The Tarterian Depths of
Carceri (pronounced: car-SEHR-ee) , also known as
Tarterus, was an Outer Plane in the
GREAT WHEEL cosmology model representing alignments between chaotic evil and neutral evil. Situated between
HADES and the
ABYSS, Tarterus was a plane of contention between the warring demons and devils but few of those interlopers would challenge the native "demodands" ("
...agents of annihilation...").
The six layers of Tarterus 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 PLANE and averaged about 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the nearest orb. In each successive 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.
OTHERYS
The first layer of Tarterus was named for Mount Othrys which was really two mountains on two adjacent orbs (both also called Othrys) each about 50 miles (80 kilometers) high joined together at the peaks in a massive citadel. The worlds of Othrys were so close together that a traveler 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 SEA and had portals to the
ABYSS,
HADES, and the
OUTLANDS.
CATHRYS
The planets of the second layer were smaller than those of Othrys and about 500 miles (800 kilometers) apart. Plant life 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.
MINETHYS
The third layer of Tarterus had planetoids smaller than those of Cathrys which hovered about 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) 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 were spiked with colossal mountains rising above deep chasms. Hundreds of miles/kilometers 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 kilometers) 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.
PORPHATYS
Black, acidic rain and snow assailed the many worldlets of the fifth layer 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 any 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 under water. The orbs of Porphatys were millions of miles/kilometers apart and barely discernible even when not blocked by demonic clouds. A pilotless vessel called the
Ship of One Hundred endlessly sails the seas of Porphatys.
AGATHYS
The smallest, coldest planetoids occupied the sixth layer and were so far apart that neighboring 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/kilometers of ice
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