Infernal Battlefield of Acheron

The Infernal Battlefield of Acheron is a plane of conflict, armies, and open warfare. Its largest and most populated layer is filled with great metal cubes, some as large as continents, floating through a haze of gray smoke. They drift lazily, holding their own gravity but otherwise seeming to obey no known whim, and they collide with one another on a regular basis.

The ringing of these collisions echo throughout the layer, creating a siren call to arms for many of the military forces that occupy the cubes. Acheron is a realm of law and evil, but not the kind of evil perpetuated by the forces of the Abyss or the Nine Hells. Instead, this evil results from the total disregard for the consequences of actions. Suffering, pain, loss, and death are the result of constant warfare, and in Acheron these values hold no weight for most of its inhabitants.

Creatures devoted to combat are drawn to Acheron, and it has been the eternal battlefield between orcs, goblins, and bugbears since time immemorial. Great hordes of orcs clash against the armies of goblins and hobgoblins, while the war clans of the bugbears offer their services as mercenaries to both sides. The gods of these ravaging humanoids dwell in Acheron, pushing their followers into greater and greater conflicts, each side seeking to usurp the other in a never-ending struggle.

Acheron draws military forces from across the multiverse, and many rogue armies and failed rebellions linger in physical or spirit form across the plane. The Infernal Battlefield shares a close philosophical border with Mechanus, the plane of ultimate law and precision, and some union between the two created a race of mechanical humanoids known as the warforged. Alternate theories point to the warforged as simple refugees from another realm, a Material Plane world, but if this is true they offer no evidence or memory to support it.

Rakshasas lurk in the cubes of Acheron, sometimes offering their services as generals to a rogue army and other times acting in the interests of their enigmatic Maharaja of Death. Duergar dwarves are also counted among the inhabitants of the plane serving at the dour pleasure of Laduguer their exiled god.

Everyone in Acheron, the plane pushes and pulls against the concepts of peace and harmony. The lower layers hold dangers to body and mind – the second layer is the massive floating junkyard of the multiverse but it gradually turns everything to stone, the third layer’s space is largely empty save for geometric cubes, and the fourth layer is filled with razorstorms that shred flesh from bone in moments.

Still, where there’s conflict there’s opportunity for adventure. Characters can find service in the Nameless Legion, an infamous planar mercenary company that operates out of Acheron, and the junkyards of Thuldanin hold shattered remnants of war machines from across the planes, some of which may still be usable. The hordes of orcs and armies of goblins wage their wars, trying to gain the upper hand, and they can sometimes interfere with the stability of other planes in their never-ending pursuit.

Powerful & Mighty

Military might is all-encompassing on Acheron. It is the only currency worth anything, and the only aspect worthy of respect or command. Most of the powerful and mighty forces of the plane are juggernauts of military prowess, waging endless war in a plane built for combat.

• Amatsu-Mikaboshi (Japanese)
• Bahgtru (orc)
• Gruumsh (orc)
• Ilneval (orc)
• Khurgorbaeyag (goblin)
• Laduguer (duergar)
• Lei Kung (Chinese)
• Luthic (orc)
• Maglubiyet (goblin)
• Nomog-Greaya (hobgoblin)

Army of Maglubiyet

Goblins make up a large force on Acheron, and the bulk of them belong to the Army of Maglubiyet. Named for the goblin god who supposedly dwells in the center of the great iron cube Clangor, the goblins and hobgoblin soldiers that make up this potent army are a voracious, insatiable force constantly fighting everything they come across. Their prime foe are the orcs of the Horde of Gruumsh, but the goblins can be provoked to fight almost any opponent regardless of the odds.

The Army of Maglubiyet has an ordered, regimented structure, something that isn’t found normally among goblin tribes. The goblins and hobgoblins fall into two distinct branches. For the goblins, the lowest soldiers are the ashbiters, who can move up in rank to become arroweyes (archers), bloodstabbers (warriors), or steelbiters (elite soldiers). The wolfriders are elite troops that ride steelfang worgs into battle, and some ashbiters move into the service of Maglubiyet directly as warspeakers, the shamans and religious figures of the goblins.

In contrast, the hobgoblin branch comprises the majority of the leadership in the army, and they have a more defined structure than the goblins. The ranks are identified by body part (foot, leg, belly, arm, hand, head) and then further by metal type (brass, copper, iron, steel). Thus, the lowest rank is the brassfoot who are regarded as better than the vast majority of goblins.

Special divisions within the Army of Maglubiyet exist for both goblins and hobgoblins, including scouts, assassins, advisors to devilish allies, and other unique functions.

Followers of the Iron Voice

Something new has arisen in Acheron. In a plane of warring armies and leaderless rebellions, new players on the scene are usually nothing special. But recently, elite warriors and soldiers have been seen searching the iron cubes of Avalas for something. They are golems, made of metal and wood, but imbued with a sense of intelligence and purpose not found in other creations. They call themselves warforged, and they claim to be seeking the Iron Voice.

It is rumored there is a cube somewhere in Tintibulus that spawned the race of golem-like warforged, and if true it would represent the only natural life to come out of that layer. Most warforged have no recollection of their birth, and they move from cube to cube on Avalas in a quest for the divine entity they call the Iron Voice. They hear its call, faintly at times, but always it leads them on. They have clashed with goblin, orc, and bugbear alike, but their true numbers are not known.

What is the Iron Voice? Most warforged encountered, though clearly possessing intelligence and advanced strategies, refuse to speak and fight to the death when faced with opposition. The construct humanoids have been seen with a variety of unique configurations, and despite their nature no two seem to be exactly the same. This individuality seems contradictory to their constructed nature.

House of Red Knives

The lowest layer of Acheron, Ocanthus, is a fierce field of razor-sharp black shards capable of shredding flesh in a matter of minutes. The only living creatures native to that layer are the bladelings who have managed to construct a barrier around their city of Zoronar. Few would know these enigmatic creatures exist if it weren’t for the machinations of the House of Red Knives.

The House of Red Knives is a secretive group of bladeling assassins selling their skills to the highest bidder in Acheron’s never-ending wars. The bladelings do not allow strangers in Zoronar, but getting in touch with the Red Knives requires only a message left on an iron cube’s surface. Soon after, a cryptic representative arrives to negotiate the terms of the contract. A Red Knives assassin is not cheap and they never accept payment in mere coins – they always require something else of value. Magical items and weapons are common, but treasured items of any kind may be asked for in exchange for the swift death of the target.

Horde of Gruumsh

From the grim cube of Nishrek, the orc tribes gather in their largest numbers across the multiverse. Forming the Horde of Gruumsh, these orcs are trained for battle and are more than willing to die in favor of their god’s cause. That cause can change but the most driving goal of the assembled horde is the utter destruction of the Army of Maglubiyet.

Gruumsh, the one-eyed god of the orcs, and the rest of the orc deities dwell in the depths of the massive cube. There, the rule of might makes right dominates all, and the might of the tribe dominates above all else. There is no room for the weak in the Horde of Gruumsh, and all non-orcs and even weakened orcs are nothing more than slaves to the vast collection of tribes.

Individual tribes make up the horde, each with its own hierarchy. Slaves are below all others, and above them are the diggers, bearers, warriors, shamans, marshals, and chieftains, in that order. There are two tiers of tribes in the horde, the war tribes (lesser) and the great tribes (greater). The war tribe chieftains report to a warlord, while the great tribe chieftains are answerable only to the greatlords. Greatlords are said to be blessed by the orc gods themselves.

Unlike the Army of Maglubiyet, the vast number of tribes in the Horde of Gruumsh usually move and act independently. They have greater numbers than the goblins, but the stricter military structure of Maglubiyet’s forces gives them an edge. Greatlords of the horde rarely give direct commands, serving instead in the depths of Nishrek, while the warlords fight amongst themselves almost as often as the goblins.

Still, though it lacks in the discipline seen among the goblins, the orcs of the Horde of Gruumsh are a truly voracious host, and their iron mines in Nishrek produce a vast quantity of metal weapons and armor to keep the orcs well equipped.

Maharaja of Death

It is believed by some that Acheron is the true native home of the cunning rakshasas, though many claim the Nine Hells to be their true origin. Acheron still holds a large population of the fiends, though they keep themselves hidden and fight a war of shadows and intrigue against the other armies among the iron cubes. Rakshasas on Acheron organize themselves into small families, usually ruling behind the scenes of a more brutish force used as slaves, but all bow to the whims of their mysterious ruler, the Maharaja of Death.

One of the most powerful rakshasas in the multiverse, the Maharaja of Death is an accomplished spellcaster and a vindictive foe for any that cross him. He rules from a supposedly invisible cube called the Palace of Naraka which he controls, directing its movement in the gray skies of Avalas. Those that go before the Maharaja of Death never return, and rarely does the powerful rakshasa leave his cube.

He does, however, direct many of the families across Acheron in their schemes for power and control over the other races. They communicate through special crystal balls linked back to the Palace of Naraka, where the Maharaja of Death sends his messages and controls the great scheme remotely. It is known that the rakshasa’s minions have infiltrated the Horde of Gruumsh, but to what end is not yet known.

Nameless Legion

Countless military forces occupy Acheron, clashing and fighting one another in the constant din of cubes colliding, but a few manage to stand out. The Nameless Legion is one, becoming a mercenary force known for its planar excursions across the multiverse and willingness to take on dangerous contracts. They are based in the Storm Halls, an iron cube that holds a series of constructed ziggurats in its depths. There, the leaders of the Nameless Legion, the Paymasters, work on contracts and seek additional mercenaries for their growing mercenary force.

The Nameless Legion takes its name from a special process performed by the Paymasters that strips applicants of their memory. The soldiers are given new names when assigned to a cadre, usually descriptive and crude, and the legion accepts all manner of monsters and other types in its ranks.

Though they are based on Acheron, the Nameless Legion takes only a few contracts from the various fighting forces on the plane. Most military outfits have their own dedicated soldiers and do not rely on mercenaries. However, across the multiverse, the Nameless Legion has made a name for itself as a highly skilled and expensive military unit equipped and experienced enough to deal with larger than life threats.

Rogue Armies

On a plane where the only constant is war, it’s inevitable that some military units break away from larger forces or leaderless regiments strike out on their own. Countless rogue armies wander the iron cubes of Avalas, marching towards their next battle. Some move with a more defined purpose, but most simply seek to satiate their endless bloodlust.

The most famous of these rogues armies is led by a mysterious and ancient lich known as the Necromancer King. His army of skeletons, zombies, and ghouls are tireless in the pursuit of their master’s grim desires, but the lich is close-lipped about it to outsiders. Do they seek to plunder a lost treasure? Does the Necromancer King search for an escape from Acheron? Or are the legends to be believed and the lich seeks godhood on the back of a conquering host?

Almost any type of military force could be conceivably encountered in Acheron. Some seek redemption in battle, others search for lost treasures, while still others quest for a way out of the smoky air and clanging iron cubes. A large force of mummified kuo-toa is said to wander around, victims of the River Styx that now seek their lost memories, along with an unmoored house of bladelings lost in the cubes of Avalas.

War Clans of Hruggek

Goblins and orcs war constantly against one another in Acheron at every chance they get. They each utilize as many resources as they can gather, and that includes mercenaries of all types. Yugoloths eager to sell their services are not uncommon, but by far the largest independent force in the eternal struggle between orc and goblin are the bugbears that make up the War Clans of Hruggek.

Each of the sizable bugbear war clans fight for the side that pays them the most, and it’s not uncommon to have bugbears fighting bugbears where the ranks of goblins and orcs have been thinned out. The brutish mercenaries are loyal only as far as their payment goes, and some say that they are advised by devilish counselors from the Nine Hells.

The war clans usually have representatives in the major outposts of Nishrek and Clangor, but the bulk of their forces are kept away from the constant fighting in those iron cubes until they are called. None of the goblins and orcs know where the War Clans of Hruggek are based, but when payment is collected the bugbears have not failed to show up.

Some whisper that Hruggek, god of the bugbears, takes an active interest in his peoples’ mercenary activities, and uses divine will to swiftly transport forces around Acheron once a contract has been signed and payment delivered. It seems farfetched, but in a plane of titanic metal cubes and never-ending armies, such things may be possible.

Creatures & Denizens

The first layer of Acheron holds numerous soldiers and warriors from across the multiverse, but a number of dangerous native denizens wander the cubes as well. From the massive rust behemoths to the dangerous bonespears and the ghostly warwraiths, Acheron contains no shortage of monsters bent on conquering and destroying.

Constructs

No one really knows how the iron cubes and objects that float through Acheron are created. Many seem to heal themselves over time and yet they have a definite constructed quality to them. Along a similar vein, golems and constructs seem to spring organically from the plane as well, perhaps as living extensions of the cubes themselves. Iron golems are the most common, and unless acted upon by an outside force these powerful constructs defend their cubes with their lives. They’re alive in the same way other golems are alive, but their origin remains largely shrouded in mystery. Scrap golems can similarly spontaneously occur, especially in the junk-filled second layer of Thuldanin. Blade golems are the special creations of the bladelings on the razor-spike filled fourth layer.

Cadaver collectors pick through the remnants of the constant battles that occur across Acheron, sweeping the dead and collecting the remnants in a grisly pile. Skilled necromancers and warlords on the plane learn to call cadaver collectors to bolster military forces with undead monsters, and the constructs are always willing to let loose their collections in hopes of gathering more from the piles of the dead. Steel predators are among the most feared hunters on Acheron, and they seem to enjoy chasing victims for nothing else but the sheer thrill of the hunt.

Fiends

As a plane of strife, fiends that relish combat and bloodshed are naturally drawn to Acheron. Battles in the never-ending Blood War between the demons of the Abyss and the devils of the Nine Hells are waged regularly across the iron cubes, often using goblinoid and orc mercenaries. Hell hounds are used by pets and mounts for many goblinoids, and roaming packs across the iron cubes can be a real problem for any visitors. Bonespears are large, grasshopper-like fiends native to Acheron that wait in dark crevasses and cracks in the iron cubes to attack with their projectile horns, dragging away victims to be devoured in peace.

Bladeling. Ocanthus is the most deadly layer on Acheron, with razor shards filling the air, but secrets and wonders lay hidden behind that dangerous iron storm. Bladelings are fiends that have been molded by Ocanthus, and their city of Zoronar in a bubble of safety is a dark and foreboding realm of mystery and danger. The bladelings are skilled assassins who are able to use their own bodies as weapons, but they are also incredibly superstitious and paranoid. Outsiders are not welcome in Zoronar, and bladelings take care to guard their secrets and treasures from all prying eyes.

Humanoids

The humanoids that live on Acheron are born in a realm of constant conflict and raging battles, so they are often antagonistic and quick to draw blood against any foe. Mercenary companies are common and many specialize in specific combat tactics, such as ranged engagement, defensive positions, or arcane assault. The most infamous of these mercenary guilds is the Nameless Legion who are known to recruit monsters from all over the multiverse to create specialized strike forces. Membership in the Nameless Legion is not restricted to humanoids though that remains the bulk of their forces.

Goblinoids. Goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears are a major force on Acheron. Their deities are said to live in the cubes of the plane, and they push their armies to greater and greater acts of incredible violence and warfare. They fight amongst themselves, they fight each, and they fight any one that stands in their way, often for nothing more than the glory of their tribe. Many tribes have access to well-produced weapons that far outweigh the equipment used by goblinoids on the Material Plane, such as heavy armor, supremely forged swords, and tough iron shields.

Orcs. Orcs on Acheron are well-organized legions bred and born for combat. Under the banners of their individual tribes they fight for personal glory in a never-ending plane of strife. While violent, the orc tribes are not necessarily evil and they skew towards selfish more than anything else. They are still expansionist warlords that view other creatures as lesser and rarely negotiate with enemies, but an element of pride runs through the orc tribes that pushes them towards greater and greater glories.

Warforged. Warforged are living constructs that have only recently risen from the depths of Acheron’s iron cubes. They were first encountered by goblinoid armies exploring an otherwise barren cube riddled with tunnels, and the army’s advances were rebuffed by a mysterious golem-like force striking from the darkness of the cube’s interiors. Since then, the warforged have spread out across the multiverse, many preoccupied with finding the source of their own existence. A mysterious power known as the Iron Voice seems to be involved in this, but is the Iron Voice their god? Is it a supremely powerful artificer that built them? Or is it something else? What creates a warforged? These questions and more drive many warforged to explore, though some have banded together to create unique battle units to serve as mercenary forces in the constant battles that ravage Acheron.

Monstrosities

A number of native monstrosities prowl through the cubes of Acheron. The most commonly encountered are the rust monsters who devour the ferrous metal that makes up the cubes themselves, and a greater version known as the rust behemoth has an even more voracious appetite. Enormous titan vultures and regular vultures wing through the air and scavenge the countless battlefields for choice morsels, and worgs run with goblinoid and orc tribes as trusted allies and mounts. Steelfang worgs are fearsome predators trained by elite hobgoblin soldiers to create lightning-fast strike forces capable of wreaking havoc in an enemy’s line.

Hazards & Phenomena

Each layer of the Infernal Battlefield of Acheron holds dangers and threats for travelers, some more lethal than others.

Avalas Bloodlust

War and combat are constant states in Avalas. One strong reason for this is a natural bloodlust that fills creatures as they fight and defeat opponents. Planar scholars are torn as to whether this phenomena is caused by something in the hazy sky of the layer, an ambient power from the iron cubes themselves, or something else entirely.

On Avalas, a creature gains temporary hit points equal to its number of hit dice or level whenever it reduces a hostile creature to 0 hit points. This bloodlust keeps the soldiers and warriors of the countless armies struggling and fighting against one another in the near-constant ring of steel on steel.

Thuldanin Petrification

The junkyard-filled cubes of Thuldanin hide an insidious power that slowly transforms everything into stone. Unattended objects, including magical items, have a cumulative 10% chance per month of transforming into stone, losing all properties as it becomes an inert rock, its shape vaguely resembling its original form.

Living creatures are more susceptible to this petrification. After spending a long rest on Thuldanin, a living creature must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or be restrained. The victim must then make DC 14 Constitution saving throws each round until they accumulate three successes or three failures. If they achieve three successes first, the petrification is warded off and the restrained condition ends. If they accumulate three failures, they become petrified permanently.

Constructs are treated as unattended objects for the purposes of this petrification effect.

Tintibulus Exhaustion

The unusual geometric shapes of Tintibulus are a result of the layer applying incredible logical force. The layer has no known native creatures, and it is widely believed that it is because this force pushing constantly against living things. A creature that spends a short rest in Tintibulus must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving throw or gain a level of exhaustion as their bodies physically contort under the pressure. Creatures that gain their sixth level of exhaustion from this effect are killed and crumpled up into geometric shapes.

Ocanthus Razorstorm

Shards of razor sharp black ice fill the air in Ocanthus, making travel difficult. Even worse, razorstorms can occur with sudden ferocity and with little warning. Ocanthus razorstorms typically last 1d10 minutes, during which each creature in the area suffers 13 (2d12) slashing damage at the start of their turn. In addition, each victim rolls 1d20 when suffering this damage. On a roll of 20, they are decapitated as if by a vorpal sword.

War Cloud

The gloomy, hazy skies of Acheron can sometimes manifest into tangible elements of the plane’s war-riddled nature. Known as war clouds, when they appear they envelop entire cubes, though they are usually only encountered on Avalas. The bloodlust of that layer is enhanced under the effects of a war cloud – a creature gains temporary hit points equal to half its maximum hit points when reducing a hostile creature to 0 hit points. This effect occurs regardless of which layer the war cloud appears on

War clouds last for 1d4 hours before dissipating and breaking up in the skies of Acheron. The Army of Maglubiyet and Hordes of Gruumsh both view the appearance of a war cloud as a sign for battle, and shamans on both sides work to predict or control their appearance. To date none have succeeded at this monumental task.

Sites & Treasures

While war is a constant factor among the cubes of Acheron, adventure and treasure often hide just behind this bloody companion.

Broken Bonefield

The cubes that float through Acheron’s smoky skies have a latent magical energy that keeps them afloat, and in some cases regenerates their metal slowly over time. Many wizards and sorcerers have sought to tap into that energy for their own purposes but one such attempt stands as a cautionary tale against meddling too much. A wizard of some power, whose identity changes with the teller, tried to extract the latent energy of an iron cube in a great ritual. The ritual went awry somehow and all of the bones were pulled out of the wizard’s body along with everyone else who was on or in the cube at the time!

The bones floated through the air surrounding the cube, never touching the ground or straying too far from the iron surface. Over time, others came to investigate the strange site and their bones too were pulled out, the wizard’s ritual magic still wreaking havoc invisibly in the cube’s gravitational reach. Over time, the magic weakened and travelers reported arriving at the cube, now called the Broken Bonefield, to study its effects and plumb its depths.

The bones that float in the air around the Broken Bonefield obscure vision, but unless moved by some external force, they simply drift lazily without any purpose. Wizards occasionally seek out the cube, necromancers especially, searching for the reason behind the strange phenomena. Some say that the cube’s interior hides a necromantic power that the original wizard tapped into unwittingly, and these stories have fueled the imagination of the Necromancer King who has searched for the Broken Bonefield for many years unsuccessfully.

Clangor

The home cube of the Army of Maglubiyet and a force of hundreds of thousands of goblins and hobgoblins, Clangor bristles with tall fortifications, grim towers, and countless fields trampled beneath goblinoid boots. The highly organized force drills constantly, always ready to strike out at the Horde of Gruumsh or any other force their cube comes near. Each face of Clangor is filled with barracks and cities laid out deliberately between the iron wastes ragged with dust and wind.

The interior of Clangor is devoted to the extensive mining operations of the goblins, who have carved out tunnels in two sizes – one for hobgoblins and other tall creatures, and one suitable only for goblins. Goblin digging teams work in orderly shifts to mine the rich iron of the cube, transferring it to great smelting plants centrally located on one of Clangor’s faces. Highly organized and skilled, the Army of Maglubiyet has harnessed stable portals to the Plane of Water to feed into canals that run in ordered rows around Clangor’s faces.

Several major sites of interest lay in Clangor. The greatest city of the goblins, perhaps in all the multiverse, is Shetring on the River Lorfang. The city extends into the tunneled depths of the cube as well, centered around a waterfall that is said to house Maglubiyet himself. Redspike is the capital city of the hobgoblin forces of Clangor. Built in a shape of a rust-red tower that extends above and below Clangor’ surface, it is a grim testament to the hobgoblins’ ingenuity and structural engineering.

Coliseum of the Damned

On a plane dedicated to the grim tactics of war, it is of little wonder that respite and entertainment centers on this aspect as well. Removed from the rigorous stratagems of warfare are the blood sport arenas that spring up around the cubes of Avalas, usually run and operated by yugoloths looking to line their pockets with treasures won in the betting pools. The largest and most famous of these is the Coliseum of the Damned, an impressive arena carved directly into the side of a smaller iron cube forming a bowl looking out into Acheron’s smoky skies.

The Coliseum is run by an aggressive ultraloth named Khammo al-Khnan who personally schedules each fantastically staged combat. The bouts usually involve small scale skirmishes of various forces, two at least and sometimes as many as six, in the grand arena’s floor. The environment can be shaped to al-Khnan’s whims, transforming into a flooded sea for naval battles, a baked desert, a lush forest, and nearly any other terrain. The spectators that pack the Coliseum’s seats watch with vision-magnifying glasses or gasp in astonishment over the massive illusory displays showing what’s happening in near real time.

The sides of the Coliseum’s cube are dedicated to training, resting, or betting on the elaborate combats. Khammo al-Khnan personally announces each fight before turning the play-by-play over to a team of slovenly yugoloth commentators, all of whom whoop and holler over the carnage. Combats in the Coliseum of the Damned occur about once per month, giving plenty of time for marketing and betting to occur, and it is widely known that most of the combats are rigged.

Hammergrim

The largest and most aggressive force on Thuldanin are the duergar dwarves of Hammergrim. Protected from the layer’s petrifying power by the grace of their brooding god Laduguer, the duergar toil endlessly and thanklessly in Hammergrim’s lightless depths. Like all of the cubes in Thuldanin, Hammergrim’s surface collects junk from across the multiverse, that the duergar move below ground for systematic categorization and eventual dismantling.

Hammergrim is filled with the noise of industry from its dark depths. The pounding of hammers, the striking of steel and iron, and the deep chanting of the dwarves echoes in rhythmic succession all around the cube. The duergar have a few settlements on the cube’s exterior, the largest of which is Deathknell. The city’s massive bells can be heard anywhere on Hammergrim’s surface and mark the passage of time for the dwarves.

Below ground, the dwarves are ruled by a curious force. Laduguer is said to dwell somewhere in Hammergrim, but the god is distant even to his own kind. Instead, the duergar are ruled by the Court of Memory. These are spirits of dead dwarves that have moved on to rule with the blessing of Laduguer, but they cannot take physical form. Instead, they take turns possessing the host of the ruler, who is known as the Idiot Thane. Under the possession of the Court of Memory, the Idiot Thane has full faculties though their personality can shift from day to day as different deceased spirits take over. When not possessed, the Idiot Thane is a drooling ragdoll that can perform no task alone.

Heart of the Iron Voice

Acheron has only a handful of native creatures, but the most recent addition to that short list are the mysterious warforged. Golem-like humanoids possessed of metal and wood, they are independent sentient creatures with ambitions, hopes, and dreams, though their numbers are not great. Many follow the words of a whisper only they can hear called the Iron Voice, moving them around Avalas on a pilgrimage towards some unknown fate.

What is the Iron Voice? Some warforged prophets claim to understand more of the words, and they say they are truly seeking the Heart of the Iron Voice, the fiery furnace that birthed the warforged. It is an idea that bears weight with many, as their collective memories hold gaps where their origin would be. Who created them? Why were they created?

The Heart of the Iron Voice claims at times to have answers, and many warforged believe their destiny lies with finding this truth. The word “maug” has been deciphered among the Iron Voice’s mutterings but none have been able to find out its meaning.

Nishrek

The Horde of Gruumsh rules the cube of Nishrek and stands as the largest gathering of orcs across the multiverse. The cube’s surface is scarred with trenches and strongholds where orc tribes constantly war against one another. They outnumber the goblinoids of Maglubiyet by a fair margin but the more regimented goblins use more tactics and work together; tribes of orcs often fall in line with one another against a common foe but otherwise clash with each other just as frequently.

The orcs of Nishrek fight and spill blood to gain the favor of their cruel one-eyed god, Gruumsh. Slaves are used to perform the tasks deemed too menial for orcs to handle, and a great number of ogres fight alongside the orcs as mercenaries or allies. Individual tribes live and fight for control of Nishrek’s surface, which means the orcs have no formal towns or cities, but the six largest tribes – the great tribes - command the lesser ones and each hold sway over one side of the cube.

The Rotting Eye, White Hand, and Three Fang tribes are the most aggressive and work constantly to earn Gruumsh’s favor. The Iron Fist and Broken Skull tribes curry favor with Baghtru, a lesser orc deity, while the Blood Armor tribe favors the god Ilneval. Infighting, squabbling, and betrayal are common facets among the great tribes of Nishrek.

The caves of Nishrek are dominated by the forces of Luthic, the cave mother and wife of Gruumsh. These orcs tend to the sick and wounded among Nishrek and produce the greatest number of healers. They are also responsible for reading the omens and portents of Acheron to foretell the coming of war. Though not considered one of the great tribes in the Horde of Gruumsh, Luthic’s Black Claw tribe still commands respect and power among the orcs of Nishrek.

Palace of Naraka

Many do not believe the Palace of Naraka exists, instead choosing to believe that the dark and beguiling home of the rakshasas is just a myth. But the truth is that the seat of the Maharaja of Death is very real and it holds great power within Acheron, pulling the strings of destiny on a scale that would make many gods tremble.

Through the use of some ancient and powerful sorcery the Palace of Naraka is completely invisible. It obeys the whims of the Maharaja of Death, moving at his command, and the rakshasas say that the day Naraka collides with another cube is the day the multiverse splits and breaks at the seams. Under the cloak of invisibility, Naraka is a paradise of architectural wonders, beautiful gardens, and splendid pools, but it is all a lie. Everything in, on, around, and beneath the Palace of Naraka is a ruse meant to lure the unsuspecting into a false sense of security.

The Maharaja of Death rules from the House of the Tiger’s Shadow on the Throne of Resplendent Fury. He is attended by a number of rakshasa advisors, each working in perfect synchronicity with their ruler to enact their dreams of conquest and blood across the multiverse. Reports from the Maharaja’s spies placed in Nishrek, Clangor, Hammergrim, and other places come in via magical crystal balls, keeping the powerful rakshasa and his royal family appraised of his grand plans at all times. Ultimately, though, those grand plans have yet to be fully realized. The Maharaja of Death already commands great power and fabulous wealth – what else is there to obtain?

Spear Nest

Bonespears are large insects native to Acheron though they can be found across the Lower Planes. When their biological clock synchronizes with each other and the mating time arrives, bonespears across the plane grow wings, gather food, and take it to the cube of Spear Nest. There, the monsters mate, hatch young, and then leave before their wings collapse, leaving countless larval bonespears to devour the food left for them.

A natural part of this cycle are contests between males and females fighting over the best mates. The result of the duel is always the death of the loser, and Spear Nest has become littered with the hollowed-out shells of dead bonespears from centuries of mating and killing. The larval young devour the food left by the adults, which is often the remains of creatures from across Acheron. Bonespear larva only eat the flesh, leaving any gear behind – some travelers who have been to Spear Nest and returned speak of great heaps of weapons and armor left behind from the feasting.

Rumors persist that the spirt of a great bonespear elder, intelligent and fearsome, guards Spear Nest from intruders that would plunder its treasures. Why does the spirit of a planar insect care about the leftovers from feasts long past? What other secrets are hidden in Spear Nest’s caves and tunnels?

Stone Gardens of Hippocryta

Thuldanin is the junk layer, where the titanic cubes are littered with refuse from across the multiverse. All of it eventually turns to stone, however, which makes most of it worthless. Unless you’re a medusa sculptor, that is. Hippocryta, a talented female medusa sorcerer, has developed an immunity to the layer’s petrification power and built herself a wonderfully curated garden of stone on one of the cubes of Thuldanin.

Hippocryta is an artist first and foremost, and she sculpts the various objects that come to her Stone Garden into works of beauty and horror. The Stone Garden is not huge, only about a mile on each side, but it gives the medusa space to create elaborate galleries on the surface dedicated to the emotional purity of existence. Fear, love, hate, joy, and sadness each have a side of the cube with sculptures capturing, in more or less detail, that particular aspect. The final side is Hippocryta’s personal garden where she keeps the choicest of works.

The medusa sculptor is uncaring for the plight of others, but she is always interested in adding new and interesting objects to her vast collection. She has been known to work with the duergar dwarves of Hammergrim to acquire a particular odd piece of stonework but Hippocryta holds a burning hatred for the Golem Master. The medusa views the sorceress as a pest, changing the wonderful natural stone of Thuldanin into walking abominable hunks.

Storm Halls

The Storm Halls is the cube of Avalas that houses the Nameless Legion, large mercenary outfit that takes up contracts all across the multiverse. They welcome all manner of creatures in their ranks, but all are made equal by the enigmatic Paymasters – legionnaires have their memories removed upon joining. Efreet, djinn, dwarves, elves, devils, demons, slaad, all and more have been members of the elite warrior unit.

The surface of the Storm Halls is uninhabited and scoured with howling winds and stinging debris, but below that lies the impressive ziggurats of the Paymasters. Much of the cube’s interior is hollow, creating an unusually large open space with another smaller cube serving as the center. It is upon this cube that the ziggurats are built, six of them, one for each Paymaster, and within each are housed the individual units that make up the Nameless Legion. There are no known entrances or exits to the interior of the Storm Halls from the exterior, but through powerful magic the Paymasters transport their troops wherever they need to be across the multiverse.

Tower of the Golem Master

Thuldanin is filled with junk from across the multiverse, which many try to claim and use as weapons in the ongoing wars on Avalas. Floating amongst the cubes of Thuldanin is a strange sight, a great iron tower attached to a stone disk nearly a mile across. This is the Tower of the Golem Master where a powerful enchanter has lived for centuries, focused on building and researching golems and other constructs.

Most think the Golem Master is one person, but the truth is that the mantle has passed from teacher to student many times. The current Golem Master is a cold, calculating human sorceress who takes comfort in her solitary existence surrounded by lifeless automatons. She has a knack for improving older designs, the blade golem being her best example, but unlike her predecessor she is loathe to sell them as simple tools of war. The Golem Master is building an army of golems in her tower and constantly sends out more to collect raw ingredients from Thuldanin.

What is her ultimate goal? The Golem Master rarely deals directly with anyone, preferring instead to speak through her creations (a skill she can do from nearly anywhere in the multiverse). She is cold, uncaring, but few who have dealt with her minions would categorize her as evil. But she certainly believes that flesh and blood are weaknesses and golems are the perfect host. How far is she willing to go to achieve her mysterious goals?

Zoronar, City of Razors

Ocanthus is filled with razor shards of black ice, some miles across and others small enough to pierce skin invisibly. Few have any reason to travel to the dangerous layer and those that do usually seek one place – Zoronar, City of Razors, home of the bladelings. Surrounded by a cocoon of wood known as the Blood Forest that keeps out the dangerous shards, Zoronar is a grim, cheerless place of gray and black stone mixed with dark ice and lifeless wood from the Blood Forest.

Bladelings go about their business for their houses in the streets, rarely leaving the safety of the Blood Forest. A strange cult has developed around the wooden shell, with some bladelings worshipping it as a protecting god. Otherwise no temples exist in Zoronar though a small sect of devils have been trying to convert bladelings to the worship of Dispater, Lord of Iron, for many years. The superstitious bladelings still offer sacrifices when the occasional black shard pierces the Blood Forest though no outsider can say to whom the sacrifices are made.

Zoronar is constructed like a grim fortress with the individual bladeling houses carving up the districts and towers. The Blackwater Guards of the House of Night Silver keep order across Zoronar, maintaining a lethal peace that all bladelings honor. Visitors are not welcome in the City of Razors.