Dis

**Dis** is the second layer of the Nine Hells, known as the central working and industrial area of the Hells.

## Geographic Description

The City of Dis is a Brutalist, industrial city centered solely on innovation, with robotic workers to compensate for this. There are little residences outside of Dispater's fortress, as the unfortunate denizens of the city live only to work.

Outside of the city lies the *No-Fly Zone*, a zone of scorched earth near the borders of the City. The **Iron Walls of Dis** surround the City and the edge of the No-Fly Zone, and magic disintegrates all that touches it.

Outside all of the borders is land rich in natural resources similar to Endymia's, known as the *Outskirts*. The air is smoky and polluted around the city, but the sky is a natural red outside of this.

## Places of Importance

The only major place of importance is the titularly named, ever-expanding **City of Dis**, described above and below.

However, workers not inside the Iron City toil in the **Korriban Mines**, harvesting natural resources to industrialize even further.

## Architecture

Dis possesses a Brutalist architecture, with buildings of black concrete decorated with the remains of deceased workers. Small portals to Minauros inside factories are used to dispose the staggering amount of pollution and waste, contributing even more so to the third layer's decay.

## General Inhabitants

Lesser devils of all kinds, including **Bearded Devils**, **Barbed Devils**, **Spine Devils**, **Tieflings**, **Imps**, and **Lemures** populate the factories in their endless labor. Some devils possess cybernetic augments when their limbs fail them, and all who have wings have them removed upon starting the rest of their miserable lives. **Erinyes** typically act as enforcers to keep the workers working and to suppress strikes or unions. Erinyes also keep their eyes on newcomers, seeing them as potential labor if they appear weak, or if they look strong enough, to hire them as additional enforcers. If they greet any beings of more power than themselves, they are sent right to Dispater to negotiate matters of their arrival.

Mindless **Warforged** also populate the area, knowing only to work without break. Once a lesser devil or worker dies, Erinyes enforcers typically extract the worker's soul with a special device known as an *Enslaver*. The soul is then placed into a metal exoskeleton, which powers it, and the new Warforged is sent immediately back to work. If the metal body succumbs to oxidation or weariness, the process is repeated again and again.

Large Warforged titans known as **Dreadnoughts** walk throughout the city, with gaps in-between buildings to accommodate for their large size. Dreadnoughts are primarily tasked with creating buildings and more factories for the workers to populate. Only three Dreadnoughts exist as of the present, but there have been established plans to create a fourth.

Defective **Warforged** are shunted into the No-Fly Zone between the borders where they can cause no harm. They are often caused by the soul's will being too strong to succumb to the endless work. These souls are simply eaten by higher-ranking devils for sustenance. Defective Warforged are hunted by mechanical wolves known as **Hounds**, powered by Dispater's own magic. They hunt and destroy these defects, then harvest their souls for consumption purposes by other devils.

Other different devils across the layers also reside here (albeit a vast minority), as Dis serves additionally as a prison realm for the most grievous of sinners.

## Inhabitants of Note

The **Iron Duke,** **Dispater,** rules over the city and oversees all labor in his Iron Tower, his extreme vigilance almost personified caution. Dispater has a well-earned reputation for being the most carefully calculated yet composed archdevils, and is one of the few archdevils who dislikes taking big risks in the name of power. Dispater also possesses an extreme understanding of business and all its aspects, industrializing the City of Dis to provide a labor force for Asmodeus' necessities. Yet, he always keeps a watchful over all in his Iron City, fearing those of strong power may attempt to overthrow him.

## Trivia

* The reason the Nine Hells are different than their respective 5e canon appearances are because Ben felt dissatisfied that several of the layers felt so similar.
* The *Korriban Mines* are a direct reference to the planet *Korriban* from *Star Wars: The Old Republic*, original home of the Sith.