Ceras
Gatetown to Sheol
Location: Outlands / Ringlands
Let’s venture together into the surly streets of Ceras, where a cheery greeting will draw scowls in response and even the wildlife seems to watch a berk with suspicious eyes. Wedged ‘twixt two monstrous horns like a nasty splinter, the burg itself has all the charm of a gorgon’s gaze. Your typical cutter from Ceras is only slightly more friendly then a rabid barghest too, that kind of angry standoffish neutrality that is probably born from the burg being overrun all-too-often by lost battalions from the Blood War, lizardfolk raiders from Semuanya’s Bog, or terrorised by bandits from the high mountain passes between Ribcage and Torch.
The locals are tight-lipped about the horns that dominate the skyline. Some cutters reckon the horns come from the same creature that gave the town of Ribcage, about a coupe of day’s journey away, its ribs. At any rate, you won’t find a more inhospitable, xenophobic, and intolerant indep town anywhere on the Outlands.
“What’s the character of this town? Sod off, berk! None of your sodding business, that’s what! Now if I were you, I’d turn around and leave real quick before my mates here fill you full of crossbow bolts, and that’s no bluff!”
—Traditional local greeting
But here’s the rub: the rumour is that these sods are sittin’ atop a gate to a plane few bashers’ve ever heard of, let alone laid eyes upon. Located ethically somewhere between the Outlands and Baator, the existence of Sheol, one of the theoretical so-called Planes of Cordance is controversial among planewalkers and graybeards alike. The chant goes that Sheol is a plane of death, but one where the afterlives of the poor petitioner are caught up in some great institutional structure. Think Mechanus but even less friendly. And anyone who’s come close to peelin’ back that veil? Well, let’s just say they’re not around to spin the tale.
Adventure Hook: To a crew of plucky planewalkers, the secrets of the burg’s horns might pose a tempting dark to investigate—it seems certain that they ain’t just for show. A barmy in the Bleakers’ Gatehouse in Sigil claims to know more about the origin of the horns, amd locally there’s another rumour that they’re linked in some way to the hidden gate to Sheol. A curious scholar hires a brave group to study the horns and try to find the dark of where the gate itself might be located. They’ll need to content with xenophobic locals, abut also a more pressing mystery—the learn that folks have been vanishing near Ceras. A distressed relative begs the party to investigate. Is it the work of opportunistic bandits, dangerous local press-gangs, or something more sinister linked to the mysterious gate, which is becoming ever-more hungry for souls.
Source: Leir the Explorer aka Greg Jensen and Jon Winter-Holt
