Running my first in-person game with a 3 PCs, all observing social distancing and mask safety. They wanted to find and weed out a malevolent secret society. I produced the following pitch to great reception.
"While making a name for themselves in Hub City, the trio stumbles across a secret and deadly splinter group of the Sanctum Order. Though small, their prowess and clear dismissal of all Sanctum virtues make them a deadly foe."
Note: Ray, Kev, and Lex: Stop reading now. You are never on these forums anyway.
The Order of Eleleth is a group within the Church of the Opened Eye (Sanctum) that studies the more mysterious and dangerous elements used by and discovered within the church's enemies. It is modeled after the teaching of its founder, Eleleth the Blind, also known as Eleleth the Purifier. Other Sanctum members may say that they idolize the man, but never in their company. The Order of Eleleth is considered a necessary endeavor, though never discussed openly and never with anyone not a established members of the church. The delving into, analysis, and understanding of impure practices leaves a lasting stain on one's soul. This is such that the order's member's themselves accept the belief that they are sacrificing their own path to Enlightenment so that they may help others achieve it against otherwise unknowable evil. The Order of Eleleth, however, takes action in this goal far more zealous than anyone can know.
The extreme that most other Sanctum know of is the Sacrament of the Blind. The most devout members of the Order are voluntarily blinded through aembermancy with a technique created by Eleleth himself. This is to both avoid corruption from and gain new perception of the very evils they study. What no one else know, however, is that the Order has a secret organization that seeks out and destroys any evidence and witnesses to the falters and follies of high-ranking members of the Church of the Opened Eye. These few Blinded are known as the Obscurinati and act to maintain the morale and social purity as perceived by the public. This is also done outside the knowledge of other Sanctum members, as it would hinder their ability to achieve Enlightenment with doubt. This small group made of only of the Blinded, wielding the very "impure" techniques they taught knights to fight against seeks to destroy, sabotage, and kill in secret any threat to the purity of Sanctum.
The campaign began with the party as part of a caravan on its way back to Hub City. They stop at a small farming village and come across the "Crimson Assassin" after she has killed a seemingly unimportant farmer and destroyed his family heirloom (a sword). They party learns that the victim believed his unknown mother to be a high-ranking member of the sanctum, treasuring that blade as his only memory of her. The party finds a hidden journal they must decode to learn more about the his mother's affair and unseen force that seeks to cleanse the sins of Sanctum from the Crucible's memory.
- Eleleth the Blind, as commonly depicted in most Sanctum historical documents
- Eleleth the Purifier, as depicted by the Order of Eleleth
- Crimson Assassin, the first agent of the Obscurinati encountered by the party
- Unnamed yet-to-be-encountered Obscurinati Agent
- Blind Oracle, Leader