During the Faction war, my character (Inarus, a Thoth worshipper, just like my login) needed to get to Nowhere to find the Sigil ritual. Of course, the only way to get to Nowhere is to be invited and have a very good reason for needing a place to hide. In other words, we had to **** someone in the cage off really badly, and really quickly. Now, during the Modron March, in the Abyss, we came accross a copy of the Book of Keeping, a book written about summoning and binding Arcanoloths (I don't know if it was part of the module, or just an abitrary item chosen by our DM). For years, we just had it sitting in our Library. We are collectors of knowledge, not nessesarily users of it. So, while we were thinking of a way to **** someone off, we read through the book of keeping and discovered that Shameska's true name was listed under prominent Archanoloths. Thus we decided to **** her off by going to the Fortune's wheel and calling her by her True name in front of the whole place. Needless to say it worked, and we recieved our invitation to Nowhere.
After getting back from Nowhere, we knew that Shameska would still be ******, and apologizing to her and explaining the situation would be useless. After a couple of days, and a couple of nasty 'gifts' sent our way by the Maurader, we decided that the only way to protect ourselves from her wrath during the Faction War was to use the book of keeping to bind her. So we did.
Now, I just wanted to take a moment to praise our DM. The binding of Shameska took an entire gaming session and the DM went through great lengths to emphasis to us as players just how difficult binding a fiend is. By the time it was over, we had exhausted every one of our spells, and the High Priest of our Temple died of exhaustion when the binding was complete. a very sad loss to the Church of Thoth.
Now, the Faction War is over and we can get back to other matters. We have Shameska bound, but now the problem is: what to do with her. Thus, I ask you Sages your advice.
As neutral characters, part of a neutral church, it is not our goal to go around the planes binding planars. We believe in balance and understand that all planars whether good or evil serve their purpose in the great wheel. We respect Shameska and in truth wish that the whole ordeal went another direction. We'd like to set her free, but just don't trust that she would let bygones be bygones.
One option is to just keep her bound. However, eventually some idiot apprentice is going to be reading through our library and accidentally set her free at the most inoportune time.
Option two is to destroy her. The current plan is to take her to her home plane, set up a spherical wall of force, set her free then immediately cast a spherical anti-magic shell just within the wall of force. Thus she is trapped and powerless. Then just have the planewalker warrior hack her up.
Option three is to let her go and offer her gifts in the hopes that she will forgive us for our transgressions against her.
This is where we currently sit in our campaign. What is your sages advice? If you say set her free, how do you propose to appease her anger? If you say destroy her, how would you do it, and what political ramifications not only from within the cage but within the lower planes do you feel we can expect.
I know these are campaign specific questions, but I thought you guys might enjoy discussing such a scenerio in case something similiar happens to you.
During the Faction war, my character (Inarus, a Thoth worshipper, just like my login) needed to get to Nowhere to find the Sigil ritual. Of course, the only way to get to Nowhere is to be invited and have a very good reason for needing a place to hide. In other words, we had to **** someone in the cage off really badly, and really quickly. Now, during the Modron March, in the Abyss, we came accross a copy of the Book of Keeping, a book written about summoning and binding Arcanoloths (I don't know if it was part of the module, or just an abitrary item chosen by our DM). For years, we just had it sitting in our Library. We are collectors of knowledge, not nessesarily users of it. So, while we were thinking of a way to **** someone off, we read through the book of keeping and discovered that Shameska's true name was listed under prominent Archanoloths. Thus we decided to **** her off by going to the Fortune's wheel and calling her by her True name in front of the whole place. Needless to say it worked, and we recieved our invitation to Nowhere.
Yeah, that'd do the trick.
After getting back from Nowhere, we knew that Shameska would still be ******, and apologizing to her and explaining the situation would be useless. After a couple of days, and a couple of nasty 'gifts' sent our way by the Maurader, we decided that the only way to protect ourselves from her wrath during the Faction War was to use the book of keeping to bind her. So we did.
Now, I just wanted to take a moment to praise our DM. The binding of Shameska took an entire gaming session and the DM went through great lengths to emphasis to us as players just how difficult binding a fiend is. By the time it was over, we had exhausted every one of our spells, and the High Priest of our Temple died of exhaustion when the binding was complete. a very sad loss to the Church of Thoth.
Props to your DM then
It's not an easy task, or shouldn't be, and that it seems to have been a very difficult, but ultimately successful struggle, makes it all the more worth it. Well done.
Now, the Faction War is over and we can get back to other matters. We have Shameska bound, but now the problem is: what to do with her. Thus, I ask you Sages your advice.
As neutral characters, part of a neutral church, it is not our goal to go around the planes binding planars. We believe in balance and understand that all planars whether good or evil serve their purpose in the great wheel. We respect Shameska and in truth wish that the whole ordeal went another direction. We'd like to set her free, but just don't trust that she would let bygones be bygones.
She wouldn't. I see her as far too vindictive and petty to let something this massive just slide. She might feign letting you all off the hook, but she's patient, and she'd probably let you live for a while and think yourselves free before ultimately coming down on you all with vengence that would make her fellow compatriot in Sigil wince at the aftermath.
One option is to just keep her bound. However, eventually some idiot apprentice is going to be reading through our library and accidentally set her free at the most inoportune time.
Very true. It's a risk to just keep her bound. One way or another, you'll need to do something with her.
Option two is to destroy her. The current plan is to take her to her home plane, set up a spherical wall of force, set her free then immediately cast a spherical anti-magic shell just within the wall of force. Thus she is trapped and powerless. Then just have the planewalker warrior hack her up.
"First thing we do is kill all the 'loths." - The Planar Shakespere
This here is ultimately the least rewarding, but safest option for you. Other 'loths aren't like to come after you, they're more likely to just view her death as an acceptable loss. Her role in Sigil, on behalf of the 'loth heirarchy in Khin-Oin is likely to be turned over to a replacement, but I doubt that they'd go out of their way to go after you all. Her successor might even claim her death was at their own hands, just to set themselves up a bit without having to start over from scratch.
You'll get away most likely, unless she happens to have any sort of deadmans switches on contracts and agreements that she has with other people in Sigil. It's plausible that in the event of her death that information will spill out into public that will cause significant ruin or embarrasment to large numbers of powerful people that she had her claws sunk into.
Don't worry about the 'loths. Worry about the people who the Marauder had hooks in. If they're ruined, they've got nothing else left to lose in coming after you. But this is entirely up to the DM, and how sadistic he wants to be. I'd do something like this, and ultimately did with a little twist when my PCs went after the Marauder near the end of our last campaign. They got her. Sort of. Kinda. Not really. *fiendish grin*
Option three is to let her go and offer her gifts in the hopes that she will forgive us for our transgressions against her.
No way would she do this. She'd bleed you dry and when you had nothing left she'd have you killed, tossed over the edge of the ring, or killed and then used as parchment in a tower in Gehenna.
My advice? Either kill her outright or sell her to someone with a vested interest in seeing that she doesn't return to power. This might be a celestial, this might very well be another yugoloth *cough*A'kin*cough* or it might be a debtor of hers or a person that she managed to ruin in the past still seeking revenge. That last one could get ugly for her, but I'm sure that she has it coming to her. :D
My own players managed to similarly bind a yugoloth who happened to be a consort to the Oinoloth, and they ultimately sold her to the Keeper of the Tower Arcane in Gehenna, simply because he was rivals to a small extent with her. The deal managed to secure the PCs a respite from any immediate ramifications. Something similar might end up serving your own PCs well.
Option two is to destroy her. The current plan is to take her to her home plane, set up a spherical wall of force, set her free then immediately cast a spherical anti-magic shell just within the wall of force. Thus she is trapped and powerless. Then just have the planewalker warrior hack her up.
That'll probably work. I had some sort of objection, noting the 2nd edition rule that arcanaloths could only be killed in Gehenna, but I didn't catch that you specified taking her to her home plane.