Hell

The **Circles of Hell**, or simply **Hell**, is a punishment realm created by the Gods in the Divine Schism War to send their enemies as punishment. It was later repurposed in the Unspeakable Era to indefinitely isolate any who were cast into it -- and to punish them for all eternity. After Crudal, the God of Murder, was cast into it at the end of the War of Inconceivable Dread, Hell became its own warzone when he initiated a power struggle war. When the Infernal Reign Wars ended -- and Crudal became the de facto despot of Hell, the realm faced onending wars and conflicts of pure wickedness, villainy, and unimaginable terror. The plane was further crippled and malformed after the numerous hellbent crusades waged by mortals on the realm in the Resurgence Era.

## Circles of Hell

The Circles of Hell are individual regions of Hell that each act as its own pseudoplane. Some circles are infinite, and others are finite.

### Vestibule

The **Vestibule**, also known as the **Surface of Hell**, is the utmost layer of Hell and one of its infinite circles. The Aetheral Veil can be seen in the skies above the Vestibule, though the infinite expanse of the Celestial Void separates them. Fire, lava, ash, and volcanic activity cover the Vestibule infinitely. Mostly only demons roam the Vestibule, as devils are native to the lower regions and circles of Hell. When extradimensional creatures plane shift to Hell, they almost always appear in the Vestibule. There are several notable locations and regions in the Vestibule, which are:

#### City-states

The Vestibule has several major city-states scattered across its surface. There are no nether kingdoms or dominated regions in this circle.

* **City of Libidine** - a city located in the Cradle of Calumnia populated almost entirely by succubi.
* **City of Purgatoria** - the largest city-state in the circle of the Vestibule. Forged of netherstone and infernal steel.
* **City of Tristitia** - a trade hub where demons conduct extradimensional trading and negotiations.
* **The Gate** - the permanently dislocated plane gate to Hell, where large demon buildings and slums have been built around.

#### Regions

* **Cradle of Calumnia** - the volcanic valley where succubi are born.
* **Grieving Yards** - a desolate wasteland of ash and bones.
* **Mount Discordia** - a massive volcanic mountain that erupts every 500 years to cause mass destruction and anguish.
* **The Teeth** - Large, jagged spires of netherstone that are sharp enough to cut even adamantine.

### Sheol

The Circle of Sheol is the second layer of Hell, and is geographically similar to the Vestibule. It is also enterable by simply descending from the Vestibule. The difference between the Vestibule and Sheol, however, is that the latter is full of fiery caverns and massive, open spaces. Demons still populate the majority of this circle, but devils are not an uncommon sight. This circle was also the main location of the Infernal Reign Wars, where the various factions of Hell collided in massive conflicts and battles.

#### City-states and Nether Kingdoms

* **City of Belpher** - a giant city-state located amidst the Burning Sands.
* **Brimstone City** - a city-state ruled by a demon-lord.
* **Empire of Sheol** - A massive imperial army and aristocracy of demon-lords that expands much of Sheol, and creeps into other circles. It is under the **Greater Hell Nethereik**led by Crudal, the God of Murder.
* **Kingdom of Agonia** - a massive and tyrannical kingdom of demons ruled by a an infernal military government headed by pit fiends and demon-lords.

#### Locations

* **Palace of Letum** - a massive palace home to powerful demon-lords and other forms of infernal nobility.
* **Tower of Athlon** - a massive tower being constructed for eternity by unyielding demons, devils, and lost souls under the authority of powerful fiends.

#### Regions

* **Burning Sands** - a large desert on one side of the River Iter which has incredibly hot sand. The Bloodworms of Belpher are natives to this region.
* **Chasm of the Forgotten** - an unending chasm that supposedly leads into the Abyss. Its size increased to separate the Blood Sea after the events of the Infernal Reign Wars. The One Who Gazes Back also lives within the Chasm.
* **Den of Cerdis** - the residence of the ferocious worm-beast that kills and devours all things indiscriminantly.
* **Mountains of Madness** - large, jagged mountains and cliffsides where indescribable horrors lurk and reside.
* **Plains of Weeps and Wails** - (formerly the **Plains of Dead Silence**) endless fields of tortured souls crying out in agony.
* **River Fell** - a river of black liquid that flows throughout Sheol. If a creature drinks from the river, their alignment shifts to evil if it is not already.
* **River Iter** - a transdimensional river of lost souls and ethereal energy that originates in the Sea of Shadow and travels through the circles of Hell, beginning in Sheol.
* **Sheol Threshold** - The entrance from the Vestibule to Sheol.
* **Twin Blood Seas** - (formerly the Blood Sea) two nigh-infinite seas of blood divided by a chasm that leads into the Abyss.

### Gehenna

The third circle of Hell is **Gehenna**, or the **Circle of the Violent**. It is a realm of fire, lava, torment, and anguish. The most evil of the damned find themselves in Gehenna, and they find conflict with one another. The majority of the Greater Hell Nethereik is located in Gehenna, where smaller factions constantly battle and rebel against its superior forces. Gehenna is also the hottest circle of Hell, and almost all of its lower depths are comprised of boiling lava and lakes of fire. Gehenna is also the circle that devils are native to, though demons are also commonplace.

#### City-states and Nether Kingdoms

* **City of Azotus** - a massive city built into the side one of the Vertigo Mountains.
* **City of Immolantis** - a major city-state where demons and devils live together. Due to this, the city is constantly the center of conflicts between the demons and devils. The city is located near the Sea of Fire, perched upon a cliff of netherstone.
* **Greater Hell Nethereik** - the de facto ruling governance throughout Hell, commanded by a joint council of demon-lords and archdevils, and ruled over by Crudal, the God of Murder.
* **Pandaemonium** - The capital city of the Greater Hell Nethereik, and thus the de facto capital city of the entire plane. It is around the Gates of Bass, at the heart of Gehenna.

#### Locations

* **Furnace of Illumination** - a massive furnace situated near the Forge that gives off a blinding light whenever it is active.
* **Gates of Brass** - the threshold entrance to the Circle of Nivaal.
* **Petrified Primordials** - gargantuan titans are bound with adamantine chains and petrified to stone. The titans were primordials that roamed Arcturam up until the end of the Divine Schism War. They were cast into Hell after its creation, and lay siege to all of its denizens until Crudal's reign. They are located outside of the Ruins of Doloroth.
* **Ruins of Doloroth** - the ruins of an ancient devil city.
* **The Forge** - a massive foundry where the damned labor to create weapons for the armies of Hell.
* **Tower of Antistes** - a massive tower that sits between the banks of River Iter and River Caedis.

#### Regions

* **Great Walls of Voltem** - a massive, primordial wall constructed by the gods themselves to separate the demons and devils. The purpose of the wall was eventually overridden by the denizens of Hell, and now it stands as an inactive relic of the past, and obstacle to those travelling Gehenna.
* **Islands of Claustra** - large, burning islands located amidst the Sea of Fire.
* **Mountains of Vertigo** - a range of giant mountains that hang from the top of Gehenna.
* **Plains of Seething** - unstable plains of cracked, burning rock and dirt where eruptions of hot gas and fire are common.
* **River Caedis** - an infinite river of boiling blood that runs through the highlands of Gehenna. The wicked that are slain in this circle are thrown into it and burn for eternity.
* **Sea of Fire** - an infinite sea of fire.
* **The Pit** - An unending pit that leads into the Abyss.
* **Valley of Anguish** - A bloodied valley where wicked souls are eternally tormented for their transgressions. Their blood constantly streams into River Caedis.

### Nivaal

The **Circle of Nivaal** -- also known as the **Core of Hell**, the **Center of Hell**, and by some as **Nivalis** -- is the frigid and heartless core of Hell, and a finite layer of the plane. It acts as a spatially impossible pocket of a frozen lake, where the greatest threats to the Plane of Mortality, Hell, and all of Totality have been frozen and imprisoned for eternity. The only way to enter or exit Nivaal is through the Gates of Brass located in the city of Pandaemonium.

#### Locations

* **Fields of Furor** - the icy plains that cover the landscape beyond the Mountains of Enthymema. If a creature loses sight of the Mountains from within the Fields of Furor, they will never find their way back.
* **Lake Coryza** - the center of Nivaal; a giant frozen lake that encases the most dangerous entities ever to exist, such as the Unborn Son of Never, the Plague-King, and the corpse of the Void Beast. It is so incredibly cold, that it is capable of freezing any powerful being, even gods.
* **Mountains of Enthymema** - Large, icy mountains and jagged ice shards that surround Lake Coryza.

#### Captives

* The Void Beast's corpse
* The Plague-King
* The Son of Never
* Innummerable Pangs and Throes
* Ptolema
* The Nine Parathralls
* The Blindseer
* He Who Has No Name
* The Beyonder

Untold others are also imprisoned in Lake Coryza, unknown to history or to even the gods.

### Maeror

**Maeror**, or the **Circle of the Sullen**, is a geographically diverse circle of Hell, and nothing like the previous layers. Maeror can best be described as infinite dead forests and bogs full of plagues, putrid-smelling mud, ancient black gunk, and anguish. Primordial horrors and abominations that have existed since the dawn of Creation populate the depths of Maeror, such as the Weres-Who-Didn't, the Hearts of Ire, what remains of the Pangs and Throes, and other non-euclidean abstractions. Maeror is also surprisingly free of demon and devil presence, and the Greater Hell Nethereik has no hold in this circle. Instead, the Plague-makers are the sole rulers of this circle, where they have reigned since the Infernal Reign Wars. The gods Gorath and Nefalsore also control territory in this circle.

#### City-states

* **City of Absentia** - the only known city-state or major civilization in Maeror. It is populated by lost demons, devils, souls, and travelers who could not find their way out of the circle.

#### Locations

* **Antenorus** - a well-hidden citadel and stronghold where the Plague-makers are found.
* **Eternity Pyramids** - Mysterious pyramids constructed of an unknown, invulnerable mineral. It is unknown what is within their walls.

#### Regions

* **Bogs of Lethaea** - endless stretches of putrid, disease-ridden swamplands. Any that fall into its mirky bodies and go under its surface will be forgotten to time.
* **Fields of Filth** - endless fields, plains, and hills of rotting filth.
* **Forest of Suicides** - An ancient forest of leafless trees that were once the souls of mortals who committed suicide.
* **Nightmare FIelds** - An abstract region of Maeror where a creature's worst nightmares and fears manifest into physical beings and concepts. The region is ruled solely by Gorath, the God of Fear.
* **Valley of the Unknown** - A massive, deep valley where no creature dare enter, as entities that even horrify the denizens of Maeror wander its grounds.

### The Abyss

**The Abyss** is the lowest circle of Hell, and is an unending descent into nothingness. The magic continuum is void in this circle, and thus any magical means of stopping one's self from falling or clinging to the sides are in vain. Those lucky enough to cling to the scarce sides of the Abyss may find large alcoves of plains, valleys, canyons and other large spaces.