91b: Ribcage

Patarm 1st
entering purgatory

-

Experience: 1000 xp (77, 406 total)
The Malbolgian, 1600
RP Bonus, 1400

Treasure: n/a

Coin: -30gp (Renato, rooms)

Loot: Osyluth skull (Megaera), Osyluth stinger (Megaera)

New NPCs
Nibbler: Tiefling pickpocket of Ribcage with toothy spurts across his head and joints; stole Diana's dagger and some pocket change, but returned them and took a bribe from Megaera to uncover Mara's location.

Old Slinker (unnamed): An old human whose escaped the Furnace by hiding out in Ribcage, one of many 'Slinkers' hiding from the hellhounds intent on dragging them kicking and screaming to their proper torment. Boldy drank at the bar without fear given Asmodeus' Decree, which prevents any fiend whose entered the city from leaving.

The Malbolgian (dead): An obese bone devil from the Fourth Ring, Malbolge, hiding out from Asmodeus' cultists at The Black and Gold. He picked a fight with the party over a pack of smokes, one he didn't win.

The Avernian (unnamed): A golden devil-woman of exquisite body but over-sized, cumbersome head, native to the First Ring, Avernus, hiding out from Asmodeus' cultists at The Black and Gold. She informed the party that the Asmodeans were capturing fiends and killing half-bloods in attempts to usurp Hecate's church in the city.

The Baron (mentioned): The tiefling ruler of Ribcage, he's been placed under house arrest at Citadella de Barone by the Asmodeans, paralyzing the city's blackguards and ensuring the senate takes no actions against the religious coup.

Calypso Garadin: A nightshade-colored tiefling with long, curling copper horns, of marked beauty, she is a mid-level noblewoman of the influential Garadin merchant family and rival of the Baron. Her great uncles maintained a centuries-long feud with the Baron, but have very recently been swayed by the Asmodeans enough to place a devastating embargo on Ribcage, one that is now starving the populace. She has no real love for the people in their own right, but she sees no benefit in creating a city of emaciated corpses- not after all the work spanning generations, the subtle and delicate political maneuvering and coy deceptions she's so much more fond of. She enlisted the party's aid in assassinating the Asmodean leadership at The Temple of Darkest Secrets in hopes of restoring the status quo (a move that would allow her to gain much power, perhaps even leadership of the family).

Asmodeus (mentioned): Little is known of the Lord of the Nine, beyond the fact he lurks in Gehenna (the Helldark, to say the Underdark of Hell), a nexus of fiery caverns haunted by things even devils fear and which surrounds the Black Sun Nessus, the core of Hell where-in Hecate slumbers. For years it was thought this mysterious being was Hecate's protector, but very recently he has garnered a following and begun usurping Hecate's worship, overtaking her temples and assuming her worshipers, converting her very devils to his whim.

Regret: An erinyes of Megaera's flock guarding the Ivory Towers at behest of the Asmodean cult. She was once a devote follower of Hecate, but claims to have been shown the great lie- that Hecate is not real- and seen the truth behind things, that Asmodeus is the one and only lord of Hell.

Remorse: An erinyes of Megaera's flock guarding the Ivory Towers at behest of the Asmodean cult. She was once a devote follower of Hecate, but claims to have been shown the great lie- that Hecate is not real- and seen the truth behind things, that Asmodeus is the one and only lord of Hell.

Returning NPCs
Mara D'Amoria: The infamous and out-of-favor succubus witch, first thought to be seeking passage back to the Fourth Ring, may in fact be working against Asmodeus' cabal, one last task to prove her devotion and power to the sleeping goddess in search of an exarch.

New Hooks
Cabal of Asmodeus: The once-minor House Flamen has brought the word of Asmodeus to Ribcage, having orchestrated the religious-political coup of the entire city, manipulating the elders of House Garadin into a crazed embargo, usurping the Temple of Darkest Secrets as a home base and slaying all the half-blood clergy, placing the Baron under house arrest and stealing away fiends to be converted, not to mention casting a dire curse, Asmodeus' Decree, which prevents all fiends who have entered the city from leaving. Calypso explained the key to restoring order is in the death of the Flamen heretics, potentially with the help of a freed Baron.

Next Session
92b: The party must defeat two erinyes converts, then perhaps indulge a bit in the Ivory Towers before hunting down and killing the Asmodeus leadership- maybe free the Ribcagian Baron for his added support. And of course there is Mara, mixed up somewhere in this religious-political knot.