Chapter 11: Sylvania

The one thing that's a little tricky is getting to Sylvania. As it stands there's not a huge pull to the gate town. We've set up some leads in Automata in the manifests, Valder's knowledge of the shipments from Curst, and the notes left in the Frostfell Cache. These clues are mysterious and not as immediately pressing as the distribution of the celestial weapons. If the characters need some extra motivation to go there, here's some potential ways to push it:

• Shemeshka conctacts them with info that R04M may have ventured through here. Secretly she's aware the plan for Sylvania isn't going off smoothly and wants to know why.
• Seed one of the characters' backstories with a plot hook that pushes them here.
• Velios, in a follow up encounter, lets slip that he's onto the ploy they setup in Sylvania. "Brilliant work, really, but I can see right through it."

Seeds of Conflict

The central scenario in Sylvania works well. A campaign-ending threat is on the loose in the gate town, and it's up to some clever role play to deflect their anger and stave off disaster. It can gel with Shemeshka's scheme with some revisions to the backstory, but I want to crank the stakes up and make the threat an obvious ticking time bomb.

Instead of Kopoha, the angsty empyrean, the characters need to calm down Raachaak, a disgraced balor who once served Arlgolcheir. Raachaak was imprisoned in Carceri after his demon lord's defeat, but the smuggler broke him out. Afterwards the arcanist enchanted him with a long term Geas spell. This ensured that Raachaak would serve them despite his chaotic nature. He's currently bound by the command, "Go to Sylvania and bring all the chaos you can muster. Make it appear that the demon princes of the Abyss are attacking the gate town. Do this until fear spreads throughout the Outlands. And whatever you do, don't compromise us or our plans."

Raachaak's Good Time

Once under the compulsion, Raachaak was smuggled to Sylvania via the Concordant Express. He immediately set to summoning demon reinforcements and fell upon the unsuspecting gate town...who would have none of it. The powerful fey creatures and quasi-deities charmed the whole lot of the bashers.

The lesser demons were dismissed and Raachaak remained charmed, so now he thinks he's friends with the denizens of Sylvania. The original Geas prevents him from leaving Sylvania. He is still compelled to bring chaos and summon other demons, but he doesn't want to harm his new "friends". He genuinely enjoys the chaotic revelry of Sylvania and for the first time in his life has time to contemplate the existential consequences of his actions.

Raachaak's Pain

This magical conflict has also tapped into Raachaak's innermost worries. His defeat and the loss of his demon lord has him questioning his self worth and his role in the Blood War and the entire hierarchy of demons. Much like Kopoha, he is experiencing several crises:

• Intense pressure from the expectations of the Abyssal lords.
• Jealousy over the rise of his brethren and other demon lords in his stead.
• Insecurity over sewing violence and chaos to climb the demonic ranks yet again.

This could be a turning point for Raachaak. He is literally a demon with a Geas dictating his actions, but at the same time, he's questioning whether he even wants to be a demon anymore. He's no longer upset at being charmed and is deep in contemplation of what it means to have free will.

Kicking off the Celebration

The characters should meet Raachaak in a similar manner to meeting Kopoha. Spiritor Danai and much of the populace of Sylvania once thought the demon was an amusing distraction, but their welcome is growing thin. If he is angered and loses his charms he will wreak great damage and destruction upon the town.

Raachaak will recognize the arcanist and view them neutrally, but he is not aware of the larger scheme. This provides an opening for the characters to guide him and assist him on his emotional journey. Every time they talk him down, he will soon grow despondent and seek out the next distraction to assuage the existential sadness that claws at him from within.

The Revels

We can run the celebrations listed in the adventure as written and sub in Raachaak. While celebrating, Raachaak's abilities are quelled. If there is a failure he becomes enraged and his Fire Aura ignites, inflicting a one time burst of fire damage and causing the surroundings to catch aflame. Each failure should come with increasing levels of violence: smashing buildings, calling lightning, etc. The townsfolk will grow more fearful. It should be subtle at ffirst, but grow worse until they are running away and hiding in fear. It should feel like the tension is rising each time.

Catastrophe. If these revels result in three failures, this causes Raachaak to sink into the pits of despair and self-loathing. It will break the charms put in place by the spirits of Sylvania, and he will summon three vrocks and a hezrou (as always adjust the balance of this encounter to match your party). This will fulfill Raachaak's Geas. He will fly off to seek solace with his inner turmoil (probably violently), leaving the characters to contend with the demons.

Once the characters have completed three of the celebrations, run the Widow's Henge to give them the chance to "disappear" the demon. Once Raachaak has outed his own inner demons it should pose an interesting moral quandary befitting the Planescape world.

Conclusion

The three conclusions to this scenario are still valid with some minor adjustments:

• Chance to Think. Instead of a sister, Raachaak will want to leave and find his own place in the planes, away from the chaos of the Abyss. He'll ask the characters to dispel his Geas or find someone who can. Note that this requires a Remove Curse, Greater Restoration, or Wish spell and may involve the characters confessing their involvement if they need outside help.
• Missing Demon. This can play out as normal. Spiritor Danai was hopeful that the demon could find enlightenment and joy, but they will still uphold the deal.
• Demon's Rage. Run the catastrophic ending of the revelry described above, except Raachaak rampages through Sylvania, bringing destruction and chaos. This will lead to Shemeshka and the prior incarnations' plans coming to fruition. The gate town will serve as an example of rising tension in the Blood War, and people across the Outlands will clamor for the tainted celestial weapons.

Whatever the conclusion, this fulfills the mosaic mimir's requirements. The memory is restored to the "correct reality" and any lingering questions about this part of the plot can be answered, barring implicating Shemeshka.