The Tartarian Depths of Carceri

The Tartarian Depths of Carceri, also known as Tartarus, was an Outer Plane representing alignments between chaotic evil and neutral evil. Situated between Hades and the Abyss, Tartarus was a plane of contention between the warring Demons and devils but few of those interlopers would challenge the native demodands.

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The six layers of Tartarus had a seemingly infinite number of worlds arranged like a string of pearls stretching into the air-filled void. In the top layer, Othrys, each orb was about the size of a Prime Material world and averaged about 100 miles (160  kilometres) from the nearest orb. In each successively lower layer, the planetoids grew smaller and farther apart. There was no sun but the soil of each orb gave off heat and a dull reddish glow, similar to the phosphorescence of fire beetles. The planets did not rotate and there was no day or night unless a greater deity wished it so in their realm. Seasons and weather occurred randomly and what little plant life there was would rapidly mature after rainfall and then wither hours later.
The barriers between layers were always located at the deepest points on each planetoid and always lead to the same sphere in the next layer, so the worlds of Tartarus can be imagined as spheres nested like Matryoshka dolls and each layer contained a string of orbs of a particular size.
OTHRYS
The first layer of Tartarus was named for Mount Othrys, (also known as Orthrys or Titans Home) which was really two mountains on two adjacent orbs (both also called Othrys) each about 50 miles (80 kilometres) high joined together at the peaks in a massive citadel. The worlds of Othrys were so close together that a traveller could easily fly from one to the next. For those who did not wish to fly, the river Styx flowed through all the worlds of this level in the usual mystical fashion. Many other rivers fed the Styx, and the surfaces of this layer were mostly marsh, bogs, and quicksand. Othrys was the brightest (due to the proximity of equal-sized worlds on either side) and warmest layer; no worse than a hot summer day on the Prime Material Plane. Other than the mountains, the ground was soft, like peat, and cut by deep chasms. Othrys could be reached via the Astral Plane and had portals to the Abyss, Hades, and Concordant Opposition. Long ago it could be reached via Mount Olympus, but when the Olympian gods overthrew the Titans they used their combined might to shatter the part of the mountain that connected to Tartarus, thus trapping the Titans on this plane.
Othrys looked like a string of planet-sized beads, or orbs, but without a string. The distance between the two orbs was about 100 miles (160 kilometres). Compared to the other layers of Carceri, Othrys had few natural hazards.
Othrys was mostly swampland. The Styx and other waters eroded the ground, producing bogs and quicksand fields that were between 2 to 2,000 feet (0.61 to 610 meters) deep and that glowed with a green light that was often hidden by green grass. However, dry land existed in the form of mountains. They were often inhabited by the Titans. These mountains were sometimes tall enough to touch other orbs' mountain peaks, as in the case of Mount Othrys.
The swamps had swarms of mosquitoes and other insects. A means to protect against these insects was a local plant called stinkweed that could be rubbed on the body. However, rubbing it on the body worked like a stinking cloud that knocked out a person for one to four minutes.
The air of Othrys was dangerous to the mind. Inhaling it over an extended period—a week or two—resulted in a person becoming more intelligent but also egotistic and scheming. This effect wore off after spending about the same time outside of Othrys.
However, Othrys's most dangerous feature was its music. This music sounded like it was played on slightly off-kilter bells and made people believe that it led to their heart's desire. According to the only one who managed to come back from hearing it, a person by the name Vyaki, the music led outside of the string of orbs to a gulf where monsters older than the Titans lived.
In Carceri, the Styx ran only in Othrys. It ran freely, causing the ground of Othrys to be filled with its memory-loss magic.
LOCATIONS IN OTHRYS
Villages in Othrys were generally built on stilts in the swamp. This was because the dry parts were often controlled by the Titans and people preferred the dangers of the swamp over the ones posed by the Titans. Each of these villages had its own government and diplomatic relationships with other villages. However, raiding and betrayal were common. The latter erupted into particularly bloody battles.

• Bastion of Lost Hope: The headquarters of the Revolutionary League, the Bastion of the Last Hope was a great place where people could buy any form of forged documents, plastic surgery for disguise, and other services for deception.
• Mount Othrys: Home of the Titans.

INHABITANTS OF OTHRYS
The Titans lived in Othrys and were sought out for their advice and some people actually got it from them. The petitioners of Othrys were the souls of people who used lies to gain power, like traitors to their own countries, politicians, religious frauds, and so on. They were all very charismatic and smooth talkers but also compulsive liars who hoped to betray others with their lies. Trolls inhabited the swamps of Othrys. This was not only because it was their favourite terrain but also because the TItans did not want the trolls in their vicinity.
CATHRYS
The planets of the second layer were smaller than those of Othrys and about 500 miles (800 kilometres) apart. Plantlife in this layer was both abundant and deadly. The flora in the overgrown jungles and grasslands secreted acid that could eat through metal in a minute or less.
Cathrys looked like a string of planet-sized beads, or orbs, but without a string. The distance between the two orbs was about 500 miles (800 kilometres). The orbs were smaller than the ones in Othrys.
The orbs of Cathrys were full of vibrant plant life. Some parts were covered in a red jungle that stank of rot and decay and whose plants secreted acid. The smell was very strong but ultimately harmless, but the acid was a different matter. The acid was so corrosive that it destroyed metal in one to ten minutes, leather in one to four minutes, and it was lethally dangerous to any creature that did not develop protection against it, like the natives who developed it by never bathing and therefore gaining a protective sheen on their skin.
Other landscapes included plains and dry grassland. The grass was razor-sharp and thought to be a lesser version of razor vine. Maintaining roads was vital for survival, otherwise, people were in danger of being cut to death by the tall grass. It was possible to avoid this fate by applying for protection against it. These grasslands were considered the habitable parts of Cathrys.
LOCATIONS IN CATHRYS
A few villages existed on Cathrys but there were great distances between them. These villages were constructed of razor-sharp grass and stank of decay. The nomadic tribes could pack these up and move around from place to place. The native tribes raided each other over food, which meant that they ate each other.

• Apothecary of Sin: A poison shop where Sinmaker, a glabrezu, sold its wares.

Demodands and petitioners of humans and hill giants lived on Cathrys. Farastu (Demodands) lived in the jungle and the petitioners maintained the roads on the grassland. The hill giant petitioners and other petitioners were the souls of people who betrayed humanity by acting according to their instincts instead of reason.
MINETHYS
The third layer of Tartarus (also known as the Scarlet Jungle) had planetoids smaller than those of Cathrys which hovered about 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometres) apart. The air between orbs was torn by harsh winds which carried poisonous dust storms from world to world, making most surfaces a barren desert. Huge tornadoes periodically swept through, carrying anything in its path to distant locations or even an adjacent orb.
COLOTHYS
The worlds of the fourth layer (also known as Climber's Doom) were spiked with colossal mountains rising above deep chasms. Hundreds of miles/kilometres from base to peak, the terrain of this layer made the orbs more asymmetrical than in other layers. Adjacent orbs were 500,000 miles (800,000 kilometres) apart so they appeared to be small spiky red moons in the utterly black sky. Legions of demons and daemons made lairs in the canyon walls.
The worlds of the fourth layer were spiked with colossal mountains rising above deep chasms. Hundreds of miles from base to peak, the terrain of this layer made the orbs more asymmetrical than in other layers. These asymmetrical shapes made it difficult for those who flew from one orb to the next to determine when to land, causing deaths when landing preparations were misjudged. Added to the dangers of irregular shapes was sheer distance, as adjacent orbs were almost 500,000 miles (800,000 kilometres) apart so they appeared to be small spiky red moons in the utterly black sky.
Mountains on Colothys soared hundreds of miles high and had slopes that made climbing outright impossible. The mountains sported trees, but these didn't serve as good handholds for climbers. There were nonetheless some ways to make travelling through Colothys easier. Natural plateaus served as rest places and artificial rope bridges between canyon walls (hard to use due to the wind on the layer) and the rare ledges, about 1‑foot-wide (30-centimetre) carved into the sides of mountains, aided travel and served as trade routes, but were fought over by the inhabitants. These trade routes were created by various people but they sometimes led straight to danger.
The Garden of Malice was a type of plant found on a single orb on Colothys. It had beautiful flowers but tried to kill the people it lured to collect some of them. It spread its seeds, which were mostly eaten, thus spreading the species across Colothys.
The Vault was a prison run by the Harmonium. It was notable for its wardens and jailors who abused their power over their charges.
INHABITANTS OF COLOTHYS
Petitioners — in Colothys's case, the spirits of liars and cheaters—and giants lived on Colothys too. Denizens organized themselves in small villages on the canyon walls. They fought each other over necessities like food and water, the aforementioned ledges, and other supplies, but also out of a simple desire to kill. Denizens were easy to provoke into lethal fights. Legions of demons and daemons made lairs in the canyon walls.
As a general rule, inhabitants of Colothys would love to live at the base of the canyons but these places were dangerous to live. Demodands and demons travelling from Hades made life difficult and there was a tendency for misfortune to happen to those who lived there, which was why nobody apart from outcasts from other settlements on Colothys were found there.
PORPHATYS
Black, acidic rain and snow assailed the many worldlets of the fifth layer (also known as Porphatys of the Black Snow) from giant black clouds that moved between them. On individual worlds, islands barely higher than sandbars came up over the waves of shallow, cold oceans. The snow only stuck to the peaks of many mountains, melting to cover the rest of the surfaces with 1‒6 ft (30‒180 cm) of a weak acid that did not affect metal or stone but could eat away cloth in a minute or less. All barriers between this layer and the next were underwater. The orbs of Porphatys were millions of miles/kilometres apart and barely discernible even when not blocked by demonic clouds. A pilotless vessel called the Ship of One Hundred (or the White Caravel, harboured a hundred sarcophagi. Opening one made everyone on the ship disappear by unknown means) endlessly sails the seas of Porphatys.
Porphatys looked like a string of planet-sized beads, or orbs, but without a string. The distance between the two orbs was several million miles.
The cold orbs of Porphatys were each covered by a shallow ocean. The water was cold and acidic. People could die from bathing in it.
Another feature of Porphatys was the constant black snow, which was also acidic. It was especially dangerous to organic matter and made travel from one orb to another dangerous because giant clouds of it lay in the space between the orbs.
The ocean had small islands of the height of sandbars. They had a lot of caves and were desired living space for the inhabitants, who generally wanted to leave the entire layer.
INHABITANTS OF PORPHATYS
Petitioners of Porphatys were the souls of shallow and self-absorbed people. They were immune to the acid but still felt the pain. They pushed each other from the islands into the ocean and ate each other.
AGATHYS
The smallest, coldest planetoids occupied the sixth layer (also called the Ice-Bound) and were so far apart that neighbouring orbs could not be seen at all. Every surface was covered in dark ice that showed streaks of red and the air was so cold it made breathing difficult. If any layer existed beyond Agathys, the barriers would have been buried under miles/kilometres of ice.
Unlike other layers of Carceri, Agathys consisted of a single orb. It was one covered in black ice with red streaks in it.
Apart from the dangers of a minor negative-dominant layer, Agathys was dangerously cold for unprotected people.
The air was quite thin and made it hard for people to exert themselves. Staying in one place was dangerous for anybody. People could become embedded in the ice through freezing.
INHABITANTS OF AGATHYS
Petitioners of Agathys were the souls of false friends and those who betrayed trust. They had to constantly move, lest they be captured in the ice. Agathys was full of frozen bodies and while they could not talk, because their lips were frozen shut, they screamed when the ice moved and crushed them. If they were helped, for which they promised anything, they betrayed their saviours at their first chance to do so.

INHABITANTS

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The dominant race that inhabited Tartarus was the winged demodands. Shators were the ruling nobility, typically controlling major portions of an orb. All but the most powerful daemons and demons would avoid them. Also found on this plane were nightmares, achaierai, and shadow demons, with reports of mephits, hordlings, and vargouille.

Type

Dimensional plane