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Description

This picture shows the two groups of antagonists from The Final Gate, a Planescape D&D campaign run by and . The two figures on the left are the Rilmani, while the five on the right are the Ninth Key.. The background shows a fortress-cathedral of the Ninth Key the Astral Plane, the realm of thought and transit that provides some of the 'infrastructure' of reality.

The Rilmani are a group of otherworldly entities devoted to the cause of neutrality and balance. Best way to think of it is that as angels are to good and demons are to evil, so Rilmani are to neutrality. They're not technically bad guys, but our heroes very much fall into the category of 'collateral damage' in their schemes. The fellow with the mustache is Jemorille the Exile, simultaneously one of the most and least competent Rilmani in existence. Once upon a time, he was their best field agent, someone would could infiltrate the 9th Level of Hell, assassinate archangels, and rob the gods themselves. So naturally, he got promoted. Repeatedly. And now, the Peter Principle has reared its ugly head, and Jemorille is a truly stunningly incompetent spymaster and manager. Imagine, if you will, James Bond by way of the Pointy-Haired Boss. The red-haired woman next to him is Sivha, his long-suffering associate. She is not one of the Rilmani's best. She is, in fact, a perpetual screw-up, which goes a long way towards explaining why she's working for Jemorille just now. But as the stakes get higher and her boss's shortcomings become more obvious, Sivha might just be ready to jump ship.

The Ninth Key, meanwhile, is most definitely 'bad guys'. They're a conspiracy of like-minded evil-doers, bent on some nebulous plot that our heroes haven't quite uncovered, but which involves resurrecting a dead god, destroying the City of Doors, and probably destroying a fairly large portion of reality. Their patron is Calistria, the Savored Sting, the elven goddess of lust, trickery, and most importantly, vengeance. It is through Calistria's favor that Ramander the Wise, the masked gentleman with the serpent-headed staff, escaped a just punishment by turning into a hive-mind of undead wasps. Now, Ramander wants to get revenge on the transdimensional legal system that imprisoned him the first place, and if he has to kill a few million innocents in the process, well too bad. He's the motive force behind this plot, and in his spare time is an archmage of the 'city-smashing' category. To the left of Ramander is Sarielle Avirzaden, the Cantor of Screams and Whispers, a half-elf, half-demon, all-trouble high priestess of Calistria. If Ramander is the will behind the Ninth Key, Sarielle is the brain, putting pieces together and making sure things run smoothly in this vast vengeance-plot. Personally, she thinks it's doomed to fail, but if it succeeds Sarielle's aiming for Demigoddess of Vengeance off the results. To the left of Sarielle, the gentleman with the antlers is Chersis, a silent, hulking killer that Sarielle dug up from Calistria-alone-knows-where. Unlike all the other schemers, Chersis is something of an enigma, but he seems happy to follow orders as long as he gets a chance to murder and maim. This is the guy who keeps the heroes up at night, because he doesn't monologue or show mercy, he just straight-up kills you. At the far end, toying with the glass dagger filled with flesh-rending poison, is Leraje ap Luxur, a demoness of the Arcanaloth variety and the main backer of the Ninth Key. She doesn't care about vengeance either, but as a demon, she's absolutely fine with causing vast, indiscriminate destruction. She also happens to be Vassago's ex, which doesn't make for very cozy gatherings. Finally, the sexy girl between Leraje and Ramander is Severine Delacouer, among a half-dozen other names, a half-elven Calistrian spy and mercenary, who's only in it because Sarielle's paying her daughter's way through wizarding school. She's comes across as a bit of a ditz, but woe to anyone who believes it (...to be fair, she actually is a bit of a ditz, but rather less so than she pretends).

Can our heroes save the multiverse from the Ninth Key? So far, they're not doing a great job of saving themselves...

Description

This picture shows the two groups of antagonists from The Final Gate, a Planescape D&D campaign run by and . The two figures on the left are the Rilmani, while the five on the right are the Ninth Key.. The background shows a fortress-cathedral of the Ninth Key the Astral Plane, the realm of thought and transit that provides some of the 'infrastructure' of reality.

The Rilmani are a group of otherworldly entities devoted to the cause of neutrality and balance. Best way to think of it is that as angels are to good and demons are to evil, so Rilmani are to neutrality. They're not technically bad guys, but our heroes very much fall into the category of 'collateral damage' in their schemes. The fellow with the mustache is Jemorille the Exile, simultaneously one of the most and least competent Rilmani in existence. Once upon a time, he was their best field agent, someone would could infiltrate the 9th Level of Hell, assassinate archangels, and rob the gods themselves. So naturally, he got promoted. Repeatedly. And now, the Peter Principle has reared its ugly head, and Jemorille is a truly stunningly incompetent spymaster and manager. Imagine, if you will, James Bond by way of the Pointy-Haired Boss. The red-haired woman next to him is Sivha, his long-suffering associate. She is not one of the Rilmani's best. She is, in fact, a perpetual screw-up, which goes a long way towards explaining why she's working for Jemorille just now. But as the stakes get higher and her boss's shortcomings become more obvious, Sivha might just be ready to jump ship.

The Ninth Key, meanwhile, is most definitely 'bad guys'. They're a conspiracy of like-minded evil-doers, bent on some nebulous plot that our heroes haven't quite uncovered, but which involves resurrecting a dead god, destroying the City of Doors, and probably destroying a fairly large portion of reality. Their patron is Calistria, the Savored Sting, the elven goddess of lust, trickery, and most importantly, vengeance. It is through Calistria's favor that Ramander the Wise, the masked gentleman with the serpent-headed staff, escaped a just punishment by turning into a hive-mind of undead wasps. Now, Ramander wants to get revenge on the transdimensional legal system that imprisoned him the first place, and if he has to kill a few million innocents in the process, well too bad. He's the motive force behind this plot, and in his spare time is an archmage of the 'city-smashing' category. To the left of Ramander is Sarielle Avirzaden, the Cantor of Screams and Whispers, a half-elf, half-demon, all-trouble high priestess of Calistria. If Ramander is the will behind the Ninth Key, Sarielle is the brain, putting pieces together and making sure things run smoothly in this vast vengeance-plot. Personally, she thinks it's doomed to fail, but if it succeeds Sarielle's aiming for Demigoddess of Vengeance off the results. To the left of Sarielle, the gentleman with the antlers is Chersis, a silent, hulking killer that Sarielle dug up from Calistria-alone-knows-where. Unlike all the other schemers, Chersis is something of an enigma, but he seems happy to follow orders as long as he gets a chance to murder and maim. This is the guy who keeps the heroes up at night, because he doesn't monologue or show mercy, he just straight-up kills you. At the far end, toying with the glass dagger filled with flesh-rending poison, is Leraje ap Luxur, a demoness of the Arcanaloth variety and the main backer of the Ninth Key. She doesn't care about vengeance either, but as a demon, she's absolutely fine with causing vast, indiscriminate destruction. She also happens to be Vassago's ex, which doesn't make for very cozy gatherings. Finally, the sexy girl between Leraje and Ramander is Severine Delacouer, among a half-dozen other names, a half-elven Calistrian spy and mercenary, who's only in it because Sarielle's paying her daughter's way through wizarding school. She's comes across as a bit of a ditz, but woe to anyone who believes it (...to be fair, she actually is a bit of a ditz, but rather less so than she pretends).

Can our heroes save the multiverse from the Ninth Key? So far, they're not doing a great job of saving themselves...