) that they were the smart ones and should rule everything.
The Osalikene went along with it because....reasons, I guess.
The Berokene wanted to segregate themselves anyway.
The Marokene, the military backbone, were effectively enslaved.
And the wise, compassionate Ardakene didn't notice and floated above the fray.

And I don't buy it. It's too implausible. I won't just yet reiterate the impact of slavery and the wars and the tortures on the Eloraan culture. But this feels like it was decided by the sum of the various Eloraan people's flaws in abrogation of their assets.

The Kelekene, not that's it's likely that they had a super-majority in any sense, decided to be in charge. In defiance of the very recent and specific lesson about the evils and ultimate failure of systematized oppression. Quite how this was achieved is also a question, as I'm guessing it was done mostly alone. Maybe as a Magocracy?

The Osalikene were too...air-headed? I don't recall their angle on the situation that clearly except maybe they were too far-flung and somehow indifferent? Poorly organized maybe, but disinterested in the plight of the Marokene because, "lol dirt elves"? Aren't Osalikene typically "people" persons?

The Berokene wanted to be gone anyway, and not in colonies but as a general drive to the sea. So be it, of all the Elorii they're most comfortable in a comparatively alien environment. Osalikene don't live in cloud cities after all what with gravity and all that, for example.

The Marokene were under the tooled-leather boot, enforced by whom is unknown, and toiled in mines. They being the strong ones, the military-minded, the stubborn.

And the Ardakene, the "wise and compassionate", didn't notice. Hmm. So the mass population shifts, the lack of contacts with Marokene, any possible prevalence of Marokene souls in the Orumar, the segregating out of Marokene individually, and any possible feedback from others concerned with vanished friends or loved ones. None of that seems very wise or compassionate.

To sum up, and as best I can reason and remember, for this to be especially plausible the Osalikene would have had to not care or been complicit, the Marokene had to submit, and the Ardakene had to be oblivious and/or indifferent.

To be sure the story is unlikely to be at all simple. There were doubtless black betrayals and vicious assassinations, ruthless negotiations and violent suppressions -but it seems like the whole concept hinges on the Elorii (all of them) lacking even conventional empathy and a willful obliviousness to the consequences of those actions.

Putting aside how bizarre that would seem in setting, it'd also be an incredibly bad idea to seed among the player base. "All non-Marokene Elorii have at some point considered other Elorii property due to a massive collective failure of conscience. But you still continue to tolerate traveling with and taking orders from Val. Oh, and it's your "Hero" who was part of this. Either you were one of a tiny fraction of special snowflakes who knew better and rebelled, or you just got a new version of Original Sin rammed down your throat. Go."

It just doesn't fit. A civilization that defines itself by it's escape from slavery enslaving itself. And the question of the motive remains elusive.

I doubt it was materials. The Sstheric kingdom, itself rich and decadent, has been taken. That's arms and armor enough for a massive volume of armies. Whatever else, the Sstherics and the Elorii shared the use of hands. Foodstuffs...maybe not. But swords? Clearly.

Equally unlikely is for the taboo of it. I doubt anyone is that insane, no do I believe that insanity is contagious. Or that it could take so broad a root and go unchecked.

I don't think it works. I also don't think I'll single-handedly change the course of the campaign, but here I am anyway.

My prediction is that responsibility is going to land on the Ardakene, that the big reveal will be that Belisarda, seeking coherence among her children at any cost, actively or at least tacitly supported the Ardakene turning the other cheek. The Elemental Lords.. (WAIT. What about Marok?!) were as coldly indifferent a Elementals could be ("they pray, we gain power, the end") and they just didn't care (wouldn't not rescuing them caused a crisis of faith among the Marokene?).

I do trust in Team Paradigm's story telling skills. And I'm not going to tear up my sheets and stop playing LoA in protest. But I gotta say: this is loaded with cognitive dissonance and not of the fun kind. This is not just "I'm shocked," but also is that reaction's ugly cousin, "I can't believe it. No, really. Cannot. Take. This idea. Seriously."

edited for self-contradictory statements.

Hello Zac,

Sorry you didn't enjoy the adventure.

I really can't say more than what I did in the adventure as written, though I thinkk I can safely say that the shock you felt at vthis reveal was probaly felt by every elorii character who played as well. Additionally, tings don't always make sense when only viewing a bit of the picture. Hopefully, you'll see more peices in the future.

Thanks Henry.
I wouldn't say I didn't enjoy it, just that the wrap-up was problematic and thus far the smidgen of the larger picture is confusing.
I do have confidence this is going somewhere impacting, let there be no doubt.
This is Arcanis. Every gopher hole could lead to a soul-scraping terror.

Cmon Zac, you did expect this to be easy did you?

No.

Easy never factored in to any expectation.

I have just completed preparing this module to played by my friends this weekend. And I believe ZCaslar has maybe forgotten some of what was actually said (which he mention in his post), or perhaps misinterpreted it.

Much of his information is gathered from Player Handout 1, but a couple key insights were missed from the module itself.
Player Handout 1 is written from a third person perspective. Looking at the Eloran society without being a part of it. I find this useful because most time things are written in the perspective of the writer which has a bias that Henry uses to hide the Truth.

The Marokene are seen as the lowest rung of society, only good for fighting. But a solider guarding his or her homeland doesn't think of themselves as being on the bottom. Without them their fighting force is none existent. They would see their job as being very important. In fact Player Handout 1 says "it was a great political victory of the Berokene and Marokene..." They must have some kind of political influence, maybe as Generals of the army. Slaves don't have political influence, they have no say in what gets done. Also the Marokene are not happy with the situation. The Marokene asks in the module "The old order will fall? My people will no longer be treated as mindless brutes..." It sounds more like they have a voice but everyone else disregards it because they believe it doesn't have value. This is not slavery or bondage but lack of respect for the speaker.

The Berokene were seen as unreliable, prone to wandering, and not seen as suitable positions of power. But they were perfect traders traveling from place to place being the face of the Elorii, find new civilizations and new items to purchase. Naturally they would see their job as important. I mean what's an Empire with out food, the rich starve, and the soldiers can't fight if food doesn't get the cities.

The Kelekene were the scholars and master sorcerers. They were thinkers, they came up with the ideas. And Player Handout 1 specifically say they saw themselves as the top rung. I think everyone can relate to this one, we all know someone like this. The person who says "I'm in charge this the way we're doing it." But when it comes to the work itself the Kelekene leave it to the other Elorii.

The Osalikene ran the day to day operations of the Empire. Player Handout 1 says "The children of Osalios, of course, indulge their fiery cousins' delusions and quietly run the empire." I suddenly had a flash of Tony Stark and Pepper Potts from the Ironman movies, that's a nice comparison between Kelekene and Osalikene.

The Ardakene were not focused on jockeying for position in the Empire because they controlled the Church.

ZCaslar said he saw this as slavery of the Marokene by the Kelekene and indifference towards their plight by the others. With the information given it seems to me more like the same kind of situation that exists in today's Arcanis with the Vals and humans. Those Nerites are nothing but hulking brutes, can't trust those Sarishians they'll get you to trade away your first born to a demon, Larissians are nothing but drunken harlots, etc.

Marokene don't know anything but brute strength and fighting.
Can't trust those Berokene they don't finish anything.
Kelekene do nothing but talk, when the real works needs to be done they're hiding in a book.
Osalikene are so smug, I'd like to see them do half the work I do.

Something that wasn't mentioned, but what do you think would happen to a Kelekene who wanted to learn how to manage the day to day of empire with Osalikene, or travel the world with Bereokene, or, Belisarda forbid, join the army. Mostly likely ridicule and intimidation by others much easier to stay in their role and resent others.

One final thing of note. This is the way things were in the past. While it's interesting seeing how things were, it doesn't tell how they are now. One of the Ardakene's final words are "We shall all live as equals." Things could have changed in 5000 years since the fall of the Eloran Empire. In fact a group of Eloran were banished after a schism occurred after the Gods War (when this module takes place). They had forgotten why they left but they remembered it was because of something the Ardakene did.

In all I'm excited to run this module. I'll ask everyone how they perceive the information given, perhaps they will agree with Zac.

Excellent analysis. I hope everyone enjoys the adventure.

Please let us know how it went.

Our judge at Arcaniscon let us smash the key. Which we did after a protracted debate on what was the right thing to do. Given the rift between Xerces/Xercel and the Ardakene, even the elorii present were uneasy, though Lindsey argued well on their behalf.

On the issue of injustice in the old Elorran Society ... I am hardly surprised that there are comparative haves and have nots. If the kelekene, through Salos the Savior or Auros the Avenger, feel like "they won the rebellion" then I can see why they're trying to sit on the top. George Washington made a great first president too ... of course GW was mortal. How might things have changed if he was immortal? And still active in government? Would we have anything like term limits? Probably not. Can you imagine how many political grudges would build up after 200+ years from the founding? Over a thousand years by the elorii? 10,000? Jefferson and Hamilton would *STILL* be going at it. Political parties would form around the most dominant individuals and their "personal" grudges would help define the "national agenda" into perpituity.

And of course this is "pre-split" among the elorii so the Mafelens (who IME lean Kelekene & Marokene) are still in the big tent. I suspect Elonbe is a kinder gentler place just by virtue of their absence from leadership councils.

I tend to agree with the Vault's assessment especially concerning the biases of perspective. Each of the elemental lines has strengths and values those contributions above the others. These are beings also trying to make sense of an event that shattered their world. Even the Marokene's perspective of how they're treated could be an outlier or perhaps a character that is attempting to grow in a different direction and feels limited.

The fact that it's thousands of years ago also means it can be quite different today. I'd have to go back and look at timelines to figure out whether Ardelia had yet appeared to the nations or how that might factor into the plan that the Ardakene is executing. A prophetess of the only remaining Eloran god says "Wait, we got this. Trust us and things will be better." You're a priestess. Even if it seemed counter to your natural instinct, the old ways didn't work. You had 5 gods and 4 were destroyed. Direct confrontation doesn't seem the best approach in the short term. Especially when you consider the kind of timeframes that the Elorans are likely to consider "short term" and reactionary.

It does bring up an interesting tie in to Revan Tindal (sp?) from the first story arc, though it still leaves questions about what caused the splintering. For all we know the Ardakene and Marokene made it out and got what they wanted. Alternatively they may have failed after the betrayal and may have been prevented from delivering on that promise.

As with many Henry reveals this one seems to beg more questions than it answers. Which I believe is Henry's purpose.

It's certainly more to think about. Part of what's interesting is that Xerxel notes that there are other Towers of Gettulus scattered about the Blessed Lands effectively, which raises questions on how soon we may see his handiwork again.

I'd also be curious to know if or how the Elorii released from the Vault of Larissa ties into events then and now.

It'll be interesting to see how the players at my table take it. We will have at least one Elorii at the table possibly more.

With a sweep of his hat,

Paul

I ran the game on the weekend and it went exceptionally well. I had 3 Elorii at a table of 6. Everyone found the information on Player Handout 1 very revealing, but many of them forgot to consider how the info given was from 5000 years ago. So the Elorii began discussing how this would change their current perspectives. (I notified them of the time difference after the game.)
The players notified me of something I wasn't aware of. Each character sheet provided had a short description of the character but also the mission objective. So I was surprised when the Ardakene and Marokene started passing notes back and forth on how to sabotage the party.
The player of the Marokene really made the game interesting for me. After reading Player Handout 1 he played the character very subserviently taking orders from who every gave them.
"Don't ask me I'm just a grunt." he would say.
But was also quietly passing notes to the Ardakene to meet their objective. None of the other players realized what was happening.
The climax of the module was praised by the players because of the twist and because the Marokene and the Ardakene were successfully able to eliminate the Berokene and Osalikene in the battle. By defeating the enemies and not requiring to revive their allies. The Ardakene player especially enjoyed the final betrayal to the Marokene.
Though one of the players was disappointed because he was hoping to make Lancias one of his past lives.
No one even cared about the key. They gladly allowed Malandros (and Xercel) to have it. Everyone was concerned with the promised treasured, the piles of scrolls, and the gold plates with writing on them.

I did ask all the players how they saw Elorii society after the game. They mentioned that it seemed unfair that the Marokene were seen as big dumb fighters, and they no longer trusted the Osalikene. It seems they all caught the sentence about the Osalikene quietly running the Empire. I asked if it seemed like a plausible society. They said it seemed like all the Elorii character sheets were stereotyped, as was the society. They said the stereotyping was most likely a problem to the people who lived there.

All in all everyone really enjoyed the adventure. They couldn't wait for the next chapter in this story line.