DIS

The second layer is Dis, dominated by the blackened iron walls and maze-like streets of the City of Dis. The city sits in a mountains basin hundreds of miles across and beyond the iron gates is nothing but despair-filled wilderness. Though, inside the iron gates is nothing but despair-filled streets.

Dis is one of the most stable of the Nine Hells, owed in large part to its ruler. Dispater has ruled Dis from the Iron Tower for as long as living memory, and the canny archduke is known to be the most cautious of all the Lords of the Nine. He rarely leaves the Iron Tower, instead working with a massive network of spies and informants, including statues of the imposing infernal archduke placed all about the city and iron specters moving all about on mysterious errands.

The City of Dis is confusing and off-putting. Streets go nowhere or lead only in squares and circles while buildings shift subtly to confuse and confound travelers. Few travelers come to Dis so the streets are usually empty save for the teams of lesser devils on construction projects, tearing down buildings, repairing structures, and re-paving roads using vast vats of boiling oil and sludge. The walls of Dis are hot enough to burn mortal flesh in an instant.