Nine Hells

## Brief Description

The Nine Hells are the home of the terrible race of immortals known as the devils. The hells are housed within a tormented world called **Baator** that is clouded in ash and smoke. Within this fuming orb lie cauldrons of lava, bitter seas of ice, and cities of scorching iron. Each hell (except Avernus, the first) is a buried continent, a cavern of tremendous size. Each lies deeper than it predecessor. Nessus, the ninth, is a fiery rift at the center of the devils' planet-sized dominion. Some hells are fiery, some are bitterly cold, some are poisonous mires, and some are cruel fortresses - but all are terrible beyond mortal endurance, and only the greatest and most foolhardy of heroes dare venture within.

The color veil of the Nine hells is a rolling cloud of red smoke that occasionally parts to permit glimpses of the orb below: the burning desert of Avernus, which forms the surface of this tortured world. If traveling through the Astral Sea find themselves miles above the surface upon entering this world. Vetern travelers of the Nine Hells speak of attempting to enter by the Lake of Despond, birthplace of the Styx, and descend through its churning funnel.

## Lore

Countless legions of devils are imprisoned within this cavern world. They are bound for all time to the ruined dominion of the deities they rebelled against long ago. Each layer is governed by one of the Lords of the Nine. Most of the lords are Archdevils, unique devils of great power. Archdevils too weak or disloyal to rule a layer of their own serve as viziers or vassals to one of the Lords of the Nine or languish in disfavor and exile, waiting for the chance to supplant one of their betters.

Archdevils are the dukes and princes of the nine Hells, and they constantly scheme and plot against their peers in a never-ending quest for more power. Mephistopheles dreams of displacing Asmodeus. Baalzebul loathes Mephistopheles. Glasya hates Levistus, who in turn plots his revenge against Asmodeus. Asmodeus fears no single lesser Archdevil (except possibly Mephistopheles), but even the Prince of Nessus dreads the day when the other Archdevils unite against him. Asmodeus carefully fosters rivalries and distrust among the other Archdevils to prevent such a day from ever coming to pass.

Beneath the Archdevils are the ranks of the infernal hierarchy. The Nine Hells are highly organized, and each devil has its own place that corresponds to its own personal power. The mighty pit fiends are the barons and nobles of the Nine Hells, each sworn to the service of one or another of the Archdevils. War devils are the generals and captains of the Nine Hells. Brazen devils are elite guards, pain devils are torturers and jailers, spend devils are lowly scouts and messengers. Every devil has its place. The Archdevils reward lesser devils that excel in their duties by transforming them into progressively more powerful forms through agonizing rituals.

Devils delight in claiming mortal souls - **the damned**. The Nine Hells are filled with the wretched spirits of mortals. Some deliberately gave themselves to the service of the Nine Hells in life, some did the devil's work unwittingly, and some had the misfortune to fall under fiendish power. The damned appear much as they did in life. They are reborn in the Nine Hells in a form of flesh and blood, although they are gaunt and frail. Through the tormenting of the damned, devils harvest the power inherent in the mortal soul - power to fuel infernal rites, to animate infernal constructs, to strengthen Archdevils, or to fortify defenses. Although most damned souls are imprisoned until expended, a scant few - those who served the Nine Hells with a particular ability in life - are rewarded with transformation into lesser devil so that they may continue to server the Nine Hells thought eternity.

## Notable Areas

* Avernus the First Hell
* The River Styx
* Dis the Second Hell
* Minauros the Third Hell
* Phlegethos the Fourth Hell
* Stygia the Fifth Hell
* Malbolge the Sixth Hell
* Maladomini the Seventh Hell
* Cania the Eighth Hell
* Nessus the Ninth Hell