A each group member advances and dons the requisite gear chants of “All hail Razmir!” are echoed by the attendees.
" Welcome into Razmir's fold new initiates! I Egarthis welcome you." the black robed one says. " Krant? " A large, wide set, grey robed priest steps forward from the crowd. " You will be in charge of these new initiates and teach them the tenets of Razmir! " The grey robe bows.
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 in a deep grating voice.
" • Razmir is the god above all other gods. Those who would claim otherwise are jealous of His glory and spread lies in an attempt to tarnish his mask.
• 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. (You must wear your masks and robes whenever you are on the first floor or outside the temple.)
• The followers of Razmir act as one. Through anonymity comes solidarity, with each part working together to further His glory. "
After this, Krant leads you out into the yard for a series of exercises, drills, and other relatively boring manual labor.
" Tomorrow I will show you your chores, teach you your prayers, all to help you further in the ways of the Living God. Follow me and I'll show you your quarters. "
Krant leads you back down the stairs into the basement but instead of back to the cells he leads you to a large room 15ft by 40ft.
Eight wooden double bunks rest in this room, each outfitted with simple straw mattresses and a thin blanket. A communal table sits in the center of the room, flanked by four chairs. Two chests lie open between the bunks, each one loaded up with fresh white robes. Pegs are mounted to the walls above the chests for the acolytes to hang their masks on when they are not wearing them. An everburning torch rests in a cloth-draped frame hanging from the ceiling above the table.
" Pick a bunk, I'll be back for you in the morning " then he marches out of the room leaving you to settle in. Several other acolytes watch you from their places around the room.
A larger initiate looks over at Fahd and says in a stern voice "It is Razmir. You'd best learn it quickly or there will be consequences for you, and maybe for us." and turns and walks away.
"Egarthis has ways to make you repent if he wants to." you sense the man knows from experience. You also sense he did not say it as a challenge but as a warning.
7:00 a.m. Arise. New acolytes are wakened by Krant and taken into the dining hall for a simple breakfast of bread, water, and old fruit.
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.
The group manages to find a bit of private space and time to communicate in secret before lunch.
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. This is rather tiring labor and you all undertake it and must make a DC 10 Fortitude save or become fatigued. You surmise if you keep this up day after day you will continue to feel weakened.
3:30 p.m. Afternoon prayer. Half of the congregation attends this session in the main hall (area T6); 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.
A number of acolytes nod off during it.
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.
"So you feel the need to sleep during the lecture?!" Krant says to Darvik catching him dozing off. "Your comrades are attentive yet you seem to have a lack of focus. We can fix that. Go get Egarthis!" he says to another initiate. Soon Egarthis comes in, Krant explains Darviks transgression and Egarthis says one word..."Courtyard" That makes a few other initiates squirm.
"You heard him. Everyone form up to march to the courtyard." He marches all of you out to the courtyard. He has everyone but Elvar and Darvik stand against opposing walls. He motions for Darvik and Elvar to stand opposite each other on the other walls. He drops a heavy flail in-between the two of them (T1) on the ground and hands them both a sap.
"The last man standing will be excused from transcription duties for the night and win a bottle of fine Chelish wine" he says.
Darvik sees Elvar looking nervous...
Elvar rushes forward to grab the heavy flail and throws his sap at Darvik...
Elvar reels from the sap damage and spends this round picking up the heavy flail.
Darvik easily puts Elvar down in two blows. Some of the other initiates slump their shoulders when Elvar goes unconscious as if they know the feeling. You get the sens that Krant is overjoyed.
"Good job. We may make something of you yet. Just two blows. Impressive. Come talk with me while they bring the other to his cot." Krant says to Darvik as he instructs the others to carry Elvar back to the basement.
"Wonderful performance. There might be a role for you in the future. But you still dozed off. You will get rewarded but you need to make up the work. Memorize these Razmir tenets for tomorrow or additional punishments will be given. Recite them in class."
*Razmir is the god above all other gods. Those who would claim otherwise are jealous of His glory and spread lies in an attempt to tarnish his mask.
* 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.
After his conversation with Darvik, Krant leads you all to lunch.
*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. This is rather tiring labor and PCs that undertake it must make a DC 10 Fortitude save or become fatigued.
3:30 p.m. Afternoon prayer. Half of the congregation attends this session in the main hall (area T6); 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.
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.
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Fort
Sense Motive
Charisma check
While Fahd wasn't a fan of this assignment, he'd had much worse. The floor scrubbing sucked, but he made his way through it just fine. The boring chanting and sermon was tough, but he faked his way through it like a trooper. Thankfully the mask kept everyone from seeing his eye rolls.
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. "eat up, you will need the energy" Krant barks out.
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. Krant eyes Darvik carefully since he fell asleep during the earlier praying session. Another initiate falls asleep and Egarthis tells Krant one word "Whip"
9:30 p.m. Transcription. You spend their final 2 hours of the day copying holy texts by candlelight in area 4. One of the priests oversees this process. This requires a DC 10 Linguistics skill check or a DC 15 Intelligence check (You may take 10 on these checks). For each failed check, add 1 hour to the time spent and you must roll again. If you fail more than one check, you cannot get 8 hours of rest that night, which means that you cannot get rid of the fatigued condition or properly rest for spell preparation.
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Fort
Sense Motive
Charisma check
Intelligence check
Intelligence check
Intelligence check
Intelligence check
Fahd did not have a great evening. Finally, it happened. The inane speeches put him dead to sleep, and he was caught. After that, he couldn't get the poor thoughts out of his mind, and his copying went terribly. It took four extra hours to get the work done. He headed to bed, and passed out, face down in his cot.