The Cult Of Gyronna
Introduction
In town rumors fly that a secret mystery cult dedicated to the hag-goddess Gyronna The Hag-Goddess has taken root in the town. As goddess of hatred, extortion, and spite, Gyronna's cult represents a threat to any community, and tales abound of isolated communities throughout the River Kingdoms that tore themselves apart from within due to the machinations of the Angry Hag's priestesses. If the cult has indeed infiltrated the town, it must be found and eliminated before it can set the townspeople at one another's throats.
Creatures
The cult is still in its early stages, comprising only six cultists under the leadership of a cleric of Gyronna named Malgorzata Niska. The six cultists are outcasts - women who harbor nothing but hatred and malice for their fellow townsfolk. By day, Goody Niska is a respected midwife, a position that has enabled her to recruit new members to her growing flock, as well as providing her opportunities to steal newborn babies and swap them with changelings. All of the cultists carry a symbol of a bloodshot eye and wear ragged black smocks called "shabbles" when enacting their rites but take great care to hide these items when not using them. They otherwise appear no different from normal townspeople otherwise.
A DC 15 Knowledge (religion) check reveals that those attracted to Gyronna's cult are often adulterous wives, embittered prostitutes, and spurned lovers. A DC 15 Knowledge (local) or Diplomacy check to gather information reveals about a dozen women in town who fit this profile. With this knowledge in hand, the PCs might question several women in the town, using Sense Motive checks to see past the cultists' Bluff checks (note that the cultists fear the goddess's retribution and never admit to their religious beliefs under anything but torture - but magic like detect thoughts or charm person can draw the truth out). Each suspected woman interrogated has a cumulative 25% chance of actually being a cultist, and each interrogation must be handled delicately with a DC 20 Diplomacy check - each failure results in rumors of "unfounded and cruel interrogations" spreading through the nation and causes Unrest to increase by 1. Searching suspected cultists' houses for religious paraphernalia can turn up evidence of the cult's practices (shabbles and unholy symbols) with a successful DC 20 Perception check, but hunches and circumstantial evidence are not proof, so the PCs will likely have to catch the women in the act, especially if they want to expose their leader.
Surveillance of suspected cultists (using Stealth, Perception, or Survival checks) can lead the PCs to the cult's secret rendezvous. Alternatively, female PCs can use Bluff, Disguise, or Perform skills to infiltrate the cult, procuring an invitation to the next meeting. The cult meets in the cellar of a barn on the outskirts of town. The barn doors are trapped with a simple alarm (a tripwire connected to a bell in the basement; Perception DC 25, Disable Device DC 15) that alerts the cult to intruders if triggered. The concealed trapdoor to the cellar can be found with a DC 15 Perception check.
In the cellar, Malgorzata Niska leads the cultists in their dark rites before a simple altar of piled stones topped with a glittering gem that looks like a glaring bloodshot eye. As soon as she notices the PCs, she commands her cultists to attack.
Treasure
The fist-sized cat's eye chrysoberyl atop the altar is worth 500 gp, but a DC 20 Knowledge (religion) check reveals that the goddess Gyronna watches the world through such stones, and the PCs risk incurring her wrath and being cursed should they defile or steal from her shrine. Whether or not these stories are true in this chrysoberyl's case is left to you.
Plot type
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