Friday Encounter: the Shrine of Meili

This encounter should take place while the PCs are traveling a road.

At the side of the road, the PCs discover a large stone that has been carved with a niche, in which stands the figure of a man wearing a cloak and a wide-brimmed hat and carrying a walking stick. If the road is a well-traveled one, the stone is surrounded with candles at varying heights, piled on the surrounding rocks; there also a few coins piled up at the base of the stone totaling 2d10 GP. If the road is less well-traveled, there are no candles or coins, and the stone is overgrown with moss, but the image is still clearly visible.

A DC 10 Religion check (DC 12 if the stone is overgrown) will determine this is a shrine of Meili, the god of roads and travelers. Clerics, paladins, and any character with the Acolyte background will recognize this automatically. Meili is known as a protector of all those who wander the roads, and his favor will protect and guide those who appease him - but he has been known to send travelers astray and lead them to their doom if he is offended.

Any PC that leaves an offering valued at 1 GP or more before the shrine will receive the blessings of Meili:

• The next time the party would roll for a random encounter, if they would receive any random encounters that would present an immediate or likely danger to the PCs (such as aggressive monsters or adverse weather conditions), reroll the results until an encounter that would likely be favorable for the PCs (such as treasure or clues, or simply an uneventful trip) is obtained instead.
• In addition, if the PCs make camp by the shrine, they will receive no random encounters during the night.
• If you are using Gritty Realism rules (that is, eight-hour short rests and one-week long rests), PCs (not parties) that made offerings will receive the benefits of a long rest from a short rest the next time they make camp by the shrine.

However, PCs who damage or abuse the shrine, or take any offerings that may be present, will instead attract Meili's wrath:

• The next time the party would roll for a random encounter, an encounter will always be obtained. If it is one that does not present an immediate or likely danger to the PCs, reroll the results.
• If the PCs make camp by the shrine, they will automatically obtain an encounter that will present an immediate or likely danger during the night. Determine which watch it occurs on randomly.

Each shrine can be used any number of times. You may wish to mark the hex or point this encounter was obtained on, if using such mapping schemes, in case the players want to return to the shrine.