This is not a typical Pelor custom by far. Pelor generally represents the sun in a fairly metaphorical sense, as the purely positive day aspect. This city's cult of Pelor seems to have incorporated aspects of the sun through its entire cycle. Their procession seems to be a re-enactment of a death and rebirth myth, tied to the setting and rising of the sun. But the portion of wearing masks during the day is odd to Orell. It seems to represent the conflict or a corruption that occurs after the rebirth that leads to the death, which in turn is cleansing (since the masks come off at night, the time that you would typically see them put on). It's also unusually legalistic for Pelor in that re-enactments of this sort are typically done as a ritual to ensure the harmony of nature is maintained: the idea being that this procession keeps the cycle of the sun going. Preserving the order of the universe is a very lawful concept for a NG deity's followers.
In other words, this procession is a subversion of the orthodox Pelor faith rituals if not a completely new invention.
Edit: Same thing for Shal. This has the makings of a recent development considering its relatively simple symbolism and bizarre-ness compared to how Pelor has been worshiped historically.
Orell shifts uncomfortably from one foot to another, then, deciding Alhurst is just too creepy, he quietly whispers and casts a spell, attempting to divine if there is any evil in those priests.
Casting detect evil. As if you couldn't tell :p.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'll bet you wish you had a non-unglued/unhinged card that shared your first name.
You detect no evil in the range of your spell. Note that in the constricted streets, the full range is cut off by the buildings. But the priests are squeaky clean.
Edit: Other than Talore's character, of course. D'oh. That is, unless he has something buried in his character sheet that prevents it - got burned on that once before.
Shal's eyebrow's furrow, but otherwise her face remains calm and passive, betraying no hint of the increased worry she has suddenly felt.
They're subverting the rites of Pelor Shal muses, disturbed. The masks in the "day" of the ritual and the lack of masks in the "night"... And the fear of the dead outside the walls... Could they be a radical local splinter group? One that venerates the dead over the living? Note to self: Try to get your hands on some religious texts for study. An in-depth knowledge of religion would be useful in these kinds of situation.
Shal, now closer to Orell than Baedurn, notices him cast the spell with interest. Another mage? But the words he used to cast it are different than any arcane version I've heard of. A priest, maybe? Probably someone who channels divine magic, at any rate. If so, he'd certain know more about religious rites and rituals than I do.
Shal slows her steps even more, until she's walking side-by-side with Orell. "What do you make of that," she asks, nodding toward the procession and the priests. "I'm Shal, by the way. We never got the chance to introduce ourselves properly outside the walls." She flashes Orell a swift smile, hoping he's more pleasant than the grim masked warrior ahead of them.
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
Ok, so concentrating on detect evil until I say otherwise. (duration is 50 min for me, so I'm good for a while :p)
Orell jumps slightly when Shal speaks to him; he had been staring so intently at the priests. He smiles, slightly embarrassedly, at her and says, "Orell." then, turning back toward the procession, "My god's power is revealing no fault in them, but that isn't causing me any comfort."
"Trust in Ylina!" Vraid booms in his head, "Her wisdom is absolute in these matters."
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'll bet you wish you had a non-unglued/unhinged card that shared your first name.
Shal smiles again. "Ah, so you are a priest! When I saw you using magic, I thought you might be."
Shal walks for a moment before gesturing toward the Pelor worshippers. "Have you ever seen anything like that before? I've never studied religion in-depth. I can tell you that this kind of ritual is very recent and probably a local custom, but that's about it. It's not like any historical Pelor worship I've ever heard of."
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
"Well, no," Orell stammers, "I'm really not a priest, just a..." he lets his voice die slowly as if thinking of a way to describe his relationship to Ylina, but in reality he gave up explaining it over a year before.
"But you're right," he bulls on, "Pelor is a god of the sun, but always in the brightly burning sense. This on the other hand," Orell lowers his voice to keep it from carrying outside of their group, "seems to be incorporating the cycle into their definition, and in a very negative way. I'm surprised Pelor allows them to worship him to be honest."
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'll bet you wish you had a non-unglued/unhinged card that shared your first name.
After executing exactly 365 rotations around the temple of Pelor, the procession takes the statue inside to its altar. You can see a bit of their preparation for the second part of the rite before the acolytes, in their dingy once-white tabards and chipped golden armor, close the temple doors.
That's... not comforting at all. If Pelor's light represents life and his priests prefer bright clothing, what does it say about this sect that their white clothes are stained and their golden armor is damaged?
To Orell, Shal says "Do you think there's any significance to their clothing being dulled and stained? Don't most clergy of Pelor prefer pure and bright colors?"
More to herself than to Orell, she says quietly "Or maybe their clothes just reflect the condition of the city."
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
"Did you sense magic on them?" asks Baendurn. Behind his mask, his face has a slightly concerned look. For a devout and holy community, being affiliated with fiendish powers, however tangentially, is not favourable.
"I am Baendurn," he adds. "I hope our work together will be successful." His rough voice sounds out of place with formal speech such as this. His jaw graft is entirely hidden by the layered balaclava wrap adorning his head; he has learned how to manipulate both it and his diapragm to speak language with a smooth human voice, but he has chosen to not reveal the significantly rougher natural voice the graft has inflicted upon him to his comrades.
I am done with my equipment, spells might take a bit tho (stupid 2 non-spontaneous casters), and i'm going away for the weekend... but i am ready to be thrown in whenever.
Join Planar Chaos, A Colo clan
Generation B1: The first time you see this, copy and paste it into your sig and add 1 to the generation. social experiment.
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
While walking down the winding streets, everyone seems to ignore you, staring ahead at nothing as they walk. There is a slight sound of bustle, but nowhere near the level that would be appropriate for a city of this size. But the quiet gloom is suddenly broken by a high-pitched shriek of terror coming from an alley ahead of you.
Shal's head immediately snaps up toward the noise.
She holds her left hand out in front of her, fingers spread wide. With a word and a magical gesture, an invisible barrier of force materializes in front of her. She then reaches into her robes and draws the thin sword from her hip, its pommel a glittering sapphire gem carved into the shape of a skull.
Shal brings the blade up to a low guard and begins walking forward swiftly toward the sound of the scream, her left hand held at her side but ready to be swept up to fling magic at a moment's notice.
Shal casts Shield, bringing her AC up to 26 for 10 minutes.
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
Baendurn turns his head then his body, taking up a position beside Shal and keeping pace. He grabs the hem of his cloak with his left hand, and with the right he readies himself to cast a Dispel Magic, hoping to counter any offensive spell thrown at them.
Orell quickly moves to the woman and kneels in front of her. "Are you alright miss?" He reaches out to put a gentle hand on her shoulder, and his eyes move around the alley looking for hints at what had gone on here.
Dice Roller1 D20 rolled with a +18 modifier
2 + 18
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'll bet you wish you had a non-unglued/unhinged card that shared your first name.
Shal immediately spins on her heel to face the outside of the allyway. She extends her left hand, ready to cast spells. She draws her rapier back, as though she meant to lunge forward and strike immediately. She goes very still, listening for anything other than the others around her.
The "Hearing the Air" stance, in addition to blindsense 30 ft., gives Shal a nifty +5 bonus to listen checks.
Dice Roller1 D20 rolled with a +24 modifier
13 + 24
This is a classic ambush tactic, and she'll be damned if she's caught off-guard. She'd fallen into a similar trap about twenty years ago and barely escaped with her life. She also tilts her head to quickly scan above the group. Another tactic she had seen involved dropping very heavy things on everyone below after they'd been drawn in. It was only the one orc who she's ever seen do it, but who knows when someone else would think of it.
After a second of standing in this position, Shal reflects that her life is very strange. Apparently being the target of a group of magic-hating mystic warriors is enough to make a girl slightly paranoid. Shal lets out a very low giggle, and lowers her sword to her side. Tellingly, she keeps her left hand extended. Paranoid doesn't have to mean stupid, she thinks to herself, choking back another laugh.
Everything scares me... kitties scare me... squirrels scare me... corpses....corpses bring forth a pletora of confusing feeling which i prefer not to dwell on...:p
The alley continues to give no indication of any threat while the woman is shocked out of her wits and does not seem to notice you.
Then, a transparent hand appears by Baendurn's neck, its claws raking at his throat. As you turn to the sudden motion, a spectre that strongly resembles the frightened woman appears before you, though it is horribly twisted and warped in appearance, the agony of its death still marked on its ethereal body.
“NOOOOO!” The spirit wails hauntingly at the woman; “I'm alive! You're not real!”
The ghost glares malevolently at the party.
“This is all a bad dream!” She hisses in a fury; “Go away!”
Surprise round:
Touch Attack:
Dice Roller1 D20 rolled with a +9 modifier
3 + 9
Damage:
Dice Roller1 D6 rolled
5
Sneak attack:
Dice Roller2 D6s rolled
1
3
Assigning dodge bonus against Shal.
Everyone needs to roll Fortitude saves.
Initiative:
Dice Roller1 D20 rolled with a +11 modifier
6 + 11
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
This is not a typical Pelor custom by far. Pelor generally represents the sun in a fairly metaphorical sense, as the purely positive day aspect. This city's cult of Pelor seems to have incorporated aspects of the sun through its entire cycle. Their procession seems to be a re-enactment of a death and rebirth myth, tied to the setting and rising of the sun. But the portion of wearing masks during the day is odd to Orell. It seems to represent the conflict or a corruption that occurs after the rebirth that leads to the death, which in turn is cleansing (since the masks come off at night, the time that you would typically see them put on). It's also unusually legalistic for Pelor in that re-enactments of this sort are typically done as a ritual to ensure the harmony of nature is maintained: the idea being that this procession keeps the cycle of the sun going. Preserving the order of the universe is a very lawful concept for a NG deity's followers.
In other words, this procession is a subversion of the orthodox Pelor faith rituals if not a completely new invention.
Edit: Same thing for Shal. This has the makings of a recent development considering its relatively simple symbolism and bizarre-ness compared to how Pelor has been worshiped historically.
You detect no evil in the range of your spell. Note that in the constricted streets, the full range is cut off by the buildings. But the priests are squeaky clean.
Edit: Other than Talore's character, of course. D'oh. That is, unless he has something buried in his character sheet that prevents it - got burned on that once before.
You can continue to concentrate on the spell and follow with the group. You just can't do something else that requires concentration.
They're subverting the rites of Pelor Shal muses, disturbed. The masks in the "day" of the ritual and the lack of masks in the "night"... And the fear of the dead outside the walls... Could they be a radical local splinter group? One that venerates the dead over the living? Note to self: Try to get your hands on some religious texts for study. An in-depth knowledge of religion would be useful in these kinds of situation.
Shal, now closer to Orell than Baedurn, notices him cast the spell with interest. Another mage? But the words he used to cast it are different than any arcane version I've heard of. A priest, maybe? Probably someone who channels divine magic, at any rate. If so, he'd certain know more about religious rites and rituals than I do.
Shal slows her steps even more, until she's walking side-by-side with Orell. "What do you make of that," she asks, nodding toward the procession and the priests. "I'm Shal, by the way. We never got the chance to introduce ourselves properly outside the walls." She flashes Orell a swift smile, hoping he's more pleasant than the grim masked warrior ahead of them.
{Magic: The RPG}
"Trust in Ylina!" Vraid booms in his head, "Her wisdom is absolute in these matters."
Shal walks for a moment before gesturing toward the Pelor worshippers. "Have you ever seen anything like that before? I've never studied religion in-depth. I can tell you that this kind of ritual is very recent and probably a local custom, but that's about it. It's not like any historical Pelor worship I've ever heard of."
{Magic: The RPG}
"But you're right," he bulls on, "Pelor is a god of the sun, but always in the brightly burning sense. This on the other hand," Orell lowers his voice to keep it from carrying outside of their group, "seems to be incorporating the cycle into their definition, and in a very negative way. I'm surprised Pelor allows them to worship him to be honest."
To Orell, Shal says "Do you think there's any significance to their clothing being dulled and stained? Don't most clergy of Pelor prefer pure and bright colors?"
More to herself than to Orell, she says quietly "Or maybe their clothes just reflect the condition of the city."
{Magic: The RPG}
"I am Baendurn," he adds. "I hope our work together will be successful." His rough voice sounds out of place with formal speech such as this. His jaw graft is entirely hidden by the layered balaclava wrap adorning his head; he has learned how to manipulate both it and his diapragm to speak language with a smooth human voice, but he has chosen to not reveal the significantly rougher natural voice the graft has inflicted upon him to his comrades.
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Outbreak
Generation B1: The first time you see this, copy and paste it into your sig and add 1 to the generation. social experiment.
I'll mod you a bit just to move things along.
Speaking of which, shall we?
{Magic: The RPG}
I take it you're opting to not use detect magic like Talore requested, then?
{Magic: The RPG}
He turns away from the church, as if putting it out of his mind, and continues the walk toward the castle.
Okay, good enough for me.
While walking down the winding streets, everyone seems to ignore you, staring ahead at nothing as they walk. There is a slight sound of bustle, but nowhere near the level that would be appropriate for a city of this size. But the quiet gloom is suddenly broken by a high-pitched shriek of terror coming from an alley ahead of you.
She holds her left hand out in front of her, fingers spread wide. With a word and a magical gesture, an invisible barrier of force materializes in front of her. She then reaches into her robes and draws the thin sword from her hip, its pommel a glittering sapphire gem carved into the shape of a skull.
Shal brings the blade up to a low guard and begins walking forward swiftly toward the sound of the scream, her left hand held at her side but ready to be swept up to fling magic at a moment's notice.
{Magic: The RPG}
The "Hearing the Air" stance, in addition to blindsense 30 ft., gives Shal a nifty +5 bonus to listen checks.
This is a classic ambush tactic, and she'll be damned if she's caught off-guard. She'd fallen into a similar trap about twenty years ago and barely escaped with her life. She also tilts her head to quickly scan above the group. Another tactic she had seen involved dropping very heavy things on everyone below after they'd been drawn in. It was only the one orc who she's ever seen do it, but who knows when someone else would think of it.
After a second of standing in this position, Shal reflects that her life is very strange. Apparently being the target of a group of magic-hating mystic warriors is enough to make a girl slightly paranoid. Shal lets out a very low giggle, and lowers her sword to her side. Tellingly, she keeps her left hand extended. Paranoid doesn't have to mean stupid, she thinks to herself, choking back another laugh.
{Magic: The RPG}
Then, a transparent hand appears by Baendurn's neck, its claws raking at his throat. As you turn to the sudden motion, a spectre that strongly resembles the frightened woman appears before you, though it is horribly twisted and warped in appearance, the agony of its death still marked on its ethereal body.
“NOOOOO!” The spirit wails hauntingly at the woman; “I'm alive! You're not real!”
The ghost glares malevolently at the party.
“This is all a bad dream!” She hisses in a fury; “Go away!”
Surprise round:
Touch Attack:
Damage:
Sneak attack:
Assigning dodge bonus against Shal.
Everyone needs to roll Fortitude saves.
Initiative: