PURGATORY

Normal Gravity.
Normal Time.
Infinite Size.
Highly Morphic: Purgatory reacts easily to the creative will of its inhabitants and to the mood of those around. With a DC 11 Wisdom check, anyone can alter minor details of the plane in an area up to 10ft per point of Charisma they have and centered on themself. Such details include the existence of any raw materials, the colour, shape, smell, or other features of anything within the affected area, and even the presence of sounds or phenomena such as a cool breeze or gentle warmth or soft rain. With a DC 20 Wisdom check, anyone can change one trait within the affected space, such as making the direction of gravity subjective, or making time flow differently, or making the area mildly negative energy dominant.
No Elemental or Energy Dominant Traits: at random times, the plane will temporarily become Fire-Dominant or Water-Dominant. But overall, the plane does not have any elemental or energy dominant traits.
Strongly Chaos-Aligned.
Impeded Magic: spells with the Lawful descriptor fizzle out unless the castor succeeds at a Spellcraft check (DC 15 + Spell Level).

PETITIONERS:
The souls of those who are are free-spirited and independent above all else are drawn to this plane like moths to a flame. Anarchists, drifters, vagabonds, rogues, and ne’er-do-wells are common Petitioners here, alongside dark heroes, dare-devils, vengeful loners, and solo adventurers. These Petitioners are immune to fire and cold and have resistances to electricity and acid. Additionally, Purgatory Petitioners automatically succeed at changing aspects of the plane within their affected range without having to make Wisdom checks.

PURGATORY, this plane, has only a single layer. The natural base state of the plane is an empty grey void, bereft of any features. The “ground” is intuitively there but unable to be distinguished from the rest of the infinite void of grey nothingness. Just a perfectly flat plane to walk on. Site goes out to the “horizon”, though it’s hard to tell just how far one can see into the void without a point of reference. Fortunately, everyone here is constantly creating or changing their own reality onto the blank canvas of the plane. Sometimes a battle of wills takes place when one person’s radius of effect overlaps another’s. At random (approximately a 5% chance every hour) the “weather” changes. If it was currently clear, the change has a 50% chance of being a firestorm (plane gains Fire-Dominant trait) and a 50% chance of being a downpour of rain (plane gains the Water-Dominant trait). If it was currently a firestorm, the change is either rain or clears up (50% chance each). If it was currently rain, the change is either a firestorm or clears up (50% chance each).

PANDEMONIUM

Objective Directional Gravity: down is whatever surface a creature is nearest. Essentially every surface is a floor.
Normal Time.
Infinite Size.
Divinely Morphic.
No Elemental or Energy Traits.
Mildly Chaos-Aligned.
Normal Magic.

PETITIONERS:
The insane, violent, and rowdy are drawn to this plane. Street fighters, thrashers, and rebels are some of the most common Petitioners, as well as bandits, raiders, thieves and thugs. Pandemonium Petitioners are immune to Sonic and Electric damage, and have resistance to Cold and Acid. they are, every one of them, utterly deranged.

Hearing on Pandemonium: the constant screams of the wind make it impossible to hear anything beyond 10 feet. Likewise, spells and effects that rely on sonic energy have their range limited to 10 feet. Travelers are temporarily deafened after 1d10 rounds of exposure to the winds, and permanently deafened after 24 hours of exposure. Temporarily deafened characters regain their hearing after 1 hour spent out of the wind. Ear plugs or similar devices negate the deafening effect. Of course, wearing earplugs effectively mimics the normal effects of being deafened.

PANDESMOS, the first layer of Pandemonium, has the largest caverns, with some big enough to hold entire nations. Large or small, most caverns are desolate and abandoned to the winds. Several of Pandesmos’ caverns and tunnels possess a feature in common besides the omnipresent wind. Streams of frigid water flow from cavern to cavern, some down the center of the tunnel in midair because of the objective gravity exerted by each wall cancelling out the others. Many of these streams, but not all, are tributaries of the River Styx.

Madhouse: a group of Eladrin known as the Bleak Cabal maintains a citadel in Pandesmos that serves as a way station for travelers. The Madhouse is a sprawling edifice of haphazardly organized buildings divided by several circular stone walls. The citadel is so large it fills up an entire cavern, covering every surface. The place is rife with travelers, Petitioners, and natives. Available services include lodging and most other services one might expect in a normal city. However, a respectable percentage of Madhouse’s population is insane, deaf, or both.

Winter’s Hall: this region of Pandesmos is snowy and blizzard-ridden. visibility , even when light can be had, is only a few feet. The snow never rests; the winds constantly whip it up so it coats tunnels and even creatures with a uniform layer of ice. Frost giants and winter wolves prowl the cold waste. These creatures serve a particularly cruel entity called many names but most often venerated as The Trickster.

COCYTUS, the second layer of Pandemonium, has tunnels that tend to be smaller than Pandesmos’, which means that they funnel the winds more strongly. The resulting wails have earned Cocytus the nickname “Layer of Lamentation”. Strangely, the tunnels on this layer bear the marks of having been hand-chiseled, but such an undertaking must have occured so long ago that years do not suffice as a measure.

Howler’s Crag: a jagged spike of stone stands in the center of Cocytus. The Crag is a jumbled pile of stones, boulders, and worked stone, as if a giant’s palace had collapsed in on itself. The Crag’s top is mostly a level platform about 8 feet in diameter, with a low wall surrounding it. The platform and those on it glow with an ephemeral blue radiance. The lower reaches of teh Crag are riddled with small burrows. Some are merely dead ends, but others connect. The wall of every burrow is covered with lost alphabets that supposedly spell out strange psalms, liturgies, and strings of numerals or formulas. Natives of Pandemonium say that anything yelled aloud from atop of the Crag finds the ears of the intended recipient, no matter where that recipient is in Pandemonium and despite the howling winds of the plane. The words of the message are borne on the shrieking, frigid wind. Fiendish Eladrin of various sorts have learned that visitors constantly trickle to the Crag. the visitors are usually archeologists, diviners, and those wishing to send a message to some lost friend or enemy. Most become the prey of the ambushing fiends.

Harmonica: legend tells of a site in Cocytus called Harmonica. In this place, the winds whip through a cavern with holes and tubes chiseled into gargantuan rock columns, creating a noise worse than anywhere else in the plane. Somewhere within this mazelike realm of tortured cacophony lies the true secret planeswalking; the art of traveling the planes without a portal, spell, or device of any kind. In all likelihood, this secret is a legend with no basis in fact, but that doesn’t stop the occasional seeker from finding, then dying among, the columns of Harmonia.

PHLEGETHON, the third layer, has normal gravity unlike the other layers. This gives rise to intricate stalagmite and stalactite formations, which in turn are constantly weathered by the brutal wind. The unrelenting noise of dripping water meshes with the howling of winds in Phlegethon’s narrow, twisting tunnels. The rock itself absorbs light and heat. All light sources, both natural and magical, only shine to half their normal distance.

Windglum: Windglum is a city of Banished in a cavern several miles wide and long, with enormous natural columns that hold up the cavern’s ceiling. Hundreds of ever-burning globes provide light for the city, illuminating a disordered sprawl of individual homes. The homes in turn surround a fortification known locally as the Citadel of Lords. Windglum is characterized by an aura of suspicion. The locals are unlikely to trust strangers, and many of Windglum’s citizens are mentally unstable. However, one inn in Windglum welcomes strangers. Called the Scaly Dog, it’s a place where a planar traveler can meet other wayfarers, hire mercenaries, gather information, or seek employment.

Citadel of Slaughter: the tumbled ruin of some vast citadel, its torturous passages channel cold winds on which can always be heard the sound of terrible battle Battle-mad Petitioners of all races infest the passages, and they desire nothing more than to hunt and slay eachother in cold blood. No one goes to the Citadel of Slaughter on purpose unless they seek to join the eternal slaughter.

AGATHION, the fourth and final layer. Here, the narrowing tunnels finally constrict down to nothing, leaving behind an infinite number of closed-off spaces filled with stale air or vacuum surrounded by an infinitude of solid stone. The portals that connect Agathion to the rest of Pandemonium open into the otherwise unreachable bubbles, but the act of stepping through a portal always sets off a windstorm. Unless you know where the portal is, the closed off spaces of Agathion are almost impossible to find. For this reason, forgotten spaces have been used by powerful entities as vaults where items are hidden away. Such items may include uncontrollable artifacts, precious mementos, lost languages, unborn cosmologies, and monsters of such cataclysmic power that they couldn’t be slain or otherwise neutralized.

THE DARK FIELDS

Normal Gravity.
Normal Time.
Infinite Size.
Divinely Morphic.
No Elemental or Energy Traits.
Mildly Chaos- and Mildly Evil-Aligned.
Normal Magic.

PETITIONERS:

The truly depraved, murderous, hedonist, and savage souls wind up as Petitioners here. Dark Fields Petitioners are immune to Cold and Acid, and have resistance to Fire and Poison. They gain Darkvision to 120 ft.

BRAVELLIR, the first layer, is a wide open flat plain. The sky is constantly overcast and dark, and there is no sunlight here. Only a perpetual night. The land is mostly flat, with grassy fields, thick forests, the occasional winding brook, and snowy taigas or tundras. To the north the land eventually begins to rise up into a mountainous region called the Dark Mountains, with tall magnificent peaks capped by shifting glaciers. Beyond these mountain lay mighty fjords and, beyond those, an endless ocean expanse called the Corpse Shore. Most of the denizens of this layer are Dark Elves, but most non-elf inhabitants of the plane make their homes on Bravellir.

Grove of Fetters: in a small clearing in an otherwise dense wood, there is a large tree in the center of the clearing surrounded by the other trees. This grove is the site of horrible rituals where mortals are sacrificed in orgiastic fashion by impaling on a spear and being bled to death or disemboweled while hanging from the spear against the tree. The ground is stained red from the blood soaked into it in front of the tree, and it’s hanging boughs loom over the bloody ground as if reaching for it.

MYRKALLA, the second layer of the Dark Fields, is a subterranean region of tunnels and caverns and wide gaping vaults. Underground springs, and veins of ore and marble, are plentiful here. Dark elves rule over the majority of this layer, and their grand cities are opulent and ostentatious. Some of these cities are decorated with brilliant displays of permanent Faerie Fire, but most are left in complete darkness, their beauty and architectural craftsmanship visible only to those with Darkvision.

River Gjoll: bubbling up from a natural spring, the river Gjoll is one of the only widely-known sources of fresh and potable water in Myrkalla. It flows along a long twisting tunnel, intersecting various other tunnels that cross it via bridge, and eventually empties into the River Styx as a tributary.

TARTARUS

Normal Gravity. On the orbs, gravity is exactly like the material plane. Between the orbs, there is no gravity.
Normal TIme.
Infinite Size.
Divinely Morphic.
No Elemental or Energy Traits.
Mildly Evil-Aligned.
Normal Magic.

PETITIONERS:
Petitioners on Tartarus reside on one of the five layers according to their particular treachery. Orthys holds politicians and national traitors, and Cathrys holds those who gave in to animal lusts when logic and reason would have served better. Minethys imprisons hoarders who could have helped others with their wealth but didn’t, a Colothys confines liars whose untruths harmed others. Finally, Porphatys is home to the shallow and self-absorbed who refused to help others when the opportunity presented itself. These Petitioners are immune to Cold and Acid, and resist Electricity and Fire. they have a +10 competence bonus on Bluff checks.

ORTHRYS, the outermost layer, has the most orbs. However, these orbs are spread far apart, and looking into the distance it is impossible to tell if there are an infinite number of such orbs, or if they eventually stop. The sky seems to be an empty void out here beyond the immediate vicinity of tiny planets. The orbs on this layer are covered in bogs and quicksand. The River Styx flows freely through this layer between the orbs and onto the surfaces of some of them, saturating the ground with its magic. Channels carved into the soft ground through eons of erosion are wide and deep. Where there is no river, there are swamps. Though patches of dry ground exist, they are rare and usually climb swiftly to rugged mountains where enraged titans dwell. Mosquitoes swarm the air above the bogs, annoying travelers. Even more annoying are the smooth-talking petitioners that populate this dreary realm.

Bastion of Last Hope: a fortress made of black igneous rock squats in a mountain range of Orthrys. The ambient, reddish light of the plane lends the Bastion of Last Hope a brooding air of menace. Only one entrance offers itself, and those entering can’t help but notice that the entrance strongly resembles the maw of some massive demonic toad. No one rules the Bastion. Instead, it serves as a sort of outpost for anarchists. Here a traveler can obtain all manner of forged documents, surgical alterations to aid a permanent disguise, and various other nefarious goods and services. It is a good place to find assassins, spies, and others of ill repute. But cunning travelers remember that they’re on a plane full of traitors, so they trust no one within the Bastion’s walls.

CATHRYS, the second layer, consists of orbs closer to the center of the plane than Orthrys. The orbs of Orthrys surround those of Cathrys like a concentric shell. The orbs of this layer are covered with fetid jungles and scarlet plains. The stench of decay fills the air, a roy fueled by acidic secretions of jungle plants. Those without immunity to acid are quickly rendered down to their component materials if they stay too long amid the swaying trees. The air deals 1d4 acid damage per minute, and some plants secrete more potent acids. The plains of Cathrys are more habitable. Vast, windswept grasslands cover the plains. Some patches posess razor-sharp leaves which can cut a traveler not mindful of them. Those who hustle or run on the plains must make a Reflex save (DC 20) each round or cut themselves for 1d4 Slashing damage.

Apothecary of Sin: located deep in the fetid jungles of an orb on Cathrys, the Apothecary of Sin is built from cunningly woven scraps of wood atop the trunk of a large tree, raising the structure of the building high above the swaying branches of the acid-laden leaves below. Rope-suspended catwalks lead to the treetops, but there are sections missing, probably victims of caustic storms. Sinmaker, a Mamuna who delights in all things poisonous, runs the Apothecary, where he sells mundane and exotic poisons and acids of all kinds. He also makes his own concoctions, in many unique varieties.

MINETHYS, the third layer of Tartarus, consists of orbs located even further to the center than those of the previous layer. These orbs are filled with sand. Stinging grit is driven so hard by the wind that it can strip an exposed being to the bone in a matter of hours, should one of the layer’s terrible windstorms spring up. Sandstorms are 10% likely in any given area per day. All who dwell in this area, mortal or fiend alike, cover themselves in cloth garments to block out the stinging sand. Tornadoes are common on Minethys. To avoid these hazards, petitioners live in miserable sand-filled pits dug by hand. Their crude pits must be constantly dug out to provide even the slightest shelter.

Sand Tombs of Payratheon: a vanished city built on an orb of Minethys eons ago, Payratheon is long buried, but its sand-drowned avenues, crumbled towers, and silted porticos still remain far below the shifting surface of the layer. Sometimes the shifting sands reveal Payratheon for an hour or longer, but it is always engulfed again by the sands. Tales of sand-swimming monsters and petrified undead corpses found in the buried city circulate in Tartarus.

COLOTHYS, the fourth layer, is a realm of mountains so tall, rough, and cruel as to stagger the imagination of a traveler from the Material Plane. Travel by foot is almost impossible here because the land is divided by canyons miles deep where it is not lifted to absurd heights by mighty tectonics. A few trading routes do exist, usually in the form of rickety bridges and cliff-face trails barely wide enough for one. It’s impossible to move normally away from the trade routes. Characters must make Climb checks (DC 15) to move ½-speed as a full-round action.

Garden of Malice: the hanging gardens of Colothys are found on a single orb of the layer that travelers would do well to avoid. To th inexperienced eye, many of the cliff faces and sheer drops of this orb are home to thick vines and tubers that sprout a riot of beautiful flowers. Characters who attempt to collect samples for their botanical collections quickly learn that the vines are animate and determined to wring the life from any creature that gets too close. Once every 600 days the vines release tiny spores that look like dandelion fluff into the atmosphere. The winds of the layer often send the seeds to other orbs where they are usually eaten by vermin, but a few find nourishing soil and survive to grow and sprout tubers in small nooks and forgotten cliffs.

PORPHATYS, the fifth layer of Tartarus, is a realm where each orb is coated in a cold shallow ocean fed by constant black snow. The snow and water are mildly acidic, automatically dealing 1d6 Acid damage per 10 minutes of direct exposure. Artificial structures do not last long on Porphatys. Small islands barely taller than sandbars rise above the waves. Most petitioners on this layer crow from atop these small islands, promising anything to those who would take them away. Despite their entreaties, they reward charity with betrayal at the first opportunity.

Ship of One Hundred: also called the White Caravel, this ship rides the cold seas of Porphatys with nobody on board but 100 stone sarcophagi. It wends between the islets of many orbs, somehow teleporting from one to the next, picking up stranded souls and other travelers who are brave (or foolish) enough to board. Anytime someone tries to open a sarcophagus, some unrecorded calamity devours all creatures currently on board, and the next time the ship puts in at port it is utterly devoid of all life. Stories have it that the ghostly white ship seeks to deliver its terrible cargo, but waits until the end-times to do so.

AGATHYS, the last layer, is also the coldest. It is a single orb of black ice streaked with crimson red. The air is bitterly cold, dealing 1d2 Cold damage each round. This layer has the Mildly Negative Dominant trait. Petitions here are half-embedded in the ice, their lies frozen on their lips.

Necromanteion: a black citadel carved out of the ice, where the grim accountant of the damned souls of Tartarus resides. The deserted entrance leads quickly to a wide hall called the Hidden Temple, which crawls with undead of all types. The pallid green glow of gibbering ghoul-light lanterns illuminates the area. Hundreds of onyx altars are evenly spaced around the hall, and fiendish priests constantly chant stanzas of a ghastly necromantic ritual. Besides chanting, the priests spend endless hours attending grotesque experiments on necrotic flesh piled on other altars. The office of the Accountant Of The Damned (a Devil with an unforgiving demeanor of judgement and scorn) is in the center of the Hidden Temple, though woe betide anyone who disturbs him. The Hidden Temple has many satellite chambers. Some hold food and quarters for the fiendish priests. Others have cells for the living captives destined to be strapped onto an onyx altar (or become food for a hungry priest). And some are special vaults where the relics of whatever faith the priests follow are sealed away. Finally, small tunnels lead deeper into the ice of the layer, supposedly connecting to vaults of horror so ghastly that even the fiendish priests shy away from exploring their depths. Otherwordly wailing and whispers rise up from the depths.

HADES

Normal Gravity
Normal Time
Infinite Size
Divinely Morphic
No Elemental or Energy Traits
Strongly Evil-Aligned
Entrapping: the plane of Hades saps all emotion from anyone within it. Travellers experience increasing apathy and despair while here. Colours become greyer and less vivid. Sounds duller. Even the demeanor of companions seems to be more hateful. Every week spent in Hades requires a Willpower Save (DC 10 +1 per consecutive week spent). Failure means the character has become trapped by the plane and can no longer leave, having no desire to do so. They become a petitioner of Hades and any memories of their life before coming here fade into nothingness. It takes a Wish or Miracle to restore such characters to normal.
The Greys: every day a creature without SR 10 spends on Hades, they must make a DC 13 Willpower Save or take 1 point of temporary Wisdom damage. A victim can be drained to a minimum Wisdom of 1 in this way. Unlike most ability score damage, Wisdom damage dealt by The Greys does not heal until the creature leaves Hades. This ability score damage represents increasing apathy, hopelessness, and despair. This effect is concurrent with the Entrapping trait, making it harder to resist the entrapping power of the plane.
Normal Magic

PETITIONERS:
Two types of petitioners exist on Hades. Shades appear as greyish ghosts, looking much as they did in life but insubstantial and withered. They hover or shuffle about aimlessly, blank expressions on their hollow faces. They rarely speak, instead crowding around visitors like moths to a flame, seeking the warmth of emotion and hope that living beings possess. These petitioners include anyone trapped by the plane’s oppressive gloom and apathy. They have incorporeality. Spirits of particularly selfish and malicious mortals become a special form of petitioner called Larvae. They appear as human-sized worms with the faces they had in life. Larvae serve as currency on the lower planes, especially among Hags, Liches, and Fiends. Most are as likely to be used as food as they are to power a spell. The rare “lucky” Larva is sometimes promoted to a different form of Archon. The gain immunity to Cold and Fire, resistance to Electricity and Acid, and several special qualities: Wounding (attacks cause bleed for 1 damage per round until a DC 15 Heal check or magical healing is applied), Disease (Devil Chills after wounding a creature if that creature fails a DC 17 Fortitude Save after the battle), and no planar committment.

ASPHODEL, the first layer of Hades, is a land of stunted trees, roving fields, and virulent disease. The River Styx originates on this layer, flowing out in a winding path that leads to the lower layers and to Tartarus and Gehenna.

LETHE, the second layer, is a place of grey mists that constantly twist and swirl among sickly trees and ominous bluffs. The thin fog limits vision to 100 feet at best, muffles sound, and eventually saturates everything with dampness. Many predators prowl the lands, hidden in the mists, including Fiendish Dire Wolves and Trolls. Vision, including Darkvision, is limited to 100 ft, and Perception checks suffer a -4 penalty (-20% penalty). The River Styx falls to this layer, and continues winding this way and that, leading offplane as well as to the lowest layer of Hades.

Hypnos: a small town tucked away in the misty pines, Hypnos is constructed of hewn pine taken from the surrounding forest. The town holds more than 5000 mortals and Shades, though they mostly remain inside their dwellings, giving the town a vacant feel. Great wooden gates bar entry to Hypnos, and both the gates and out wall bristle with spikes. Inside, a broad avenue leads to the town’s center, where a grey marble fountain stands. The wood of the buildings and gates oozes blood like sap, confirming the belief that petitioners are trapped within the wood.

PLUTON, the lowest layer, is one of dying willows, shrivelled olive trees, and night-black poplars. It is a realm where nobody wants to be and nobody can remember why they came. Of course, petitioners have no choice in the matter. The River Styx winds its way through this layer, disappearing into caverns and pits and leading away to Tartarus and to Gehenna.

Underworld: the underworld is contained within walls of grey marble that stretch for hundreds of miles and are visible for thousands of miles beyond that. A single double gate pierces the marble walls of the realm. Constructed of beaten bronze, the gates are dented and scarred by heroes intent on getting past. However, the gates are also guarded by Erinyes, Fiendish Hell Hounds and Harpies, and various undead creatures. Beyond the gate, the inside of the realm appears much like the outside. Blackened trees, stunted bushes, and wasted ground dominate the landscape. Larvae are everywhere, wriggling and squirming in the dust, as are grey wraithlike petitioners who are on the verge of being sucked completely dry of all emotion by the spiritual decay of the plane. When they lose the last shred of emotion they become one with Hades.

Elphame: the dark palace of Elphame is an oasis of gothic beauty in Hades, and home to the Butterfly Queen Una and her consort, the Nightmare King Finvarra. Una rules the Unseelie Court from her throne in Elphame, and pays a tithe every seven years to the underworld. Elphame is a grand citadel of stained glass, dark stone, and fine silver which houses a harem, a full-sized market, numerous stables, manors and keeps, chapels, and more. The grounds contain luscious gardens and fine vineyards, as well as farmland for miles. Here the organizers of the Wild Hunt rally their hosts for drills in preparation for the winter months. Within a hundred miles of the Palace’s main keep the realm has the Light Gravity trait. Spells of the Enchantment school are Extended, while spells of the Sun domain and with the Light descriptor are Impeded. Una and Finvarra have the power to make other changes if they so desire.

GEHENNA

Normal Gravity
Normal Time
Infinite Size
Divinely Morphic
Fire-Dominant
Mildly Evil-Aligned
Normal Magic

PETITIONERS:
Petitioners of Gehenna are greedy and grasping, caring only for themselves. Expect no favours from them unless proof of immediate recompense is at hand. Unlike on many of the other outer planes, these petitioners are more willful, traveling from layer to layer of their own personal quests for power. They’re looking for the ultimate exercise in free will, though they are destined to never find it. They are immune to Poison and Acid, and resistant to Fire and Cold. they have a +10 (+50%) competence bonus to Climb checks.

Falling on Gehenna: because every surface on Gehenna slopes at least 45 degrees (except for occasional ledges of artificial construction), moving from place to place is dangerous. Climb DCs range from 0 for ordinary slopes to 15 for steep areas and 25 for sheer cliffs. Creatures can move at ¼-speed as a move action on the sloping surfaces, or at ½-speed as a full-round action. Attempting to move faster incurs a -5 (-25%) penalty on the Climb check. Those who fail the climb check make no progress at all, and if they fail by 5 or more they fall. A falling creature bounces, rolls, and rebounds off the endless steep slope, landing in a random natural ledge some 10d0+100 feet below, and take 10d6 blunt damage (Reflex save for half, DC 10 on a slope, 35 in steep areas, and 45 on a cliff). A crit fail on the Ref save means the creature has instead fallen into a river of lava.

Combat on Gehenna: anyone on the surface of Gehenna’s mountains loses their Dex bonus to AC and cannot use a shield. Attackers get a +2 (+10%) bonus to attack climbers, even if they are climbing themselves. A climber who takes damage must immediately make a new Climb check against the slope’s DC. if they fail, they fall as described above.

KHALAS, the first layer, glows red-hot from the highly-active volcanic activity. Magma flows and pyroclastic ash are common features of these lower slopes, and steaming waterfalls streak the landscape. The falls never reach the bottom of Khalas, either evaporating or disappearing into bottomless fissures. The mightiest waterfalls are those made by the River Styx as it makes its tumultuous passage across this forbidding layer and on to the Nine Hells. The next layer can be seen in the distance, visible through the darkness, though it is so far away that it burns like a small blurry moon.

Teardrop Palace: located along the Styx, a nautilus-shaped pagoda crouches with two smaller shrines set beside it. A wrought-iron fence surrounds Teardrop Palace, which occupies an obviously deity-carved ledge. The pagoda measures miles on each side, as do the lesser shrines. A crowded bazaar thrives inside the pagoda, filled with milling Devils and Fiendish creatures, the occasional Archon or Axiomatic creature, and rarely an Anarchic creature. Many mortals and petitioners are also found here, shopping or trading. The bazaar buys and sells everything -- the ultimate black market, because almost everything has been stolen from some other plane. Prices are high and pickpockets are a constant threat, but the market has a reputation for selling exotic hard-to-find items.

The Crawling City: a great metropolis of obsidian and concrete, the Crawling City moves across Gehenna from layer to layer at the will of its master, by virtue of thousands of fiendish fire-immune arms grafted under the massive lower deck of the city. The Crawling City has a land speed and climb speed of 60 ft.

CHAMADA, the second layer, is the most savage. The slopes burn with constantly flowing magma so thick that solid cool ground is rare, and so bright that the glare blots out the sky itself. Cascading lava rivers sometimes harden and briefly dam the fiery flow, only to explosively burst forthe in new directions. Vents unexpectedly open, spewing fresh ejecta, and miniature volcanoes are common. The air itself is filled with feather-soft grey ash, which falls everywhere like dread snow, often dropping visibility to zero.

Tower Arcane: this tower rises high above the lava flows and ash clouds of Chamada, decorated with blades and spikes that promise pain and death to unwelcome visitors. Devil Wizards control the tower, which functions as a records vault and laboratory. All manor of research, history, spells, and files can be found here, though the information is well-protected by magic wards and non-magical defenses. The interior halls of the Tower Arcane support the bodies of flayed petitioners dangling from chains. The wizards use the blood of these petitioners (and the occasional unwelcome guest) to pen their notes and research. Torture paraphernalia line any walls not given over to bookshelves and archives. Deep below the Tower lies a vast library of particularly ghastly contracts with mortals, extending for miles. The most potent protective spells in the wizards’ arsenal protect the sanctity of the library from encroachment by molten rock or thieves. Each contract is inscribed on the living skin of a petitioner, burned in with magic and branding irons. Petitioners are strung on chains like popcorn on a string for miles in parallel lines of agony. The only thing on the mind of any given petitioner is its own particular contract and its personal pain.

MUNGOTH, the third layer, is far less volcanically active than the lower two layers. In fact, it’s quite cold and often covered by snowfall. The snow-ash mixture is slightly acidic, dealing 1d4 Acid damage per minute of exposure. Only artificial structures offer any lasting protection from the snowfall, which blows through any given area 80% of the time. The light of scattered volcanic vents is akin to the light cast by a full moon, making navigation across Mungoth’s icy slopes difficult. Even that light is sometimes snuffed out by a heavy snow and ash fall. The ice that accumulates on Mungoth’s slopes gives a -4 (-20%) circumstance penalty on Climb checks. The Fire-Dominant trait does not apply on this layer.

Valley of The Outcast: a deep chasm contains a well-hidden realm sheltered from the ever-present acidic snow. Built of equal parts basaltic rock and giant bones is a rough castle. The castle is scaled to the proportions of its master, an outcast Fire Giant Witch named Tastuo. Her eight siblings, fellow outcasts, are also witches who reside in the castle with their sister. Devils of the layer have several interlocking contracts with Tastuo, which helps ensure the Valley’s safety should her enemies ever find her. Tastuo never names those enemies, but her predicament makes her sympathetic to the plight of travelers seeking asylum. Thus, the Valley of The Outcast doubles as a way station for visitors in need, but only if they can find it.

KRANGATH, the highest layer of Gehenna, the Dead Furnace, is devoid of volcanic activity; it went inactive millennia ago. The Fire-Dominant trait does not apply here. Instead, Krangath has the Mildly Negative-Dominant trait. The great mountain of Krangath is a darkened pillar tumbling in the night. Krangath is shrouded in silence. No wind stirs and no light glimmers. This layer is dead. Petitioners are rare, and those that move about on this layer have learned to keep quiet, lest Melif, the Lich Lord, hear them.

Hopelorn: an artificially maintained ledge holds a precisely fashioned complex of obsidian. Dim reddish lights are visible in tiny slitlike windows throughout the complex. This is Hopelorn, the stronghold of Melif the Lich-Lord. Hopelorn is a mortuary city where sarcophagi glow like streetlights and necromantic energies dance wisp-like over every boulevard. Here, undead are welcome, but not so the living or petitioners, whom Melif regards as pathetic losers unable to properly manage the passing of their mortal lives. In Hopelorn, Melif and a cabal of liches and other powerful undead spellcasters conduct their undying research into the nature of life, death, and being. Sometimes Melif and his assembly capture fiends for outrageous experiments.

THE NINE HELLS

Normal Gravity
Normal Time
Infinite Size
Divinely Morphic
No Elemental or Energy Traits
Mildly Law- and Mildly Evil-Aligned
Normal Magic

PETITIONERS:
Evil, vain, ambitious souls unconcerned with others and bereft of empathy find their way to the Nine Hells to become Soul Shells, taking the form of ghost-white shades of their mortal forms, which devils cruelly mold and shape into twisted, agonized forms of horror. Only when the soul is so twisted and molded that it is truly, finally slain, does it merge with the essence of the Nine Hells. Sometimes, devils mold these petitioners to a specific macabre aesthetic. These standard hellish petitioners have resistance to Cold and Fire, but no immunities. Particularly vile petitioners become Lemures, the lowest form of Devil. Lemures appear as revolting blobs of molten flesh with vaguely humanoid torsos and heads. Hints of the petitioner’s former mortal features are visible when they are not too twisted by anguish. Lemures are mindless, completely broken down by the torment they have received during their molding, but they are still sensitive to telepathic messages by other devils and they obey their mental commands, doing the bidding of the most powerful Devil in the vicinity. Lemures are immune to Fire and Poison, have resistance to Cold and Acid, are Mindless, have SR 5, DR 5/Silver, and no planar commitment.

AVERNUS, the first layer, ruled by the Archdevil Bel, is a wasteland of charred rubble-strewn plains with mountains and talus-sided foothills breaking up the monotony. Legions of mail-clad Devils are on perpetual watch here, always assembling for some new cross-planar sortie. A dim red light from a large, cool red sun bathes the layer, never providing more than twilight-level light. Fireballs flit randomly in the sky, sometimes falling to the ground and detonating to terrible effect. Travelers not protected by caves or artificial structures are 10% likely per day to find themselves at ground center of a Fireball dealing 6d6 Fire damage. Runnels of blood flow in streams across Avernus, finally joining the River Styx as it meanders across this top Hell layer to Acheron. The origin of the blood rivers is unknown, but the Devils say it is likely the blood of Avernus’ past victims.

The Bronze Citadel: home of the Archdevil Bel, Lord of The First Hell, the Bronze Citadel is home to countless Devils and petitioners (both Soul Shells and Lemures), as well as some mortals. It is a hub for extraplanar travellers, and the River Styx flows right through the city.

Pillar of Skulls: this massive landmark of actual skulls represents trophies taken by Devils of their slain enemies. The pillar stands near the part of the ledge of Avernus where access to the next lower layer is an easy walk down a particularly tall metal spire of the City of Dis reaching up through the haze between layers. This spire sees quite a bit of Devil and petitioner traffic on its spiral stairwell -- and quite a few accidental and not-so-accidental falls. However, a massive cave holds a particularly terrible sentinel of the ledge: the dragon queen Tiamat.

DIS, the second layer, is a burning megalopolis of red-hot iron, ruled by the Archdevil Dispater the Archduke, Lord of the Second Hell. the red glow of infernal heat burns within the scorched iron walls, and a pall of smoke rises up to form a general dark haze over the entire layer. For the city is the layer and the layer is the city, Dis. this layer has the Fire-Dominant trait. Some claim a traveler who walks far enough can leave the city behind, concealed within a great ring of mountains. Ranks of red glowing buildings extend to every horizon, rising and falling according to the hidden terrain. Palatial mansions of particularly important Devils break the cityscape here and there. Every iron wall glows with heat, and casual contact deals 1d6 Fire damage. Even the iron cobblestones glow with heat. Without iron-shod boots, visitors soon writhe and burn in the streets. Screaming petitioners and mortals kidnapped from the Material Plane fill subterranean prisons beneath the streets. The sound of their agonized lament is usually audible from small vents in the city walls. Some sections of the city host markets and bazaars where creatures from a variety of different planes meet. Most seek to buy or sell questionable wares, or hire a bloodthirsty band of mercenaries for work that only a Devil could love. Crowds fill the streets. Parades of devilish nobility attended by Lemures and horribly sculpted Soul Shells vie with countless work gangs who constantly sally forthe to repair, extend, or remodel the city at the behest of Dispater, Lord of the Second.

The Iron Tower: Dispater’s personal redoubt, The Iron Tower is visible from every part of the City of Dis, for it reaches high above the city, piercing the haze of the layer.

MINAUROS, the third layer, ruled by the Archdevil Mammon the Viscount, Lord of the Third Hell, is a fetid swamp of mire and pollution. Acidic rain, bitter winds, and flesh-slicing hail rule the bog. The waters of the marsh are so cold in some places that they have iced over, while in others the dank water boils and steams with infernal heat. Terrible creatures with no names swim the murky waters, and even Devils fear to stray too far from their various cities. Where the layer is lowest a constant dribble of slimy water sluices into a long fall down to the fourth layer. Many a lost traveller and petitioner have accidentally been caught up in that long lethal fall to Phlegethos.

The City of Minauros: this metropolis of Devils gives the layer its name. Minauros is also called the Sinking City, because the stony weight of the city is forever slipping beneath the cesspool waters. Only the eternal effort of a stream of petitioners and slaves keeps the city from finally succumbing to the swamp, but still the city sinks a little farther into the mud every year. Ruins below the city are said to contain vast riches. Mammon rules the layer from a mausoleumlike structure of massive proportions in the center of the Sinking City.

Jangling Hiter: the City of Chains, Jangling Hiter hangs suspending above the bog of the layer from thick metal links. Jangling Hiter is ruled by Kytons (Chain Devils). Though they consider themselves equals, the Kytons generally defer to a particularly clever Kyton named Quimath who resides in a cathedral-like triple-towered structure in the heart of Jangling Hiter called Panos Qytel. The lowest portions of the city just graze the roiling swamp, but the strength of the chains keeps the mire from drawing Jangling Hiter down where so many other cities have drowned. No one knows to what structure the suspending chains are finally attached, though a good bet is that they actually pierce the layer boundary and connect to the underside of the City of Dis above. The hail-laden clouds hide the truth of the matter.

PHLEGETHOS, the fourth layer, is a place of fire and pain ruled by the father-&-daughter Archdevils Lady Fierna and Archduke Belial, Lords of the Fourth Hell. rivers of liquid fire rule the land, and the air is consumed with dancing flames. In fact, the layer of Phlegethos has the Fire-Dominant trait. Creatures without Fire Resistance or immunity are soon immolated.

Abriymoch: this city of hardened magma, obsidian, and crystal squats in the caldera of an almost extinct volcano. Abriymoch’s foundation is said to be the grave of a deity slain by Asmodeus. The city offers some protection from the fiery environment of the rest of Phlegethos. but even so, certain quarters are open to the raging flame. A legion of more than 5000 Hamatula Devils resides here. A Pit Fiend named Gazra commands the Hamatulas, but he answers directly to the Lords of the Fourth, Fierna and Belial. They also reside in Abriymoch in a palace of jagged obsidian built on one lip of the caldera.

STYGIA, the fifth layer, ruled by the Archdevil Prince Levistus, Lord of the Fifth Hell, is a realm of cold and ice. It has the Cold-Dominant trait. Most of the layer is drowned in a sea of crushing ice floes and icebergs. The only open water is the rushing River Styx, though icebergs and fiendish sharks make navigating it quite dangerous. Lightning constantly rips through the sky, so flying creatures are particularly rare except for those that are immune to electricity. Ice floes serve as the foundation for many devilish cities and castles.

Tantlin: The City of Ice, Tantlin is the largest city on the layer. Like the smaller cities, it is built on an ice floe, but it has a “harbour” bordering on one side of the nearby River Styx. the city is ruled by a Pit Fiend, though she rarely stirs from her citadel. This “hand-off” approach leaves the streets to various gangs interested in dispensing their own law at the expense of eachother. The gangs are a motley assortment of Devils, though a few planar mortals of evil disposition also run with the packs. Despite the disarray in the streets, Tantlin actually serves as a cross-planar trading stop due to its location on the Styx. the residents of Tantlin can’t long forget the ruler of the layer, Prince Levistus, because he is frozen deep within the heart of an iceberg (Levistus’ Tomb) that floats in the middle of the harbour. Despite his immobility Levistus is fully aware of the events occurring on Stygia and he is able to telepathically communicate with the other Devils of the layer at will within a 10-mile radius.

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 monstrous aquatic humanoids cavort in the court of their foul deity. Awful rites pay homage to the brutal shark god in which captive Devils feature prominently as sacrifices. Fiendish Sharks of every size and every type constantly roam the waters of Sheyruushk, though both the sharks and the Sahuagin often swim up into the River Styx. they love to sink boatmen and merchant vessels.

MALBOLGE, the sixth layer, ruled by the Hag Countess, Lord of the Sixth Hell, is an endless rocky slope. Cascades of boulders are frequent, pulping anything in their path. Above, the sky boils with leprous colours. The Devils on this layer take shelter in copper-clad fortresses designed to channel and deflect the frequent rock-flows. However, nothing can withstand the worst of the avalanches. The rocky slopes of Malbolge are like Gehenna’s, and a Climb check is is required to move around on this hell’s surface.

MALADOMINI, the seventh layer, ruled by the Fallen Angel Baalzebub the Lord of Flies, Lord of the Seventh Hell, is dotted with ruined and abandoned cities. 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, Baalzebub’s dissatisfaction forces his subjects to begin anew. The abandoned cities are not empty. They serve as homes for petitioners who’ve fled their devilish tormentors, beasts from other planes who’ve become especially lost, and lost planar travellers who don’t want to be found.

Malagard: the current city under construction is called Malagard, and it serves as home for the Lord of the Seventh, Baalzebub. It is a beautiful city of perfectly straight boulevards, fountains of delicate yet terrible visage, and towers that reach straight as an arrow into the blood-black sky. It is the greatest city yet seen in Maladomini, but no one doubts that it, too, will soon be abandoned, as Baalzebub strives for hellish perfection in all things.

Grenpoli: the City of Diplomacy, this city is domed and access is granted only through one of four gates on the city’s exterior. Entrance to the city comes after a thorough search during which all weapons are taken for the duration of a visitor’s stay. Strife and open displays of magical aggression are against the law, and those who break the law are slain immediately. The Political School of The Nine Hells, in Grenpoli, is where enterprising devilish nobility come to learn about treachery and deception. An Erinyes named Mysdemn Wordtwister rules Grenpoli.

CANIA, the eight layer, ruled by the Archdevil Mephistopheles, Lord of The Eighth Hell, is another realm of cold, and has the Cold-Dominant trait. Glaciers moving as fast as a running man grind and crash against eachother, sending avalanches of snow down upon any creature unfortunate enough to be caught between the battling ice titans. The frigid cold penetrates even the warmest natural clothing. Characters take 3d10 Cold damage every round they are in an unsheltered area in Cania. Moving glaciers often reveal thousand-year-old corpses, past victims of the merciless chill.

Mephistar: a blue-white jewel fashioned of ice, this mighty citadel perches upon an equally impressive glacier named Nargus. Clouds of vapor constantly roll off the sides of the icy spike. The glacier’s movement is controlled by the Lord of the Citadel, Mephistopheles, and Nargus has flowed over and obliterated many a lesser glacier, as well as its share of rival fiendish armies caught unaware in Cania. The interior of Mephistar is heated. In fact, lavish heated baths, scented fires, and hell-bright tapestries are everywhere. Gelugon nobles abide in the warm sanctuary of Mephistar, waiting on the whims of their lord, Mephistopheles, who is Lord of the Eighth.

Shapes In The Ice: some glaciers in Cania entomb alien shapes frozen in the heart of the ice. The frosted glacier distorts vision, so it’s difficult to make out exactly what’s buried in such an icy prison. From time to time enterprising mortals melt exploratory shafts toward particularly intriguing blots. Some of the blots are apparently Angels, Archons, and Eladrin frozen in place fighting spined creatures of unknown origin. Other shapes are abandoned cities of prosaic or alien design.

The Pit: mighty glaciers form a ledge surrounding a dark pit several hundred feet in diameter. The utterly dark Pit is the primary access down to the lowest hell, Nessus. One Devil-guarded stairway cuts back and forth down one glacier’s face, and on each landing sits a guard tower bristling with Gelugons. Of course, one could forgo the stairs and plunge directly into the Pit. however, a supernaturally strong downdraft makes any type of flying a chancy proposition. Fliers must make a Reflex Save (DC 30) when they first enter the downdraft, or be dashed into the sky side of the Pit for 20d6 damage. If they succeed they;ve managed to find a stable tunnel of air within the swirling wind and can descend to Nessus normally.

NESSUS, the lowest layer, ruled by Asmodeus the King of the Nine Hells, Lord of the Ninth, is a plain shattered by rifts deeper than the deepest ocean trench. Many of the ravines and canyons here reach thousands of miles into undifferentiated dead stone. Most of the trenches seem natural, but some appear as if they were cut or blasted into the land. Rumour has it that an offshoot of the Styx flows here and there, dropping into trenches and trickling its way across the layer. Few know how to reach this tributary if it exists at all. Asmodeus has the power of a Lesser Deity.

ACHERON

Objective Directional Gravity: down depends on which face of the cube you are on.
Normal Time
Infinite Size
Divinely Morphic
No Elemental or Energy Traits
Mildly Law-Aligned
Normal Magic

PETITIONERS:
The souls of soldiers who killed for a cause they do not believe, and killed happily, tend to wind up as petitioners of Acheron. So, too, do revolutionaries and terrorists slain on the Material Plane, who often become Renegade Commanders who cannot rest until they are slain and finally merge with the plane itself. These Petitioner Commanders are immune to Electricity and Sonic, have Resistance to Cold and Fire, and all members of a renegade army within 100 ft of the petitioner commander receive a +2 morale bonus on Saving Throws and a +1 morale bonus on attack and damage rolls.

AVALAS, the first layer, is also called the Battle Plains. It contains the most cubes, and enough armies and fortresses to populate them. The clash of distant cubes is indistinguishable from the closer clash of a nearby battlefield. The cubes vary from city-sized to continent-sized. The smallest cubes are usually the oldest, having been reduced to their present size by eons of collisions.

Clangor: this cube is completely carved and tunneled to house a single great set of barracks for the goblin nations and their eternal war. The towers and walls of Clangor are arranged with deadly precision to inflict the greatest damage on any attacking force. The air is cold and dry, and breath fogs the air. What regions are not given over to goblin barracks hold wolf warrens for elite goblin riders. Because most of the forces of Clangor are goblinoid petitioners, no great store of food is necessary. However, some heavily guarded stores are available for mortals, wolves, and other creatures that also reside on Clangor, brought from offplane at a hefty price through heavily-guarded portals.

Nishrek: like Clangor, this metallic cube is carved and tunneled and houses great legions of orc troops. It is home to many fortress towns such as Rotting Eye, White Hand, and Three Fang.

Scourgehold: a fortress on a particularly large cube, this many-walled edifice of iron and stone is bristling with watchtowers and roving siege engines. The innermost structure, The Great Coliseum, is a miles-wide many-leveled arena of beaten bronze and glass. Here, legions constantly train in the arts of war. Scourgehold is the stronghold of a power-hungry warlord, but it changes hands often in near-endless siege.

THUDLANIN, the second layer of Acheron, is much like the first. However, Thuldanin’s population is quite small. The cubes of this layer are riddled with pockets and hollows. Surface pits lead down into labyrinthine spaces cluttered with the refuse of every war that was ever fought. Broken scraps of a plethora of devices are everywhere. Great ships that have burst asunder, toppled siege towers, enormous weapons, steam-driven carriages, flying devices of every description, and contraptions with even more obscure sources of power and purpose can be found within these cubes. Most of the refuse is inoperative, petrified to stonelike immobility by the “preservative” quality of the layer. Scavenging for intact weapons is an occupation for many a team of salvagers and opportunists, because many quality weapons and engines of war are scattered through the rubble on Thuldanin. Persistent searchers can uncover items of fantastic power and intriguing mechanism which they can use or at least copy. But wise salvagers don’t spend too long on Thuldanin because creatures can be petrified the same as objects.

Resisting Preservation: the same preservative quality that afflicts objects on Thuldanin also afflicts living, undead, and petitioner alike. Any given object or creature is 1% likely per 28 days spent on Thuldanin of spontaneously petrifying into stone. Creatures, if potentially afflicted, can avoid the effect with a DC 18 Fortitude Save. only a Wish or Miracle can reverse the petrification.

TINTIBULUS, the third layer, is full of irregularly shaped polyhedrons made of grey volcanic stone each coated in a layer of ashen dust to a depth of several inches. When collisions occur, the geometric solid fractures along natural fault lines, splitting into two or more smaller solids. The constant collisions create a ringing bell-like roar throughout the layer at all times. The constant ringing causes a -4 circumstance penalty on all Listen checks.

OCANTHUS, the lowest layer, is a lightless swarm of fast-flying razor-thin shards of black ice. Some are as thin as needles, while others are miles wide. The largest shards have their own objective gravity like the cubes and polyhedrons of the upper layers, as well as breathable, if icy cold, atmospheres. The shards all originate from the night-black lower boundary of Ocanthus, a sheet of infinite, magically charged black ice. Their collisions break them into progressively smaller shards, then into needles, and then dust. Some say the ice sheet holds every memory that was ever stolen by the River Styx, still frozen into the black ice. The ice sheet has objective direction gravity.

Cabal Macabre: built on the surface of the boundary ice is a crystaline castle of delicate yet horrifying architecture. It gleams with a pale heartless light all its own -- the only point of light in this otherwise pitch-black layer. On closer examination a visitor notes that the translucent outer walls of the ornate castle are crenelated with ice sculptures depicting skeletons of every race in the multiverse. Inside the castle dwell countless undead, and the whispers and chants of arcane spells. No one knows who is master of this castle, but legend holds that it is a powerful and wicked witch who kidnaps spellcasters to test their skill and knowledge of the arcane arts, and kills anyone who fails to pass her impossibly strict exams.

Bladestorms on Ocanthus: creatures not protected by some supremely strong structure (which eventually is breached anyway) are subject to the equivalent of a greatsword attack (2d6 damage) every round with a +10 attack bonus. Damage Reduction does not apply, but Hardness does.