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Message: <blockquote data-quote="WizarDru" data-source="post: 1172338" data-attributes="member: 151">Hmmmm.  A little brainstorming, here.  First off, we have a devil masquerading as a halfling young lady.  Most appropriate type?  I'm guessing an Erinyes.  Let's look at the origins of the name:  from Greek Mythology, we get this:Erinyes: The Punisher of the Unfaithful Originally called Erinys... later called, Erinyes. Referred to as, "the mist-walking..." and, with fear and respect, "the kindly one". She would harass and injure her prey but not kill them. Homer refers to her in the singular (The Odyssey, 15.234) but, much later (circa 450 B.C.E.), Euripides used the number ’three’ and eventually ’they’ assumed the names: Tisiphone, Megaera and Alecto. Their brass wings made escape impossible, their ripping claws made their torment relentless and horrible. Ok, that's a good start.  What else? Hmmmm....  Three sisters: Tisiphone, Megaera, and Alecto. The Erinyes were the punishers of sinners, called "those who walk in darkness." Weeping tears of blood and hissing with hair of vipers, they would descend like a storm. As long as there was sin in the world, they could not be banished. The Erinyes have also been referred to as the Eumenides the Kindly ones, the Potniae the Awful Ones, the Maniae the Madnesses, and the Praxidikae the Vengeful ones. And lastly:THE ERINYES were <a href="http://www.theoi.com/Kronos/Khthonioi.html" target="_blank">UNDERWORLD GODDESSES</a> of vengeance and retribution (especially for the crimes of children against their parents). They were born from the blood of Ouranos' castration at the hands of his son Kronos and for this crime they gave their full support to Zeus as the agent of his father's downfall. Those that the Erinyes sought to punish they pursued relentlessly, driving them to madness and despair for their crimes, until, through ritual purification, they were cleansed of their sins. The three underworld daimones were depicted as fierce-looking, snaky-haired women armed with vicious serpents and whips and each equipped with a wide pair of wings. Now, work with me here, and let's extrapolate a little bit.  Realizing that the two aren't really the same, let's do some merging of Greek and D&D cosmology.  Perhaps this is all a long-term revenge plot against Agar's parents, most likely her father?  Or perhaps a long-term plot that involves a family possession? Agar's family lives in an town that is used to dealing with outsiders in business as a matter of fact.  They may even have direct business dealings with Sigil.  What if, through some form of a business dealing, Agar's family (or father) did something that actively angered some powerful devils (or perhaps even not-so-powerful ones)?  Perhaps they inadvertantly came into possession of an item (magical or not) that the devils want back, but due to interdiction rules, can't get?For example: You're BelGorgarangoran, lord of Infernal Stench.  Your unending battle for supremacy amongst your peers continues as it always has.  One day, you manage to acquire the Skull of Morgan the Virtuous...a paladin of great puissance who was utterly obliterated or turned to true evil (the stories vary).  It has no power, but is a politically significant artifact that shows how powerful you are.  Any devil lord who possess it makes a statement as to his power.  It's useful for a variety of reasons not directly related to it's inherent power.  BelGorgarngoran trots it out at parties, like a fancy jewel.  His current concubine, a powerful Erinyes named Belle sans Pitie wears it as a fashion accesory, perhaps.   But Belle is an arrogant, vain thing, and she even goes so far as to take it with her to the Outlands as a part of her attempt to waver the faith of a powerful servant of Yondalla.  One thing leads to another, and the powerful cleric collects the Skull of Morgan and banishes her.  Now you, BelGorgarangoran, want it back.  But you can't just slay a few halflings and get it.  First off, the cleric is too well protected.  Second of all, employing anyone at all to get it by force is to admit that you're an extremely poor temptor of souls, which is counter to the image you're projecting with its possession (the equivalent of purchasing a Ferrarri and then and putting Ford hubcaps on it, everyone knows you're clueless).  Third, you need to punish Belle somehow, but she's too valuable to simply destroy or waste. What to do?  What to do? Well, you're not really happy at the moment, so you toss Belle in a torture pit and think on it.  Time passes.  Word comes to you that the cleric is dead!  Hurray!  But wait....the Skull's been protected by a Miracle?  Damn.  Hmmm.  It's a human skull...an awkward item for a temple of Yondalla to have.  Perhaps you can manipulate events to get the temple to bequeath it to a lay person?  Time passes.  This is getting ridiculous!  The protective enchantment from the cleric stayed with the skull.  But wait!  The enchantment passes through the family!  All you need to do is get into the family, and tempt the skull away, somehow. Answer: You wrap it all up in a tidy package.  Pull Belle out of her prison, and start arranging events.  Fifty more years, and that Skull will be yours!  An arranged marriage?  Perfect!  It'll drive Belle half-insane to have to play the 'good wife' until she gets what you want.  You'll have gotten it subtly, too. Time passes. The Great Council of Carceri has been scheduled, and it's going to be soon.  Belle hasn't finalized that marriage, yet!  How can you kill the parents if she isn't married, yet?  Best get her jailer up here, and fetch the young fool!  You are Belgorgarangoran, and you will not be DENIED! (and so on, and so forth). Misdirection is the best key, here.  Better yet, find a way to have the devils endanger the town, or perhaps a nearby temple of Yondalla in a subtle way.  Perhaps the threat of continued violence can be a motivator: "you can't be here all the time, paladins, and we are eternal." Better yet, make it so that simply defeating the main plot has sub-optimal circumstances.  Getting out of the marriage might trigger an attack by Inevitables, or the threat of same.  Perhaps the Skull actually is a powerful artifact for good, and subtly affects the devils who come into contact with it, making them less evil, somehow, without their knowing it.  What if a greater good could be served by tricking evil into having it's way? "Thanks for the wedding night, Belle!  Here's the item you wanted.  Have a nice trip!" "What?  I'm no going anywhere." "Oh yes YOUARE....." (Malachite, doing his best Bugs Bunny). <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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