AVB - Scroll Breaker

[Rizban]

Private thread for CozJa

Entering the Temple District, you finds yourself just outside the*temple of Pelor, which is surrounded by a thick, circular outer wall. A sense of power seems to linger in the air. The large front door to the temple stands open, and can be seen from the gate in the outer wall, revealing a large statue of Pelor sitting cross legged with open arms, welcoming his children into the temple. A gold sun the size of a troll tops the temple.

Barely a block away stands a temple quite the opposite of the grand temple of Pelor. The modest temple of Bahamut is simple and avoids the baroque and heavy ornamentations of many of the other temples. It seems to be made of rather plain stone, though the inside of front door is inlaid with Bahamut's holy symbol, wrought in platinum, the only ornamentation visible on the temple.

The twin temples to Solaron and Minrhet are two blocks west and one north of Pelor. The one on the right features a bronze lantern-shaped building that seems to glow internally. The one on the left has a draconic theme, showing chromatic and metallic dragons working together. The buildings are connected by a spiral tower that mixes the two themes. Four small shrines are located, one each, at the four external corners of the buildings.

Not far away, a great library stands in the district, the main doors watched over by priestesses in dark emerald green robes.

Hundreds of large and small temples, shrines, and small statues line every street as far as the eye can see dedicated to all manner of gods, goddesses, and pantheons. You doubt if there is any deity without some form of representation in this city district.

You do not immediately spot a temple dedicated to Oghma.

Something I missed when approving you, Oghma is true neutral, but Church Inquisitor requires you to belong to a LG order. I'd like to see this justified somehow, or I'm going to have to have you retcon your patron.

[CozJa]

Radekon stops for a moment, admiring the beautiful shapes of the temples around him. For a moment, He feels lost inside the power displayed by those amazing structures. Then, thinking how much powerful could be a church guiding all these people, he directs himself at the doors of the great library. Approaching the priestesses.

"Greetings, holy women, and may the knower bless you. Can I ask you some information?"


Mh, yes, I see the problem with inquisitor. I think it can be solved in this way: since it doesn't require you to be part only of a church but of a order, we could explain that inquisitors are a religious order founded by clerics (and paladins) of Pelor (with the intent of making light onto darkened things) and Oghma (with the intent of uncover secret knowledge) and, maybe, some LN divinity like Helm; with time, became a group that investigate the internal problem of those churches, while mantaining ties with the members. Do you think it could work?

P.S. I'm not sure, as a contact I can use the Father Anton I wrote in the sheet?

P.P.S. Sorry for the REALLY slow post, but I'm having some problems with RL

[Rizban]

In this setting, you'll really need to choose one particular deity and follow just that one. There are only a very few that you can worship collectively, such as the Sovereign Host of Eberron or the sun twins Solaron and Minrhet. I'll allow you to come up with some sort of organization that meets the requirements, but I'd like to see some good fluff to go with it.

You may use Father Anton, yes. If not, I would have nixed it before approving your sheet.The one you address looks at you curiously.

"You may ask. I may answer."

[CozJa]

"You may ask. I may answer."

"Good" says Radekon, "Then, I have two questions for you: I want to know the directions for Oghma's temple and, if you're allowed to answer me, I would like to know if the library can be accessed for free, or not."

Ok, thanks, for the fluff I'll prepare it asap

[Rizban]

She smirks with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Hm."

She waves you away dismissively and turns to walk towards the temple.

[CozJa]

With a sad smile Radekon says:"Well... I suppose it means you may not" while thinking that he should've paid more attention at the politeness lessons during his youth.

He then goes on, searching for the temple by himself, or at least seeking a guard who can direct him.

[Rizban]

Wandering more or less aimlessly for [roll0] hours, you find Oghma's temple.

The temple itself is rather smaller than the large temples you saw nearer the center of the city, but it's larger than some. It even has a few permanent priests and living quarters. On the temple grounds, you see...


As the first player to approach this particular temple, you get to design and describe it yourself.


Rolls to determine some things... Please wait.
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]

[CozJa]

The temple of Oghma don't stand out in magnificency, but it really does in eloquence, at least to a skilled eye: the entrance, guarded by some armed laymen, is always open, with four coloumns, each of a different kinds of marble (to recall the four elemnts) substaining the entabulature, on wich is inscribed the blessing of Oghma. the vestibule present many ancient inscriptions on the walls, and on the upper side the blessings are repeated in many different languages. the passages leading to the eastern and western rooms are covered with finely hand-woven curtains, resembling more vellum paper scrolls.

Something in the air, at the same time familiar and distant, bear a resemblance to magic schools and ancient places of arcane teachings; to Radekon, it's almost like you can feel knowledge in your nostrils and fingers.
What's strange, is that, while in many of Oghma's temples libraries can be accessed almost istantly after entering, no book, or shelf, is visible, aside for those in priests hands.

On reaching the entrance Radekon greets the guard:
"May the knower bless you, I'm Radekon Manhalm, minor prior of Auberg. Have you been informed of my coming?"

i was doing some research, and noticed that in Faith and Pantheons is said that Oghma can have clerics of any alignment. It comes up even in the web enhancement dedicated to his temple.http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20020529a
if you take a look, You'll notice that even the high priest of the temple is LG. I think that kind of removes the aligment problem for inquisitors. Anyway, since I find it really interesting, if you want I can work on something fluffy for the order! Let me know what you think about it!

[Rizban]

It's not just that the Inquisitors have to be LG, it's that they have to be part of an LG order within the church that has discovered some corruption. It's an organizational thing, not an individual one. The organization can be as structured or informal as you like, but I want to see something good from you on it.

The priest greets you and bids you to wait for the high priest to be available.

[CozJa]

It's not just that the Inquisitors have to be LG, it's that they have to be part of an LG order within the church that has discovered some corruption. It's an organizational thing, not an individual one. The organization can be as structured or informal as you like, but I want to see something good from you on it.


Ok, then, I'm working on it, only wanted to be sure that you're ok with the "Oghma can have cleric of any alignment" rule.



The priest greets you and bids you to wait for the high priest to be available.

Radekon waits patiently.

[Rizban]

The high seems occupied for the moment, though he'll be available after Radekon has taken the time to ponder the nature of his order.

[CozJa]

Well, I'm not so good with walls of text, I hope it's enough!

It's almost 150 years from the foundation of the inquisitors.
In 1207 There was a great strife into Oghma church: Hangast Froden, a wicked man, by means of deceit and fear, had become High priest of the grand temple of wisdom, the most important seat of power in all of the church.
he then started to call the most perverted men, be them necromancers, seekers of eldritch secrets and mere bandits, using them to steal the more important artifacts and scrolls of knowledge in the world. While he was a trickster and a thief, at least, he had the wisdom to do all this in secrecy, trying to keep the other bishops busy with other tasks and, slowly but steadily, infiltrating the "Holy ways" (voyages of Oghma's faithfuls, that travel from city to village to confront themselves with common people and erudites of many churches, always hoping to better understand the way of the planes) with his agents; after some time, clerics of many faiths starded to relate the thievery of relics with "holy ways" and even people in the church of Oghma grew wary of Hangast's behavior.

It was during this times, between 1209-10 that begins the history of the inquisition, more precisely, with his founder: Gaspard Havdragon. A cleric of draconinc heritage, Gaspard was prior of Oghma's chapter in a western city; after the departure of a holy way, the local church of bahamut find itself missing of a sacred relic.
A group of paladins of Bahamut came to the chapter, investigating about the theft. Gaspar, enraged at first, took his time to learn from the paladins and their methods: the use of clerical magics, the ability to understand the meaning of proofs and traces, the ability to inquiry people and collect all evidence, and the powerful faith and the sheer willpower of those sacred warriors. All of those things were perfectly acceptable for the Oghmites.
Therefore, he reunited the most noble clerics in his city and in the nearest provinces, sharing his concerns about the state of the church under Hangast and explaining his plan: a new order, with only the most honest and noble people should arise with a common intent, eradicate all of the traces of shadows and deceipt from Oghma's church, so that all knowledge could be shown and shared between the seekers. That day, the inquisition was born. Thanks to his heritage, he obtained a permission from Bahamut's church to "borrow" the services of some paladins, with the task of teaching their abilities and their code to the newly born inquisitors.

Protected by strong magical wardings, they trained for a year, passed another one to investigate and uncover all of the High priest smuggling network and then, in 1211 the "grat purge" began. Gaspard, with his new force, entered the high temple itself and declared himself First inquisitor, stripping the banner of Hangast.
The High Priest was a fierce enemy and attacked the inquisitors with his loyal forces; but he didn't know that Gaspard's inquisitors had already infiltrated his network, cutting off all of his escape routes. He managed to overpower his assailants and fled the temple, only to be caught by another group of inquisitors who quickly killed him near Aldhaven.

After all of this struggle, many in the church feared the great power of Gaspard and his inquisition, thinking that he could have been a new tyrant in the church. Therefore, a council of the priests declared the inquisition an order of Oghma's church, contemporarily recognizing them as a legal force and cutting them off of the highest official positions.
Gaspard, hurt by their ungratfulness, retired himself and became an hermit, while his inquisition survived into history, helping not only their church, but even other noble churches, in their struggle to bring the shadows into the light. It took almost half a century for the "Holy ways" to be accepted again into many cities, but if it wasn't for the inquisitors, maybe it could have never happen.
With time, many became more lenient into their requirement to join order, asking strict loyalty to the laws of Oghma, but permitting the entrance even to those who were not so passionated into the struggle between good and evil. Nevertheless, the appeal to the inquisition is so strong to the good and nobles, that many people keeps calling inquisitors "Oghma's paladins".

[Rizban]

Looks pretty good! I like it. I may make some minor changes to it, but consider it to be what your character knows of his own organization, even if it ends up not being 100% accurate.

The high priest comes out to meet you. He is a shriveled old man followed by a younger man, apparently a healer of some sort who seems to fret over the high priest's every move while the priest does his best to ignore the man. The robes worn by the high priest almost seem to swallow him. As he approaches, he gives you a stern glare for a moment before breaking into a warm smile and extending his hand in the sign of your goddess.

"Welcome to Aldhaven, young priest."

[CozJa]

Ok, I really like your idea of my story being an "historical rendition" of the real story.

Replying back the greeting, Radekon, happy to have finally found the high priest, speaks to him.
"Blessing of the knower, Your Highness, have you been informed of my visit? I come from Auberg to discuss with you, some, ehm... important topics"

[Rizban]

He just shrugs and smiles.
"I'm afraid no message was relayed to me. It seems that some of the younger priests have decided I'm too old to be bothered with all the minor minutiae and handle things themselves."

[CozJa]

"Oh, I imagine you have many important things to look at." says Radekon with a friendly smile; he then stops for a moment, glancing at the young healer.
"In fact, your highness, I was sent here to search for father Anton of the blessed bookkeepers.
He stops for a moment, looking at the High Priest, to see his reaction at the name of Anton.

"It seems that many in our church want to strenghten the friendships between us and them; obviously, I wanted to let you know first, since you are the authority in this city. At least for we Oghmites."


Not sure if needed, but just in case I roll a bluff check for the "official reason" given to Radekon mission.
[roll0]

And a sense motive for the High Priest reaction.

[roll1]

[Rizban]

"Oh? Has something happened to Anton?"

You surmise that the priest is genuinely unaware of anything pertaining to Anton's current disposition. You also note that he seems to have noticed your less than forthright comments.

[CozJa]

"Oh no, at least not to my knowledge" Answers Radekon, "Do you think that we can continue our discussion in a more private place?" Goes on to say, while looking at the High Priest's young healer.

[Rizban]

He raises one eyebrow as he appraises you.

"I suppose so. Right this way."

He leads you back to a small study, little more than a tiny room with a table, stool, and crammed bookcase. A narrow slit in the wall with colored glass provides the main source of light.

"Bertram, retrieve an additional stool for our guest."

The young healer looks hesitant but leaves quickly to find another stool for you to be seated.

[CozJa]

"Thanks, I think you need to see with your eyes why I'm here." Says Radekon when the healer is gone, while taking his holy symbol. After pressing his thumbs on the back of it, the symbol of Oghma clicks and, for a brief moment rolls around displaying the inquisitor's seal.

"I'm sorry for my little deception, but I want the less possible people to know why I'm here" He then tells about the prior about the smuggling of artifacts, but leaving out information about the possible implication of local noble houses.

[Rizban]

The old man rolls his eyes and waves his hand at you dismissively.

"Right, right. Always with the secrets and the plots and the inquisitions. I've seen it all before. Do your job. You have whatever cooperation you need from me. My advice, if you want it, is not to play around with secrets yourself. If you've got your own secrets to hide, you're going to miss the ones you're here to find."

[CozJa]

"I guess you're... right"answers Radekon, staring at the High Priest with a puzzled look. He starts to think that the high priest IS, in fact, way smarter than he looks.
"Anyway, I want to reach father Anton as I said earlier. And..." hesitating for a moment, Radekon stops, as is trying to collect the right words. "With all my talking of work I've forgotten about my accomodation. I have to rent a room at some inn or there's place for me in the temple? If you let me stay here, I could help with anything the church may need"

[Rizban]

He shrugs. "It's your right to requisition a room here, though it'll have to displace an acolyte or two. You start investigating, and you're going to be stepping on a lot of toes. I can't tell which would be worse, taking up residence in the offended person's home or remaining an outsider who shows up just to stir the pot before leaving to sleep in his comfy bed elsewhere. Either way, you're in a bad spot.

As to meeting with Anton, that's going to be up to you. He's not of this temple, so there's little I can do besides give you permission to use my name when asking for an audience."

[CozJa]

"I think I'll stay there, I'm not comfortable enough in this city, it's really huge! I'm more used to temple life than that of an adventurer and I'll just take my chances here...
Anyway, thanks for your help, now, I'll go see father Anton, He'll be in the library, I suppose."

If there isn't anything more to say, and th High Priest confirms that Anton is in the library, I'll go directly there.

[Rizban]

What library?

[CozJa]

I was thinking about the grand library, the one with the "friendly" priestesses of before

[Rizban]

Sorry for the slow posting. I've been both very busy and pretty sick the past few days.

You're more than welcome to join up with planswalker if you want, but you'll need to meet in character. How the two of you go about doing that, you'll probably need to discuss with him.He sighs. "I'll make sure a room is prepared for you come nightfall.

Yes, I'm sure Anton will be in his library. He seldom leaves it anymore."

You excuse yourself and wander back to the library watched over by the priestesses. They don't seem to pay any attention to you unless you approach them.

[CozJa]

Yes, no prob, as you can see, I'm not a fast poster! Anyway, I'll contact planswalker and see what we can work out.

Radekon, this time, nods gently at the women, and enters directly to the library.

[Rizban]

As you attempt to enter the building, a blonde priestess steps up and bars your entry.

"Good afternoon. Is there some way that I might assist you?"

http://www.mornproductions.com/aldhaven/AVB/Portraits/SombriusPriestess.jpg

[CozJa]

"Good afternoon to you, I'm here to see father Anton of the Blessed Bookkepeers"

[Rizban]

Her nose twitches and her lip curls up ever so slightly, but you can tell she's trying hard to suppress her disgust.

"You're in the wrong place. Please go away."

[CozJa]

Radekon take a step back, surprised by the woman's reaction... "uh, ehm, excuse me good priestess... and farewell"
He turns back and goes away as fast as he can while still seeming quiet, thinking about what happened "Well, that really didn't turn out as intended... this city is too strange, and those idiots in Auberg clearly didn't give me enough information... time to take a more mundane approach!"

Radekon comes back to the plaza, towards the Sad Flint, thinking that, after all, this could be the best place to find informations.

[Rizban]

The interior of the Sad Flint is quite crowded. People are coming and going all over the rather large barroom. Patrons of any possible description abound, most content to drink the beers in their hands. No one bothers to turn their head when yet another patron walks in. The atmosphere of the place is slightly dingy, but comfortable.

A lone half-giant is serving as the bartender at the long bar across from the entrance. Round tables with an average of four chairs each litter the common area, although several have borrowed chairs from others nearby. More than half of them seem occupied by patrons of some description and number. A pair of armored bouncers guard a double door along the west wall.

Barmaids of many different races weave in and out of the traffic, delivering food and drinks, as well as picking up empty crockery and more than a few pick-up lines.