The Iron Ring (and their cultist allies) are digging up recently buried corpses and smuggling them out of the town through the secret tunnel. They then re-animate the bodies and use their zombie slave labour in a logging camp upstream. Their major base of operations at the moment is the underground complex below Old Antilles Castle (A.K.A Castle Caldwell).
Later in the campaign the Ring are going to dupe the party into clearing out an ancient undergound temple they have recently located. Once this is done they will try and bump off the characters, or better still sell them into slavery, thus keeping the secret of the temple safe. This will then become the major base of operations for the Iron Ring/Chaotic Cult in the Northern Karameikos region.
The Mods/Adventures I'll be using (with some very slight modifications) are -
B8 Castle Caldwell.
The Old Mill.
http://www.pandius.com/oldmill.html
The Returned Corpse.
http://www.pandius.com/retcorps.html
The Nameless Dungeon (GL1)
http://www.dragonsfoot.org/files/pdf/GL1_The_Nameless_Dungeon.pdf
I was wondering if anybody could give me some advice on which chaotic or 'evil' immortals might have ties with The Iron Ring in Karameikos?
Other options might be Talitha, Atzanteotl, or Masauwu.
For whatever reason, I always envisioned Leptar as having ties with the Iron Ring (and looking over the Vaults, I see that Havard agrees with that assessment).
Other options might be Talitha, Atzanteotl, or Masauwu.
Leptar looks a great choice. Thanks.
http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=319442
Is there any particular reason why Leptar isn't included in the list of Immortals here? -
http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=319442
Hmmm... not sure. I think Marco suggested he may be the same immortal as Hircismus...
Havard
Hmmm... not sure. I think Marco suggested he may be the same immortal as Hircismus...
Havard
ah, yes, confirmed, according to the very first post of that thread, Marco suggests... "while Leptar is the Traladaran name for Hircismus...."
: )
Although they do not have an Immortal patron, in my campaign they are strongly allied with von Hendriks and provide support to Elwyn (Leptar) and Moray Vacu (Arik). They also, through a front organization (well, the Black Eagle Barony) have a connection to some Neutral Evil Clerics of Vanya. And like the BEB, they are playing both sides of the coming war between Karameikos and the Humanoids.
Maybe in the next few days I will try to write up the Iron Ring, as they are in my campaign.
The Iron Ring
The Iron Ring is a rigidly run criminal organisation specialising in theft, extortion and slavery that seeks to make itself a power in the land. It will do anything to achieve that goal. Members can be of any profession or race and have their own secret code and password system to recognise fellow members. Every member has an identifying mark on their forearm, in the form of two manacles linked to a chain.
Joining the Iron Ring
The Iron Ring actively recruits members who show talent. The criteria for joining are: The candidate has brutally killed at least twice. This may be a pre-adventure. The candidate has no allegiance to any other group. The candidate swears a Holy Oath. If a member of the Iron Ring ever breaks ranks or reveals any information they gain the condition: Hunted by The Iron Ring.
There is no freelance activity allowed by the Iron Ring.
The Iron Ring operates in conjunction with the illegal Cult of Leptar, and thus members may become a Cultist of Leptar.
Heirarchy
The members of the Ring are divided by a strict hierarchy.
Iron Master. (The founder Kord Doombringer - an evil dwarf whose headquarters are located in Fort Doom at the pleasure of Baron von Hendriks'.)
Grand Master (The High Priest of the Cult of Leptar, The Grand Mage, Grand Thief and The Grand Slayer).
Master (The head of a particular cell.)
Reaver (A voluntary member of the Ring.)
Hound (A former slave convert to the Cult of Leptar.)
Organisation
The Iron Ring is in league with Bargle the Infamous from the Black Eagle Barony. For the moment this is Baron von Hendriks' chief source of intelligence information from the Five Shires, the Minrothad Guilds and Karameikos.
There are cells in all of the major cities. A cell consists of a Master with at least three Reavers under their control. Each of these Masters oversees the training of new recruits as well as field operations.
Seeing as the Cult Of Leptar is outlawed, what would the punishment be for any members of the cult who are discovered by (or handed over to) the authorities, especially in the Barony Of Threshold?
Just going by GAZ1, there is no state religion in GDK, so heresy as a crime is unlikely. However, certain groups might be considered treasonous, and that's a Class 7 crime (punishable by death).
Worship of Entropics may be considered treasonos in itself.
Patrick Sullivan wrote:
I think Halaran's enough of a pragmatist to execute cultists that are turned over to him, and the Church of Karameikos would support such an action. Stefan is somewhat naive and unpredicatable, so there's a reasonable chance that he would pardon them, IMO.
Ive been thinking about how to play Stefan. IMC he is not naive in general, but his fatal flaw is his love for family that makes him blind to the crimes of his cousin. If confronted with this, he will react with anger, seeing it as a personal insult.
I agree that Halaran will have no qualm in executing cultists of entropic immortals. He is afterall a Cleric of the CoK.
Havard
Worship of Entropics may be considered treasonos in itself.
Very true. That's sorta what I meant. ;)
Patrick Sullivan wrote:
Ive been thinking about how to play Stefan. IMC he is not naive in general, but his fatal flaw is his love for family that makes him blind to the crimes of his cousin. If confronted with this, he will react with anger, seeing it as a personal insult.
In GAZ1 it mentions that Stefan's failing is his difficulty in understanding "evil." He just doesn't quite get how someone might genuinely be motivated by plain old malice. Of course, your take on him vis a vis Ludwig is a reasonable interpretation of that, IMO.
Havard wrote:
I agree that Halaran will have no qualm in executing cultists of entropic immortals. He is afterall a Cleric of the CoK.
Sure. He might act as the Patriarch, not as the Baron.
The P.C's cleared out the upper level of Castle Caldwell and completed the 'Ruined Mill' and 'Returned Corpse' adventures.
Investigating the mysterious change in Clifton Caldwell's character (as reported by his fiancee) they return to Old Antilles Castle and discover the entrance to the lower level (in the room that lies beyond the formerly locked door they couldn't open or force). In the first encounter they meet a doppleganger disguised as Clifton who entices them into a room to meet his 'partners' (two first level M.User Hounds of the Iron Ring), who in the ensuing combat cast a sleep spell that takes out the whole party (bar one unfortunate who is killed by a magic missile).
Due to the characters dire circumstances I'm now going to incorporate the adventure 'The Great Escape' into the plot . . . .
http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=25497
Any plot ideas are most welcome!