The Nine Hells
The nine-layered, scorching home of the Fiends of Geloriel.
Geography
- Sorgumin, The First Layer: Ruled by the dual archfiends Amtesha and Jobriz, this layer is reminiscent of level badlands that extend for miles, and hotter than any desert on the Material Plane. Two colossal cities of fiendish population dominate the landscape, each ruled by one of the two archfiends. These archfiends, the daughter and son of Asmodeus, have been fighting for full control of the territory since time immemorial, neither able to gain any new ground for centuries due to their perfectly matched armies. The archfiend Jobriz is physically weaker but much more intellectually dominant, while Amtesha is reckless and impossibly strong.
- Tholhora, The Second Layer: Ruled by the archfiend Kercerax, this layer is a frozen wasteland colder than any arctic land in Geloriel. The layer is covered in massive spires of climbing ice, each spire filled with the bodies of many lesser demons. The layer itself is also blanketed in an endless snowstorm, an excellent cover for the many prowling fiends and frost giants that wander the frozen wastes. The archfiend himself is an ancient frost giant corrupted by the power of the hells, and frozen in ice himself for his hubris.
- Vosurtoth, The Third Layer: Ruled by the goddess Tiamat, this layer is a landscape split into five territories that match up to the preferred landscapes of each chromatic dragon. Towering mountains, harsh deserts, dense forests, acrid swamps, and harsh fields of ice, these lands are filled with abishai and chromatic dragons of the appropriate color, as well as lesser demons and interlopers to serve as prey for these dragons. Hundreds of lairs exist on this layer, and it is theorized that billions of gold worth of wealth is kept in the hoards in these lairs. At the center of the layer resides Tiamat's sprawling lair, filled with many hoards worth millions of gold alone.
- Laazinal, The Fourth Layer: Ruled by the archfiend Barlgit, this layer is a sprawling forest dimly lit by fiery skies. It is on this layer that beastly fiends, gnolls, and other animalistic fiends hunt each other endlessly for sport and for thrills. This layer is the epitome of "kill or be killed," and the hunger of the strongest fiends that reside on this layer is never sated. The archfiend himself is a massive, beastly figure that moves on all fours and infallibly hunts down any prey it seeks.
- Yazrilno, The Fifth Layer: Ruled by the archfiend Bondrewd, this layer is a bleak realm of smoke geysers and perished foliage. Feudal cities dot this grey landscape, ruled by geniocratic caste systems where those with intellectual superiority and excellent manipulation skills rise the ranks, and use the fiends below them as pawns in their games. This layer is dominated by yugoloths, and the archfiend himself is an ancient baernoloth who is obsessed with learning about the creatures of the Hells, experimenting upon them to test the limits of their bodies as well as the Curse of the Hells.
- Hucathik, The Sixth Layer: Ruled by the goddess Lolth, this layer is an endlessly sprawling cavern dotted with massive cities and temples full of the most powerful drow and their fiendish, arachnoid servants. The matriarchs of this layer rule supreme over anyone, and all answer to the archfiend herself, a large spider from the waist down and enthralling woman from the waist up.
- Mulzan, The Seventh Layer: Ruled by the archfiend Zykteth, this layer is a perfectly cogwork structure of massive gears that turn in the same direction eternally. On each cog is a sprawling metropolis ruled by high-ranking, powerful fiends who are free to indulge their deepest desires day in and day out. This layer is connected to the Eighth Layer below it. The archdevil herself is an hedonistic, lustful fiend who roams the layer to constantly indluge her desires, especially when they are at the cost of others.
- Ronelta, The Eighth Layer: Ruled by the archfiend Gorezanot, this layer is a massive furnace where lesser demons labor to spin the gears of the Seventh Layer above them. They constantly push the massive levers that spin the gears and fuel the furnaces that keep the layer scorching hot. The archdevil himself is a plump figure who cannot physically rise from his throne. He constantly barks orders towards the lesser demons that serve him and the demons above in the Seventh Layer.
- Zethravak, The Ninth Layer: Ruled by the god Asmodeus, this layer is the immense, luxurious palace of the Lord of Hells himself. The archfiend, divinely bound to the bounds of the palace, is constantly scheming and plotting for his freedom. He is the only true inhabitant of the Layer, but many powerful fiends make the treacherous journey down to the layer to seek his counsel and guidance for their own schemes.
Fauna & Flora
The primary residents of the Nine Hells are the many differing kinds of fiends, from lesser servant fiends to powerful greater fiends, and even many archfiends ruling facets of the layers, or even whole layers themselves. Other creatures found in the Hells include dragons, dark elves, evil giants, and gnolls, among other creatures.
History
During the First Age, when the world of Geloriel was little more than a roiling chaos of energies, the god Asmodeus drew from the chaos a nine-layered realm, shaping it to his whims of ideal order and control. During its creation, the plane was known as Baator. He designated the Ninth Layer as his own, and created nine keepers to own and develop the eight layers above his own. Then, when the dark presence of Tharizdun whispered into his mind, Asmodeus fell to the corruption of the Mad God, and he wrought such corruption upon the realm, twisting the ideal world into nine layers of corruption and suffering, still under his perfect design. At the end of the First Age, in the final battle of the Divine War, Asmodeus was defeated by Pelor and sealed in his palace within the Ninth Layer. Since then, the corrupted realm has been spawning the creatures known as fiends, living embodiments of the corruptive energies of each of the layers, from animalistic, brutish Demons to cunning, intelligent Yugoloths, and any dark presence in between.
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