Looking for ideas for Erastil repentance quest

[ZanzerTem]

*Warning - Spoilers*

I gave one of the PCs a quest from Erastil to rescue the deranged bear at the hidden Temple of Erastil in Book one. The PC was told to defeat but not destroy (kill) the bear.

Second, they were to restore the Temple by improving the hex and making sure it was a part of their kingdom within two years.

Long story short, they went in guns ablazin' and killed the bear.

When the bear was killed, I told them that the overgrowth that surrounded the temple grew quickly and engulfed the temple, forcing them to flee. "Years of growth, held back by the religious essence of the place, finally catches up with the surrounding forest."

The PC's then told their story to Jhod (who thought them mad that Erastil would contact them directly) and Jhod left to verify that the temple was found. The PC's haven't seen him since.

Erastil is upset, but still wants the PC's to make him the primary religion in their new fledgling kingdom. How would you go about contacting them for restoration, and what would you have them do?

[pennywit]

How about this?

Erastil doesn't contact them. Nobody does. When the players failed, restoring the temple became Jhod's quest for redemption (see his werewolf backstory). In his investigation, he found the temple and began working, alone, to clear it. A couple hunters came across his labor at the temple and left food for him. Word of "The Holy Labor" spread to others hunters and trappers in the Greenbelt. A few of them started staying near Jhod to protect him during the Holy Labor. As he came closer to finishing his labor, a few bandits sought to rob the camp there ... and were stopped. Jhod offered them forgiveness and expiation if they would join him in the Holy Labor. As your players' kingdom expands, they will learn of the Holy Labor ... and that there is a small, thriving village now where the overgrown temple used to be, and that pilgrims have started to visit that spot. This tiny Barony of Erastilia, administered by Jhod, will soon begin to expand as more people move there, and it may have interest at odds with your players' kingdom.

[pennywit]

Another possibility is to use Scorchbark, one of Erastil's followers. For Scorchbark's stats, I would consider a Mythic Treant or a normal Treant with extra HD and one of the mythic simple templates.

In this scenario, wicked fey of the Greenbelt have captured Scorchbark and they're planning to sacrifice him at the Dancing Lady's keep. Scorchbark's always the daring sort, so perhaps he found himself overmatched in a fight. Multiple faeries cooperated to capture him, and they've chained him up in the Dancing Lady's ruined keep and are going to sacrifice him to Nyrissa.

I think the adventure hoook could be Jhod Kavken, wild-eyed, returning from the wilderness after having a vision. A great treant, with burn marks across his trunk, held fast in iron chains in a ruined keep.

Your players ought to recognize this as an opportunity to get back in Erastil's favor. A Knowledge (religion) roll (or some questioning of Jhod) should reveal that the treant is Scorchbark, one of Erastil's servants.

Your players now have two challenges:

1) Find the keep; and,

2) Rescue Scorchbark.

For the first part, I'd rejigger the random encounters table to include more fey and wisps. Also, there are ways to gather information. Ultimate Intrigue should have some ideas to help you out. Also, you could adapt the Espionage Edict from Ultimate Rulership to help you out.

For the second part, I think you should beef up the fey forces at the location quite a bit -- perhaps a redcap with class levels, a boggle, a living topiary or three, and some irate twigjacks. Yes, that will be far too much for your players to handle. But that's the point. This is an early opportunity for your players to act as kingdom rulers rather than adventurers.

Can they muster an army? Get significant NPCs (Bokken, Kesten Garess, Akiros Ismort, the Old Beldame etc.) to help them?

There are plenty of options here, and be ready for your players to come up with something off the wall.

[JohnB]

I like pennywit's first idea - but to some extent it depends on the class of the player given the quest. If he or she were a divine class depending on Erastil for their spells - then everything changes. In fact, it any of the party are dependent on Erastil for anything - that is your lever :)

[pennywit]

And, oh yes, Jhod Kavken and his followers, at this point, are likely to be religious fanatics dedicated to their Holy Work. Lawful Good, but still fanatics.

[JohnB]

Jhod and co don't need to be LG - they can slip to LN and still be Erastil's favour :)

[ZanzerTem]

I really like Jhod essentially setting up a commune in the Temple hex. Will be a nice opportunity for diplomacy roleplaying if the group wants to incorporate the hex into their kingdom. Gonna run with that!

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

[JohnB]

It might be fun to let Jhod drift to NG and have his commune make an alliance with the Fey and the Boggard. That makes the whole of the Northern Gnarlmarch 'interesting' :)

[pennywit]

JohnB wrote:

It might be fun to let Jhod drift to NG and have his commune make an alliance with the Fey and the Boggard. That makes the whole of the Northern Gnarlmarch 'interesting' :)

That is interesting! I imagine Jhod and his commune moving in a more Lawful Neutral direction. Complete dedication to the Holy Labor and to the land. Complete dedication to the community as a whole. Inflexible morality. And a fanatical gleam in the eye.

[JohnB]

In my game I have a Cleric of Erastil who took on the role of 'freeing' the Elkwall shrine. Almost immediately, he went on to multi-class as a Ranger (Warden) and started talking about Erastil as a nature god and the patron of hunters and trappers, rather than Erastil as patron of farmers, small traders and villages. Which, in my mind, is a perfectly acceptable interpretation of an older, slightly less well recognised, aspect of the Old Dead Eye.

The broad intention is that the Northern Gnarlmarch (down to where Tatzleford's influence starts) should support a community of Hunter / Trappers, who will integrate into the countryside rather than try and change it to suit themselves.