Innocence Lost

INTRODUCTION

Death of Innocence is a (relatively) small town in Niflheim, the second layer of the Gray Wastes. In this town, the wasting effects of the Glooms seem less, more bearable. It has been the salvation of many a planewalker seeking shelter, and it gives the people who live there half a chance for happiness in the gloomiest place in the multiverse. Naturally, it annoys the natives no end. The yugoloths hate it.

-Two exceptional piscoloths-

Everywhere you find evil, someone once said, you find yugoloths. Of course, this is unusually paranoid, given the sheer amount of evil in the multiverse it hardly seem likely that the yugoloths are behind it all. Yet, one never knows with the 'loths. Tsaarn and Rrutter are piscoloths who are unusually... creative... for their type. For plots like the one they have hatched together, you usually would expect to find at least an arcanoloth, or even an ultroloth (although there is no need for profanity). Tsaarn and Rrutter have decided that they can't stand the sanctuary of D.o.I. (Death of Innocence) anymore....yet they have nowhere near enough mezzoloths to attack it. Besides...direct assault isn't their style. They decide to let outsiders to all the work for them.

-Brave bloods needed...preferably of 'good' alignment-

The two piscoloths change their forms into something pleasing to the eye, then they go to the Cage to find suitable people for the job. Suitable people = powerful and clueless. The PCs may learn of them in a number of ways. They might hear of a mercenary job that pays unusually well (not that the 'loths ever intend to pay...), or they might hear a plead for help, and do the mission for free out of the nobility of their souls. The story they will be given goes something like this: There is a village of fiends in the Gray Waste, called the Death of Innocence (or another name, if the PCs have heard of the place...), an evil place of the vilest nature. Sadly, it is located near a portal to our home world. The fiends have been coming through in large numbers to capture the innocent people of the outer regions of our civilization for an unknown, but doubtlessly evil, purpose. We only recently came to this....Sigil...(they pronounce it 'Sidjil') because our prophet told us we could find help here to save our kinsmen. Will you help us defeat this threat? Actually, a few 'kinsmen' of the 'loths are being held in the town prison. Three mezzoloths who, under commands from the piscoloths, attacked and killed a few citizens. They await execution for their crimes. During the course of the entire adventure, Tsaarn and Rrutter will maintain a powerful illusion, using both their natural abilities and Tsaarn's considerable magic skills, that will portray the townspeople as ugly fiends, and themselves and the mezzoloths as exceedingly pretty. If the PCs ever see through the illusion, they will simply claim that 'the fiends are using illusions to fool you', begging them to try and disbelieve them. If they do try to disbelieve the 'illusions' the fiends will seem to be telling the truth...after all, if you believe you are seeing an illusion, in the planes, you might be right.

-The Village-

Death of Innocence is hardly defenseless. The PCs have to be quite powerful to be able to succeed in any sort of assault, even with the yugoloths helping them. The 'loths realize that the village probably won't be destroyed, but beg the PCs to cause as much harm as they can, so 'the fiends won't attack us again anytime soon'. Their delight in seeing the PCs attack and kill what they believe to be fiends is uncanny. They try to make the illusion disguise the reaction as righteous tears of joy, but they're still pushing it. The PCs should have a fair chance to discover what they are doing...but not an obvious one.

-Conclusion-

If the 'loths are discovered at any time, they will waste no time and flee. They will try to teleport away, but since that is unlikely to work (only 25% chance of working in Niflheim), they will try to shapeshift into something with wings and fly away. The citizens of D.o.I. will realize soon enough that the PCs were tricked, and in stead of killing them, try to capture them alive. The yugoloths, if caught, will be killed after questioning. They won't go down without a few threats, though. Unless the PCs escape they will stand trial in D.o.I., answering for what they have done. Lawful PCs should feel the need to answer for their crimes. Good PCs should feel terrible about the whole thing, wishing to make amends for what they did. The result of the trial depends both on how much damage they did, and of the PCs reaction to the whole thing. For example, if they were caught only after a struggle, the people will hold that against them. And if the damage they did was mostly to property, in stead of killings, they will simply need to help rebuild. It all lies in the hands of the DM, but the PCs will probably think twice the next time a stranger asks them to wipe out a village, with only his word and the ugliness of the villagers as proof of evil.