Dolmenwood Factions #11: The Pluritine Church

27 Aug, 2024

The Pluritine Church is another powerful force in Dolmenwood. Driven by dogmatic views, they’re attempting to tame the forest and its mysteries. Let’s explore how they plan to achieve this.

Goals

The Church’s primary goal is the dominance of their faith¹. Restoring the lost Shrines is an effort to tame the wilds of Dolmenwood and suppress the weirdness and mysteries lurking there. This restoration not only opens up passageways and increase travel but also aims to make the forest more mundane². The rebuilding of the Abbey of St Clewyd is the Church’s crown jewel—a symbol of their triumph over other faiths and a step toward solidifying their power³. Though these goals won’t eliminate the Nag-Lord or the Drune, they will significantly weaken their influence, drawing more pilgrims to Dolmenwood, leading to more settlements, and gradually taming the forest.

The final challenge is stamping out heathens: the Drune, the Witches, the Nag-Lord’s cults, and fairy influences. This reflects the Churchs current stance under Bishop Sanguine⁴ and Sanctus Primus⁵, though internal strife could shift the Church toward more tolerance⁶.

• 🐵 Locate and Restore the Shrines: Claim the forest and spread the faith.
  • Restore shrines across Dolmenwood.
  • Attract pilgrims to the region.
  • Strengthen the faith of locals and beyond.

• 🙈 Rebuild the Abbey of St Clewyd: A symbol of the Church’s dominance.
  • Recapture the plateau.
  • Cleanse the crypts and close the Chaos Rift.
  • Restore the Abbey to its former glory.

• 🙊 Stamp out the Drune and the Witches: And every other heretical source.
  • Expand the Order of St Faxis across Dolmenwood.
  • Expose Witches in high society and make examples of them.
  • Locate and destroy Drune strongholds.

Resources

Although declining in Dolmenwood, the Church remains a powerful force with political influence and access to external help. Its alliance with House Brackenwold strengthens its position.

• Clerical Orders⁷: Specialized in different areas.
  • Defend church lands (St Sedge).
  • Root out heretics (St Faxis).
  • Combat supernatural forces (St Signis).

• Military Might⁸: Can call reinforcements when needed.
  • Engage enemies of the Church.
  • Takes time and effort to mobilize.
  • Reserved for dire situations.

• Miracles of the One True God⁹: Perform divine rituals.
  • Channel divine power through elaborate rituals.
  • Strengthen believers' faith.
  • Convert non-believers.

• Alliance with House Brackenwold¹⁰: Mutual benefits and goals.
  • Secure the Duke’s support for Church matters.
  • Suppress emerging sects and upstart religions.
  • Share knowledge and collaborate.

Actions

These missions reflect the Church’s broader goals and can help kickstart their expansion. Rotate missions to reflect the objectives of different clerical orders, which may not always align directly with Church goals but reflect power struggles within the hierarchy.

• 📔 Restore the Shrine of St Wort near the Woodcutters' Encampment:
  • 🕵️ Friar Merric Goodbarrel
  • 📝 Investigate rumors of the Shrine’s location.
  • 📝 Find and restore the Shrine.
  • 📝 Promote the Shrine and create pathways to it.

• 📔 Prepare an expedition to the Abbey of St Clewyd:
  • 🕵️ Sister Evelyne Thorne
  • 📝 Collect tithe from Dolmenwood’s churches to fund the expedition.
  • 📝 Recruit believers and enlist aid.
  • 📝 Gather supplies and set a departure date.

• 📔 Establish an outpost for the Order of St Faxis in the High Wold:
  • 🕵️ Brother Aldric Varron
  • 📝 Enlist soldiers for the Order.
  • 📝 Travel to Lankshorn with a delegation.
  • 📝 Set up an outpost and begin investigations.

Further Thoughts

Restoring Shrines can be done one by one or simultaneously. A slower approach—starting with Shrines near populated areas—often feels more natural. Restoration involves more than repairing Shrines; promotion, infrastructure, and attracting pilgrims are essential. This could lead to new abbeys, churches, and settlements, potentially developing outside of Faction Turns. Over time, as the areas become more settled, encounters might become less supernatural, replaced with more mundane threats like bandits.

Restoring the Abbey of St Clewyd is a long-term goal but could fail if expeditions are lost. Players can influence the outcome by exploring the crypts themselves, but so can other factions, especially the Nag-Lord. Player involvement could benefit both sides.

The Order of St Faxis is focused on rooting out heresy, which could lead to conflict with other factions. The Church has an advantage with the Duke’s support, but retaliation is possible. A confrontation with the Drune could escalate quickly, especially if the Church discovers and topples a Nodal Stone or Summerstone¹¹, unintentionally aiding the Cold Prince. Establishing a presence in the High Wold could also bring Lord Malbleat’s necromantic dabblings under scrutiny¹². If these practices become public, the Order would work to condemn House Malbleat, potentially aligning with the Order of St Signis to deal with the growing threat.

Internal struggles within the Church could also be represented in Faction Turns. For instance, Abbot Hargle may oppose Sanctus Primus’s harsh methods, trying to steer the Church in a more tolerant direction. Players could also influence these conflicts if they involve themselves in Church politics.

Remember, the Order of St Sedge will also pursue missions against the Nag-Lord as they establish themselves near Prigwort¹³.

Potential Alliances

The Church is already allied with House Brackenwold, but they have potential to forge new alliances:

• House Harrowmoor: Given the Nag-Lord’s threat and with the commander of the Order of St Sedge being Lady Harrowmoor’s younger sister¹⁴, an official alliance seems highly likely.
• House Hogwarsh: The Church could support the Baron’s efforts to make High-Hankle a cultural center, commissioning new artworks and designs for Churches and Shrines.
• Triple Compact: If the Cold Prince threatens Dolmenwood again, the Church may seek to revive this ancient pact—provided they haven’t burned too many bridges with the Drune¹⁵.

Example

The Church had a rough start in my campaign, struggling to get their plans off the ground, which allowed other factions to act first. However, a few successful actions have kept them in play. My players came across the Shrine of St Wort and restored it on their own but never informed the Church. As a result, the mission is still active, but they gained progress. The Church still needs to locate the Shrine, but they won’t have to restore it once they do.

Conclusion

The Pluritine Church is a versatile faction—benevolent at times but often driven by fear and dogma. They oppose the Nag-Lord, bringing law to Dolmenwood, though neither side is purely good or evil.

It would be fascinating to see the Church undergo an internal struggle, becoming more tolerant, or to watch them escalate conflicts to the point of facilitating the Cold Prince’s return. Will they ever acknowledge their role in that? And how would a partially more domesticated Dolmenwood look?

This concludes our look at the Pluritine Church. Next time, we return to the High Wold to examine House Malbleat.

References

#dolmenwood #faction turns #legwork