The Abyss

The Abyss is the furthest point in the cosmos from the light of Heaven. Chaotic evil souls that fall here are considered so vile, such heinous sinners that they are utterly beyond redemption; not even Hell wants them. Often, they do not commit acts of evil for any higher goal than acquiring personal power or the sheer pleasure of causing destruction. They have no remorse for those they harm. Heaven and Hell have negotiated temporary alliances whereby, if necessary, they would declare a temporary truce to push back the armies of The Abyss.

The Abyss itself is actually a living plane, a remnant of the primordial multiverse that was not totally reshaped by the unnamed overdeity. The maw of the Abyss is filled with venomous fangs and scalding acid that painfully digests souls entering the realm, making them suffer equal to the suffering they inflicted upon others. This suffering is then excreted as liquid pain that is harvested by demons as Abyss-bound souls tumble as a mass of partially liquefied bone and muscle into the realm. These souls then reform in physical bodies so that they may be killed, eaten, torn apart and otherwise killed in various ways again and again. However, chosen souls that are strong enough to survive the digestion process may instead be reborn as demons.

The Abyss is a seemingly bottomless pit filled with every torturous environment conceivable, countless demons, evil deities and vicious monsters. There is no law in The Abyss except power and the strong abuse and exploit the weak as they see fit. The most powerful beings of The Abyss often declare certain layers as their dominion and then fight to defend and expand these territories. Thus, the Abyss is in a constant state of internal war. This inability to organize is the only reason the forces of the abyss do not overwhelm the entire cosmos.

**The Blood War**

Lucifer, the King of Hell, is the arch-nemesis of The Abyss, having fallen from his station as a Seraphim to dedicate himself to destroying The Abyss by any means necessary. He has made himself into the pinnacle of evil all to serve the "greater good" of destroying this realm. The devils of hell constantly battle demons trying to cross over into the battleground between their realms in Hades. So far, Hell has been able to hold back the vastly superior in number force of demons due to better tactics and organization. However, should Lucifer ever be defeated, demons would rampage across every known realm in existence, so other Lawful deities often assist him.

**The Seven Seals of the Final Apocalypse:**

Although it is believed to be impossible to reach the bottom of the Abyss, the final, 666th layer, contain the seven seals to the Far Realms. These seals, placed by the Unnamed Overdeity, are what holds the Far Realms outside of the ordered multiverse. Should they ever be broken, the laws of reality themselves would unravel and Eldritch deities such as Yog-Sothoth would be unleashed. Fortunately, no being in existence possesses the power to break these seals, yet. However, servants of the Eldritch Pantheon and certain demon cults believe that by sowing enough chaos and entropy these wards will eventually weaken and break.

**Deities of the Abyss:** 10

Apep

Gruumsh

Lolth

Blibdoolpoolp

Diirinka God of Derro

Sseth: God of Yuan-Ti

Karan: God of Lycanthropes

Doresain: God of Ghouls

Yeenoghu: God of Gnolls

Laogzed: God of Troglodytes

**Demon Princes of the Abyss: 10**

Abaddon - A demon known for spreading pestilence.

Abraxas - Known for impersonating the Prophet incarnation of the Unnamed overdeity and causing his followers to commit evil acts in his name.

Alastor - Alastor is a demon prince of strife, known to cause family members to commit crimes against one another. He also causes people to seek unjust revenge such as killing an entire family for the actions of one deceased member.

Azazel - Once an angel, Azazel became a demon and taught humans the art of warfare, black magic and deception. He views himself as a giver of knowledge regardless of the consequences and believed it was not right to keep any knowledge from mortals. He continues to share knowledge with mortals which lead then to commit evil acts.

Baphomet - Baphomet seems to delight in causing the corruption and destruction of civilizations from within and causing Paladins to fall into Blackguards.

Charun - A demon who delights in the massacre of innocents

Demogorgon - A demon who deceives mortals into causing kingdoms to war against each other, creating fearful environments of chaos and destruction.

Haagenti - A demon prince of alchemy and artifice, Haagenti specializes in creating weapons of war and poisons to cause suffering and destruction.

Orcus - A demon prince of oath-breakers. He delights in tempting heroes to abandon their quests, paladins to break their vows and those who have signed contracts with devils hope of escape. However, the fate Orcus has in store for them is often worse than what the devils imagined. Orcus is particularly despised by devils and his cult is hunted by the Dark Cardinals whenever they are found.

Pazuzu - A demon of wind, bringer of drought and storms.