The Nine Hells
The Nine Hells of Baator inflame the imaginations of travelers, the greed of treasure seekers, and the battle fury of all moral creatures. It is the ultimate plane of law and evil and the epitome of premeditated cruelty. The devils of the Nine Hells are bound to obey the laws of their superiors, but they rebel within their individual castes. Most undertake any plot, no matter how foul, to advance themselves. At the very top of the hierarchy is Asmodeus, who has yet to be bested. If he were to be vanquished, the victor would rule the plane in turn. Such is the law of the Nine Hells.
The Nine Layers
The Nine Hells has nine layers. The first eight are each ruled by archdevils that answer to Asmodeus, the Archduke of Nessus, the ninth layer. To reach the deepest layer of the Nine Hells, one must descend through all eight of the layers above it, in order. The most expeditious means of doing so is the River Styx, which plunges ever deeper as it flows from one layer to the next. Only the most courageous adventurers can withstand the torment and horror of that journey.
Avernus
No planar portals connect directly to the lower layers of the Nine Hells, by Asmodeus' orders. As such, the first layer of Avernus is the arrival point for visitors to the plane. Avernus is a rocky wasteland with rivers of blood and clouds of biting flies. Fiery comets occasionally fall from the darkened sky and leave fuming impact craters behind. Empty battlefields are littered with weapons and bones, showing where the legions of the Nine Hells met enemies on their native soil and prevailed.
The archduchess Zariel rules Avernus, supplanting her rival, Bel, who has fallen out of Asmodeus' favor and is forced to serve as Zariel's advisor. Tiamat, the Queen of Evil Dragons, is a prisoner on this layer, ruling her own domain but confined to the Nine Hells by Asmodeus in accordance with some ancient contract (the terms of which are known only to Tiamat and the Lords of the Nine). Zariel's seat of power is a soaring basalt citadel festooned with the partially incinerated corpses of guests who failed to earn the archduchess' favor. Zariel appears as an angel whose once-beautiful skin and wings have been ruined by fire. Her eyes burn with a furious white light that can cause creatures looking upon her to burst into flame.
Dis
Dis, the second layer of the Nine Hells, is a labyrinth of canyons wedged between sheer mountains rich with iron ore. Iron roads span and wend through the canyons, watched over by the garrisons of iron fortresses perched atop jagged pinnacles.
The second layer takes its name from its current lord, Dispater. A manipulator and deceiver, the archduke is devilishly handsome, bearing only small horns, a tail, and a cloven left hoof to distinguish him from a human. His crimson throne stands in the heart of the Iron City of Dis, a hideous metropolis that is the largest in the Nine Hells. Planar travelers come here to conspire with devils and to close deals with night hags, rakshasas, incubi, succubi, and other fiends. Dispater collects a piece of every deal through special provisions that are added to contracts signed on his layer of the Nine Hells.
Dispater is one of Asmodeus' most loyal and resourceful vassals, and few beings in the multiverse can outwit him. He is more obsessed than most devils with striking deals with mortals in exchange for their souls, and his emissaries work tirelessly to foster evil schemes in the Material Plane.
Minauros
The third layer of the Nine Hells is a stench-ridden bog. Acidic rain spills from the layer's brown skies, thick layers of scum cover its putrid surface, and yawning pits lie in wait beneath the murk to engulf careless wanderers. Cyclopean cities of ornately carved stone rise up from the bog, including the great city of Minauros for which the layer is named.
The slimy walls of the city rise hundreds of feet into the air, protecting the flooded halls of Mammon. The Archduke of Minauros resembles a massive serpent with the upper torso and head of a hairless, horned humanoid. Mammon's greed is legendary, and he is one of the few archdevils who will trade favors for gold instead of souls. His lair is piled high with treasures left behind by those who tried-and failed-to best him in a deal.
Phlegethos
Phlegethos, the fourth layer, is a fiery landscape whose seas of molten magma brew hurricanes of hot wind, choking smoke, and pyroclastic ash. Within the fire-filled caldera of Phlegethos' largest volcano rises Abriymoch, a fortress city cast of obsidian and dark glass. With rivers of molten lava pouring down its outer walls, the city resembles the sculpted centerpiece of a gigantic, hellish fountain.
Abriymoch is the seat of power for the two archdevils who rule Phlegethos in tandem: Archduke Belial and Archduchess Fierna , Belial's daughter. Belial is a handsome, powerfully built devil who exudes civility, even as his words carry an undercurrent of threat. His daughter is a statuesque devil whose beauty encases the blackest heart in the Nine Hells. The alliance of Belial and Fierna is unbreakable, for both are aware that their mutual survival hinges on it.
Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
Comments