Is Shebeleth currently the High Priest of St. Cuthbert in Sasserine?
I ask that question as that is the impression I'm left with from these boards but have not read the whole thing yet so dont know if that is so, in the HC, or if some people have set that up in their campaigns.
Thanks
Blakey
Is Shebeleth currently the High Priest of St. Cuthbert in Sasserine?
I ask that question as that is the impression I'm left with from these boards but have not read the whole thing yet so dont know if that is so, in the HC, or if some people have set that up in their campaigns.
Thanks
Blakey
Shebeleth is not the High priest of Sasserine. The high Priest is a man named Father Ilthan Forn who is only named and not described anywhere that I know of. Father Ilthan Forn will soon die to be replaced by Father Ruphus Laro. No reason is given for the old clerics death.
May people have had the High Inquisitor of St. Cuthbert investigate the churchs in Cauldron after the death of the High Priest in Cauldron. Shebeleth is the perfect man to be this investigator. He has the skills and abilities to preform this job, To find the guilty, weed out the other church influences that are seeding unrest with the current government, and punish them with the full force of the church. He if fully willing to start a war to ensure the peace and if that means all of the Kordites must die then so be it.
All this is purely optional and the entire story line is just something we GM's do to entertain ourselves. See Shebeleth Regidin on the theRPGenius.com and thanks to Delves Deep.
Thanks - do you have a link to the info on Shebeleth on rpgenius?
*SPOILERS*
Here is how things went in my Shackled City game:
Sarcem Delasharn is the high priest of St. Cuthbert in Cauldron.
Jenya Urikas becomes high priestess after Sarcem is killed in Flood Season.
Ruphus Laro, a very young priest, fades into the background or becomes a cohort after he is rescued in Chapter 1.
The Cuthbertians in Sasserine are not named and not important, although I do believe Ruphus goes on to become High Priest of Sasserine years after this campaign is over.
Kristoff is the only surviving priest of Pelor in Cauldron. The other three priests have been secretly murdered by Embril Aloustani of Wee Jas (who is, in fact, a cleric of Nerull). Kristoff is young, inexperienced, and frightened.
Shebeleth Regidin is the bishop of Pelor, meaning he is the final authority for all temples to Pelor on this continent. Shebeleth travels to Cauldron presumably to investigate the mysterious disappearance of the other priests and to help Kristoff. He seems to be a kind man who wins the love of the people. The church of Pelor grows and gains new paladins loyal to the bishop. These paladins are later fooled into attacking a rival temple, and a bloody battle follows. Shebeleth uses his powers to slay any Pelorian survivors, and reveals his true identity to the PCs long enough to laugh at them and summon a few demons for them to fight. Then he teleports away to join the other Cagewrights with their evil plans.
Good info guys.
I started my campaign last night. There are two Cuthbertites in the party (cleric and paladin). I introduced Shebeleth as the High Inquisitor of St. Cuthbert based in Sasserine. They never met him of course he was just mentioned at one stage. It is assumed the cleric and paladin (both originally from Sasserine) have heard of Shelebeth.
I started my campaign last night.
Best of luck with the game, I just got underway recently myself.
I've been slowly building up the influence of Shebeleth in the church and city over the last few chapters. The parties priest is very respectful towards him and defers to his greater wisdom whenever the Bishop offers advice. It is all building up nicely until the great betrayal in the next two chapters.
I'm looking forward to it....:)
Delvesdeep
What part of the campaign are you currently in Delvesdeep?
My group just finished the Siege of Redgorge and are about to return to Cauldron to be congratulated by the new mayor...Lord Vhalantru. The irony is that, during the Siege, Vhalantru had asked for an audience with his 'friends' and told them the cities hopeless plight.
Hopelessly drunk, the Lord seemed lost in despair that Lord Taskerhill had called for an election during the crisis to replace the missing Mayor.(Earlier in the campaign Vhalantru had planted suggestions to the party that Lord Taskerhill was the evil power behind the unrest int he city) No councilman had dared to nominate against Taskerhill and without an opposition he would be elected immediately and he would drive the siege forward.
The party suggested that Vhalantru should oppose him and after a great deal of convincing Vhalantru reluctantly agreed to contest him if only to delay the process. Surprise, Surprise, Vhalantru was elected Mayor! Now they will quickly find out that they made a terrible mistake and just how big that mistake is will be revealed after they travel to Sasserine during the next Chapter (Secrets of the Soul Pillars) and find out not only who Vhalantru is but what he is too!
My party will now return to Cauldron where they will be attacked by the assassins (& Last Laugh) and then attack the Church of Wee Yas and possibly the guildhouse of the Last Laugh too.
So to answer your question after a long winded answer...Chapter 7 :)
Delvesdeep
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Delves, I am really looking forward to you sharing some of those extra events you previewed us a while back. My party is fast on the heels of your own, but will be taking a break for the summer. Hopefully you will be able to write-up and post your "Investigating the Lord Mayor" and "Attacking the Guildhouse" adventures soon enough.
I've been slowly building up the influence of Shebeleth in the church and city over the last few chapters. The parties priest is very respectful towards him and defers to his greater wisdom whenever the Bishop offers advice. It is all building up nicely until the great betrayal in the next two chapters.
I was thinking about the move of Cuthbert against Kord, and realized that the Seige is the reason. The attack on Redgorge is an obvious play of strength by Cauldron "officials". If Redgorge is defeated, many citizens will have been killed "unjustly" in trying to get to the Chisel. If Cauldron loses, the Church of St Cuthbert will use this as a sign that Strength was not the answer. The fact that the demons arrive and attempt to use strength against Redgorge at the same time only bolsters the Cuthbertians against Kord.
Sheb gets a win-win against Kord, which sets up the "assault" on that church. He doesn't need to be respectful after the Seige of Redgorge. He has been given the justification to move against them. Which will lead to civil war.
At the risk of hijacking this thread, this was my take on the siege and what Shebelith did with it.
I couldn't see the CW's aligning them selves with Nabthatoron or the demons from the demonscar. It made no sense to me. Add to that the idea the the army marching on Redgorge is made up of mostly Cauldron citizens, well there will be no alliance with demons. But the idea that Nab wanted to see Redgorge fall makes perfect sense. Many of my players died at the hands of Nab, and were licking their wounds (and recruiting new members) when the siege started so they didn't take the bait. To sum up, the siege army and the citizens of Redgorge were driven back to Cauldron when the demons came from the jungle. Now you have 2 factions living in town. The people of Cauldron championed by the Church of St. Cuthbert who demands obedience to the laws of Cauldron and the homeless rebels of Redgorge championed by the Church of Kord. Wee Jas standing benevolently neutral in this civil dispute.
In this environment its easy for Shebelith to stir up armed conflict between recruits loyal to him and the Kordites. When the players leave for the Soul Pillers, Jenya will be locked in a cell and the church of Kord will be sacked and burned in the name of keeping the peace.
90% of this, everything but the demons actions, is the work of Shebelith and the CW's. The siege of Redgorge the evacuation of Redgorge. The hostilities between the churches and finally the open civil war is all a ploy to divert attention toward innocent parties as their plans near compleation.
In my version I had the CW manipulate Nabthatoran by informing him of the seige and providing him with a window to destroy the hated town with support.
I don't know if you have read the Siege of Redgorge document I posted up in sections on this forum but the human guard contingent either are convinced by the party to join with Redgorge, are used as a distraction (effectively sending them to slaughter)or attempt to return to Cauldron (and are ambushed by the Blue Dukes forces on the way) by the time the Demonskar forces arrive.
When the seige begins in ernest only the Half Orc Mercanies (lead by the Blue Duke) and the Demonskar Army (lead by Nabthatoran)contribute.
The inter-church politics within Cauldron and the rationale many of you have contructed are very interesting. My party has been convinced by Shebeleth that the other faith have been inflitrated by evil and manipulated into causing much of the terrors that have caused ill within the city of late.
All the same the ideas you have arrived at are excellent. You will have to let us know how they all pan out :)
Delvesdeep
PS section8 - nib has written up something on the 'Missing Mayor' side trek and I haven't come up with anything on the Last Laugh guildhouse as yet but if you have any maps and/or adventures on a thieves guild that would certainly help :)
All the same the ideas you have arrived at are excellent. You will have to let us know how they all pan out :)
Thanks for your comments. I will let everyone know how things go. The tax riot happens on Tuesday.
if you have any maps and/or adventures on a thieves guild that would certainly help :)
I don't have a lot of time this weekend to dig through my collection, but I was able to find this map It is old, but may be of use. I hope to have a chance to look deeper this week.
Thanks section8! That is a good starting point though maybe we need something a little larger???
Delvesdeep
Returning this thread back to the subject, my group succeeded in capturing Sheb at the Tree (an amazing amount of non-lethal damage dished out by our Urban Ranger). While in custody, our bard decided to do a Legend Lore on Sheb in Sheb's presence. Here is what I gave to him:
Shebeleth Regidin - The Betrayer
Sheb was a respected member of the Order of Stars, the order required to confirm doctrinal purity among St Cuthbert's flock. As a member, he had access to the various books detailing the legends of Adimarchus. Adimarchus's story is used as an example of why the absolute adherence to the rules is required. The more Sheb found out about him, the more he was interested in what drove the angel to rebel against the gods.
Using divination, he was able to determine that the Amedio jungle had the closest link to Adimarchus for some reason. Determined to find and learn from it, he asked to be transferred to Sasserine. There, he tracked down more information in the local legends.
A chance meeting allowed him to connect with Fetor Abradius. It was through Fetor that Sheb became corrupted. The madness invaded his mind, and he became obsessed with Adimarchus. It came to the point where in his heart, he turned away from St Cuthbert and started to worship Adimarchus. Fetor also introduced him to others that were putting together a plan using the Shackleborn to open a gateway to Carceri. Sheb jumped at this, as it would allow free access to where Adimarchus was being held prisoner. His eventual plan was to allow Adimarchus to be freed, and follow him wherever the fallen angel may lead.
Sheb is known among St Cuthbertians as a great betrayer due to his destruction of the cathedral of Cauldron and creating the tension with the temple of Kord, which lead to its destruction. He truly believed that Adimarchus had been wronged by the angels, and that creating this chaos would assist in the use of the Tree. A member of the Thirteen, Sheb is the key designer behind the Tree of Shackled Souls. His vast knowledge of lore, coupled with the necromancy of Fetor, Embril and Alurad, allowed him to create what he hoped would eventually open the permanent gate to Carceri. He just needed funding, which the rest of the Thirteen were more than willing to provide.
Obviously, there are pieces of information that are specific to Delve's campaign modifications (Sheb as a member of St Cuthbert's church, Amedio Jungle link is the sword of Spellmason, Fetor leads Sheb to the Soul Pillars, Sheb behind the destruction of temples in Cauldron, etc.)
I'm confused. Is this Shebeleth/St. Cuthbert connection something you've done in your own campaign or is this mentioned somewhere in the published AP?
Thanks.