Minauros
Minauros, the third layer of the Nine Hells, is a vast, fetid swamp where greed, corruption, and decay are manifest in both landscape and law. The entire layer is a mire of black sludge, acidic rain, and crumbling structures, where everything—even the devils themselves—sinks slowly beneath the weight of its own rot.
Minauros is where decay meets greed, where every promise is tainted by rot, and every pact made is one step deeper into the bog. It is not merely a place of suffering—it is a systemic degradation, a slow drowning in one’s own desires and compromises. Even the devils who rule here are not free from the mire; they simply sink slower than the rest.
Geography
Minauros is a poisonous morass, stretching endlessly in all directions as a sinking, stench-choked bog. The ground is treacherous: a mix of sticky mud, bile-colored slush, and corrupted water that pulls everything downward over time. The sky is a greasy, yellow-gray churn of clouds that weep acidic rain day and night, corroding stone, flesh, and armor alike. Lightning flickers often—silent and ominous—and the very air carries the reek of sulfur, rot, and mold.
Small islands of firmer ground exist, but most of them are half-submerged ruins, unstable bridges, or crumbling roads that lead nowhere. The few roads that endure are maintained through infernal labor, forced by devils who refuse to let the layer fully consume itself.
Minauros the city, namesake of the layer, stands in the center of the swamp—a massive metropolis of black stone, iron pylons, and sunken towers. But even here, nothing is secure. The city is slowly being swallowed by the bog it rests upon. Walls lean, streets crack, and buildings tilt as the swamp drinks everything in over centuries. Only through constant rebuilding, magical reinforcement, and sheer infernal will does the city remain at all.
This decay is not disorder—it is bureaucratized ruin, where decay and suffering are part of the system. Any attempt to protest or escape one’s lot is met with fines, imprisonment, or conscription.
Fauna & Flora
The archdevil Mammon, a massive serpentine figure adorned in chains and jewels, rules Minauros. He is the embodiment of avarice, hoarding wealth he cannot spend and trading in secrets, favors, and misery. Mammon rarely appears in public; instead, he manipulates through a corrupt bureaucracy of devils, coin-devoted cults, and endless contracts written to sink souls deeper into damnation.
Inhabitants and Hazards
- Amnizus, hulking green-skinned devils, guard the city and swamp alike, acting as generals and enforcers.
- Bog fiends and marsh-bound devils prowl the muck, dragging victims beneath the surface.
- Mortals damned for avarice or fraud often find themselves mired eternally, slowly drowning in filth while clutching useless treasures.
- Diseases, parasites, and curses thrive in the swamp, inflicting physical and spiritual decay.
Everything in Minauros seems to sink—structures, souls, ambitions—unless held aloft by sheer infernal power.
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