Maladomini

Maladomini is the seventh layer of The Nine Hells of Baator. Ruled by the archdevil Baalzebul, it is the centre for all bureaucracy of the Nine Hells, a byzantine labyrinth of information where every document and deed of the infernal plane is eventually archived. The Circle of Ruins is a testament to the degeneracy of the Lord of the Flies, its crumbling, imperfect structures the legacy of his pursuit of unattainable perfection.

Geography

In terms of geography, Maladomini is very similar to Malbolge. It is hot to the touch, so permeated by heat that infravision is generally useless, and filled with stinking gasses and smoke, earth tremors and underground explosions, huge caves and caverns, and pits of fire. They are also identical in terms of mineral resources (including the presence of those metals unique to the Hells, arjale and tantulhor), with the exception that diamond and obsidian are perhaps slightly more common in Maladomini.
There are several distinguishing elements however. Granite is commonly seen across the surface, and from the earth erupts not only the layer's black ichor, but also lava, the volcanic cascades swelling the magma rivers. These rivers contribute to the great sea of lava that seemingly encircles the entire plane; within that sea is a ring of volcanic mountains, and it is within that ring that the layer's civilization sits.
Most notable of the differences however are Maladomini's despoiled qualities. Under a sky the shade of blue-black blood, sentient chunks of polluted matter crawl out from the banks of sludge-ridden streams only to choke on toxic air and quickly expire. Whatever remnants of stunted trees that are still dying as opposed to dead eventually collapse, succumb to rot, or spontaneously burst into damp, smouldering flames upon contact with the slag. "Natural" sources of light can be found in the dim, sickly radiance emitted by green flames found on the layer, which are either flickering fires fed by the fluids seeping out from the ground along the river banks, or drifting, blazing spheres.

Alternative Name(s)

The Circle of Ruins

Type

Plane of Existence

Location under

The Nine Hells of Baator

Owner/Ruler

Baalzebul