'Tremors of Malbolge' Adventure

This thread is a continuation of the latest discussions at the Malbolge thread.

A summary of the events in Malbolge as described by the FC2:

The 3.5e Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells changes a few previously accepted facts about the Nine Hells of Baator. The most profound of these is the apparent, if utterly unexplained, death of the Hag Countess Malagarde, Lord of the Sixth, in an extremely gruesome fashion - she suddenly started screaming, grew to colossal proportions, and then exploded. The previously mountainous layer of Malbolge became a cancerous wasteland composed from the very body of its former mistress. The new ruler is none other than Glasya, daughter of Asmodeus, Lord of the Ninth and ruler of Baator.

While this is all very excitingly epic, it is left practically unexplained. What caused the Countess' death? Why did Asmodeus suddenly trust Glasya enough to grant her the layer? If Glasya was the agent of change, where did she possibly get the power to not only destroy a being of near-deity level power but also terraform an entire layer of Baator (keep in mind that Lords of the Nine do not share the same connection that Tanar'ri lords have with their layers)?

Finally, one great inconsistency, which can be used in our favor, is the fact that in FC2, the layers of hell are finite. Every planar knows that the only Outer Planar layers that even come close to being finite are the mounts of Gehenna, and even that isn't a sure thing.

Planewalkers add their two greens:

After much discussion in the above-linked thread, Duckluck and I started throwing around ideas for a way to not only reconcile the changes with previously established Planescape canon (avoiding as much "those primes don't know what they're talking about" excuses as possible), but also continue the story into the next chapter. To do this, we ended up designing an adventure around the subsequent events. We also decided that only a finite part of Malbolge is flat and hag-strewn, while the rest of the infinite plane remains mountainous. I'll summarize the adventure that we eventually came up with in the next section, but first let me say that although we are both pretty proud of the results, we would really like some feedback from some of you other Planewalkers, particularly regarding any lore we might have contradicted. So, without further ado, here's what we have so far:

'Tremors of Malbolge' (working title) Adventure:

Prologue: The adventurers are hired by a rich but clueless sod to rescue his addle-coved clueless daughter, a mid-level Paladin of , who decided to take it upon herself to clear not only the local decrepit church (with mandatory portal to hell) of devilish occupation but also the Nine Hells of Baator for good measure. Naturally, she didn't get very far and was captured by the first Baatezu that she encountered. They decided to keep the funny little thing for future entertainment. They also happen to be part of an army being marshalled by the deposed Baatezu noble Moloch, a squarish berk that got cheated out of his status as Lord of the Sixth by his then-consort, our favorite Countess. With her out of the picture, Moloch figures that he can easily overpower Glasya's still growing army and take the layer for himself. He still has a couple of hurdles to jump before he does, however. As the PC's go through the portal, they are faced with the insurmountable army and are quickly coerced into making a deal with Moloch, granting him service in return for their own lives, as well as the Paladin's.

Part 1: The heroes' first job is to travel to the Yugoloth's Tower Arcane in Chamada, the second furnace of Gehenna. Various encounters ensue (still to be written), but eventually they get there. Why? To strike a deal with the 'loths, who control the 'Teleport Without Error' granting entity Maeldur Et Kavurik, so that Moloch can once again leave Avernus, the first layer of Baator.

Part 2: Either because the 'loths request it of the PC's in addition to the unimaginable amount of jink that Moloch promises them or because a 'loth polymorphed into a dying prisoner asks them to save the multiverse by it, the PC's must deliver an artifact called 'The Hand of Fate' to an extremist group of celestials (either Asuras or Eladrin). With some effort (possibly Tanar'ri resistance), the package gets delivered. Rejoice and return to Moloch.

Part 3: PCs are unhappy to find out the fine print in their contract with Moloch, forcing them to do two more services in exchange for the Paladin. Damn those tricky devils to hell. This one, however, is a bit more straight forward. Head to a nearby keep and help its current lord and any of his guards to shuffle off the mortal coil. It is through this keep that Moloch plans on marshalling his army, since it has a handy portal to Malbolge.

Part 4: For their last task, the PCs are sent as the point-men into Glasya's territory to deliver a warning from Moloch. They could either go the direct route and deal with her army (making a deal to be let through, as they stand no chance in direct combat), or they could sneak around, encountering large numbers of Kalabons and other such unusual threats, before finally getting to Glasya to deliver the message. Note: We agreed to have Kalabons be creatures under the Countess' direct control, although she might have them pretend to obey Glasya for a while. She's not that dead, the old hag.

Part 5: Glasya captures the messengers and threatens to kill them unless they help her defend herself. To do this, she sends the expendables (aka the PCs) into Stygia to summon the aid of Levistus. If he refuses, she gives them a special exploding housewarming gift, given to her as a gift from the 'loths when she attained her new position, to raise hell. Levistus does refuse, and the subsequent demolition of a large chunk of his fortress results in a temporary portal through which countless Tanar'ri begin invading Baator in an attempt to capture Glasya. After all, having Asmodeus' daughter as a hostage is a nice ace to have in the Blood War.

Part 6: Returning to the now wartorn Stygia, Tanar'ri in close pursuit, the PCs discover that the Hag Countess is not a dead as they think. Although she herself is not present, a great legion under her banner is currently battling the combined forces of Glasya and Moloch, who teamed up in self-defense. The fourth army and third force, the Tanar'ri, enter the fray. Glasya sees that the situation is grim, so she hides Moloch's prisoner of war, the Paladin, and suggest the PC's help her get to the nearest portal out, else the Paladin gets it. Like any rich daddy's girl, she's planning on buying her way out. Namely, she plans on getting some reinforcements from the 'loths and retaking the layer from whomever wins the current skirmish. So, the PCs once again head toward the portal to Gehenna. Either on the way, or after the 'loths direct Glasya to a nearby portal to 'meet her troops', Glasya is overtaken by a group of celestials, the very same as to whom the PCs delivered the 'Hand of Fate'. They use the hand to entrap Glasya, and then send a small number to help the PCs go down and rescue any and all innocents in Malbolge, including the Paladin.

Epilogue: Just as the good guys are leaving, the ground begins to shake and terrible roars are heard from beneath the earth. Everybody is petrified. When the PCs deliver the Paladin and get back to Sigil, or wherever their base is, they hear from a trusted chant-monger that Malbolge is now strewn with large amounts of sharp bone and lakes of blood between the mountains. Not a single being was left alive, and Moloch's skull was found atop a pile of bones. It is rumored that the Ancient Baatorians rose up and caused the commotion, but that's probably screed, right? The Countess is still gone, but nobody knows where or why. Nergal has managed to crawl his way up out of Avernus and take the layer for his own. Nobody seems to want to challenge him, or indeed enter the layer. After a while, Asmodeus grants him the layer as his own and Nergal starts building up his followers. The 'loths give him a nice housewarming gift - a strange artifact in the shape of a hand. The celestials are rather quiet, though.

The Dark: The Countess wasn't dead. She had a deal with Asmodeus to be promoted to full Baatezu status in exchange for putting Glasya in her place and getting Moloch out of his hair in one fell swoop. So, the countess sheds her current form, making it look like death, and Glasya is given the layer by her daddy, who knows perfectly well that Moloch will soon try to take it. The 'loths have long planned for something like this, so they have somebody steal Glasya and then have the artifact, which is semi-intelligent and thus has a truename, teleport back into their hands when full, hitching a ride from Maeldur. However, it seems that the Countess had a deal with the Ancient Baatorians, whom she had discovered and was communicating with under the slopes of Malbolge. Thus, after becoming a Baatezu, she could advance to something greater with their help. They needed a dandy sacrifice, though, and about four armies should do it. Asmodeus thinks that she died with the rest of the rifraf, and decides to make the most of it by giving the vacant layer to Nergal, who is left forever in his debt. What happened to the Countess? Well, some darks are best left dark, cutter, at least for now. As for Glasya... well, Nergal's bound to find out what he has sooner or later. What he does with it is a completely different matter, not to mention whose debt he is really in, Asmodeus' or the 'loths.