Joël of the FoS wrote:
1) what about the old Ezra church, the one used b4 the Cathedral? Why did the church authorities keep the doors locked and forbid people to enter? What could be happening there, church related or not? The local Hala church asked to buy or lease it, why does the clergy refuse? (possible urban side trek?)
1) Go DaVinci code - (despite the movie being awful), you could have some dangerous secret hidden in the iconography of the old place. The church leaders can't find it, but at the same time they want to control the secret so can't destroy it. They keep everyone out to prevent someone else possibility stumbing on the secret
2) The old church is used as a secret repository for ultra forbidden texts and heretical writings. The forbidden room in the cathedral is the 'obvious' repository, but the most dangerous texts are quietly moved to the old church and stored. Lots of guards and traps present inside.
3) Yakov didn't die. Instead he ended up in a catapletic state. He is kept in a glass case (like Lenin) and watched over for when he recovers. He is kept here secretly as it could cause major problems with Ivana. As her uncle he could have certain claims to power....
4) Stealing an idea from the movie
The stone tape and its
associated idea, the very walls of the old chapel have actual 'audio recordings' of the earliest days of the church. Under the right conditions, sermons, chants and homilies from Yakov and the first priests can be heard. They have used this place as a sort of 'living archive'. All new heads of church must give a sermon/homily here and if the stones record them, they are considered worthy of their role. Again carefully controlled access as some sermons may contain dangerous thoughts and you dont want rubbish 'recorded'. Your priest (Petrak?) may be asked to recite a sermon about the incident there to record his actions with G for posterity
5) Mudane - its just used as general storage. But locals may get a bit upset when their old church is turned into a combination warehouse/junk drawer. It's stuffed to the rafters with old pews, chipped statues, old prayer books, etc
2) Nostalia is Wiz4, and Clotilda Taroyan Wiz 8. Any ideas as for spell orientation, or specific spells that would be cool for them to have?
Working on the principle they are spies/fem-fatale types (only using the PHB spell lists for brevity), I would invest heavily in divination/enchanment with some others to pad out self defence etc.
Also limited to level 4 spells (Clotilda's casting level)
1st Level:
Unseen Servant - good for filching keys, letters, poisoning wine while caster distracts the victim. Can also be used for morning beautifying, styling and dressing
Comprehend Languages - A must if you want to read documents or listen in on conversation in other languages
Charm Person - Duh
Sleep - ensure people stay asleep while you search their belongings
Alter Self - a quick and dirty disguise
Expedious retreat - she who fights and runs away...
2nd Level:
Obscure Object - hide objects from location spells
Fog Cloud - good when combined with expeditious retreat
Detect Thoughs - a poor mans mind reading spell
Locate Object - find those hidden things
See Invisibility - Now who is spying on me
Invisibility - Duh again
Knock - Open that safe with ease
Whispering Wind - One way long distance communication
3rd Level:
Non Detection - blocks detection spells and scrying
Clairaudience/Clairvoyance - Sure in RL you see a ghostly eye/ear, but they can be conceal in the rafters, under a table, etc
Tongues - talk and understand those funny foreigners who plot against you
Suggestion - Very good for an Ermordenung assassin. "Why dont you
kiss me?" Also useful why playing a 'idiot blonde' role "Tee hee,
tell me about this plan. It sounds soooo clever"
Gaseous Form - For getting places you shouldn't
4th Level:
Minor Creation - "You create a nonmagical, object of nonliving, vegetable matter" Like plant based poison prehaps? Which disappears when the spell expires? Now how did they die?
Arcane eye - See clairaudience above
Greater Invis - As invisibility
Phantasamal Killer - I never laid hands on them officer. It looks like they had a heart attack
Polymorph - Enough said