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Culture Documents
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?
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.)