Helix: Chapel of St Ygg

[OGRE MAGE]

If there are no objections from the group, the Guild Master agrees as well, hoping either Sir Dewey or Gerdal are willing to aid Yardie once they can again.

Hoping not to waste too much of the good Brothers time, Sven shows him the plague mask they found in the tombs.

"Have you ever seen anything like this before? It is slightly familiar to me for some reason, but I cant quite put my finger on why."

[Spearmint]

The Chapel of St Ygg

The black leather mask has an insidious radiance to Brother Gamdar, as if the beaky smile taunts him and that through the lens eyes, some inner spirit watches in evil contemplation.

"Such strappings seem to pervade as ritual wear by priests of Impurax. A vulturine or crow face, beasts of plague and carrion. I suspect it still bears some residue of the evil soul who bore it.

Have you tried it on?"

Just as certain items radiate wholesomeness and good, this item has a corrupt feel about it.

"Maybe the fungus spreading in the crypts were influenced or drawn through the essence remaining in this."

Brother Gamdar, might suggest that alongside burning it, you devote a few days to prayer and fasting "lest any residue lingers on your soul as a shadow of evil."

[OGRE MAGE]

"Thank you Brother!"

"Believe it or not, none of us actually tried it on this time." The mage blushes slightly after his last trip here to have a cursed mask removed.

"If the evil residual is caused by the corrupt fungus, I wonder if there is a way to remove that taint from the item to make it safe to use by someone who wants nothing to do with Impurax."

The young mage just nods at his suggested penance, feigning preparations to fulfil it as soon as possible.

[Monsieur Rose]

Sir Dewey should be able to cure disease a week from the 27th. I think. Or maybe whenever the new week starts.

[Spearmint]

Sir Dewey: once per week. Easier to keep it as 7 days apart rather than chronologing you cast one today, Sunday and you can cast another tomorrow, Monday. So next appropriation will be from July 4th onwards.

[tanker405th]

Gideon notices the distinct Chapel of St. Ygg upon arrival and wishes to offer prayers of thanksgiving for safe travels.

Ahh, such a welcoming and familiar sight. This chapel is a marvelous tribute compared to the shrine back home.

Gideon enters the chapel, dips his fingers into the font, and makes the sign of the Cross. Seeing the votives and kneeler to the side, he genuflects in front of the altar, lights a candle, and offers his prayers. After finishing, he deposits -3sp into the coffer before genuflecting, signing with holy water, and departing the chapel to seek lodging.

[Spearmint]

The Chapel of St Ygg's

June 29th 1066.

Gideon Hawke arrives in Helix making the Chapel his first port of call. Thanksgiving for a safe church. What has brought him on such a journey is pretty much the same testimony for all adventurers, gold and glory. How that manifests and to what level is for each to decide.

The Chapel has three resident ministers, Brother Gamdar who oversees 'the church militant' and Sister Cella whose vocation is 'the church pastoral', both operate out if the Chapel. Vicar Othar , who oversees the ministry and counsel towards the Duchy is based from the Old Manse.

Brother Gamdar is in the vestry, talking privately to a congregant, a few words regarding disease and cults drift out of the vestry. In the nave, church patrons pray, lighting votive candles and doing their own rituals. Petitions for healing, favour, rain; the usual fayre for pulling gods ear.

Gideon Hawke , you can see the Font has been recently upgraded. On a few plaques, memorial names scrawled and a side table contains interesting trinkets and relics given as tribute or tithe, items recovered from the nearby barrows.

Perhaps you will lay your own gift in thanks for salvation, victory, vanquishing Undead. Perhaps one, as many are, memorial tokens for those fallen and never to return. 'in remembrance of ...'

You say your prayers and trusting in favour, go to satisfy more carnal needs of a beer and meal.

[Spearmint]

Chapel of St Ygg's

"If the evil residual is caused by the corrupt fungus, I wonder if there is a way to remove that taint from the item to make it safe to use by someone who wants nothing to do with Impurax."

Brother Gamdar considers. "There might be a way via consecrating items through prayer and rituals, like when a sinner repents and gets baptised. Anyone and anything should be able to be redeemed. Redeemed meaning, 'bought back with a price'. So paying tribute or conducting rituals, getting blessings cast that have an equivalence in gp to the magic effects the helm has, might cleanse it from any evil residue and bring it 'into the Light' and useful to any noble purposes."

So that might be a ling winded way of saying if you can Identify any features, then cross reference those with a spell effect (what level it might be cast at) and with a general 200gp per spell level equivalent, spend 'x' amount of gold / investment to redeem it so you can wear it without fear of being cursed or affected negatively.

Remove Curse is a 3rd level cleric spell which Vicar Othar could cast if he petitioned St Ygg piously enough for it, but he wouldn't arbitrarily appropriate such a spell to cast on such an object.

Brother Gamdar has heard of such fabled helms as Helms of Free Action / Underwater Action and while he doubts wearing this will enable the wearer to breathe underwater, the filters in the 'gas mask' beak, suggest it might enable you to breathe in normally while in gaseous or poisonous clouds (fungi spore areas, poison clouds?) and the glass lens give some type of augmented vision. (Infravision or Witch-sight?)

[OGRE MAGE]

Sven thinks he understands, looking the strange mask over again.

"It has a ill favored look to it, that is certain. But if it can be cleansed of its malice and used for good purposes, I think we should try that."

"I will attempt to identify its properties myself. So if that doesn't kill me, perhaps I will be back to seek this redemption you spoke of."

"Thank you for your time and knowledge as always, Brother Gamdar."

[Spearmint]

The Chapel of St Ygg

July 2nd 1066

Cosmo & Callen to return to the church. Yiu have been here a couple of days ago when you first came back after the Nergal Obelisk mission.

While the cleric touches base with resident clergy, Cosmo takes to some quiet prayer and devotions.

remember the extra -1 bonus you may receive via the commemorative votive candle, which needs a post in the Chapel thread to add that.

You have survived several tough expeditions, been challenged physically, mentally, spiritually; baboons, spiders, ogres, skeletons, lizardmen, crypt knights, barrow mound implosions, invitations to join Nergal by self annihilation, cultists, Myconids, petrifying gazes and maybe worse if all, bathing Alastar in order to copy his skin tattoo.

It is no wonder the votive candle crafted by Golgarth in thanks also, is well and truly a melted stub of wax before you finally say your "Amens" and snuff the flame out.

appropriating the extra blessing, you can add the -1 to the spell research skill check.

spell [5d6-5]=17-5=12. vs 16.

A few days later with Buble, you can complete your research to gain the Audible Glamour spell.

[tanker405th]

Gideon

Entering the Chapel, he places -2gp into the offering by the font. Once again, he dips his fingers, genuflects, and makes his way to the side altar for prayer.

Quietly, St. Ygg, our protector and guide, with a gratitude-filled heart I humbly thank you for guiding us back home safely. Your guiding hand has been a beacon in moments of uncertainty and peril, and a shield to us, weak though we may be.

I thank you for the newfound bonds of friendship and camaraderie that were forged on this journey. May these friendships be fostered and strengthened under your watchful gaze.

I also thank you for Kane and Abel. May you remember their sacrifices, and let them rest in peace with you. Help us not to forget their courage, and to honor their memories. Amen.

I would then like to introduce myself to the local clergy, and ask if any assistance can be rendered around the chapel during my downtime.

[Spearmint]

The Chapel of St Ygg's

July 2nd+

A couple of days after returning to Helix, having so quickly joined in the rallying posse of Orgoth, young priest Gideon Hawke pays his dues and respects in the domain Chapel.

The very 1st post in the thread gives a basic description of the place. Three resident ministers, the junior Sister Cella a young priest who caters vocationally for 'the church pastoral', thus overseeing the care ministry and health needs of the local villagers. Brother Gamdar , of 'the church militant', a templar half-orc who oversees outreach to frontier communities and investigates the resurgent cults and absolves adventurers of their transgressions via the Confession Box before .

Vicar Othar the senior minister who conducts main worship services and the creation of Holy Water (once per week). He resides in the Old Manse annexe and advises Lord Krothos on Duchy affairs. Recently the church started work to build a new chapel in the Crooked Yew frontier settlement.

I would then like to introduce myself to the local clergy, and ask if any assistance can be rendered around the chapel during my downtime.

The Chapel has one main current 'fundraiser', which is to rebuild the Helix Hospice since the last was terribly burned down to the ground after diseased patients rose up as Fungicidal creatures and torched the place. It is being named the 'Marcel De Rosier Hospice' in honour of a deceased priest who died combatting an Orphidian threat.

Your gift, even two gold coins, goes towards the community fund. Recently, via character investment, the Chapel Font was upgraded from basic bronze level utensils to silverware, which then allows a modest increase in the Holy Water production.

If you have not got a flask equipped, as a minister of the church, you can claim one (and one only) Flask of Holy Water for any expedition you begin from Helix.

Brother Gamdar receives you in the vestry. He has been busy recent days, updating his notes in cultic activity and yesterday, presiding with the Vicar in the execution of the two Nergalite devotees.

"Itinerants. Sometimes you wait months without one then like stagecoaches, several arrive together. A blessing indeed and timely.

I hear you met up with young Callan and ventured alongside Sir Dewey?" He enquires about the recent expedition.

"Kane, Abel, Traeliorn. Fine young men, cut down in their prime." He scribbles notes in a ledger, the latest 'hatched, matched and despatched' register of those born, married and buried. "Next of kin? Unknown. They were not regulars here "

As far as assistance, help can be given on a basic service level of weeding the graveyard and maintaining the dry stone wall boundary (for which you get the thanks and gratitude and maybe future favours but nothing else) to taking on a personal task which could be anything from scouting out Barrow Mounds, deciphering ancient runes, scribing scrolls or washing feet.

If it is just between Expedition 'downtime', then you can assign 'x' number of days to 'religious service'. actions pick one of the tasks below:

Sister Cella : help weed graveyard and prune Yew copses, clean up mausoleums and headstones.

Gamdar: help autopsy newly deceased, preparing them for burial rites in the vestey morgue. These dead adventurers brought back after dying at the hands or claws of ghouls and need proper blessing before they rise as a Undead.

Othar help catalogue and condense Old Manse library of dusty psalm tomes, books on rituals and edicts, statutes and observances.

Add a [4d6] roll which I will use as a skill check in case the service succeeds greatly to gain divine favour or the opposite...

[tanker405th]

Gideon

"Brother Gamdar, aye I did travel with Sir Dewey, and met young Callan only briefly near the expedition's end. I'm sure they could provide better details about the rescue, but we managed to find the missing Dwarves. Before we found the Sauron camp, we encountered a rather dreadful creature where Kane and Abel, unfortunately, met their ends. There were swarms of smaller black beetles when three gigantic beetles emerged from the mist. They were colored red, green, and blue, and this seemed to have some elemental connection. For instance, the blue one yielded quickly to attacks from fire. The green one had some poisonous spores that erupted from it. The red one spat fire. More concerning than this was a strange creature that appeared to be controlling them and even mounted the green beetle as a rider. Sir Dewey overheard the thing and said it sounded like it was speaking or commanding the bugs in infernal. I know his shield reacted to the beast, and my mundane sling attacks seemed to have no effect against it. Once the majority of the small beetles and two of the large had been felled, the rider vanished.

Later, after properly interring what remained of Kane and Abel, we heard the sounds of battle being joined. It is then that we encountered the lizardmen facing off against the dwarves. I am not sure of the specifics of what had happened, or the significance either. There was a giant spectral form that rose and appeared to wreak havoc among the ranks of the lizardmen, however, Sir Dewey's shield did not emit light. Following his command, I treated the thing as if it never were. Afterwards I did assist Master Barrelgut in healing those we could once the dust settled."

Donate -5gp for rebuilding the hospice.

Religious services, 5 days, assist Brother Gamdar with autopsies.
Skill Check [4d6]=17

[Spearmint]

The Chapel of St Ygg

Gideon Hawke gives a few days service, assisting in menial duties as one way to bless the Chaplaincy. For a few days he helps prepare bodies for burial, a grim task given the nature of many of the torn and shattered shreds of humanity returned from fatal Barrow Mound explorations.

"Better they return as this and we can complete Rites upon them to ease their passage into the Afterlife. Taxes and the grave, both feast eagerly upon us and are never satisfied." Brother Gamdar comments.

You prepare bodies, chiefly concerned with ghoulish victims, paralyzed and feasted upon and expected to resurrect as ghouls themselves once the necrotic poisons animate within. Against the clock the bodies are drained of fluids, blessed, wafers dipped in holy waters placed in their mouths, a coin of silver holding closed eyelids. Sanctified against such evils they are buried in paupers furrows, an ever stretching trench of bodies that extend the graveyard. Simple markers give at most a name and date of death. No former comrades attend, a lonely requiem recited and shovels of earth tossed over the swaddle wrapped bodies.

After this, the next bodies are pulled from the morgue coffers. An autopsy, a scribbled report.

"Interesting you speak of beetles and scarabs. Such are seen as adornments and treasure." the priest digs out of the man's flesh a fist sized beetle that appears at first glance to be a stony carving but it soon animates to scuttle alarmingly across the morgue slab and leaping upon the floor. It gets squished under a heavy boot.

"Insidious and nasty things. Beware, some scarabs are more bane than blessing." indicating that the man died by the scarab burrowing under his skin and following veins, munched its way to its victim's heart.

"There are innumerable variations on the basic design of a Barrow Scarab. Most were used for the ostentatious display of wealth and favour, taking the form of an amulet, brooch or necklace. Others were imbued with enchantments to provide talismanic help. Some, crafted from a base mineral; granite, obsidian, gold, bronze might have special traits. Some crafted with inset gems may radiate a spell like effect or act in a certain way, manifesting when a certain trigger occurs or a command word is spoken.

Others are just what they seem, cheap trinkets for collectors of bazaar bric-a-brac."

He digs out the body another wriggling beetle. "Infested. Best to cremate this one lest as he rots these awaken to flood the village."

He marks the body and you prepare it for 'going up in smoke'. "I will mark him down as 'one of Silvanus'. The elves cremate their dead, believing in reincarnation rather than resurrection. Ironic if he does come back, reborn as a beetle ..."

You share snippets from the expedition. The three elemental Beetles have not been encountered before and the paladin may be more convinced the controlling bug was some form of Daemon. You might then make a connection with that and the death of two Nergal cultists in the village the next day. Could they be related or just a random incident in the trails across the Moor?

You may have missed that the Spectre was in fact an illusion crafted by the gnome Cosmo who was advocating between the dwarves and lizardmen until negotiations went astray.

for the service you can gain a little insight into 'Scarab Lore' which you may find useful should you encounter any on your adventures.

[Spearmint]

You could keep it in storage at the Guild for a future emergency use. Donating the item rather than selling it will add +600xp to the group's points award.

He asks as he bears in mind that the Hospice pre-blaze, had a number of diseased patients, victims of lycanthropic afflictions or Fungicide spores. He wonders if acquiring the linens might enable the church, via Sister Cella here or the diocese in Ironguard to study its construct and enchantment in order to replicate the restorative effect.

Gerdal too, has Sister Flora as an aide. The linens could also be used as 'materials and spell components' (600gp worth), if she or yourself were researching other new spell creations or crafting potions.

I will action this:

One enchanted 'Cure Disease' linens goes to the Chapel c/o Sister Cella, (blessed and pretty in her new priestly Stole scarf), the other retained by BRAG.

The item has a reciprocal +600xp shared out between those on the trek, which would equate to +109xp per full share to Sven, Orgoth, Isvand & Gerdal. please update sheets with award.

[Rex]

Orgoth

Updated sheet with +120xp (109+10% xp bonus). Let me know if that isn't correct and I will fix it.

[OGRE MAGE]

Added! Thanks for the reminder.

[OGRE MAGE]

Sven makes his way to the chapel at a time when he know Sister Cella has some free time to present her with the gift he had made for the priestess.

“Greetings good Sister. I brought you something nice for all the help you have given me and my friends here in Helix since my arrival. I do so hope you like it.”

The young mage is not only unaccustomed to such interaction, it is his first time ever giving a gift to the fairer sex that wasn’t his own mother.

“No strings attached obviously. I wouldn’t want you to get the wrong idea about my intentions. I just think you are really nice, and kinda cool.”

He finishes with an awkward smile.

[Spearmint]

The Chapel of St Ygg

Sister Cella: reactions to gift [1d100]=85



The gift is well received, the junior cleric blushes, but smiles proudly. She puts it on, giving a little fashion parade up and down the Nave aisle. "Thank you kindly Mr Jolly ... Sven, it is very thoughtful and the colours and embroidery are so beautiful and intricate." she touches your hand, just enough to get you to blush in turn.

After an awkward silence, you can talk a bit more as you go together around the chapel. Lighting a votive candle, viewing the font which was upgraded quickly through you and your comrades endeavours, you see the side chapel with the stained glazed window portrait of Sir Guy O'Veargne. She asks regarding the Paterson's and Guild progress. She has been to the site on the Memorial day (I think Truro's memorial is there not at the church). She has the 'Cure Disease' linens to research as well which will keep her busy.

She walks you to the Chapel threshold listening to your adventures and concerns. Then she halts, asks you to wait a few moments, returning from a corner of the graveyard having cut a large bundle of Catnip. "For your friend in the labyrinth."

You depart, heart's a flutter from breaking the ice. You have created a good impression on the young lady.

"Hooman ... your tail be wagging like a hungry wolf." empathises Smokie.

Sven Jolly charisma vs 9 check with Sister Cella [4d6]=11

Sister Cella pic from npc thread:

[OGRE MAGE]

Awesome!

"Hooman ... your tail be wagging like a hungry wolf." empathises Smokie.

Sven gives Smokie a sly glance. “Ya, I bet. I feel kinda…….weird too. But not in a bad way.”