Desecrated Church
T
hree decades ago an angel of Lathander was
banished from the heavens for wanting to
meddle in the affairs of men. His mission on
the material plane had made him attached to
the humanoids. As his punishment he lost all
his abilities and to live and die as a human.
The angel learned that without his powers it
was much harder to have a profound effect on the affairs of
man. Failed struggle after struggle caused him to give up, and
settle down. He fell in love with a beautifull human and
started a family. Becoming pastor Bertrand of a small chapel
not far from a small town, doing all the good he was capable
of. Pastor Bertrand had two children, both human, but now
his wife is pregnant with his third. This time, something is
different he can feel it. The child had powers, those of divine
nature. It radiates from his wifes abdomen. Somehow this
baby had inherited divine powers from him.
A powerfull lich that has his lair a few miles away from the
village had noticed this as well. The divine energy annoyed
him and he decided to rid of it. The lich went to the church
with a ghoul servant. Bertrand tried his best to defend his
family and the chapel but quickly realized it was futile. Not
willing to give up hope he ran towards the village in search
for help.
Starting the one-shot
This is a one-shot for a party of 4-6 players of level 1. The
story is grim and somtimes gory, notify your players before
hand. This story relies on characters willing to do the right
thing. Your player start in the only inn located in the village
nearby the chapel. They are ppassing through on their travels
towards another location. However, the night takes a dark
turn as a distraught pastor runs into the tap room.
Plea for help
The hearth is warm and the drinks are cold. Besides you, your
allies and the innkeep the taproom is empty. Just as you were
starting that joke about the kobold, gnome and goblin the
door slams open. "HEELPPP!!!!!!"
As Pastor Bertrand runs into the taproom he notices the
adventures and falls down on his knees before them crying
for help. Pastor Bertrand has fallen into dispair and is on the
verge of madness. Stumbling over his words he talks about
undead at the chapel, worries for the safety of his family and
begs the adventurers to save them. Besides this the Pastor
does not explain much and hurries the adventurers. During
his short battle with the ghoul Pastor Bertrand got clawed by
the ghoul and his right arm is bleeding profusely. The
bleeding can be stopped with a DC 8 Medicine(Wis) check.
The innkeeper does not know what is going on but he knows
the pastor very well. The innkeeper can provide the players
with the following information.
The location of the chapel. Which is a 10 min walk south
of town
Bertrand is a pastor and he is beloved by everyone in the
village. He has a small family; a wife called Cheyenna,
currently pregnant and two sons Ben and Ser. they tends
to the chapel and its graveyard besides helping any
villager that is in need the best they can.
Bertrand is a smart, courageous man. Someone that he is
surprised to see in this state.
The innkeeper does not know anything about why the
church might be attacked.
ONE SHOT | DESECRATED CHURCH 1

Aproaching the chapel
When the adventurers approach the chapel read
A small chapel stands solemnly in a field. The bright moonlight
makes it look all the more lonely in the darkness of night. The
chapel has a second floor with a bell tower atop. Closer to you,
on the right side of the chapel there is small graveyard fenced
with a low stone wall. Close to the entrance inside the
graveyard is a tall tree. A soft wind blows past, and you smell
death.
If the players decide to take a closer look describe the
following depending on their passive perception.
Passive
Perception Description
10 The old and rusty gate connecting the
graveyard and the road, moves slowly in the
wind letting out loud creak
13 From within the graveyard, over the stone wall
you hear the scraping of nails on stone and
dirt. After which a short silence, then a hollow
moan
15 The wind carries a soft scream. Echoing out
from the church doors. A fleating cry of a
child.
The stone wall is 5 ft high and can be easily jumped over.
The Graveyard
A small graveyard is built next to the church. not many graves
are here, as most of them are family graves. As the lich made
his exit from the chapeh he raised a several undead. Three
skeletons and one zombie have risen from their graves. If
the adventurers enter the graveyard read the following.
The rust of the gate flakes as you open it and enter the
graveyard. To your left an old and gnarly tree stands by itself,
beneath it a small bench. Normally used to rest or grieve, now
abnormally vacant. Several graves of different sizes lie left and
right of a small gravel trail. Leading to a cellar entrance and a
small mausoleum. The mausoleums stone door has been
opened slightly. From its opening, a skeleton is trying to
escape.
The skeleton is stuck in the opening of the mausoleum and is
focused on escaping. It does not react unless the players
make noise or immediately attack it. after about a min the
skeleton manages to get free. If the skeleton notices the
players it puts extra effort in trying to escape roll an DC 8
acrobatics if it passes the skeleton is free, if it fails roll again
every few seconds the players wait. This skeleton has a short
sword and a shield, changing its AC to 15.
When walking over the gravel trail characters with a
passive perception of 12 or higher hear scratching and
scraping noises from the graves. If players fail to hear these
noises they are suprised by two skeletons and a zombie that
crawl out of the earth.
When they do so read
2 ONE SHOT | DESECRATED CHURCH
As you move towards the end of the graveyard you hear a
muffled thumps. Around you the earth of some of the graves
seem to be moving. From it rise two skeletons, their bones old
and yellow. Another much fresher corpse with its flesh
hanging loosely from its body stands up from the earth. With a
sickening neck snap it turns its head to you and lets out a
hungry growl.
These undead begin their turn prone. One of the skeletons
has a dagger, the other has no weapon. This makes their
damage dice a d4 and 1 instead. Neither of them wear armor
making their AC 10.
If the skeleton escaping the mausoleum has not noticed the
players yet it does so at this point and gains advantage on
escaping during its turn.
The cellar door is locked and can be opened with a DC 10
thieves tools (Dex) check or forced with a DC 13 STR check.
When opened there is a staircase that leads to the basement.
The Chapel
The lich has taken Cheyene, the wife of Pastor Bertrand, and
laid her on the altar. There the lich killed the divine child and
the mother bearing it. The lich left after sating its desire,
leaving a ghoul to feast on the remains. The ghoul now sits
perched on the altar eating the remains of Cheyene and the
child.
The chapel is not very large. A small altar on an elevated
platform and a total of six benches fill the room. two small
rooms, one leading to the basement and bell tower are left
and right of the entrance.
When the players enter the chapel, through the main door
or otherwise read
In what normally should be a small, simple and serene chapel
now unfolds a grueling scene. On the right side of the altar a
grayish feral creature with long limbs and claws is ravaging and
feasting on the legs of a woman. On the left of him, you see
the upper body of a woman her face contorted in terror and
pain.
When the players walk into the chapel through main doors
the Ghoul notices them and starts to attack them. The upper
body of the woman has been raised as a zombie. However it
has half its movement speed and Hit Points as well as a
permanent prone condition.
The woman wears a gold necklace inlaid with a gem worth
50 gold points
To the left of the entrance there is a small room, int it
stands a cabinet containing some supplies for ceremonies in
the church. As well as bookcase with religious and
philosophical books. A ladder leads up the second floor and
bell tower.
To the right of the entrance there is a small room
containing a coat rack and a barrel full of apples. There is
also a hatch leading down to the basement
The Basement
This is the workshop and kitchen of pastor Bertrand. He
works here on all kind of carpentry jobs for the villagers, He
mainly builds caskets for those that have deceased. There is
workbench, a small straw bed, a hearth, various boxes of
materials and piles of wood. When the characters enter the
room read
A small basement what seems to be functioning as a
workshop. In one corner a hearth, its fire crackling away, next
to it a bed. Various crates with working material are divided to
two sides of the room. You hear a soft whimpering. As you are
trying to locate where it comes from you see a trail of blood
leading to one of the crates in the corner. Where what seems
to be a detached hand tries to pry open the top of the crate.
The hand is has the stat block of a crawling claw and wont
notice the players until attacked. It is the hand of the oldest
son of pastor Bertrand, Ben. When his father fled towards
town he made a futile attempt to rescue his mother, after
which the ghoul cut of its of his hand. He has lost a lot of
blood and is in shock and having hallucinations. When
rescued he thinks the players are angels if they act nicely,
demons if they are rude. With a DC 12 medicine (Wis) check
the stump on his arm can be carefully bound and wrapped in
cloth or bandage. A simple healing spell will heal the wound
but not restore the hand. In both methods Ben remains in
shock untill he has finished a long rest.
The Second Floor
The second floor is a small space where one can stand only
upright in the middle. The room has multiple bedrolls on the
floor where the children and wife of the pastor sleep, in the
middle, in front of a window, is a desk. When they climb up to
the second floor read
An already small room is filled with crates and bedrolls. A small
desk is cropped up next to the only window. In front of which
another ladder goes up to the Bell tower.
The desk contains a journal from pastor Bertrand. Where he
talks over several entries on how he can sense divine energy
from his wifes womb. The journal is written in celestial. if one
of the players can read celestial read
17th of Spring; I am sure this time, when i was sleeping next
to her i could feel it. it emanates through and becoming
stronger. my child is blessed. I will need to take special care
for her. teach her all the ways, the proper ways. Hopefully the
others will accept her. But it doesn't matter, she is coming. All
we can do now is wait."
With a DC 10 investigation (Int) check, a hidden box
containing a bag of 22 gp, 55 sp, 74 cp and a small jade
worth 15 gp can be found behind a crate.
The ladder leads up to the bell tower
The Bell tower
Normally before certain ceremonies or when the sun rose the
bell would be rung. Currently the youngest boy, Ser, of pastor
Bertrand is hidden here. After hearing the screaming
downstairs and seeing his father run towards town through
the window he got terrified. He took a club from his father
that was on the second floor and then hid himself in the bell
tower, ready to strike anyone coming up the ladder. if a player
tries to climb up to the bell tower the boy will make an attack
while screaming loudly. Ser has -2 to hit and does 1d4-2(1)
damage, he rolls with disadvantage. He has the statistics of a
commoner. After the attack he drops the weapon and crawls
into a corner.
If the player reach into the bell tower read
A large copper bell hangs from the middle of this tiny room.
Through the large open windows you can see the moon shine
bright in the night sky. In a corner a small kid is pushing his
back against the wall, his hands and arms in front of his face
whimpering; "don't hurt me! don't hurt me!".
Conclusion
If the players rescue the two children and bring them safely
outside read
In the not to far distance they see a familiar figure
approaching. The children immediately recognize their father
and run closer hugging him. As you approach he looks at you
with a worried look that asks; "did she make it?".
If the Players killed his kids he asks where his family is.
When given the dreadful news he falls to his knees holds and
starts crying. Not long after he stands up and asks the players
to help him give a proper burial to the deceased. According to
Lathander traditions the dead are burried at sunrise. If they
agree, the players help working on digging a hole and
preparing a casket for the corpses. At approaching sunlight
the ceromony is started. When the first light of the sun hits
the scene read
"As life brings us light and joy. Death brings pain and sadness.
Now darkness has passed and new light will shine upon us. It
will strengthen us. The light will always resolve" As pastor
Bertrand is preaching the first rays of the morning sun are
hitting his back. The light reflects or refracts of. Bertrand was
never an ugly man, but in the morning light he seems pristine.
Then for half a second you see glowing wings grow on his
back, bright as the morning sunlight. In that moment pastor
Bertrand seems to be Divine. You blink and what you saw
seems to have disappeared.
If the players ask about his divinity he answers them honestly.
see introduction text above.
A plot hook
If you want to build further on one shot you can adapt this Credit
Image page 1 Pollux101 on DeviantArtc
one-shot to a plot hook. Instead of killing the baby the lich Cover art Nikitova Clients
steals it instead, using it for some ritual or because it is a Made Using the The Homebrewery
collector of strange things. It does so by performing a crude Author: Lucas Kuijpers
C-section sacrificing the wife but keeping the child alive, the
lich then dissapears back toward its lair. After the burial
pastor Bertrand will ask what the players are going to do
after this. If they don't say anything special he will ask them
to hunt and gather information on the lich for him. He can
feel that his daughter is still alive. He will stay behind, at least
for now. As he has to mourn for his wife and take care of his
sons. eventualy he can be used as a recurring character.
Becoming a paladin of lathander that seeks justice for his
family and wants to save his daughter.

The Chapel Map