St. George’s Church, a Temple of Eos

St. George’s Church sits close by the Dead Pony Inn in the small town of Bree. Its whitewashed stone exterior and cedar shingled roof project a sense of calm and stability in the frontier town. The doors are never locked except in dire circumstances. Stained glass windows fill the church with a spectrum of color in the daylight and votive candles provide a warm glow to the interior during the night.

The interior of the church has a round central room with dark hardwood floors, whitewashed walls, and a lofty ceiling. The central altar is adorned with white linen and a single chalice sits in the middle. Near the door is a small wooden poor box. There’s no lock on it, yet thefts from the church are very rare. Mother Patience welcomes all people that come through the church doors. The sick, hungry, and even the lost can find some comfort within this sanctuary. The Reverend Mother is less a preacher of words and more a practitioner of her faith. She follows the holy path of Eos.

St. George’s Church is a place of worship for many in the town of Bree. The church was destroyed by fire over thirty years ago, but the townsfolk came together to rebuild the church stronger than before. Mother Patience was just a young novitiate at that time. She left her abbey to return to Bree, for Bree had been savagely attacked by gnolls from the north. Heroes gathered repelled the forces of chaos once again. The light was near extinguished in the town of Bree, but Mother Patience brought her light back to the town, inspiring others to stay and rebuild. She let others take up lance and sword.

Mother Patience devoted her life to caring for the sick and poor. Her god, Eos, saw the path this young woman was travelling and shone a holy light upon it. Mother Patience was blessed with powers of healing. She took charge of building the new church of St. George. Being on the borderlands did little for her career in the church hierarchy, but she was never desirous of that. Hers was a life of contemplative prayer and serving her flock.

Mother Patience is very wise and knowledgeable about the people in and around Bree. Almost every person under the age of thirty was midwifed by her. Many others, soldiers, farmers, knights, and knaves, were tended by her healing arts. She never asked for anything but a small offering to the church in coin or service.

Three things about Mother Patience

1. Her father was a commoner, a simple farmer of Bree and her mother was from a nobleman’s family to the south.
2. Her mother sent her away to a convent when she was a small girl.
3. Her grandfather, a nobleman, once hard hearted towards her daughter’s illegitimate child, grew to love her.

[Ok, I lied…I need to add more to this character]

4. Her grandfather, so moved by his grand daughter’s devotion to Eos, made a vow to protect her. Because of this, it has been a tradition for one of the family’s sons or daughters to take up the mantle of Templar of Eos, a holy knight with vows to protect the church…and in this particular case, the Reverend Mother.

[This would be an excellent way for the players to start their player character as a relative for Mother Patience. They could use St. George’s church as their base.]

Other NPCs at St. George’s…

Bennett Hastings is a middle aged man who is devoted to working for the church. He is the gardener and handyman.

Gertrude Hastings, Bennett’s wife, runs the household operations. She cooks and cleans and helps with the orphans.

St. George’s has hospital beds for about a dozen people and a residence for Mother Patience, her staff, and currently three orphaned children.

A young Templar-in-training resides here. He is a noble from Mother Patience’s family. His name is Jules D’armond, young, naive, and reckless. The Reverend Mother has her hands full keeping him out of harm.

Healing herbs are in abundance here. They can be purchased for 5 silver pieces per bunch (dose). The Reverend Mother will advise users of the herbs to brew a tea with it to curb the possible adverse affects. Failing to do so will still heal the user (1 point) but they will need to make a saving throw to avoid sickness.

Healing oils (usable by clerics) can be purchased here for 7 silver pieces and are available 3-in-6 chance.

Healing potions (usable by all) are available in limited quantities 2-in-6 chance and will cost 250 silver pieces per dose. The potions are time consuming and expensive to brew, but effective. One dose heals 1d6+1 hit points. Mother Patience may have one or two potions to give PCs if she feels they are doing a great service to the church.

[Note–my Bree campaign uses the silver standard.]