|
Elevar himself gets something of everything. Mead, ale, bread, meat, veg, stew, and a shot of something called "Fairy's Tongue". He devours it like a madman, always keeping a wary eye on you all and repeatedly offers thanks to the cultists who are providing this repast for him.
-Posted with Wayfinder
|
|
Hoshiko stumbles for a moment, trying to resist the effects of the poison but tumbles to the ground!
Zolarus quickly follow suit and collapse where he sits!
Ferabras is able to stave off the effects for a short time before...
Grahnd, however, is able to fight off the ill effects and, though groggy, remains standing!
|
|
-Posted with Wayfinder
|
|
-Posted with Wayfinder
|
|
As the party drops like flies, the black-clad leader says from his stage, "Your fellows know well to prostrate themselves for the Living God. It is a shame you do not. Oh well. Let your training begin now." With a smooth wave of his hand, he signals his priesthood to gather and bear saps. Despite the uniform masks covering their faces, it is clear at least one is looking forward to this lesson.
-Posted with Wayfinder
|
Ferabras concludes anyone who would do such a thing to complete strangers must be evil indeed. He draws a wand from his belt and taps it to the hilt of his blade. Dropping the wand, he turns to face the Razmirans.
Am I to maintain the facade of wanting to join their church, when they have poisoned my friends? For now, I should not show my hand - though killing them may give away my true feelings...
"Why have you done this?" he cries out. "They came to you professing faith in Razmir!"
|
|
Soran makes it exactly as far into his meal as Elvar before passing out.
Down to Mikail!
-Posted with Wayfinder
|
Mikael love of food drops him like yesterday's leftovers... his head thunks on the bar and his silverware clatter uselessly to the floor as his limp muscles release all hold on consciousness.
-Posted with Wayfinder
|
|
Training? Perhaps they still believe our ruse...in that case, I must not kill them, as much as I'd wish to.
Ferabras suffers a solid thump on the shoulder from one of the priests' saps, then more than returns the favor. Slipping his sword from its sheath, he turns the blade sideways and cracks the man powerfully on the side of the head!
|
|
With heaving convulsions, the man in front of Ferabras collapses in a rather lifeless form.
Grahnd rears back and punches the priest in the throat. But he's a little too short to reach and falls short.
The priests and acolytes look at their fallen friend and look quickly back at the man still on the podium. "It would seem a harsher lesson is in order for you two." Raising his hands, he claps loudly once.
The priests and acolytes drop their saps and draw rapiers and shortswords respectively.
for MISS
for MISS
for MISS
for HIT
for Not Confirmed
|
|
Grahnd tries again to pound on the priest, drawing his tetsubo with this taking a turn for the lethal.
for MISS
for MISS
for MISS
for HIT
for MISS
As the current priests wrap up their fanning of the air (with a slight thud on Grahnd), more cultists walk through the southern door! They file out to surround Ferabras before trying to pummel him!
for MISS
for HIT
for MISS
for MISS
for MISS?!
|
|
Ferabras' sword slash cuts the big cultist briefly. The man removes his mask and simply laughs at Ferabras!
Grahnd tries to put down the acolyte between he and the tiefling as he looks at what's going on.
for
He knocks the man's head and he crumbles to the ground.
for HIT
for No
for HIT
The acolytes continue, encouraged by two blows delivered to the rebelling recruits!
for MISS
for HIT
As Ferabras falls to his wounds, the acolytes stay their blades.
for HIT
for No
for HIT
for YES
for MISS
But the big man looks sad, but moves over Grahnd and swings his club down on the dwarf! He seems to be lost in a rage of bloodlust!
for
|
|
You wake up the next morning separated into cells. You have been stripped of your gear and left here. You do, however, seem perfectly fine and healthy.
In the morning, you can hear footsteps. The masked, black-robed priest paces down the narrow stone hallway, looking in each of the cells. “I must apologize for the way that you were brought here,” he begins with a calm, even tone. "Though you cannot say some of you did not deserve it. Now, however, we must be sure that you are pure and properly prepared to join the faith. Today you shall fast and meditate on the glory of Razmir. On the morrow you shall be sworn in and given your masks, made one with the body of Razmir; one piece of the greater whole. You shall become acolytes, and be allowed upon the first step of enlightenment. Rejoice! The path of glory and fortune shall be open to you.”
He leaves you once again, and it is some six hours before you see anyone else. A grey-robed herald, complete with mask, comes by and sets a bowl of water in each cell.
|
|
You have been stripped of your gear...
Ferabras spends the day replaying the fight in his head, quietly cursing himself for not taking out more of the priests. That first one went down easily enough, and then I just couldn't connect...I might have handled the first batch, but when the reinforcements came in...Should I have yielded sooner? Would the result have been any different? At least I don't seem to have given away our ruse, if they're still planning to give us those damned masks.
When the water is set down before him, Ferabras considers it for some time. There seems little reason to poison them again, given that they're locked up, and he might need his strength for whatever is to come. With a shrug, he picks up the bowl and drinks, wondering what comes next in this unpleasant mission.
In reply to Zolarus, Ferabras says, "It seems we are all here, though I could wish us elsewhere. I fought them for a few moments, took one of them down, but there were so many, and only Grahnd and I withstood the poison. But at least we are together still."
|
|
Mikail wakes up, groggy and grumpy. "That was just rude! What kind of heathen bastard poisons food, one of the most treasured gifts of the gods... blasphemous!!" he grumbles. He carefully takes stock of his meager position, and grunts in disappointment. When the water comes, he carefully sips, but as he finds it to be cold and clean, he drinks heartily. As the day progresses, the wild spirited Kitsune quickly becomes bored and restless. He alternates between pacing around his cramped quarters, and sending balls of multicolored light zipping and careening around the room. Finally tiring of this, much to the relief of his incredibly pestered and annoyed companions, he takes a nap.
|
|
You have been stripped of your gear...
After 24 hours, the black-clad priest comes to you, along with a group of priests to release you from the cells. "The time has come to swear you in as members of the faith. Follow me."
He escorts you to a room leading to a large auditorium, where many temple members wait for you, sitting on the pews. Your guide enters, but tells you to wait until called for. He then enters the room and shuts the door. After a few minutes, the priests summon you, along with Evlar, to enter the room.
A large crowd of masked priests waits in the temple. While white robes shroud most of them, some wear gray, and a few wear black. In the center of the chamber rises a gigantic staircase, atop of which glitters a porcelain and gold mask, the holy symbol of Razmir. On the eighth step of the stairs stands a black-robed priest, who says gravely, “Come forward.”
When you reach the bottom of the stairs, the priest asks you one at a time to stand upon the first step, but no higher than that. Here other priests hand you iron masks and white robes—required attire whenever you are on the first floor or outside the temple. After you accept his mask, the entire congregation chants, “All hail Razmir” until the next recruit steps upon the first stair. Once all of you don the masks to signify your acceptance into the temple, the black-clad priest welcomes you to the faith and declares that Krant will tutor you in the ways of the Living God. You are overjoyed to see the larger man from the Ranger's Lament is the one named Krant.
Once you prove yourselves worthy and capable, you will become free members, able to do what you please and given all of your possessions back. Until that time, you must follow Krant’s teaching to the letter.
With that, the ceremony comes to a close and the other cultists file out of the room. Krant waits for everyone to leave before explaining all of the rules that an acolyte must follow (see below). After this, Krant takes you out into the yard for a series of exercises, drills, and other relatively boring manual labor. He explains that the ordinary routine will start tomorrow, and allows you to eat with the others, after which they are shown where to sleep.
• Those who follow the steps of the Living God will be rewarded with glory and riches. Those who turn from His path shall have neither.
• Razmiran, the realm of the Living God on this world, is sacred ground, and it is the duty of every believer to protect and enrich this sacred place. Every temple to Razmir is an extension of this sacred realm.
• Those who have ascended the steps speak with the authority of the Living God. Failing to obey them is akin to disobeying the will of Razmir Himself.
• Tithing to the faith is a holy responsibility. The faith of Razmir must have the resources to fight against His enemies, who use their vast sums of ill-gotten wealth to spread lies and deceit.
• Those who do not believe must be converted to the faith of Razmir by showing them the glory and wealth that awaits them in His service. Those who refuse are corrupted by the unfaithful and should be denied such luxuries.
• Only those who believe in the Living God deserve a life of plenty and pleasure. Others must suffer and toil until they see the light of Razmir.
• The mask of the Living God is a divine vessel. Behind its protective embrace, His followers can speak the will of Razmir without fear of rebuke. His followers must wear the mask whenever they deal with nonbelievers, so that they might come to fear His image.
• The followers of Razmir act as one. Through anonymity comes solidarity, with each part working together to further His glory.
|
|
"Well, thankfully, there are no rules about talking! So, how long have you been here, Krant? What is the hierarchy around here.. I see gray and black robes too.. what do they mean? Where is this Razmiran.. it seems to be a great place! I would like to see it!"
Throughout the day in the yard, Mikail does his best not to blow his cover, but meaningless labor was never his strong suit. He excels at the exercises and drills, but becomes increasingly bored with the labor portion.. of course the frustrations of his party with him increases exponentially as Mikails boredom soars...
|
|
The following days follow the same schedule and it quickly becomes second nature, such is the repetition. Since it does not really have any bearing with the module, I will post it in this manner:
7:30 a.m. Simple labor in the yard. This usually involves cleaning up the stables, splitting timber, unloading deliveries for the kitchen or the private use of the heralds (these are taken to the stairs leading to the second floor, but not actually carried up them by the acolytes), and weapon and armor maintenance.
11:00 a.m. Prayer and tutelage in the temple. Egarthis descends from the second floor to instruct the acolytes (new and old) in the power and glory of Razmir, telling about his mighty deeds, his generous gifts, and his incredible power.
12:00 p.m. Lunch. This is half a loaf of bread, some fatty meat, a thin slice of cheese, and potato stew.
12:30 p.m. Cleaning. The new acolytes must clean the first floor of the temple, using small brushes, harsh soap, and water.
3:30 p.m. Afternoon prayer. Half of the congregation attends this session in the main hall; all acolytes must attend. One of the heralds leads the prayer, which includes a number of rather pompous
litanies and psalms to the Living God. In time, you realize that even the heralds find this rather dull. A number of acolytes nod off during it, but Krant is quick to punish them afterward.
4:30 p.m. Training. The new acolytes are taken out into the yard and trained how to interact with the public. This starts out as simple ways to walk as a group, keep composure, and not reveal one’s identity. After a while, it moves to less savory training, such as how to force someone to donate, how to mock other faiths to make Razmir seem more powerful, and how to deal with local guards and others who would interfere with the temple.
7:00 p.m. Dinner. This is usually made up of a simple vegetable stew with some inexpensive meat tossed in, coarse bread, and ale or wine.
7:30 p.m. Evening prayer. The other half of the congregation attends this session. Evening prayer resembles the afternoon prayer, except Egarthis usually leads the procession, and those in attendance must participate. Those who try to fake it or pay little attention are swiftly punished afterward.
9:30 p.m. Transcription. The PCs spend their final 2 hours of the day copying holy texts by candlelight. One of the priests oversees this process.
The basis of the routine, you gather, is to force acolytes to learn and live Razmir at all times, inundating them with teachings and writings, as well as putting down other gods and services. Evlar laps it all up and is soon as zealous as many of the other similarly ranked followers.
One day, things take a turn for the odd when Krant leads you out for training, but hands you each a sap.
He then tells you that you must fight one another, and that the last man standing will be excused from transcription duties for the night and win a bottle of fine Chelish wine from his own private stash (worth 50 gp). You can use any tool at your disposal, and to make things interesting, Krant tosses a heavy flail into the center of the courtyard before sending each of you (and Evlar) to a separate corner or wall to start.