A Priest Alone

Near dawn on 10th Mirtul, 1367, a lone priest of Mystra slipped quietly and unnoticed out of the city of Llorkh. Pacheco had not known the former lord of the city personally, but he found the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of the first citizen of this formerly sleepy mining community very troubling. The city had changed drastically in the days and months following the installation of the city's new ruler, the wizard Geildarr. The transition to power was a smooth one, if punctuated by the disappearance of any who protested the matter. Although few in the city were fond of the new regime, most of Llorkh's citizens had thrown in behind it. There was certainly little complaining over the creation of an elite force called the Lord's Men who protected the city from the frequent attacks by orc forces from the mountains in the area. There were a few, like Pacheco, who suspected the Lord's Men existed more to protect Geildarr from internal threats than to repel attacks from outside the city.

One of Geildarr's first acts had been to commission the construction of a grand temple to Cyric, and to suppress the worship of other religions in the city by naming Cyric Worship the official religion of Llorkh. Pacheco had heard a great deal about the man named to be chief cleric of the new temple, Mythar Leng. Before the Time of Troubles, Leng had been a particularly cruel cleric in the faith of Bane. Pacheco hardly needed to see the arrival of merchant caravans from Darkhold to know that his city had fallen under the control of the Zhentarim, the Black Network.

The changes did not effect the common man so much. The comings and going of the people continued in almost ritual regularity, but Pacheco could feel subtle alterations in the city's character, the influence of those realignments werwe growing. In the days when mining was the centerpoint of the community, there had been a focus in the people's lives, now there was simply obedience. The work in the mines was hard but honest and there was a sense of community that bonded the people together through adversity. The shift to a merchant economy and the greedy sloth it could engender was the common bond--that and mutual mistrust. Pacheco could see that the mining operations were slowing down, and young men were learning the ways of the sword rather than the ways of the earth. Young boys dreamed of wearing the purple cloaks of the Lord's Men rather than following their fathers into the mines. They sought the quicker profit of taking life from a body over the arduous and monotonous task of removing ore from the earth. Geildarr paid handsomely for those who would brave the ruins of Neitheril and return to fill his city's coffers with gold and his own holdings with magic. For Pacheco's taste, the people of Llorkh were altogether too willing to increase Geildarr's standing with the Black Network by laying down their lives.

Geildarr unfurled the new flag of the city, a black hand in the center of a white circle, surrounded by a bright red field. Shops and businesses which refused to fly the flag were subject to "accidental" fires. A special census was taken in the city, with those who were willing to take a loyalty oath to Geildarr listed as "patriotic and true citizens of Llorkh." They received a "citizen's badge" bearing the emblem of the city to be worn whenever in public. Geildarr said it was for security against the machinations of the evil forces of Hellgate Keep. There needed to be a ready system of identification of those loyal to Llorkh, and each pin was numbered, with each number registered in the city roll. Those who did not wish to take the oath were registered simply as residents of Llorkh, not as citizens.

Six months after the census, marriage was not permitted between citizens and non-citizens. Only citizens were allowed to operate businesses within the city without double the normal tax rate. Only children of citizens were allowed to become citizens without payment of a naturalization tax set at 1,000 in gold pieces or a magic item of equal or greater value.

The lower your citizen ID number the greater your status in the community and without an ID number, you had no status at all. All non-citizens were suspected of being agents of Hell Gate Keep, the greatest enemy of Llorkh. Those who were accused of treasonous relations with Hell Gate Keep were taken to the Halls of Interrogation were invariably a confession was extracted and the traitor executed.

Pacheco became increasingly embittered by the way in which the City now encouraged hatred and suspicion as virtues, and was more and more aware of how mothers taught their children that kindness and goodness were weaknesses that outsiders were constantly looking to exploit.

Fear was the great tool of Geildarr, and he was an artist with its implementation. Each day the cleric's city was becoming a place of greater evil, and it seemed not even aware that the change was taking place. Pacheco's efforts to encourage the priests of his temple to combat the change were met with stiff opposition based on fear of retribution. All the temples to deities other than Cyric were viewed with suspicion, and the first order of clerical business each day for many of the temples was to wash the graffiti scrawled by vandals from their doors. The priests of Mystra were, given the instability of their current status and the legacy of the Time of Troubles, unwilling to take action which might escalate the difficulties they now faced.

Pacheco had tried to endure his trials, but last night had been the final straw, and he would bear it no longer. He had gone to Temple to discuss his deep reservations about the current political workings of the city with Edon, chief cleric at his temple, requesting that the priests of Mystra take a stand and openly resist the tide of control Geildarr was wielding over the people of this city before all hope of resistance was gone. To his surprise, Edon was wearing one of the pins.

All Pacheco's carefully rehearsed arguments left him and he stood dry mouthed and astonished in the Chief Cleric's office. Edon spoke something comforting and uttered words like "compromise", "path of least resistance", and "the changing of the times." But, there was a loud humming in Pacheco's ears as if the chaos of his world were making a sound like the sea breaking through sand castles on the beach.

He wanted to make some gesture of strength, stop Edon's insipid equivocation, but he could do nothing except stare at the red, white, and black enamel pin. With a guttural sound like the last air leaving a dead man's lungs he managed to interrupt his superior and ask, "But, sir, the pin, it is nothing but a new symbol of Cyric--"

"Don't be ridiculous, my boy, it is the symbol of our city, nothing more."

"How can you wear that thing and still wear the symbol of Our Lady?" Pacheco asked.

"I can do so," The High Priest stated flatly, "Because the two have nothing whatever to do with each other. Now look here, Pacheco, priests of any denomination are still going to have to be considered citizens of the city in which they live. We're not an island in this temple, you know. The church is not a nation unto itself. Our duty to Mystra and our duty to Llorkh are not mutually exclusive."

"You mean your duty to Geildarr."

"There is no distinction between the two. The leader is his city, the city defines the leader. They are one, it can not be otherwise."

"It has been otherwise!" Pacheco shouted, "Before Geildarr, before the madness."

"Talk like that is dangerous. These are extraordinary times, Pacheco. You can't compare what we were before Geildarr to what Llorkh has become now. Now, we are safe. We are growing. No one laughs at us anymore. No one dares call Llorkh a backwater, a place to hide where no one would bother looking for you--more prison than any to be found in Waterdeep!"

Pacheco was thunderstruck, and shouted in reply, "It is wrong to force a temple to bear the symbols of the secular world above its own. We are a temple to Mystra, not a temple to Geildarr! Perhaps the Chief Cleric is worshipping the wrong god!"

"Perhaps the impertinent priest desires to be renounced and accused of being an agent of Hell Gate Keep! I will not have you bring trouble or discredit upon our temple, Pacheco, I will not have it!" The Chief Cleric managed to control his anger and continued softly, "Besides, if you would put your hot-headed idealism born of youthful ignorance aside for just a moment you would see the logic in it. Geildarr is aware that the pursuits of a temple to any god lie outside the realm of what is strictly secular and mundane, but it accepts money for services."

"Of course. All temples accept offerings to provide the services the community depends upon."

"Exactly as any business. Under the new city charter, that is a textbook description of a business. We are a business. Do you understand that?" Edon's eyes narrowed for emphasis. Pacheco caught the meaning.

"And businesses in Llorkh may only be operated by citizens."

"Precisely. Geildarr is adamant that all city businesses be run by citizens as a matter of city security...surely you can understand that, can't you, Pacheco? I mean, it is in the interest of security."

"No. It is in the interest of Geildarr and the Zhentarim."

"Please don't make this difficult." Edon said as he reached toward the young cleric, and opened his hand. In his palm was another pin. "Take it, Citizen 7561. It's already paid for."

"I don't want it."

"This isn't about you. Its about keeping the Temple open."

"Its about selling your goddess to Cyric."

"Its about the Law!" Edon was turning red, now, and his breathing was heavy. He was abandoning diplomacy. "Your actions affect more people than you realize, Pacheco, and you have no choice in the matter."

"I won't take the loyalty oath."

"You already did, by proxy. I took the oath for you, as your superior in the order, and paid the fee for all the priests of the entire order. Put it on. You're a citizen now."

"I was born here."

"Yes, yes, but now its official."

"I won't do it."

"As I said, this isn't about you, its about much more than a single dissident cleric objecting to a piece of jewelry."

"What is it about?"

"Existence."

"Is existence worthwhile when it requires you change that which defines who you are?"

"Pacheco...think about it...What good is a self-righteous corpse? Take the pin, and compromise. We can help more people with our doors open than we can if we're shut down and driven out."

Pacheco stood, his entire world crumbling around him. He looked Edon in the eye, though tears were beginning to well in his own, and said, "And if Our Lady of Mysteries were to appear in the temple, would you buy her a badge and swear her loyalty to Geildarr, or would you turn her in as a non-resident agitator?"

"You're upset. Sleep. We'll continue this in the morning."

Pacheco turned and went to his quarters. He gathered his things into a single pack, and then slipped out of the temple under stars that seemed to mock him like the eyes of a million crows.

Pacheco (hm) Specialty Priest of Mystra

These stats are for Pacheco, however they reflect his abilities and posessions at the end of the campaign, not at the beginning. He began the first adventure at first level.

STRENGTH: 16
DEXTERITY: 12
CONSTITUTION: 16
INTELLIGENCE: 14
WISDOM: 18
CHARISMA: 14
ARMOR CLASS: 0
THAC0: 16
DAMAGE/ATTACK: By weapon or spells
NO. OF ATTCKS: 1
MOVEMENT: 12
HIT POINTS: 67
ALIGNMENT: Neutral Good
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Special
SIZE: 5' 8" and 153lbs.
Pacheco has been imbued permanently with the same ability as that of a Robe of Eyes, a gift from Mystra.
Magical Equipment: Chainmail +3, Flail +4, Ring of Water Walking, Periapt of Proof vs. Poison +2, Amulet of Proof vs. Cold, The Protector (magical shield), Brooch of Shielding, Amulet of Proof vs. Scrying
Scrolls: Find the Path (21st), Regeneration (21st), True Seeing (9th), Cure Light Wounds (9th)
Wealth: 3,000 gp of gemstones, 29 pp, 50 gp, 9 ep, 9 sp
Weapon Proficiencies: Mace, Flail, Sling
Non-Weapon Proficiencies: Spellcraft, Riding, Healing, Herbalism
Languages: Speak/Write Common, Speak/Write Elvish, Speak Dwarf

ARRIVALS AND DISAPPEARANCES IN EPPING

I am Shandar the Ashen One, and this is my little history of an adventuring company called The Mysterians. I will be posting a transcription of my notes, made scrying their progress in the Bloodstone Lands some few years ago...