20 Dressings for a Fane of Good
A fane of good is a beautiful and uplifting place for characters to admire and explore. Many small touches and features mark a fane of good as a benevolent locale and sanctuary for adventurers and worshippers alike.
Add depth and flavour to your fane of good, with these 20 pieces of dressing:
A scent of some kind of floral perfume pervades the fane. Breathing the aroma for more than a few minutes can cause mild euphoria, but also—perhaps—sneezing, wheezing and a dry hacking cough that persists for some time after the character has left the area.
An effigy of a sizeable holy symbol is set into the floor. Investigating further reveals a secret compartment that once contained sacred tomes and objects, together with a recess that once held some form of key to open something elsewhere.
A cone of sunlight shines into the fane’s undercroft through cracks in the ceiling. The light illuminates a faded holy icon set into the floor. Investigation reveals the holy icon has been here from ancient times and was part of a long-forgotten fane of good that stood on the same site. Fragments of vestments and old robes still hang from rusted hooks on the walls.
Wind chimes gracefully ring out in the calm, soothing breezes blowing through this room.
Hollows in the fane's walls show elements of where sconces had once been. Further investigation reveals a soft leather pouch containing an elaborately carved silver candle holder (perhaps worth 25 gp to the right buyer) hidden in one of the hollows.
A silken cloth lies on the ground, emblazoned with a holy icon. On closer investigation, a trace of blood can be seen on one corner, as though it had been used to recently clean a dirty sword blade.
An empty holy incense jar lies in one corner of the room. Its silver cap and fine workmanship make it worth 5 gp.
The sweet sound of an angelic voice permeates the room. Regardless of how perceptive the party are, they can never discover where the voice is coming from.
A small circular basin adorned with angelic icons catches water running down the room’s central pillar. Characters searching the basin find a small black gem (an onyx worth 5 gp), 3 sp and 5 cp.
The charred remains of an old religious book lie in plain sight in an old fireplace. If magically restored in some fashion, the book reveals the story of an adventuring crusade of the holy order, together with some handwritten “field” notes at the back of the book.
The way forward to a private section of the fane is through an ornate old marble door with a prominent holy symbol carved into its face. The door is locked.
Some vintage bottles of red wine lie forgotten on the fane's lowest level. The wine has aged well and is really nice to drink.
One wall of the fane depicts several views of an elaborate religious ceremony held under a starlit sky and crescent moon. The stars and crescent moon glimmer enticingly—the artist used crushed silver in the paint.
A fresco shows druids performing a sacred ceremony under some standing stones; several animals—of surprising types—stand around watching the druids. Careful examination of the scene reveals the animals are actually participating in the ceremony.
A stone chessboard on a pedestal sits in the middle of the room. It has granite white and black chess pieces. The white pieces depict prominent saints and the like while the black pieces depict devils, demons and powerful undead.
An ornate, but now faded, sigil of the fane's divine patron is emblazoned on the fane's ceiling. The sigil covers almost the entire ceiling, but is in need of repair. The original artist used bright colours, but the pigments are now faded and peeling.
Some relics captured in various crusades are displayed in alcoves around the fane's walls throughout the structure. Each has an inscription describing what they are, where they were found and who found them.
A lit candle is burning in an angelic style gothic candle holder on a nearby fane wall. Observing the candle reveals the candle doesn't melt as it burns. The candle cannot be snuffed out—it has been treated with a magical light spell and will keep burning until the candle disintegrates with age.
Some gold and silver coins, stamped with the symbol of the fane's order, lie amid the detritus at the bottom of an old, weathered fountain. The fountain’s subterranean pipes are blocked and water no longer flows to it.
A large moonstone is set into the fane’s wall, near the altar. Touching the moonstone causes it to change colour depending on the character's mood. The stone changes to a sapphire colour if the character is happy and content, while those of greater emotional turmoil will show (in order), lapis (blue), turquoise, jade, topaz or amber and, for the foulest mood, onyx black.
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This is an extract from 20 Things #66: Fane of Good by Simon Butler.
Design Simon Butler Art William McAusland