Burial Rights

Known facts: Ribcage is attached to the Mountains of the Spine -- the spine being
toward Baator. There is a line of previous gate-towns inside Baator, which have added to the size of the plane. The one before Ribcage is called Darkspine. Ribcage itself looks a lot like a ribcage. The core conceit of this adventure: What if it is one?

Known facts: Ribcage is attached to the Mountains of the Spine -- the spine being toward Baator. There is a line of previous gate-towns inside Baator, which have added to the size of the plane. The one before Ribcage is called Darkspine. Ribcage itself looks a lot like a ribcage. A lot
like a ribcage.  The core conceit of this adventure: What if it is one?
The Dark

The ancient body of some enormous being -- a power, or something of equivalent potency -- is slowly being pulled into Baator by the devils.  It's far too big to move whole and resistant to simple magics, so they've enlisted the unwitting help of mortals.  For centuries, they have been manipulating the Baator gate-towns to sit atop this corpse, which has long since taken the appearance of rock formations.  They then corrupt the gate-towns in turn, waiting until the gate-towns slip over so that they can make this corpse part of Baator piece by piece. The gate-towns in the valley that lay between the feet and legs have almost passed out of memory, and the town that sat in the hollow of the pelvis didn't remark on the topology much.  The arms and hands have passed notice as mere rows of hills outside of town.  Darkspine got its name partially because portents began manifesting as the devils' plans inched closer to completion; Ribcage is the most blatant appearance yet of the creature's body.

The last stage of the plan will be the most open: just Spireward of Ribcage, buried under a rock layer and ready to come to the surface during the turmoil surrounding Ribcage's crossover, is a town-sized skull, looking blankly toward the sky.  The next gate-town would sit inside this protective hull, with entry controlled from the natural archway formed by the hinges of the open jaw, the ridge of teeth forming a natural wall.  Once the new gate-town is situated here, it's only a matter of time before the devils corrupt it enough to pull it over, and the remains will be fully within Baator, under the devils' control.

Whatever the devils are planning with it, it can't possibly be good.  Something on the scale of Khin-Oin could hold enough power to tip the Blood War and ravage the entire Great Ring.  The magics of undeath required to manipulate such a thing are home territory for the devils, and the corpse of a deific being could well hold powers far more subtle than mere mayhem.

The Adventure

There are a number of ways this whole skein might come to the attention of the characters.  Since the hook is best suited for high-level characters, previous plots involving Baator or the devils could easily have dropped hints about the previous gate-towns, along with sage speculation on the possibility of literal skeletal remains.  Barmies, seers, and holy men might be spouting prophecies, such as "the skull will rise and fall, the dead lending great power to darkest hells."  Paracs himself, ruler of Ribcage, might stumble across the possibility in his search for a means to protect his position.  (Paracs seems like he would be an untrustworthy ally or patron, but the fact of the matter is he has no kind feelings for the devils and no desire to bring Ribcage across.  If getting rid of the skull means the devils won't care so much about snaring Ribcage, he'll be more than happy to assist the effort.)

     The party could be given orders from concerned Upper Planar organizations: priests of Osiris, especially, may have been having applicable visions, though servants of any god actively concerned with opposing the devils may sense the approaching culmination of the plot.  (Paracs can suitably be used as an initiator of the action for any group of planewalkers.  If the group is well-known, he heard of their reputations and sought them out.  If the group is low-profile, he's putting a premium on subtlety in the first stage and is looking for just such a set of investigators.  If the group is largely good, especially with ties to Arcadia, Bytopia, or Ysgard, their connections may prove useful if events move to the second stage.)

Stage One: Investigation

     At the moment, it's all speculation.  The party is recruited to head to the Outlands just Spireward of Ribcage, and set up camp to dig for evidence.  Characters with stonecunning, mining skills, or expert levels of Knowledge skills that might help them differentiate an enormous, fossilized bone skull from a natural, flat geological stratum will be useful here.  They're to keep as low a profile as possible.  Let the group get set up and make a note of whether they get noticed by anyone in a position to talk about the expedition later.
     It will take a couple of days of digging before the party hits paydirt.  If security was sloppy, word gets back to a baatific spy -- a male-appearing erinyes whose job it is to keep an eye on any prying investigators -- and he comes to take a look, posing as a trader on the road.  Advance the erinyes to level similar to the characters and note his high skills in Spot and Sense Motive; he will be looking for signs of trouble.  If the group concealed itself well off the road and has a convincing cover story, circumstance penalties to these skills are reasonable, and a good, innocent-looking rebuff (preferably including a disguised worksite) may lull him.  If security has not been sloppy, he doesn't notice at all until the group has advanced far in their work.

     A spectrum of outcomes are possible at this stage.  If the agent was completely blindsided, the devils have no response yet. Only a random encounter enlivens the dig time.  If the agent took notice late, he came to investigate: if he leaves emptyhanded, he only passes a report up the hierarchy, while if he suspects troubles he attempts to quickly arrange an attack that seems unrelated to Baator, casually passing word to a local band of brigands that there may be poorly-protected goods at the adventurers' camp for the taking; this would be a fairly easy encounter, and if the players leave any survivors the brigands will spill the word that they were so informed.  (The players may then take whatever action they wish regarding the agent, or Paracs would be willing to do so as well.)  If he took notice early but was substantially lulled, he would more subtly contact the brigands, who would not know where the information came from.  If he takes notice early and suspects the characters are trouble, he will have several days to head into the Outlands and use charm monster and telepathy to collect a sizable troop of fairly strong native creatures to organize into a strike force he then directs at the party, remaining shielded in anonymity.  To the party, this may appear merely to be a random attack, although the variety and ferocity of the creatures will be unusual.

Stage Two: Funeral Procession

     Assuming the party survived the agent's interventions and remained at their posts, they have located the skull and need to send word back to their sponsors.  If the sponsor is Paracs, he will request assistance from the other gate-towns and from servants of powers that would be interested in making a dramatic strike against baatific interests.  This classified message needs to be borne to some powerful cutters, swiftly, and with as few additional people informed of the nature of the mission as possible: thus, the PCs themselves make perfect couriers.  At the end of their trip, of course, they must convince good-aligned groups that a message from the lord of Ribcage is worth giving private audience for.

     Upper-Planar organizations with the resources needed begin with Arcadia.  Servants of Osiris encourage respect for the dead and would be willing to perform the rituals necessary to inter the entire town-sized skull in hallowed ground.  Dwarven clerics and petitioners are willing to lend their skills to the task of uncovering the entire skull quickly and arrange for it to be made mobile on a series of rollers.  For sheer strength of arms to protect the project, the Harmonium has the soldiers.  Two possible gates may allow the skull to be hauled into an Upper Plane, putting its final resting place well out of reach of the devils: the maelstrom gate at Glorium may be large enough -- if very tricky to navigate with a flotilla of cargo pontoons -- and the Master Trader can almost certainly allow the skull across -- quite possibly for an astonishing amount of jink, or a service from Paracs that Paracs may find guiltily unpleasant to pay.

     The baatezu won't be sitting quietly while this is going on, of course.  While the project is getting arranged with the Upper Planar groups' resources, the devils are preparing attacks on three fronts.

    First, there is sheer strength of arms.  GMs and players who enjoy mass battles may appreciate the logistics involved in protecting a large resource project very near enemy territory (Baator), itself connected to the field of play by a narrow pass (the gate) surrounded by third parties nominally loyal to the cause but of uncertain trustworthiness.  Players may run battles at the strategic level, arranging defenses in concert with the Harmonium and Paracs and repelling attack, or taking up arms and turning the tide when necessary.  The same can be employed on the long, slow trip across the Outlands (where the shortest trip to Tradegate or Glorium will pass through several magic-deadening areas close to the Spire, and may come across any number of peculiar obstacles on the way).

     Second, there is infiltration.  A great strength of good is the ability to come together in time of need, and quite a few groups are working together here.  However, neither Paracs nor the Harmonium like the other at all.  At least the two teams have a grudging respect for discipline in the other's ranks; any Ysgardian representatives have an entirely different personality conflict with the both of them.  If the erinyes from earlier hasn't been eliminated from the picture, he'll be happy to infiltrate the strategic ranks and incite as much strife as possible, hoping to collapse the project.  In this case, the PCs would be well advised to do their best to keep the peace.

     Thirdly, there is the chance of making an end run around the entire project.  Baator can flood Ribcage with human troops, attempting a takeover with the intent of instilling baatific law.  If Ribcage falls and nothing but the head is left outside Baator, diabolic rituals may be attempted to capitalize on the nearness of the connection.  If the skull is exposed, but unpopulated, and the gate can be drastically expanded, it might slip across (having no inhabitants to oppose the crossing) and complete the rite.  A good scenario for spellcasters who can spot the symbolic markings and acts of sacrifice being undertaken around the gate and in the vicinity, giving them the opportunity to thwart the devils' attempt to complete their plan.