kos97866
01-21-2002, 10:34 AM
Hello all.
Our latest campaign centers on the creation of a new god, and I thought others might be interested in this sort of thing.
The story goes that Cuiraecen finally made his choice and decided to wed Laerme. From their union quickly came a child, a god by the name of Hederoth. Taking his father's strength and thirst for good, he sought out the evil god Belinik and in a battle that shook the heavens slew him. As Belinik's temples crumbled, Hederoth became praised and embraced across Cerilia as a champion of Justice and Good. Hederoth quickly became popular amongst honorable lawmen and guardsmen. Many were the fighters that had little to do with religion that decided to take up his arms and become paladins spreading his justice. Hederoth's temples spread quickly across Cerilia, but nowhere as fast as in Anuire and Brechtur. Hederoth usually appears as a heavily armored figure holding a great sword, on top of which is perched a set of scales.
Now, the rest of this is for DMs only!
Ideally, you'll run off to the DM, let his know about this, and read it if he doesn't want to use this stuff in his campaign.
Realistically, you're going to read it anyway. Especially if he decides to use this in his campaign. Oh well.
So, last warning, spoilers ahead!
Now, here's what happened in greater detail. Not to mention, in truth. Kriesha came to Belinik with a proposition. She helped him lure Laerme into dangerous ground, and then she let him have his way with her. Sensing what was now growing inside her, and deciding she could not take the humiliation of her rape by Belinik, Laerme decided to cover it all up. It was not difficult. She seduced Cuiraecen into sleeping with her, and then wed him with the pretext of the child growing inside her. Cuiraecen never learned it was not his own.
When the child was born, it received occasional secret visits from Kriesha. Striking a bargain with the young god, she showed him how to harness the strength he inherited from his true father. From his true father, Hederoth also inherited his evil ways. Hederoth challenged and defeated Belinik with Kriesha's help. Leaving all of Vosgaard to her as per the bargain, he set off to other lands. His brave feat earned him a lot of respect, and gaining a following was not a problem. Hederoth played to the people's image of him. Grandson of Haelyn, they believed he would be the very bastion of stalwart good. Preaching justice and good as his trade, he established himself mainly throughout Anuire. At the same time, his true portfolio was lies, deceit and evil.
As the campaign begins, the new god has established himself. The players become involved in one of the many schemes that the True Church of Hederoth is undertaking. The True Church is the elite, small part of his clergy that know the truth about both Hederoth's origins and nature. They revel in the idiocy of those below them, and the extravagant lie that surrounds their lord, the Prince of Lies. They try to spread a web of deception, spread wars and uncertainty across the land. The players stumble across something. The True Church takes care to hide its marks, so chances are the players will not have a clue about the duplicitous nature of the young god until maybe even halfway through the campaign. Once they not only suspect but also can prove, they become the most wanted men and women on Cerilia. Hederoth knows his secret cannot possibly stay as such for too long a period of time. Yet for as long as it does, it serves him greatly, and he will do anything within his power to maintain this status for as long as possible.
Likely the goal of a good-aligned group in such a campaign should be to reveal Hederoth for what he is, thus depriving him of the widespread support he now enjoys across many good-aligned lands. Being the patron of lies, Hederoth benefits fully from this grand-scale deceit that he himself is responsible for. Alternatively, an evil-aligned party may actually get involved with the True Church and its plans, actively supporting them. An interesting development would be the meddling of a NPC anti-group, probably good-aligned, at least partially, that starts seeing things that strongly make it suspect about the good nature of Hederoth, and the PC party's attempts to silence them.
There are currently two types of members of the True Church. The True Believers of Hederoth are priests of Hederoth that have accepted the damning truth about their lord. Eleven of them form the High Council that orchestrates all of the Church's schemes across Cerilia. The True Champions of Hederoth are fallen paladins. They are field agents, the ones that actually implement many of the schemes when someone from the Church is required. Roughly, Believers are the brains while Champions are the muscle. I will upload the respective prestige classes in the relevant birthright.net section.
Note that this campaign assumes that Belinik dies. Well, should you want, it doesn't have to. Quite possibly, Hederoth never went after Belinik. Belinik being the stupid brute he is might not even have realized that Hederoth is his son if you so wish. He'll have to wait till the heroes or some other party reveals them.
Anyway, any feedback appreciated.
Our latest campaign centers on the creation of a new god, and I thought others might be interested in this sort of thing.
The story goes that Cuiraecen finally made his choice and decided to wed Laerme. From their union quickly came a child, a god by the name of Hederoth. Taking his father's strength and thirst for good, he sought out the evil god Belinik and in a battle that shook the heavens slew him. As Belinik's temples crumbled, Hederoth became praised and embraced across Cerilia as a champion of Justice and Good. Hederoth quickly became popular amongst honorable lawmen and guardsmen. Many were the fighters that had little to do with religion that decided to take up his arms and become paladins spreading his justice. Hederoth's temples spread quickly across Cerilia, but nowhere as fast as in Anuire and Brechtur. Hederoth usually appears as a heavily armored figure holding a great sword, on top of which is perched a set of scales.
Now, the rest of this is for DMs only!
Ideally, you'll run off to the DM, let his know about this, and read it if he doesn't want to use this stuff in his campaign.
Realistically, you're going to read it anyway. Especially if he decides to use this in his campaign. Oh well.
So, last warning, spoilers ahead!
Now, here's what happened in greater detail. Not to mention, in truth. Kriesha came to Belinik with a proposition. She helped him lure Laerme into dangerous ground, and then she let him have his way with her. Sensing what was now growing inside her, and deciding she could not take the humiliation of her rape by Belinik, Laerme decided to cover it all up. It was not difficult. She seduced Cuiraecen into sleeping with her, and then wed him with the pretext of the child growing inside her. Cuiraecen never learned it was not his own.
When the child was born, it received occasional secret visits from Kriesha. Striking a bargain with the young god, she showed him how to harness the strength he inherited from his true father. From his true father, Hederoth also inherited his evil ways. Hederoth challenged and defeated Belinik with Kriesha's help. Leaving all of Vosgaard to her as per the bargain, he set off to other lands. His brave feat earned him a lot of respect, and gaining a following was not a problem. Hederoth played to the people's image of him. Grandson of Haelyn, they believed he would be the very bastion of stalwart good. Preaching justice and good as his trade, he established himself mainly throughout Anuire. At the same time, his true portfolio was lies, deceit and evil.
As the campaign begins, the new god has established himself. The players become involved in one of the many schemes that the True Church of Hederoth is undertaking. The True Church is the elite, small part of his clergy that know the truth about both Hederoth's origins and nature. They revel in the idiocy of those below them, and the extravagant lie that surrounds their lord, the Prince of Lies. They try to spread a web of deception, spread wars and uncertainty across the land. The players stumble across something. The True Church takes care to hide its marks, so chances are the players will not have a clue about the duplicitous nature of the young god until maybe even halfway through the campaign. Once they not only suspect but also can prove, they become the most wanted men and women on Cerilia. Hederoth knows his secret cannot possibly stay as such for too long a period of time. Yet for as long as it does, it serves him greatly, and he will do anything within his power to maintain this status for as long as possible.
Likely the goal of a good-aligned group in such a campaign should be to reveal Hederoth for what he is, thus depriving him of the widespread support he now enjoys across many good-aligned lands. Being the patron of lies, Hederoth benefits fully from this grand-scale deceit that he himself is responsible for. Alternatively, an evil-aligned party may actually get involved with the True Church and its plans, actively supporting them. An interesting development would be the meddling of a NPC anti-group, probably good-aligned, at least partially, that starts seeing things that strongly make it suspect about the good nature of Hederoth, and the PC party's attempts to silence them.
There are currently two types of members of the True Church. The True Believers of Hederoth are priests of Hederoth that have accepted the damning truth about their lord. Eleven of them form the High Council that orchestrates all of the Church's schemes across Cerilia. The True Champions of Hederoth are fallen paladins. They are field agents, the ones that actually implement many of the schemes when someone from the Church is required. Roughly, Believers are the brains while Champions are the muscle. I will upload the respective prestige classes in the relevant birthright.net section.
Note that this campaign assumes that Belinik dies. Well, should you want, it doesn't have to. Quite possibly, Hederoth never went after Belinik. Belinik being the stupid brute he is might not even have realized that Hederoth is his son if you so wish. He'll have to wait till the heroes or some other party reveals them.
Anyway, any feedback appreciated.