There is a certain ritual which a particular religious order insists must be performed continuously, generation upon generation unto infinity. For it to be interrupted for even a second would be a kind of disaster, albeit one which insists must be corrected as quickly as possible, not the kind that ends the world.
For present purposes, the details of the ritual itself aren't important, although for gameability it might do well for the ritual's continually evolving needs to require either something horrible or difficult to acquire. Inquiring PCs might first note that the religious order is cagey about what goes on and why, and further furtive inquiries show devil masks and other stereotypical Evil Cult Aesthetics.
The ritual is connected to a hell realm. What it does it keep the hell realm lulled into stasis. When the ritual - which is a sort of mock continuation of the realm - pauses, the tortures of the hell resume. When the ritual resumes, time in the hell realm pauses. There are at least several thousand beings ready to get tortured in there.
You get sent to the hell realm when you die, if and only if you know about it and the purpose of the ritual, and you pass on that knowledge to anybody else.
No comments:
Post a Comment