Thursday, January 22, 2015

WoTR: Convincing the Churches, part 3

I always imagined that even clerics of Erastil have a kind
of down-to-earth and homely feel to them.
CHURCH OF ERASTIL
Father Mateo is determined to defend his city and is assisting people in Absalom to create, well, fall out shelters basically.  They are not a wealthy church, however, and have little to add to the war effort - a fact that is obvious to any who see the cozy set of five cottage-like temples.  He works with Malifa Sevan to create Halos of Inner Calm at cost to help her forge the tieflings into a community.  He will argue against other churches and royals donating much to the Mendevian crusade, preferring they turn their efforts to the problems facing those within their own city.  Due to this, he's actually a problem for the PCs.

ITEM OF INTEREST: He wears a Cap of the Free Thinker (looks much like a ranger's cap) to ensure that he always makes decisions free of influence.

QUEST TO IMPRESS: They need to convince him that the trouble in Mendev will affect Absalom and they can't do that until after they have exposed one of the demon's plots within the city.  Once they have done that, they will find 1d4 clerics who have no children and 1d8+2 lay members (generally the spouses and parents of the clergy) who will move to Drezen so long as they may stay in a secured location (i.e. barracks or the castle).  This will automatically upgrade the existing Erastil shrine (mentioned in Demon's Heresy) into a temple.  If the PCs are eager to redeem tieflings and other cultists in the Worldwound, then they will gladly help with this and each pair of worshippers will each adopt a tiefling orphan if such people exist in your game.
 
CHURCH OF ABADAR
Vroclaw of Brevoy, High Priest of Abadar, Advisor to the Primarch is a stout human fellow who sees Mendev as fully civilised and the Worldwound as a lost venture -- though he would be willing to concede that a further ring of Wardstones needs to be built he imagines that the sheer quantities of money already funnelled to Mendev must be being misused if it hasn't found an answer yet.

On the other hand, Jostlin Ferqyr, human Keeper of the Vault of Abadar, is a level 15 human cleric of Abadar from the Ivy District who is predominately in charge but who is currently finding Absalom's needs rather dull.  She works within a tall, soaring building that is a marvel of engineering genius of polished obsidian made of levels slightly skewed from the one below it and then again with the level above that in the opposite direction to give an impression of a precariously perched building.  


ITEM OF INTEREST: Jostlin Ferqyr wears +2 ghost touch full plate mithral armour edged with gold and has a rather ceremonial light crossbow and a rather delicate Bracelet of Bargaining half-fused to the armour (+5 to Bluff, Diplomacy and Sense Motive checks) and can detect deceit when shaking on a deal.

QUEST TO IMPRESS: While Faldirr Makul will only provide a few lay priests (1d4) and a low ranking cleric to establish a bank / chapel in Drezen (at the expense of Drezen's coffers and only if sorely pressed), Jostlin Ferqyr desires to make her mark on the world and she's willing to take a gamble with her own considerable funds so long as the PCs can provide her with a secure location and some builders to forge a secure temple of Abadar soon as she arrives.  She will bring a Lyre of Building which halves construction times in my game.  She will arrange for a score of paladins from the Brotherhood of Abadar to accompany her and defend the temple.  During the sixth book, this temple will become a sanctuary for a number of nearby builders.

CHURCH OF TORAG
Hirkral Karktek, High Priest of Torag, is in charge of the church but to meet him you need to first convince Durkir Delgleam of your intent and need (unless you are also a dwarf).  Durkir Delgleam is a worshipper of Torag, and paladin, who takes care of the church built into one of Absalom's curtain walls.  He wears a long, well-used smithing apron and carries a hammer, working in the forge when considering any new possibility.  The temple around him is circular, built around the main forge.  He considers the Mendevian Crusade a vital one but sees greater importance in preparing an evacuation plan for the dwarves to Jormurden.

ITEM OF INTEREST: He wears Engineer's Workgloves that grant a +5 to Craft and Knowledge checks that also allows him to touch an object and understand how it works once per day.

QUEST TO IMPRESS: 
Hirkral Karktek, High Priest of Torag, is interested in rumours of a dwarven Sky Citadel Jormurden, thought to be in old Sarkoris, in the Wolfcrags in the northwest of the Worldwound's Frostmire region.  He has heard tell that the Pathfinders have found the location, or rumours of it, which is thought to be located almost entirely underground with subterranean chambers filled with still-functioning traps.  They could raise quite a lot of gold and troops to re-take such a place and could lend forth an army but only if such an investigation is assured and mounted within 6 months of their arrival.  Three 300 person level 2 dwarven fighter armies and one 100 person level 3 dwarven fighters will arrive within 1d6 months to assist Drezen, Kenabres and the surrounding farmland.  These individuals can double as builders when not deployed.

College of Mysteries (Extra Option)
Brythen Blood, known as the painted man due to his plethora of tattoos, is 16th level sorcerer who stands as High Curator of the College of Mysteries in the Petal District.  The PCs will be invited to the college to wow them - inviting them foremost into a giant dome of arcane fused gemstone run by the Assembly of Enigmas.  He is interested in arranging for special lectures from leading arcanists, demon hunters and engineers from the Worldwound.  If the PCs can either arrange this or even manage the lectures (DC 30 check in any Knowledge skill), they can tweak the interest of 1d6 students per lecture (lectures take up an entire morning or afternoon).  A successful Perform, Diplomacy or Bluff check can also boost interest in any items that will be up for auction and increase their auction value by 15%.

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