So where the Hell did the UK6 Devils come from?

 

Bearded Devil from MM2
(image courtesy of Wikipedia)

One of the strongest memories and images I have of this module is that of the almost half-page illustration on page 6 of the bearded devil that is the "mini-boss" antagonist of the western Wind Walker's Passages zone of the second section.

The image to the right is the standard one from the original 1E MM2 creature entry, but the Tim Sell piece in the module has the unnamed devil glaive-less with claws outstretched, left leg partly raised as if attempting "crane style" and seemingly wearing an odd style of fiendish kilt... which apparently is the artist showing the devil transforming from its disguise as a seemingly mundane treasure chest...

It's an evocative piece of artwork for sure.

By hiding within an illusion when encountered, it implies it's heard the characters coming ahead of time, even if this is just a variation of the "monster in a room" default encounter. 

Sneaky. I like it. Although it still ends up being "you open the door and there is a monster in the room", which is fine for a 4AD (4 Against Darkness) dungeon crawl but seems a bit lazy here.

But the more I mull over it, the more it also makes very little sense in terms of the original module, and on review, it's an odd choice in light of more modern design sensibilities. There's the metagame backstory reason for show-casing Fiend Folio (hellcat, mephits, shadow demon) and MM2 monsters (bearded devil, nupperibo) but that doesn't really justify the odd collection either. In any case, it's a spined devil (original 1e MM) that gets summoned in, which somewhat undermines that theory.

It really makes no sense for the devils to be in the Wind Walker Passages in the first place, something Seth Skorkowsky also points out in his You Tube review. 

Does this really matter? 

Well, I think both yes very much, but also in a way no... 

I mean old school dungeons weren't created with the same attention to ecology and reality as later iterations admittedly. Something really bugs me about it though even considering that perspective - it's still quite an odd choice and feels a bit forced. The whole "devil section" I feel is the weakest and a bit of a missed opportunity for tapping into a potential Underdark theme... 

From an "Ecology" perspective, the devils (including the hellcat, mephits, and the "minion" level lemures and nupperibos milling around at the western terminus) don't really have a strong reason to be lairing in this area, even if their presence is explained by the hastily established gate in W23 (The Southern Summoning Room).  

Their overall stated purpose is to guard their shadow demon prisoner in the eastern zone.

However, from my understanding of the way Kahoatep's tunnels are constructed and defended, there's actually no way for the hellcat, mephits, and shadow demon to interact with the bearded devil - it is even commented that the hellcat is beyond the range of its telepathy. I'd note that the presence of the pentagonal wards makes it difficult to explain how the fiends moved in anything other than a westerly direction unless following Tikul's return journey, the incense he used lasted for a while after the fiends first appeared before the easterly winds ceased altogether. In this case, the western group is actually trapped and separated from the others and the prisoner.

PFRPG note: originally (lesser) devils in earlier editions did not have the greater teleport spell-like ability common to PFRPG devils. Neither do 5E lesser devils actually. So their presence in the tunnels is even more difficult to explain using OSRIC or similar rulesets, but as a corollary, the trapping of the shadow demon makes sense as in it's original 1E incarnation it lacks incorporeality and some of the more advanced abilities that would otherwise allow it to escape its devil and mephit captors easily. Even if it just teleported in, the presence of the bearded devil "jailer" needs fleshing out somewhat, like why choose the tunnels for a "prison" other than the odd glass rods? And how do the devils know about the properties of the rods anyway? Still so many questions!

There's really no indication of what might have summoned or sent the bearded devil and its captive here in the first place, and oddly the module specifically states it doesn't ever try and summon another bearded devil if pressed, but flees back to the Lower Planes if reduced to 10hp or less... strange, given the other lesser devils are allowed to use their summon ability without any restriction.

Overall, summoning and controlling devils (and other outsiders) in 1E is really quite difficult as it requires the Unearthed Arcana 4th-level cleric spell (implore) or a 5th-level magic-user spell (beckon) to first summon and then additional spells to potentially bind and control the creature to a task. The bearded devil however appears to be acting of its own accord, or at least in alignment with usual devil motivations and according to the natural rivalry with the chaotic demon.

Oh and the lack of its signature glaive is also completely unexplained - sure I like polearma as much as the next guy , but not to the level of Gygaxian signature obsession LOL. Still it makes little sense to me. 

The whole encounter bugs me and breaks the verisimilitude for me somewhat.

So why exactly is the bearded devil there in the first place?

A Blood War Deserter?

Planescape is probably my favourite campaign setting of all time, although in the end I barely got to play it or use the material. It really delved into an aspect of the game that had been unexplored and made it a potential setting for all character levels.

It also gave us details of the Blood War and the conflict between the assorted devils, daemons, and demons. However, while this explains the enmity, does it give us enough ideas to explain the collection of lower planar creatures in the tunnels?

Sure the bearded devil could be a deserter or mercenary, with a personal vendetta against the shadow demon if not just on a mission for its superiors, but being isolated at the other end of the complex really doesn't suggest it as particularly competent. 

And there's still the question of how the devil knew about the control rods and the location of the tunnels, which seems to be a bit of a stretch without some further backstory. For a revisit, the assumption can be made that the outsiders have been slain and dispersed by the murderhobos, but for a first play through it's going to be hard to get it all to make sense without a lot of work or a swap in replacement. 

A Lamentable Explanation?

There's actually a reasonably simple explanation for the presence of the bearded devil and its minions if one of the premises is the original expedition by Tikul was within a setting using the Lamentations of the Flame Princess (LotFP) ruleset. 

Although in many ways an interesting option, it's not my default approach, although a LotFP conversion of UK6 has its appeal. In any case, the readily accessible and infamous 1st level "summon" spell (page 134-147, "Grindhouse" Edition), if read from a scroll or cast by Tikul, say in desperation on his return journey before exiting into the Atem guarded bog, could readily be used to summon a bearded devil, hellcat, or similarly powered creature. 

Sure, the exact appearance, etc might not be quite the same but let's pass that over for now for the sake of argument. Given the inherent instability and danger of the spell, potentially leaving behind an intermittently active gate as an unintended consequence of his hastily constructed thaumaturgical circle drawn in blood seems reasonable. Yes, this is all a bit "metagame" but it's an interesting idea to consider compared to the alternatives.

Explaining the gate as a botched magical spell has its appeal, but it still circles back to the issue of who was casting spells in the first place for them to go so horribly wrong?

Conclusion

Look I think overall, the whole "devil situation" in UK6 is problematic and not because of the use of potentially inflammatory terms as the issue isn't going to be solved by renaming them baatezu and tanar'ri, because ultimately they just don't seem to fit and seemed tacked on like showcasing a crossover with another module or product.

Sure it's kind of cool, but it really makes no sense and is at odds with the otherwise carefully thought-out mechanics and history of the passage complex. Almost as if it was an afterthought to populate the otherwise empty halls, or was pressed on the author by management as "product placement" of “kewl monsters”.

So how to address it?

Well... I think taking a step back and putting the module into an Underdark (and accepted Greyhawk) context, I would replace the devils with a different faction entirely and populate the tunnels with more subterranean-themed appropriate monsters and obstacles. Some wandering encounters, particularly of vermin, oozes, and other nuisance creatures such as jermelaine could work well. Although not "monsters" as such, signs of disrepair, seismic or volcanic shift, and variable fungal overgrowth could add to the existing artificial grandeur of the tunnels whle adding an otherworldly alien aspect. 

But in terms of a replacement faction, capable of interacting with the subsequent band of explorers, I think one drawn from or descendants of the subterranean world beneath the mountains and linked to the presumed Suloise culture that commissioned the complex in the first place.

I'm talking about the derro. 

 But that's worth a whole other post in its own right...