Nine Layers of Hell
A devil . . . thought the adventurer. Now there is a fitting foe! Moreover, his lands would not be safe until it was no more, and so he set about tracking it. And a little later . . . There are more where that one came from, he thought to himself, standing over its smoldering remains. “They could well come again,” he said aloud. “Yes,” agreed the paladin who had fought at his side. “You have joined an endless battle, my lord. But if you weary of fighting it here, amid that which you hold dear, then come with me—I ride on the hells tomorrow.”Hell is a grim mirror image of Heaven, a reconsideration of all that is holy and good, were the moralities of the age skewed but an iota. In this vision of reality, the powerful are served by the weak, sentimentality is trampled by discipline, and order is absolute. Hell is not as The Abyss or the Outer Rifts, where lies, torments, and horrors are wantonly inflicted by willful or primal things. Rather, here they are tools, methods utilized by fearsome and zealous legions ready to reshape all existence to a divine vision. Although nearly all faiths decry the sufferings of Hell and seek to guard their flocks from damnation, still souls endlessly stream into the infernal plane, ever increasing the might of the fearsome princes there. It is as though the beings of the mortal plane secretly crave the order of Hell yet prove too meek in life to admit such awesome truth. The order of Hell is infallible, and it offers its absolute peace and ironclad harmony to all with the resolve to embrace its merciless perfection. Hell occupies an immeasurable realm within the Outer Sphere. Metaphysically shaped like strata filling a vast gulf, nine layers of Hell bore into the depths of reality, each bordered by the endless fury of the Maelstrom. The topography of these terrifying and varied layers reflect the sins of the souls damned to suffer upon them, the whims of powerful devils, and the natural might of the foul plane itself. Over each of these nine realms rule terrifying governors, the archdevils, Asmodeus’s personal lieutenants, advisors, and greatest warriors. Beneath these tyrants scheme vast courts of infernal nobility, unique fiends that work the will of their dreaded lords and command untold diabolical legions. Hell functions in perfect order in the grips of this vast, semi-martial hierarchy, as most devils fanatically support the multiversal vision Asmodeus holds for the planes, while non-fiends merely fear what torments might be concocted for even the suggestion of disobedience. Although the layers of Hell prove vast and varied, most share a number of profane features.
Hellfire
More than simply a mortal expression, many of the flames of Hell burn not just with heat, but with rage and a will to destroy. Hellfire takes many forms, most stinking of sulfur and possessing a furious crimson or soulless green cast. As it requires no fuel, any land, air, or water might burn with this deadly flame. The foulest of these profane energies shed no light, their deep purple or even black tongues howling like a cacophony of endlessly burning souls. Hellfire is most commonly encountered in Phlegethon, Malbolge, Cocytus, Cania, and Nessus. Spoken of widely in tales of damnation and eternal punishment, the fires of Hell are said to burn hotter than a pyre’s flames and take fuel from mortal sins. More than the metaphors of zealous priests, the flames of Hell do indeed burn stronger than those found nearly anywhere else on the planes, their hungry light fed by torment and inspired by absolute corruption. Common to almost every level of the Pit, this hellfire has all the powers and properties of normal flame, but is profane to the point that it sears untainted flesh and can consume righteous souls. Hellfire largely appears, spreads, and behaves as normal fire, though it has been known to lash out toward the virtuous as if possessing a cruel mind of its own.Hellfire (CR 3): Hellfire is treated as normal fire, but deals half fire damage and half damage from unholy energy. Damage dealt by hellfire is known as hellfire damage. Evil aligned creatures and creatures with the evil subtype take no damage from the unholy energy, but good-aligned beings and those with the good subtype take double the normal damage from it. Creatures under the effects of spells like protection from evil are unaffected by this unholy energy, though they may still take fire damage. A typical gout of hellfire, which might spring forth from the plains of Avernus, the pits of Phlegethon, or countless other searing vents throughout the Pit, typically deals 6d6 points of hellfire damage. Aside from such gouts, whole lakes, burning clouds, pyroclastic flows, burning rock, and endlessly smoldering structures flickering with hellfire are known to burn amid the depths of the Pit.
Hellmouths
Living orifices in the unbounded body of Hell itself, these strange portals appear as bizarre diabolical faces, yawning maws, or more repulsive openings. While the majority lead to deeper layers of Hell, an exceedingly rare few slip the bounds of the Pit to connect with other planes, most notably layers of The Abyss, the sewers of Axis, or occasionally a mortal world. While the fortresses of infernal dukes guard most hellmouths, well-hidden or entirely new passages might lie unprotected, though rarely for long.The River Styx
The river of forgetfulness is born from Avernus and wends its way through several layers of Hell, via portals, drowned hellmouths, and metaphysical cascades in the plane itself in an endless course. Within float, swim, and sail innumerable thought-wiped souls, aquatic fiends, foul planar traders, and beasts better left unknown. In its passage through Hell, the Styx begins in Avernus, winds through the channels of Dis, oozes through the sewers of Erebus, creeps through murky flows of Stygia, fills several bolgias of Malbolge before flooding into Cocytus, then briefly cascades into Cania before plummeting into the Outer Rifts and continuing beyond. This planar thoroughfare takes several forms in its passages through Hell. While usually recognizable by its sickly green waters, the stench of ammonia, and the discorporating souls trapped within, through mired realms like Stygia the river might be little more than a slow-moving creep of sludge, while in aquatic layers like Cocytus it runs as a single, swift current that refuses to freeze.
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Dimensional plane
Owner/Ruler
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