A Face Among the Faithful

Original

One-Shot · City intrigue and serpent cult

The new high priest of the Temple of the Dawn is beloved by all, and people who get close to him keep disappearing. An investigation in a city where anyone could be wearing a borrowed face.

Character Level 8

Length 4 hours

Players 3–5

Battle map of the Temple of the Dawn: the sanctuary with its high altar, and the undercroft with the serpent shrine and the coil pit. — Click the map to open it full size; ⟲ ⟳ turn it. Numbered markers are explained in the map's key.

Read Aloud

The Temple of the Dawn is packed for the high priest's sermon. Sunlight pours through the stained glass, and the crowd hangs on every word as Hierarch Celan speaks of the world's coming renewal. He is warm, wise, and smiling. And from your seat near the back, you notice that he never blinks.

The rest of this adventure is for your Dungeon Master's eyes only: its secrets, maps, encounters and rewards. No spoilers here. Switch to DM in the header if you're the one running it.

For the DM

Hierarch Celan is a coilborn hierophant who took the real high priest's place two months ago. His serpent cult has been quietly replacing temple officials, and at the festival of the Dawn in three days he plans to poison the sacred wine and offer the whole congregation to the serpent god.

Scene 1: The Missing Deacon

A worried acolyte, Sister Ilsa, hires the party to find Deacon Morven, who vanished after saying the hierarch 'wasn't himself'. Clues lead to the deacon's room (shed snakeskin under the bed), the temple archives (the hierarch's handwriting changed two months ago) and the city's Black-Market Fence, who sold a rare venom to a temple servant.

Scene 2: The Undercroft

Beneath the temple, the party find the cult's hidden shrine and the real high priest, alive but held in a serpent's coils. Cultists guard the shrine.

The Hidden Shrine

2× Cult Fanatic (CR 2)
4× Cultist (CR 1/8)

If the fight lasts more than 3 rounds, a cultist escapes to warn the hierarch, and the festival begins early.

The Keeper of the Coils

1× Giant Constrictor Snake (CR 2)

The snake holds the real high priest Grappled. Freeing him gives the party a witness the congregation will believe.

Scene 3: The Festival of the Dawn

In front of the whole congregation, the party must expose the hierarch before the wine is poured. Revealing his true form (with the real high priest's testimony or a Dispel Evil and Good spell) turns the crowd against him, and he fights.

The Hierarch Revealed

1× Coilborn Hierophant (CR 6)
1× Giant Constrictor Snake (CR 2)

The hierophant fights from the altar while the crowd panics. Each round, a PC can spend their action to protect civilians; for each one who does, the congregation suffers no casualties that round.

Characters

Hierarch Celan · Villain

A coilborn hierophant wearing the high priest's face. Charming, patient, and absolutely certain of his god's love. Use the Coilborn Hierophant stat block.

Sister Ilsa · Acolyte and quest giver

Young, earnest and brave. She's terrified that no one will believe her. Use the Acolyte stat block.

High Priest Aldren · The real high priest

Weak from two months of captivity, but his word carries enormous weight in the city. Use the Priest stat block.

Rewards

500 gp from the temple, and the temple's healing at no cost for life.
The hierarch's fang dagger (a +1 dagger that deals an extra 1d6 poison damage).
Periapt of Health from the temple treasury.

Running It

Give the players a reason to suspect the wrong person: a sour, secretive temple treasurer makes a good red herring.
The festival is a ticking clock. If the party dawdle, start the final scene with the wine already being poured.