Cania

The Eighth Layer of the Nine Hells

Cania (or Caina), the Eighth Hell, is an unimaginably cold wasteland, where few living things can survive more than a few moments in an unsheltered area. Huge fast moving glaciers crash around the layer sending snow and ice up in the sky. It is dominated by intense, freezing cold, and is extremely hostile toward those who are unwelcome on the layer, which includes nearly every being that enters. It is the home of the gelugon baatezu.
The layer is ruled over by Mephistopheles, from his great citadel of ice, Mephistar. It sits upon a giant glacier called Nargus, the movement of which is controlled by Mephistopheles himself. Inside Mephistar huge heated baths and fire warm the citadel, providing quite a comfortable environment.

Mephistopheles , Ruler of the Eighth

Mephistopheles, also known as the Lord of No Mercy and the Cold Lord, is the lord of Cania, the eighth level of the Nine Hells. He was the main opponent of Baalzebul during the Reckoning of Hell, and still holds a claim to his own layer. He seeks to take Baalzebul's layer away from him, that he may gain enough power to one day challenge Asmodeus for rulership of all the Nine Hells.
Mephistopheles is something of a walking contradiction. Unstable and thoroughly wicked, he presents multiple faces to those he meets. On the one hand, he can be charming, erudite, and civil. But beneath the veneer of respectability is a vicious temper and unchecked ambition. He is patient and cunning, yet when alone, he flies into a fury, screaming and shrieking, tearing at his skin and destroying everything around him in a thunderous explosion of hellfire and devastating magic.
He has one goal, one reason for existence: He covets Asmodeus’s throne. It is, in his mind, his destiny to rule the Nine Hells. So confident is he that he has told this to Asmodeus himself. One would think that such arrogance would be reason enough for the Lord of the Ninth to bring this archdevil to heel, but curiously, Asmodeus hasn’t. It seems he’s content to let Mephistopheles have his delusions. Mephistopheles' naked ambition and haughtiness does not sit well with his peers. Some are drawn to his power, such as Dispater, but most despise him, seeing him as an unstable and unpredictable element in the Hells’ convoluted politics. Among his enemies, Baalzebul is his greatest. The Lord of Lies has long opposed his every effort. So long as Baalzebul lives, Mephistopheles spends his time hatching plots to eliminate his ancient rival, leaving Asmodeus secure in his position as the Lord of the Nine Hells.
Despite his distractions, Mephistopheles still poses a grave threat. He commands legions of ice devils as well as the pit fiends, barbazu, and cornugons that have flocked to his banner. In addition, it falls to him to protect the only gate into Nessus, so he nominally commands the army whose sole duty it is to safeguard Asmodeus’s realm. To make matters worse, he has mastered the essence of Hell, channeling it into a foul destructive energy called hellfire. With such tools at his disposal, it seems Mephistopheles will one day make good on his promise to rule in Asmodeus’s stead. Thankfully, Mephistopheles does not exert the same influence on the Prime Material Plane. Many mortals confuse him and Asmodeus, believing they are one in the same. This frustrates Mephistopheles to no end; above all, he wants to be worshiped as a god. Still, he has a number of small cults that revere him as the god of hellfire. He also attracts disaffected devilworshipers, stealing individuals from other archdevils.

History

Once the court magus of Asmodeus in Nessus, Mephistopheles gained the rulership of Cania by seizing it away from Rimmon. After the Reckoning, he seemed to fall into a slumber, remaining frozen and unmoving, until he led a coup against himself in the guise of Baron Molikroth and then destroyed all his co-conspirators against himself.
In more recent events, Mephistopheles had persuaded his half-breed son, Magadon, to release the devil inside of him and therefore bring himself and his fellow companions Erevis Cale and Drasek Riven to Cania through some manipulation of Erevis Cale's ability to travel the shadows. Mephistopheles then proceeded to kill his half-breed son, when Erevis Cale stepped in and promised Mephistopheles a portion of the god Mask's divinity to him in return for Magadon's soul. Mephistopheles agreed to this under one condition, that condition being he kept half of Magadon's soul there until delivery. Erevis Cale later returned to Cania and sacrificed his life for the return of Magadon's soul. It was at this time that the new demigod Drasek Riven, who had also absorbed part of Mask's divinity traveled to Cania and paid Mephistopheles a visit. Riven attacked and badly wounded the archdevil, and told him that if he ever stepped out of his domain that Riven would utterly destroy him. Mephistopheles replied by telling Riven that he will come back, and he will be waiting for him. He seemed to think that Riven would be back for Erevis Cale at some point in time.
Mephistopheles, along with Dispater, was once an ally of Mammon, but Mammon betrayed them both.

Other Layers of Hell

• Avernus
• Dis
• Minauros
• Phlegethos
• Stygia
• Malbolge
• Maladomini
• Nessus

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The School of Hellfire

There is a school of hellfire, which is 99 stories tall, made of Baatorian green steel and surrounded by poisonous vapor. The dean is a pit fiend named Quagrem. Here, devils can learn the secrets of wielding hellfire.
Mephistar is on a glacier that roams about, obliterating lesser glaciers. This glacier has wiped out entire invading fiendish armies.

Secret Lairs

Cania is full of secret, frozen locales. There are icy cities with forgotten libraries, ghost-haunted palaces and cities encased in ice holding angels and spined creatures of unknown origin. In the underground caverns it is said that many of the angels who refused to rebel against He Who Was lurk, now undead beings of terrible power.

Mephistar

Carved from the ice of a tremendous glacier, the citadel of Mephistopheles is oddly warm and inviting. It is an enormous castle with literally thousands of living spaces and a horde of guards and servants to attend the lord of the eighth hell. The palace and all its furnishings— even the throne of Mephistopheles— are carved from ice. Slaves and artisans tend to the palace, its contents, and its lord. One of Mephistar’s courtyards holds the Garden of Frost, a perfectly detailed frozen facsimile of a living garden accurate down to each delicate icy petal of the smallest flower.

Portal to Nessus

At the bottom of a glacial pit, 9,999 ice devils guard it this portal. To go through the portal, you must plunge into an icy lake and swim 1,0001 fathoms through icy slush. Down there is a portal of ice and corrupted silver. This portal leads to Malsheem in Nessus.