The Nine Hells

Within the swirling red cloud of the Abyss, the Nine Hells collect the many mortal souls that had died without the favor of a deity, something that only a select few have. The dead denizens of Hell have turned it into an apocalyptic landscape of never-ending death and madness; only the citizens of Elysium can escape its corruption.

The First Layer

The First Layer is where the River Styx enters the hells, ending in a pool within the Ninth Layer. This layer is remarkably devoid of life, most of its terrain being made to keep whatever comes up from lower layers down. This includes confusing illusions, mazes, traps, and living terrain features that will either take intruders to a lower layer or consume it.
This layer is also known to be the home of the Reapers and the Court of Anubis where the Judge of the Damned chooses the resting place of newly arrived souls.

The Second Layer

The Kingdom of the Three Lords, the second layer of Hell, is a land of constant competition; one must always be on top. Those who inhabit this kingdom see travelers crossing the area as potential competition and, therefore, must be challenged or eliminated. This competition culture puts said inhabitants into categories based on what they master, or at the very least wish to master, meaning you can run into forge, gladiator, or artist devils but not any of the typical sub-species.
The demons that lurk here separate themselves from what they believe are pointless statuses and refuse to take part in any competition. Most then see demons in this layer as simple spectators, but the most nefarious of the devils will know that the demons are excellent devices of chaos and will hire or persuade groups of them to help their quest of climbing the second layer's podium.

The Third Layer

S'bark's kingdom of platinum, gold, silver, and copper towers makes up the third layer of hell. The inhabitants here see wealth as the most important aspect of an individual, not necessarily referring to monetary wealth mind you, but overall physical, mental, and spiritual value. New arrivals will be placed on a scale and be compared to (in order), a copper block, a silver block, an electrum block, a gold block, and a platinum block. When the scales indicate that the arrival and one of the blocks 'weigh' the same, they are assigned their rank in the layer accordingly. Unlike the second layer, although there are ranks within S'bark's kingdom these do not replace the sub-species of the devils or demons of the layer, the ranks instead sort the layer's population and indicate how much respect they are given.
The order of the ranks from least to highest respect is copper, silver, gold, and platinum. There is however a fifth rank: electrum, the rarest of the five and the absolutely most hated.

The Forth Layer

Though the River Styx continues to make its course down the layers of hell, it makes a quick stop at the fourth layer, pooling into a ginormous lake. Around the lake is where the majority of devils and demons live; the cities slowly climb up its walls so that all citizens may be able to gaze upon the lake, but most importantly its many islands. The ruler of this realm, Queen Minlix, places her many treasures on the islands, including her favorite followers. Her goal is to tempt the citizens of surrounding cities to try and reach the islands to fulfill their desires, falling into the lake and joining the many souls of Styx down to the ninth layer.

The Fifth Layer

Five layers down is the City of Elysium, a paradise surrounded by hell's evils. Here the Judge of the Damned places those who she truly believes had earned a peaceful afterlife. She also gives those close to Salvation residences just outside the city to forever view what they nearly had achieved. The goodly city is under almost constant attack, protected by the heroes and warriors sent to live there.

The Sixth Layer

A layer with walls of flesh, the sixth kingdom is one of constant consumption. It is ridden with disease, mold, rot, and cannibalistic inhabitants. The devils and demons of this layer are the most monstrous, and arguably the most destructive if let loose outside of hell's gates.

The Seventh Layer

Battlefields of wars and conflicts both recent and ancient are stitched together here into a nearly endless horizon of combat and death. The warriors apart of these battlefields when taken to the afterlife still believe to be alive and are still fighting for whatever cause sparked the bloodshed. Otherwise, devilish inhabitants are murderers and cruel killers from the Mortal Realm who must experience constant death to live through the pain that they had inflicted (either the fallen warriors or the demons of the layer being responsible for their punishment).

The Eight Layer

Darkness and silence engulf the layer. The sights you see or the noises you hear are most likely symptoms of the madness this layer inflicts, if not may whatever had found you kill you swiftly and painlessly. Those who refuse to contribute to something greater than themselves such as a community or conflict against evil are sent here to mindlessly explore the layer in a nothingness equivalent to the number of achievements they've accomplished.

The Ninth Layer

The single most secured layer of the nine, the Ninth Kingdom is a never-ending maze and prison designed to never let whoever or whatever was sent here free as doing so would surely mean the end of the Barren. The entrance to the layer is the only part accessible to travelers wanting to visit the kingdom, which is where the end of the River Styx is, pooling in yet another lake in which the creatures who died in the layers above surface and return to their dismal existences. Some had refused to even try and travel back to where they belonged, creating a dark city underneath the Cadaver Castle and a months' journey away from the Corrupted Capital of Hades.

Alternative Name(s)

The Nine Kingdoms

Type

Magical Realm

Location under

The Abyss

Owner/Ruler

Asmodeus

Inhabiting Species

• Devil

Related Myths

• The War Between Heaven and the Hells