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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Raven Crowking" data-source="post: 1893612" data-attributes="member: 18280">It might be useful to recap what actually happened at this point, because it is covered over the course of several posts and several pages.  Here’s what happened in Ambrus’ game, from my understanding….and using a lot of cut-and-pasting.  Feel free to correct me if I've missed anything important.For the last 35+ sessions, the party has been embroiled in a quest to recover an artefact.  They've successfully played through the Banewarrens adventure (at the end of which Ambrus placed the artefact).  This adventure is taking place in a city built on an airborne island of stone high above the earth.  The city is gearing up for a war, and is taking special precautions related to items going into and out of the city.  The artefact is about the size of a large chest.  It has an antimagic field, which prevents it from being teleported or plane shifted.  We are informed by one of the players that the artefact is “the most valuable thing in the world.”Naturally there are other factions outside the party who want the artefact for their own ends. These include a branch of a LG church, a group of heretical demon-worshippers, and a “seemingly neutral group of gnome and dwarf psions trying to fulfil an ancient prophecy.”The party's investigation into the gnome's activities (tunnelling into the dungeon) led them to seek out a high placed member of the LG church, a cardinal, who they befriended, and whose help and advice they wanted.  In trying to help the PCs on their quest, the Cardinal has cast numerous spells (restorations, cures, break enchantments, raise deads, communes) for free (except for the material costs).  At one point, he suggested to the party that it would be in their best interest to form/join a holy order, sanctioned by himself, dedicated to this “holy” quest (recovering the artefact). He told them that it would help shield them from the crown if they were ever apprehended doing something seemingly illegal. (In Ambrus’ campaign, as in the real-world Middle Ages, ecclesiastics have their own legal system separate from the state's legal system.  As members of a holy order they could simply claim to be on church business and somewhat exempt from state prosecution.)Together they penned a charter for their new holy order incorporating the party's gods and philosophies rather than just the Cardinal's god (which is quite progressive and somewhat unorthodox for the Cardinal's church).  After dark they went to the cathedral to seek out the blessing and advice of an ancient elven anchoress (a religious recluse under a vow of silence) who lives entombed in a small cell in the floor of the cathedral. Together they prayed and each read through the party's newly scribed charter (including the Cardinal).  This charter had no mention of the party being geased as a result of forming this order. As each of them finished reading the oath "to retrieve and return to the gods the [sought out artefact]" she cast a silenced geas on each of them. She did it because she'd been waiting for a group of heroes to fulfill this quest on her behalf, but she was weary of putting her complete faith in a group of strangers she'd just met.  Because of her vow of silence, she did not warn the characters that she was going to do this.  The cardinal didn't know the anchoress was going to cast geas beforehand so he didn't warn the party.At least one player felt that the geas was coercive.  At least one player stated that he felt the geas made the adventure feel special, as though the party was sanctioned by the gods.  Ambrus states that it did not occur to him that casting Geas/Quest might be considered cruel.After the party was all geased, the Abbess used an unseen servant to lift out of the floor a king's ransom in donations and tithes she'd collected over the previous century (60 000 gp worth) for the party to use as they saw fit during the quest. A shopping spree ensued shortly thereafter.Ambrus has toned down the effects of the geas to make it more player friendly. They've never suffered any damage from it. They actually took a ten day week of down time to re-equip and have some magic items made. The first few days nothing happened except for a general feeling of anxiousness, the next few days brought a growing sense of unease and anxiety. Only by the end of the week did they start suffering any ill effects in the form of nausea. It all disappeared as soon as they resolved to head back into the dungeon the next day.The anchoress is LG and will most likely remove the geas if it becomes life threatening and she is told about what happened.  It is uncertain whether or not the players had any means of knowing this.(Continued Next Post)</blockquote>

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