I need your help with a plot idea.

[Jasper]

Ok fellow denizens of the dark I am in need of your wisdom. Ever since I got Gaz 3 many moons ago I have had an adventure idea swirling around in my head. But alas my normal group has been scattered to the four winds by military duty and life in general for over two years now. I have tried gathering a group to play via Openrpg but that too has proven a bust. Due to that my adventure idea has had to stay in the confines of my brain.
I have finaly gotten up the time and energy to write it down but im stuck with a dilemma- What would the players do? I have the full plot and even have a few NPCs written up but I have no real idea how the average player would react to the setup. Would they help the good guys or be drawn into the lies of the evil NPC
This is where you come in. As players how do you think you would take this plot and move with it? If I get enough responses I may try cleaning it up enough to submit it to QTR as a adventure.
So without further ado…. My Idea:

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Dm Setup-

July 14th Of current campaign year. Bastion Secousse of the Dementlian sect lies on her deathbed. She can feel the warm hands of Ezra beckoning and so she begins the summoning of all her fellow Anchorites so she may chose a worth successor. Rumor and speculation run rampant among the clergy. Warden Pineau is thought to be the favorite for succession, as he has become a sort of hero among the faithful due to his fire and brimstone sermons though his stance on eradication of heathen religions leaves him with few friends in the ranks. Another hopeful is Warden Caille. Bastion Secousse has thought of her as a segregate daughter over the last waning years and Caille has been at her side as the final days approached.

As her final hours dawned Bastion Secousse called both Pineau and Caille into her chambers. “As my last duty on this earth I shall name my worthy successor,” she spoke calmly, ”Armand, though you have the fire of faith running through you like the flames of the sun itself I feel it will one day burn too bright and consume you. That is why I must place my faith in Lionie. She has learned both faith and humility in her few years on this earth. Traits needed in the next leader of this church. May Ezra guide both of you through the mist to paradise…” And having said her last words she passed from this world into the next. Pineau turned graciously to Caille and offered his congratulations before retiring to his chambers to begin the ritual week long fasting for the dead as Caille prepared the body for viewing.

When he reached his chambers Pineau let loose a tirade of curses at the cold stone walls. He had planned to lead the church into a glorious new age where heathens would bow down to the goddesses glory. Furious he began digging through piles and piles of sacred documents hoping to find a loophole in the dogma that would allow him to challenge Caille’s succession. As he read day and night he came across a very stained and decaying book buried under piles of old scrolls. Turing to the first page he discovered it was the privet diary of one of the ancient priest of the old church many years ago.

In it he read of how the old priest had become obsessed with the devine secret to creating pure life from the very elements themselves. He toiled away in the catacombs under the cathedral for many years he wrote until the formula came to him in a vision. The priest tells in detailed accounting of how he mixed a plethora of foul chemicals and fouler potions one at a time until his first child rose from the vat. His writing then became hurried and ragged as he began doubting himself as to his creations very essence. He became convinced the child was nothing more then a cruel mockery of life, devoid of the divine spark, a soulless sacrilum. The diary ended there, as the reaming pages were soaked red with dried blood.

As he closed the book a foul thought arose in Pineau’s mind. Who better to place him at the head of her holy army…then the goddess herself.

On the eve of succession the anchorites gathered in the main hall to say one last farewell to Bastion Secousse before she was to be interred below in the catacombs. As Caille said the final prayer over the body the sky above the cathedral grew dark and stormy. A single bolt of lightning stuck the alter cracking it in half. When the smoke and flame died away in its place lay the form of a young girl (16ish), the spitting image of Ezra….

Over the last few months the Church has become swamped with believers who wish to bask in the miracle of the Lady. Even those who disbelieve that this is Ezra reborn walk away with a feeling of hope and well-being. In the last few weeks the Goddess has appointed Pineau her consort and has ordered a purging of unbelievers among the ranks of the clergy.

Forbidden Lore-

This new Ezra is actually an alchemetical child created by Pineau as part of his master plan. Using a scraping of blood from the churched piece of the shield of Ezra thought to be the Goddesses own he created the child to be in her exact image. Reading scripture to the growing fetus while still in the tank he has formed the girl to have almost encyclopedic knowledge of church dogma. He plans to use the girl to place himself as the front of a holy army and sweep across the western core. He plans to have the girl die by poison and frame Caille. He then will take it upon himself to kill her, making himself out to be a hero in the face of the faithful. These acts have effectively severed his relationship with the real goddess but the DP have intervened and are supplying his newly increased power (such as the lightning bolt he called down to disguise the Ezra child’s entrance).

What he doesn’t know if the Ezra child now truly believes herself to be the goddess. This belief is so strong that the Dark powers have even begun granting her the power to heal at a touch and even bring back the recently dead. She is currently unaware of Pineau’s plan and is quite content tending to her flock.

Warden Caille is currently having a crisis of faith. She truly wants to believe that the child is truly Erza but some how deep down she feels that this is all wrong. She fears her doubts will force to front of the churches new wave of persecution of the unbelieving



The PCs can enter in one of three ways-

For those adventuring on the western core before the events unfold there has been a rash of break-ins among the sages and scholars of the city. No money was stolen, only vials of expensive and dangerous chemicals. The Pcs are hired to hunt down the thief and recover the stolen goods. In reality the thief is Pineau. He has been stealing the nessary items required for the child. He has covered his tracks well however and has already set up a scapegoat in the church in case he if found out. If the PCs follow his trail they arrive at the cathedral just as the bolt of lightning strikes.

If they are outsiders or followers of another Ezra-Unfriendly religion they become caught up in the wave of religious furor and are imprisoned for heresy. While awaiting torture by Pineau’s thugs Warden Caille comes and frees them. In return she wants them to help her stop the madness and return with proof one way or another of the Childs divine nature before Pineau spreads his message further.

If the Pcs have ties to Dementlu or the Ezran church they receive invitations to attend Warden Caille’s succession ceremony. They are front and center for the child appearance.

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Now I need your help. What path would you chose if you were a player in this? Would you be more apt to believe the supposedly divine nature of the child and follow Pineaus mad plan or would you be more inclined to disbelieve the masses and hunt down the truth?

Any and all opinions/sujestions/idea/death threats…well not death threats…will be noted and are dearly wanted.

[Darkknight]

I have played and ran for a number of people. All would come up with the same answer.... The child is a fake.

Mostly it is just their doubt of anything truly good coming from Ravenloft.

Taking a look from outside... you really have three characters to look at... You have Caille, Pineau, and the child.

The PCs could very well see through to Pineau's scheme, but what then of the child...

To me there are three very different paths... support Caille, support Pineau, or Support and then see if the child can be made into a true servant of good.

The way that the party will turn always will depend on the information that they first gather and first impressions of the three...

[Jennifer]

Hi Jasper,
A very interesting story you wrote there. I think the path of the players depends mostly on the sort of characters they play. Evil or selfserving characters will try to use the characters for their own ends, while good ones will probably try to follow the orders of the godchild.

When Pineau starts to imprison people for not believing in the child as Ezra, he will probably quickly lose goodwill from the players and they will turn on him.

Another idea is to introduce the players a lot later in the story, some time after the Ezra child has secured her position, Caille is imprisoned or dead and Pineau rules as he always wanted. That way you can present the situation as if there is not really a problem, but just the waythe world is. Will the players then investigate a church matter, wil they toppl Pineau and his construct, or will they let matters lie to develop in to something worse and worse?

Jennifer

[AdamGarou]

As a player, I have to say that most of the characters I play are chaotic good or chaotic neutral, so they don't typically place a lot of trust in those in authority. Therefore, they most likely would be suspicious of Pineau, given that Caille was chosen as Bastion and then Pineau is "miraculously" chosen as "Ezra's" new consort.

Of course, that could be changed in a number of ways:

1.) Maybe one or more of the characters have something similar to the "redeemed" kit from Champions of the Mists and are desperately looking for something to believe in. Even if the players are suspicious, playing such a character true to his/her background would probably mean they'd support Pineau, at least in the beginning.

2.) Maybe the characters are already followers of Ezra, from the Mordentish sect or the Home Faith, and despite their suspicions have come to see this new incarnation of the goddess. If she truly has encyclopedic knowledge of the faith's doctrines and has the ability (and desire) to heal others as you say, that could be very persuasive for the characters.

3.) If the players simply don't know the order of events surrounding Pineau's ascension to "divine consort", they're less apt to be suspicious of him. Knowing that Caile was originally made Bastion would probably induce them to support her... but nothing says they have to find out that information right away.

This post is based on the assumption that you want the PCs to support Pineau to start with. If you don't, ignore it.

[Drinnik Shoehorn]

I know it's not what you want, but I liked the premise so:

At least one PC is a member of the church. The health of Bastion Secousse is known to be poor. Her final days are due soon. The head of the PC's church sends them as a representation of their particular church to mark respect for Secousse. The PC realises that the one of the next choices for Bastion is Caille, someone they knew fleetingly during their training.

After Caille is made Bastion, have Pineau publicly support her. When ever your PCs are talking to Caille have Pineau standing behind her to the right.

When Ezra arrives, allow some of Caille's doubts to show through, perhaps she mentions her feelings to the PC's. Have Pineau agree with her, after all, he will be distancing himself from Ezra, so the PC's make no connection.

When the PC's are convinced Ezra is a fake, that she is merely a cleric of somekind, have a werewolf attack a group of innocents. Allow the PCs to chase the wolf off. At this point, make sure Pineau is with the PCs. Have the wolf kill Pineau. Allow the PCs to check him, make sure they know he is dead. At his funeral, have Ezra appear dramatically during the ceremony. Have her use her powers to return Pineau to life. That way, Pineau can lie, say he has seen her true power and that this is truly Ezra.

How did the wolf attack them, surely this is simply too coincidental? Not if you consider that the wolf was a prisoner of the temple, that they where attempting to redeem the creature. Pineau made a deal with the creature, he would release it if it would do as he asked. His original plan was to have the wolf maul him and have Ezra heal him (he knew of her healing powers) but the wolf betrayed him to send a message to the church. Pineau is now a werewolf, but due to Ezra's magic, he is a true werewolf, not an afflicted.

Now the PC's have a witness to the crime: the werewolf. It made a deal with Pineau, if the PC's find out about this they have reason to doubt Pineau's claims. Before the PCs can tell Bastion Caille, a contingent of Anchorites from the other three sects descend on Dementlieu to confirm Ezra's arrival.

Peturbed by the influx of Anchorites into his land, not to mention the so-called god, D'Honaire seals the borders. Now the PCs have to deal with four rival sects, their one lead (the werewolf) and Pineau (if he finds out the PCs know about his plot with the werewolf).

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

I don't have much to add, other than:
1) I love this plot
2) I know that my players have been burned enough not to trust ANYTHING at face value. So they would be suspicious of Ezra from the moment they heard about her.

[Dominique]

I'm running a campaign revolving around intrigue in the Church of Ezra myself, and my players were instantly suspicious when things started happening that contradicted the usual traditions of the church. While I can certainly imagine the PCs eventually believing Pineau, I think their first reaction would be one of suspicion and investigation. All in all, I don't think you have much to worry about.

This plot is fantastic, btw.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Of course, if you REALLY want to add an over-the-top twist to the climax of the storyline, you could have a genuine manifestation of Ezra -- not necessarily Ezra, Herself; a mystical Voice or scintilating aura of rose-colored light might be more dramatic/credible -- turn up at the end, once the PCs have brought the scheme out into the open, to brand Pineau with the mark of an excommunicate and to confirm Caile's rightful place as Bastion! Depending on how harsh you think Ezra ought to be, Her manifestation might see fit to reduce the alchemical child to the chemicals from whence she formed ... or, if the child's own actions are truly well-meaning yet misguided, She might see fit to transform Pineau's creation into a true human being, and then charge Caile with the education and protection of this: the daughter Ezra (due to Her choice to give Herself up to the Mists) never had a chance to bear, in mortal life.

(OTOH, this being Ravenloft, news of this transformation might lead to a whole *new* round of problems ... like, say, various dread golems' desire to learn the "secret" of becoming 'real people' -- by any means necessary -- from Ezra's "daughter" and/or the outcast-and-exiled Pineau. ;-D)

[Jasper]

*tents fingers*

Excelent.....

*goes to off to start writing*

keep em comming!

[Nathan of the FoS]

Twisting the twist even further, perhaps:

The Alchemical Child...really is the ultimate incarnation of Ezra.

Pineau has gotten a lot more than he bargained for. Ezra has chosen this way to manifest herself for the last time. In her mortal (?) incarnation, the avatar of the goddess is at first unaware that she's being manipulated by Pineau. The characters reveal to her the truth of her making (or she discovers it from another source, if necessary) and she condemns Pineau, raises up Caille, and departs into the Mists to prepare herself for the Time of Ultimate Darkness.

Or, at least, that's what she says...Here we have the possibility that Pineau has succeeded beyond his wildest dreams--but is the young woman really the avatar of Ezra, or something darker and stranger which he called into the body of the Alchemical Child?