Hades
The Gray Waste of Hades, also known as the Abaddon, is an Outer Plane, home of the Mezzofiends. Located at the midpoint of the Lower Planes, it is a plane of evil balanced between Law and Chaos.
The three layers of Hades are called glooms for good reason; they are realms devoid of emotion, hope, and peace. Gray land and gray sky throughout, with no sun, moon or seasons to break the monotony. Any color other than shades of gray be obvious against the background but fade to gray in a week or two. And like bright colors, beings begin to fade also. At first they feel the drain of emotions leaving only sadness, ennui, and defeatism. In a tenday or two they are trapped in Hades and their existence
begin to fade until finally they became larvae.
Hades is a unique plane,it holdsd the foundation of Mount Olympus. These two planar artifacts connected Hades to Olympus, in the first layer of Arborea, and Ysgard respectively, allowing travel between Hades, the Upper planes, and Alternate Prime Material Planes without going through the Astral Plane.
- Oinos The first layer of Hades is named for the lord of the daemons (the Oinodaemon), Anthraxus the Decayed. Oinos is the land of disease with stunted and withered plants amid gray rocky terrain. The river Styx flows through this layer and there are portals to Tarterus, Gehenna, and Concordant Opposition that looked like huge spinning metal coins, visible for miles/kilometers, often guarded by iron fortresses. Anyone walking this land or floating on the river Styx has a chance of contracting a major disease. Many of the daemons and some of the other creatures from the lower middle planes who are immune to disease made their home here.
- Niflheim Compared to Oinos, the terrain in the second layer is rougher, like foothills, with cooler temperatures, healthier vegetation including pine trees, and no disease. Everything is cloaked in dreary fog and mist, limiting vision to about a hundred feet (thirty meters). The goddess Nyx once maintained an abode here.
- Pluton The lowest level of Hades contains the base of Mount Olympus, a direct conduit through the Astral Plane to the plane of Arborea. The gray motif continued throughout this layer but most of the vegetation is black willow trees and dry, dying poplars.
Inhabitants
The daemons are the presumed rulers of Hades, but are actually outnumbered by the bird-like diakk and the greater powers have no trouble carving out realms for themselves. Factions of demodands carry on a low-level insurgency, sniping at the daemons but generally avoiding large-scale conflict that might attract the attention of the resident deities. Also known to inhabit all layers of Hades are achaierai, nightmares, mephits and night hags.Afterlife
Most souls that arrive in Hades become larvae—sickly, human-headed worm-spirits—that are harvested by the night hags as a commodity for Lower Plane commerce.
Alternative Name(s)
Gray Waste of Hades, Gray Waste
Type
Plane of Existence
Included Locations
Inhabiting Species
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