KHALAS

A savage rugged beauty holds over Khalas, the first of Gehenna’s volcanic mountain layers. A crimson glow suffuses the rock, evidence of the magma flowing beneath the surface, but the eruptions of lava and steam are less frequent here than on the more active layer, Chamada. Unfortunately, it is also the layer with the most frequent strikes from floating earthmotes drifting out of the void to crash into the side of the volcanic slopes, sending rockslides and earthquakes rumbling in great regions.

Numerous rivers rush down the sides of Khalas, swiftly crashing through gorges and canyons. The largest of these channels are created by the River Styx which careens down numerous waterfalls before passing into the neighboring layers of the Outer Planes. The non-Styxian rivers originate from further up the slopes of Khalas in naturally occurring vortexes from the Plane of Water, and they snake down the layer before evaporating from the heat. Like the other layers, there is no known bottom to Khalas.

Khalas sees numerous incursions from demons and devils, but yugoloths are the dominant force across the volcano. Skirmishes in the Blood War are not uncommon, especially since the devilish legions have always strived to establish a beachhead on Khalas to move the prime fighting away from Baator. These efforts are not without cost, both in terms of fiendish lives and the numerous contracts that have been made with the yugoloths to claim part of their land.