Acheron plane: The Infernal Battlefield
Colour Pools = Flame
Ethereal curtains = Metallic Red
Shape and size = Infinite void, four layers shaped like floating blocks
Gravity = Objective Directional - toward the surface of each floating block
Time = Standard
Tuning Fork = Iron "G"
Morphic trait = Divinely
Acheron plane: The Infernal Battlefield
Also known as Acheron, the Battle Cubes, The Infernal Battlefield of Acheron, and the Plane of Lost Causes - a lawful neutral/lawful evil-aligned plane of existence.Acheron is also the name of the highest God of this outer plane.
Acheron the plane is a place where the ideals are:- conformity at all costs, cold iron law with a tinge of evil. The armies, clans, and cliques of the plane believe that identification with their group is the highest of goals, and those not of their group are to be subjugated or destroyed.
Acheron plane is the place of dreams gone wrong.
Main Deity = Acheron
Type = Outer plane;
Layers = 4 known - Avalas; Thuldanin; Tintibulus and Ocanthus;
Colours = purples, grey of iron and crimson of blood;
Alignment = LN (Lawful neutral)/LE (lawful evil
Native Inhabitants = Achaierai, Rakshasa, Bladeling, Bloodhawk, Bonespear, Maug, Yugoloth, Construct creatures, Orc, Goblin, Chronotyryn, Rust Dragon, Rust Monster.
Acheron is an eternal battlefield of endless conflict.
It is a plane of law where conformity is far more important than thoughts of doing or being good. Each layer of plane consists of a huge numbers of iron cubes of varying size, from continent-sized to small islands. Not all of these are actually cube-shaped. The cubes float in an air-filled, infinite space, occasionally colliding with each other. If a cube drifts too far from the others, time becomes temporarily suspended there until it crashes back into the main mass. When the iron cubes crash into each other, a massive display of purple sparkles fills the air, along with the sound that echoes across every realm of that whole level of the plane, with a clang and ringing out – uncomfortable to the ears. The sound joins with that of the endless battles happening on the surfaces.The most common Modrons of Machanus: Plane of The Great Wheel are the Monodrones. They each are a single-function Construct drone used as common laborers, servants, or soldiers. These drone soldiers do travel to Acheron plane: The Infernal Battlefield to do battle.
These unending battles take place across the entire plane between huge armies from the various cubes, each wearing heavy armour with capes of a different shades of purple, with no chance of victory or cease-fire. Due to the movement of the cubes, any ancient army can return unexpectedly to resume long-forgotten battles.
Every cube face is habitable, each with it’s own gravity - always being directed towards the cube's centre; furthermore, the cubes are filled with numerous caverns and tunnels.
The light on Acheron varies between that similar to bright moonlight to that of a dark and cloudy day. The sound of battle resonates around the plane and can always be heard in the distance.
As with other outer planes, Acheron is spatially infinite, consisting of four known infinite layers or sub-planes. Planes of Law says there are also portals on the surface of the cubes, so you do not always have to get there by flying or falling.
The portal from the gate-town of Rigus in the Outlands is one of those, periodically found on the surface of the Battle Cube, the Purple Cube, or in the Mercykiller city of Vorkehan. Exactly where the portal leads seems to be dependent on timetables set based on the number of deaths in the town of Rigus during the previous week.
Portals to Mechanus are found in the Mines of Marsellin on the second layer, and in Zoronor, the shadowed city of the Bladelings in Ocanthus. Zoronor is rumoured to contain numerous gates to the Nine Hells as well.
Acheron River
The Acheron River "river of hot tears" is a wide, dark river of boiling water that is located in the centralised Eripus layer to the northwest Mosite - feeds from the River Styx. The Tusc swing bridge sways over the hot steam. It's source is near the village Tozaro, square stone buildings, in the southwest in the Kojana layer, and it flows all the way into the Burning Sea in Mudi layer, beside Purkan city.Eripus = central; Tusc bridge over Acheron river;
Mosite = North-West of the Acheron river;
Kojana = South-West; square stone buildings of village Tozaro (start of Acheron river)
Mudi = West; from Eripus to the Burning Sea; Purkan is most Western city
Burning Sea = salt water boils when mixes with the Acheron river and the River Styx.
THE RIVER STYX
The Styx, also known as the River of Blood, is a cross-planar river that linked the topmost layers of The Hells, Acheron plane, and The Plane of Void. It is oily, greasy and foul, covered in bubbles and debris. Those who touch or drink from the River Styx risk completely forgetting their past lives - temporarily or permanently.The water flowing on the River Styx has a foreboding dark colour resembling dark wine that constantly exuded a putrid odour. The river is so deep and swift, a torrent that should not risk be forded. The water at the surface moves slowly and sluggishly, hiding a dangerous subsurface current that can quickly pull boats and swimmers to the bottom.
The huge and stinking river flows deep and fast - making it uncrossable for most people and other creatures - even those who do dare, are likely to be attacked by the brownish green coloured Jungle Fish - 'dots' of luminescent on the female fish.
Its banks are lined with the rotting remnants of battles fought throughout its course, and those drowned trying to cross.
The silt at the bottom of the Styx is rumoured to contain the memories of all the souls who have lost their identities to the river. The shadar-kai (Shadow Elves) are always interested in obtaining the material from adventurers, and who sometimes seek to collect vials of the sediment, to take back to The Shadowfell, in order to offer it to The Raven Queen in exchange for a boon or divine favour.
Travelers who must cross are advised to go to The Hells, so to use the boatman Charon, or his servants, the merrenoloths, to navigate the river. (If called via spells such as summon monster VIII, holy word, or blasphemy, a merrenoloth typically answer the call within seconds.) They charge a fee of 100 gp in advance per passenger and never carry cargo.
They are willing to take travelers between the planes in which the Styx flows, but for a price. When traversed by competent navigators, any point along the banks of the River Styx can be reached within a single day
AVALAS
The first layer of Acheron, Avalas, is also called The Battlefield. Avalas shares borders with the neighbouring planes of the Nine Hells, the Outlands, and Machanus: Plane of The Great Wheel - travel is possible between Acheron and these planes at certain locations. It contains the highest density of metal cubes and is thus host to the most fighting on the plane. The cubes are dotted with fortresses and covered with battlefields. Collisions between the cubes causes them to break apart, in sparks of purple, into smaller cubes, hence the smallest cubes are the oldest on the layer.The Battle Cube is place of continual battle between the orcs and the goblins. This is an eternal war, the souls of dead orcs and goblins battling for supremacy ever since the Orc Gods were driven from the Nine Hells. Other battles spatially happen between other races and armies in Acheron.
Approximately 700 miles away from the Battle Cube is Kolyoral, the so-called Lost Cube, a relatively small cube with no known portals. It's the home of a small hive of formians as well as the Iron Fortress of Zandikar.
Another prominent realm is the Citadel of Scourgehold. Bralm's realm, the Hive Fortress, is in Avalas. Here Hextor, another God of War, presides over his legions as they train in The Great Coliseum. Avalas also contains the realms of Amatsu-Mikaboshi (The Brilliant Land) and Lei Kung (Resounding Thunder). Resounding Thunder contains Nihao, the gate-town to Mechanus, and Eight-Devils-Laughing, the gate-town to The Nine Hells; the outskirts of the realm are said to contain a portal to the Palace of Judgment in the Outlands.
THULDANIN
Compared to Avalas, Thuldanin has a relatively small population. Geographically, it is very much like the first, consisting of numerous huge cubes. On this layer the cubes are scarred and pitted by battle. Many pits lead down to labyrinths containing the refuse of the endless battles of the plane. The remains of broken war machines, drone soldiers and other devices line the interiors of the cubes, even some finely crafted weapons can be found amongst the rubble.Thuldanin has a preservative quality that results in the petrification of objects and creatures that spend too long on the layer; savvy visitors spend no longer than a total 29 days here.
The realm of Hammergrim is located on Thuldanin. It is the realm of the duergar god, Laduguer. The town of Hopeglimmer in Hammergrim has a portal that leads to the Mines of Marsellin, which also contains a portal to Mechanus.
TINTIBULUS
Tintibulus contains a large number of four-sided, five-sided, eight-sided, and other solids, in preference to the six-sided cubes that predominate the other layers. A layer of thick dust coats the surface of the solids here, which are made of a grey volcanic stone. Magicians' libraries are scattered here, and is the best place in the Multiverse for magical research.The Patterned Web, one of the two realms of Wee Jas (one lover of the God Acheron), is located in Tintibulus. The Patterned Web is shaped like an octagon and laid out like a spiderweb. Those visitors who do not appease Wee Jas with appropriate gifts are trapped within the web for a full year, or until the goddess decides they have paid off their debts to her.
OCANTHUS
The fourth layer Ocanthus contains no regular shapes, but many shard-like solids of black ice, that reflect shades of purple, with razor sharp edges. The shards fly about in violent motion, referred to as a Bladestorm.Zoronor, known as the City of Shadows, is the home of the Bladeling race. These strange creatures, who resemble humanoids with blades of wood and ice and steel protruding from their flesh, are ruled by their priest-king and prophet, known as Iron Feather. Iron Feather led his tormented, neglected people to this place long ago and built Zoronor at a large cost of lives and magic. Zoronor is surrounded by the Blood Forest, a hollow shell of wood and thorns that protects Zoronor from the ice shards of Ocanthus. The Bladelings worship the Blood Forest as a lesser goddess they name Hriste, the Gray Whisper (one lover of the God Acheron), and stories have it that new Bladelings are born from the fleshy wood of the goddess. The Bladelings are xenophobic and bloodthirsty, frequently sacrificing victims by impaling them on shards of dark ice protruding from their goddess's body, hoping to thus feed the Blood Forest and create more of their kind.
At the extreme of Ocanthus is one huge, perhaps infinite shard of black ice. Here lies the Cabal Macabre, another realm of the goddess of death and magic, Wee Jas. This domain takes the form of a huge and intricately carved ice castle that glows with a pale light.
OTHER DIEITIES & IMMORTALS
Nishrek is home to the orc deity Gruumsh and several of the other deities of the orc pantheon, including Bahgtru, Ilneval, and Luthic.Clangor is home to the deities Maglubiyet, Khurgorbaeyag, and Nomog-Geaya.
The city of Grashmog in Clangor includes a portal to Forgegloom in Hammergrim, the duergar pantheon's realm in Thuldanin.
* Troilus of The Enduring Ones, as Gunnar, once was a frequent visitor to Acheron plane: The Infernal Battlefield - Troilus left his realm to continue in a chaotic and unregulated way, until it became known as Limbo - Warrior's Ridge is a section in Limbo, where Gunnar's empty throne still resides - as Acosador of The Enduring Ones is unwilling to across the ever-changing terrain of Limbo.
* Acosador frequently visits Acheron plane: The Infernal Battlefield instead.
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