PoP named guys

[jwbarry]

So we do a lot of writing for DDO, and don't have enough time to fully write out everything we'd like to. Thinking about this presented a potential fun unique opportunity for you guys.

First note, this is not a contest, there will not be judging, or rewards. This is just something fun.

We're interested to see what you guys have come up with as far as backstories for the various named prisoners in the Prison of the Planes. Who are they? Where did the come from (beyond the obvious answer of their plane)? How did they get caught? Why did the get caught?

So throw out what you got, we're interested to see what y'all have come up with.

[crimsonretribution]

Well for the beholder room the mindflayers clearly trapped Kardin there in an attempt to get Kardin's eye for themselves! Their saves aren't high enough without it!

[Gennerik]

While the masses of devils, demons, and archons are limitless throughout the eternal battleground that Shavarath is, the royal families that lead the armies and control the lesser puppets from behind carefully guard themselves. Their numbers are fewer, as greater power requires greater consolidation, and they jealously guard their power. The constant turmoil and shifting alliances makes following who's winning impossible, as an opportunity always unfolds to overcome the victor of any battle. This has always been the problem with the devils, as they are often the keystone to victory as well as defeat, and epic stories have been told relating the treacheries that often come with the devils' employ.

One such story is that of Princess Aurelia, the eldest daughter of the Aurelian Family. The family was one of the more powerful demon families, and as such usually forewent the use of devils for anything but fodder. But during one prolonged battle, not even the devils could save the Aurelians from one crushing defeat after another. They called for aid and that call was answered by another demonic family, though aid came at a price. The ruling marilith was willing to bring all her power in the area to bear on the invading archons, however she demanded that the Aurelian children also fight. So eventually the offer was accepted, and Princess Aurelia and her two sisters took to the fields to rally and lead.

After seemingly timeless fighting disaster struck and the younger Aurelian daughter was struck down and the middle daughter barely survived during a turn of devil forces and went into hiding. At that same moment, the Demon Queen Lailat struck a bargain to entrap the eldest daughter in a remote prison. Princess Aurelia was brought down and trapped within an astral prison and Queen Lailat retained the only keystone to her freedom. It turned out the Demon Queen had set her sights on ursurping the power of the Aurelian Family, and made a pact with the numerous devil families to attack the Aurelian Family, which led the the involvement of the archons as they detected a weakness. After the archons had begun, the devils had turned to helping the Aurelian Family, though not enough to actually turn the tide of the battle. By capturing Princess Aurelia, the Demon Queen effectively had a the last daughter of the family hostage, and began to grow in power enough to escape from the bonds that held her from the Material Plane.

[Bizbag]

Death's Assurance went mad, in the way only creatures bound intensely by logic can.

Maruts represent the law that all creatures must die someday. Most Maruts travel the planes in search of those who grossly violate this law, such as vampires, liches, or those who seek to becomes undead. Being raised from the dead normally never draws the attention of a Marut because the magic does not halt a creature's natural passing when it ages.

Modern scholars have been unable to determine what caused Death's Assurance's rampage, but it seems that a being, whether fiendish, giant, or draconic (it may have been the Stormreaver's own work, for all that is known) caused a logical paradox in the Marut's clockwork mind, and the creature lost control. The creature began assaulting any being who had escaped death, whether by luck, skill, or magic, and served its victims to ravenous undead. The Inevitable declared that only by trapping its victims in undeath could he prevent them from returning to life through magic.

Powerful as this Marut was, the Stormreaver laid a trap for the Marut. Six elves who had perished while slaving for the Giants were raised from the dead publicly. Just as was predicted, the Marut arrived, furious and intent on ending the elves' natural lives. The Stormreaver sprung his ambush, trapping the Marut in the Prison of the Planes. To prevent Banishment magics that could free the Marut from the Eberron-based Prison, the Stormreaver created the Marut's cell from a shard torn from Dollurh, the Marut's home plane.

The elves that were laid as bait were slain by the undead that followed in the Marut's wake, and live on in the Inevitable's prison, furious at the Stormreaver's trickery and intent on slaying anything that keeps them imprisoned with Death's Assurance.

[The_Cataclysm]

While I have no talent for writing such stuff myself, I can't wait to see what people write about the two who are clearly out to kill one enough (they mention each other in there text either on appearing or on dying).

[elmerius]

It's 6 a.m. and I saw this post so figured I would conjure up something!


The Illithid Outcasts: - The Mind Flayer Room

The Iilithid's seethed with anger as they paced around the room - Contemplating thier enternal imprisionment. Every day thier cursed for they were gods among illithids, shunned, and trapped by thier own kind. They showed no remorse.

Some of thier fellow brethren had strayed to the natural planes of ebberron. While some had moved to other plans of existence feeding upon the life blood of others. Some mixed with the locals attempting to fit in and find thier purpose.

The two imprisioned brothers however; knew it was time for a new world order. A world where they lead the weak, pathetic flayers to thier well deserved righteous victory.

The weaker creatures of the other planes could never satitate thier appetite. True a few sorceror brains here - a "powerful" wizard delicacy there, it was never quite enough to garner satisifaction.

Just like this prison the Power and knowledge they stole locked away in thier brains goaded them onward. Even madness bred in the plane of Xoriat can drive the mad insane.

So the two mind flayers plotted against thier fellow kind and turned to the acts of cannibilism. One by one they planned to extract, consume, and digest the knowledge and the power of thier closest kin - Thier very own lifeblood. They carefully plotted brothers among the Illithid, brothers reveling among the death of thier victims to grow, digest, and ingest the brains of thier fellow-kind.

"It wasn't cruel if it was destiny"

The refrain of the brothers echoing across the expanse of thier minds. They remembered repeating it over and over in unison to lull any sense of compassion.

At first it was sickening, but the revulsion that washed over them faded. The chant echoing in thier minds acting to soothe thier twisted minds. And just like the humans, elves, dwarves, and others to come before them they fed with the same voracity. Yet, with each consumption they grew hungrier, and thirstier. They had tasted the forbidden, and for that they had been rewarded for thier undertakings. The power swelled within them. And with the power so grew the insanity.

They were never quite aware how they came to be imprisioned. Perhaps it was the strength of thier own madness that called them to this place. Perhaps it was the greatest violation they had so readily fell to. Perhaps it was the fellow flayers that discovered thier exploits - Regardless they had eternity to contemplate thier mortal faults. And foolish adventurers would be sure to feel the deadly embrace of the Illithid Brothers. While they continued to grow, seethe, and contemplate thier escape from this prison. The brothers too became disconnected and hid thier true motives. And what of the beholder Kardin? Well that is another story all together

By
Preston M.

[Beherit_Baphomar]

This is very much awesome.

Should be posted in general....

Very awesome.

I daydream about the guys in the cells of PoP...heh...always making up stories to why they are there. Im afraid I dont know enough about D&D to make it make sense tho...just me daydreaming.

[Beherit_Baphomar]

Death's Assurance went mad, in the way only creatures bound intensely by logic can.

Maruts represent the law that all creatures must die someday. Most Maruts travel the planes in search of those who grossly violate this law, such as vampires, liches, or those who seek to becomes undead. Being raised from the dead normally never draws the attention of a Marut because the magic does not halt a creature's natural passing when it ages.

Modern scholars have been unable to determine what caused Death's Assurance's rampage, but it seems that a being, whether fiendish, giant, or draconic (it may have been the Stormreaver's own work, for all that is known) caused a logical paradox in the Marut's clockwork mind, and the creature lost control. The creature began assaulting any being who had escaped death, whether by luck, skill, or magic, and served its victims to ravenous undead. The Inevitable declared that only by trapping its victims in undeath could he prevent them from returning to life through magic.

Powerful as this Marut was, the Stormreaver laid a trap for the Marut. Six elves who had perished while slaving for the Giants were raised from the dead publicly. Just as was predicted, the Marut arrived, furious and intent on ending the elves' natural lives. The Stormreaver sprung his ambush, trapping the Marut in the Prison of the Planes. To prevent Banishment magics that could free the Marut from the Eberron-based Prison, the Stormreaver created the Marut's cell from a shard torn from Dollurh, the Marut's home plane.

The elves that were laid as bait were slain by the undead that followed in the Marut's wake, and live on in the Inevitable's prison, furious at the Stormreaver's trickery and intent on slaying anything that keeps them imprisoned with Death's Assurance.

Yes, this is exactly what happened. The Maruts mum told me so.
















Awesome!

[Katrina]

Nimbus stood in front of the ancient prison and drew a scroll from his belt pouch. The writing was a strange mix of ancient giant and the complex language of the arcane. Glowing rune framed the ancient piece of parchment preventing it from deterioration; the scroll itself was over forty thousand years old yet looked as if it was written last week.

Unrolling the paper Nimbus felt a tingle of anticipation.
“Finally” he whispered to himself, “I have found the ancient prison. Soon I will be the Stormreaver’s Champion! We will cleanse our homeland of its defilers!” He chuckled to himself softly and began to read the script.

Years past during the war between his ancestors and the evil Quori, the giants sought ways to defeat the demons of dreams. In physical combat the Quori stood no chance. Powerful giants of flame and stone crushed the invaders with little pause. But even with their terrible might, the giants needed to sleep. That is where they began to loose. Each Quori that the giants crushed returned to Dal Quor, The Plane of Dreams. In their native plane, the Quori were unstoppable. Before long the giants realized that physical combat did nothing to stem the onslaught, for every Quori they killed, another from the Plane of Dreams escaped and possessed an unwilling host, there had to be another way. The eldest and wisest giants created a council; they sought an answer to what was the greatest peril their illustrious race had ever faced.

The Prison of the Planes was the answer. Different then any other weapon the Giant’s had created, the structure drew on the power of the different planes of existence. The ancient giants created ‘orbs’ that powered the prison cells of the structure. Each cell had several enchantments fused to it and was marked by its corresponding symbol, these cells acted like ‘manifest zones’. Nimbus tried to understand what the parchment was alluding to but thought,
‘As long as it works, what do I care?’ and he scrolled down further. He came upon a prisoner manifest and was shocked to learn that other creatures other then the Quori were trapped in the prison. Apparently his ancestors had to use the other planes to act as tumblers in a lock to keep the Quori from escaping. There was even a prisoner roster and a short description on how each was trapped into the false manifest zones along with notes from the creator.



'• Daanvi = One of the first paladins of Aureon, This human did not need to be tricked. Once he found out our intention, he volunteered to guard the orb from all those of unlawful intent.**Note: Despite his small statute this human has a noble spirit. I hope to be able to converse with him further. If only the slaves were interesting as this specimen.

• Irian = An Archon of immense power has been bound to this cell. By sheer luck the outsider came to battle the Marilith demon we had summoned. Apparently its abilities are greatly impaired on this plane and I was able to lure it into this cell by promising it the fight it desired. The Archon’s strength appears to be fortified within the cell. Its attempts to break out have damaged the roof. I have deactivated the cell’s power and instructed the slaves to repair it. **Note: The human paladin has refused to converse with me since he discovered that an Archon has been imprisoned. I am disappointed but this is for the greater good!!

• Dolurrh = An imprisoned Marut Inevitable calling itself ‘Death’s Assurance’ has been kept here. The Marut was difficult to capture. It involved the slaying of several slaves in the cell by employing the vampire known as Drakhav. It was only a matter of weeks before the Marut came looking to punish the undead monster for defying the natural order of life and death. Though it cost Xa’al his life he was able to delay the Maruut long enough for the rest of us to seal him in. **Note: the murdered slaves appear to be bonded to the room as well and rise as the undead whenever the cell’s power is activated.

• Fernia = A powerful Effreti by the name of Charoush has been bound to this cell. The Effreti was originally in the employ of Xa’al along with the Djinn Tehram. When the wizard fell to the Marrut control was lost over these outsiders and they began to fight amongst each other. Clever Tai’laa devised a plan to forge false ‘challenges’ issued by each. Lured by their arrogance the outsiders accepted the challenge. They both figured out it was a trap slightly little too late but both of them blame the other for their imprisonment. Their curses of rage are quite comical to listen to. **Note: The Efreeti has the power to summon the children of Fernia. It seems these false manifest zones have more power then we believed.

• Kythri = A disgusting ‘toad’ like demon has been imprisoned here. It calls itself Raakaav. According to Tai’laa the creature is a Slaad. Brutally powerful yet not too terribly bright this particular beast appears suited for the plane of chaos. It goes from drooling in a stupor to slamming its massive fists against the outer walls then talking to whoever will listen like a scholar. Tai’laa is immensely knowledgeable regarding outsiders and has chosen well. **Note: Raakaav has damaged the outer wall. Power will be shut off and repairs/fortification will be done.

• Lamannia = The Djinn Tehram has been imprisoned here. Trapped in the same way as Charoush, Tehram appears to believe that since he started the conflict between Charoush and himself, he should be the one to finish it, he often rants about how the deceitful Efreeti will parish by his hands. **Note: The Djinn has retained some of his sorcerous abilities and can summon the creatures of element.

• Mabar = After his purpose was served we tricked the vampire Drakhav into hiding in this cell. The foolish creature believed we would release him once we had the Marrut. We orginally discovered this creature lurking in the depths of the jungle feasting off of the slave colonies.**Note: The vampire has developed the ability to call form to the shadows of the Manifest zone.

• Risia = An Ice Reaver calling itself Parnamuul was trapped here by Tai’laa. She tells me that the creature has been ranting incessantly regarding his ‘destiny’. Apparently, it believes that its ‘destiny’ is to cut a swath death and destruction via shards of ice, eliminating all of the inhabitants of the material plane. She played on the creature’s arrogance by promising to fulfill its ‘destiny’ if it would heed her summoning. She had prepared the cell ahead of time and summoned the hapless outsider directly into it. **Note: As with the cell bound to the plane of Fernia the children of Risia can be summoned by Parnamuul

• Shavarath = The Marilith demon trapped here took very little effort when compared to the other cells however it cost us greatly. Tai’laa felt she could control and manipulate the outsider just as she had done to the Ice Reaver. Something went wrong and the Marilith killed Tai’laa in a fit of rage as she tried to escape. I was able to seal the 6 armed warrior princesses within the cell. **Note: Your sacrifice will help save our people my beloved.

• Syrania = Tai’laa’s second summoning was an angel. This creature it called an Astral Diva. Apparently she told the angel that it was needed to battle the Quori spirits and save Eberron, to my surprise the outsider agreed. I thought that it would be un-wise to attempt to lie to an angel as they do have the power to detect deceit. It appears that Tai’laa can be persuasive and obviously the angel did not ask the correct questions. **Note: Once the Astral Diva discovered that it was imprisoned it has spent its time battering the walls. We must shut the power down to the cell so that we can perform repairs.

• Xorian = Surprisingly the beholder Kardin was easiest to trick into the cell. The children of madness have their own war that they have just begun to wage with the Dhakaani. I fooled the aberration by convincing it that I had a portal to the material plane that was not guarded by the ‘Gatekeepers’. I did not lie to him but I did neglect to tell him that the portal was directly into our cells. **Note: It appears that Kardin brought two of the Daelkyr generals with him. They had almost destroyed my mind before I had shut the gate, thankfully it protects against their powers. I hate Illithids!

• Dal Quor = The central chamber of the prison is now home to ‘Cochitlehua’. This nefarious Quori spirit has bound itself in a creature of metal and wood. Cochitlehua is apparently a lieutenant of the Quori army. The Fire Giant Xaalrire and his troops defeated the Quori’s unit and rendered the body Cochitlehua inert. Capturing this spirit should prove to serve us well. We should be able to study the body this spirit inhabits. We have thus far discovered that the body is ‘living’ yet has very primitive consciousness. Exceptionally strong and resistant, however it still is affected by physical and magical assault.


It is my person opinion that these prisons are not worth the time and effort and lives to contain a single Quori. There must be a way to contain more of these spirits in one location and not have it kill 2/3’s of the creation team. Nevertheless I shall maintain my guard over the gate system in the uppermost room of the Prison until we find a better way.'


Nimbus furrowed his brow in frustration. He had no desire to waste his time trying to figure out how to activate the Dal Quor chamber. However he knew whatever was contained in the centre cell had to be valuable, especially to the Stormreaver. He ordered his horde to launch a sweep of the prison and bring him news of anything interesting they find.
As he turned away Nimbus knew they would not find a way to open the centre cell. He would need smarter minions to rival the genius of his ancestors.
“I wonder how many recruits are in the Hold right now…” He mumbled to himself as he walked in that direction.

[Symar-FangofLloth]

Nice job!

[StringTheory]

In ancient history, there are scattered references to a powerful evil wizard of the giant race. Some say that this wizard (He of many names) was in fact, not a giant at all, but rather the lord of the nine planes of hell, here in this realm in disguise to carry out an evil plot. While the wizard’s true identity cannot be confirmed, here is what is known to have occurred. The wizard of many names was powerful enough to create numerous dimensional portals in a single location. Then he sent demon emissaries into these dimensions to arrange for a meeting. The wizard intended to unite forces from many dimensions, to unleash on Eberron. When the giants learned of this plot, they sent out their entire military force to stop the wizard from having his war conference with the responding ambassadors from the different planes. The evil forces from multiple planes must not be allowed to unite against Eberron, at any cost! The giants fought valiantly, relentlessly, to storm the wizards fortress to stop the wizards unholy pact, but the wizards powerful minions, teamed with an entire dragon army was too great to overcome. While the fierce battle raged outside, the wizard met with all the representatives of the outside planes. The pact was made. The unification of evil forces was completed. All that remained was for the representatives to return to their home planes to bring the news and to muster their forces for invasion. When the giant leader heard the news from his spies, he was distressed, as it seemed inevitable that Eberron would be plunged into an age of evil, and darkness. In desperation, he called upon his gods for their aid….. They responded. They told him that there was no force great enough to defeat the wizard of many names and his dragon army quickly enough. Hope and salvation could only come from an unlikely source. So they gathered all their divine forces, and opened up a time portal. A message was sent through the time portal to request assistance…..and there was a response from the portal. 12 assorted heroes, small in stature compared to the giants, but mighty in skills and abilities came through the portal. The leader of the giants was greatly distressed that such a small force had responded to their cause, but soon he realized that the gods may indeed know best. These unlikely heroes from future were small in stature, and small in number, and claimed to have a detailed knowledge of the layout of the wizard’s fortress. They penetrated the wizard’s fortress and fought their way to the highest part of the fortress where the source of power for the dimensional portals was. They had to reach the power source before the representatives from the different planes could return to their homes with news of the unholy pact. Realizing the intent of the intruding force, the wizard of many names immediately prepared to send the representative back to their planes. Just as he activated the dimensional portals to send the representatives home, the small force of heroes destroyed the power source. This created an unusual reaction. The representatives ended up trapped! Neither in this plane, or their own. They were trapped in between in timeless limbo. But this victory was not without cost. Another reaction from the power source being destroyed was an enormous icy blast. This blast was catalyzed the power source and the icy explosion blew through the entire top dome of the wizards fortress, magnified a thousand times over. The blast radiated across the entire landscape, catching the combatants, giants and dragons alike in instant freeze. The wizard of many names could not be accounted for, and over time his destroyed fortress wasted away into ruins. As centuries passed, the fortress began to look less and less like the magnificent structure it once was, and began to look more and more like a prison. A prison that it had in fact become. The Prison of the Planes.

[teddok]

In ancient history, there are scattered references to a powerful evil wizard of the giant race. Some say that this wizard (He of many names) was in fact, not a giant at all, but rather the lord of the nine planes of hell, here in this realm in disguise to carry out an evil plot. While the wizard’s true identity cannot be confirmed, here is what is known to have occurred. The wizard of many names was powerful enough to create numerous dimensional portals in a single location. Then he sent demon emissaries into these dimensions to arrange for a meeting. The wizard intended to unite forces from many dimensions, to unleash on Eberron. When the giants learned of this plot, they sent out their entire military force to stop the wizard from having his war conference with the responding ambassadors from the different planes. The evil forces from multiple planes must not be allowed to unite against Eberron, at any cost! The giants fought valiantly, relentlessly, to storm the wizards fortress to stop the wizards unholy pact, but the wizards powerful minions, teamed with an entire dragon army was too great to overcome. While the fierce battle raged outside, the wizard met with all the representatives of the outside planes. The pact was made. The unification of evil forces was completed. All that remained was for the representatives to return to their home planes to bring the news and to muster their forces for invasion. When the giant leader heard the news from his spies, he was distressed, as it seemed inevitable that Eberron would be plunged into an age of evil, and darkness. In desperation, he called upon his gods for their aid….. They responded. They told him that there was no force great enough to defeat the wizard of many names and his dragon army quickly enough. Hope and salvation could only come from an unlikely source. So they gathered all their divine forces, and opened up a time portal. A message was sent through the time portal to request assistance…..and there was a response from the portal. 12 assorted heroes, small in stature compared to the giants, but mighty in skills and abilities came through the portal. The leader of the giants was greatly distressed that such a small force had responded to their cause, but soon he realized that the gods may indeed know best. These unlikely heroes from future were small in stature, and small in number, and claimed to have a detailed knowledge of the layout of the wizard’s fortress. They penetrated the wizard’s fortress and fought their way to the highest part of the fortress where the source of power for the dimensional portals was. They had to reach the power source before the representatives from the different planes could return to their homes with news of the unholy pact. Realizing the intent of the intruding force, the wizard of many names immediately prepared to send the representative back to their planes. Just as he activated the dimensional portals to send the representatives home, the small force of heroes destroyed the power source. This created an unusual reaction. The representatives ended up trapped! Neither in this plane, or their own. They were trapped in between in timeless limbo. But this victory was not without cost. Another reaction from the power source being destroyed was an enormous icy blast. This blast was catalyzed the power source and the icy explosion blew through the entire top dome of the wizards fortress, magnified a thousand times over. The blast radiated across the entire landscape, catching the combatants, giants and dragons alike in instant freeze. The wizard of many names could not be accounted for, and over time his destroyed fortress wasted away into ruins. As centuries passed, the fortress began to look less and less like the magnificent structure it once was, and began to look more and more like a prison. A prison that it had in fact become. The Prison of the Planes.

Wow this one goes completly agenst the Eborron Lore.

[StringTheory]

Wow this one goes completly agenst the Eborron Lore.

Yes I am afraid that I seriously lack the background information about Eberron. I was primarily writing this as a possible scenario for a future quest, perhaps a Prison of the Planes sequel? I know it may sound corny but I thought POP was one of the most intriguing quests and thought that it would be interesting to do this quest when it was not in ruins. I apologize for inaccuracies and conflicts with existing lore. That was not my intention. I think that the general concept of a raid quest going into history to perform a quest related to POP would be fascinating. The rest of the details I just manufactured out of my head with no background research, so please take them for a grain of salt.

[Uamhas]

Maybe this will help-
Quest Guide: Prison of the Planes