Café de Nuit

I'm writing up a one-on-one campaign to play with my wife, which will be set in Mordent. She's a cleric of Ezra, so I wanted to use the Blessed Army of Ezra, from Heroes of Light, and have her work against the Nevuchar Springs sect.

So far, I have the major villain being a bandit who's also a descendant of the Gauldamon family (a caliban). He wants to be accepted as a "real noble." Thus, when an anchorite from Nevuchar Springs approached him to grant him some degree of legitimacy, he accepted. Of course, the anchorite is really working to destroy the Mordentshire sect of Ezra from within. He sees those anchorites as too weak to fight in the oncoming battle against the Legions of the Night. To prevent the rest of the Church from being destroyed, they must be cut off.

Generally, my plot-outline has my wife's character going to a village to investigate the disappearance of the former anchorite there. Little does she realize that heh has been kidnapped and killed by the Nevuchar Springs anchorite, using the bandit group built up by the Gauldamon. I have her laying to rest an unquiet spirit haunting the town (Yago Trevesc, in fact, from USS 2002...has anyone else used him before?) in order to gain the trust of the villagers.

Aaand that's about where I get stuck. I have a shady idea of her doing the outright investigating right afterwards, but that seems to be moving too fast. Any ideas on how I can pace this campaign, leading up to a confrontation with the Gauldamon? I was thinking she could be kidnapped some time in there. I want to emphasize that the Gauldamon isn't necessarily a "bad-guy," just a bitter one. I'm trying to avoid combat, while including more RP opportunities. I was also thinking of a trip to Tumbledown, but I'm not sure how to work it in. I want the Gauldamon to live in an old manor of his family's, probably haunted (not the original manor, but maybe a smaller one). Of course, considering the Gauldamon history, I hadn't decided whether or not I was going to make him still worship that demon (and, btw, where can I find information on Lou'gal?). Maybe the anchorite from Nevuchar Springs becomes corrupted by this fiend as well? Or maybe the fiend himself (herself?) is the primary villain, slowly making these other fools its unwitting pawns...

I want her to reach about sixth-seventh level by the end of the campaign. Then she would begin moving a different campaign against the Nevuchar springs sect directly.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! I just need something to fill the space between her reaching the town, and confronting the villain

Are the villagers aware of the anchorite's kidnapping? Or did he just suddenly disappear one day/night? If it's a sudden disappearance, they may pass on problems they've heard of in the region. Your wife could then go and help deal with this problem until she receives further solid news/tips.

Why did Gauldamon choose this particular anchorite to kill? Does he live/operate in this area? If he's a local who's now disappeared but left his band behind (assuming he has one), she could help deal with the remaining bandits and find out from them about Gauldamon. If he's not a local, a villager may have seen a caliban, and your wife's investigations might lead her to another caliban. Whether he's good or bad would be up to you, but it's another source for another mini-adventure within the campaign.

http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/foru ... ht=mordent
Here's the link to the thread on Mordentish story hooks, however I also have one in particular that I'm using in my next campaign that (coincedently) involves both the tension between the two sects of Ezra AND the gauldemon family. It would require (as you requested) a lot of role playing and less combat.

The Gauldemon Witch Trials (sorry if the reference is obvious, and if this is long)

Lately there have been some weird things happening in Tumbledown. People have seen odd hallucinations of things obscene or inhuman. Even worse, livestock has frequently gone missing, and the number of caliban births has been on a drastic uprise. When the sick or elderly then began to turn insane in the night for no apparent reason, a call was given out for some divine help from the Ezran anchorites.

Ever since its first dealing with the Mansion, The chapel of pure hearts in Mordent has kept a close eye on the old Gauldemon residence. When the Chapel of pure hearts gets word of how drastic the situation has become it readies itself to deal with what potentially could be Lou'gal resurfacing again. Needing all the help they can get, the church would hire the main character ( in party in my campaign).

However, the situation becomes complicated when the ezran clergy of Nevuchar springs hears about this little incident, and cordially sends some representatives to 'help' the LG anchorites. Lacrese knows very well that the Nevuchar anchorites couldn't care less about tumbledown, and this 'call to aid' from the Darkonian clergy is actually an inspection of his actions. Lacrese now has to be VERY careful so that his blessed army is no revealed to the Darkonian inspectors. Remaining cordial (so as to not give anything away) he accepts this offer humbly.

The Mordentish anchorites, the Darkonian 'help force', and the main character reach tumbledown to begin their inspection. Somewhere along duing the inspection, the main character is injured/infected/poisoned in some way that is beyond that of Lacrese or any of his follower's ability to heal. The main character is instead (by either Lacrese or someone else) discretely pointed towards a group of 'herbalists' that live just outside of the town. These 'herbalists', who are really a coven of Hala, agree to aid the main character and heal her fully.

Upon waking from her treatment, there is a knock on the door of the witches' home. As one of the coven members opens the door, the clergy from the Nevuchar springs burst into their home and arrest them on the charges of bewitching the town, thanking the main character for locating the culpruts. Since the main character is female, any attempt to argue with the clergy about their charges can be met with suspicion that she is a member of their coven. The clergy take not of the spells and rituals they were performing to bring the main character back to health, stating that they were summoning demons or creating a plague.

Lacrese knows that these charges are unfair, but if he tries to oppose the Nevuchar clergy suspicions will spread towards him, thus jeapordizing the secrecy of his army. He does, however, ask of the main character to come to the bottom for this.

The witches are to be burned outside of the old Gauldemon manor within 2 weeks (or some other time that might suit you) unless evidence is presented that they are indeed not behind the occurances in the town. The main character now has to find that evidence, and present it in the court WITHOUT raising any suspicions about either her or the LG order of Ezra.

In truth, it has been Lou'gal's growing influence and the spells of some of his followers (or, the effects of his reality wrinkle if you want to get creative) that have been affecting the town. Lou'gal hasn't come into full form, but there is one only ritual that remains in order to fully ressurect him: the unjust slaughter of five women within the vinicity of his mansion.

As far as stats for Lou'gal goes I don't think there is too much. However, since I'm going to be using him soon any way, I'll see what I can do for ya.

Wow, Undead Cabbage, I really love that Gauldemon Witch trials story. Especially the twist of the Darkonian Sect unknowningly completing the ritual. Really nice

Thank you Gonzoron.

If you need any more Alarnik, I've got tons. I'm currently running a campaign that will result in a whole school year worth of game play primarily in Mordent (with a little time in Paridon). By the end I plan to also have enough stuff made to make a profile to aid Mordentish campaigns (maps, adventures, variant rules, etc.) So I have no shortage of stuff to lend, just I figured a post like that last one was already quite enough...if rediculously too much.

Undead -

No, that's wonderful! I'm definitely going to use several of your ideas. You said you have maps? Do you have any good ones of Mordent as a whole? The one at gryphonhill.com is nice, but it's not updated from the GazIII.

It's great that our campaigns coincided so nicely

Putting together all these ideas, here's what I'm coming up with (remember, WIP...):

As suddenly as though taken by the Mists, the anchorite who had so faithfully served the people of Potter's Field is gone. Desperate, they call on her superiors from Mordentshire. As they are busy organizing the Blessed Army, they can only spare a young anchorite (my wife). She comes down to investigate and minister to the people.

She begins to gain their trust when she lays to rest the ghost of Yago Trevesc. After that, her people tell her more about what happened here. Apparently the trouble is not limited to the disappearing cleric. There are strange shapes seen in the woods, and brigands roam the South Road. When she looks into it, the young cleric finds that the "shapes" are really a solitary caliban. This caliban describes how she is used by yet another, more evil caliban (perhaps she is a cleric of Hala? She finds acceptance in that "church," and a purpose by ministering to those who fear her. Possibly a True Innocent?). He threatens her, forcing her to make potions/cast spells/etc to aid him. The cleric decides to help this unfortunate soul. She ambushes the bandits the evil caliban sends to bully the other, driving them away and/or capturing them. She will then learn from these bandits where their "main outpost" is. Together with a force of the militia (and maybe Lamplighters...), she drives them from their hideout (is their leader a lycanthrope? That would add something, and gain the attention of James Martigan (BoSecrets).

And there was great rejoicing (yay).

Now, the disappearance of the anchorite is unexplained. In the bandits' "hideout" maybe she finds that anchorite's silver holy symbol. Therefore, she believes that the other was abducted by these brigands.

aah, now comes the fun part. On her way back from routing the bandits, my wife is met by a Vistani caravan. The raunie of this caravan insists on telling her fortune. She sees an evil artifact, or maybe a beast (which one in particular doesn't matter, and i like to give myself options). Not entirely trusting the Vistani fortune-tellers, but also knowing their power, she hurries back to Mordentshire to report to her superiors.

Being sent back to her original village, the anchorite is horrified to learn that the caliban, whom she so recently helped, is being tried as a witch (sound familiar? ). Thanks to her heritage and her abilities, she must be something unnatural, and even evil. Furthermore, ever since the anchorite left, things have been getting worse here. People are having strange dreams, children are wandering outside at night, and dogs whimper when the Mists rise. Even worse are rumors of animals slain in a ritual manner, and dark hexes placed on families. The people feel it is only a matter of time until a human is taken as the next sacrifice. Scared and uncertain, they believe the caliban is behind all this. The anchorite must figure out that, in reality, a small cult to Lou'gal has taken interest in this town, thanks to the anchorite's actions against the brigands. Now she will destroy this cell.

In the meantime, a new theatre house is opened in Mordentshire. As the first plays are acted out, a number of strange "accidents" kill some of the lead actors. The anchorite will return to Mordentshire to report these events. During that time, she happens to attend one evening, and sees a member of the bandit-gang she disbanded earlier (a scar, perhaps?)! Upon investigation, she finds that the owner of the theatre is also apparently arranging the deaths of his actors. He is driven out.

And there was (more) great rejoicing.

Now, following this man, or perhaps from clues left behind, they journey to the humble town of Tumbledown. Here it might echo some of your campaign, Undead, but I'm hoping to change it a little. The anchorite looks into events here, and finds "strange goings-on."

And so on and so forth, until eventually she finds that the scion of the Gauldamon family is behind it all, and defeats him.

Finis

There will be more, but that's what I have time to think out right now....