Lord Zardoz
Explorer
Ok, I used the hook.
Here is basically what happened. For background, the character names are List, Swik, Edward, and Johnathan. Johnathan is the new guy.
List: Ftr 8
Swik: Sorcerer 8
Edward: Cleric 8
Johnathan: Ftr 2 / Rngr 6
While they were in a dwarven trading post, they saw a typical bar scene. Groups of dwarves eating and drinking. Some human soldiers off in a corner talking about the Red hand invasion, some rather boisterous dwarves off gambling, a large Pit fiend sitting in the middle of the room being served a pint by the barmaid, a group of halflings eating at a table near the corner, and a small group of gnomes sitting and chatting with some Dwarves.
At the point, the players reaction was "Pit Fiend? What?" After I confirmed that it is exactly what they saw, I told them that it looked up and waved them over to the table. At this point, 3 of the 4 players looked at one another saying variations of "Oh sh*t. This? Ok..". The Pitfiend then said "The boss wants to see you. Follow me." Johnathan's reaction was one of "Umm, what is going on? Do I recognize this fiend?" I told Johnathan No, but he followed along. The Fiend walked up to a door, opened it and the interior was impenetrably black. The fiend looked down, told the players to enter, and they did so.
The door closed behind them, and the players found themselves in a place that was familiar to each of them except Johnathan. They were in an infinite black space with no light, but they could see one another clearly. 15 feet away was a desk, with a middle aged balding man sitting at it writing. On one edge of the desk was a broken scale (Hiddukels holy symbol). The man was writing some things down, and then looked up. "Ahh, yes, I have been expecting you". Hiddukel gestured towards Johnathan. "First things first. I have something I want you to see." He then handed the following note to Johnathan.
At this point, I handed out hte following printout to Johnathan. The spoiler space is just in case one of my players who visits this board happens upon this thread. I will trust him not to read this.
He read it, and checked Yes, and signed with his characters name.
Now, the character backstory excerpts on the printout were things the player had typed out himself when he introduced the character. It is a perfectly viable hook that I knew about when I posted this thread. However, I did not want to use that particular hook for this purpose, which is why I hesitated on it.
The one great part about this, however, is that the other 3 players have no idea why his character agreed to this. I am sure there may be some paranoia resulting from it.
Anyway, for those who are curious, the task that Hiddukel commanded the players undertake is quite simple. First, they had to take an unusual Masterwork dagger (black curved serrated blade) they had recently obtained from a Hobgoblin Mindbender (2nd chapter in Red Hand of Doom). First, they were to take it to a weapon smith in a trade hall nearby, and ask the smith to properly clean the blade. Then they were to personally deliver it to to a "Councilman William Kiersted of the City of Kiedel", and they were to do so within 60 days. They were also instructed to tell him exactly where they got it from (the dead hobgoblin mindbender), or they would die. The players were given no other details. Once cleaned, it was revealed that the dagger had on it a variant of the Royal seal of Rhormaarch on it, and that it was personal seal.
As an aside, during the initial encounter with Hiddukel by List, Edward, and Swik, there came a point where Edward was skeptical of what Hiddukel was telling him. That led to the following exchange.
Edward's Player: I do not trust him when he tells me that my Lawful good god will have no problem with this arrangement. I do a Sense Motive check.
DM / Me: You want to do a Sense Motive against Hiddukel? The god of Lies, Greed, and Betrayal?
Edward's Player: Umm, Yes...
DM / Me: Ok. (Not even bothering to roll dice) Hiddukel seems completely sincere and trustworthy. You have no reason to doubt him. He is totally legit.
Edwards Player: Ok, good. I guess I am satisfied.
END COMMUNICATION
Here is basically what happened. For background, the character names are List, Swik, Edward, and Johnathan. Johnathan is the new guy.
List: Ftr 8
Swik: Sorcerer 8
Edward: Cleric 8
Johnathan: Ftr 2 / Rngr 6
While they were in a dwarven trading post, they saw a typical bar scene. Groups of dwarves eating and drinking. Some human soldiers off in a corner talking about the Red hand invasion, some rather boisterous dwarves off gambling, a large Pit fiend sitting in the middle of the room being served a pint by the barmaid, a group of halflings eating at a table near the corner, and a small group of gnomes sitting and chatting with some Dwarves.
At the point, the players reaction was "Pit Fiend? What?" After I confirmed that it is exactly what they saw, I told them that it looked up and waved them over to the table. At this point, 3 of the 4 players looked at one another saying variations of "Oh sh*t. This? Ok..". The Pitfiend then said "The boss wants to see you. Follow me." Johnathan's reaction was one of "Umm, what is going on? Do I recognize this fiend?" I told Johnathan No, but he followed along. The Fiend walked up to a door, opened it and the interior was impenetrably black. The fiend looked down, told the players to enter, and they did so.
The door closed behind them, and the players found themselves in a place that was familiar to each of them except Johnathan. They were in an infinite black space with no light, but they could see one another clearly. 15 feet away was a desk, with a middle aged balding man sitting at it writing. On one edge of the desk was a broken scale (Hiddukels holy symbol). The man was writing some things down, and then looked up. "Ahh, yes, I have been expecting you". Hiddukel gestured towards Johnathan. "First things first. I have something I want you to see." He then handed the following note to Johnathan.
At this point, I handed out hte following printout to Johnathan. The spoiler space is just in case one of my players who visits this board happens upon this thread. I will trust him not to read this.
<After Hiddukel hands you the note>
You see a vision of a man, chained to a wall in a torch lit room. You have not seen him in years, but he looks exactly as you can remember, aside from having gone partially bald, and having a rough beard. His nose is also very crooked, as it appears to have been broken many times. Despite the dim light and the ravages of time, you clearly recognize him. It is your father.
He appears to have not eaten in some time, as you can clearly see his ribs. There is blood flowing from his mouth and nose. There are many cuts on his torso and his limbs. A man in dark robes approaches with a hot poker. You clearly hear an agonized scream, and smell the flesh as it is seared. He screams “Why do you keep doing this to me? I have said everything I know, and answered every question. Your not even asking questions any more. Why?” His gaze fixes forward suddenly, looking confused, then saying “No, it cannot be! No, it cannot be him. Its been so long, but why now? Please, do not go after him! No. NO. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”
The vision fades, and the note before says only this:
I, Jonathan Gravitt, will do exactly as Hiddukel asks. I offer my soul to him of my own free will, as collateral, which shall be returned to me as such time as I complete the task he sets before me.
Check one:
Yes ( ) No ( )
____________________________________
(Sign Here)
(From your characters backstory)
“ Jonathan is the child of Bertrand and Jane Gravitt. ……..
At the age of 6, the father of the family went missing. The only clue was a hidden letter found in a secret drawer's compartment of his personal desk. The letter was saying that a secret organization had made an offer to him that he cannot refuse. Even with his strong refusal, he knew that they will come and get him in order to force him to work for them. The letter has no mention about the organization or what the work was about. …….
Since nobody never really cared about the disappearance of his father, he decided to make his own justice and find his father, hoping he's always alive.”
(PLAYER REAL NAME REDACTED), you are NOT to tell the other players what you read here. What you do next is up to you.
You see a vision of a man, chained to a wall in a torch lit room. You have not seen him in years, but he looks exactly as you can remember, aside from having gone partially bald, and having a rough beard. His nose is also very crooked, as it appears to have been broken many times. Despite the dim light and the ravages of time, you clearly recognize him. It is your father.
He appears to have not eaten in some time, as you can clearly see his ribs. There is blood flowing from his mouth and nose. There are many cuts on his torso and his limbs. A man in dark robes approaches with a hot poker. You clearly hear an agonized scream, and smell the flesh as it is seared. He screams “Why do you keep doing this to me? I have said everything I know, and answered every question. Your not even asking questions any more. Why?” His gaze fixes forward suddenly, looking confused, then saying “No, it cannot be! No, it cannot be him. Its been so long, but why now? Please, do not go after him! No. NO. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”
The vision fades, and the note before says only this:
I, Jonathan Gravitt, will do exactly as Hiddukel asks. I offer my soul to him of my own free will, as collateral, which shall be returned to me as such time as I complete the task he sets before me.
Check one:
Yes ( ) No ( )
____________________________________
(Sign Here)
(From your characters backstory)
“ Jonathan is the child of Bertrand and Jane Gravitt. ……..
At the age of 6, the father of the family went missing. The only clue was a hidden letter found in a secret drawer's compartment of his personal desk. The letter was saying that a secret organization had made an offer to him that he cannot refuse. Even with his strong refusal, he knew that they will come and get him in order to force him to work for them. The letter has no mention about the organization or what the work was about. …….
Since nobody never really cared about the disappearance of his father, he decided to make his own justice and find his father, hoping he's always alive.”
(PLAYER REAL NAME REDACTED), you are NOT to tell the other players what you read here. What you do next is up to you.
He read it, and checked Yes, and signed with his characters name.
Now, the character backstory excerpts on the printout were things the player had typed out himself when he introduced the character. It is a perfectly viable hook that I knew about when I posted this thread. However, I did not want to use that particular hook for this purpose, which is why I hesitated on it.
The one great part about this, however, is that the other 3 players have no idea why his character agreed to this. I am sure there may be some paranoia resulting from it.
Anyway, for those who are curious, the task that Hiddukel commanded the players undertake is quite simple. First, they had to take an unusual Masterwork dagger (black curved serrated blade) they had recently obtained from a Hobgoblin Mindbender (2nd chapter in Red Hand of Doom). First, they were to take it to a weapon smith in a trade hall nearby, and ask the smith to properly clean the blade. Then they were to personally deliver it to to a "Councilman William Kiersted of the City of Kiedel", and they were to do so within 60 days. They were also instructed to tell him exactly where they got it from (the dead hobgoblin mindbender), or they would die. The players were given no other details. Once cleaned, it was revealed that the dagger had on it a variant of the Royal seal of Rhormaarch on it, and that it was personal seal.
As an aside, during the initial encounter with Hiddukel by List, Edward, and Swik, there came a point where Edward was skeptical of what Hiddukel was telling him. That led to the following exchange.
Edward's Player: I do not trust him when he tells me that my Lawful good god will have no problem with this arrangement. I do a Sense Motive check.
DM / Me: You want to do a Sense Motive against Hiddukel? The god of Lies, Greed, and Betrayal?
Edward's Player: Umm, Yes...
DM / Me: Ok. (Not even bothering to roll dice) Hiddukel seems completely sincere and trustworthy. You have no reason to doubt him. He is totally legit.
Edwards Player: Ok, good. I guess I am satisfied.
END COMMUNICATION
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