The Gaping Maw

Layer 88 of the Abyss, known as the Gaping Maw, is the nightmarish, primeval domain of Demogorgon, the Prince of Demons. It is a realm of savage wilderness, overwhelming fear, and primal madness, where nature itself has been twisted into a monstrous reflection of Demogorgon’s own chaotic and dualistic mind.

The Gaping Maw is a vast, tropical hellscape, a fetid expanse of steaming jungles, toxic swamps, and volcanic coastlines. The terrain pulses with hostile life—everything here is dangerous, from the terrain to the creatures, to the very air, thick with spores and the stench of rot. Vines move with a will of their own, trees whisper maddening secrets, and unseen predators stalk the undergrowth. The jungles stretch on endlessly, choked with thorns and brambles, interspersed with murky lagoons, sulfuric hot springs, and churning rivers of bile.

The layer’s most dominant feature is the Shattered Sea, a boiling, brackish ocean that surrounds much of the jungle interior. Its waters are tainted with demonic ichor, and its tides rise and fall at random, sometimes dragging whole swathes of jungle into the deep. Hidden beneath the waves are underwater caverns and temples, where Demogorgon’s monstrous aquatic cultists worship and war among themselves.

Throughout the Gaping Maw, the very environment is infused with Demogorgon’s duality and madness. The plane mirrors his two-headed nature: one moment luring the unwary with exotic beauty and primal allure, the next unleashing torrents of howling chaos and terror. Travelers report sudden, inexplicable shifts in mood, hallucinations, and violent compulsions. The layer's influence gnaws at the mind, pushing intruders toward paranoia, savagery, and fear.

Even demons fear this place. The Gaping Maw is soaked in predatory instinct—a world where only the strongest and most cunning survive. Packs of demonic beasts, massive reptilian horrors, and abyssal chimera roam the jungles, engaging in constant bloodshed. Many of these creatures are mutated by Demogorgon’s will, monstrous reflections of natural beasts driven to impossible violence.

At the heart of the Gaping Maw lies Abysm, Demogorgon’s throne city—if it can be called that. It is a sprawling, half-sunken fortress-palace, built of bone, coral, basalt, and wrecked temples, rising from a vast lagoon where the jungle meets the sea. Twisting towers lean at unnatural angles, covered in foul growths and writhing tentacles. Within Abysm, Demogorgon dwells, a colossal, terrifying figure whose every movement warps the reality around him, torn between self-loathing and megalomania, savagery and guile.

In essence, the Gaping Maw is the embodiment of chaotic, predatory madness—a realm that strips away civilization, sanity, and self-control, leaving only fear, instinct, and violence. It is not just dangerous—it is deeply infectious, a plane that twists all who enter until they, too, become part of its primal nightmare.