Infinite Layers of the Abyss

“There is no greater realm in all the multiverse for wanton murder, unchecked aggression, or unbridled chaos than the infinite layers of the Abyss. Even clueless mortals across the Material Plane have heard of it and the horrors that it holds, and those stories pale in comparison to the truth. If anything seems safe in any of the layers of the Abyss, it’s only to lure a traveler into a false sense of security. And while the demons that spawn continually from the depths of the plane itself are a howling horde of gibbering monsters dredged from the darkest nightmares of dreaming gods, the true powers to watch are the lords that crawl over each other to rule. Graz’zt, Juiblex, Orcus, Yeenoghu, and others, these are the real dangers. And everything else, really.”

Emirikol the Chaotic

Across many Material Planes, evil is an abstract concept, a description of vile acts performed with depraved purpose but generally understood. Evil creatures exist, and some seem irredeemable, but they still tend to be relatable on some level – orcs hunt and kill, but usually out of some twisted sense of honor, pride, or simple hunger.

In the Abyss, evil is a manifest energy that permeates the very fabric of the plane. This is the evil of demons and other fiends, creatures born of pure hatred, bile, disgust, wrath, and other foul thoughts pushed to the extreme, and the layers of their plane spin into infinity. How many layers are truly in the Abyss? Some planar scholars point to the number 666 as having special significance, but deeper layers have been discovered.

Each layer of the Abyss offers a unique twist on death, pain, torment, suffering, and so much more. Some layers are filled with lakes of acid, while others are endless wastes of black or red sand that strip flesh from bone. Layers with skies filled with burning fire, toxic fumes, plumes of rancid smoke, or flesh-stripping fog have been documented, along with jungles of living vipers, salt bogs that bake under a relentless heat, and jagged mountains of living hate-filled ice.

If there’s a home for chaos and evil in the Outer Planes, it lives in the Abyss.

The natives of the Abyss are the demons, known far and wide across the multiverse for their endless taste for savagery, conquest, and blood. These creatures are spawned seemingly at random across all layers of the Abyss in a great cosmic game of chance – a demon spawned is that demon forever. Some are created as titanic engines of abyssal fury, while others form the lowest mobs of gibbering monstrous hordes.

Ruling over the teeming demonic masses are the demon lords. These beings have clawed, fought, killed, and maimed their way to rule one or more layers, attaining some level of control and fealty over the chaotic realm. Many of these demon lords are remnants of some primordial order buried deep in the twisted pits of the Abyss’ foulest layers, while still others have come to the Abyss to rule. Many more are simple bestial aspects of the demons’ own depraved nature, offering little in terms of strategy or decision-making and focusing instead on insatiable desires.

Ancient sorcery and the foulest of blood magic rites can be learned from the right demons, so it is not uncommon for a spellcaster to summon one of these creatures from the Abyss to serve as teacher or spy. Adding to certain planar barriers enacted around many Material Plane worlds preventing direct demonic incursion and the result is a whole host of creatures that have learned the ways of mortal beings. Some twist and manipulate, others corrupt and destroy, but their goal is always the same – to break free and spill chaos and death across the multiverse.

This desire has put the demons and their masters into direct conflict with an unlikely source – the devils of the Nine Hells. Waging what has become known as the Blood War, the devils and infernal princes have actually managed to contain much of the demonic rage to the Abyss itself. They do not do it out of a sense of honor, however, as the devils have as much to lose as everyone else if the demonic horde is loosed fully upon the multiverse.

Powerful & Mighty

Demons are the most common inhabitants of the Abyss and their number is incalculable. They are ruled nominally at least by demon lords, and these monstrously evil foes offer the most tangible obstacle to completing goals in the Abyss. However, they are not the only ones with a vested interest in these infinite realms of chaos and evil.

• Baphomet (minotaur)
• Besheba (Toril)
• Demogorgon (ixitxachitl)
• Diinkarazan (duergar; held prisoner)
• Drow pantheon: Kiaransalee, Lolth
• Eshebala (foxwoman/wolfwere)
• Grankhul (bugbear)
• Great Mother (beholder)
• Hiddukel (Krynn)
• Jubilex (any)
• Kali (Indian)
• Kostchichie (frost giant)
• Laogzed (troglodyte)
• Merrshaulk (yuan-ti)
• Ramenos (bullywug)
• Sess'inek (lizard man)
• Skiggaret (bugbear)
• Umberlee (Toril)
• Urdlen (gnome)
• Vaprek (ogre/troll)
• Yeenoghu (gnoll)

Black Cult of Ahm

No creature of any kind across the multiverse has written more about demons and the Abyss than the mortal scholar Tulket nor Ahm. Little is known about the man himself, though from his extensive writings on abyssal and demonic lore it is surmised that he was not only a powerful wizard but also an accomplished priest. He wrote more than a hundred volumes of lore collectively referred to as the Black Scrolls of Ahm, and his teachings and philosophy spawned a shadowy cabal in his name.

The Black Cult of Ahm is known by many names across the multiverse, and they operate in secret with a single goal – to amass as much knowledge about demons and the Abyss as possible. Some seek the knowledge as a path to ultimate power, while others wish to right some wrong in their past. Their lore deals with the darkest depravities of the multiverse, and it is of little wonder why they hide themselves from the eyes of the world. In the wrong hands, the information gathered by the Black Cult can do irreparable damage.

Unfortunately, though, the wrong hands is sometimes the leadership within the Black Cult itself. Tulket nor Ahm was no saint but he stared into the literal Abyss and wrote down what he saw, and that kind of corruption can taint even the brightest of hearts. Others that have followed in his footsteps have fallen harder and deeper into that well of darkness, and terrible atrocities have been performed in Ahm’s name.

But still they operate, usually as small sects in larger organizations dedicated to lore and knowledge. The secretive bardic college of Ahm seeks to redeem their namesake and take their knowledge to the larger multiverse, but this is not the prevailing philosophy among most black cultists.

The Black Scrolls of Ahm form the basis for the organization and in these writings many secrets can be gleaned. Tulket nor Ahm penned each one of the true Black Scrolls, and though each is unique in form and detail they all contain a wealth of demonic and abyssal information. A member of the Black Cult must have read at least one of the scrolls penned by Ahm, leading them down a dark path to seek more and more knowledge.

Demon Lords

Demons, occupying every layer of the Abyss, collectively form a great teeming horde of monsters from the darkest pits of blackest nightmare. From the sludge-like manes to the vulture-like vrock, demons often take the form of twisted Material Plane creatures, though some have been transformed so completely they lack any basic commonality to known beasts.

And towering over the demonic horde are the demon lords. Each is a unique expression of evil made manifest in the Abyss. Some planar scholars argue that they are actually the physical manifestation of the Abyss itself, an explanation that offers justification behind their uniqueness. Most are ambitious as well, and some, like the Dark Prince Graz’zt, has moved to take over multiple layers, offering a different take on the nature of the demon lords – that they are simply the top of a chaotic chain that operates under no obvious rule or direct whim.

Each demon lord holds god-like power on their layer, and it is thought that in their place of greatest strength they are effectively immortal. Outside of their home layers, however, they are more vulnerable, and some demon lords have been destroyed over the countless centuries. Others have been deposed, their influence waning with the loss of their layer.

Additionally, many demon lords hold sway over a specific aspect of the multiverse, though in almost all cases they are not the sole divine claimant over such matters – while Orcus stylizes himself as the Demon Lord of the Undead, he clashes on the cosmic scale with other powerful entities that hold dominion over the undead.

While theoretically there are infinite demon lords in the Abyss, only finite number have shown themselves on the multiversal stage. The list below represents the most common, the ones that have vested interests in affecting the Material Plane and the rest of the Outer Planes with their schemes and desires. Most of them carry a title proclaiming themselves the prince, king, queen, or other epithet for rulership over their demonic kind. Many identify as male or female, though most can assume multiple forms especially in their home realm, but others are simply monstrous manifestations of the wild and chaotic nature of the Abyss itself.

Baphomet. The demon lord of minotaurs is known as the Prince of Beasts. Baphomet is an ultraviolent being who relishes physical combat whenever possible and is known to incite insatiable bloodlust in his followers. His realm in the Abyss is the Endless Maze, the 600th layer, and there he encourages the many ruthless tribes of savage minotaurs to hunt and kill in his name. Baphomet has an intense rivalry with Yeenoghu, and the forces of the two clash constantly.

Dagon. In the lightless caverns of the Shadowsea, Dagon dwells and schemes as the Prince of the Darkened Depths. It is a massive creature that harkens back to an ancient primordial era of the Abyss, and some scholars say that Dagon is the oldest of the known demon lords. For its incredible age, Dagon is renown for its insight, and other demons often seek it out in the Shadowsea to consult with the demon lord. The true motivations of the enigmatic creature may never be known.

Demogorgon. Primal rage and unfiltered chaos define Demogorgon, who stylizes himself as the Prince of Demons, and few argue that claim. Physically powerful and incredibly cunning, Demogorgon fights everyone and everything, including himself – the demon lord’s twin heads are possessed of two distinct minds that often war against one another. He commands legions of demons from his home on Gaping Maw, the 88th layer of the Abyss, and he has had long standing feuds with Orcus and Graz’zt.

Fraz-Urb’luu. Illusions and trickery are the primary tools of Fraz-Urb’luu, the Prince of Deception. He is a powerful, conniving demon lord with great magical powers at his command, and his realm of Hollow’s Heart obeys his every whim. As befitting his title, Fraz-Urb’luu counts no ally among his demonic kind, but he only recently was returned to his rightful place in the Abyss after an extended and unwanted stay on the Material Plane.

Graz’zt. One of the most ambitious demon lords on the Abyssal stage, Graz’zt is the Dark Prince and patron of tyrants across the multiverse. He holds more territory on the Abyss than any other demon lord, stitching together three layers to form Azzagrat, but the ever-scheming Graz’zt always seeks more. He fights with every other demon lord whenever it’s convenient, but his feud with Demogorgon has become legendary. The symbol holding the Dark Prince’s six-fingered hand is used by his agents across the multiverse in his quest for ultimate conquest.

Juiblex. Slimy, amorphous, and grotesque nearly beyond description, Juiblex is the Faceless Lord and commands a great many oozes from his home realm of Shedaklah. He actually shares the layer with Zuggtmoy, Lady of Fungi, and the two face off against one another in a never-ending tug-of-war for the layer’s total control. Unlike some other demon lords, the Faceless Lord has no guile and holds little intelligence, instead moving with brute force on his enemies whenever he sees an opportunity.

Lolth. The Queen of Spiders is more than a simple demon lord on the Abyss – she is a full-fledged goddess, a divine being that stands at the head of the drow elf pantheon. Lolth’s home in the Demonweb Pits is an endless black pit crisscrossed with titanic strands of webbing, and through these the Queen of Spiders can spy on and access many places across the multiverse. She rarely engages in the politics of the Abyss, focusing instead on her drow children on the Material Plane and elsewhere, but she is manipulative and cunning when confronted.

Nocticula. Shadows cling to this demon lord like a cloak, and Nocticula is known as the Undeniable for a good reason. Her realm of Darklight, the 72nd layer of the Abyss, is a vast landscape of jagged mountain peaks under a bloated black sun that never sets. Nocticula is often associated with vampires, and while she counts many of them as her most ardent supporters, she also commands legions of hideous bats to do her bidding. She has a honeyed voice that drips with promise, but her physical appearance is that of a true monster.

Orcus. The Prince of the Undead is one of the most active demon lords in the Abyss and holds one of the most feared artifacts in the multiverse, the wand that bears his name. Orcus is a brutish force with necromantic powers unsurpassed among his demon lord peers (none of which he considers his equal), and his legions on Thanatos, the 113th layer, are more monstrously-fused undead than typical demon. He hates Demogorgon more than any other demon lord, but his fury and sheer willpower has driven more than one demon lord to be crushed beneath his goat hooves.

Pazuzu. The first layer of the Abyss holds no true ruler, but Pazuzu, the Prince of the Lower Aerial Kingdoms, is the undisputed master of the blood-red skies on the Plain of Infinite Portals. He is a screeching bird-like demon, a creature nearly as old as Dagon, and he has kept his position by being cowardly and opportunistic. From the massive fortress of Skeleton Tree, Pazuzu observes the happenings around him and sells the information to other interested parties, including other demon lords and gods. Rumors persist he has a direct line of communication to the devil lords of the Nine Hells as well.

Sess’Innek. The Emperor Lizard is a reclusive demon lord who dwells on the 7th layer of the Abyss, in a fog-enshrouded swamp and jungle known as the Phantom Plane. Sess’Innek’s realm is populated with the crumbling ruins of the previous inhabitants, but now it crawls with the fiendish lizards and lizardfolk that owe fealty to the layer’s current ruler. He appears as a massive humanoid lizard, much like a lizardfolk, with six arms in which he expertly wields longswords against opponents. Through some magical power, Sess’Innek has managed to seal the Phantom Plane from most outsiders, but in the Abyss there’s always a way in.

Ugudenk. Forever burrowing, the Squirming King is a colossal demonic worm that seems possessed of no unique intelligence. Its sheer size and voracity ranks it among the more powerful demon lords of the Abyss, but Ugudenk has no goal or thought save satiating its monstrous appetite. The Writhing Realm, the 177th layer of the Abyss, is a labyrinthine network of tunnels created by the Squirming King’s passing, and it is populated by no end of scavengers that follow in Ugudenk’s wake.

Yeenoghu. The Prince of Gnolls is a master hunter and savage, bloodthirsty foe. It is widely accepted that the gnolls that populated the multiverse originated in Yeenoghu’s wake, a horrendous transformation that created a race of monsters as ruthless as their demon lord progenitor. In the Death Dells, the 422nd layer of the Abyss, Yeenoghu hunts through the endless canyons and crags attended by great packs of demonic servants and powerful fiendish gnolls. The Prince of Gnolls holds a never-ending grudge against Baphomet, though the original cause is unknown, and the two send wave after wave of their followers against one another in pitched battles.

Zuggtmoy. One of the more active demon lords outside of the Abyss is the Lady of Fungi, Zuggtmoy. She maintains strong cults on the Material Plane, though she has learned to disguise her true nature and hide behind religious facades in order to facilitate more worship. She was the chief architect behind the infamous Temples of Elemental Evil, an act that actually imprisoned her on the Material Plane for a period of time. Zuggtmoy eventually was freed and returned to her realm, Shedaklah, and worked to bring the Faceless Lord Juiblex under heel once again.

Ignashendre, Flame of the Rift

Dragons are powerful creatures, and the very oldest can stand against demon lords and even some gods. Ignashendre is one such powerful wyrm. A red dragon of incredible age and size with magical capabilities to rival the strongest wizards, she dwells in the Rift of Ash, the 103rd layer of the Abyss, in the deepest caves of the canyon’s walls above and below the bubbling magma lake at the bottom. She claims the title Flame of the Rift as a reference to her Abyssal lair.

Ignashendre has an insatiable curiosity that is currently bent towards understanding how demons function within the larger ecosystem of the Abyss. She does this for two purposes. One, to better understand the implacable foes that surround her in her chosen home. The other is much more secretive, and it is to enhance her own mighty powers with demonic traits. Thus far, Ignashendre has managed to gain some of the resistances common to demons through infusion of their blood, but she believes this is only the beginning.

The great dragon’s experiments have yielded interesting results, some of which she has applied to her mindless golem-like servants. But Ignashendre lacks a vital component to push her experiments to the next level. That vital component she believes is the essence of a demon lord. She has remained quiet on the Abyssal stage, but she has not been idle, and her legion of demonflesh servants grows ever larger in the deepest bowels of the Rift of Ash. It is only a matter of time before she makes a move against one of them.

Righteous Army of the White Flame

Evil sits at the core of the Abyss, the kind of evil that seeps into other planes and poisons minds. For some paladins and knights, the very idea of this kind of evil existing is revolting, but for the Righteous Army of the White Flame it has become a clarion call for action. This holy order of knights originated when its leader, a fierce human woman named Lady Tyranna Dawn, was given a vision of a piercing white flame that could consume darkness and evil.

Gathering a small cadre of loyal followers, Lady Tyranna Dawn pursued that dream across the planes and eventually found the White Flame. Suffused with pure yellow light, this massive crystal called out to the paladin and her followers and extracted a great oath. In exchange for powers to push back and dispel evil, the White Flame demanded that the Abyss be cleansed of all its demonic inhabitants in order to stop the tide of evil from washing over the multiverse.

Lady Tyranna Dawn took up the White Flame’s call and through her actions she gathered a massive force from across the planes. With the intelligent crystal at the lead, they pushed through a gate and spilled out onto the 196th layer of the Abyss. No demon lord stood watch over that particular layer, but the plane itself rebelled against the presence of the Righteous Army.

Now entrenched in a war without end, the Righteous Army of the White Flame will not stop until they see their mission fulfilled. They have made great strides on the 196th layer, creating hospitable zones, but often times the evil grows just as quickly as it is cut down. Some members of the order have taken to less direct methods of exterminating evil, and to date the White Flame seems content as long as the main military force remains engaged in the Abyss.

Creatures & Denizens

Without a doubt, the most common creatures encountered in the Abyss are the innumerable demons. From quasits to vrocks to nalfeshnee and even worse, demons stand at the top of the Abyssal food chain. However, infinite layers spawn infinite possibilities, and other creatures have sprung up. Most of them are animalistic, never challenging the demons but instead picking off weak members and serving as food for other creatures.

Fiends

The most common inhabitant of the Abyss are the fiends, and they come in an astonishing variety of sizes and shapes that can only be produced by the utter malevolent chaos of the plane. Maulers are huge, territorial demonic bears with a vicious streak and surprising abilities; some of them have iron hides, some have masses of razor-sharp tentacles, and still others can shoot beams of magma from their eyes. Rogrezen are rat-like fiends that belong to no greater hierarchy, but still manage to infest the workings of everything in the Abyss.

Flapping through the air of many of the infinite layers are the vargouilles, shrieking and cursing everything they can find. They are often controlled by the greater powers of the Abyss as watchdogs, and they constantly fight against flocks of the bat-like varrangoin over territory and food. Blackhides are fierce, competitive boar-like fiends that roam in packs across many of the Abyssal lairs, and Baphomet especially is fond of capturing them and placing them in his endless mazes.

Demons. Without a doubt, demons are the most numerous and powerful fiends on the Abyss. The demon lords that rule over them are unique beings that were either created different from their birth or rose through the ranks to carve out territory for themselves. Demons embody the willfulness of chaos and the depravity of evil in everything they do, and the wide variety of demonic types that fill the infinite layers shows that there is a limitless supply of both in the multiverse.

Demons are a force of raw power and they live and die as the forms they start with; some demons are just created more powerfully than others, and that is the distilled essence of chaos. Nonetheless, lesser powerful demons can still serve useful purposes, and demon lords have special ways of rewarding others that perform tasks admirably. Of course, they may destroy such demons instead, perhaps to set an example or simply on a twisted whim.

Most demons are obsessed with simply spreading chaos, horror, and fear wherever they go, and most have little forethought beyond these immediate desires. They are a tidal wave of terror that threatens to spill out of the Abyss and engulf the multiverse, but an unlikely source has risen to stop them – the devils of the Nine Hells. The long-standing Blood War between the two fiends has been raging for centuries and centuries as the regulated armies of the devils face off against the wild hordes of the demons. This plays out largely on the first layer of the Abyss, the Plain of Infinite Portals, where the River Styx carries countless devilish troops and the crimson ground is soaked with blood of many fiends.

Humanoids

Few humanoids live in the Abyss by choice. Most are slaves of the demon lords, kept in prisons or cells as cattle to feed the endless demonic hordes, but a few communities actively serve the will of the greater demons and demon lords. These mad cults seek to please their masters, though few demon lords even bother noticing them, and any type of humanoid could have been brought up in a brain-washed cult of demon worshipping.

Tieflings. Demon-blooded tieflings rarely last long in the Abyss. The more powerful cambions see them as bastards and traitors with more “mortal taint” than demon blood, but some tieflings manage to prove their worth to the demon lords and greater powers. Often times, this worth is as spies, assassins, and elite warriors outside the Abyss.

Plants

The plant life of the Abyss is hostile, like everything else, but some of it is unique to the landscape of the infinite layers. Zrintor walkers are born from corrupted seeds in the Viper Forest in Graz’zt’s domain, and by their nature the seeds can spread easily throughout any of the Abyssal lairs. Needle spawn and the larger needle lords can grow in surprising environments as well, and most develop immunities to any natural hazard on the layer they spawn from. Assassin vines can be deadly predators, and corpse flowers that grow from the corpse of a fallen demon are especially violent and cruel.

Hazards & Phenomena

Every one of the infinite layers of the Abyss offers a hazard for travelers, whether it be in the terrain, a freak storm, or the very air itself.

Abyssal Threats

The tables below are provided as inspiration for you to generate key threats for layers of the Abyss. As you roll on them, you may notice some of the results don’t make initial sense. You are encouraged to keep them, though, and puzzle through how the random rolls can be used together. In the Abyss, chaos is an omnipresent force, and that force doesn’t always have to obey commonly understood laws. Snow and ice may be present in hot environments, creating the sort of juxtaposition the Abyss is known for.

You can roll on the Threat Source table two or three times for each layer to create some abyssal threats that cause problems for travelers. Demons and other native creatures are generally immune to the effects of an abyssal threat. The Threat Type table contains a great number of nasty options with suggestions on how to implement each, but they are simply suggestions. Some of the Threat Types are simply meant to be unsettling and may not actually cause damage to travelers. Use your best judgement.

Sites & Treasures

The Infinite Layers of the Abyss hold more terrors and horror than any other plane. Each layer hides secret knowledge beneath grime, death, and decay, along with a wide variety of ways to kill and maim intruders. However, many of the layers are described in other products available, so this section focuses on the interesting sites and treasures that could draw a party of adventurers into the Abyss.

Abysm

The twin towers of Abysm rise from the Brine Flats on the Gaping Maw, the 88th layer of the Abyss, and serve as the palace of Demogorgon, Prince of Demons. Each of the towers is tall and topped by a massive fanged skull, with multiple bridges spanning the distance between them. Demogorgon’s twin nature is reflected physically in Abysm, and the contents of each spire reflect the demon lord’s schemes and plots being wrought by each of his individual minds.

Abysm is constructed of salt-encrusted coral as strong as stone, and its depths go far below the Brine Flats. The many levels of each tower contain numerous experiments on the nature of demonkind, methods to craft new horrific diseases and poisons, and records of Demogorgon’s numerous enemies across the multiverse. The Prince of Demons himself can usually be found wandering Abysm’s many chambers and rooms, checking on the results of experiments and plots.

Black Scrolls of Ahm

Tulket nor Ahm was a famous scholar who spent his life in pursuit of one thing – knowledge over demons and the Abyss they call home. He traveled more layers of the Abyss than has been recorded by any other mortal, and he wrote his findings down in hundreds of journals, notes, and papers. Collectively, his writings are referred to as the Black Scrolls of Ahm and they form the basis for the Black Cult that bears his name.

Some of the Black Scrolls contain magical knowledge Ahm discovered in his travels, and these are the most prized, but even his non-magical scripts contain worthwhile information on the nature of demons, the Blood War, and the Abyss itself. Individual chapter houses of the Black Cult hold individual collections, and the cult’s hidden library in the City of Glass holds fragments from the Abyssal Mundus, Ahm’s ultimate work.

One maddening aspect of Ahm’s varied work is a magical enchantment placed on the most important pieces, which sends the scroll to a random location across the planes when its power is utilized. And some of them contain secrets of binding major demons, the hidden names of ancient demon lords, gates and passages to sealed layers, and other esoteric lore not found written anywhere else. The Black Cult only utilizes such magic in dire emergencies, instead relying on the knowledge of their individual members, but on occasion the full power of a Black Scroll of Ahm has been unleashed.

Broken Reach

The Plain of Infinite Portals is the most visited of the layers of the Abyss, not only because it’s the first layer but also because of its gate-like nature. Visitors are not uncommon, nor rampaging armies fighting the Blood War, but all travelers know that the fortress of Broken Reach is neutral ground. The succubus Red Shroud runs the place like a tavern and brooks no violence within the grounds – more than one demon has been utterly destroyed by Red Shroud’s power for disobeying this simple rule.

Yugoloth mercenaries, planar merchants, demon warriors, and adventurers are all welcome in Broken Reach, and there are dozens of visitors onsite at any given time. Red Shroud deals in secrets only, the bigger the better, but she is still the undisputed mistress of the fortress – crossing her is a sure sign of a death sentence. Her fondness and knowledge of poisons, including ones capable of rendering demons and devils low, is well documented as well. She is also an accomplished sorceress and it is widely believed she crafted the powerful enchantments over Broken Reach that trigger when violence occurs.

Cave of Glooms

The 72nd layer of the Abyss is known as Darklight, where the demon lord Nocticula the Undeniable reign supreme. Her realm is cloaked in perpetual darkness over jagged mountains of jet-black stone, and she can often be found winging through the night sky attended by great flocks of demonic bats. Noticula’s personal home is the Cave of Glooms, a massive cavern in the heart of the Midnight Mountain.

There, the demon lord rests and plays out her countless plots, using bats of all kind as spies and messengers across the Abyss. Nocticula is subtler than many demon lords, and most mortals on the Material Plane do not know of her existence – but that doesn’t mean she has no eyes or ears there. It is known that daylight is shunned by the demon lord, but she seeks some treasure across the planes. Her bat minions are innocuous and fly silently through the multiverse. What does Nocticula seek?

Demonwing

In the distant past as part of some larger scheme, Demogorgon set his demonic smiths to a seemingly impossible task – take a layer of the Abyss and bind it into a mobile vessel. After much research, magical study, and willpower, the ship Demonwing was born. A massive, triple-mast sailing ship that actually contains the folded contents of an infinite layer of the Abyss below its black wooden decks. As part of its legendary enchantments, the ship sailed not on water but on the winds of the planes.

The command of Demonwing was given over to an ambitious balor demon in Demogorgon’s service, and the ship sailed on many scouting journeys across the Abyss, the Nine Hells, and other battlefields of the Blood War. The balor was eventually overthrown, and the new captain took the ship to plunder the Material Plane but was thwarted by the legendary mage Emirikol the Chaotic. Emirikol took possession of Demonwing but rarely used it, and eventually he gave it over to a group of adventurers. The current location of Demonwing is not known.

The lower decks of the Abyssal ship contain unending halls and chambers, exactly as if it were a layer of the Abyss, and it is filled with demons of all kind along with the plundered loot from hundreds of battles. The original balor captain is said to be below decks as well, plotting a return against whomever controls Demonwing, and Demogorgon himself has never forgotten about the useful vessel.

Desiccated Garden of Dhalmarn

Lolth’s spider-web choked home in the Demonweb Pits holds a dizzying array of individual caves and cocoons. The Desiccated Garden is one of them, tended by a drow lich named Dhalmarn. When a victim dies in the Demonweb Pits as a result of spider venom, the body is brought to Dhalmarn where he and his attendant servants string up the corpse and preserve it in its dried husk state for all eternity. Countless bodies hang in the garden by silken threads of delicate spider webbing, and the drow lich has gone quite insane over the centuries, talking to the bodies as if they were alive.

Dhalmarn’s instability is tolerated by Lolth and her priestesses because the lich commands a great deal of knowledge about undead and the process for preserving bodies. His laboratory in the Desiccated Garden contains hundreds upon hundreds of jars of fluid, the remnants of the victims that now hang, though for what purpose is not yet known.

Lakes of Molten Iron

The demonic armies that clash in the Blood War have a never-ending appetite for forged items that give them an edge. This appetite is insatiable, but it is partially fed by the furnaces and forges that sit along the banks of the Lakes of Molten Iron on the Plain of Infinite Portals. The lakes are literally boiling iron belched up from the depths of the Abyss itself, which are then funneled into dozens of forges.

The region’s importance in the Blood War makes the area one of the least stable on the 1st layer of the Abyss as devilish forces and yugoloth mercenaries clash for control over the vital fortresses. Each carries its own master, though a few stand out as noteworthy.

Razorforge was the victim of a chaotic eruption that drove the demons away, and in their wake magma mephits moved in and restarted the forges. They keep their operation small and thus far have remained mostly anonymous, especially since demons trigger latent magical surges that can destroy them when they approach.

Ferrug is an imposing iron fortress run by a marilith with an eye towards selling to the highest demonic bidder. Her forges are run by manes, vrocks, and goristros and the entire fortress has been attacked multiple times by the armies of the Nine Hells. Each time, the superior craftsmanship of Ferrug weapons and armor have won the day.

Bonepot is a curious forge that focuses on reinforcing skeletons with iron plating. Its master, an especially intelligent vrock, works its teams of smiths to churn out armored undead monsters. It is rumored that the forces of Orcus keep Bonepot operating, but its iron-bodied skeletons have been seen marching in multiple demonic armies.

Maze of the Bone Eaters

Baphomet’s realm is the Endless Maze, the 600th layer of the Abyss, and it is as its name suggests. Endless corridors of worked stone fill the layer, and the Prince of Beasts maintains absolute control over much of the region. But he is not the only inhabitant. Tribes of savage, demonic minotaurs also roam the maze, serving Baphomet in their own cruel and sadistic way.

The Bone Eaters are a tribe of minotaurs who have served the Prince of Beasts for centuries. Their fur is the color of bleached bone and they have carved out a section of their master’s domain for their own purposes. The Maze of the Bone Eaters is adorned with hundreds upon hundreds of bones, the only remnants of the minotaurs’ foes, and they are all scarred with vicious bite marks. The Bone Eaters are fond of capturing and torturing their foes, cooking them slowly and enjoying the screams which echo through their maze.

The leader of the Bone Eaters is a gargantuan minotaur that traces her lineage directly to Baphomet. Known as Bonecruncher, she is a terribly savage foe with a cruel streak to match her master’s.

Naratyr

For a period of time in recent memory, the demon lord Orcus was presumed dead. His spirit departed the Abyss and his realm of Thanatos was left empty, a void that did not last long. The drow goddess Kiaransalee stepped in and filled that void, and her domain of death overlapped nicely with Orcus’ own. She built up the city of Naratyr as her winter palace, attracting hundreds of intelligent undead seeking to curry the goddess’ favor.

Then Orcus returned, pushed Kiaransalee out, and reclaimed Thanatos as his own realm once again. Servants of the drow goddess were given two options – serve the Prince of the Undead or be destroyed. Most chose to switch allegiances, and in Naratyr the inhabitants feared Orcus would make a permanent home. He has not, leaving the undead sycophants to fight over each other to win the demon lords favor, and Naratyr has become a frozen city of the dead.

Rift of Ash

The 103rd layer of the Abyss is the Rift of Ash, where the entire realm is a massive scar in the black and red stone surroundings. The top of the rift is nothing but howling winds pushing everything out of the depths with plumes of thick smoke choking the air, making breathing near impossible. Numerous spontaneous fires dot the walls of the rift, burning the stone itself, and the bottom holds nothing but agitated magma.

No demon lord claims the Rift of Ash, but it is not uncontested. The colossal red dragon Ignashendre keeps her lair in the lowest section of the rift, and she is the undisputed mistress of the layer. She is older than some demon lords and has gained incredible knowledge and power in her time, but she thus far shows no inclination toward conquest. The hoard of Ignashendre stretches into the caves just above the lava pool at the bottom of the rift, gathered from demons and mortals alike from her years of conquest.

Fire and magma elementals are common servants of the ancient red dragon, and though she eschews demonic servants the power of the demons has long fascinated Ignashendre. She has tinkered with extracting demonic essence and has infused herself with such stolen power, but she seeks more subjects. And while she has thus far not moved against any of the demon lords, her impatience suggests it is only a matter of time before she puts her skills to the test and faces off against a more potent foe in the search for claiming greater and greater power for herself. Ignashendre is a force to be reckoned with and one to watch on the Abyssal stage.

Screaming Peaks

Breaking up the endless savannah of the Death Dells, Yeenoghu’s realm on the 422nd layer, are the jagged mountains of the Screaming Peaks. Like everyone on the layer, gnolls dominate the mountains, but they clash with advanced ghouls hiding among the caves and valleys. These ghouls pay homage to Doresain, King of the Ghouls, who is himself a vassal of Yeenoghu. The two offer aid to one another on occasion, but the savage ferocity of the gnoll tribes of the Screaming Peaks makes the ghouls a common enemy.

The Screaming Peaks hold numerous secret valleys that are older than the Prince of Gnolls. The ghouls hold several of these, but greater beings are said to sleep in dark caves hidden far away from prying eyes. The mountains earn their name from the mournful howl echoing through the tall peaks, but gnoll legends say that the screaming is punctuated by the hoarse cry of Yeenoghu’s original kin. Now nothing but bones amid the stone valleys, these forgotten entities of hunger, thirst, and madness wait to reawaken once more.

Skeleton Tree

Pazuzu claims the skies above the Plain of Infinite Portals as his entire realm, and he watches over it all from the stretched-out arms of his fortress, Skeleton Tree. Thin spires of bone-white stone stretch up over the blasted pitted landscape, piercing the bloated crimson sky. It is surrounded by vrocks and other flying demons of all kinds who act as Pazuzu’s eyes and ears across the layer.

Pazuzu hails from an older class of demon lords, and though he shares his fellows’ bloodthirsty nature, a streak of cowardice and selfishness runs strong through him. He rarely engages in the Blood War, preferring instead to bargain with the devils and mercenaries, and his stance has garnered him no allies among the demon lords. This suits Pazuzu just fine, and it is said Skeleton Tree is impregnable by any force on the ground. The secrets contained in the twisted branches and ivory vaults have been gathered over many centuries.

Spire of the Deceived

Fraz-Urb’luu’s realm of Hollow’s Heart is a masterwork of illusion and deception. Nothing is what it seems at first glance, from the trees of the Drooling Jungle that hide the souls of bound servants to the mountain lakes of the Demon’s Teeth range that lure travelers to a watery grave. The Prince of Deception dwells in a sprawling city of corkscrew towers, but his secret vault is the titanic building of adamantine called the Spire of the Deceived.

In Hollow’s Heart, the Spire of the Deceived moves around seemingly at random. Inside its twisted walls, Fraz-Urb’luu hides fabulous treasure and knowledge gathered from his time conquering the Abyss and collecting tithes from his many cults. The site is guarded by the bound ghosts of former thralls whose bodies still remain pinned to the outside of the grim spire.

Of course, given Fraz-Urb’luu’s nature, the Spire of the Deceived could itself simply be a trap to lure travelers seeking wealth to a painful life of servitude. No one has ever returned from it, but rumors among certain planar scholars say that a great relic from a time before the demons rests in the deepest vault of the twisted tower.

White Flame

The Blood War is fought by the devils of the Nine Hells to keep the demons from spilling out across the multiverse (and invading their own plane in the process). The archdevils and princes that serve Asmodeus have crafted numerous weapons to fight the demonic hordes, but few are so clever as the White Flame. It is a 5-foot wide crystal in the shape of an immobile fire suffused with brilliant white light, and into its heart was bound the soul of a solar angel.

The White Flame was built specifically to draw paladins and other mortals into the Blood War, albeit as unwitting pawns, in order to fight the demons with power the devils could not possess. The archdevils crafted it and pushed it out to the Material Plane, where it eventually ensnared a warrior-knight named Lady Tyranna Dawn. Drawn to the words of the White Flame, Lady Tyranna became intoxicated on the holy power provided by the crystal and she summoned up a host to destroy the demons of the Abyss.

The Righteous Army of the White Flame was born, and they stormed the 196th layer from a gate torn open by the crystal itself. The knights and paladins fought their way through hordes of demons, but managed to establish a stronghold on the layer. Fort Dawn was built, where Lady Tyranna and the White Flame stand today, sending troops to stamp out the demonic presence.

The power granted by the White Flame is real, and it is very effective against demons. Does Lady Tyranna know about the relic’s devilish origin? Would it matter if she did? If a tool crafted by an archdevil is useful in fighting true evil, do the ends justify the means? The White Flame seems holy, but one should never trust an item wrought in the bowels of the Nine Hells.

Zelatar

Graz’zt the Dark Prince commands the most physical territory in the Abyss out of any demon lord. His triple realm is known as Azzagrat, but his seat of power is the confounding city of Zelatar. Zelatar extends across all three layers of Graz’zt’s domain, and the streets can and do wind between all three of them. The Dark Prince’s abode, the Argent Palace, defies the laws of realty even in the Abyss by existing simultaneously on all three, not just a reflection but the actual same physical site co-existing in three separate locations.

By ancient decree, Graz’zt allows merchants of all kind to enter Zelatar where his demonic thirst for conquest is somewhat muted. Assassins, poisoners, necromancers, and other dark purveyors of illicit goods can be found among the districts of the city, plying their trade and seeking employment. One exception to this leniency are servants of Graz’zt’s hated demon lord foes, Demogorgon and Orcus, who are hunted down and killed publicly for sport.

Each of the three layers that hold Zelatar provide a different district for the demonic city. Fogtown is the upper borough, where slaves of all kind toil in great mushroom fields around the city and the ever-present fog robs travelers of their memory. Gallenghast is filled with the villas and manors of Zelatar’s nobles, and the Dark Prince favors half-demons and tieflings above all others. Tournaments and festivals are often held in the district, drawing attention from across the multiverse. The lowest layer holds Darkflame, a strange place where flames are cold and ice is hot. The shadow-haunted streets of Darkflame are filled with blue and purple flames, chilling the air and driving travelers into the close-knit buildings.