The Infinite Battlefield of Acheron (pronounced: ÆTCH-ur-un) was an Outer Plane in the
GREAT WHEEL cosmology model representing alignments between lawful evil and lawful neutral with emphasis on law. Some characteristics of this plane were ascribed to the
WORLD TREE cosmology planes of
CLANGOR,
NISHREK, and
WARRIOR'S REST when that cosmology became popular.
NISHREK and
WARRIOR'S REST survived the
SPELLPLAGUE and became part of the
WORLD AXIS cosmology model.
AVALUS
Acheron was sometimes known as the "iron-shod battle planes of Acheron" due to the characteristics of the first layer, Avalas. The blocks of the top plane were black with a metallic hardness that allowed the sounds of battle and troop movements to reverberate loudly. Avalas had the most block-like worlds and the highest population as the armies of the Outer Planes spent their afterlife clashing in neutral territory over differences both subtle and gross. The landscape consisted of cone-shaped mountains and pits plus the iron fortresses of the various armies. The only other remarkable feature of this layer was the river
STYX that would bubble up from one pit, meander across two or three sides of a block, and then disappear down another pit. The
STYX did not visit all the blocks, but those it did could be reached by
CHARON (the boatman of the
STYX) and his servants.
THULDANIN
This layer was the "Elephants' graveyard", and scrap heap for countless contraptions, creations, weapons, armor, failed experiments, broken devices, fallen buildings, and shipwrecks of sea and air. The blocks of Thuldanin were hollow and pockmarked with pits that lead to the interior a few miles/kilometers down. There the flotsam and jetsam of the ages turned to stone in a matter of days or weeks due to the magic of this layer. Thuldanin had no inhabitants, only the occasional visitor from Avalas looking for some piece of magic or technology that might turn the tide of battle.
TINTIBULUS
The third layer of Acheron had blocks different than those of the other layers. Here the blocks were made of gray volcanic stone and the faces were six-sided, eight-sided, or even higher in number of edges. When the blocks of Tintibulus collided the surfaces would fracture along natural fault lines into hexagons great and small. This layer had no inhabitants but was attractive to magical researchers for its emptiness and isolation.
OCANTHUS
The blocks of the fourth and final layer were square and so razor-thin as to be almost two-dimensional. They ranged in size from a few inches/centimeters to several miles/kilometers across. Both sides of the hard black squares had normal gravity pulling to the surface and could be walked upon. Being hit by the edge of one of these razor-sharp squares could be deadly.
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