The Abyssal Crater

The **Abyssal Crater** is an old portal to the Abyss that was closed a couple hundred years ago, now populated by the remnants of the demonic invasion, Paladins who seek to prevent the demon’s return, and cults who are attempting to reopen the portal and doom the world.

## Geography

Abyssal Crater is an old portal to the Abyss that was closed a couple hundred years ago, now populated by the remnants of the demonic invasion, Paladins who seek to prevent the demon’s return, and cults who are attempting to reopen the portal and doom the world. The Crater is a colossal pit that was discovered 1,900 years ago around the islands of the northern ocean of Koranthia. The vertical hole has a diameter of around 1,000 kilometers and is at least 8,000 kilometers deep, with its exact depth being currently unknown. The islands around the crater hold archeological evidence from the civilization that existed before the crater’s appearance.

## Climate

The general climate of the Abyssal Crater varies widely from island to island, and rarely stays the same. The rapid, unpredictable changes from hot to cold and back can occur within a day and cause pressure systems that lead to terrible, albeit, similarly short-lived storms. Additionally, the crater belches a poisonous gas around the area that corrupts both the body and mind, causing a host of various madnesses and mutations to non demons that enter the area, and killing celestials, even those normally immune to toxins. This miasma like air becomes more and more potent the closer you get to the portal. The area around the Abyssal crater doesn’t maintain any seasons or semblance of stable, normal temperature ranges, and its climate is described by scholars as ‘unpredictable’ and ‘extreme.’

## Population

The Abyssal Crater is home almost exclusively to demons, the fiends having killed any other creatures that may have once called the islands around it home. Demons frequently spill forth from the Abyss here, as small portals open up within the crater to the upper (and thus more well known) layers of the Abyss and a handful of demons are typically able to slip through these portals before they close.

In addition to the demons, there are a few remaining restless spirits of the people of the civilization that existed before the crater’s formation. Unfortunately for scholars however, these spirits are entirely insane and tend to attack anything that comes close to their ruins in a blind rage.

Finally, nearest to the mainland are bands of paladins that have developed techniques for fighting the demons near the crater and surviving the horrific conditions and attempt to drive them back.

## Wealth

The Wealth of the crater varies wildly, with most of the demonic bands living destitute, on barren islands with literal more than their claws and teeth as weapons, however others are exceptionally wealthy, with their leaders living as nascent demon lords with magical items for themselves and their underlings, and owning several islands with mines. Among the demons, mines and magic items appear to be the predominant form of status, with manpower being needed to run the mines, and armies needed to defend them, and magic items for their usefulness and power.

The paladins are wealthy enough to afford fortresses and cathedrals, as well as potent arms and armour, mostly obtaining these with donations and tithes from wealthy elites in Orlanthea who appreciate them for defending their homes and trade interests from demonic marauders.

## Culture

The Demons organize into bands ruled by the strongest, and lay claim to one or more islands around the crater itself, with the strongest bands being closer to the Crater, and the weaker being forced to live farther away from it. Depending on the leadership and composition of the band, the culture can be very different, however the shared demonic traits of malevolence, cruelty and thirst for destruction remain constant.

The undead do not appear to maintain a culture, as they’re usually solitary, and the ones that are in groups don’t appear to interact with other undead, and only scream gibberish at any other creature they see if they can form words at all.

The Paladins are called the Order of the Chalice. A divine order dedicated to purging the material plane of demons, and are unsurprisingly concentrated mostly around the crater. These are zealous paladins who take an Oath to slay any fiend that steps foot onto the material and go as far as to not allow tieflings into their ranks or into their fortresses. Life in the Order is strictly religious, praying not only to gods such as Amarinthinos and Jormungandr, but also to ideals such as Purity, Zeal and Conviction, most often represented by specific Seraphim. The order is conserative and theocratic, seeing any deviancy from the orthodoxy as weakness at best and an attempt at demonic sabotage at worst, and handles such cases with extreme prejudice.

## Military

Depending on the band and its individual strength, the demons range from a band of a couple dozen dretches ruled by the strongest, to what passes for a disciplined army for demons, with ranks, legions and even navies consisting of both ships and seafaring demons that are used to patrol and conquer other islands. There have been noted to be all kinds of demons from Dretches and Quasits to Balors and those unique demons stronger than them, closer to the crater itself.

The Paladins are a regimented, disciplined fighting force consisting primarily of the Scouting Corps, the Infantry Corps, the Heavy Cavalry Corp, and the Healer’s Corps. While definitely outnumbered by the demonic host, they can rely on demonic infighting to give them advantages in wars of attrition.

## Appendix

If there is no fiendish blood running through your veins, it’s almost impossible to stay in the Abyssal Crater for long periods of time without experiencing high levels of madness and possible mutations. Those with celestial blood are even more susceptible to its effects.