Phlegothos

**Phlegothos** is the fourth layer of the Nine Hells, a crushing realm full of gravitational phenomena.

## Geographic Description

Phlegothos is a rocky, somewhat hilly realm with a pitch black sky filled with multicolored auroras, similar to the Aurora Borealis in our Earth. Bioluminescent algae of multiple colors grow commonly on rocks, giving the rocky ground a more beautiful look. Toxic nebulae gases float by larger hills of these algae, poisoning outsiders who enter them. Rocks ranging from small pebbles to large stones float around observatories and throughout the land, orbiting the towers as if they had some kind of gravitational pull. However, the gravitational pressure is much stronger than that of Endymia, as newcomers move much more slowly.

## Places of Importance

The hilly realm of Phlegothos has many tall Gothic-like observatories with telescoped, called *Monoliths* by the eye devils who care for them.

**The Luminarium** is the main city in Phlegothos, a Gothic castle made of concrete and surrounded by a stone wall covered in algae to ward off Reapers. This is the primary center of aurora research in

## Architecture

The Monoliths scattered throughout Phlegothos are no more than tall cylindrical towers, with an interior of entirely stairs, and the top open for a large telescope device and a pseudo-office for eye devils studies. Several eye devils collect data in one Monoliths, for maximum efficiency. The primary goal of the eye devils in Monoliths is to find a way to harvest the auroras and uncover what their true purpose is.

## General Inhabitants

The main beings who reside in Phlegothos are **Eye Devils**, benevolent prophets who perceive time as a separate dimension. Eye devils appear as almost humanoid-like beings, with their lower sections split into several tendrils or tentacles. They wear dark silver armor plating adorned in eyelike patterns, and they wear horned-like helmets, and have six silver eyes. Eye devils do not walk, but rather levitate to move from place to place. They can see the past, present, and future, but do not know the knowledge of what those stages of time bring outside of their documented history. They often speak in riddles, and keep any knowledge they may gain of the future secret in fear of changing its outcome. Eye devils feed on the nebulous gases near large clumps of algae, not poisoned by its effects at all.

The **Reapers**, however, are wraiths made of shadow and twisting nether, and have six purple eyes. Contrary to the eye devils, their nature is complete violence, killing anything in their way. The eye devils are often killed by Reapers, who then flee after taking a life. Once an eve devil reaches an old enough age, they undergo a process known as *Conflaguration*, where they leave the Luminarium or their Monolith, turn into a Reaper and lose their armor. Reapers will often kill each other thanks to these primal urges. They can be warded away by the nebulous gases from algae clumps, and the Luminarium's walls are entirely coated with algae to keep Reapers away (as are Monolith).

Phlegothos is also home to docile constructs called **Void Eaters**, creatures weaponized by the eye devils as another means of defending themselves from Reapers. Void Eaters are actually small gravity singularities surrounded by silver orbiting metal plates. The plates' purpose is to protect eye devils and other fauna from being pulled and crushed by the singularity inside. However, the rings attract Reapers, being essences of shadow, and immediately suck them in, destroying them. Void Eaters wander around through Phlegothos, and it is not uncommon to see one or two around a Monolith.

## Inhabitants of Notes

Seraphim **Pharyon** acts as the leader of the eye devils, and takes residence in The Luminarium. More cryptic and inward-looking than most of his kin, Pharyon serves as one of the most important members of the Court of Seven Cities, an assembly of the archdukes and archdutchesses of Hell, thanks to his powers of insight and planning. It was Pharyon's idea to observe the auroras in the sky, viewing them as potential sources of power.

## 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.
* During the drafting process of Phlegothos' homebrew revision, Ben was inspired by the theory of Hell residing in a Black Hole, and themed it around gravity.