Character Quest: The Sermon

“Sister Morrigan preaches at the Weeping Halls. The Rot-Touched gather, articulate and conscious. Attend her sermon. Challenge your assumptions. Maybe she’s right. Maybe that’s terrifying.”

Type: Character Quest (Sister Morrigan), Philosophical
Stages: 2
Difficulty: Beginner
Key Character: Sister Morrigan

Summary

A simple quest with profound implications: attend a Rot-Touched sermon at the Weeping Halls (Murky Chasm). Witness Sister Morrigan’s teachings, meet conscious Stage 2 transformed, and decide if the Voice Beneath is damnation or evolution.

Stage 1: The Invitation

Trigger: Visit Murky Chasm, hear about Weeping Halls

A Rot-Touched (Stage 1, articulate) approaches: “Sister Morrigan speaks tonight. You’re curious. We see it. Come. Listen. No obligation. Just… listen.”

Choice: - [Accept]: Attend sermon → Quest continues - [Refuse]: Walk away → Quest ends, +5 Clergy rep (avoided corruption)

Stage 2: The Sermon

Location: Weeping Halls (underground chapel)

Scene: > Thirty Rot-Touched sit in pews. Not mindless beasts—people. Some show Stage 2 corruption (black veins, glowing eyes) but speak, smile, remember names. > > Sister Morrigan stands at the altar, herself Stage 2, beautiful and terrible. > > “The constellations watch us die,” she says gently. “The Voice offers transformation. Not death. Change. We are proof—conscious, human, evolved.”

Witness: - Brother Thane (Stage 3+, former merchant, remembers wife’s name) - Kaela the Scholar (Stage 2, discusses philosophy articulately) - Others: All retain personality, memories, agency

Sister Morrigan’s Teaching: - The Rot is misunderstood (fear masks comprehension) - Transformation preserves consciousness (they are proof) - A second Shattering comes (only transformed survive) - She never forces (free will paramount)

Choices:

[Challenge Her (Piety)]

Theological debate. She’s prepared, articulate, compassionate. Success: Earn her respect, no conversion attempt. Failure: Shaken faith (-5 PIE temporarily).

[Ask Questions (Cunning)]

Investigate claims intellectually. She provides evidence (testimonies, timeline data). Gain Codex Entry: “Rot-Touched Consciousness Study.”

[Listen Silently (END 20)]

Observe without judgment. Disturbing but enlightening. +Corruption 5 (exposure), +5 Archivists rep (knowledge gained).

[Leave Immediately]

Too much. Flee. No penalties, but haunted by what you saw.

Outcome

No forced conversion (she keeps her word).

Player Effect: - Philosophical challenge (maybe Clergy is wrong?) - New perspective on Arc 3 - Access to Weeping Halls (future quests) - Sister Morrigan respects you (ally or enemy, she remembers)

Follow-up Quests: - “The Prophecy” (investigate her visions) - “The Conversion” (she eventually offers transformation, if Corruption 50+) - “The Debate” (formal theological argument)

Character Profile →
Arc 3: The Voice Beneath →