Cocytus

*A Cold Day in Hell*
The eighth of the Nine Hells of Gehenna, **Cocytus, the Frozen Hell**, is a frigid wasteland of unyielding ice and soul-freezing cold.

The Archdevil of Cocytus is Mephistopheles who reigns from the frozen city of Kriyot.

## Inhabitants

Unsurprisingly, Qerachadonim are more populous in Cocytus than any other layer of Gehenna.

Whenever Mazzikim are created in Cocytus; whether it be via promotion from a Lemure or demotion from some other form of Qliphah, it always takes the form of a Frost Mazzik.

## Description

Cocytus, the eighth of the Nine Hells, is great wasteland of ice and cold. There is little land to speak of in Cocytus, only ice; great glacial plains of ice or jagged razor-like hills and mountains of ice. Here and there the miles-thick ice is punctuated by rivers, lakes, and seas of freezing cold water, far colder than any mundane ice, but kept liquid by the power of Cocytus. Diamonds and sapphires, from the tiny to the mountainous, also form regularly in Cocytus, although extracting them from the ice is often an impossible task. Terrible and strange shapes are also visible in the ice, some the souls of the Damned or other creatures entombed for the ages, but others said to be monsters created by Asmodeus and deliberately frozen; waiting to be thawed and unleashed during Armageddon.

The sky of Cocytus is a featureless chilly-blue void that radiates a frosty blue light. The weather of Cocytus is, unsurprisingly, an endless blizzard of howling winds and furious snowfall, punctuated now and then by rains of razor-sharp, dagger-like, hailstones. The colds of Cocytus can make the coldest parts of the Material Planes seem warm, and there are parts of Cocytus where the cold is so intense that adamantine freezes and becomes brittle. Indeed, some parts of Cocytus are home to literally frozen masses of fire.

The cold of Cocytus is so intense that the Cold Resistance or Immunity of mortal creatures is utterly useless; only supernatural resistance to cold will suffice. Any mortal creature so exposed suffers 1d6 points of Cold damage every round they spend in Cocytus. Creatures slain by this damage become completely entombed in ice and can only be safely thawed by Wish, Miracle, or similar effects. The Damned wander these frigid wastes of Cocytus, eventually succumbing to the cold and freezing solid. When they finally thaw, after ages of helpless chill, they emerge as Lemures.

### **Kriyot**

The capital of Cocytus, **Kriyot** is a gleaming city of blue and white. Wrought from sapphires, diamonds, and the unyielding ice of Cocytus, the city of Kriyot is the seat of Prince Mephisto and his courtiers.

### **The River Cocytus**

Cocytus is the source of the **River Cocytus**, and it is here that the river is strongest. In Cocytus the eponymous river appears as a great river of freezing white water. The river is in fact the coldest part of Cocytus; so cold in fact that most creatures coming into contact with the bone-white waters are instantly frozen solid.

### **Tehom**

A great swirling vortex surrounded by a ring of ice, **Tehom** is the sole known point of ingress to Sheol, the Ninth Hell. At all times Tehom is guarded by entire legions of Infernal Angels and Qliphoth.