Session Zero: Faith and Communities (Patreon)

To set expectations, I'm developing Threshold as I would any campaign, which means there are details I'm developing in collaboration with the players—which is to say, you—but also details that I am establishing myself. There are secrets I want you to discover in play, and NPCs I have plans for. So I'm asking questions on points that are flexible, but there is an underlying plan. Threshold is in the domain of Count Thavius ir’Blis, Shield of the Graywall. It is on the northeastern edge of the Graywall Mountains, built on the foundations of an old Dhakaani city. House Orien has taken an interest in the town, as it considers running a rail into Droaam. It's still a small town largely driven by Byeshk mining—but there are hopes that it will grow and flourish as the last Brelish town before Graywall. 

With that in mind, I'm squeezing two questions into this next poll. 

In the previous poll, we established that the primary religion of the town is a Sovereign Variant. Now, this doesn't mean that the town as a whole is devoted to the faith. It means that a group of people of this faith helped found the town; that it has a well-established church and a popular preacher; and that it is a faction to be reckoned with in local politics. But at most a third of the townsfolk are tied to this faith, and there's lots of room for people with other beliefs (or no time for faith). With that said, the choice of this faith does answer a question as to why did these people come here? What is their vision for Threshold? With that in mind, I'm offering three choices. 

• The Three Faces of Coin are Kol Korran, Onatar, and Kol Turrant, also known as the Keeper. They believe that people should always be able to get the things they want, whether that involves industry, honest trade, or smuggling. If Threshold is a Coin town, people will be committed to the dream of building it into a thriving city through trade with Droaam, but you can also expect it to be a haven for smugglers with a thriving black market.
• The Three Faces of War are Dol Dorn, Dol Arrah, and Dol Azur, also known as the Mockery. The cult is traditionally found in the armies of Galifar. The primary reason for War to support a town right on the edge of a contested border would be to defend that border and, potentially, encourage a Brelish effort to reclaim Droaam. If Threshold is a War town, it will be strongly defended and people will be ever ready for Droaamite aggression—and potentially keen to test the strength of their neighbors.
• The Three Faces of the Wild are Arawai, Balinor, and Shargon, also known as the Devourer. This cult celebrates the bounty of the wild, embracing hunting and agriculture, but also knows that Shargon must have his due. If Threshold is a Wild town it will have well-developed agriculture and a strong tradition of hunting, along with events and sacrifices to placate the Devourer.

Second, I want to identify a few significant elements of the population. Where do the people of Threshold come from? For the most part they're Brelish pioneers, but there may be some specific sub-communities within this. For example, I'll tell you that there is a small community of kobolds—a local clan that Orien has hired, who live on the edge of town and practice the Cazhaak faith. But other options include Brelish veterans, soldiers who served Count ir'Blis during the war and have been granted land for their service; City goblins, who've left Sharn in search of opportunity; Cyran refugees, offered a stake in these wild lands by King Boranel; Displaced Settlers, Brelish who once lived further west but were driven from the Barrens by Droaam; or Khoravar, a few half-elf families keen to build a foundation. YOU CAN VOTE FOR AS MANY OF THESE AS YOU WANT; it's not that they are mutually exclusive, more that I'm interested to see which, if any of these, catch people's interest. 

The poll will run for two days - Thanks for your support!