Gallery of Agony

CharacterMortals can do all they want during their lives, but then they have to pay. He Who Judgeth knows the right torture for every sin and those who carry the Seed of Evil in their Heart will reveal it here.

Those who are unworthy - and most are - suffer eternally in the Gallery of Agony, for pain and torment is their fate. Those who are worthy will be chosen by The Punisher, and he will make them Demons and create a new place of Torture for them, where now they will be the ones to fulfill the sentence of He Who Judgeth. Those souls corrupted beyond corruption, these empty husks that have been sentenced only to a temporary torture and at its end still cry for the Traitor, are banished from the Gallery of Agony, so to sneak to the Jaunty Woods of Shallow-Brained Fools and seek a hiding place in the Ugly Light of The Traitor.

PowerLitat is the Lord of Sins, residing inside the Mountain of Past Delight, all the while inventing new methods of torture and creating planning how to overcome his eternal opponent, Iubar. The recent (from a divine point of view) event of Leguleius arranging the pact between the two foes is something Litat is still judging. Due to the pact, he is now only allowed to keep his own worshipers and those who followed no god in particular. All other mortal souls may only be tormented as much and as long as it befits the sins they have done; afterwards, they have to be given over to the god they worshipped.

As much as Litat hates this, he is overwhelmed by the joy the new subtlety in this divine conflict brings him. He knows that in the millennia before, Iubar was angry and extremely saddened about any soul that died in a battle; but now Iubar actively torments himself by passively observing how Litat tortures his own followers for every sin they have done. The first time since Litat became a god he is able to torment the one being he always wanted to suffer the most.

DescriptionA volcanic wasteland, the sulphuric, stinking land is constantly filled by screams and cries. No matter where an observer stands, he can see petty mortals that are tortured in indescribable ways by beasts at least as horrible as any tanar'ri (actually, some of them ARE tanar'ri who have chosen to serve Litat).

The cracked, black land shows much variation in its details. On the terrible, lava-spitting mountains and the flat, lifeless plains, gargantuan dark trees that bear no leaves grow besides endless pits of freezing steam, while the next hill is actually the terrifying mouth of an infernal beast. The sea of inner organs behind that is as alive as it seems, as this gory gibbering mass are the souls of mortals tortured in ways they cannot even scream anymore. No portals lead to the Gallery of Agony; the only way to reach it is the River Styx, which runs slowly through the whole layer. Wherever you go, the Styx is no more than a few miles away. The marraennoloths aren't allowed in this realm, though.

They have found ways to surround this layer, or give over their passengers to Litat's most powerful servant, Morios. This beast resembles a six-armed rotting ghoul wearing an armor of serpents, and his Ship of Skulls can bring a traveler to any point in the realm - though this point is, of course, defined by nobody else but Litat himself. The pitch-black sky of The Gallery of Agony is only lighted by the fires of the volcanoes and their (sometimes not entirely) dark smoke. No being that relies on air to survive can live here for more than a second, as noxious gases are all that is here to breathe. Countless caverns inside the volcanoes lead to places of torture even more horrible than those outside. It is impossible to travel here undetected, but surprisingly Litat accepts travelers and visitors relatively well.

Occasionally, a group of them doesn't return, but then again even an aasimon is known to have got out of here without a scratch. No one without a reason should visit Litat's realm, though. A price is set for any visitor; travel through the realm to reach another place is available for a few hundred thousand gold pieces or two dozen souls, while those who enjoy pain can observe this realm for a day for a few hundred souls. He can even watch Litat’s servants torment these souls if he wants. Visitors, who come here without any reason, or unable to pay the price, can expect to find themselves besides the poor souls tortured here, though. In any case, it is always Morios who bargains with visitors. No one, except maybe Morios himself and Iubar, has ever seen the Lord of Sins, He Who Judgeth in the Mountain of Past Delight.

Special ConditionsThe Abyssal influences on magic work here normally, but spell keys are especially hard to get. Only a few of the beasts serving Litat know of some, and convincing them to tell this knowledge is about as hard as talking with the Lady of Pain.

The toxious air kills any non-protected breathing being in an instant, transforming it into another tortured soul in less than a day. Even beings that are protected from this suffer a loss of one point of constitution each day from this poisoning; this affects even creatures usually immune to poison, such as tanar’ri. The constitution is recovered at a rate of one point per week of living in "normal" environment (depending on the being, of course). Morios can protect any being from these effects. Whoever approaches him with the wish to serve Litat (and Morios has an easy time finding out any lies!), or whoever offers him a bribe high enough, will be granted this protection, at least for some time.

Tanar'ri are rare in this Abyssal realm; instead, direct proxies of The Punisher fulfill their horrible tasks at the places given to them, hoping to one day get an even greater place to torture. Each of these beasts is unique, their powers and might varying greatly. The lowliest among them (also being the most common ones) can be compared to least tanar'ri, and usually have only a single feature of the plane under their command, such as the Seven-Headed Serpent Ssihreiya who rules over the Pool of Brain (which is about fifteen feet in diameter). Others only help more powerful proxies with their tortures; these proxies can be compared to lesser and greater tanar'ri. They oversee places as large as a small valley or as great as a whole kingdom. Only the most powerful proxies, though, which can be compared to true tanar'ri in power and wickedness, torment the mortals in the endless caverns inside the volcanoes, inventing tortures that would make a pit fiend become sick.

Besides these, there are the Seven Torturers, proxies that are powerful enough to call them quasi-gods. They roam the Gallery of Agony, providing some unimaginable surprise-tortures to the petty souls that meet them (as if their mere presence wasn't more torture a mortal can take, anyway!). These souls will never leave this place again, for they are shattered and bursted, yet still not relieved. It is a good thing for those mortals who worship Iubar or Leguleius that they are due to the pact protected from these unimaginable creatures...

Principal Nonplayer CharactersThe Seven Torturers are beyond description; whoever meets them will not be able to tell the tale to anyone... Morios, as horrible as he is, is the first being any visitor to the Gallery of Agony meets. He is even more powerful than the Seven Torturers, for would one of them be able to take his place, he would have done it since a long time. He will not aid any travelers freely, nor ever show any mercy. But he will fulfill his deals, and for the right price, about anything is possible. Even the freedom of a particular person could be bargained, but the price paid will bring infinitely more suffering to SOMEONE - not necessarily the bargainer, though (that is, to free one soul, countless others have to be given away).

The creature Morios isn't one of many words; his terrifying voice isn't used more often than needed, and Morios doesn't say anything at all without being paid for it.

ServicesThose who delight in torture can find countless delights here, although it might be possible to get the same for a lower price somewhere else. But Morios also accepts many other deals: A Mage who needs the living heart of a good-aligned petitioner might be able to get it (if the petitioner didn't worship any deity), and the toxic air of the Gallery of Agony can be kept in containers for various needs as well.

Occasionally, Morios allows a group of adventurers to try freeing a companion who ended up here. This turns out to be a horrible hunt from which the adventurers nearly never return. If a group really manages to get out alive of this layer, they aren't pursued - despite all his vile and abhorrent nature, Morios always keeps a sealed deal.