Adventure Title
CCC-GSP02-02 Stygia Untamed

Levels Gained
1

Location Played
Sydcon 2020 online

Notes
Geography: Stygia (5th layer of hell) Story Award: Banned: Stygia The frozen, inhospitable wilderness of Stygia is home to many vile creatures as well as an uncountable number from the Material Plane. Desperate criminals and those condemned to death may pray to Levistus, the ruler of Stygia, for freedom; should he answer, they are transported here. For reasons known only to you and him, you are forever banned from setting foot within Stygia. Perhaps you redeemed too many souls, or maybe you were discovered to be in league with Geryon, the former ruler of this realm; regardless, Levistus has closed this layer of the Nine Hells to you. You can’t participate in further adventures in this place. A character with this story award may visit other areas of the Nine Hells The Tale of Bulkawa, the Guardian Snake If the characters ask about Bulkawa’s history and how he ended up in the Nine Hells, he gives the following information. • Centuries ago, the solar of Kelemvor, Rizgrim was tasked to become a guardian of a human who can potentially become the greatest champion of Kelemvor, the god of the dead, in the Material Plane. • Rizgrim did her job well and became close with this human. They protected the northern region of the Sword Coast from monstrosities and eventually joined an adventuring group called the Five-Leaf Clover. • The group eventually went on their separate ways and years later the human grew old. Rizgrim was always at the side of this human, however the human desired someone else, a halfling spellcaster who started to dabble in the school of necromancy. Rizgrim was ready to smite the halfling for disrespecting the dead and in turn, disrespecting Kelemvor itself. • However, at the human’s final moments, she requested for Rizgrim not to harm the halfling. A reluctant promise was made and this made Rizgrim betray the mandate of Kelemvor. She has allowed a defiler of the dead to continue to walk the Material Plane while she does nothing. • This made Rizgrim fall and banished from the Fugue Plane, where her god currently resides. • At the death of her human friend, she was unable to guide her spirit to the afterlife because she has become a fallen. Also, the halfling spellcaster has turned her human friend’s corpse into an undead and trapped her soul in an unknown location instead. • Committed to keep her promise to the human, Rizgrim was unable to do anything. She viewed herself as a failure and drowned herself in sadness. She stayed still and cried for 1,035 days in the Quivering Forest within the Moonsea region. When Bulkawa died of old age it was peaceful. He was buried at the Quivering Forest by Rizgrim and some of the friends they met along the way. • Since Rizgrim was still a fallen angel during Bulkawa’s death, she was unable to guide him in the afterlife. • The divine aura that latched onto his soul has attracted the devils of the Nine Hells while he was lost in the Astral Plane. He was captured and experimented on by the minions of the archdevil Mammon during the initial stage of the soul coin project. • The rest of the story is told • Until one day a constrictor snake visited her. The benevolent snake, who is unable to talk, kept Rizgrim company until she was done grieving. • The snake brought her small dead animals and fruits for food even though Rizgrim didn’t eat it for the first few months. • During cold weather, the snake would wrap itself around Rizgrim’s still body, attempting to keep her warm. • The snake also kept the fallen solar safe from other predators and evil humanoids who have discovered them. • The snake would hiss every night as if telling a story under the moonlight to keep Rizgrim entertained and most importantly, feel that she is not alone. • Years passed, Rizgrim started to appreciate the snake’s actions. She questioned how someone who is wingless, no arms, no legs, and a creature who cannot speak, perform good deeds on a daily basis to a stranger without asking for anything in return. • Through telepathy, Rizgrim found out that the snake’s intentions are pure. The snake’s goal is simple, to defeat the sadness and loneliness that’s been keeping the solar down. • Through the actions of the snake, Rizgrim realized that she can do more. She can try again. She will keep her promise to her human friend and at the same time, find alternative ways to gain Kelemvor’s forgiveness. The snake single-handedly saved the solar’s life. • The snake was named Bulkawa by Rizgrim and together they went on different adventures. She made him a second-generation member of the Five-Leaf Clover and was often called the guardian snake. • Bulkawa is an ordinary constrictor snake who usually just hangs around the silhouette of the solar whenever they go on adventures. Over time, the snake’s exposure to the divine being made his scales metallic like copper with lightning crawling out of his eyes whenever he is protecting someone.