Friday, January 26, 2024

Friday Encounter: The Undying Prophet

Similar to the previous encounter The Relic Thieves, this is an encounter themed around the phenomenon of traveling holy men. As such, it may be used on the road, preferably in a settled area in between towns, or in a settlement visited by the holy man in question.

Background

Long ago, a monk named Isard was a devout follower of the most prominent and powerful religion in these lands (in the Lunar Lands, this would be the cult of Voltan; it will work best if you use whichever cult holds this position in your campaign setting). Though he belonged to a nearby monastery, he was entrusted with tending to a small roadside shrine. However, he attracted the ire of the gods when the shrine was robbed by bandits, and instead of standing in its defense, the cowardly monk traded a holy relic to the robbers in exchange for his safety (and a heavy coinpurse). For his faithlessness and greed, he was cursed with eternal life, becoming a huecuva. Now, he must wander the world, eternally barred from joining his divine masters in the afterlife.

Such a curse only filled Isard with resentment. He believed he was only doing what he needed to do in order to save his life, so that he could continue to serve the gods and bring aid to those who needed it in this world, rather than throwing his life away out of blind faith. As the years passed, Isard's hatred for the pettiness and ingratitude of the gods grew and grew. Even if he had the life he savored, he knew the gods spurned him for it. In time, he came to desire revenge - and began to style himself as a prophet to lead the faithful astray and breed discord in the cult.

The Encounter

Some way or another, the PCs should come upon a congregation of worshipers gathered around an unkempt man in simple robes preaching strange revelations - perhaps standing on a rock by the side of the road, or in the center of a village. If the encounter is used near a large town or city, the prophet will set up shop outside the walls or on the outskirts of town, so as not to attract too much undue attention. The people are enthralled by the man's words, watching his every move as though in a trance; they will not react to the PCs approaching them as though they don't notice, though they will respond if attacked or spoken to.

The prophet - Isard in the guise of a mortal man - makes bold claims, stating that his former faith has lost its favor with the heavens, and that only he speaks the truth of what the gods desire. He claims that the law of the land fears him for the upheaval he will bring, but that the teachings of the church are falsehoods forged by greedy men - perhaps even led astray by demons! Only he can lead the people to once again attain the favor of the divine!

After his sermon, Isard will invite anyone who wishes to learn more to meet him at the ruins of a shrine some distance from his present location (the shrine that he tended to in life). If questioned by the PCs, he will relate the same information as in his sermon, taking care to conceal his true nature.

If the PCs follow Isard to the shrine, they will find it consists of an circle of crumbling pillars along a track that has long grown overgrown with time. During the day, there are 2d10 members of the cult (stats as commoners) gathered here, listening to Isard preach further revelations. Once his followers are in the cult, he is willing to share "revelations" too risky to speak of among civilization - namely, that the corruption in the church reaches far too deeply for the gods to sort out on their own. The only way to restore order as the gods desire is to overthrow the church - starting with the same monastery that Isard belonged to in life!

Isard's cult meets every week, gathering at noon, when the sun is at its highest (this is because he is capable of appearing as a living human in the sunlight). There, they listen to his sermons and prepare for an uprising, training and stockpiling weapons. In two weeks, they plan to launch their attack, where they will overrun and sack the monastery, killing everyone in their path.

Further Developments

Perhaps PCs will seek to investigate Isard's claims, or perhaps they will fall under his sway and join the attack on the monastery themselves. Whichever it is, Isard himself does not believe himself to be a prophet or his words to be divinely inspired - he thinks the gods are right, he just doesn't like that. Rather, he believes that the people can be led astray by claims of divine inspiration, and that this will gather the support he needs to overthrow the monastery, in addition to spreading confusion and doubt among the faithful to sabotage the church.

The cultists do not know that Isard is a huecuva, and he takes precautions to ensure that he is not discovered. During the night, he retreats to a cave not too far from the shrine so that no one sees his true undead appearance; he keeps the location of the cave secret from everyone, even his followers. Also in the cave is a cache of 3d12x10 GP's worth of gold and jewels provided by Isard's followers as "donations for him to buy food with" - he doesn't ask for any such thing, but accepts it anyway to throw off suspicion. If asked, no one in town has ever seen him buy anything at the market.

If Isard's true nature is revealed to the cultists, most of them will be horrified and realize they were being deceived by an unholy creature. However, for each cultist who discovers the truth, there is a 25% chance they will instead believe that their prophet's immortality is a divine miracle, and this will only further convince them that he speaks the truth!

If the monastery is questioned, no one knows anything about Isard - he was cursed long before anyone currently in the monastery was alive. However, they do know of the shrine, and that the relics held there were stolen long ago. A perusal of the monastery's records will bring up that Isard belonged to the order centuries ago and cared for the shrine at the time it was robbed, but the records are not available to the public and may require persuasion (or stealth) to obtain.

If the party brings forth the story and manages to win the trust of the monastery (such as by repelling the uprising), it is possible the monks will send them to find out what happened to the relic, and if possible, to recover it. If so, the sanctity of the shrine might be restored, and it may have some benefit to grant to the PCs...

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