OK So the the Paladin in the group did not want to return the Bat Idol to an evil creature, so the party attacked and defeated the Aspect of Zotzilaha after a few close calls. They they take all the treasure so I hit them with the curse. The Paladins rationality is that he is freeing the people of the Aspects hold over them. When they get back to the village, how do you think this will play out. How would the Zombie Master and Chieftan react if the Paladin tells them that they destroyed the Aspect (since I am not sure the villagers would know of thought the Aspect to be a god). I am trying to figure out the course of action. It could go either favorably or badly for the party in terms of gains the Olman tribes help in defending Farshore from the Crimson Fleet.
Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Probably a mixed reaction from the Olman. The older, conservative people (including the Zombie Master) would likely be enraged that these interlopers have invaded their island, angered the gods to no good purpose, and endangered the fabric of their society. They'd want to cook and eat the adventurers, and throw their bones into the volcano as offerings to appease the gods. The younger, more liberal minority element would think "Yes! These guys have freed us from the dreaded Aspect! This is great!"
Maybe I'm off base here but if your Paladin is a traditional Paladin of Lawful Good alignment, he/she should have been marally torn. The Aspect is part of the culture and belief structure of the Olman (if I remember correctly) thus killing it would have been a chaotic move. It should have been a question as to whether to follow he/her lawful side or good side which is often a dilema that Paldins face.
Warning - My answer may seem a bit harsh. I apologize in advance.
AS WRITTEN (my interpretation thereof):
Killing the Aspect shouldn't eliminate Zotzilaha's anger at the villagers - quite the reverse. The volcanic eruptions should continue to escalate, and the villagers should be completely unwilling to work with the PCs or the colony because they have their own problems now that their deity is (irretriveably) angry with them.
It would be reasonable for the villagers to receive a new "message" from Zotzilaha, telling them that the PCs are their enemy for the blasphemy of having attacked the god's aspect and stolen from his temple. Perhaps the villagers are allowed to plead their case, begging the PCs to return all that they have stolen so that Zotzilaha will not destroy the villagers.
If the PCs won't "see reason" then go ahead and destroy Tanaroa. Have a rain of fire come down and wipe out most of the village, and a good bit of the protective wall. The survivors (villagers who managed to escape into the jungle as the rain of fire began) may or may not, at this late date, be able to regain the favor of their god if the PCs ever do come around. But it should be nearly impossible to get their assistance in defending Farshore, which should cost the colony dearly when the attacks come (lack of Victory Points).
WITH ALL THAT SAID:
If your PCs are unwilling to return the stolen idol to Zotzilaha, there's no way they're going to succeed at the second half of the adventure path. You might as well just stop after the next couple adventures at most, never introduce any of the plot hooks that have them leaving the Isle of Dread, and pretend that the actions of the next two adventures solve the situation.
You're going to have to decide how you want to continue the campaign. You could try to do substantial re-writes to accomodate their "goodness", but unless you completely re-write (in particular) the final two adventures, you could end up leaving everyone involved frustrated and unhappy. So you might want to consider taking more drastic action, such as:
1) Talk to the players. Explain that if the PCs are unwilling to negotiate with evil beings, this adventure path is impossible. Let them decide if they want to continue or not. If they do, let them help decide HOW to continue - kill the paladin (see idea 2 below)? Back up and redo the events at the Shrine of Zotzilaha? Have Zotzilaha punish the villagers and keep going, and let the paladin start to develop a less narrow view of "good"?
2) If the paladin was the only one spurring them to the actions they took, talk just to the player of the paladin (about the same stuff as in point 1) and get his buy-in. Then, when the PCs come back to the village, have a more powerful Aspect of Zotzilaha appear, kill the paladin outright, and order all those assembled to ensure that everything that was stolen from his temple be returned within three days time, or all the Olman villages will erupt in flames (new volcanos). Try to get things back on course.
The PCs did put the idol back, but I would still think that killing the Aspect in the Shrine would still anger Zotzilaha and as a result those actions would still need to be explained to the village. In my opinion there is no way for the paladin to lie about what happened, even if another party member says otherwise, the paladin being lawful good should not be able to stand by and allow the lie to be told. The main question would be how do the villagers react. Zotzilaha would somewhat be appeased by having the idol returned but destroying the Aspect is not a good thing. Even if he is just there to guard and control the Shrine.
I guess it's up to you to decide how the fire/volcano god will react. That will determine how the villagers react.
Personally, I would go the route of fire, flame, and brimstone mentioned above.
Personally, I would take this and tie it into a post STAP epic campaign. Maybe the villagers think they've been spared the wrath of their god by a few foreigners and then get a little lenient on their other duties, sacrifices, prayers, etc.
Knowing their age is coming to an end, perhaps some of the darker gods of the pantheon (Zotzilaha included) decide to gather their last remaining strength and manifest fully in the world to remind the Material Plane why these beings were once worshiped.
The first target of their wrath? The isle of Dread!
Otherwise I would go with the whole fire and brimstone route.
Assuming they have killed a servant of the Olman's god, the Olmans should be pretty mad. Deny them any of the help from here. As the PC's have to go to the tar pits later, have them suffer some consequences from the volcanoes, which are quite nearby.
Although Zotzilaha is a god in decline, killing his Aspect would bring his wrath to both the PC's and the Villagers.
In my campaign the villagers sent the PC's to Zotzilaha to ease the gods wrath, if they come back with his head the villagers would probably try to kill the PC's to appease the god and some would probably flee.
Either way I would play out some consequences for their rash actions.
The PCs did put the idol back, but I would still think that killing the Aspect in the Shrine would still anger Zotzilaha and as a result those actions would still need to be explained to the village. In my opinion there is no way for the paladin to lie about what happened, even if another party member says otherwise, the paladin being lawful good should not be able to stand by and allow the lie to be told. The main question would be how do the villagers react. Zotzilaha would somewhat be appeased by having the idol returned but destroying the Aspect is not a good thing. Even if he is just there to guard and control the Shrine.
The aspect will simply be replaced by another. By replacing the bat idol, they have averted some serious repurcussions. The best way to handle the PCs reporting to the villagers that they have destroyed Zotzilaha (or his aspect) is to have the villagers simply scoff at such a bold statement, laugh at the PCs, and basically not believe them. Your players will hate it and you will love it.
Meanwhile, you need to place a special curse on the instigator of such an audacious act. Give the paladin (and whomever else played a major role in the act) The Curse of Fire. Basically, every time the Paladin is affected by fire, be it magical or normal, it deals damage as if it was maximized and empowered. The only way he can remove The Curse of Fire is by making some kind of offering at the shrine of Zotzilaha and having a remove curse cast on him. Be sure you describe any fire that affects the paladins as somehow burning much brighter and hotter. He'll soon get the point.
Do not punish the villagers. Zotzilaha is a very intelligent being. He can figure out that the PCs are the ones that must be punished.
That's how I would handle it, at least. Good luck whatever you do. And, Wow! They managed to defeat the aspect?! That's a damned tough encounter!
The PCs did put the idol back, but I would still think that killing the Aspect in the Shrine would still anger Zotzilaha and as a result those actions would still need to be explained to the village. In my opinion there is no way for the paladin to lie about what happened, even if another party member says otherwise, the paladin being lawful good should not be able to stand by and allow the lie to be told. The main question would be how do the villagers react. Zotzilaha would somewhat be appeased by having the idol returned but destroying the Aspect is not a good thing. Even if he is just there to guard and control the Shrine.The aspect will simply be replaced by another. By replacing the bat idol, they have averted some serious repurcussions. The best way to handle the PCs reporting to the villagers that they have destroyed Zotzilaha (or his aspect) is to have the villagers simply scoff at such a bold statement, laugh at the PCs, and basically not believe them. Your players will hate it and you will love it.
Meanwhile, you need to place a special curse on the instigator of such an audacious act. Give the paladin (and whomever else played a major role in the act) The Curse of Fire. Basically, every time the Paladin is affected by fire, be it magical or normal, it deals damage as if it was maximized and empowered. The only way he can remove The Curse of Fire is by making some kind of offering at the shrine of Zotzilaha and having a remove curse cast on him. Be sure you describe any fire that affects the paladins as somehow burning much brighter and hotter. He'll soon get the point.
Do not punish the villagers. Zotzilaha is a very intelligent being. He can figure out that the PCs are the ones that must be punished.
That's how I would handle it, at least. Good luck whatever you do. And, Wow! They managed to defeat the aspect?! That's a damned tough encounter!
bat shaped flames too much?
So they killed the personal aspect of the god, looted his temple then returned to the village saying how they saved his people. I don't think returning the idol will be on the top of the list of things Zolzilaha will be thinking about.
I know if it were my temple they broke into, killed my earthly manifestation and looted my cool sacrifices I'd be MAD! Like blow up a mountain and rain fiery death kinda mad. The next aspect would have more purpose than just guarding my temple. He would get every piece of that treasure back before he would think about letting the village survive.
Have him appear in the village (bonfire turns into a fiery column surrounded by flaming bats, new aspect steps out) and demand the return of every piece of treasure and an additional appropriate sacrifice to make up for the insults. Unwillingness to comply would begin with Volcanoes erupting and shaking the island followed by rain of fire, followed by attack of numerous fire bats, and then a buffed out aspect attack. The gods are never reasonable, and seldom let a slight go unpunished.
Harsh I know ... but he's not the happy flower god of the halflings.
If you could find a balanced mix of what I suggested and what Zooman is suggesting, that'd probably be the way to go.
There are a good deal of chances for the PCs to present the idol as a sign of tribute, but that kind of behavior might be overlooked as a viable means of resolution in most conventional gaming circles. I'm looking at this fight in a couple of days, and give my PCs a 50/50 shot whether they pull the idol out and watch the aspect's reaction, or go out of control and try to slay the demonic avatar.
I'm not concerned whether they kill the aspect, but the adventure has a stipulation that if a PC take any treasure that they are not awarded by the aspect, the offending PC loses 6 points from his/her highest stat until reparations are made, or something like break enchantment, remove curse (CL 20th), etc. Some players may cry foul, but messing with demon lords at 10th level is asking for it.
Personally, I think any inventive bestow curse with a 20th-level caster level would be appropriate, such as a "curse of fire", or so on. But off the top of my head, little else says "NO!" as loudly as a drop in 6 from your biggest stat.