Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Lanoitakude 04-10-07, 02:50 AM	Hello, my character (NE cleric of Afflux) is quite a fun guy to play, I have his basic character concept down, but I would like to flesh out the Church now. Afflux is only briefly described in Libris Mortis. He is a god of torture, knowledge, and blood. He is an evil god, but his primary focus is knowledge, at any cost. The pursuit of knowledge is the noblest quest a cleric of the Blood Father can undertake, but that quest is meant to be one of that delves into the flesh of living and undead beings. It describes the temples to Afflux as just torture dungeons, but I was trying to imagine something more vivid, more unique. I imagine the temples to be exceptionally regal, with blood red tapestries, paint, and carpets. The top floors would be clean and almost welcoming. The massive torture/research complex would be below ground. These ideas are still rather bare. Any ideas on how to flesh out the macabre church of Afflux?
Westbound 04-10-07, 03:21 AM	How prominent is this church? Can your DM give you any ideas? If it's a minor church, then being a NE deity, the church will likely be hunted by faiths that are Good in alignment. After all, torturing people and using their blood in profane rituals isn't good PR. If this church has more prominence, and is actively involved with the policies of a nation, then you'll see something different. They won't hide their depravities - they'll display it for all to see. Their temples will not be immaculate. They'll be blood-smeared, and their torture chambers will occupy the highest point in the structure, in a place of honor. Think of an Aztec temple, where they routinely sacrificed people to the sun by tearing their beating hearts out, and you'll get a good idea of what kind of temple we're talking about. Afflux worship probably uses torture and sacrifice to gather knowledge, either through interrogation or to gather knowledge through divine magical means. Either way, they'll be a terror upon the land, opposed by the forces of Neutrality and Good (because Neutrality doesn't like such things either).
Fithero 04-10-07, 06:45 AM	The temple is a grand structure that is as regal as any kings castle. With the walls and pillars being smooth marble, the floors are rough granite. The walls are adorned with great tapestries depicting Afflux and scenes of torture, while bloody red silk sheets hang from between the pillars. Due to the smooth surface of the marble walls and pillars, blood constantly runs down them from the torture chambers above. The granite floor is able to be walked upon because the bloody falls within its deep recesses, almost like art work. The entire structure is kept emaculatly clean, except for the blood, each and every single drop of blood stays where it falls. All i could come up with, hope it helps. Peace
Lanoitakude 04-10-07, 02:29 PM	Ah, the Aztec analagy is a good one, I may talk it over with the DM about stearing the church in that direction. The idea of using running blood to create art is quite good, another subtle touch. I really like the idea of "each and every drop of blood stays where it falls". That should be some sort of religious taboo. Blood, once spilt, cannot be disturbed (or cleaned or whatnot). In our campaign, the church is pretty secretive (except for a small region where my character was born). Sometimes their activities aligne with Good creatures, because Afflux likes to uncover all things hidden (including corrupt leaders consorting with demons, or the true identity of a serial killer). The primary difference is method (ie torture, etc). Any other ideas are appreciated (don't limit yourselves to just the Church, if you come up with cool taboos and quirks for a PC cleric of Afflux, don't hesitate to suggest them).
Fithero 04-11-07, 12:43 AM	Perhaps the church hates vampires, as undead creatures that live off of blood. Hunting them down and slaying them at any turn, this would allow them to ally themselves with good deities/affiliations at times, when in the hunt for a powerfull vampire. You could turn this around however and say that they revere vampires, as creatures that are sustained off the very thing they worship. In this case, the temple could provide succor to a vampire that is bein hunted, even having a powerful vampire guardian. Persoanlly id go with the first one as it would allow for more interesting relationships. Peace
Ensjak 04-11-07, 10:14 AM	Taking Fithero's vampire ideas and running with it... Why not take both? Maybe Afflux is silent on the issue of vampires, instead leaving it up to his worshippers to decide or discover for themselves. This could create a schism within the church and the formation of cabals. Some groups hold vampires sacred, others find them to be a scourge, stealing holy blood from their victims. You could even have another group that believes that Afflux is of a definite opinion and is simply testing his worshippers to see which of them will uncover their god's true feeling about vampires first. As far as taboos, from reading the above posts I have one that is somewhat radical and potentially devastating to gameplay (depending on how much healing you're forced to do in the party). But, if your character and the church finds bloodletting and bloodfall sacred, wouldn't a rational step be that the cure spells and any other healing magics which stop blood from flowing out of wounds would be taboo? The blood wants to flow and is being released for all to see, who are you to prevent that and stop it unnaturally? Healing is allowed in the case of disease, poisons, non-lethal damage, broken bones, and the regeneration of limbs, but NEVER open wounds when blood still flows.
Fithero 04-11-07, 10:55 AM	I would think youd have the Blood Magnus Prc from complete arcane as some sort of revered position amoung the faith. Blood Golems would be a pretty cool facet of the temples defences aswell. As for the never healing open wounds, that could cause a bit of a problem for some players. Perhaps instead they ask for an amount of blood depending on the severity of the wound. This could in fact pay for the healing itself (or if theyre greedy you could still make them pay gold) There is a spell, something like 'Gentle Repose' or something like that, apparently it can keep bodies fresh, perhaps it could keep the blood in the temple fresh and warm aswell. Just as a note, since knowledge is a domain of the faith, im gonna guess that their is a library in the temple too. Perhaps every time you turn the page you get a paper cut or something. Its a small and barely mentionable fact, but again, its the small things that count. Hope this helps some.
Lanoitakude 04-11-07, 01:00 PM	Ah, interesting suggestions, indeed. The ideas about involving vampires intrigue me, I'll dicuss it further with my DM. The taboo on healing would be too devastating for my party, as I am the primary healer (we also have a druid, however).
Fithero 04-12-07, 06:42 AM	If you want to get *really* dark, you could have a hallway where living victims are suspended along the walls just above the average humans head (7-8ft up). Each person has a device (or more than one) inserted in their body that looks like a large ring, which keeps a wound open. Blood weaps from these open wounds continiously, even as the device themselves keep the victim healed and nourished. The victums are kept at the verge of consciousness and so constantly moan and writhe in agony....:evillaugh Pretty sick, but it would be a cool effect to walk down that corridor in order to have to meet the head of the Afflux Clergy. As for the device, id make it a wonderous item that has the bleeding property (the one that does 1dmg/round, not constitution damage), but casts cure minor wounds 1/round) Peace