The Brutal Inquisitor (campaign brainstorming help needed)

[dangerous jack]

Next step: come up with a crapload of Emperor's names, and make the map. All stuff I should have done two years ago.

"Should have"? Nah. I've fully embraced setting-on-demand and have never been happier DM-ing. Until last month, my two year old campaign only had a small town, a mountain range, a forest, and a big city on the map.

Back on topic, have you thought of stealing some Dark Sun history? e.g. Zacris is known as "Troll Scorcher", "Goblin Death", and "Ogre Doom" among the various races. Or he beheaded two inefficient generals named Sacha & Wyan, and carried their preserved & animated heads around to advise him while he finished their work.

 

[cavalier973]

Zacris invented an incredibly fun (almost addictive) game, but kept updating the rules, forcing everyone to buy new books every couple of years. This brought in additional revenues to the Empire.

 

[steeldragons]

The Inquisitor Zacris was, in fact, the most notorious enforcer of the old Empire. His atrocities against human and non-human communities knew no bounds and he was reviled by mortal races, and praised by Imperial loyalists, across the whole of the world.

Zacris was, in fact, a Caprian human from an esteemed noble family. Spurred by his eternal loyalty to the ideals of the divine right and perfection of his emperor he attained massive magical power, provided himself nigh invulnerablility or near immortality. His power ever-increasing as he carried out the emperor's will.

In the fading days of his emperor, Zacris' crimes against mortal-kind reached a fevered pitch in his desperation to prevent the Empire's fall to a (multi-racial) rebel/slave uprising.

Despite Zacris' best efforts, and tens of thousands of "rebels" slain in and around the capital, the rebellion did occur. Zacris in his desperate power-driven madness was consumed in a maelstrom of mystic energies in his final "defense" of the imperial palace...as was half of the city and most of the rebels.

Zacris the Inquisitor was hailed by the remaining loyalists of Capria, as the greatest savior of the Empire...and mourned as a hero with a mandatory holiday declared in his honor...Torrent Day-the day the Empire nearly fell but was saved by the loyalty of a single servant of the Emperor. The holiday is never (willingly) practiced anywhere by any of the oppressed/conquered peoples.

The spirit of Zacris faced a different fate. When his soul came before the gates of the dead, the gods refused him admittance. The Immortals, themselves, (of all alignments) feared the Inquisitor's power and ruthlessness, his blind loyalty and cruel sadistic desires. It was feared his spirit, if allowed admittance even unto the lower planes could/would rise up and enslave not only the underworld but eventually the whole of the afterlife.

As punishment (and security), the most powerful of the gods "rasa'ed his tabula." They stripped his memories, his mind, his power. The immortals still feared the insightful, scheming, and immensely intelligent Inquisitor known as Zacris could potentially find ways to regain/renew these in time.

So, his "blanked" soul was expunged from the outer planes and returned to the mortal coils. They placed it in an artificial shell (what the mortals call "a warforged") in slumber to be hidden and (it was believed) undisturbed deep beneath an unpopulated swamp for eternity.

Uncounted ages later a divine thunderclap was heard throughout the planes at a forgotten/fading deity's celestial facepalm. Those damned halflings have a knack for finding the damnedest things!

Basically, some bits of what the character may learn to be his past...may not be what actually/historically/completely accurate to how he came to be.

Possible other usable stuff:

• As Zacris increases in power, divine (and infernal) agents begin noticing and attempting to stop the formerly great wizard (or corrupt him to their own cause).
• Obviously, the Emperor was supreme ruler of all the lands, the seas, and the skies above! Zacris is responsible for the all out destruction of the once great kingdom of gnomes and their legendary Flying City. He ensnared a horde of dragons to his will and in a single afternoon destroyed the entire floating island and scattered the race of gnomes (or <insert one of your world's very rare races here>) throughout the realms and took the great treasures, magics and alchemical knowledge that survived into the thrall of the Empire...increasing Zacris' own power as well as the resources of the empire. (Perhaps there are a dragon or two floating around the world still who aided Zacris-perhaps against their will- in this endeavor?
• Centaurs were once winged...they were an aerial race, pegusi instead of just horses. Again, requiring mastery of all the skies as well as the lands, the emperor set Zacris to bring the "unnatural" race under his thumb. A massive curse was laid upon the flying horse-men and their wings withered and fell from their bodies. The newly crippled creatures were easily subdued and made excellent beasts of burden/laborers for the empire. Unfortunately, these creatures died out fairly quickly (a generation or two). Those that managed to escape, or evade capture in the first place, became the centaurs known today by men and elves. They still tell the stories of their ancestors and the evil wizard of the evil empire who bound them to the ground.
• Halfings once had a grand peaceful kingdom of their own centered around the walled city and lush farmlands of Lavenheathe (ruins to explore/discover?). The country-dwelling folk are the scattered remains of a once large populace/civilization brought to the brink of extinction by the Imperial forces led by "the Dark Wizard, Zackerias"..."Zackerias" lives on in halfling folklore as a shadowy spirit of immense evil who stalks the night and takes naughty children, wayward travelers and scoundrels in the dark of night never to be heard from again.
• Have you ever encountered one of the ancient wise mystic monk-folk known in dusty records as "the Xerli"? No? Know why? Cuz ther'ain't any. Thanks to Zacris.

--Steel Dragons

 

[WizarDru]

During the third campaign against the Septimond kobolds of the Dryscar Gorges, Zacris found himself stale-mated. The Empire desired control of the Gorges for their vast salt mines. Zacris had attempted to send me in to take the mines by force, but the twisting nature of the gorges themselves favored the Septimond's guerilla fighters and their tactics. The gorges were lined with tunnels leading in and out of the mines and were heavily protected by many vicious and lethal traps.

For three months, Zacris unsuccessfully attempted to capture the Dryscar and enslave the Septimond for its labor. But the kobolds proved shockingly resourceful and incredibly independent minded. The kobolds assumed that Zacris would eventually capitulate, especially with more pressing battles soon to come from the South. Had they been fighting anyone but The Third Inquisitor, this might have been true. So when Zacris summoned some emmisaries from the Septimond for a negotiation, hopes ran high that a peace could be obtained.

The Septimond were no fools, however. They brought a substantial force to back up their emissaries, scattered and hidden throughout the nearby caves. Disappointed when Zacris asked if they were willing to bend the knee and surrender to the Empire, the leader of the Septimond spoke: "we will never yield to you, totem man. You cannot remove us from our warrens and you cannot remove our salt without our help." Zacris regarded them with little concern as somewhere overhead, thunder beckoned, echoing his words. "You are wrong, salt dog. I gave you one final chance. So be it. Tell me, salt dog....what is the other primary method of harvesting salt?" Again, the thunder. The clearly confused kobold king regarded Zacris cautiously, "It...it can be refined from the water of the sea, of course. What does that matter? We are a thousand leagues from the ocean."

Zacris regarded him with nary a trace of emotion. "Not Any Longer."

The thunder was, in fact, the footfalls of titans. Three of theme came, dragging immense hoses behind them. They surrounded the gorges in a matter of strides while the Septimond watched, helplessly. "Did you think you could stand against the might of the Empire? You are not the first. Nor will you be the last to die for your folly." He snapped his fingers and spoke a word heard at three different locations far from the Gorges. "BEGIN."

In the location of what we now refer to as the Dryscar Sea, Zacris filled the gorges. Filled them with water that filled each mine, drowned each worker and created a new salt-water lake that survives to this day. It is widely believed that the Septimond's treasures lie deep below and some believe that an underground colony survives to this day, in secret. The only thing that the fall of the Septimond did not produce was workers for the Dryscar, which was unfortunate for the neighboring Telumond nomads.

But that is a story for another day.

 

[Rughat]

Zacris had made a rock that slowly turned anything holding or touching it into stone. It was, he thought, a perfect way to hold someone prisoner for a long time. Keep them tied to the stone for a few hours, and (once the screaming stops) they'll be immobile for years until you give the command word to turn off the rock.

He first used it when he brought the royal family of Cedrix as conqured prisoners to the Empire. The Cedrixians had insulted the Emperor, and so they were decreed to be imprisoned in stone for a decade. They were placed in a central garden, bound to the stone, and left as a statue and reminder of the Empires triumph.

With one thing and another, Zacris forgot about releasing the Cedrixians. When he was reminded that they had served their sentence, he unfortunately had forgotten the command word to release them. (Or perhaps he just couldn't be bothered.) However, it was discovered that people didn't need to be touching the original stone to be turned to stone - anything that was touching the existing statues also turned to stone. Other captured royal families were added to the statue, until it took up the entire garden. At a certain point, Zacris and his companions began competing to create aesthetic arrangements of the new additions


Now, when you enter the Garden of Royals, you see a massive stone sculpture - writhing bodies, bound together, bodies contorted, sometimes forming gazebos and arches, faces twisted in pain. Paths lead into the sculpture, and there are walled spots within where one can sit and rest, or talk discretely - a singular place to conduct diplomacy with hostile nations.

(Bonus points: instead of a rock, make the object a macguffin. Only way to get it: find the release word, and then wade through a horde of suddenly released nobles who are probably all insane - especially if they've been conscious all these years.)

 

[Piratecat]

I started to hand these out last night during the game, and it's a tremendous success. Early in the campaign the player's "meh" dislike of 4e caused her to be a little detached from the game. Now that Stron is woven into the fabric of the world, that's no longer the case at all.

I handed out two to start, and I'm blatantly copying and editing the stuff you guys have created. Thank you. More are welcome! I'd love keep these coming for some time.

[sblock=First two
"It is said that in those days the Inquisitor Zacris was traveling in the company of Prince Aedric and Princess Solona when the Entathan countryside revolted. The Inquisitor and the Imperial Royalty led a Legion to crush the revolt and quickly broke the peasant mob, leaving the leaders of the revolt dead upon the field and the rabble in chains. The Legion's commander asked what should be done with the prisoners. Prince Aedric, always forgiving, said 'Let their right hands be struck off, that no more may they raise weapons against the Empire.' Princess Solona, though not yet as brutal as she would later be remembered for, said 'The penalty for treason is death. Let them all be slain.'

Inquisitor Zacris obeyed the suggestions of both Imperials. And thus did it come to pass that Inquisitor Zacris ordered the Legion to strike off the right hand of each rebel. When each rebel was chained with his own severed hand before him, the Inquisitor cast a great ritual. For 3 days and 3 nights the Inquisitor chanted without cease or pause. And then every severed hand returned to a semblance of life. And over the next month, the hands tortured their former owners, until finally the field contained nothing but horribly twisted corpses. Then Zacris spoke: 'It is mete and proper that the rebels die by their own hands, for they brought their fate upon themselves through their disloyalty. As they raised their hands against the Empress, so did they perish.'

The twisted and magical hands that still creep about the roads, fields, and villages of Entath stand as mute testimony to the consequences of rebellion. Long Live the Emperor!"

-- o --


In the early days of our great Empire during the golden era of expansion, a khannate of gnollish raiders from a nearby savannah had taking to raiding Capria's newest frontier, an agricultural province which had willingly joined our great union to seek safety against their foes. Lacking effective natural defenses against the gnolls, it was hoped that the Empire's army could prevent the assaults, perhaps by adding fortifications. Their diplomat was unaccountably rude to his Most Gracious and Celestial Paragon during the signing of the treaties.

Inquisitor Zacris was sent to put an end to the gnollish blight on the newly acquired province. Arriving in the dry season, Zacris utilized the portals in his walking tower to summon the 31st Phoenix Brigade, the Emperor's Elite Fire Sorcerers.

In a night known as Zacris' Pyre, he used a ritual to set a raging wildfire across not only the savannah, but through the newly acquired province and its pathetically offensive populace.

The province was thereafter renamed Grainburn, and loyal settlers from all over Capria flocked to it under a cheap land grant program to take advantage of its rich black soil. To this day, Grainburn Province is the breadbasket of the Eastern Extents, and its people build only with expensive imported stone.

[/sblock]

 

[TarionzCousin]

For anyone interested in studying Power/Manipulation using historical examples, I highly recommend the [ame="http://www.amazon.com/48-Laws-Power-Robert-Greene/dp/0140280197/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298650598&sr=8-1"]48 Rules of Power[/ame] by Robert Greene.

 

[steeldragons]

Inquisitor Zacris (as all powerful controlling creatures seeking to snuff out opposition need) had a network of spy-enforcer agents at his disposal.

The most powerful and loyal of these he imbued with super-human demonic power. (I'm thinking some kind of re-skin of a half-fiend or a half-dragon, aberrations if you prefer...with wings, of course, to facilitate covering large amounts of territory/distance. Maybe 6 or 10 Enforcers total. Or more if you like. Different tiers of creatures with different special powers, perhaps?)

These mutated monstrosities were imbued with invisibility, anti-detection enchantments, resistance to -well- practically all magics/energies, inhuman strength and endurance, and physical invulnerability (like, can't be hit by anything less than a +3 enchanted weapon or the 4e equivalent. Anti-demon weapons/spells do partial damage?...something like that.).

They were responsible for carrying out many missions for the Inquisitor, ravaged many a land, razed many a village and town and were responsible for the particularly brutal captures and murders of uncounted "enemies of the Empire" (at Zacris' command, of course. Usually they were for information gathering and retrieval..so Zacris could have the pleasure of judging and passing sentence himself).

The only thing Zacris could not enhance them against was the particularly rare Snow Daisy...sacred to <insert "goddess of purity, peace, love, what have you" here>. Weapons dipped or coated in an infusion derived from the flower's particularly fine petals and pollen could pierce the creatures' hides and diminish their supernatural powers.

The enforcers would flee from a Snow Daisy's very presence. (I'm thinking like cats were in/to The Mummy

A children's rhyme/game survives to the present day:
"Ring the daisies round and round.
The demon-men are coming down.
Ring around the petals snow.
The demon-men are sure to go."

(the tradition of women wearing wreathes of white daisies at festivals and weddings can also be attributed to the legendary Snow Daisy's protective properties.

Knowing of this apparent weakness (and infuriated by the personal failure) Zacris was ever watchful for the plant and sought out the aid of the Phoenix Brigade (multiple times) to torch areas where the flower was found or even might be able to grow.

This led the once lush (and populated) slopes and valleys of the <insert "spooky mountain range" here> to become the blackened, broken and dead terrain it is today.

As tends to happen in such things, some druids (or druid, singular?) have managed to keep very few of the already rare plant alive and hidden. (Something the party would have to learn in the first place before even attempting to find one. Well, really...
1- Learn about what the enforcers actually are.
2-Learn about their vulnerability to the snow daisy. Thought be extinct. 3-Learn that they miiiiight still be found in X.
4-Find X. Get the daisy(-ies).
5-Make the potion.
9-Find enforcers. Apply potion to weapons. Kick butt.)

With Zacris' passing from the realms, the enforcers entered into a magical stasis in the lower tombs of Zacris' walking tower and passed into horrifying legend. The return of Zacris' consciousness/soul to the mortal world has caused them to arise, but his lack of memory/power has them scattered and confused.

Rumors have recently begun to circulate of demon-men scouring the skies above the lands of the ancient empire (perhaps over lands that are no longer part of the empire but once were?). News of strange atrocities encountered with no apparent cause have made their way into the cities.

The entire town of <insert known but not particularly easy to get to town" here> was found to be coated in the blood of its populace. The entirety of its inhabitants, from the eldest to youngest, bodily torn apart and splayed throughout the streets, homes and shops. The terrified merchant whose caravan discovered the town supposed an invasion of trolls...but then, why were the bodies not consumed?

Is it possible the Inquisitor's Enforcers have returned to search for their dark master? And without his power and will to direct them...what might their demonically twisted (yet limited) minds be capable of?

These guys would be...well...pretttty much impossible to defeat and (as I'm picturing it) should be encountered one at a time (at least til the party could find a snow daisy and/or became very high level).

Good luck and happy gardening.
--Steel Dragon