Abriymoch

Abriymoch, also called the Mount of Leaping Flames, was the only known city on the layer of Phlegethos in the Nine Hells. The fortress city was the volcanic heart of Phlegethos, carved as it was out of the layer's largest volcano.
==Description==
Abriymoch and its structures were hewn and cast from hardened magma and dark glass, as well as obsidian and other crystalline rocks, all heinously jumbled together. The walls were barely cooled, and rivers of molten lava poured down their exterior, lending the city a dramatic appearance like the sculpted centerpiece of an enormous, infernal fountain.
Abriymoch consisted of several tiers of chambers built into a hollowed-out active volcanoThe status of Abriymoch's volcano has changed over the years. Dragon #75 (p. 26) claimed the volcano was dead, and Planes of Law ("Baator", p. 19) claimed it had only occasional eruptions. As of Guide to Hell (p. 32) the volcano was described as fully active, and Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells (p. 52) described its cauldron as being filled with molten lava. connected through innumerable tunnels, shafts, and stairs, including an enormous spiral path winding its way down the walls of the central gulf. Many of the city's chambers opened up into balconies facing the volcano's interior, while some stretched through the walls of the mountain before ending in windows and doors on its exterior flanks.
The tunnels and deep delvings of Abriymoch made it much larger on the inside than seemed possible from the outside. In the lowest tiers were vaults containing monetary payments, surrounded by kennels of hell hounds. The rim of the volcano's crater meanwhile was crowned with numerous black, basalt towers.
The central cauldron was filled with molten lava, from which buildings and city blocks protruded like islands. Travel on foot was often impossible, so travelers could instead rent scorched and dented metal gondolas operated by barbazus to traverse the lava. Although the mountain offered some protection from the fires that suffused Phlegethos, certain quarters of the city were exposed to the flame.
==Geography==
Abriymoch's volcano was one of the few relatively stable pieces of ground in all Phlegethos. The mountain city was surrounded a lake of lava, beyond which lay great, volcanic plains occupied by various vassals of Belial.
==Government==
Abriymoch was the seat of power for the archdevils Belial and Fierna, but was governed by the pit fiend Gazra. Importantly, Gazra did not control Phlegethos, and answered directly to the actual Lords of the Fourth. He maintained order through delegating his duties, namely stamping out serious corruption among officers and ensuring deserting devils and escaping petitioners didn't get far. The pit fiend ruled with a light touch enforced by his command of a massive police force. 
The laws of Abriymoch demonstrated a notable duality. On one hand it housed the Diabolical Courts, the very center of the nigh-unnavigable legal system of Baator, where infernal residents from across the Nine Hells made their cases heard. On the other hand, the laws governing the city itself stood in contrast to the stiff regimentation of the rest of Hell, allowing it to function like a carnival of dark desires.
==Trade==
Abriymoch's economic affairs were overseen by Duke Chamo. The city was considered the pleasure palace of the Nine Hells, where devils could go to enjoy their time off and indulge their every desire. The city was filled with infernal versions of casinos, taverns, theaters, and other entertainment venues.
Abriymoch was also a center of much of the weapons and armor trade of the Hells was centered in Abriymoch. The ore used to create Baatorian green steel was extracted from the city's magma (though not exclusively; the ore was also mined on Avernus). Shrivers, automated magical torture devices used to tear apart the bodies and souls of its victims, were manufactured exclusively near the steelworks in Abriymoch. These sophisticated systems of blades, claws and wires were used throughout every Hell but Nessus; souls were strapped down to their bed-like frames before being flayed and prepared for transmutation into lemures.
==Defenses==
Abriymoch was considered the mightiest fortress of the middle layers of Hell, and was the home of its most fearsome defenders, the patrol force of Gazra. The governor's police force consisted of five thousand hamatulas, who in contrast even to others of their generally obedient kind were merciless and could not be bargained with, a result of Gazra's frequent tests of loyalty (such as disguising himself as an intruder and attempting to bribe them). There were other minions comprising the patrol as well however, such as many osyluths.
Gazra's legion patrolled and policed the upper four layers of the Hells, searching for unauthorized intruders and checking the papers of both mortals and devils. Thus, Gazra was responsible for the security of those layers, and though he ultimately answered to the Lord of the Fourth, he had to fulfill the policing demands of the Lords of the First, Second and Third. The hamatula were particularly active in Minauros and Phlegethos itself, and there were even additional hamatula patrolling Abriymoch itself seeking out trespassers. All such intruders they captured met the same fate in any case; burning torture in the governor's dungeon at the hands of his highly-skilled inquisitors. Few mortals lasted long, and none ever escaped.
Besides their police function, Gazra's army was a defensive one. His five thousand hamatula were intended as a reserve force in the extreme case of a demonic invasion that breached as far as the fourth layer. There were also twenty hamatula constantly guarding Gazra himself, who protected him in the event someone attempted to assassinate the police chief of the upper Hells, and in the event one needed to rest there was always another ready to immediately take their place.
Other than the defense force, there were the hell hounds of Abriymoch used to defend Belial's palace, previously under the control of the forces of the pit fiend Zapan before he joined the Dark Eight. The gondolas of the city also had a trapdoor, allowing the boatmen to dump unwanted passengers into the magma below.
==Notable Locations==
* The Diabolical Courts or Court Infernal, an independent institution overseen by pit fiend judges and a ruling paeliryon that answered strictly to Asmodeus. The courts functioned as an impartial judiciary to settle disputes regarding the laws of Hell, and as such was a bloated, overcomplicated disaster. Devils were constantly scheming to introduce new laws and set precedents to give them an edge and the court was already wholly dependent on an impossibly intricate code full of loophole-ridden statutes and exceptions to the rules that could make navigating the legal labyrinth take years. The court handled various criminal charges, including accusations of battlefield cowardice and dereliction of duty, but focused on contract cases between devils. Typically this was for devils lacking a shared chain of command, since those matters were normally resolved by their superiors, although sometimes the court was asked to appeal contracts specifying the details of master-servant relationships. Rarely, damned souls that believed themselves to have been unfairly consigned to Baator, by the terms of the Pact Primeval, could appeal to the court to be freed of their infernal contract.
* Gazra's Manor, a large castle of crystal statues within Abriymoch's caldera, beneath which lay the governor's dreaded prisons and torture chambers. From here he oversaw the layer's police force.
* Greth, a hidden magic shop in Abriymoch marked by a simple sign with the word "Greth". The proprietor, perhaps also named Greth, sold surprisingly powerful magic items, and presumably had some spell or magic item of his own that kept the fiends from finding him and customers from cheating him.
* A permanent portal connected the center of Abriymoch with Ogrémoch's fortress of Stonemire on the Elemental Plane of Earth. While it was clear that Gazra and Ogrémoch were in cahoots somehow, details of their alliance could only be guessed at. The portal was heavily guarded and warded on both sides, but passage could be purchased at a steep price.
==Inhabitants==
Abriymoch was staffed primarily by barbazus and spinagons, and its black towers housed legions of merregons and elite hamatulas, osyluths, and war devils. A complement of erinyes commanded by the lieutenant Zaebos (before he too joined the Dark Eight) were often used to deliver messages both within Abriymoch and to nearby vassals and guard patrols. The erinyes were bullied and often miserable, usually seeking to better their position, and suspected of being spies for Asmodeus, Baalzebul and perhaps other archdevils by Chamo. Before Zapan's departure he commanded the few cornugons attending Belial and hell hound kennels.
===Notable Inhabitants===
* The archdevils Belial and Fierna, rulers of Phlegethos, owned a palace of basalt and obsidian in Abriymoch, situated on one edge of the volcano's crater. Belial's personal wealth was kept in his own chambers there.
* Chamo, legate of Belial, had the highest civilian position in Abriymoch, and was in charge of its economy.
* Gazra, the pit fiend governor of Abriymoch, who was also in charge of policing the upper four layers of the Nine Hells.
* Night Fang, a great scarred cornugon notable among his peers in Belial's cadre.
* Shamane, the corpulent paeliryon who presided over the Diabolical Courts. They were a stickler for detail and known to devour advocates with seemingly frivolous arguments.
==Rumors & Legends==
The various features of Abriymoch combined to create the illusion of a tortured god breaching the surface of the lake of lava surrounding the city. In fact, the city was said to lie on the spot where a deity or other power lost its way, or was even slain by Asmodeus himself. Gazra not only did nothing to quell the rumors, he boasted they were true, and that the city itself was the husk of a dead god.
==Appendix==
===See Also===
* Belial's portal stone
===Notes===
===Appearances===
:;Video Games
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===References===
Category:Cities
Category:Locations in Phlegethos
Category:Locations in the Nine Hells
Category:Locations in the Outer Planes
Category:Locations in the Lower Planes
Category:Locations in the Fiendish Planes
Category:Locations in the Astral Plane