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Sure it seems like a simple enough question, but then every faith is prepared to defend itself or attack outsiders, but what happens when the High Priest condems the faith he has so long adhered to?
I'm the Co-DM for our game and we have a situation thst spiraled out of control with a Cleric of Pharasma.
A little background, the party had just finished cleansing a new temple to Urgathoa and defeated some powerful daemonic fiends that resided within. Upon returning to town and being hailed as heroes, (They left at level 4 and returned at level 11), the Cleric, who belonged to the local Pharasmin Church is taken aside and calmly informed that his wife and only child were slain while he was gone.
Resurrection was not within the party's means, so the Cleric and his party traveled to the Church to plead for them to be brought back. The Head Priest denied the request, stating that they were serving beside the Goddess now and it would be selfish and wrong to bring them back.
The Cleric's resolve broke here and he snapped. He took his party aside and lied to them, telling them that the High Priest was a fiend, masquerading as the former Priest, and that he was likely behind the Cleric's family's deaths, as retaliation for their destruction of the temple.
The party's new method when dealing with fiends is to 'shoot first, ask questions later.' The High Priest made his Sense Motive Check, and realized he was in danger. He summoned a Vanth Psychopomp, which was misidentified as a Bone Devil and both the priest and the Psychopomp were cut down with extreme prejudice.
While the Party left congratulating themselves, the Cleric took the femur, mask, and a rib bone from the psychopomp's remains and fashioned it into a crude Pick, returning his Ceremonial Dagger to the High Priest's corpse, and left muttering about 'if such is the destiny of heroes, he'd rather leave his life up to chance.'
Now, following this situation, what is the proper response for Pharasma, and her Church?
I'd love to know if this event would be noteworthy at all.
I'd think that Pharasma's herald would show up instead of the goddess herself to look at the situation, and react accordingly. One deity alone can't really force mortals around without angering the other gods, so she might have to be content with cursing him up until the new patron (whom I assume is Zyphus, judging from your description) decides to grant him the proper defenses against his former deity.
Of course, the church of Pharasma would eventually become aware of this attack, and probably turn hostile (or at least unfriendly) towards them in areas where their crime is known about. And given how wide-spread her faith is, this could mean a lot of trouble for them...
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Hello evil allignment (probably CE at that) for starters (if you haven't done that already).
Secondly I pretty much think that killing the high priest of your deity and a divine servant does not qualify for clerical powers. I think reading between the lines that your player already knows this so the question is what next for him. I would have a god step in at this point and offer his services. Norgorber, Urgathoa or Callistria would all be appropriate deities.
Third, the players are now public enemy number 1. Inquisitors will be dispatched to hunt these players down, especially your apostate cleric. Bounty hunters, mercenaries and witch hunters will follow their trail, from this point on your players should feel hounded. On top of all of this, expect Pharasma to send her own extraplanar forces to stop the PC's.
Finally, this is all based on a lie. The other players will find out about this eventually. Let that play out naturally, I expect your PC's will be very annoyed to learn the truth.
Let us know how it develops.
Of course, the Church will be able to use 'Speak with Dead' to determine who attacked the High Priest which they left on the floor in his office deep within the church.
Also I think it would be within character for one of the members of the church to have a Nosoi as a familiar, and use it to inform other Churches about the attack.
Currently the Cleric lost all his granted powers and his fingernails continually bleed as a mark of his actions.
As for the rest, I'm still unsure what level of punishment should be levied against the party.
The party was tricked, so the punishments should be lesser to them. Then again, Pharasma is a goddess of fate and probably could tell that they would be tricked, and thus choose not to punish them, instead focusing her wrath on the heretic who fooled his allies in the first place.
Unless you have another Cleric or a Paladin in the party there shouldn't be any mystical repercussion.
Mundane repercussions however, that's a different story.
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I don't think that it is a foregone conclusion that you have to "punish" your players. I think that rather, you should treat this as an opportunity, especially for the player of the cleric, who now has a built in plot about gaining a new divine patron.
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Heck it's not like he turned them into undead and she is a neutral goddess of fate and death no less.
Could be this is all playing out according to her plan.
Honestly I would hold off for a bit and think more on it, besides summoned creatures don't leave remains so if the psychopomp did then it's a sign the Goddess approves.
Finally now that another is dead she might approve the release of the souls of the wife or child with a 'congratulations new high priest.'
This is the Church of Pharasma, not the Klingon Empire.
In an evil church I could see a policy of killing for advancement. However whilst Pharasma is the Goddess of Death she is not the Goddess of Murder, that's Norgorber's domain.
This PC did not accept death (central to the tenets of Pharasma) and instead went on a revenge trip that resulted in the murder of the High Priest and one of Pharasma's sacred servants. Pharasma has a right to be annoyed.
In addition to that Pharasma does not have any sway on souls after they have been judged. She cannot and will not send a soul back as a reward, it's contrary to her position and her role.
Abraham spalding wrote: Heck it's not like he turned them into undead and she is a neutral goddess of fate and death no less.
Could be this is all playing out according to her plan.
I appreciate a point of view on the other side, but our intention was to test the Cleric with the loss of his NPC family in order to give him a boon for staying true to the faith. We expected him to be upset, (As his family's safety was his main motive for leaving to find the threat) but instead of getting some 'inner reflection time' we got 'Birth of a Supervillain.'
The Psychopomp's remains only hung around for cinematic purposes, and they evaporated as soon as the Cleric was leaving the room.
The only thing I'm trying to gauge is if this event was enough to rouse Pharasma's wrath, (Or any god's for that matter) or if they don't pay attention to such things and let their followers deal with the problems.
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FallofCamelot wrote:
Third, the players are now public enemy number 1. Inquisitors will be dispatched to hunt these players down, especially your apostate cleric. Bounty hunters, mercenaries and witch hunters will follow their trail, from this point on your players should feel hounded. On top of all of this, expect Pharasma to send her own extraplanar forces to stop the PC's.
While I agree with the rest of your post, I disagree with this paragraph.
If every evil act would meet such swift and potent repercussions, there would be no need for heroes in Golarion.
Maybe there will be a bounty, most likely the church of Pharasma is now the enemy of that PC. But the Goddess herself sending extraplanar forces, he being hunted by hordes of witch hunters and inquisitors? Where were those guys when the PCs took on the temple of Urgathoa? And why should they come on running now? There are a LOT of bad guys in Golarion, your PC is not the only one.
From all I've read, the response from a god in Golarion would be largely invisible. The physical response would be decidedly mundane; a murder was committed and local law enforcement may become involved. They may also realize that they are simply not powerful enough to contend with a group of heroic characters (level 11s can thwomp most NPCs, case-in-point being the High Priest getting steam-rolled).
Like Hyla said, there are a lot of bad guys in Golarion. The most common way for powerful bad guys to disappear is at the hands of a bunch of adventurers. Law-men or members of Pharasma's flock may turn to another adventuring party to bring the PCs to justice.
Where Pharasma fits in with all this is largely ephemeral. Maybe the rival adventuring party consistently manages to stumble across the PCs, seemingly by sheer luck. Any influence the goddess has on the PCs being brought to justice should be able to be explained away as being luck, circumstance, or just a damned fine coincidence. You as the DM will know she's involved, and the PCs may eventually suspect, but it's never concrete. Pharasma can't risk being a bigger influence without opening the door to other gods to do the same. It's the uneasy cease-fire they all implicitly agree to; sort of mutually assured destruction.
The only clear indication of Pharasma's influence in this should be her withdrawal of power from the PC cleric. As for other gods, or demons, or devils... no one will try to goad the cleric down a darker path if he's content to walk it already. If he shows signs of wanting to repent, then a darker influence might try and throw up road blocks, or prove that redemption is a false hope, or something along those lines. But again, the name of the game is subtlety. The powers-that-be of Golarion are not big on flashy shows of force.
Nezz the White Necromancer wrote:
Now, following this situation, what is the proper response for Pharasma, and her Church?
Uh... if you're interested in things like in-game heresy, you really might want to check out Death's Heretic. O_o
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Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
Nezz the White Necromancer wrote:
I appreciate a point of view on the other side, but our intention was to test the Cleric with the loss of his NPC family in order to give him a boon for staying true to the faith. We expected him to be upset, (As his family's safety was his main motive for leaving to find the threat) but instead of getting some 'inner reflection time' we got 'Birth of a Supervillain.'
The Psychopomp's remains only hung around for cinematic purposes, and they evaporated as soon as the Cleric was leaving the room.
The only thing I'm trying to gauge is if this event was enough to rouse Pharasma's wrath, (Or any god's for that matter) or if they don't pay attention to such things and let their followers deal with the problems.
To be honest, I can kinda see the character's point. Not that the response was warranted (the high priest can only do what Pharasma allows, so murdering him...not so good), but if the safety of this character's family was the main motive, I'd be more than a little peeved (as a player) to be told that my spouse and child had been killed. ("When were they killed, your Grace?" "Oh, they were killed by daemons while you were away fighting daemons. But don't worry, they're in Pharasma's hands now, so it's all good.") To have this happen in real life would quite likely drive me out of my mind.
Pharasma would likely be quite peeved, but I have to agree with the posters who say that other than casting him out, she'd let the mortal authorities handle this.
Out of curiosity, did you not see this coming at all? This seems like a very likely result of what you were trying to plan. Also, Pharasma not rewarding this guy with the resurrection of his family seems like a Class A ****** behavior to me.
Yeah just offering a side thought.
Honestly I don't think it would be a 'huge' crime against the Goddess still. The psychopomp was summoned which means it really wasn't hurt by being killed, and again while the priest was murdered death is a part of life. IF the PC had tried to stop the soul from moving on or something yeah, that would be worth extraplanar involvement.
As it stands I could still see him being able to stay in the church -- a lot worse 'sins' that this have surely been committed and forgiven before. I would leave this one completely to the mundane authorities, and leave room for some atonement.
I still think that this murder being predicted and planned for would be a great way to show how Pharasma does really know and plan accordingly. It could be something as simple as another psychopomp showing up and offering an atonement quest, or the authorities already having all the evidence they need to pin it to the PC.
I do think the other players are significantly less guilty though not completely (after all they were fooled and considering their current activities it was a brilliant method of fooling them by a friend).
Of course I could also see the PC really going villain and perhaps ending up on the whispering way too.
All in all I would talk with the player involved -- it seems to me he's got a good role playing head on his shoulders and might be able to offer insight where he would like to go from here with the character.
ElCrabofAnger wrote:
To be honest, I can kinda see the character's point. Not that the response was warranted (the high priest can only do what Pharasma allows, so murdering him...not so good), but if the safety of this character's family was the main motive, I'd be more than a little peeved (as a player) to be told that my spouse and child had been killed. ("When were they killed, your Grace?" "Oh, they were killed by daemons while you were away fighting daemons. But don't worry, they're in Pharasma's hands now, so it's all good.") To have this happen in real life would quite likely drive me out of my mind. Oh yes, it does sound like the proper response, and don't get me wrong, we aren't upset at the player for making it. What was going to become a small end to a paragraph has become it's very own chapter.
ElCrabofAnger wrote:
Out of curiosity, did you not see this coming at all? This seems like a very likely result of what you were trying to plan. Also, Pharasma not rewarding this guy with the resurrection of his family seems like a Class A ****** behavior to me.
Oh not really, but don't worry we've already spoken at length with the PC's player and there are no hard feelings, in fact he's eager to see how his actions are received, and hopes that the nature of the High Priest's death, (A case of mistaken identity that lead to an accidental murder of a good person) will spur the divine patron he wants into defending him and granting him power again.
As for, behavior on part of the Gods, while a Goddess like Desna may launch a crusade into the Abyss to save a favored soul, Pharasma has always appeared stoic and adhered to her divine task. She sees a lot of people get unfairly slain and very few get the sort of 'second chance' that a lot of souls probably desire. We feel that to a mortal that doesn't understand, it would appear as though she might be holding out on them, when the reality is that she just knows better, like a parent refusing to grant a child a favor.
The reason I ask if Pharasma herself would act at all in this situation, is that the book 'Faiths of Balance' specifically mentions that killing a Psychopomp of Pharasma is a forbidden act to members of the church. While the Psychopomp obviously simply returned to the Boneyard, it witnessed the cruelty and vileness of the former Cleric when he purposefully named it a Devil, knowing full well what it really was.
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Nezz the White Necromancer wrote: Sure it seems like a simple enough question, but then every faith is prepared to defend itself or attack outsiders, but what happens when the High Priest condems the faith he has so long adhered to? Image
Jonathon Vining wrote: Nezz the White Necromancer wrote: Sure it seems like a simple enough question, but then every faith is prepared to defend itself or attack outsiders, but what happens when the High Priest condems the faith he has so long adhered to? Image Love the image, book of vile darkness?
Personally, I like the gods turning up and helping/steering the players in the right direction, it takes them from being theoretical background things, to actual tangible beings. (Big brother is watching you).
It's easy for players to forget that the gods can see you, that the paladin might be nagging you to stay on the straight and narrow path because they know that if/when you mess up, you will pay for it later.
Frankly, we've never had a god/goddess turn up in one of our games where it hasn't turned into one of those "and this one time, Iomedae sent one of her saints to give the paladin back her eyes, after she gave them up permanently to destroy an evil artefact" kinda stories.
So, dead Whiporwills, bleeding fingernails and he has the taste of grave dirt in his mouth all the time. What gods do the rest of the party follow? Any divine casters amongst them?
They could get to the end of a fight and notice the healer isn't healing them...
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A meta response could be 'whatever works best to advance the story and is compelling for as many players as possible.'
The GM gets to decide if Pharasma had already decided that this high priest was on his way out, or scheduled for many more years of life. If she *really* wants him to return, she'll send another priest (or outsider servant) to raise or ressurect him. Or the slain high priest might return as an actual outsider servant of the goddess, being all 'if you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than ever!'
Or, the cleric's *wife* might return as a psychopomp or other outsider servant of Pharasma, and urge him to step away from this path. Maybe it was her fate (or their child's!) to become a psychopomp at this time, and their mortal deaths were a necessary step in their ascension. Maybe it had to be a child, reaped before they made their mark on the world (and became 'too enmired in worldly concerns') because this particular intended servant of Pharasma deals with lost possibilities and potential cut short or higher more esoteric spiritual matters that require a certain distance from concerns of the flesh or whatever.
But, for the most part, a god can't get up and deal with it personally every time one of her clerics dies. PC clerics die all the time, and the closest thing to divine intervention is the GM saying 'roll up a new character.' Why should NPCs get all the divine intervention?
The church, on the other hand, may indeed send an Inquisitor (and his or her goon squad) to investigate and mete out appropriate punishment, leading to a potentially fun encounter, later. (Note that Pharasma is very much not a *good* goddess, or even a lawful one, so killing off a bunch of her flunkies who attacked your party first, even if they were trying to avenge the killing of a priest of their faith, isn't going to cause anyone alignment issues, except for the dude responsible for this 'misunderstanding.' Indeed, there's a one in three-ish chance that the Inquisitor sent might be evil anyway!)
As for the 'new boss,' note that gods don't *have* to agree to take on a fallen cleric of some other god. The evil god might have half a brain in it's outsider skull and think, "Yanno who would make a terrible person to make a cleric and give all sorts of power to? Someone who just screwed over their last god..."
On the other hand, some gods might be recruiting, and Norgorber might find his red-handed murder, and the deadly deception that preceded it, amusing and golf-clap-worthy, while Zyphus, more intrigued by 'humorous' Rube Goldberg-style 'accidents' (like something out of Dead Like Me or a Final Destination movie) might find this a tawdry tableau of madness-in-grief and unworthy of his favor. Too hot. Too 'in the moment.' Not enough planning and scheming and setting up a plausibly-deniable 'accident.' Not cold enough. A proper paean to Zyphus would have started with arranging 'accidents' for the High Priest's family, preferably ironic or symbolically significant ones, such as drowning someone (reversing Pharasma's traditional association with baptism as rebirth) or arranging for the statue of Pharasma to topple over and crush someone (easily misinterpreted after-the-fact, perhaps by the evil-doer himself, as a sign of divine disfavor!).
Starfinder Superscriber
Man Set, those are great points I think!
I really like what I'm reading here simply because I'd LOVE to see something like this in my game. In a FR setting of course the gods would be all over this like ugly on an ape, but one thing I do have to say I like about PF is the gods, while there, are less likely to blue bolt everything in a 100 yard radius of the character.
And really depending on how he does things, I could see Norgorber or the Red mantis taking a shining to this guy, if he decides to not try and seek understanding from Pharasma.
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My goodness, I had nearly forgotten about my thread, and yes I believe an update is in order:
Lets see, as Set pointed out, the Cleric's rash and hasty murder did not earn him any sort of powers. As a matter of fact, he had to spend a total of two sessions without any powers at all, except a wand of cure moderate wounds he had created earlier.
The player was very enthusiastic about roleplaying this new path for the character, and though we expected him to lose interest in his cleric (He had no spells or supernatural abilities!) he instead surprised us in the best of ways.
So as it turns out, the Cleric and the Party are making their way out of town post haste as their business here was done. On their way out, the Cleric began his horrible descent.
He held up the party when they came upon a trader with his cart heading into town. The Cleric told the man he was willing to sell his entire ensemble to him for a fraction of the cost. The Cleric was wearing armor and appropriate dress for the area, all Mastercrafted and Magical. The Cleric then distracted the man with idle conversation and did a weak slight-of-hand to swap the Trader's holy symbol with a trinket he had picked up in the Temple of Urgathoa. The trader by the end of their transaction had switched out of his dull brown clothes and into his new outfit. The Cleric gave the man his hat for free, and set off after his party thanking the Trader for filling his purse.
An Inquisitor and his retinue was summoned, and arrived to inspect the crime scene the next morning. They got their information, and getting tips from the locals, they were directed towards one of the city's gates where they came across the trader just outside. His clothing identified, the Trader had crossbows trained on him. The simple traveler panicked and swore he was not the man they were after, and attempted to pull out his holy symbol of Abadar, and instead held out the moth of Urgathoa to the Inquisitor's guards. He received five crossbow bolts to the chest for his error and died at the scene.
After several days of travel, the party made their way wearily into the next town, and immediately the Cleric set off to do shopping, while letting his fellows settle in the inn. His first act was to use his trained linguistics skill to forge a receipt which allowed him to take several barrels of lamp oil meant for a church, and direct it to a small dock warehouse. Following the forgery, he then bought a small keg of gunpowder, and several flasks of alchemists' fire. Then a large amount of wooden lumber and a small table and chair along with some tools. Using his Profession: Carpentry (He used to build coffins) he worked in the small dock warehouse and prepared it as he saw fit. Then upon finishing, met with his party mates at the local tavern.
While his party mates toasted their successes, he paid a local a several gold sum and told him of suspicious activity going on in the dock warehouse, and that it should be passed onto an authority figure.
The Inquisitor and his men road into town that night, and stopped by the tavern. The Cleric watched from the other side of the room, disguised by another party member who was now asleep at the inn. The Cleric nodded towards his commoner help, and the commoner made his way to the Inquisitor and explained just as he had been told to do. The Inquisitor, getting on in his years but not a fool, decided to forcibly take the commoner with him and his retinue to the warehouse to test his honesty.
Drawing their swords and lighting torches, (The inside of the warehouse was extremely dark) the Inquisitor and the six other men entered the building and slowly made their way to the center, where the chair and table were set up, upon which were a small pile of books, a lantern and a mess of parchment which had hastily scribbled, but apparent blueprints.
The Inquisitor and one of his guards attempted to decipher the blueprint, (Which had been written in a foreign language via linguistics) while the frightened commoner asked for a torch and was denied. Not content to be without a light source of his own, the commoner requested one of the guards apply his torch to the unlit lantern on the desk which he would use.
The guard obliged and lit the wick of the lantern, which quickly hissed and sparked, a disguised fuse. All but the Inquisitor froze as the fuse burned down through the inside of the false-bottomed lantern and through a hole in the table to the makeshift explosive attached on the underside. The gunpowder ignited and exploded, sending the shattered flaming flasks of alchemists' fire in all directions which quickly lit the rest of the building on fire, as everything wooden inside the warehouse had been coated with the lamp oil to help it quickly burn.
Only the inquisitor escaped with his life as the others were engulfed in the flame before they could act, and perished. The Other GM thinks that for his superb use of his skills and clever plan, he should be allowed a small bit of favor with the deity he is trying to court. I'm split both ways, and kinda just want to see if he can pull off another trick like this.
What do you think?
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Yeah, this situation has tons of potential.
The player seems pretty bought into his fall, which is cool. I also like the bleeding fingernails.
Maybe there's a bidding war that occurs. Representatives from unsavory faiths are trying to recruit him with gifts and argumentation, much to the party's confusion.
As to Pharasma, well, I'd say at least no spells. Between the untimely death of one of her servants and the turning away from her tenets, this guy ain't a cleric of her no more. Sure, he can repent, and greater sins have been forgiven, but till that occurs, it's hard seeing any divine powers being wasted on a heretic.
That being said, smiting or a herald seems a bit much for one dude, even if a local high priest. Unless she sees he has a great fate in store for him. Then she can join the recruitment bidding war. What would the party think when a friar of Pharasma comes up and says he's seen the cleric in his dreams, and that the cleric must repent and return to Pharasma.
As for the church itself, well, I think they may take a less sanguine view of their more powerful members being killed. No powerful institution can stand by as it's leaders are killed. And in D&D, where churches have militant arm, we're not talking about just going to the police and then mourning about it.
In this case, there is no reason party would be not targeted, at least till they sort the whole thing out. We'd be talking not only about inquisitors and the like, but also powerful planar beings.
In the end, the important thing is to hook this chapter into the others. After such a sudden change of character, a period of free fall is certainly in order, but some kind of new long-term plot hook is needed, since he's lost both his family and his faith.
I'd say give him some time to make a decision re: new allegiance, and then have whomever he throws in with provide something new to focus on.
Perhaps the possibility of returning his family to him, or of wiping out his memory of them, or simulating them for him somehow.
Quote: Only the inquisitor escaped with his life as the others were engulfed in the flame before they could act, and perished. The Other GM thinks that for his superb use of his skills and clever plan, he should be allowed a small bit of favor with the deity he is trying to court. I'm split both ways, and kinda just want to see if he can pull off another trick like this.
What do you think?
Ya gotta give him something to acknowledge the awesome, though it need not be materially useful. A sign or portent of favor could be enough.
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I swear to all the gods, if you do not keep us posted on this ongoing campaign, I will find you. This is quite possibly the best character storyline I have ever heard, and I've been playing RPGs for the past 20 years.
DemonicEgo wrote: I swear to all the gods, if you do not keep us posted on this ongoing campaign, I will find you. This is quite possibly the best character storyline I have ever heard, and I've been playing RPGs for the past 20 years. Yes. This was a stroke of brilliance on the part of the player.
Nezz the White Necromancer wrote: EPIC Your cleric. Is Awesome. That. Is. All!
You have to give the guy major points for cunning.
*taptap*
Where's the latest update on this ex-cleric's situation? I want to know more of the story...
He's gotta be Ex now but I love the idea of the bidding war.
Finn K wrote: *taptap*
Where's the latest update on this ex-cleric's situation? I want to know more of the story...
Seconded.
My curiosity remains insatiable.
This sounds like a cool campaign. I hope the OP returns with news.
Ahh well, seems like I need to wrap this up, sorry for keeping you all waiting!
Well, from where I left off, here's what happened over the next few sessions: (Keep in mind, it might not seem like much, but that's because game-time was shared between the Ex-Cleric and the rest of his party while they were separated.)
After the burning of the warehouse, the Cleric returned to his party and explained that he needed to perform a penance beneath the city in the crypts and catacombs below, to regain his spells. He would do this alone and asked that they remain in town for the duration, which they agreed.
The Cleric sought and gained work as a hired back in the various crews that undertook the construction of canals and other public works, which gave him access to maps and plans of the city and it's underground waterways. These maps pinpointed areas of interest to him, vaults and crypts alike. He chose to make the abandoned Abadarian-vault beneath the city marketplace his new abode from which he would hide from his Pharasmin pursuer.
Having no spells of his own, he emptied the rest of his share of wealth into various materials and magical items. Wands, a Magical rod, a Lyre of Building, some potions, and enough lumber and tools to construct a small ship. Bluffing well enough to the merchants, he convinced them he wanted to open a shop of his own, in time for 'Market's Door' which would occur at the start of the next week. Making his way down into the vault, he fought off the vermin that had taken residence inside, and began to move his materials inside.
The Pharasmin Inquisitor, furious with righteous anger over the loss of his trusted retinue, turned to other means of locating the former cleric and began seeking aid through warning the few faiths based in the town about the Heretic.
During the week, the Cleric used his borrowed Lyre of Building, and constructed scaffolding all throughout his vault, reinforcing the ancient stone walls with wood of all kinds of quality. During one particular night, as he worked his carpentry skills, he was visited by an unexpected presence. Fearing he had been discovered too soon, the demanded the cloaked stranger reveal himself and his intentions. The figure bowed its head in greeting, and stepped somewhat into the light, allowing the Cleric to see that it was in fact a wraith (Knowledge Religion) with qualities that allowed it to pass as a living human from afar in the shadow.
The Wraith introduced itself as a messenger from Blackfingers, and explained that it was sent to bid him welcome into the Church of Norgorber, an offer that would only be extended once, and only for a short time, as Norgorber has no interest in the indecisive and cowardly.
The Cleric, responded that he had little time to consider such an offer, as he was preparing to slay a pursuer from his former church who could possibly strike at any moment. The Wraith seemed unphased by this answer, replying that every moment he spent worrying about his own preparedness, the Inquisitor was at an advantage. The Cleric considered this for a short while, finally deciding on a plan. He asked the Wraith to remain in a known Mausoleum in the city's graveyard, and wait for him to make an appearance. He would strike down his pursuer, and offer the unconscious man to the Wraith as a sign of loyalty to Blackfingers. The Wraith accepted this proposal, and left, allowing the Cleric to finish his final work in the Vault.
During the weekend before Market's Door, the Cleric disguised himself and set about causing mayhem from the shadows, using his wands of Grease, Ghost Sound, and Cause Fear to great effect. There were no fatalities until a use of Cause Fear on some idle carriage horses caused the beasts to trample several people down a busy street killing a young man and a older woman.
What the Cleric's player did next caused a lot of shivers down his fellow player's (And the DM's) spines.
The Cleric attended the funerals, passing as a mourner for the older woman. He sat amongst the rest of her friends and relatives, and quietly soaked in the somber and depressing mood of those attending. The Cleric remembered his own grief and pain, but now as he listened to the others around him- howling with anger at the powers that be- he began to feel a different sensation. The moaning of children, and the wailing of siblings set his stomach on high, and he could hardly contain his mirth at their misfortune. As the funerals went on, he felt invigorated as others fell into depression and angst. Their sobbing was his music, and their tears of sorrow were mirrored by his of joy. He quietly relished the atmosphere from the back of the congregation, until he noticed the Pharasmin Inquisitor was also in attendance, and had just begun to notice the fidgeting cleric and stare.
The Cleric took note of the sun's position in the sky, and then quietly removed himself from the service, still shaking as he tried to appear overwhelmed with grief. He wandered over and entered the large Mausoleum knowing the Inquisitor would follow and hurried down the steps into the main chamber.
Once inside, he found the Wraith waiting in the darkness, and asked that it merely observe. It said nothing and simply floated slightly to the left of the Cleric, and watched as he grabbed a potion from his belt and readied himself to drink it. Sure enough, the Inquisitor cast a long shadow as he entered the room and drew his sword. The Cleric called out into the chamber a mocking challenge to the Inquisitor, claiming that the shadows would hide him from the Inquisitor's sight so he could give him the peace of death.
The Inquisitor paused for only a moment, before replying that if that be the case, he would banish the shadows. He cast Daylight on his weapon and immediately filled the room with a blinding light. With the entire room filled with light as though the ceiling were open sky, the Inquisitor had only one thing before him: An undead wraith, seemingly frozen in terror and awe. The Inquisitor cried out a prayer to Pharasma and set himself to destroying the hated creature. The wraith was at a complete disadvantage, and was obliterated with a final casting of Searing Light.
The Cleric meanwhile, watched the fight and took mental notes while invisible and exited the Mausoleum to hurry back to his vault and set up his final preparations. The Inquisitor knew the undead was not his quarry, and believing that the Wraith was a pitiful assassin to be used against him, quickly left the graveyard to seek Scrying so he could locate the heretic and slay him once and for all.
In the early hours of the morning on Market's Door, the Inquisitor finally was able to Scry the position of the Cleric, who had been in prayer deep within his vault. (And choosing to fail his Will Save when Scry'd upon)
The Inquisitor prepared himself, and gathered all of his belongings, and prayed to Pharasma that this battle would not be his last but he would accept any fate she gave him. He then made his way to the city Market which had begun to see tents raised and traders prepare their wares while shoppers took to the streets. At the back of the old Church of Abadar (Now refurbished as a farmer's market) he found the doorway down into the vault below.
As he entered the enormous vault complete with arched ceilings, the Cleric began to monologue, congratulating the Inquisitor on his sheer perseverance, even after losing so much and possibly his own life. The Inquisitor answered by reciting the heretic's crimes, and by the power given to him by the divine majesty of the Lady of Graves, he will be given to her for judgement for his eternal afterlife.
The Cleric guffawed mockingly, and drew his own sword, calling the "Greying One" to meet him in battle. The two converged and began a sword fight of dizzying speed, with the Inquisitor attempting to use offensive spells at first until he realized the Cleric's saves were too great, and hardly one spell had an effect on him.
The fight continued, with the Inquisitor healing himself and the Cleric drinking a single healing potion, but despite the Cleric's level advantage (11 vs 7) and the quality of his armor, he was beginning to be worn down slowly. As the two continued to fight, scaffolding began to collapse around them and the very room itself seemed to quake. The Cleric took this time to shout corrupted alterations of Pharasmin codes and sayings, all of which seemed to only spur the Inquisitor to fight harder.
In the last moment, the Cleric swung too high, and the Inquisitor ran him through with his sword, letting the Cleric stumble backward in shock. The Cleric managed to squeak out another laugh, falling to a knee, and spitting blood on the dusty floor.
The Inquisitor approached as the Cleric slowly stood to his feet and dropped his own weapon. The Cleric raised his hands upward and called out between a cough of blood, "If this is as the Goddess wills, let it be known!"
On the street above them, Market's Door had come into full swing, and the sheer traffic of bodies and carts full of heavy goods had begun to clog and crowd the Marketplace. Just a few feet beneath them, the keystones that held up the arched ceiling of the Vault had been replaced with fragile wooden copies, which now under the strain and weight of the majority of the town, began to explode and snap from the pressure. The streets of the Marketplace began to buckle and suddenly the heaviest of the traffic began to fall into the earth, as though a sinkhole had opened beneath them.
The Inquisitor below raised his ceremonial dagger to preform a 'Coup de grâce' on the Cleric, when the ceiling above him ripped into sound and motion and several tons in the form of pieces of the stone ceiling and the screaming crowds of Market's Door fell into the room upon him, crushing him instantly and burying the Cleric as well. Reduced to below zero hitpoints, the Cleric fell unconscious with his last thoughts being a mixture of terror and victory, and a voice unlike his own entered his head, expressing its delight at his performance.
The Cleric was dug out from the rubble by his dwarven party member, who quickly took him to where he could be healed.
-Epilogue-
The Cleric was healed, and during the day he spent unconscious he subconsciously promised his soul to the Grim Harvestman in return for power.
Where a Champion of Pharasma once stood, a bastion against evil and undeath now stands the pale shadow of a man, an Undead Lord of Zyphus.
The Cleric once again rides beside his party, using methods known only to him to tend to their wounds and heal their maladies.
His former Nosoi on-and-off messenger has been replaced with three Allips, each of them a former grieving widow who took her own life in a short bout of insanity after the Cleric was able to speak to her privately and draw out her suffering. He whispered words like poisoned honey to each of these women, reminding them of all they had lost, and how they would never be the same. After they poisoned or hung themselves and rose as Allips, they were drawn to him, and now he uses ample amounts of Control Undead to whisper sweet nothings to them, acting as though he were the former husband of each individual Allip, securing their loyalty and using their wisdom draining powers as weapons against his enemies.
To the Church of Pharasma, his name has become synonymous with a curse, and the mention of it causes some members to draw the spiral on their chest in response. To the other faiths he is an ill omen, and to the insidious cultists of Zyphus, he is 'Brother Dirge' a powerful wandering servant who can be identified for the funeral marches he plays upon his violin.
Well, that's all for this fallen Cleric, though his story is still continuing that's all that can be said for his betrayal of the Goddess.
Feel free to discuss or use a similar concept, or just plain rip 'Brother Dirge' right from these pages, he really does deserve someone to put him out of his happily-sick misery.
Also, to keep with the original theme of the thread, how would you have handled such a turn of events differently?
Nezz the White Necromancer said wrote: Also, to keep with the original theme of the thread, how would you have handled such a turn of events differently? Excellent read, and obviously it must have been a hell of a time. To be honest, if I had a player who had a plan such as this, or was willing to role play as thoroughly as this: I would probably have taken the same route. It just seems to have too much potential for a good time.
The only thing I may have done differently was involve the other PC's in some manner. If this wasn't the main story line though, I can see why keeping them in the dark would just lead to some more fantastic opportunities.
Nezz the White Necromancer wrote: MORE EPIC STUFF! ... Clap
Wow, dude thinks he's doing the right thing to protect his family, but his family dies. Turns evil and proceeds to become one of the darkest aspects of his faith, channeling dark powers that most could only dream of (nightmare or otherwise). Universally feared by the good and non-evil religious figures and viewed as a curse by his former comrades.
Darth Vader much?
This guy needs a mask and asthma.
Wow. Screws over Norgorber by sacrificing the wraith-messenger, sets up all these other deaths... and joins Zyphus, God of Random Deaths to really give Pharasma the 'finger'.
Beautifully played. Guess that's what the Pharasmans get for expecting him to be stoic about the death of his family (especially since there is some reason to blame the late High Priest for failing to protect them in the character's absence), when protecting them was the whole reason he went off to face danger in the first place.
Tels wrote: Wow, dude thinks he's doing the right thing to protect his family, but his family dies. Turns evil and proceeds to become one of the darkest aspects of his faith, channeling dark powers that most could only dream of (nightmare or otherwise). Universally feared by the good and non-evil religious figures and viewed as a curse by his former comrades.
Darth Vader much?
While Darth Vader is one of the more famous cases of a 'Fallen Character' he's not the only one, and hopefully others might be able to chime in with their own characters.
Because "Falling" is a possible repercussion of not following the tenants of a character's deity, there's numerous ways to play out the act. I wanted the true Golarion experience for my players, so I took suggestions and did my best to fit them into our game. They were well received, so I'm grateful for the imput from everyone.
As for the character "Brother Dirge" he's merely a level 12 Cleric now, and only known by a small portion of the Inner Sea. Its not every day that heroes abandon their faith after serving it for so long, but it does happen and explains the existence of the Huecuva.
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