I haven't written this up yet.
Bresshire is the province immediately to the east of the Megalopolitan Desert. The River Trattaighora flows through it in a generally westwards or southwestwards direction.
Bresshire is mostly woodland. Further to the east, there is deciduous forest. Bresshire is deemed to end at the point where the woodland turns into forest. No two people agree exactly where that is, but there is general agreement that the Temple of Mielikki, a long way to the east, is not in Bresshire.
As Bresshire does not include wilderness, the provincial governor appointed by the Megalopolitan Knights, Sarzinotakis, is an administrator rather than a warrior.
[AD&D-Specific] Sarzinotakis, provincial governor of Bresshire, human male. Str 9 Dex 17 Con 18 Int 15 Wis 8 Cha 16 Align LN Hp 73 Thief, level 16.
The provincial capital of Bresshire is Cychinfur-in-Bresshire, where the River Ceddisel flows into the River Trattaighora.
Both rivers start several hundred miles further east and for a while flow in parallel in a generally westwards direction. Somewhere along the line, the River Ceddisel sweeps around, and by the time it reaches Cychinfur-in-Bresshire its direction is more southwards than eastwards.
Even twenty years ago, Cychinfur-in-Bresshire was little more than a trading post. Nowadays, it is a flourishing city.
From Cychinfur-in-Bresshire, there are regular riverboats upriver and downriver along the River Trattaighora, and slightly less regular riverboats upriver along the River Ceddisel.
The River Ceddisel crosses the border between Selitionornacticold and Bresshire somewhere near the town of Mestraken. Exactly which side of the border Mestraken is on is open to dispute. Harecal Nedary, governor of Selitionornacticold, says it is on the Selitionornacticold side of the border. Sarzinotakis, governor of Bresshire, says it is on the Bresshire side of the border.
To make matters worse, the townsmen of Mestraken pay their protection money not to either province but to Aurelius, whose home, the Mirror Mansion, is closer to Mestraken than either Selitionornacticold Castle or Cychinfur-in-Bresshire.
The way Harecal Nedary draws the borders, the Mirror Mansion is also in Selitionornacticold. Nedary knows that he cannot afford to press the point as he needs his fighting men in the north of the province, defending it from monsters, rather than in the south, tied up in a border dispute with his neighbours.
Sarzinotakis has made no claim to the Mirror Mansion and does not have anywhere near as many fighting men at his disposal as Harecal Nedary does. But he doesn't have a wilderess border to defend, so he has fewer distractions and more time to consider his next move.
Sarzinotakis has a never-ending problem. Bresshire is where the crops are grown which feed Megalopolis. As the population of Megalopolis continues to expand, Bresshire must also continue to expand its cultivated area, or Megalopolis will starve. More and more of Bresshire must change from woodland to farmland, and the boundaries of Bresshire must continue to expand into the forests to the east.
The problem is that rangers and druids and other undesirable tree-hugging dissidents object to this. They must be suppressed. Sarzinotakis is finding that suppressing people like Vladimir and Qurmit the Frog isn't easy.
Hedonism, as practised by the Priests of Hedon, is a chaotic evil religion which involves all the usual depravities, including sex, drugs and rock and roll. Everyone outside the cult, from the most virtuous paladin to the most disgusting necromancer, agrees that Hedonists are a menace and should be slain on sight.
Sarzinotakis's daughter Ferilluxi (the name means bright as fire) has disappeared. He has received word that she has been kidnapped by Priests of Hedon. There is a reward for her safe return, and everyone, from the most virtuous paladin to the most disgusting necromancer, wants to claim it. A few of them might even care about Ferilluxi's well-being.
There are a lot of conflicting motives here, and not all of them are to do with the adventuring parties currently scouring Bresshire. Are you listening carefully?
Sarzinotakis just wants his daughter back, regardless of the cost. The cost might turn out to be higher than he thinks, as the Bresshire economy cannot support all the adventuring parties currently scouring the province. If the province's economy fails, or if (even worse) there is a rebellion, he will be out of a job.
The common people of Bresshire are getting tired of all the adventurers who have descended on their towns and villages. They will not rebel (they know what the Knights of Megalopolis do to rebellious provinces) but there may be outbreaks of non-violent direct action (strikes, protests, and the like).
Ferilluxi has converted to Hedonism. She likes sex and drugs. She even likes rock and roll. She has become a Priestess of Hedon and is rising in level very quickly. She does not want to go back to her boring father.
The High Priest of Hedon and his evil minions want to spread the faith. That is, after all, their job. But they are getting worried about Ferilluxi. At the rate she is progressing, it will only be a matter of a few months before she equals the High Priest in level. It is, the High Priest thinks, high time she was sacrificed to his deity. He plans to do this at the next festival day in their religious calendar (I don't know when the Hedonists hold their festivals, so set this whenever you think is best to add an appropriate time limit to the adventure).
Hedon (the deity) naturally wants His faith spread, and thinks that Ferilluxi, with her enthusiasm and ability, might do this better than the existing High Priest. Other things being equal, Hedon would rather have Ferilluxi in charge than the existing High Priest. Naturally, if the High Priest succeeds in sacrificing Ferilluxi, Hedon will accept this as a sign of his devotion, and raise him by one level. Conversely, if Ferilluxi manages to turn the tables on the High Priest and sacrifice him in her place, she will be rewarded with the extra level.
Ferilluxi knows that a festival is due, but not of the starring role in it that others have planned for her. But she is not stupid. If heroic adventurers turn up to rescue her, she will play along and try to turn the situation to her own advantage.
The DM should arrange matters such that it is the player characters, and not any of the other groups of adventurers scouring Bresshire, who stumble across the Temple of Hedon - whatever cunning plan they come up with is something that none of the other parties has thought of. What they do then is up to them.
The Temple of Hedon is relatively recent (construction started when the current High Priest reached 8th level), so there are comparatively few tricks and traps. It is defended by its residents, who include the High Priest and all the henchmen and followers one would expect for someone of his level.
The High Priest and his associates have the usual magical items one would expect for people of their level, but nothing extraordinary.
Next to the altar, there are two books. One is the sacred text of Hedonism. This should be destroyed on sight (if the player characters do not do this, they make enemies of everyone from the most virtuous paladin to the most disgusting necromancer). The other is a copy of the Book of Nonsense, the sacred text of the world of Tsing. Neither has any magical properties.
Note that this adventure could easily end with the player characters enslaved by the High Priest and/or Ferilluxi (using their charm power, as described below). If this happens, they will be rescued in due course, as and when another adventuring party finds the temple.
Another possible outcome is that everyone (Sarzinotakis, Ferilluxi, the High Priest, the common people of Bresshire and the other adventuring parties) blames the player characters for their various misfortunes. The player characters might be well advised to do a runner rather than hang about in an attempt to claim any reward they think may be due to them.
[AD&D-Specific data follows:]
High Priest, human male, Str 12 Dex 15 Con 14 Int 12 Wis 15 Cha 18 Align CE Hp 54. Cleric, level 9.
Ferilluxi, human female, Str 11 Dex 12 Con 15 Int 14 Wis 16 Cha 18 Align CE Hp 49. Cleric, level 7.
Priests of Hedon are chaotic evil in alignment. They may use edged weapons but may not wear armour. They cannot turn or command undead. They can turn paladins.
The granted power of Priests of Hedon is a form of charm: the victim he/she is overcome by sexual desire for the priest and will do whatever the priest asks him/her. The power may be used as often as is desired, but only against one person at a time. All the usual "turning" rules apply (e.g. it may only be used once per priest per victim in any encounter). It uses the same combat table as evil priests turning paladins (I think there is a bug in the published table so there is an amended version below). There is no immediate saving throw and dispel magic does not cancel the effect, but dispel charm does cancel the effect and wisdom defensive bonuses vs charm and elven and half-elven resistance to charm do apply. Its duration is unpredictable (duration as for charm person). Paladins are not affected by the power (they are turned instead).
In this scenario, only the High Priest and Ferilluxi are high enough level to use this power:
| Paladin / Victim level: | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10+ |
| High Priest (roll d20 to turn paladin/seduce victim): | A | A | A | 4 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 20 | - |
| Ferilluxi (roll d20 to turn paladin/seduce victim): | A | 4 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 20 | - | - | - |
If you want to introduce further adventures with higher-level priests of Hedon as the bad guys, it is easy to extrapolate from the table I have listed.