The Nine Hells/Baator

Nessus, The 9th Hell

## Description

The Nine Hells (Otherwise known as Baator) are a set of 9 realms of infinite pain. The hells share rarely any features, rather than the fact that they each provide a unique pain or torment. Each realm of hell, known as a Circle, was originally made by the Original 6 as a way to punish mortal creatures that went against their will or direct command. However, since the introduction of new gods, the hells became less of a plane for Atheists and Heretical folk and more of a plane for those who do inexplicably evil actions. Each Circle is ruled by an archduke, besides the 9th circle, which is ruled by a Grand Duke.

### Hierarchy

The Nine Hells are a strictly lawful place, while still being evil. To facilitate this Law, hell is split into a royal court, known as The Brimstone Court. The Brimstone Court is comprised of 6 ranks. At the top of the hierarchy is The Grand Duke, which has always been Asmodeus. The Grand Duke's job is to facilitate and check each of their 8 Archdukes, and to keep relations with the other Outer Planes. Every Devil ultimately submits to the current Grand Duke, and each Archduke who serves under the Grand Duke has their last name as the current Grand Duke's name, as a way of showing ownership. Second to the Grand Duke are his 8 Archdukes, who's jobs are to carry the will of The Grand Duke, facilitate deals with mortals from the Material Plane, and to manage and check their Prince and 3 Dukes. The Prince is a special role in the Hierarchy, that acts exactly like a Duke, except that when the Archduke that they serve under dies, they are the first in line who would take their position. Duke's jobs are to carry out the wills of their Archduke, and to manage and fight in battles in The Blood War that take place in Baator. Each Duke, finally, has 5 Barons. A Baron's jobs are to carry out the wills of their dukes, and to fight alongside their Dukes in any battle. Baron's are also sometimes tasked with fighting in large battles in any other plane. This mostly involves fighting in The Abyss for land in The Blood War, but sometimes Barons of Hell are used as soul-collectors, if a mortal who made a deal is refusing to pay.

## History

Baator originally started out as a plane for all who were unfaithful, also known as Heretics. However, as time passed and more true gods began to form, the original 6 gods felt it too punishing to be sent to infinite torture for simply not believing in a "true god", so The Nine Hells became a place to send evil mortals as a way of punishment. There are 9 actions that are counted as "True Evil" actions, but mortals who commit them are only sent to the specific circle if their god denies them, if they do not repent for their sins, or if they had made a deal with a devil that involved their soul.

After the introduction of Demons in the Abyss, before the start of the 1st age, Devils quickly waged war against the chaotic beings, for existing as living chaos. This fighting quickly evolved from quick skirmishes to legions of devils combating thousands of Demons. Demons, however, almost gained a foothold on Devils because of their ability to reform in the abyss almost the instant that they die. This caused hundreds of thousands of extremely strong demons marching into Avernus, which almost lead to the complete and assured destruction of The Material Plane. However, Asmodeus made a deal with Primus, and was able to gain an artifact known as "The Ruby Rod", which allowed the Ruby at the end of the base to trap the souls of any creature who made a contract with any Devil who served under him. These trapped souls would be forced to become Devils, and would fight in the war that Devils originally waged. Ever since the introduction of The Ruby Rod, the war has become stalemate, as each side cannot pass the other's armies. Because of this seemingly infinite stalemate, the blood from Demons and Devils alike all pooled together in one place, now known as The Sea of Blood.

## Cosmology

Baator sits in between Acheron and Gehenna, sitting in a place of Evil with Law; The Nine Hells represents controlled evil. While the inhabitants of this plane are not good creatures, they are not more cruel or evil than they need to be to obtain their final goals. The plane itself shows this idea, as each realm may be torture for a certain type of creature, for another it could be not be anything less. The River Styx connects Baator to Acheron and Gehenna by running through the first layer.

## Afterlife

The Afterlife for mortals in The Nine Hells only happens to the most evil of creatures. There are 3 ways to enter the nine hells after you die. The First way is to directly go against your god's word, and not repenting. Doing so will cause those creatures to be unforgiven by their god, and are then punished by spending eternity in The Nine Hells. The Second way is to make a contract with a devil that involves your soul. If you bid away your soul in a contract, you are sent to The Nine Hells immediately after death. The Third way is to be sent there by a god, which is different than being denied by one. Being sent there means that you made a god more powerful than your own, or your own, angry enough to force your soul to enter The Nine Hells after you died.

Each realm is a form of eternal torture, and was made to be the most torturous for those who committed one of the Nine Fatal Sins. These 9 Sins are as follows, in descending order of least to worst: Treachery, Heresy, Gluttony, Wrath, Envy, Pride, Greed, Sloth, and Lust. Treachery is reserved for those who backstab, are traitorous, or plan to go behind the backs of other creatures and follow through. Heresy is meant for those who actively spoke against a god or went against their will, however this also applies to those who speak mistruths. Scammers, Fraudulents, and Imposters are sent here. Gluttony is reserved for those who thirsted for more than they already had. This is most easily represented in Food, however it can also be applied to Addictions, Slaves, Sex, or any other act such as that. Wrath is reserved for those who had done evil actions out of hate, malice, or for otherwise evil reasons. Keep in mind, revenge and retribution do not count as wrath, and thus many Paladins will come into this plane to enact revenge on creatures who had destroyed their churches, families, ideals, or something akin to that. Envy is reserved for that of those who where never satisfied with what they had, who would always need more, but upon gaining it would wish for more. This sin typically goes hand in hand with Gluttony and Greed, and the separating factor is hard to determine. Pride is reserved for those who flaunt everything they have all the time. These types of people live for attention, and thus any action done explicitly for it is counted in this sin. Greed is shown by those who covet anything and everything they have, this is shown with valuables, food, or just anything. Those unwilling to share enter Greed's domain. Second to last is Sloth, which is not fully represented by Laziness. Sloth is reserved for those who had the opportunity to do something that would impact another's life in a good way, but instead chose not to. And Finally is Lust, which is not always in a sexual manner. Lust is the constant wanting and needing for one particular thing, and going around anything and everything to obtain it. This could be wealth, power, knowledge, or any other obtainable thing that many seek out.

## Inhabitants

Devils live in Baator. There are many different types of devils, each of which are molded by their superiors to fit a certain need or goal. For example, the Archduke Belphegor lives in the coldest realm of Hell, and thus will mold any devil under him to become some form of Ice Devil. There is no complete bestiary for Devils, because they can be anything that their superior needs for that job. If a Duke or Archduke needs a devil to become sneaky in some way, they can mold any devil under them to remove armor, force them to move quieter, and to lose strong slow blows for many weak and silent attacks.

In addition to Devils, Night Hags also call this place