OOC: Chronicles of Vieiliria

[Varrus the Ethical]

Heal check from Wil.

[dice]0[/dice] +8
+2 from kit
12

[VAN]

Wow Varrus you have more ranks in healing than me

[alhoon]

Everyone that's from Ravenloft:
Knowledge religion (if you have at least 1 rank) to know the particulars (for this campaign, they may differ from canon) for the Ezran sects of Nevuchar Springs and Mordent.

Everyone:
Knowledge religion for the church of Bane the lawgiver. Bane exists in all your worlds as one of the main evil Gods. Naliamegod, you may know more things if you roll high, I know what you know by default.


Also:

Since there's a lot of stuff said, I'll update the first post with what your chars have learned so far for the land. It may not all be right! ! ! It's from what you've gathered so far.
If you want more details about something or disagree with something, tell me to change it.

I'll start a "cut-scenes" thread. Don't post there. Some descriptions especially for some NPCs will be left short or be totally absent on purpose.
This is trial for the method. For some people work, for others don't. If you consider the cut-scenes as spoilers or you consider they break the mood, don't read them. If you all don't like the cut-scenes and nobody reads them... tell me to stop posting them.

[alhoon]

Something your characters may have noticed!

Frid, Tyrem's son remembers Arneu. He stated he remembers Arneu's performance "Yeah, it was a couple of months before I got married."
I remind you all that Frid has 3 children now, the younger of which is about 2 years old and the oldest is like 4 years old. It is obvious to your characters that Arneu's estimation of that he was there "a couple of years ago" is way off.

[alhoon]

[dice]0[/dice]

If anything is said and done, I would like to progress to the next day.

How's this for the watch duty?
1st, Roddek
Wil
Arneu
last is Boiros.
G doesn't watch duty in order to rest.

If anything is said and done, I'll have you on your way to the village ASAP.
Does anyone want to ask Tyrem, Frid or their wives anything the following day, while Roddek helps them as he promised? If so, you could tell me here what your character is trying to learn and I'll sum it up in a post IC.
Roddek, I assume your char will keep his promise to the farmers the next day. If not, inform me.


On another note: I'll update the first post to give a link to the post with the info the party knows. Some of the info could be outdated or outright wrong.

[alhoon]

What the party knows

About the land

VIEW CONTENT:

- Veiliria seems to be a land wary of magic and divided by a 40 years old civil war between the duke of Fauldom, controling the western part of Veiliria and his distant nephew, the count of Amerland, controlling the eastern part of Veiliria. A civil war that flares and subsides but never seems to end as both lay claim to the crown of the kingdom of Veiliria.

- The party appeared near the village of Harpton in the area controlled by the Matheron noble family. The village has a shrine to Ezra.

- The village belongs to a small fief, called Misheril. Misheril is small enough that can be crossed in a few hours. If has a large forest to its north, called Emaner woods and the
Sherklich mountain range to the east. The main settlement of Misheril is the small town of Mierana which holds a shrine of Ezra. The Lord of Misheril is Lord Eraffreu Alfeden, cousin of Lord Matheron. Misheril belongs to the barony of Higelvent.

- The barony of Higelvent was largerly spared by the trouble caused by Zevarzia. The lord of Higelvent is Baron Amain de Echevelle. The capital of the barony is the town of Echevelle which has a temple to Ezra and is the seat of the Bishop of Higelvent. The previous bishop of Higelvent disappeared a few years ago and the new one appointed by the Bastion seems to be more tolerant.
The Baron is a vassal of the duke of Fauldom
Outdated: There are rumors that the powerful Bishop of Higelvent, an authoritarian and violent Anchorite woman called Trerna, allowed the church of Bane to commit atrocities in Higelvent, to help her stop the followers of Zevarzia of gaining any influence in her area.

About Persons:

VIEW CONTENT:

- Lord Louis Matheron is the Lord of the village of Harpton. He's reputed to be more interested in scholarly pursuits than meddling with the affairs of his people. The apparent freedom they enjoy, along with Matheron's interest in personally hunting threats to his land, are usually taken as a blessing by the folk that live under his protection and he's well liked although he's distant.

- Therna the "Bishop of Razors" as they call her after she disappeared, was the authoritarian and violent anchorite Bishop of Higelvent. There are rumors that she allowed the church of Bane to act in Higelvent, or that she didn't stop their atrocities, in order to stop the followers of the warlord Zevarzia from gaining influence in the barony

- Zevarzia the Warlord. This mysterious, cruel, violent and evil woman arrived in Vieliria about 10 years ago and threw the hole country into chaos within a couple of months, until she suddenly disappeared a year after she arrived. She was reputed to have both immense physical prowess, access to foul magics and be excellent with weapons.
Few things are certain about Zevarzia. Few encountered her and lived and those few aren't talking. What is certain is that she spread terror through Vieliria, orchestrated and led senseless massacres, spread misery, created a variety of monsters and gathered a host of followers that reveled in the destruction and tragedy she brought.

About the factions:

VIEW CONTENT:

- The Duke of Fauldom lays claim of the whole kingdom of Vieliria and is at war with the count of Amerland, son of his 2nd cousin that denies this claim. The vassals of the duke hold the Western and larger part of Vieliria.

- The Count of Amerland also lays claim to the kingdom of Vieliria. The vassals of the count hold the Eastern and more densely populated part of Vieliria.

- The state religion, is the church of Ezra controled by the two bastions residing in the capitals of the two warring states.
The organization of the church is Bastion (leader of Sect) > Bishop > Toret (leading anchorite in settlement) > Warden
While the bastions were responsible for the dogma, the bishops appointed by the Bastions have large autonomy on how the church operates in their area. The word of the bishop is largerly respected in most parts of the domain and the Anchorites are expected to work for the benefit of the realm.
While individual Wardens have taken arms in the civil war, and the anchorites provide their services to the soldiers, the official stance of the church in both reams is that the civil war is not to the benefit of the realm. Both Bastions discourage, without actually prohibiting, involvement. A militant bishop may once in a while send support to his liege but it's not a common occasion.
Depending on the temperament of the residing Bishop and Bastion, practicers of different religions may encounter different reaction to their faith, but the church of Ezra is never particularly tolerant.
At the time, there's an ongoing crusade against the Church of the Lawgiver.

- The Tyrannical, secretive church of Bane the Lawgiver, had roots in Vieliria for longer than anyone can remember. Many accuse the followers of the God of Strife and Tyranny for fueling the civil war. Few things are known about the Banites and their church, aside that there's a rigid, unbending hierarchy that the fastest (and most dangerous) way to climb is not obedience, but a timely murder.
The majority of the people don't even tolerate the church of Bane. There are all sort of rumors about the dark magics the Banites use. In many provinces, worship of Bane is outright prohibited and Banites are hunted down like criminals.
Yet, the secretive sect endured.
Everything changed when the warlord Zevarzia started her reign of terror. More Banites than anyone thought actually existed came out of deep caverns, of remote ruins, of dark woods to fight Zevarzia, her spawn and her followers.
The tactics the Banites used to hunt down the Zevarzists were downright evil, often unecesserily cruel and effective. Not even those that advocate tolerance for the church deny the atrocities commited by the Church of the Lawgiver. Yet, in certain places civilization survived because of Banite intervention. In other places, the over-zealous Anchorites were perceived to be worse than the Banites. As such, certain lords in the North now permit worship of Bane the Lawgiver.
The tension between the Anchorites and the Banites boiled out to a crusade. While they don't attack settlements harboring temples of the Bane, Wardens and followers of Ezra scour the land to find the remote temples of Bane and put them to the torch. There has been no reply on that by the Church of Bane.

- Zevarchists and the spawn of Zevarzia are those that follow Zevarzia. They're not organized usually nor follow a certain patern. If there's a secret agenda in what they do, a plan they follow, it's unknown.
Very few of the monsters Zevarzia created are still alive, but the term "Zevarchist" usually applies to all that revel in violence, cruelty and bloodlust, whether man or monster. As such, even an afflicted werewolf is considered a Zevarchist and many such creatures joined the ranks of Zevarzia's gangs.
A few anchorites and the church of Bane include anyone that fights or rebels against authority in the term.

[VAN]

Boiros will ask Tyrem about:
- the civil war, who prevails, who leads the two parts
-how the anchorites are treated and if is safe to reveal that he is one
-places to go and places to avoid
-any kind of map so they can find their way to the village Misheril

If Boiros has noticed the time gap will try to figure out what happened because seemed to have passed more time than what Arneu said.

[Roddek]

For perception: [dice]2[/dice] + 1

[Roddek]

Roddek also does the work he promised to do the next day.

[dice]0[/dice] +4

[alhoon]

Wow... that's impressive work.
Did you add the +2 dwarven bonus? Or it's 25 final?

[alhoon]

So, are you traveling to the village of Harpton, which is about 30 minutes walk from Tyrem's farm?
If you want to go someplace else, now it's the time to talk!

Also, I'll update the info post with the new information gathered.
Of notice is that Frid said that Arneu had visited 5 years ago, not 2.

[VAN]

Harpton it is for me

[alhoon]

I updated the info known by the party. I understand there's a lot of stuff there. You can check the bold parts to have a general idea of what the passages talk about.

You don't have to skip immediately to the discussion at the village's gate. You can discuss between yourselves on the way.

[alhoon]

Roddek, roll intimidate with a +3 bonus to see how the people react to your ways.

[VAN]

Diplomacy:[dice]0[/dice]+4=13