Acheron

The Infinite Battlefield of Acheron is the Outer Plane representing alignments between lawful evil and lawful neutral, with emphasis on law.

Geography

Acheron is the bridge between the ultimate order of Nirvana and the regimented evil of the Nine Hells and, as such, each layer emphasizes order over evil. The land masses on each layer are blocks of geometric simplicity the size of nations floating in a sea of air. The blocks slowly collide and part without causing any upheaval or tremor, allowing beings to move to a new block if desired. The dance of the blocks is carefully orchestrated and creatures of high intelligence could usually discern a pattern for an area by studying the motions. It is said gravity pulls toward the center of the blocks, but in practical terms gravity was normal to each surface.

Avalas

Acheron is sometimes known as the "iron-shod battle planes of Acheron" due to the characteristics of the first layer, Avalas. The blocks of the top plane are black with a metallic hardness that allows the sounds of battle and troop movements to reverberate loudly. Avalas has the most block-like worlds and the highest population, as the armies of the Outer Planes spend their afterlife clashing in neutral territory over differences both subtle and gross. The landscape consists of cone-shaped mountains and pits plus the iron fortresses of the various armies. The only other remarkable feature of this layer is the river Styx that bubbles up from one pit, meanders across two or three sides of a block, and then disappears down another pit. The Styx does not visit all the blocks, but those it did could be reached by Charon and his servants. Avalas touched the Astral Plane and had spherical portals to the two adjacent planes: Mechanus and The Nine Hells. The portals hang at fixed locations in space and pass harmlessly through the blocks, becoming inactive while inside a block and reactivating when they reappear. Anyone emerging from a portal begins to fall toward the nearest block and almost certainly requires some form of flight to avoid a high velocity impact. The portals are activated by touch and the destination can be determined by the sound it makes when activated. A harmonious chord indicates a portal to Mechanus, a dissonant chord meant the Nine Hells. Avalas is the location of the orc realm of Nishrek, where Gruumsh, evil god of war reigns. Bane's realm, the Black Bastion, is also on Avalas, and the two gods fight constant wars for supremacy of the layer.

Thuldanin

This layer is the Sargasso Sea, Elephants' graveyard, and scrap heap for countless contraptions, creations, weapons, armor, failed experiments, broken devices, fallen buildings, and shipwrecks of sea and air. The blocks of Thuldanin are hollow and pockmarked with pits that lead to the interior a few miles down. There the flotsam and jetsam of the ages turns to stone in a matter of days or weeks due to the magic of this layer. Thuldanin has no inhabitants, only the occasional visitor from Avalas looking for some piece of magic or technology that might turn the tide of battle.

Tintibulus

The third layer of Acheron has blocks different than those of the other layers. Here, the blocks are made of gray volcanic stone and the faces were six-sided, eight-sided, or even higher in number of edges. When the blocks of Tintibulus collide, the surfaces would fracture along natural fault lines into hexagons great and small. This layer has no inhabitants, but is attractive to magical researchers for its emptiness and isolation.

Ocanthus

The blocks of the fourth and final layer are square and so razor-thin as to be almost two-dimensional. They range in size from a few inches to several miles across. Both sides of the hard black squares have normal gravity pulling to the surface and can be walked upon. Being hit by the edge of one of these razor-sharp squares can be deadly.

Notable Inhabitants

Bane - evil god of war and conquest holds a realm on a smaller block which orbits Gruumsh's block on Avalas. Gruumsh - evil god of war and destruction holds a realm on a block on Avalas.

Alternative Name(s)

The Infinite Battlefield

Type

Planar Sphere/Grouping

Location under

Outer Planes

Included Locations

• Avalas
• Ocanthus
• Thuldanin
• Tintibulus