Adventure Writing Help - NPC Action

[Vegvisir]

I have a question to pose for an adventure that I'm developing. It has to do with a course of action given a set of circumstances.

The background is that you are an evil deity who has collected, through much difficulty, an ancient relic. You've reliably identified the relic through arcane research and consulting all of the ancient lore. In every case, the object in your possession matches the historical records for the item. The item itself is rather mysterious, and there is much speculation on what it actually does. Most of the rumors seem to indicate it is a weapon to use against someone. With some work you can complete an old ritual to activate the relic.

You discover that your archenemy, a good deity, through many subtle means, is trying to steer groups to target the ritual at them. They aren't outright asking people to try to destroy them with the relic, but you've discovered certain rumors that the relic could destroy the good deity, actually originate from the followers of that deity. Something is up, and the good deity is known for pulling tricks.

Along with your good nemesis, you have several evil deities that you compete with. Some are of equal power and you squabble over resources and policy of your shared followers, some are your superiors that you wish to one day replace. None of them have any knowledge of the relic or seem to have been involved with it yet.

The question is, what do you do with this relic? You have the means to activate it. The legends indicate it's a weapon, however, your nemesis seems to be pulling a trick, so you must be careful with what you do. 

[Flashy]

The question is, what do you do with this relic? You have the means to activate it. The legends indicate it's a weapon, however, your nemesis seems to be pulling a trick, so you must be careful with what you do. 

Target one of the other squabbling evil deities with it. If it empowers them in some unexpected way, great. Use it on myself and carve a path of destruction across the campaign world. If it destroys them as advertised, great. Use it to carve a path of destruction across the campaign world.

[Vegvisir]

Target one of the other squabbling evil deities with it. If it empowers them in some unexpected way, great. Use it on myself and carve a path of destruction across the campaign world. If it destroys them as advertised, great. Use it to carve a path of destruction across the campaign world.

What if it only works once, and there's no real way to test it before completing the ritual?

[Arcangel4774]

What's significant about this evil diety, what's his theme? If he is a corrupter or gambler in nature he could try to get another evil diety to use it.

[Vegvisir]

The deities I was thinking of using are Khurgorbaeyag and Baravar Cloakshadow, or something very like them. So Khurgorbaeyag's portfolio is Slavery, Oppression, and Morale. Baravar Cloakshadow's portfolio is Illusions, Deception, Traps, Wards.

So you can see that if Khurgorbaeyag gets wind Baravar is somehow involved, that's plenty of reason to be suspicious. He could try to use the ritual on his rival hobogoblin deity, Nomog-Geaya, or even on his boss Maglubiyet... but there are certainly risks involved there.

[Ruslan]

I have a question to pose for an adventure that I'm developing. It has to do with a course of action given a set of circumstances.

The background is that you are an evil deity who has collected, through much difficulty, an ancient relic. You've reliably identified the relic through arcane research and consulting all of the ancient lore. In every case, the object in your possession matches the historical records for the item. The item itself is rather mysterious, and there is much speculation on what it actually does. Most of the rumors seem to indicate it is a weapon to use against someone. With some work you can complete an old ritual to activate the relic.

You discover that your archenemy, a good deity, through many subtle means, is trying to steer groups to target the ritual at them. They aren't outright asking people to try to destroy them with the relic, but you've discovered certain rumors that the relic could destroy the good deity, actually originate from the followers of that deity. Something is up, and the good deity is known for pulling tricks.

Along with your good nemesis, you have several evil deities that you compete with. Some are of equal power and you squabble over resources and policy of your shared followers, some are your superiors that you wish to one day replace. None of them have any knowledge of the relic or seem to have been involved with it yet.

The question is, what do you do with this relic? You have the means to activate it. The legends indicate it's a weapon, however, your nemesis seems to be pulling a trick, so you must be careful with what you do. 
In a way that can't be traced back to you, spread rumors that Evil Deity X [not you] has the item. Carefully observe the behavior of all other deities, evil and good. Who of them is worried? Who responds with aggression? Who tries to shmooze to X? Who simply doesn't care? Who acts with disbelief? Etc. There's a lot to learn in those reactions.

[Vegvisir]

In a way that can't be traced back to you, spread rumors that Evil Deity X [not you] has the item. Carefully observe the behavior of all other deities, evil and good. Who of them is worried? Who responds with aggression? Who tries to shmooze to X? Who simply doesn't care? Who acts with disbelief? Etc. There's a lot to learn in those reactions.

I was planning on having a Sigil information broker (let's call him Red Hat) involved that was somehow trying to turn the whole situation to his advantage. He could be the cut-away agent that's spreading information for K's side about [Evil Deity X]. I was also trying to figure out how he might be trying to spin things for his benefit. The player's home world has a unique demi-plane that functions a little like the Shadowfell (at least from some editions). The dead have to pass through that dark and watery realm before they go anywhere else. I was thinking that the Red Hat is obsessed with learning the secrets of this realm and using them (to the detriment of the Prime world).

In the Prime world, K has already sent out hordes of his followers to comb the world for the parts of the relic, which has caused quite a stir. I was considering tying in some of the factions from Sigil for the endgame with Red Hat.

[gfishfunk]

Create a fake version of the relic, guarded by some of your followers. Let the fake relic get stolen by your evil competition. Form an alliance of convenience with your nemesis to 'destroy' the fake relic. The good nemesis will be (in theory) interested in obtaining the fake relic and making sure you don't trick him and take it back. This leaves you to do whatever you want with the real relic.

[Vegvisir]

Create a fake version of the relic, guarded by some of your followers. Let the fake relic get stolen by your evil competition. Form an alliance of convenience with your nemesis to 'destroy' the fake relic. The good nemesis will be (in theory) interested in obtaining the fake relic and making sure you don't trick him and take it back. This leaves you to do whatever you want with the real relic.

Full disclosure, I haven't really explained the good nemesis's (Gnome) plan that I've been working on, which is basically the first part of what you suggest... HE's created a fake relic and lets it get stolen by his enemy, the Goblin. As far as the Gnome knows, the actual relic is undiscovered and possibly just a rumor.

I liked the idea of a Gnome god running a provenance-trap con. That con is run by taking something that is vague and obscure and then manufacturing a forgery to match all the existing descriptions. I've been trying to figure out what the endgame for the Gnome would be, beyond just humiliating the goblinoids by fooling them with a forgery. I do kind of want the Gnome to be running a Kansas City shuffle (they think they're in on the con, but that's when they fall for the real con) but I'd have to anticipate the Goblin's actions, so I wanted to see what some people would do in the Goblin's position. He's got what he suspects is a fake relic (or a relic that's somehow being used to trick him), what does he do now?

They could all try to run the same con on each other. The Hobgoblin could steal the fake2 from the Goblin that stole the fake1 from the Gnome and then duplicate it again (fake3) and let the Orcs steal it from him, who can create a fake of their own (fake4)... It's fakes all the way down. That might be a little silly and overly confusing to convey in the adventure and not all of the racial deities are quite as adept at trickery.

My current thought is that since the provenance-trap relies on making a forgery of a real relic, the real one may have to show up in the finale. Outside of the Gnome and Goblin conflict, I was thinking of having a 3rd party that was working with the Goblins who is actually knowledgeable about the real relic. He has privileged information and can ID a fake. The 3rd party is searching for the real relic to resurrect a dead elder god and merge with them. They're using the goblins to find the relic parts, but making sure the goblins keep only the forgeries. That gives the PCs the opportunity to ally with the goblins and swap the fake back for the real relic during the resurrection ritual, but it still leaves open what the Gnome was actually trying to do in the first place.

I do like the idea that a forgery of a relic is still something potent. Like how a forgery of a painting is still a work of art, but its value is substantially less. When you're talking gods and outer planes, belief is important, so perhaps just believing in the fake endows it with some power (even if it's only by convincing others it has some yet unseen power).