The Grey Wastes of Hades
The Grey Wastes of Hades, also known as the Grey Waste, was an Outer Plane, home of the daemons. Located at the midpoint of the Lower Planes, it was a place of evil balanced between Law and Chaos.
The three layers of Hades were called glooms for good reason; they were realms devoid of emotion, hope, and peace. Gray land and grey sky throughout, with no sun, moon or seasons to break the monotony. Any colour other than shades of grey would be obvious against the background but would fade to grey in a week or two. And like bright colours, beings would begin to fade also. At first, they would feel the drain of emotions leaving only sadness, ennui, and defeatism. In a ten-day or two, they would be trapped in Hades and their existence would begin to fade until finally, they become larvae. Hades was a unique plane, as described by the Great Wheel cosmology model, because it not only joined to adjacent planes in the Great Wheel, it also held the foundation of Mount Olympus and the roots of Yggdrasil the World Ash. These two planar artefacts 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, much like the World Tree in the World Tree cosmology.
OINOS The first layer of Hades (also known as the Battle Plain) was named for the lord of the daemons (the Oinodaemon), Anthraxus the Decayed. Oinos was the land of disease with stunted and withered plants amid grey rocky terrain. The river Styx flowed through this layer and there were portals to Tartarus, Gehenna, and Concordant Opposition that looked like huge spinning metal coins, visible for miles/kilometres, often guarded by iron fortresses. Anyone walking this land or floating on the river Styx had a chance of contracting a major disease. Many of the daemons and some of the other creatures from the lower middle planes who were immune to disease made their home here. Oinos's landscape consisted mostly of plains with the occasional hill. It was the primary battleground of the Blood War, so it was where the fighting was the fiercest and most constant. Oinos's stunted trees and other plant life were routinely destroyed by the fiendish armies trampling over it and the sounds of battle could be heard anywhere on Oinos. Walking around on Oinos was dangerous for a person because of the risk of contracting a lethal disease called wasting sickness. It was believed that this sickness had to do with the many rotting corpses, which the aforementioned war produced. The Styx ran only on this layer of Hades. The water generally ran slow. However, dangerous passages existed. Because it was the easiest place to embark or to land on the Styx, traffic was quite heavy. It was also the layer fiends who participated in the Blood War used to land. Ferry services by marraenoloths were commonly offered. Another way to move between planes was to use Portals, which were comparatively frequent on Oinos. One place within Oinos was known, the City of Strife, the location of the Crystal Spire. NIFLHEIM Compared to Oinos, the terrain in the second gloom and layer (also called Northmen's Despair) was rougher, like foothills, with cooler temperatures, healthier vegetation including pine trees, and no disease. Everything was cloaked in dreary fog and mist, limiting vision to about a hundred feet (thirty meters). Yggdrasil's roots reached Niflheim, connecting it to Asgard in Gladsheim. Niflheim consisted mostly of forestland with bluffs that jutting out, which quickly fell away. Put simply, the layer looked like a grey version of forestland on the Prime Material plane. Niflheim had no disease problem like Oinos, the first layer, had. The air was cooler than on Oinos. This gave rise to fog. This fog had some properties that made life on Nilfheim harder. First, the vision was limited. Even with darkvision, people could not see further than 100 feet (30 meters) at most. Second, the mist had sound impeding effects. These two made predators, of which trolls, fiendish dire and normal wolves were the most common, dangerous. Third, the resulting dampness caused the non-tended metal to rust. Yggdrassil, the World Ash, had its roots at the heart of Niflheim. There, the dragon Nidhogg endlessly and furiously chewed on the tree, carving a hole in its roots. The dragon usually ignored travellers going up and down the branches, but furiously defended herself and her progeny against threats. A town known as Death of Innocence was unique as its citizens did not succumb to the hopelessness and apathy of Hades. Vikki Cainor was the towns leader and the reason why its citizens did not fall into apathy like everyone else on Hades. PLUTON The lowest level of Hades (also known as Olympian's Gloom) contained the base of Mount Olympus, a direct conduit through the Astral Plane to the plane of Arborea. The grey motif continued throughout this layer but most of the vegetation was black willow trees and dry, dying poplars. Pluton was not as cold as Niflheim but still a cool place. However, its vegetation was that of a subtropical place with willows, olive trees, and poplars. These trees were in the state of dying for an unknown but very long time. It was believed that these trees had petitioners inside them and druids could feel the trees' sadness. The Blood War was not waged in Pluton but sometimes fiends came to get the soul of a particularly skilled person. The Hill of Bones was a place where nightmares went to die. The place was sacred to them and removing a bone incurred the wrath of all nightmares who learned of the theft. One legend about the origins of the Raven Queen stipulated that she was originally a sorceress who led a rebellion against a god of death who held domain in Pluton. Other deities recognised her as one of their own, but, in order to prevent her from becoming a tyrant much like the defeated deity, granted her domain over death but not the dead themselves.
The daemons were the presumed rulers of Hades, but were actually outnumbered by the bird-like diakk and the greater powers had no trouble carving out realms for themselves. Factions of demodands carried 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 were achaierai, nightmares, mephits and night hags.
Most souls that arrived in Hades became larvae -- sickly human-headed worm-spirits - that were harvested by the night hags as a commodity for Lower Plane commerce.
DESCRIPTION
The three layers of Hades were called glooms for good reason; they were realms devoid of emotion, hope, and peace. Gray land and grey sky throughout, with no sun, moon or seasons to break the monotony. Any colour other than shades of grey would be obvious against the background but would fade to grey in a week or two. And like bright colours, beings would begin to fade also. At first, they would feel the drain of emotions leaving only sadness, ennui, and defeatism. In a ten-day or two, they would be trapped in Hades and their existence would begin to fade until finally, they become larvae. Hades was a unique plane, as described by the Great Wheel cosmology model, because it not only joined to adjacent planes in the Great Wheel, it also held the foundation of Mount Olympus and the roots of Yggdrasil the World Ash. These two planar artefacts 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, much like the World Tree in the World Tree cosmology.
LAYERS
OINOS The first layer of Hades (also known as the Battle Plain) was named for the lord of the daemons (the Oinodaemon), Anthraxus the Decayed. Oinos was the land of disease with stunted and withered plants amid grey rocky terrain. The river Styx flowed through this layer and there were portals to Tartarus, Gehenna, and Concordant Opposition that looked like huge spinning metal coins, visible for miles/kilometres, often guarded by iron fortresses. Anyone walking this land or floating on the river Styx had a chance of contracting a major disease. Many of the daemons and some of the other creatures from the lower middle planes who were immune to disease made their home here. Oinos's landscape consisted mostly of plains with the occasional hill. It was the primary battleground of the Blood War, so it was where the fighting was the fiercest and most constant. Oinos's stunted trees and other plant life were routinely destroyed by the fiendish armies trampling over it and the sounds of battle could be heard anywhere on Oinos. Walking around on Oinos was dangerous for a person because of the risk of contracting a lethal disease called wasting sickness. It was believed that this sickness had to do with the many rotting corpses, which the aforementioned war produced. The Styx ran only on this layer of Hades. The water generally ran slow. However, dangerous passages existed. Because it was the easiest place to embark or to land on the Styx, traffic was quite heavy. It was also the layer fiends who participated in the Blood War used to land. Ferry services by marraenoloths were commonly offered. Another way to move between planes was to use Portals, which were comparatively frequent on Oinos. One place within Oinos was known, the City of Strife, the location of the Crystal Spire. NIFLHEIM Compared to Oinos, the terrain in the second gloom and layer (also called Northmen's Despair) was rougher, like foothills, with cooler temperatures, healthier vegetation including pine trees, and no disease. Everything was cloaked in dreary fog and mist, limiting vision to about a hundred feet (thirty meters). Yggdrasil's roots reached Niflheim, connecting it to Asgard in Gladsheim. Niflheim consisted mostly of forestland with bluffs that jutting out, which quickly fell away. Put simply, the layer looked like a grey version of forestland on the Prime Material plane. Niflheim had no disease problem like Oinos, the first layer, had. The air was cooler than on Oinos. This gave rise to fog. This fog had some properties that made life on Nilfheim harder. First, the vision was limited. Even with darkvision, people could not see further than 100 feet (30 meters) at most. Second, the mist had sound impeding effects. These two made predators, of which trolls, fiendish dire and normal wolves were the most common, dangerous. Third, the resulting dampness caused the non-tended metal to rust. Yggdrassil, the World Ash, had its roots at the heart of Niflheim. There, the dragon Nidhogg endlessly and furiously chewed on the tree, carving a hole in its roots. The dragon usually ignored travellers going up and down the branches, but furiously defended herself and her progeny against threats. A town known as Death of Innocence was unique as its citizens did not succumb to the hopelessness and apathy of Hades. Vikki Cainor was the towns leader and the reason why its citizens did not fall into apathy like everyone else on Hades. PLUTON The lowest level of Hades (also known as Olympian's Gloom) contained the base of Mount Olympus, a direct conduit through the Astral Plane to the plane of Arborea. The grey motif continued throughout this layer but most of the vegetation was black willow trees and dry, dying poplars. Pluton was not as cold as Niflheim but still a cool place. However, its vegetation was that of a subtropical place with willows, olive trees, and poplars. These trees were in the state of dying for an unknown but very long time. It was believed that these trees had petitioners inside them and druids could feel the trees' sadness. The Blood War was not waged in Pluton but sometimes fiends came to get the soul of a particularly skilled person. The Hill of Bones was a place where nightmares went to die. The place was sacred to them and removing a bone incurred the wrath of all nightmares who learned of the theft. One legend about the origins of the Raven Queen stipulated that she was originally a sorceress who led a rebellion against a god of death who held domain in Pluton. Other deities recognised her as one of their own, but, in order to prevent her from becoming a tyrant much like the defeated deity, granted her domain over death but not the dead themselves.
INHABITANTS
The daemons were the presumed rulers of Hades, but were actually outnumbered by the bird-like diakk and the greater powers had no trouble carving out realms for themselves. Factions of demodands carried 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 were achaierai, nightmares, mephits and night hags.
AFTERLIFE
Most souls that arrived in Hades became larvae -- sickly human-headed worm-spirits - that were harvested by the night hags as a commodity for Lower Plane commerce.
Type
Dimensional plane
