1. Avernus
The first Hell of Baator, Avernus is a disaster of sulphurous fumes and blistering heat. Accessible only by portal and the deadly River Styx stretches infinitely in all directions.
Geography
Avernus is a chronically-scorching wasteland of ash and fire, broken by rocky crags, canyons, and snake-pits. This infernal landscape is crisscrossed by rivers of blood and lava flowing from macabre geysers and volcanoes, as well as the fortresses and brambly lairs of its inhabitants.
Due to the ongoing The Blood War which rages on this lair, the ground is perpetually littered with corpses and viscera. There is a constant smell and taste of blood in the air as a result.
Fireballs crisscross the sky instead of clouds, bursting into flames unexpectedly, and the atmosphere is full of choking clouds of ash and vapour.
The River Styx passes through Avernus, whose citizens call it the River of Blood.
Localized Phenomena
Sometimes called the Plain of a Thousand Portals, many magical gates lead to other realms. These portals are plentiful but impermanent. Portals and the River Styx are the only known means of travel to Baator, which paradoxically occupies space in the Wheel, yet cannot be stepped into from either of its Planar neighbours, as one could step from Arborea to the Beastlands.
In addition, the Realm itself exerts a sinister will, stretching or truncating time and distance to torment travellers. This makes the plane nearly impossible to create a reliable map of, and together with its paradoxical relationship to space, makes it one of the Cartographers' Guild's favourite subjects.
Climate
Avernus, like most hells, is blisteringly hot with no apparent seasonal shifts. Its sky is red like heated metal, and frequently glows with the combustion of aerial fireballs. It rains jets of fire and ash, as if constantly in the shadow of a volcanic eruption. Common weather patterns include firestorms, poisonous fog, and brimstone.
Fauna & Flora
No normal plants or normal animals can live in Baator. This is partly because there is no water, only blood. The Styx—appropriately also called the River of Blood—supplies a steady flow which perforates the earth, and its gruesome, metallic taste suffuses the air.
Avernus' flora, if it can be called that, consists of brambles with thorns each the length of a spear, and sharp enough to cut deeply with a light touch. Twisted mockeries of trees occasionally spring up, snaring travellers in their limbs. Poisonous molds and heat-tolerant fungi have also been spotted. None of them are good to eat.
Local fauna include all manner of Fiend, as well as the dreaded Hellwasp, red Dragons, and red Kobolds who thrive in the heat.
History
As legend goes, Avernus was once a realm occupying space in the Wheel just as any other Realm. It was this place, whose name and nature have long-since been lost to time, where Asmodeus first encamped his then-celestial forces to fight the Abyssal Hordes.
Their time in the Abyss and among the Demons changed the celestial soldiers, and they carried this infernal transformation into the land around them. As the infernal forces grew and their camps became entrenched, the land transformed into what is now Baator.
Many presume that Avernus, being the topmost layer, most closely resembles the former landscape, and that Baator grew other layers downward from there. However, scraps of journal and rumours from Maladomini point to flora and structures which seem to predate devilish presence, indicating Maladmini as the original layer, and others grown outward from it.
Tourism
All visitors require a letter of safe passage from Zariel, Lord of the First, to enter or pass through Avernus. This isn't much a bother to the general populace of the Realms, because almost no one desires to visit Avernus.
Even so, Avernus is still a heavily-trafficked plane. Because of its many portals, soulmongers and slavers pass through it on the way to ply their filthy trades elsewhere. In addition, the Abyssal Hordes pour in constantly through portals and along the River Styx to meet the Infernal Forces in battle.
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Badlands
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