Baator otherwise known as the Nine Hells, is the dimension plane of the devils and is ruled by the supreme greater deity Asmodeus. Each layer of The Nine Hells is ruled by an Arch duke.
Baator has nine layers:
Avernus
Avernus
The first layer is a vast charred wasteland of rubble over which the iron towers of the Dukes of Hell stand. Legions of devils march across the plains in continual readiness for the next battle of the Blood War. A red light suffuses the sky and huge fireballs fly across the layer, randomly exploding wherever they hit.
Dis
The second layer, Dis, is a burning city of iron known as the Iron City of Dis. The walls of the buildings of the city radiate extreme heat, as do the stones of the streets; more than brief skin contact results in severe burns. The Archduke Dispater rules this layer from the Iron Tower, an impregnable fortress that reaches far into the sky and can be seen everywhere on Dis.
Minauros
The third layer of Minauros is an endless bog of vile pollution. The weather on Minauros consists of acidic rain and harsh winds.
The city of Minauros the Sinking is located here, so called because the weight of the city causes it to continually slip beneath the slimy waters; only the endless efforts of thousands of slaves prevents it from doing so. The kyton city of Jangling Hiter, City of Chains can also be found on this layer.
Mammon the Viscount is the ruler of Minauros, he resembles a long serpent with a human torso. He rules from the centre of the city, within a huge mausoleum like structure.
Phlegethos
Phlegethos is a fiery wasteland filled with active volcanoes and rivers of molten lava. Lady Fierna and Archduke Belial are the lords of this layer. Few can exist here for long without suitable protection from the extreme heat. The city of Abriymoch is composed of hardened magma in the caldera of a volcano and is somewhat more bearable than the rest of Phlegethos. Fierna and Belial reside in a palace of pure obsidian high up on one side of the city.
Stygia
Stygia, the fifth layer is a freezing layer of cold and ice dominated by a murky ocean fed directly by the River Styx. The dark sky is constantly filled with lightning storms. If all else fails, out in the trackless wastes is the Oracle of the Hungry Ice. Feed it a piece of yourself and ask your question. The more important your need, the greater the cost in body parts. Hopefully we shan‘t have cause to use such a grisly device, but be prepared.
Realms
Sheyruushk: This underwater realm is accessible from a crack between two icebergs not too far from Tantlin. The icy waters are dark, but that does not bother the sharklike sahuagin who live here. The sea devils cavort in the court of their deity, Sekolah. Awful rites pay homage to the brutal shark deity in which captive devils feature prominently as sacrifices. Sharks of every size and every type constantly roam the waters of Sheyruushk, though both the sharks and sahuagin often swim up into the River Styx. They love to sink River Styx boatmen and merchant craft; Sekolah's blessing is sufficient to render the raiders immune to the influence of the waters of Styx for a short time.
Settlements
Tantlin, the City of Ice, is built on a huge ice floe with a large harbor to the river Styx, and is ruled over by a huge pit fiend. The lack of any kind of law enforcement leads itself to gangs controlling much of the city. Prince Levistus rules over this layer, frozen in a giant iceberg floating in the harbor.
Malbolge
Malbolge was an endless mountain where rockslides and avalanches of boulders were common. Numerous copper fortresses provided some refuge from the avalanches. Formerly, the Hag Countess ruled from her mountain-sized boulder fortress, which perpetually rolled down the slopes of Malbolge. Now however the layer is ruled by Glasya, the daughter of Asmodeus. The Countess grew to such a height and girth that she exploded and became the layer itself.
Maladomini
Maladomini is a barren landscape scarred by countless forgotten ruins, abandoned mines and gruesome subterranean dungeons. Under the blood-black sky, petitioners quarry, carve, and build new cities for the Lord of the Seventh. Mine pits, slag heaps, and brackish canals cover the land like sores. Newer cities are built upon the backs of older ruins. As each city is finished, the Lord's dissatisfaction forces his subjects to begin anew. The abandoned cities are not empty. They serve as home for petitioners who've fled their devilish tormentors, beasts from other planes who've become especially lost, and lost planar travelers who don't want to be found.
The city of Malagard is the layer's primary settlement. Archduke Baalzebul presides over this layer. The city of Grenpoli is here.
Cania
Cania is an unimaginably cold wasteland, few living things can survive more than a few moments in an unsheltered area. Huge fast moving glaciers crash around the layer sending snow and ice up in the sky.
The layer is ruled over by Mephistopheles, from his great citadel of ice Mephistar. It sits upon a giant glacier called Nargus, the movement of which is controlled by Mephistopheles himself. Inside Mephistar huge heated baths and fire warm the citadel, providing quite a comfortable environment.
Nessus
Nessus is the ninth and deepest layer of Baator. It is of pits and ravines of virtually endless depths. The great city of Malsheem lies immediately below the layer between Cania and Nessus and is the largest city in all of the Outer Planes. Here, Asmodeus rules over the entire plane, and thus the entire race of devils.
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