Johannes looks at you quizzically, "Lock you away? What are you talking about?" He proceeds to step into the room as well, and the bartender stands in the open doorway. Without giving time for a response, he continues.
"In any case, you are all here under the request of Ayrton, however some unforseen complications have arisen and I am here in his place. As you may already know, the Disciples do not initiate just anybody off the street, applicants must prove themselves first. We have received word that someone who has stolen something very important from us is in the vicinity. We want you to bring him back so we may retrieve it. You are not to enlist the aid of the police in this matter, as they have already proven to be unsympathetic to our cause."
"Before I continue with any details, I require your commitment to this task. Should you decide you do not wish to join the Disciples after all, you are free to leave." Johannes gestures towards the doorway, and then pauses his speech for a moment to see how you all react.
(It should be obvious, but just in case it isn't -- leaving now would not be recommended if you wish to continue playing in this campaign with your current character.)
Erick glances at the others for any immediate reaction, but seeing none, ventures his own response, "Seems reasonable ... easy even, but ... how about you give us a brief explanation of what these dreams are about first. On credit, shall we say?"
Abraham springs up with a bit of renewed enthusiasm, "Ja, sehr gut, sehr gut. This is why I'm here. I agree though: Quid pro quo. We know very little of you or this mission you have for us. A bit of information should be provided so we have a nice warm-and-fuzzy feeling about this."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Characters:
Grishkar Darkmoor, Necromancer of Nerull the Despiser Kelvin Rabbitfoot, Diviner, con artist, always hunting for a good sale Bründir Halfshield, Valor Bard, three-time Sheercleft Drinking Competition Champion, Hometown hero
"I suppose that much is fair. Very well. These dreams are what set us apart from the rest, and why we do not let just anyone into the Faith. For we are the chosen few contacted by God to right all of the wrongs in the world. He cannot speak to everyone, so he speaks to us. Others believe God doesn't exist, or that he doesn't care about this world. They are wrong. In truth, a long time ago his power was stolen away from him, and they have remade the world in their image in the time since. We have been given instructions on how to make things right again, how to go back to the old ways, and the Disciples of the Faith has been established to carry out these instructions to their fullest."
"I told the others that I don't put stock in dreams. However, I do put stock in results. Keep me provided-for and I'll do whatever work you need." Abraham waves at the bartender for 4 drinks.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Characters:
Grishkar Darkmoor, Necromancer of Nerull the Despiser Kelvin Rabbitfoot, Diviner, con artist, always hunting for a good sale Bründir Halfshield, Valor Bard, three-time Sheercleft Drinking Competition Champion, Hometown hero
"So, we need to retrieve something then?" Erick queries, pulling out his smartphone to make notes and rapidly moving his fingers across the screen, "Ok, we'll need details then. What is the item? How large is it? Who has it? Do you have a name or a good photo of them?"
Erick looks expectantly at Johannes, pondering how much of this is a test, or an actual situation that has arisen.
"Excellent, and yes I need you to retrieve something, or in particular someone. How you retrieve him is irrelevant, but he should be brought to our main church in the city. We have someone there 24 hours a day, so we will be anticipating your return. I will provide you with a key to the back door in the case you need to be discreet about it. His name is Gerald Kodyne, I have more details on my iPad. You will have time to look at and study them, but you cannot take the tablet with you for security reasons. He should be brought in alive if at all possible. Do this, and we have been promised power by God in return, so that we may more easily carry out his will in the future. Any questions?"
Johannes puts the tablet down on the table and places a single key tied to a string next to it. The tablet contains details on Gerald, including a number of discreet pictures as well as his home and work addresses.
DM Screen
PLOT SPOILERS, highlight to view.
The Disciples of the Faith have been contacted by a powerful entity via their dreams, Hastur. A long time in the past, Hastur's soul was split into 20 pieces and kept prisoner by the souls of mortals. One of their descendants would inherit this soul fragment upon birth. Should one die while holding a fragment inside of them, it is released and returned to Hastur. In the intervening time, 7 such fragments have been returned, leaving 13 still in mortal bodies. 7 was enough for Hastur to begin planning, however, and he arranged over centuries to collect the rest of the fragments in one place so he can finally be set free. Additionally, he managed to corrupt one of the still-living holders of a fragment and use him as a vessel. This person founded the Disciples of the Faith and is helping fast-track Hastur's plans to collect the 12 remaining souls. The PCs here are tasked with retrieving one of those souls as their test to be initiated into the faith. Others abound throughout the area, including some if not all of the PC's in thread 1 (The Fractured Prison).
While killing them is enough to restore power to Hastur, performing rituals on them while alive can unlock magic powers for the PCs and the cult in general, as it can imbue them with some of that power as well.
Only the upper echelons of the Disciples' leadership know of Hastur's true identity, they put on a front for everyone else that they are being contacted by the God of the Old Testament, who is especially vengeful due to sinners having locked his power away. This lets them lead initiates and acolytes to execute their plans without risking revealing exactly what is happening to the outside world. To further ensure safety, they do not initiate new members until they have been touched by Hastur and therefore be less likely to defect.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Without waiting for permission from anyone else, Erick leans over from his seat and moves the table over to in front of him, quickly browsing through the information present on the device. Periodically, whilst browsing the tablet, Erick glances at his smartphone, on the table next to the tablet, and taps or swipes on the screen.
(intent is for Erick to copy the data across to his own smartphone, for reference, probably via Bluetooth - if you'd like a roll for this, here's one with Int + Computer. 25 )
Erick spins the tablet around to face Rev & Abraham, "You guys want to take a look? I think I got everything we need on here," and then goes back to manipulating his smartphone.
Rev reaches over to have a quick scan of the information, noting what the guy looks like and how address bit only skimming the rest. He turns to Erick.
"You seem like a pretty smart and tech savvy guy so if you think we have everything we need that's awesome, I have the details I need for a snatch and grab but I'm just keen to get my hands dirty. I happy for you to run point and I am pretty good at getting in places quietly and unnoticed however if you have a better idea happy to discuss. Maybe we should head off and talk about this more on the road?"
Rev turns to Johannes and asks
"You don't have a vehicle by any chance we could use?"
Erick nods, "I've started looking up information on the target, home address, where he works, immediate family, stuff like that. I don't have any practical experience of extracting individuals against their will though, so I'd definitely appreciate your thoughts on the best way to go about that."
"I have some experience there... though i wont really be able to figure out the best approach until we can check out his place. Should we make a move while it's still dark to see what the place looks like?"
Abraham glances over the details for a minute, "That vehicle will come in handy. I can restrain and blindfold, but I'm not walking a hostage miles back to a rendezvous."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Characters:
Grishkar Darkmoor, Necromancer of Nerull the Despiser Kelvin Rabbitfoot, Diviner, con artist, always hunting for a good sale Bründir Halfshield, Valor Bard, three-time Sheercleft Drinking Competition Champion, Hometown hero
(Erick successfully copies the data over to his smartphone -- sorry for lack of earlier reply, as stated in my OP weekends are really busy for me usually. I had maybe 30 minutes of free time total.)
"I unfortunately do not have a vehicle you can borrow for this. If you don't have one of your own, you can try renting one or otherwise obtaining one; just try to be careful to not implicate us with careless use of it."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"You guys have a think on the preferred way to acquire a suitable vehicle, while I get us some further information," Erick doesn't even look up from his phone, his nimble fingers tapping and swiping across the screen with precision.
( Erick is using a layered VPN and a proxy search to hide his activity and is then trying to track down the following: home address; place of work; immediate family - happy to define this stuff if you want, if you don't have anything already defined. Also, do you want a roll for success level? int+investigation 10 )
(Roflmao it's like the rolling system was so impressed it just decided to drop an epic roll for you.)
"Anyone know somewhere to get a car at this hour? Worst-case I can 'acquire' one if needed." Abraham heads to the bar for another drink and to see if the bartender knows a good car rental or cab service.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Characters:
Grishkar Darkmoor, Necromancer of Nerull the Despiser Kelvin Rabbitfoot, Diviner, con artist, always hunting for a good sale Bründir Halfshield, Valor Bard, three-time Sheercleft Drinking Competition Champion, Hometown hero
(Roflmao it's like the rolling system was so impressed it just decided to drop an epic roll for you.)
"Anyone know somewhere to get a car at this hour? Worst-case I can 'acquire' one if needed." Abraham heads to the bar for another drink and to see if the bartender knows a good car rental or cab service.
"Most of em are probably closed at this hour, likely even the ones at the airport. If you want a taxi to take you home I can call in one for ya, but probably not a good idea to involve cabs for what Johannes just asked ya to do. Ya don't need to take care o this tonight, sleep on it and prepare, cover your bases."
"Erick, find out anything more useful about this guy yet?
Maybe we should head back and crash but tomorrow I'm keen to head back to his place early in the morning and tail him for a while to see if there is a good place for this to go down.
I'd probably rather do this by myself as I have had some training and am much less likely to be spotted on my own that 3 of us together, especially big man Abraham over here.
Erick, as you seem much more tech savvy than me it would be very useful to have you in my ear if I needed any extra information on the fly and AB i could defiantly use you close by for backup encase things go sideways or i get made and need to do a quick switch to keep on his tail.
Do you have any good com systems that we might be able to get our hands on?"
Johannes looks at you quizzically, "Lock you away? What are you talking about?" He proceeds to step into the room as well, and the bartender stands in the open doorway. Without giving time for a response, he continues.
"In any case, you are all here under the request of Ayrton, however some unforseen complications have arisen and I am here in his place. As you may already know, the Disciples do not initiate just anybody off the street, applicants must prove themselves first. We have received word that someone who has stolen something very important from us is in the vicinity. We want you to bring him back so we may retrieve it. You are not to enlist the aid of the police in this matter, as they have already proven to be unsympathetic to our cause."
"Before I continue with any details, I require your commitment to this task. Should you decide you do not wish to join the Disciples after all, you are free to leave." Johannes gestures towards the doorway, and then pauses his speech for a moment to see how you all react.
(It should be obvious, but just in case it isn't -- leaving now would not be recommended if you wish to continue playing in this campaign with your current character.)
-
View User Profile
-
View Posts
-
Send Message
D&D Beyond FoundersErick glances at the others for any immediate reaction, but seeing none, ventures his own response, "Seems reasonable ... easy even, but ... how about you give us a brief explanation of what these dreams are about first. On credit, shall we say?"
(Persuasion: 23 )
Pun-loving nerd | Faith Elisabeth Lilley | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊
Abraham springs up with a bit of renewed enthusiasm, "Ja, sehr gut, sehr gut. This is why I'm here. I agree though: Quid pro quo. We know very little of you or this mission you have for us. A bit of information should be provided so we have a nice warm-and-fuzzy feeling about this."
Characters:
Grishkar Darkmoor, Necromancer of Nerull the Despiser
Kelvin Rabbitfoot, Diviner, con artist, always hunting for a good sale
Bründir Halfshield, Valor Bard, three-time Sheercleft Drinking Competition Champion, Hometown hero
"I suppose that much is fair. Very well. These dreams are what set us apart from the rest, and why we do not let just anyone into the Faith. For we are the chosen few contacted by God to right all of the wrongs in the world. He cannot speak to everyone, so he speaks to us. Others believe God doesn't exist, or that he doesn't care about this world. They are wrong. In truth, a long time ago his power was stolen away from him, and they have remade the world in their image in the time since. We have been given instructions on how to make things right again, how to go back to the old ways, and the Disciples of the Faith has been established to carry out these instructions to their fullest."
"So, are you in?"
"I told the others that I don't put stock in dreams. However, I do put stock in results. Keep me provided-for and I'll do whatever work you need." Abraham waves at the bartender for 4 drinks.
Characters:
Grishkar Darkmoor, Necromancer of Nerull the Despiser
Kelvin Rabbitfoot, Diviner, con artist, always hunting for a good sale
Bründir Halfshield, Valor Bard, three-time Sheercleft Drinking Competition Champion, Hometown hero
-
View User Profile
-
View Posts
-
Send Message
D&D Beyond Founders"Sure," Erick nods, "as we've been chosen, it would be careless to cast that aside, besides, I don't like not knowing what's going on!"
Pun-loving nerd | Faith Elisabeth Lilley | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊
"I guess I'm in too. I'm not one to abandon my comrades, especially as they head into the unknown".
As the bartender walks back into the room Rev snatches the drink off the tray and swallows the drink in one gulp. "Another if you don't mind."
"so tell us more about how exactly you want us to commit to the task and what exactly this task requires."
Mega Threads - Staff Quotes - Useful Resources - Homebrew FAQ - Pricing FAQ
-
View User Profile
-
View Posts
-
Send Message
D&D Beyond Founders"So, we need to retrieve something then?" Erick queries, pulling out his smartphone to make notes and rapidly moving his fingers across the screen, "Ok, we'll need details then. What is the item? How large is it? Who has it? Do you have a name or a good photo of them?"
Erick looks expectantly at Johannes, pondering how much of this is a test, or an actual situation that has arisen.
Pun-loving nerd | Faith Elisabeth Lilley | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊
"Excellent, and yes I need you to retrieve something, or in particular someone. How you retrieve him is irrelevant, but he should be brought to our main church in the city. We have someone there 24 hours a day, so we will be anticipating your return. I will provide you with a key to the back door in the case you need to be discreet about it. His name is Gerald Kodyne, I have more details on my iPad. You will have time to look at and study them, but you cannot take the tablet with you for security reasons. He should be brought in alive if at all possible. Do this, and we have been promised power by God in return, so that we may more easily carry out his will in the future. Any questions?"
Johannes puts the tablet down on the table and places a single key tied to a string next to it. The tablet contains details on Gerald, including a number of discreet pictures as well as his home and work addresses.
DM Screen
PLOT SPOILERS, highlight to view.
The Disciples of the Faith have been contacted by a powerful entity via their dreams, Hastur. A long time in the past, Hastur's soul was split into 20 pieces and kept prisoner by the souls of mortals. One of their descendants would inherit this soul fragment upon birth. Should one die while holding a fragment inside of them, it is released and returned to Hastur. In the intervening time, 7 such fragments have been returned, leaving 13 still in mortal bodies. 7 was enough for Hastur to begin planning, however, and he arranged over centuries to collect the rest of the fragments in one place so he can finally be set free. Additionally, he managed to corrupt one of the still-living holders of a fragment and use him as a vessel. This person founded the Disciples of the Faith and is helping fast-track Hastur's plans to collect the 12 remaining souls. The PCs here are tasked with retrieving one of those souls as their test to be initiated into the faith. Others abound throughout the area, including some if not all of the PC's in thread 1 (The Fractured Prison).
While killing them is enough to restore power to Hastur, performing rituals on them while alive can unlock magic powers for the PCs and the cult in general, as it can imbue them with some of that power as well.
Only the upper echelons of the Disciples' leadership know of Hastur's true identity, they put on a front for everyone else that they are being contacted by the God of the Old Testament, who is especially vengeful due to sinners having locked his power away. This lets them lead initiates and acolytes to execute their plans without risking revealing exactly what is happening to the outside world. To further ensure safety, they do not initiate new members until they have been touched by Hastur and therefore be less likely to defect.
-
View User Profile
-
View Posts
-
Send Message
D&D Beyond FoundersWithout waiting for permission from anyone else, Erick leans over from his seat and moves the table over to in front of him, quickly browsing through the information present on the device. Periodically, whilst browsing the tablet, Erick glances at his smartphone, on the table next to the tablet, and taps or swipes on the screen.
(intent is for Erick to copy the data across to his own smartphone, for reference, probably via Bluetooth - if you'd like a roll for this, here's one with Int + Computer. 25 )
Erick spins the tablet around to face Rev & Abraham, "You guys want to take a look? I think I got everything we need on here," and then goes back to manipulating his smartphone.
Pun-loving nerd | Faith Elisabeth Lilley | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊
Rev reaches over to have a quick scan of the information, noting what the guy looks like and how address bit only skimming the rest. He turns to Erick.
"You seem like a pretty smart and tech savvy guy so if you think we have everything we need that's awesome, I have the details I need for a snatch and grab but I'm just keen to get my hands dirty. I happy for you to run point and I am pretty good at getting in places quietly and unnoticed however if you have a better idea happy to discuss. Maybe we should head off and talk about this more on the road?"
Rev turns to Johannes and asks
"You don't have a vehicle by any chance we could use?"
Mega Threads - Staff Quotes - Useful Resources - Homebrew FAQ - Pricing FAQ
-
View User Profile
-
View Posts
-
Send Message
D&D Beyond FoundersErick nods, "I've started looking up information on the target, home address, where he works, immediate family, stuff like that. I don't have any practical experience of extracting individuals against their will though, so I'd definitely appreciate your thoughts on the best way to go about that."
Pun-loving nerd | Faith Elisabeth Lilley | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊
"I have some experience there... though i wont really be able to figure out the best approach until we can check out his place. Should we make a move while it's still dark to see what the place looks like?"
"Hey Johannes! Any news on that vehicle?"
Mega Threads - Staff Quotes - Useful Resources - Homebrew FAQ - Pricing FAQ
Abraham glances over the details for a minute, "That vehicle will come in handy. I can restrain and blindfold, but I'm not walking a hostage miles back to a rendezvous."
Characters:
Grishkar Darkmoor, Necromancer of Nerull the Despiser
Kelvin Rabbitfoot, Diviner, con artist, always hunting for a good sale
Bründir Halfshield, Valor Bard, three-time Sheercleft Drinking Competition Champion, Hometown hero
(Erick successfully copies the data over to his smartphone -- sorry for lack of earlier reply, as stated in my OP weekends are really busy for me usually. I had maybe 30 minutes of free time total.)
"I unfortunately do not have a vehicle you can borrow for this. If you don't have one of your own, you can try renting one or otherwise obtaining one; just try to be careful to not implicate us with careless use of it."
-
View User Profile
-
View Posts
-
Send Message
D&D Beyond Founders"You guys have a think on the preferred way to acquire a suitable vehicle, while I get us some further information," Erick doesn't even look up from his phone, his nimble fingers tapping and swiping across the screen with precision.
( Erick is using a layered VPN and a proxy search to hide his activity and is then trying to track down the following: home address; place of work; immediate family - happy to define this stuff if you want, if you don't have anything already defined. Also, do you want a roll for success level? int+investigation 10 )
Pun-loving nerd | Faith Elisabeth Lilley | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊
(Roflmao it's like the rolling system was so impressed it just decided to drop an epic roll for you.)
"Anyone know somewhere to get a car at this hour? Worst-case I can 'acquire' one if needed." Abraham heads to the bar for another drink and to see if the bartender knows a good car rental or cab service.
Characters:
Grishkar Darkmoor, Necromancer of Nerull the Despiser
Kelvin Rabbitfoot, Diviner, con artist, always hunting for a good sale
Bründir Halfshield, Valor Bard, three-time Sheercleft Drinking Competition Champion, Hometown hero
"Erick, find out anything more useful about this guy yet?
Maybe we should head back and crash but tomorrow I'm keen to head back to his place early in the morning and tail him for a while to see if there is a good place for this to go down.
I'd probably rather do this by myself as I have had some training and am much less likely to be spotted on my own that 3 of us together, especially big man Abraham over here.
Erick, as you seem much more tech savvy than me it would be very useful to have you in my ear if I needed any extra information on the fly and AB i could defiantly use you close by for backup encase things go sideways or i get made and need to do a quick switch to keep on his tail.
Do you have any good com systems that we might be able to get our hands on?"
Mega Threads - Staff Quotes - Useful Resources - Homebrew FAQ - Pricing FAQ
-
View User Profile
-
View Posts
-
Send Message
D&D Beyond Founders(any results from Erick's information search on the target?)
Pun-loving nerd | Faith Elisabeth Lilley | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊