Restoration
The PCs find themselves on a diplomatic mission, to return the Statue of Helce to the country from whom it was stolen long ago. They soon find themselves tied up in conspiracy, guerilla warfare and a surprising amount of molten rock...
In its conquest of Astacia the Empire stole many treasures and works of art, but none more infamously than the beautiful statue of Helce, goddess of wisdom. They desecrated her temple, raped her priestesses and stole the idol.
The people of Astacia rebelled soon after the occupation, and the rebel-guerillas, with their intimate knowledge of the deeply forested hillsides, drove out the Empire's soldiers. Guerilla attacks on the Empire's border have been happening for the fifty years ever since and the Astacians demand the return of their works of art.
Following the death of the Last Emperor, the wise new Vizier Elect has decided to concede and return the statue in an attempt to make good the horrendous injuries the Empire did to Astacia. He hopes to end the border conflict. One of the Last Emperor's most trusted Paladins has been entrusted with the task and his underlings (the PCs) must accompany him.
Twists:
The Paladin, ever faithful to the Empire, cannot let it suffer such an embarrassing concession. He and a few other patriots have conspired to destroy the statue in transit. The conspirators have slain the messenger who was sent to tell the Astacians of the Vizier's decision, so any Astacians will be unaware of the PCs' mission and may attack.
Assuming the PCs don't go along with the Paladin, dispose of him and take the statue themselves, they will arrive in the capital city of Astacia only to find it may not have been such a good idea after all. This city and twenty miles of surrounding countryside is in imminent threat of being destroyed by a volcano, but the people stubbornly refuse to leave. Perhaps the PCs will have to steal the statue back and take it to safety, or maybe they will be more heroic and stay to help carry the Astacian women and children to safety when the mountain erupts...
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? Responses (5)
Hm... No offense to you, Ephe, but this seems awfully flimsy compared to your usual standards of work, and it seems more forced than anything else.
May I suggest the following?
Fill out the motives of the Grand Vizier, the politics he's working with. Does he have to deal with a Senate? Has he been targeted for assassination by the Astacian Rebels? Also, strip away our noble knight's Paladinhood, and fill out the twisted thought pattern that's bringing him to disobey his ruler in the name of patriotism. What hand does he have in the politics?
Will the PCs have to fend off rebels? Can they enlist them? Will they kill the PCs on sight, reclaim the statue, then try to use the recapture as a divine signal to press the rebellion?
Perhaps it just sounded better inside my head when I wrote it, like one of those sentences you say without thinking. Give me a few days and I'll post a different version to compensate. There's a couple like this I'm intending to rewrite.
ephe!
It's been a few days! :)
There is spark here, something to build on but nothing to play with
Maybe if the Paladin was fully fleshed out character, maybe if there was some character that could give voice to the significance of the statue then perhaps the need to intervine would pop more. If there was both a Paladin that had worth while traits and an advocate for the statues return that had worth while traits then maybe we would have something to play with.
Then there is the Volcano, I like the idea fo the PCs taking all these risk, betraying their Paladin to commander and traveling miles only to return the statue to a town and culture that is about to be wiped out. That is nice, really nice situation actually. you should really punch that up.