Suggested Props & Preparation: My Players enjoy 16 Key Props / Printouts of everything in the Treasure Section to speed up play (for use as handouts) / Consider making a "Possession Token" to denote if a PC is possessed (one side shows possession and one side is normal) ~ Do the same for Vulpinthropy / I *might* offer 3D printables of parts of the dundun- geon eventually at my Etsy store: "OnDrawnWings" (as below): *DMs! ~ If You are Planning to Run the Full Version of This Module, There are Some Things Before You Begin... There are a few conditional things you must choose ahead of the adventure: One, there is the concept that Eshebala has been around a looooong time, and somehow avoided death. A 100-Sided Therefore, she has a lot of Truenames from various eons where she dabbled in actually trying to play the role of a Die (for % deity. These names must be discovered, almost as trea- sures. You should look at the list and secretly demarcate rolls), and which one is her original Truename for this adventure perhaps a few and which two are false names (this should change each time you run this adventure, so that any returning Players special coins do not know which one it might be). There are two pos- sible original truenames (marked "?") which are intended as primary contenders, obtained by the PCs via hard-to- Eshebala's Possible True Names: find lost pages of ephemera. Exarch of 27 Legions! / Vulpia, Empress of Mirrors Two, decide if you are you going to use “Abyssal Kumiho,Sample the Nine-Tailed Fox / Ishtar of Desire Fright” and/or “Death Options?”file I suggest that you do, H₂ewsṓs of the Red Dawn / Sie über Dämonen but they are sort of optional. Ôstara of the Orgasm / Fuchs Slätern Pohjola Ēostre of the Fertile Valleys / Advérsus Dæmonia Three, each time you play this adventure, decide Consort of Forbidden Lusts / Amaguq-Tiriganiarjuk secretly in which chamber you are hiding “The Lucky Lyressa Sulvane? Feracea Wryx? She-Beast” (a unique golden coin (see Treasures)). for the exchange of their knowledge). It seems to me that this was an early horror metaphor that persists in About the Artwork every other sci-fi movie today. I did most all of it, painstakingly for your enjoyment, Personally, I believe that, if demons were to be and not even the etchings I adore are copied-in. There's “real” then they are other-dimensional, malevolent a lot of simple penmanship here that I hope you enjoy. tricksters who only ever attend to any of the ritu- I am an illustrator by trade. In many ways, I wanted to als, labels or contrivances of the human myth history take my time and create a distinct artistic experience that because it suits their trickster-purpose, not because uses olde-world, “forbidden” mythological ephemera to simply playing a game that mentions them is some give Vulgarea a proper evil presence and convince the kind of lock-and-key invitation to haunt the Players of Players that some of the demonic history of the Abyss said game with ill luck. resonates with what looks like evil esoterica to the aver- age modern gamer. I would say, to me, that the truth is, a Lastly, a lot of the true names or spellings are lot of that occult symbology is beautiful and alluring in a slightly altered, and none of the demonology is visual sense and deserves a second look, if merely for the purposely on-the-nose. I enjoyed researching it, but purpose of uncomfortable eye candy. Good art causes a changed a lot to add flavor. I assure you, this stuff is reaction, and historical demon seals are unsettling. described here for fun and imagination, and no other grim or satanic purpose. Per classic D&D, if anyone can remember how it felt to make it all the way to the end of the adventure The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth only to find that the true prize treasure was actually a creepy grimoire (Iggwilv, the Vulgarean Demons Witch Queen's Demonomicon), full of evil-looking pen- are Atypical tagrams and corrupting knowledge. I wanted so badly to see what that book really looked like and I assume you All fiends in Vulgarea have the subtype: "demon." did, too (though the Dungeon / Dragon articles are nice). Eshebala is disgusted by demons, for they are ugly and uncomprehending of beauty. She accepted them eventual- As an artist, I find it interesting that pentagrams and ly for their utility and because they are a readily available occult symbols are still, in 2019, removed and banned legion that occurs naturally in the Abyss. After she frivo- from all kinds of fantasy art games and products. As lously expended 10,000 + years of human and Kitsune much as we may think we've moved on from supersti- followers, she needed servants, guards and soldiers. tion, that sort of fear is always right around the corner. As she begrudgingly endured their proximity, she never stopped trying to breed more aesthetically pleas- All Things “Demonic,” ing demonic hybrids. She created untold forms, many of which were immediately cast out of Vulgarea. Some say & the Weight of that Word the misty wastes that hem her citadel are horrific enough that her legions fear to see what has stayed alive in In many ways, the origin of the word, which ties with there. There are odd howls in the night, guttural, lonely the year-1200 Greek “dæmon” has more in common and ravenous for anything to disembowel. with the notion of modern superheroes than anything evil. Ancient philosophers like Socrates would use the Case in point, the Vulgarean demon stat-blocks do word as a label for theoretical supernatural beings for not always reflect the expected D&D traits. Only use in thought experiments (think “ancient nerds arguing some have maintained elemental defenses, and due to a over ancient comic books”). Back when philosophy was harsh period where demon-to-demon summoning was so new, and religion so prominent, one can quickly see banned by Eshebala, fewer still have the ability to call in how the notion of a super-guardian became blasphemy. backup. Also, the following caveat may be thought of, as a consistent general trait of Vulgrean Demonkind: Believe it or not, according to one of the earliest medieval grimoires The Key of Solomon, all demon- Special Susceptibility: *Many demons may or may not have ob- summoning rituals were done “through the power of scure vulnerabilities and wardings listed as secrets in the esoterica Samplefound by the Players. The pedigreefile of minor demons is contin- God.” Nearly every original demon lord was listed gent upon the care of their immediate masters/officers and their as a teacher who could unlock the secrets of nature, strange long-term honing/breeding. Some Vulgarean demon vari- ants are very new to the Abyss (newer than tanar'ri), and some which were so much more forbidden and dangerous very, very old (as old as obyriths!). Some still adhere to the an- half a millenium ago. Demons were scientists and cient customs and rulings of demonkind similar to what's de- scribed in our earth's myth history. It is up to the DM whether scholars (who might also take everything from you or not these weaknesses can be successfully exploited per battle if the PCs encounter them or discover ancient tomes and secrets. Sample file Random Tip #1: Eshebala lies... She has lied her entire existence. Her quotes, answers and even her history and archives are full of half-truths. Random Tip #2: When she cares enough SHEBALA'S to focus, Eshebala has a strong level of control over Vulgarea's physical reality. If she remembers that they are there, she can exact dweomer curses that suck breath- GOT ISSUES able air from a chamber, taint mirrored halls with accursed undead phantasms or even shuffle the layout of her E entire domain. Random Tip #3: Eshebala has never known what to refer to Vulgarea as... She sometimes calls it her citadel...sometimes her domain, her domicile, city, Sample or evenfile her capitol–despite that there is little to nothing that exists outside of it upon the 193rd plane. friends year after year. If you're still having trouble picturing her in your Eshebala’s Got Issues mind, the media montage that pops for me is a mix ( My pronunciation: " əsˈSHĀƏˈbɑːlə " ) of Gozer as the shining red-eyed woman in the first film...Helena Bonham Carter's take on “Morgan Le (This information is for DMs only)...In the brief but Fey” in the Merlin mini-series, and every severely provocative original notation by Carl Sargent (Mon- deadly, arch-villainess, whose voice has been grav- ster Mythology (TSR, 1992)), Eshebala was described elled down to hissing rasps, due to endless screaming. as a “shapely foxwoman of charm, cunning, greed and vanity.” She carries a silver mirror and hoards art and Lastly, being a scholar of mythology, I see a vivid beauty. It was a nice, tidy 244 words, but she and her parallel between Eshebala and the eastern stories of “shadow archetypes” stuck with me for some reason. the Nine-Tailed Fox. Both rule something important, feral but nebulous. Both use shapeshifting and seduc- The Great Abyss interests me because every layer is tion to lure hapless mortals to their doom. Both are a terrible place, in some way akin to what adventur- tricksters red in tooth and claw. ing mortals reconcile as hellish, but, unlike the “Nine Hells,” each plane is its own mysterious and unique Eshebala is locked in a continual crisis of identity sour nightmare–a nightmare that has gone awry, (another reason for all her mirrors).