Looking for inspiration to revive a dead player.

[Fatdaddy100]

I've played D&D for several years now, but I'm new to being the DM. I'm running Carrion Crown as my first campaign with mostly new players. I just played in the adventure path with my old, veteran group, so I feel comfortable running it.

Recently, one of the player characters died while fighting Auren Vrood during the end of Broken Moon. His Inquistor was killed during the first round when Vrood opened up with Circle of Death. Worse, he serves Gozreh, picked the animal domain, and his animal companion was killed by the spell just before he was.

I don't have a problem with one death during a boss fight, seems very reasonable. However, the player in question would like to have the chance to use the same character. He doesn't mind making a new one, and seems to enjoy rolling characters in his free time.

My basic idea is that he needs a Resurrection spell, because Raise Dead will not work on someone slain by a death effect. I want to introduce a high level cleric of Pharasma when they travel to Thrushmoor, and have the NPC make the group complete some quest (that preferably does not take more than one session to complete) which results in him returning the favor by resurrecting the Inquisitor. Note, the dead Inquistor use to worship Pharasma before switching faiths to Gozreh, and the PC's race is Dhampir. You know that old trope, hate your evil heritage so you go around working to make the world a better place. Furthermore, I'd like this quest to be a bit hard, with a chance of failure. I don't want a completely free revive, just an opportunity to earn one.

My thought was to have the high level cleric be some big shot in the church of Pharasma, who is in town to maybe help cleanse the evil shadows and rumors that seem to hang over both the Old Chapel and New Chapel in the town (as briefly described in Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Rule of Fear). If you don't have access, don't worry, they are just vague hooks. The new chapel has a scratching noise everyone thinks is rats in the floor, and two clergymen recently fell to their deaths from the bell tower. The old chapel is sort of abandoned and rumors say the old priest went mad with religious zeal, trying to lead the congregation to an early grave and therefore 'cursed' the site.

However, I'm a bit short on time since I still play in my other group and I was wondering if anyone had a good idea for a sort of end boss or challenge the party could face in order to rid either one of the Chapels of the evil that 'haunts' them? I'm open to undead or any creature really. CR isn't a big issue, I'll adjust as needed. They are level 9 though, with about 4-5 players not counting the dead guy (we have two new, tentative players). I'm also open to either deity playing a role.

Feel free to be as brief as you want, I by no means want to be lazy, I'm just looking for inspiration.

[Fatdaddy100]

And if it helps, the remaining party consists of:

Witch, human (loosely guided by Desna)

Gunslinger, Grippli (very lawful but not particularly outspoken)

Monk, Oread (Not particularly religious, stubborn)

Samurai, Grippli (one of the new, tentative players. Belongs to some mercenary company that Judge Daramid contracted to help the other PCs.)

Bard, human (one of the new, tentative players. Belongs to some mercenary company that Judge Daramid contracted to help the other PCs.)

We also had an old bard but the player is on break and I had his character kidnapped by Vollensag werewolves while the party was forced to continue to Feldgrau or loose the trail. I'll re-introduce him later when appropriate.

[Keep Calm and Carrion]

I’d make Causton Creed, the old priest, a fanatical and deranged Penitent, who came to believe that if suffering in this life led to more favorable judgement before Pharasma, then by making his congregation suffer he could secure better afterlives for them. His demented spirit still believes this, and many of the insane townfolk locked away in family attics are the victims of his maddening torments.

Creed is a ghost or specter, and an Oracle of the Dark Tapestry. In life, his madness passed for Pharasman religious zeal--the chaotic neutral prophets and seers of Pharasma can seem pretty odd--but he has always been an agent of the wailing insanity between the stars. The crazed folk of Thrushmoor and the things that scratch within the new church’s walls will never rest until he is slain.

Make sure to take the Gift of Madness revelation. Might also consider taking the Pierce the Veil revelation, and hit the battlefield with Deeper Darkness. Use incorporeality defensively, popping through walls just long enough to spam Black Tentacles. Feeblemind the Witch and Bard, confuse the melee.

Have fun!

[Zhangar]

The cleric - you might want to look at the head cleric of the temple at Caliphas and bump her up two levels (I think she's 11th level?).

The party will probably get along great with her once they have Raven's Head anyways, so giving them a head start on meeting her could work.

The monster in the church...

Which is also in Versex, which is Lovecraft Country.

A cabal of ghoul scholars who have been undermining the Pharasmin faith while using the energies of the church to perform blasphemies rites that give the townsfolk visions of the beyond?

Perhaps their writings may even speak of the scholars from the Void who recently arrived in Avalon Bay, whom they're working an information exchange with.

Maybe the ghouls are trying to bring something up from the depths of the world, which would result in the destruction of the new temple if they succeeded. If the new temple gets trashed the high priestess needs to deal with that instead of having the resources to spare for bringing the dead inquisitor back. And if the party stops the cabal and prevents the summoning, the get paid with the res?

What is the inquisitor's player going to be doing during all this, anyways? They may need a substitute character of some sort, maybe someone from the Sleepless Agency.

[Keep Calm and Carrion]

Oh, and if you need a reason the big-shot Pharasman priestess can't help the players cleanse the town, have her get Feebleminded right out of the gate.

[Wycen]

Reincarnate. Same character, different exterior.

[Fatdaddy100]

Interesting suggestions, my thanks to you guys. In my head, I was shying away from using dark tapestry stuff and Lovecraft because I thought it might spoil the fun of discovering what was happening in the fourth adventure, which this is obviously the start of.

However, as Keep Calm and Carrion describes it, this old priest's ghost would probably seem like some generic evil caster and the connection might not be obvious, especially since I think the inquisitor was the party's only knowledge religion. Not sure if anyone else has knowledge planes either. Maybe the witch. Plus,they have not fought any incorporeal undead since Harrowstone, so a ghost type could be a good challenge. And yeah, I was thinking a similar thing Zhangar, having the priest be from Caliphas.

And I can't use Reincarnate for the same reason as Raise Dead, doesn't work on people killed by death effects, at least by raw.