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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mips42" data-source="post: 6255948" data-attributes="member: 6746242">"What are the PCs doing when they come across the first stone?" No idea, not critical. Could be a simple delve or just about anything. "Why do they trust the cult leader to begin helping him?" Plan was that the Cult leader is 'hiding in plain sight' as a respected historian and arcane specialist so that he is trusted by basically everyone. "Do you have any back up plans if the party just decides that the cult  leader is up to no good and attempts to hack him into little bits?"  Not at this point. As, at this point, he is the only source of info on this thing, my hope is that curiosity of the artifact will overrule suspicion of the historian. "The first one is easiest to deal with.  Perhaps the PCs are off  investigating local goblin trouble and come across the stone while  seeking shelter from a storm.  The fire is warm, the cult leader is nice  enough and maybe (s)he even helps them fight off a goblin raid.   Pleasantries are exchanged the next morning and the cultist offers them  employment in helping him with a research project.  "Just come see me  after you're done with the goblin mess."  If the PCs bite and they start  visiting all the different locks, I would allow the PCs to choose which  lock they visit in order.  To not make it completely obvious that their  new leader is evil, try and play up that they're against a hard time  limit before something bad happens.  Even have him lament that no one at  the Arcane University / Church Temple believes him and he needs to do  this to save the world and vindicate himself." Almost word-for-word what I had thought. "Will the weakening of each lock provide a clue as to what's really going on?" As each elemental artifact is joined with it's stone, the stone will glow reassuringly.</blockquote>

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