Abyss

The Abyss, sister plane to Infernus, native home of demonkind and source of the ideals of destruction and annihilation. The Abyss is perhaps the most dangerous and unpredictable of all of the Planes, for here the land is as much a changing and evolving threat just as much as its residents, who even they must be cautious of where they place their damned feet.

For any one creature to attempt to understand the depths of the Abyss would be walking a line between madness and futility, for it is a realm of realms, pocket layers of the Abyss lay adjacent and atop one another allowing passage between for those who know the routes. Each of these layers is as varied as the one that came before, some can be frigid landscapes, others oceans of toxic water, some can be blasted wasteland or pillars of bone rising from stinking oil. None can truly know what they will find in a new layer of torment and torture should they wander blindly.

Whether they be formed from the convalescence of mortal energy passing from the Lesser Planes or born from the very fabric of the plane itself, no two demons are entirely alike. Put one balor beside another and one could find a master swordsman as easily a master of subterfuge. Similarly two demons formed at the same time and of the same essence may not even be the same breed of demon, for as their strength, power and influence waxes and wanes so too does their form. In this way even the lowest of dretches could one day find themselves ascending all the way into the ranks of the Lords themselves.

It is this shifting tide of power and control that truly holds both the Abyss together and the demons in check. If they were able to unite in any way as their ancient rivals in Infernus or Celestia are, it is without a doubt they would overrun both with sheer number alone. Fortunately for all sane beings the only things demons hate more than other creatures are other demons and so will naturally turn on one another far more often than they will work together for any amount of time. This has resulted in both a rigid and surprisingly fluid social structure.

#### Demon Hierarchy

To a demon strength is everything, though it matters little if it is strength of arm, mind, wit or magic. Seeming chaotic and unruly to an outsider and perhaps even to those within it, demonic society is made up of those who have strongarmed, bribed and murdered their way to their position or been violently cast down their social ladder. Though any breed of demon can find themselves at any level of their society there is a tendency for greater demons to reign supreme over those weaker than them.

##### Demon Lords

Despite the challenges of this realm or perhaps because of it, there are those beings powerful or bold enough to attempt to claim mastery of it and its denizens. The terrifying numbers of Demon Lords, their numbers are as unknowable as the number of layers from which they rule. Even amongst their fellow demons these beings stand out for their unique personality and strength, some relegated to only a small portion of their particular layer of the Abyss or otherwise might hold great empires spanning layer upon layer.

It is a constantly shifting battlefield of political intrigue, taboo made common practice, crimes of a terrible nature and destruction without end. To a demon morality is a weakness, to a Lord any weakness is as like to result in their deaths as it is those of their servants and slaves. Even the mightiest of greater demons will bow before the Demon Lords, for they are more than aware of the fact that whilst power can shift, sometimes it can be pushed too fast.

##### Greater Demons

Generally made up by the likes of balors, mariliths and sibriex's, these powerful figures will stand in positions of great respect, fear and authority within the demonic hosts. They will often command vast armies as generals or overlords under the direct command of their respective lord, or else hold positions of tenuous power commanding the cities and fortresses that litter the Abyss. Some still will avoid the world of war and politics and stick instead to far more profitable and significantly less dangerous art of mercantilism, for in the Abyss everything can be bought and sold for the right price.

##### Lesser Demons

Here the majority of vrocks, herzou and draegloths will find themselves, unable to advance further out of fear of their more powerful masters but enjoying a position of power to those demons unfortunate enough to be stuck beneath their command. Often these demons will serve as captains in their lords armies, leading warbands and raiding parties in an attempt to further their own personal power. Other times they work as trusted assassins, emissaries and bodyguards for the purposes of both demon and mortal alike. Competition is fierce and no Lesser Demon is truly trustworthy, for the middle of the pile is both the easiest to climb but the quickest to fall.

##### Under Demons

Sitting firmly at the bottom of the demonic totem pole are the sorry masses of the Under Demons. These poor wretches, generally made up from dretches, quasits and bulezau find themselves often the victim of their masters idle cruelty and temperament. Though wild and unruly these beings are well aware that it only takes one small slip for a being higher than them to become a target and what they may lack for in individual strength, their force of numbers, vicious nature and utter willingness to perform any deed to progress their own standing makes them as dangerous en mass as any Lord would be alone.

##### Demonspawn

Even the lowest rung of the ladder must first have dirt stepped upon to climb, and it is here that these unfortunates find themselves. Either individuals who have spent too long or were too weak-willed to resist the powers of the Abyss, the direct spawn of demons taken to be little more than slaves or even those amongst their own kind who have fallen and failed time and time again into being barely even considered worthy of their place in the Abyss. Those that find themselves here generally do not live long and those that do live in pain and torment, for even the weakest of demons will look down and abuse them. There is little hope for peace or progression from here, only the hope that they will go unnoticed for perhaps one day more.