What would the 69th layer of the Abyss be like?

[Lordnightshade]

If you are one of my players, do not read this!!



I need your creative help here guys, my high level group has to go to the 69th layer of the Abyss, and rescue a woman who has been turned to stone there and trapped in a garden of screaming (as per the prophesy: See the following links for the prophesy)

http://www.derluin.i-p.com/Prophesyire1.jpg
http://www.derluin.i-p.com/Prophesyire2.jpg

Now, the 69th layer of the Abyss is not detailed anywhere, and that’s why I chose it for the home plane of Anomaly the EVIL goddess of love. So what would an evil goddess of love shape her plane to look like? Would it just be a massive roman style orgy that goes on for an eternity? Would there be lots of naked writhing bodies and plenty of bondage going on? What kinds of Rat Bastardly hazards would be there? I want things that embody the twisted and evil side of ‘love’ such as lust, jealousy, infatuation, etc.

Here is a picture of the goddess (In one of her many forms) that I painted to inspire you:

*Edit: WARNING: the following picture contains nudity

http://www.derluin3e.i-p.com/color/Anomalycolorb.jpg

Also I would need to know other important things, like how would magic be affected on this plane? What spells would work? What wouldn’t? What would be twisted to work some other way?

I especially need to know how I am going to deal with the fact that my party can Scry this stone woman they have to rescue, then plane shift to the 69th layer and then teleport to where she is, and then plane shift back home. Really if they are allowed to do that then it will be way too easy for them. How can I deal with this? I want something really creative here!

So let’s hear your ideas…

 

[LostSoul]

"Twisted" love needs to start off with some kind of love in the first place, no? Try and find out what each of the Players/PCs cares about. Then see if you can get each player to play up thier own version of love gone wrong. A barbarian might Rage on the thing he loves. Somebody else might be really jealous. Another character might become very insecure.

If you want to do "lust", the consequences will come on the "morning after". During the moment, the PCs will be enjoying themselves. So much so that they forget all responsibility.

I guess there are a lot of different ways you can handle this. Especially if your group is able to deal with everything.

 

[taotad]

Fascinating subject.

The first thought to leap into mind is sado-masochism. It should probably have some element in the layer.
If you run the Abyss as a place of sin and punishment for transgressed goodness, then maybe this is not the best way however, since all the petitioners led those ways when they lived.
Here are some situations you can throw at the players as they move the plane:

- Strong men being bound helpless and raped by weak women eternally.

- Woman born of lust; bound, gagged and stabbed with eyes forced open to eternally watch two lovers behind a curtain.

- A person locked in eternal orgasm. (quite painful in RL I've heard)

- Two sinful lovers locked into eachother in the 69-pattern.

- The more typical demon-obscenities.

- A city where everybody lust eternally for their neighbors wife, but everybody has lost their sexual potency. Imagine when a couple of viral PC's comes into town...

- If your world sees homosexuality as a sin then there should be alot of things focused on that.

This sick thought-train is taking me much farther then the confines of this messageboard will tolerate...

Scrying this plane shouldn't work that well. After all it's a bad lust-punishment-plane if it let's you have the thing you desire!
Divert the players and tease them by sending them into the dream of a demon when they scry after the object.

Spellkeys:
- Fondling yourself?
- Passionate kiss followed by murder of the kissed?
- Coating yourself in the blood of a virgin?

I'll stop here. Tell me if you want more.

 

[nopantsyet]

Fascinating subject.

Scrying this plane shouldn't work that well. After all it's a bad lust-punishment-plane if it let's you have the thing you desire!

Scrying could show them their fantasies being fulfilled but that's part of the deception because when they get there it is corruptions of their fantasies.

 

[Crothian]

Very interesting. THe above ideas are good. I'd gmake enchanment and illusions very powerful. Seeing what one wants to see and not what is actually there plus losing one's mind to the impulses of lust are good qualities. Divination might be banned period. Lust is hard to predict.

There are many ways you can go and you might want to at least show the PCs some of the darker sides of lust and sex. Not just the above suggestions but necrophlia and beastiality. You could borrow some themes from anime with tenticle creatures and stuff like that.

 

[wolfpunk]

This would take a bit of preparation, but if you had players that would help you create a past without later acting on it, this would be really cool. What if you were to have the first love for each character show up there. The first person they ever fell in love with the person they never got over and still hold deeply in their heart. Have them appear to them in whatever manner is most appropriate in terms of making their appearance believable, they could actually be demons, or succubi, or even the real person, but if you could make the characters go for it, perhaps if they didn't realize where they were, or what was happening it could be cause for some interesting situations.

 

[Bonedagger]

"Evil goddes of love"? That's like saying Evil god of goodness. I think you are getting it mixed up with lust. As in sexual lust or desire.

 

[Crothian]

"Evil goddes of love"? That's like saying Evil god of goodness. I think you are getting it mixed up with lust. As in sexual lust or desire.

Love has a dark side. Love has a very dark and evil side to it.

 

[wolfpunk]

Love has a definite dark side, several easy ways for this to come to be. When a person loves someone, and sees them in a situation with a tragic ending, they could in essence be willing to do evil things to save the person they love. This is a debateable example, and I am not saying it is perfect, but the movie "John Q" is a sort of example of this.

However, I think that is way off base of what you are trying to create.

I look at it like this...
A bad dream is something that is bad, and you know it is bad, doing bad things, this is an axe murderer chasing you in your dreams for example.

A nightmare is something that is good, and you know it is good, but it is doing bad things. This is your wife chasing you and trying to kill you with an axe.

So, a nightmare based on love, should be the good aspects of love twisted into evil things. The setting should start serene, peaceful, beautiful, perfect. And slowly little elements of it should begin to twist and change until the beauty is a glossy coating over an underlying web of evil.

 

[LostSoul]

The setting should start serene, peaceful, beautiful, perfect. And slowly little elements of it should begin to twist and change until the beauty is a glossy coating over an underlying web of evil.

Like a beautiful bed of roses. They even seem to be singing. When a PC looks closer, he can see the face of a tormented person screaming "Love me, love me" over and over.