Nine Hells of Baator

The Nine Hells of Baator represent pain, suffering, and never-ending torment, and some planar sages believe they are the original home to these dark tides and so much more. Across these nine layers sit the most wicked, depraved, monstrous beings in all the multiverse, beings which define the word “tyrant” in new and horrendous ways. Evil is the only word to describe Baator but even this word doesn’t do it justice – the evil in the Nine Hells is one born of calculation and premeditation designed only to destroy hope, truth, mercy, and other positive feelings.

Comparisons between the Nine Hells and the Abyss are apt for the two are both incarnations of ultimate evil. Whereas the Abyss creates horrors more bestial in nature and design, Baator plays upon many elements of society, twisting them so far beyond their original purpose as to make them unrecognizable. A byzantine hierarchy exists in the Nine Hells where devils plot their advancement over their fellows in the worst ways possible, but all according to the Rules.

And the Rules rule all in the Nine Hells. They are not written down or inscribed on tablets, but serve instead as a fundamental force felt and obeyed across all the layers. All devils obey the Rules, they can’t not, and the Rules have a way of asserting themselves to any being on Baator regardless of origin. The Rules say each layer must have a ruler, a being who directs the forces of the devils and the landscape itself, and the path for attaining rulership goes through many, many different ranks.

Some say the Rules are a manifestation of the power of Asmodeus, the Lord of Nessus, the ninth and lowest layer of Baator. He is the only devil lord to truly sit in a position of divine power, but the schemes and rumors of Asmodeus point to him being as much of a prisoner of the Nine Hells as the other eight. But Asmodeus nonetheless wields more power than any other in Baator and it is by his whim much of the politics are pushed and arranged.

Devils are the most common inhabitants of the Nine Hells. They serve the Rules of Hell and the Lords of the Nine by virtue of their rank, and they advance only by adhering to the Rules to the letter through assassination, subterfuge, and forcing their superiors into positions of humiliation. A devil can rise quickly in the ranks, especially through the lower forms of devilkind, by advancing the campaigns of their dukes and archdevils.

The greatest campaign of the Nine Hells is a titanic, sprawling conflict known simply as the Blood War. This is the struggle of law versus chaos playing out across the Lower Planes. The devils of the Nine Hells wage cataclysmic war against the demons of the Abyss. Which is stronger? Which ideology is more secure? The answer may never be known as the Blood War simply continues – some claim it always has and likely always will. Towards this struggle the Lords of the Nine command their forces, legions of devils and other monsters, against the demonic hordes of the Abyss. The conflict is constant and bloody, regularly spilling out across the multiverse to encompass greater swaths of the multiverse. Angels watch and curb, yugoloths sell their service to both sides, and mortals are swept up in the cosmic conflict that is bigger than any Material Plane world.

The greatest currency the devils of the Nine Hells have in this never-ending planar-wide Blood War are souls. Devils capture souls and transform them into new devils, and so devilish agents are sent out across the multiverse to collect souls. The Rules of Hell extend to bargains with these monstrous creatures so mortals that pledge their soul to a devil are signing up for an eternity of conflict, likely in the Blood War but perhaps as a pawn of a petty duke or lesser devilish lord.

There is no greater concentration of pure malice and wickedness than in the Nine Hells of Baator, the inhabitants of which find new and creative ways to bring malice and wickedness to the multiverse. It is a plane filled with pain, lies, suffering, horror, and struggle where the sweet release of death itself is wished but rarely granted.

Powerful & Mighty

The Nine Hells have layers upon layers of power structures, from the very top with the Lords of the Nine all the way to outside interferences. This environment breeds powerful groups looking to gain an upper hand in whatever field they can.

• Bargrivyek (goblin)
• Hecate (Greek)
• Kurtulmak (kobold)
• Sekolah (sahuagin)
• Set (Egyptian)
• Takhisis (Krynn)
• Tiamat (dragon)

Circle of Hellfire

In the frozen heart of Cania, the either layer of the Nine Hells, Mephistopheles has worked tirelessly to unlock a new and dangerous element called hellfire. This blue and white flame burns on a deeper level than fire, creating sensations of pure pain that can wrack the minds and bodies of dragons, demons, and devils alike. While Mephistopheles is credited with the creation of hellfire, it is actually the responsibility of a cabal of powerful devil sorcerers now referred to as the Circle of Hellfire.

The Circle of Hellfire is an elite band of devils under the command of the Lord of Cania, though for the most part they are autonomous to the archduke’s daily rule. They are charged with using and perfecting hellfire in any way they can, and towards this end they have devoted much time and resources to unlocking arcane secrets of Baator. Long ago, Baator was the home of a race of proto-devils called baatorians. It is their ruins that fill Maladomini’s wasteland and their secrets that lay buried in Cania’s ice.

The leader of the Circle of Hellfire is Zorazok, a barbed devil of extreme arcane skill who has mastered hellfire like no other in the multiverse. He is cruel and merciless but can be so focused on new and improved ways to use hellfire that he can ignore problems. It’s only a matter of time before a fellow hellfire devil takes Zorazok out and claims the top leadership position, but for now the barbed devil enjoys the support of Mephistopheles. Zorazok rarely leaves the Citadel of Mephistar on Cania, preferring instead to communicate with the field teams via magic.

Cult of the Midnight Desert

Stygia is a frigid layer but it holds a surprising realm few associate with the icebergs and ice floes – Ankhwugaht. This is the home of Set, an ancient god of serpents, upon a blackened plateau filled with pyramids and obelisks, giving the region its nickname as the Midnight Desert. Set is not a major player in the politics of the Nine Hells, but an insidious cult has grown up nonetheless. The Cult of the Midnight Desert counts many devils across Baator as its members, including many fang devils, and all worship in the shadows, advancing the causes of Set slowly and methodically.

The cult extends beyond the Nine Hells as well. A band of knights rooted out a corrupt priest in a temple in Arborea only to discover she was a secret member of the Midnight Desert. The Material Plane is rife with Set’s influence, some subtle and others not so much, but the tendrils of the ancient god extend far and wide. What exactly are the cult’s aims? Beyond extending the worship of Set, few understand their schemes. Even individual members are often isolated from the larger plans in order to keep the number of creatures that know the truth to a minimum.

It is widely believed that the Cult of the Midnight Desert has infiltrated the courts of Baalzebul and Fierna. For his part, Baalzebul doesn’t seem to care or perhaps sees the presence of Set’s worshippers as a potential gain to be exploited later – the canny archduke usually plays a long game with such opponents.

Dark Eight

The Blood War is the largest and longest conflict in the multiverse. If it were to end with either the demons or devils on top, it would be bad for everyone – either the demons overran Baator entirely, or the devils found a way stop the spread of demonic chaos and can turn their efforts to other matters. The latter is the goal of the Nine Hells being worked upon by a group of brilliant military strategists called the Dark Eight.

Each is a pit fiend of extreme power and cunning, and though their leader fell to an assassination attempt many years ago (stories differ whether it was to a rival Dark Eight member or an imp that got lucky) the Dark Eight have remained steadfast in their goal of winning the Blood War. They were appointed by Asmodeus to focus solely on the conflict, and they can conscript any devil below an archduke into the war effort. They are in regular contact and meet together every year to discuss plans and strategies, though they have convened in emergency settings when tumultuous events required more careful planning.

The presence of a member of the Dark Eight in the court of an archduke is a bleak omen, for it means an offensive or defensive maneuver is eminent and the forces of the local ruler are going to be key. The pit fiends have their own political squabbles and ambitions, and many of them see their tenure in the Dark Eight as a precursor to full archdukedom, but they are largely above the politics of the Lords of the Nine. Their charge is winning the Blood War and no devil is above this goal. Except Asmodeus.

Diabolical Courts

The Rules of Hell govern the actions and inactions of devils, but that doesn’t mean there are no disputes. Every devil pushes against the rules as far as they can, putting them in direct conflict with others and their superiors. When a dispute happens of critical severity, usually involving a contract between devils outside the regular chain of command, the affected parties can petition their case be heard by the Diabolic Courts.

Based in the molten city of Abriymoch on Phlegethos, the Diabolic Courts hear all manner of cases before teams of judges. The most ruthless and efficient is Judge Shamane, a paeliryon devil that simply devours advocates with frivolous arguments. All of the judges adhere strictly to the Rules of Hell and their decisions in disputed cases are final, recognized by the Rules of Hell themselves.

It is also possible for mortals who have entered into pacts with devils to petition the Diabolical Courts if they believe the pact has been broken. This is an incredibly rare case, and in these events the normal waiting period of years is cut down to just hours – and the results are rarely in the mortal’s favor, though the Rules of Hell truly dictate the decisions of the Diabolical Courts.

Hellbreakers

The stories are unbelievable, from a thief who broke into the command barracks of the Dark Eight on Avernus to steal plans for a new assault on a tactical target to someone finding and stealing the blood-encrusted Goblet of Dark Pleasure from the treasure house of Dispater. They are just too unbelievable, but they also happen to be true and the work of the Hellbreakers – elite thieves who plunder from devils wherever and whenever they can.

There is little organization to the Hellbreakers. In order to join, a new recruit has to be trained by an experienced member, and this is the only way their secrets pass on. The treasure and booty of Baator is as ill-gotten as the souls bartered for under devilish contracts, so the Hellbreakers see it as their job to balance the scales. They are wild, crazy, arrogant, and unpredictable, working in small teams in precision jobs across the Nine Hells and wherever devils store their treasures.

The Hellbreakers try to hit the devils of the Nine Hells wherever it would hurt the most, but it would seem Mammon, the ruler of MInauros, is a favorite target. The serpentine archduke has standing orders for his troops to capture Hellbreakers alive so they can be brought to his palace – to date only a handful of the daring thieves have been caught. But from them, Mammon has learned a great deal, but this knowledge has served only to spur the Hellbreakers to greater and more daring feats of larceny.

Lords of the Nine

The absolute powers in the Nine Hells are the archdukes and archduchesses that sit at the top of the power pyramid – the Lords of the Nine. Individually, these are powerful entities that have an almost divine connection to their home layer, allowing them to control and direct geographic and environmental forces nearly at will. The greatest among them is Asmodeus with true divine powers, though a few others are coming close (Mephistopheles being the closest).

Infernal politics in Baator demand the attention of each of the Lords of the Nine. Someone is always scheming against them, usually lesser devils looking to promote themselves to the top by impressing Asmodeus or killing an archdevil. And that’s one of the secrets of the Lords of the Nine – they all serve at the whim of Asmodeus. The most powerful archdevil has deposed multiple lords over the countless centuries for displeasing him or simply because he grew bored of them.

Usually, though, Asmodeus does not flex this particular power unless absolutely necessary. The plotting and planning inherent in all devils, as decreed by the Rules of Hell, usually keep the Lords of the Nine occupied and distracted. And that’s another secret – Asmodeus knows that if the other lords were to all band against him, they would have the strength to depose him from Nessus. But the devilish nature, inherently selfish, prevents such cooperation from coming together on such a massive scale.

Zariel. Originally an angel from the Upper Planes sent to watch over the Blood War, Zariel fell to the ultimate corruption of the Nine Hells. She spent a long time as the ruler of Avernus before being replaced by a powerful pit fiend named Bel, but the tides recently turned and Zariel rules Avernus once again from a massive floating basalt citadel. Bel still serves as a general, advising Zariel and directing the devilish forces in great campaigns in the Blood War.

Dispater. Dispater rules Dis from an imposing gothic iron citadel in the center of his city. He is paranoid and cautious but the best weapons dealer in all of Baator. Dis’ forges pump out the sharpest blades and the most protective armor, but Dispater takes no chances. His network of spies runs deep in his iron city so that little occurs in those heavy streets without his knowledge, and his trade connections with the rest of the Nine Hells puts him in a very comfortable position. Or so he believes.

Mammon. It is said no devil is as greedy as Mammon, the ruler of Minauros. He oversees the bulk of the soul trade in the Nine Hells and he has amassed a treasure hoard greater than any other in the plane, or so it is said at least. Mammon’s greed and obsession with wealth has gotten him into trouble over the centuries but thus far he has retained his position as archdevil.

Belial & Fierna. The rules of Phlegethos are a strange study in duality. Belial and Fierna are father and daughter but their relationship is more intertwined than that, and the two play off each other’s strengths and weaknesses perfectly. Fierna is charming, second only to Asmodeus it is said, while Belial is brutal and straightforward. Lately, Fierna has been spending a lot of time on Malbolge in the palace of Glasya, and the two have been working on delicate schemes that are making Belial more than a little nervous.

Levistus. Archduke Levistus ruled over Stygia long ago but angered Asmodeus, so was deposed suddenly and entombed in an enormous glacier. Another archdevil, Geryon, stepped up to claim lordship over Stygia, but recently Asmodeus reinstated Levistus – but didn’t free him from his icy tomb. Now, Levistus uses his magical prowess to command the legions of Stygia while Geryon stalks around, undermining the new archdevil at every turn.

Glasya. Malbolge has seen a large number of rulers over the centuries. The previous ruler was Malagarde the Hag Countess, but in a fit Asmodeus threw down the night hag and replaced her with his own daughter, Glasya. Most see nepotism at its finest with this choice but Glasya has proven to be an effective and surprisingly unpredictable ruler, and Malbolge has shifted dramatically under her rule. She works to undermine her father, more openly than any of the other Lords of the Nine, and has thus far managed to not be deposed.

Baalzebul. Baalzebul is a tragic figure in the annals of the Nine Hells. He is an archduke of lies and deceit, perhaps the most intelligent devil in all of Baator, but his ambition long ago to depose Asmodeus failed. Now, more slug than devil, Baalzebul wastes away as ruler of Maladomini, a wasteland layer filled with clouds of flies that matches the mood of its once proud ruler.

Mephistopheles. Cunning, charming, and devious, Mephistopheles is the pinnacle of pride itself and would like to see nothing less than himself on the throne of Nessus. The frozen layer of Cania is his current home but this has not deterred his ambitions. Mephistopheles has so many plots spinning at one time across the multiverse that he can sometimes lose track of them himself.

Asmodeus. At the top of the Nine Hells pyramid (which, as represented by the layers themselves, is actually the bottom) sits Asmodeus, the ruler of Nessus and the greatest devil of them all. His background is a mystery, filled with legends and tall tales about a fall from grace and a grand betrayal, and the truth seems to be that he is as much a prisoner in Baator as its ruler. But his temples and cults have spread across the multiverse, especially in the Material Plane where wealthy nobles find worshipping Asmodeus a profitable venture – as long as they’re willing to pay the price.

Outcast Dukes

The dukes that serve the archdevils all scramble for power and prestige in the eyes of their lords, but sometimes they can fall out of favor. When this happens, the archdevil has several options. The least common is simple destruction, as every devil is considered valuable in their own way, so the best option is to demote them to a lesser form. Few drop as far as imps or lemures, but getting knocked down a few stations tends to take the fight out of their spirit for a time.

The other option is to exile the duke. This untethers the duke from the infernal hierarchy, preventing them from becoming anything more or less, and banishes them to Avernus. This way they can still serve in the efforts against the demonic hordes in the Blood War while curtailing their ambitions. These Outcast Dukes usually gather disenfranchised lesser devils to serve in their cause, carving out a small fiefdom in the blasted hellscape of Avernus, while they wait for their opportunity to rise again.

The Outcast Dukes are dangerous and unpredictable. The Rules of Hell still apply to them, as to all devils, but they are not part of a formal hierarchy anymore, so they are bound to no true lord. Zariel has been known to recruit these outcasts for daring missions and has promoted more than a few into her own service, but that is the best hope most of them have for changing their stations.

Witch-Queens of Hecate

Aeaea is a fog-enshrouded realm in the vast swamps of Minauros, and within that misty veil is the magic-filled region ruled by a group of seven powerful wizards known as the Witch-Queens of Hecate. Each was a mortal woman that traded their souls for immortality and great power from Hecate, a semi-mythical divine figure that powers all of Aeaea.

The Witch-Queens have legions of undead and devils at their beck and call, but their resources pale in comparison to the Lords of the Nine. Nonetheless, they have managed to make a name for themselves in the courts of Mammon, ruler of Minauros, and have provided specialized arcane services to many of the other archdukes. Fang devils come to learn the craft of Hecate, though few are actually accepted as pupils.

Ultimately, the Witch-Queens seek to expand the influence of Hecate in the multiverse, and they are not above using pawns and puppets in other planes to get what they want. Many powerful relics are said to be housed in the foggy realm of Aeaea which has always attracted the greedy attention of Mammon, but the followers of Hecate have their eyes on higher prizes.

Creatures & Denizens

Devils are the most commonly encountered inhabitant of the Nine Hells, but each of the layers have more monsters to offer unwary travelers than most expect. Some are animalistic, born of the fetid evil that pervades Baator, while others are servants or tools of the devils themselves.

Fiends

Monstrous fiends of all sorts hunt, fly, prowl, dig, and scrape across all layers of the Nine Hells. They have adapted to the unforgiving environments in the most diabolical and terrible ways possible, and they can be found nearly everywhere. Stygian ice serpents swim up and down through the River Styx, though they lair largely on Stygia, and the stench of bog shamblers fills the swamps of Minauros with death and decay. Hellwasp swarms build nests out of carcasses and skeletons and jealously guard them from all intruders.

Wriggling blood tongues crawl along the banks of the River Styx as it cuts through the scarred wastes of Avernus, though they can also be found as pets and familiars of the devilish lords that rule the plane. Dispater commands legions of iron shadows, created by merging fiendish flesh with suits of iron armor in the Shadowcast Forge. Cinderwinds fly through the ash-choked skies of Phlegethos and bile spewers vomit forth acid and death on Malbolge.

Devils. Devils are the undisputed masters of the Nine Hells. They are wicked, cruel, despicable monsters capable of indescribable acts of depravity and malice, and they have a multitude of tools at their disposal with which to perform. Devils work across the multiverse in a vast unending quest to gather souls from mortal creatures and transform them in the pits of Baator into new devils, thus sustaining their kind, and they do this through infernal contracts and truly bewildering laws meant to obfuscate the real cost of any transaction. Advancement through the devilish ranks and transformation into greater and more powerful forms requires betrayal and the harvesting of new souls to join the fiendish host.

Each of the Nine Hells is ruled by one or more devil princes who hold vast amounts of power over their realms, but they all pay fealty (some in name only) to Asmodeus, the Lord of the Ninth and ruler of Nessus. Asmodeus is one of the oldest beings in the multiverse and his greed and malice are legendary.

Humanoids

Few humanoids live in the Nine Hells by choice. Most are slaves to the devils or other fiendish forces, forced to work under the terms of complex contracts or born into bondage through generations of mistakes and miscalculations. Avernus holds a handful of minor refuges that can support humanoid families of a wide variety of types, but even these eventually collapse or succumb to the overwhelming evil that washes over Baator like a dark red wave.

Tieflings. Tieflings are a rare exception to the general lack of humanoids on the Nine Hells. Those tieflings that can trace their origins to devils often find themselves recruited as spies and agents for the greater devil legions, and can infiltrate many places to advance their master’s secret plots far easier than a true fiend. Many of the Lords of the Nine keep specialized units of tieflings at the ready for tasks such as assassination and infiltration, but more than one tiefling has proven themselves useful and risen through the ranks to achieve a higher position of authority. Just as many reject their lineage and strike out from the Nine Hells on their own, intent on putting as much space between themselves and their devilish heritage as possible – but often times, their pasts wind up coming back to haunt them in the worst ways possible

Oozes

Many of the layers of the Nine Hells are perfectly suited to oozes of all kind, and black puddings and gray oozes are common pests across all of Baator. Some of the greater devils have begun experimenting with oblexes, with possess interesting properties related to the River Styx, and Dispater himself seems keen on the direction of these efforts within the foul dungeons of his iron city. Conflagration oozes grow naturally in the fetid pools of Maladomini where they threaten lesser devils with their terrible ferocity and appetites.

Hazards & Phenomena

The Nine Hells are a dangerous place, and each of the its layers offer a different and horrifying way to maim, hurt, or simply destroy the unwary or unprepared. The devils and other creatures that inhabit each layer usually have their own ways of avoiding these hazards, at least all except one – the Rules of Hell, which binds all devils to their hierarchy and defines the structure of the Nine Hells itself.

Avernus Fireball Strikes

The first layer of the Nine Hells sees some of the most blatantly destructive hazards in all the multiverse. Enormous flaming spheres rain down from the sky, striking the scorched earth and leaving blackened craters in their wake. The devils and demons that turn Avernus into an eternal battlefield in the never-ending Blood War are generally all immune to fire, so the fireballs are little more than distraction. Other creatures are not as lucky.

An Avernus fireball streaks down from the sky and strikes a point, blossoming out to a 20-foot-radius sphere. Creatures in the area must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, they suffer 28 (8d6) fire damage and are knocked prone, and if they succeed they only suffer half damage and are not knocked prone. The fireballs are irregular but seem to almost possess a will – they strike travelers, intruders, and strangers to Avernus more than the devilish legions.

Dis Weight of the Walls

The City of Dis, which encompasses most of the layer of Dis, is filled with gothic, foreboding buildings, walls, and structures that loom over everyone with a sense of momentous importance. Every shadow seems to hold eyes and the dark corners of the streets hide unknown terrors waiting for a chance to leap out and strike. This environment creates a very real sense of dread that beats down on any traveler.

Non-devils that spend a short or long rest in Dis must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or lose the benefit of the rest, regaining no hit points, spell slots, or other abilities that reset on that type of rest. The paranoia of Dispater, the archduke of Dis, imbues the gothic structures of his city with the same sense of fear that creeps slowly into the hearts and minds of any who travel through the twisted narrow streets.

Minauros Hailstorms

Many travelers are surprised to find the weather to be one of the more dangerous aspects in the swampy landscape of Minauros, the third layer of the Nine Hells. The thick, oppressive humidity and clouds of gloomy rain are cut occasionally by bursts of skin-flaying hail. It is widely believed the hail, composed of polluted ice chunks, to be the direct result of Dis above Minauros.

A Minauros hailstorm strikes without warning and inflicts 3 (1d6) slashing damage per round to any exposed creature. A hailstorm typically lasts 2d12 minutes but occasionally longer bouts can pound the swampy terrain for up to six hours.

Phlegethos Flame Eruption

Phlegethos holds many threats to life and limb for the unwary. Volcanoes erupt regularly, raining lava down in wide areas and spilling rivers of molten rock down blackened slopes. It is the layer most recognized for its fiery landscape, which also manifests as a random and dangerous wall called a flame eruption.

Flame eruptions occur when the ground of Phlegethos cracks and releases the built-up energy beneath in a crackling wall of fire and brimstone. The eruption takes the form of a 20 foot long, 20 foot high, and 1 foot thick fiery barrier. Creatures directly in the area of the wall must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, suffering 22 (5d8) fire damage on a failure, or half as much on a success. Moving through or touching the eruption inflicts 22 (5d8) fire damage without a saving throw. Each flame eruption lasts for 1 minute before subsiding as the ground seals back up over the fissure.

Stygia Frozen Wind

The fifth layer of the Nine Hells, Stygia, is cold, filled with icy waters and glaciers, but that’s not the greatest threat posed by the landscape itself. That honor belongs to the frozen wind, a force with an almost malevolent intelligence that chases down creatures through iceberg canyons and across blasted stretches of barren tundra. It is widely believed the frozen winds of Stygia are a direct manifestation of Levistus, a trick he learned since becoming entombed in ice.

When a frozen wind strikes, two effects take place. The first is the area is under the effects of strong wind, as detailed in Chapter 5 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide under Wilderness Survival. The second is biting cold, and creatures within the area must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, suffering 18 (4d8) cold damage on a failure, or half as much on a success. The saving throw must be repeated every minute a creature remains in the frozen wind. Bouts of frozen wind typically last 2d12 minutes.

Malbolge Stone Avalanche

The slopes of Malbolge are rocky, precipitous, and prone to dangerous avalanches with little or no warning. It is true that the number of stone avalanches has decreased since the downfall of Malagarde the Hag Countess, but the landscape of the sixth layer remains unsteady and perilous for those traveling by land.

A stone avalanche covers a very large, sometimes as much as a mile or more wide, and every creature on the ground in such an event must make a DC 15 Strength saving throw. On a failure, the creature is buried beneath the jagged stones and rubble while suffering 26 (4d12) bludgeoning damage. In addition, they are incapacitated beneath a new layer of rocks 2d10 feet deep and begin to suffocate. Creatures that succeed on the save suffer half damage and are only restrained by the rocks until they free themselves as below.

Digging a 1-foot cube of rocks to free someone on Malbolge requires an action and a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check. Multiple creatures can dig in a single location to help free a trapped person.

Maladomini Clouds of Flies

The seventh layer of the Nine Hells is a wasteland of ruined buildings and gutted streets. The wind is dry, the air is dusty, and everything holds a feeling of ancient decay and collapse. But the most striking feature of all are the clouds of black flies, swarming above and through it all in a never-ending macabre dance.

A cloud of flies on Maladomini can be distracting and downright dangerous under the wrong circumstances. Each cloud spreads out to cover an area many hundreds of feet wide, and until they descend down the constant buzzing disrupts concentration. Creatures concentrating on an effect must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or lose the effect they are concentrating on every minute they remain beneath the cloud. Creating an effect that requires concentration requires a DC 15 Constitution to succeed in the area.

If the cloud of flies descends fully, the entire area becomes heavily obscured by the buzzing fiendish insects in addition to the effects above. The buzzing takes on an otherworldly quality that eats away at the mind, inflicting 5 (1d10) psychic damage at the start of each creature’s turn they remain in the cloud. A cloud of flies typically stays descended for 2d6 rounds before returning to the Maladomini skies.

Dispersing a cloud of flies requires creating a strong wind, such as a gust of wind or similar spell. Using such an effect pushes the cloud of flies back to the sky.

Cania Deathly Cold

The cold of Cania, the eighth layer of the Nine Hells, is deeper and more insidious than any other outside of the Frostfell between the Planes of Water and Air. The air is constantly dry and pulls the moisture out of travelers while freezing the very blood to make them sluggish and tired.

After each hour spent on Cania, creatures without cold immunity must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, the creature gains a level of exhaustion. After every four hours in Cania’s deathly cold, creatures without cold immunity gain a level of exhaustion. Long rests on Cania do not provide any benefit for creatures without cold immunity and usually end in frozen death.

Nessus Utter Despair

The deepest, darkest, most malevolent pit in all the multiverse, Nessus is the beating black heart of the Nine Hells and the home of Asmodeus himself. It is a realm of unimaginable despair that seeps insidiously into the hearts and minds of any who travel there. The effects are similar to Cania’s deathly cold but work on a mental rather than physical level.

After each hour spent on Nessus, non-fiend creatures must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or gain a level of exhaustion. After every four hours on the layer, non-fiends gain a level of exhaustion, and long rests do not provide any benefit to non-fiends. Any non-fiend that dies on Nessus as a result of exhaustion has their souls trapped within the Ruby Rod of Asmodeus and cannot be raised or resurrected without the expressed permission of the Lord of the Nine, even with divine aid.

Rules of Hell

The Nine Hells are governed by more than just the Lords of the Nine and the internal nature of the denizen devils. Those creatures are bound to their nature by a force known simply as the Rules of Hell. Put simply, the Rules of Hell dictate the hierarchical structure of the devils, from the lowly lemures to the mighty pit fiends and into the thrones of the archdevils. The rules govern what they can, and what they can't get away with, how to advance, the rewards and duties, and the punishments.

The Rules of Hell are legislated largely by the Diabolical Court on Abyrimoch, an obsidian city on Phlegethos. These judges and administrators interpret the rules within the confines of the wordings, which are innately known to all devils regardless of rank, though disputes and misinterpretations occur with alarming frequency. The Rules of Hell also instruct devils on how to deal with outsiders, mortals specifically, and the contracts signed by other beings with a devil are tied intrinsically back to the Rules of Hell.

Who wrote the Rules of Hell? Most point to Asmodeus, who is not above them though as existed longer than any other devil, but the more canny planar sages look to the badge of office Asmodeus holds – his Ruby Rod. This powerful and ancient relic bears the archdevil’s name but predates him by all accounts, and it is tied to the Nine Hells of Baator in such a way as to make its separation near impossible. Asmodeus uses the Ruby Rod when making official decrees and imposing his will across Baator, such as when he deposed Malagarde the Hag Countess and instituted his daughter Glasya as ruler of Malbolge.

The Rules of Hell are also the binding force that affects travelers to Baator in subtle ways. Food tastes rancid, water spoils, and there’s a general level of discomfort that pervades every aspect of existence in the Nine Hells. It only takes a planar traveler a few minutes on any of the layers to become affected, and some descend quickly into the clutches of absolute evil (another article of the Rules of Hell is the corruption of any foreigner to Baator’s landscape). These affects are more flavor than hard game rules but can give guidance on how to make the Nine Hells uncomfortable for characters traveling across any of the layers.

Sites & Treasures

Sages and librarians know stories and rumors of more sites within the Nine Hells of Baator than almost any other plane. This is perhaps due to the devilish nature to interfere with outside powers in order to supplement the forces of their own infernal legions, but regardless even a fledgling planar sage can recite the names of the nine layers and their current rulers, at least as far as their knowledge goes. The sites described below may have tantalizing entries in crumbling libraries across the multiverse, especially the deeper one travels into Baator itself, lending an air of mystery and unknown terror about each one to tantalize the foolish.

Aeaea, Realm of the Witch-Queens

The swampy landscape of Minauros holds many secret places within its polluted wastes, but any travelers to stumble upon Aeaea know they’ve entered a strange and magical place. This is realm of Hecate, a powerful force of curses and black magic, governed by a force of wicked Witch-Queens. Thick tendrils of fog fill Aeaea’s region, obscuring vision and providing glimpses into a world beyond sight and sound, where magic flows through the swirling mists.

The Witch-Queens – powerful hags all of them – rule Aeaea without question, and can manipulate the mists to create powerful illusions capable of fooling nearly any that enter. The few invaders that have managed to escape with their lives tell stories of looming monstrous towers built from bone and spittle that serve as the personal sanctuaries of the Witch-Queens themselves. The hags boast a number of devils, nightmares, and other fiends under their complete control, much to the annoyance of Mammon, Minauros’ archdevil ruler.

Mammon and the Witch-Queens have an uneasy alliance. The powerful hags send emissaries to the court of the greedy archdevil to deliver gifts of magical secrets, but these are too infrequent for Mammon’s liking. He would prefer tributes delivered every day, but when he has pushed his forces into Aeaea to force the minions of Hecate to submit he was left with a legion of devils gibbering and insane from their time. Mammon knows a great magical treasure sits somewhere in the mists of Aeaea and he would like nothing more than to possess it.

Bronzed Bazaar

The second layer of Baator is the realm of Dispater and is dominated by the sprawling, gothic City of Dis. It is a place of paranoia and shadows, where every grim alleyway can hold an assassin, spy, or worse, and the very walls have eyes. Yet, Dis is also the center of arms manufacturing in the Nine Hells. The forges below the city streets constantly churn out weapons and armor to equip the infernal legions. The generals, dukes, and other representatives across Baator and beyond go to one place to barter for those goods – the Bronzed Bazaar.

The Bronzed Bazaar is one of the few open air locations in Dis, where the tallest buildings loom grim and monolithic at the edges rather than crowded along narrow streets. Devilish representatives of Dispater work countless deals with the merchants that come to gain access to the wonderfully crafted items, including rare Baatorian green steel weapons and armor that are only forged in Dis. The ground in the area is paved with intricate symbols in tarnished bronze, giving the area its name, and these magical runes allow Dispater’s forces a glimpse into the true intentions of any buyer.

Devils are the most common customers in the Bronzed Bazaar, representing legions from across the Nine Hells, but yugoloth mercenary companies, night hag covens, fire giant kings, and other such beings are known to come seeking Dis forged goods. Dispater prefers to deal in souls, soul coins specifically, but magical items, relics, and treasures hold their weight for the right buyer as well.

Heart of the Hag Countess

The downfall of Malagarde the Hag Countess as the lord of Malbolge was a surprising turn of events in infernal politics, and the particular method of her removal was dramatic as well. Asmodeus bloated out the powerful hag to enormous proportions, a process that that drove her to insanity with pain, and then her body exploded spectacularly. Parts of the Hag Countess flew across the rocky landscape of Malbolge, her blood pooled in toxic pits, and Glasya was appointed new ruler of the layer.

Malagarde’s heart, bloated and overblown, was thrown particularly far. Glasya has made a point of finding and claiming as much of her predecessor’s former corpse as possible, but so far she has not found the blackened heart. Glasya’s scouts and patrols have reported seeing the monstrous thing crawling along Malbolge’s mountainside with countless smaller fiends dancing and moving around it in jubilation. But whenever the devils got close, the heart vanished into the cracks, seeping into the rocks like black oil.

Glasya wants desperately to claim the Heart of the Hag Countess, if nothing else than to make sure her predecessor is truly put down. What force moves it across Malbolge now? Is it a fragment of Malagarde’s spirit left to writhe in torment, tied to her enormous black heart? Or has it become the home of a new fiend looking to claim the hag’s power for their own? Glasya doesn’t want to find out the answers to these questions the hard way.

Hungry Vaults

Maladomini was once the home to a great race of monsters, huge and imposing, that many planar sages link to a predecessor to the known devils of today. This was in a time before Baalzebul who, long ago, ruled both Malbolge and Maladomini, and considered Maladomini the far lesser of the two. Several failed coup attempts against Asmodeus later and Baalzebul is a slothful shadow of his former self, though the Archduke of Lies remains a potent player on the Lords of the Nine stage. He has done little to explore the contents of Maladomini, being more preoccupied with his current slug state, but one region that has caught his attention for centuries are the Hungry Vaults.

In a particularly worn set of cyclopean ruins in the dust-choked depths of the Maladomini wastes sits a series of great obsidian hatches in the hard-packed ground. There are supposedly seven of these, each marked with different words in an unknown language, but to date Baalzebul has only managed to open two of them. And within he found a powerful secret held by the ancient race of beings of Baator – along with a pulsating, malevolent darkness that devours all without thought or care. Baalzebul has lost many legions exploring the Hungry Vaults and to date has only managed to procure minor items, but it is rumored that something he found there pushed his plans for a coup of the Nessian throne into action (though it ultimately failed).

Whatever the Hungry Vaults hold gnaws at Baalzebul and he still errantly sends units to the far-flung site to keep abreast of any changes.

Ivory Fingers of Malagarde

After the dramatic fall of the Hag Countess from her position as lord of Malbolge, several strange things starting showing up across the mountainside layer. Aspects of the powerful night hag, physical and spiritual, began springing up, and the new ruler Glasya is determined to claim all of these and make sure the wicked Malagarde never gains a foothold. The daughter of Asmodeus has found and claimed one site already, a series of ten curved towers known as the Ivory Fingers of Malagarde.

These ten towers look like skeletal fingers clawing out of the side of Malbolge’s rocky landscape, with the palms hidden just below the surface. Glasya has made it her “retreat” palace and keeps teams of devils working to hollow each one out for the new archduchess to use. Only two have been completed thus far, referred to as the Tower of Pain and the Tower of Agony, but Glasya knows it’s only a matter of time before she has all five under her complete control.

The devils working to hollow out the Ivory Fingers and turn them into towers have been reporting some strange phenomena, however. Several of them have been possessed by an overwhelming urge to dig in the areas between the two groups of five towers, where the palm and remaining hand would be. Diligent overlords have kept all the devils in line so far, but the feelings have been getting stronger in some. Glasya has dismissed all reports of these incidents as nothing more than superstition and has ordered the demotion of several ranking devils as punishment.

Jangling Hiter

Above the stinking swamps of Minauros hangs the city of Jangling Hiter, also known as the City of Chains. It is mysteriously suspended above the muck and mire by enormous lengths of chain that stretch up into the shrouded atmosphere of the layer, to connect eventually to the bottom of the City of Dis. None in Jangling Hiter question or marvel at this feat of engineering skill, for the residents of the city – chain devils primarily – are concerned with only one thing: torture.

The chain devils of Jangling Hiter are renown through the Nine Hells for their ability to torture both flesh and soul. Every archduke has their own contingent of torturers under their control but these are generally for the flaying and whipping of flesh. For soul torture, most look to the pain experts in Jangling Hiter. The screams of the tortured souls merge together within the City of Chains to form a wild cacophony that drives most mortals to madness within a few hours.

Jangling Hiter sees quite a few merchant travelers from across the multiverse. Most come to deal with the chain devils that have become so renown for their torture abilities, but also the chains manufactured in Jangling Hiter are some of the strongest around. The merchant district of the city is the only one that sees much outside traffic and travelers are warned to keep clear of the rest of the regions.

Kintyre

The frozen landscape of Cania is dotted with cavernous ruins of cities and civilizations that fell into the clutches of Mephistopheles. So many have fallen into the icy crags and crevasses that the archdevil has lost track of them, and even the ones he remembers he doesn’t know all of the details. Kintyre is one such city, claimed long ago and frozen solid in a massive mountain of ice, but something in it has piqued the interest of the Circle of Hellfire.

The Circle of Hellfire believes KIntyre holds some promising secret of hellfire itself, and they’ve managed to carve out a tunnel leading into the frozen city’s outskirts. They work to melt away the ice without damaging the structures, and they’ve uncovered a city literally frozen in time. Kintyre was a center of learning in a far-off Material Plane world whose leaders fell to worshipping Mephistopheles. Then, their greed became too great and they gave up the city to the archdevil, who claimed it in one massive sweep.

The Kintyre library has been the focus for the Circle of Hellfire but melting the ice without burning the books and scrolls has proven time consuming. Mephistopheles is barely aware of the operation, and the devil in charge – an erinyes hellfire sorcerer named Lady Dorzonella – seeks to claim the secrets of Kintyre for herself and usurp leadership of the Circle of Hellfire.

Maggot Pit

Avernus is a battle-scarred wasteland of broken stones beneath a bloated crimson sky under which march armies without end. It is the staging point for the Blood War but the layer serves many other purposes. One of its primary functions in the grand scheme of devilkind is the mass transformation of souls into lemures, the lowest of devils, and this is done in a massive crater called the Maggot Pit. Over 1,000 feet wide, the Maggot Pit is filled with crawling white worms that latch onto souls, devouring them and becoming lemures in the process. The pit is considered neutral territory in the Nine Hells, controlled by no single archdevil, but curiously it also blocks the entrance into the realm of a Baatorian prisoner known across the multiverse – Tiamat, Queen of Dragons.

Tiamat’s citadel beyond the Maggot Pit is a secret place wherein the dragon queen is bound forever by ancient and divine pacts. She constantly struggles to break free, to set claw and wing on a plane outside of the Nine Hells, but many planar scholars believe the Maggot Pit is part of the lock that keeps Tiamat bound. Why else would such a critically important place be so close to enemy territory? For her own part, Tiamat and her forces keep to her secret citadel and leave the Maggot Pit alone for her attempts at disrupting the flow of souls has always met with disaster.

Each archdevil has means of transforming souls into lemures in their own realms but not on such a scale as the Maggot Pit, so soul caravans from all over the Nine Hells come to Avernus to perpetuate the line of devils. Because of this, the region also holds the most portals to the lower levels of Baator, but each is carefully guarded and kept as secret as possible.

Maw of Hellfire

Mephistopheles’ use of hellfire in recent years has been the subject of much debate among planar scholars. Where did the archdevil find and cultivate such a powerful resource in Cania, the coldest layer of the Nine Hells? Hellfire is white and burns not with fire but with pure pain, and as such the psychic damage it inflicts is felt by devils, demons, and almost every other creature across the multiverse. The Circle of Hellfire continually searches for new ways to use the potent element, but the truth of its source has long been a mystery.

One theory points to the Maw of Hellfire on Cania, a great yawning pit in the heart of an ice volcano in the frigid wastes. Hellfire burns continually within the icy caldera, spouting out in great bursts at irregular intervals, and a maze of tunnels have been carved into the volcano’s side as servants of Mephistopheles study the site. Is this the source of hellfire? Or an experiment of Mephistopheles’ to see just how much hellfire he can summon and harness? The devils assigned to the Maw of Hellfire are among the archdevil’s most loyal servants, and even the Circle of Hellfire itself is kept out.

Mentiri, Prison of Dis

Deep inside a labyrinth of tunnels below the iron streets of Dis sits Mentiri, a hidden prison that has long served as a dumping ground for those that displease or cross Dispater. Mentiri is divided into two large segments serving different purposes. The Bastille of Flesh houses mortal beings that have not yet died, and if Dispater has his way will continue to live in lightless cells under truly torturous conditions. Fallen paladins, defeated angels, devil insurgents, demon rebels, and more languish in this prison guarded by fearsome devils and powerful magic.

The second section, the Bastille of Souls, is devoted to souls that Dispater has not been able to transform into devils yet. These fall into one of two types. Either they have ended up in the Nine Hells accidentally by some happenstance of fate or they were part of a larger bargain but not corrupted yet. In both cases the souls cannot be transformed into devils, not yet at least, and the Bastille of Souls is dedicated to punishing those souls until they finally break and Dispater can use them in future legions.

The jailers that keep Mentiri running are cruel and ruthless, even by infernal standards, and they take their work seriously. Very few prisoners have escaped from the iron prison of Mentiri over the centuries, a point of pride for the devils in charge, and none have escaped without significant outside help.

Midnight Desert

A black sand wasteland sits in the cold waters of Stygia, scoured by the frozen winds that blow through the layer. Countless pyramids and monuments built of white stone or permanent ice fill this land in dedication to Set, a mysterious and ancient snake god who supposedly slumbers beneath the ground. Known as the Midnight Desert, this is a harsh and unforgiving region in a harsh and unforgiving layer of the Nine Hells, where powerful magic runs through obelisks, fueling the power of Set and his deranged cultists.

Fang devils are a common sight in the Midnight Desert along with infernal yuan-ti that serve as the minions of Set. Levistus, archduke of Stygia, has long left the Midnight Desert to its own devices, though for Geryon’s brief reign as ruler he attempted to annex much of the black sandy region in order to claim Set’s magic for himself. The powers of Set pushed back Geryon’s advances and now that Levistus is restored as the Stygian ruler, the fallen archdevil has greater things to pursue than a petty grudge against the ancient serpent god.

Priests of Set worship in dusty halls and enormous catacombs beneath many of the pyramids. It is rumored that an intricate series of tunnels extend beneath the Midnight Desert, connecting all of the sites together in an arcane pattern of untold power that allows Set to slumber beneath the eyes of more powerful gods that would seek to put his forces down.

Nighted Sun

Nessus is a layer of despair and hopelessness. Few things represent this more than the great black orb that hangs in the sky over the shadow-filled canyons. Those that have seen it call it the Nighted Sun for it sheds darkness instead of light, and seems to absorb the energy of any who gaze upon its horrible glory. Asmodeus is said to have a magnificent gallery in his hidden palace that allows him to bathe in the Nighted Sun’s negative radiance.

While Nessus remains one of the least visited layers of the Nine Hells, there have been reports of a band of hellbreakers that discovered the Nighted Sun actually contains numerous treasure vaults of Asmodeus himself. Of the group that discovered and broke into one of these vaults, only two survived – one is a gibbering lunatic bound to the eternal care of holy priests and the other wanders the Material Plane, half lucid and speaking in riddles. What they stole remains a mystery as well or for what benefactor.

Nightshade Crater

The first layer of Avernus is a blasted landscape of broken rubble and jagged peaks pocked by countless pits caused by both the movement of fiendish armies and the never-ending fireballs that drop from the bloated crimson sky. Most of these pits are nothing more than impact craters, but some are so large as to defy this explanation. Nightshade Crater is one such place, and it is nearly a mile across and half that deep.

The slopes of the crater are smoothed like glass as if burnt under extreme heat, and the conventional explanation for it origin says an enormous flaming ball fell to the Avernus ground from elsewhere. That doesn’t explain the huge number of black nightshade flowers that grow in the normally infertile rubble or the cloyingly sweet smell of death that hangs over the entire region. Something beneath the ground in Nightshade Crater feeds the strange flora. One theory put out by a band of planar scholars say the crater hides the fallen corpse of a defeated Abyssal demon lord, but attempts at digging into the blasted earth has yielded no such proof.

Nightshade Crater also contains a large concentration of nightshade monsters, undead horrors normally found on the Plane of Shadow. The presence of these creatures and the abundance of black flowers gives the crater its name. Are the nightshades guarding something? Are they result of some foul connection to the Plane of Shadow itself? Or are they simply scavengers picking the bones from some horrendous battle fought long ago?

Pits of Hell

Phlegethos is the burning hellscape most mortals think of when they imagine the Nine Hells, but even in that fiery layer of active volcanoes and rivers of magma some regions stand out more than others. The Pits of Hell are one of those. These seven enormous pits in the blackened ground are filled with molten lava and an incredible heat. Iron cages hang along the walls of many of the pits wherein sit devils that have been found guilty of breaking the Rules of Hell by the Diabolical Courts. A special enchantment is placed over the devils that removes their fire immunity, and in the Pits of Hell the heat is so intense that some devils are reduced to naught but ash and bones by the time their sentence is served.

The other purpose the Pits of Hell serve is to baptize new pit fiends into the greater service of Baator. The name pit fiend actually refers to these Pits of Hell where they are born in the deepest bowels of liquid magma. Ice devils that have advanced far enough in the infernal hierarchy are sponsored by an existing duke or archdevil and lowered into the Pits of Hell for 666 days. Assuming they survive, they emerge as pit fiends, the highest ranking of the greater devils, ready to wreak havoc upon the multiverse in the name of Baator.

Ruby Rod of Asmodeus

Without argue, the most potent relic in all the Nine Hells is the Ruby Rod of Asmodeus, the badge of office for the Lord of the Ninth and the symbol of power recognized and honored by all the infernal residents of Baator. Asmodeus never leaves the Ruby Rod unattended and uses it judicially to hand out punishments and rewards in his duties as lord of Nessus. Its powers are many and varied and there are some that believe it predates Asmodeus himself and serves instead as an extension of the Nine Hells.

From time to time, Asmodeus has gifted prized followers across the multiverse with replicas of his Ruby Rod. These facsimiles remain incredibly powerful relics capable of blasting opponents with spells, weaving potent illusions, and directing the souls of the departed down to the night-haunted pits of Nessus itself. Rarely does the Lord of the Ninth allow such copies of his prized weapon to remain out in the multiverse for long and, regardless of what the devotee was told, the copy of the Ruby Rod always seems to possess a malevolence and plan all its own.

The Ruby Rod of Asmodeus is inextricably linked to the Rules of Hell that invisibly govern how devils operate across the multiverse, which leads many planar sages to believe its power stems from a source greater than Asmodeus himself. Is it an ancient entity of primordial evil, bound to the potent relic by forbidden magic? Is it the will of Asmodeus given ruby form? Or something more?

Sanguine Delves

Countless devil legions march across the rocky wasteland of Avernus, but most avoid the deadly region known as the Sanguine Delves for fear of getting trapped in the maze-like canyon. A river of boiling blood rushes through the floor of the delves, a depth of over 500 feet in the deepest reaches from the surface, but the true danger lies in the insane number of portals that spontaneously appear along the walls. Portals to the Abyss, spewing demonic armies, and portals to the lower reaches of the Nine Hells, all appear with no rhyme or reason.

Whatever force creates the portals in the Sanguine Delves has never been controlled or catalogued, and because of this it has never been more than an anomaly in the war-strewn wasteland of Avernus. At least one outcast duke has built a castle above the boiling blood river, held by powerful magic and a deep sense of paranoia, but most natives of the Nine Hells avoid the region for its obvious dangers and lack of strategic value.

Serpent’s Coil

There are several myths around how Asmodeus came to stand atop the hierarchy of the Nine Hells, but most focus on the idea that he was cast out of somewhere in the Upper Planes – Mount Celestia, Elysium, or even some primordial archetype for these angelic realms. And, the proof of this myth is found right in Nessus - Asmodeus’ fall literally created the deep canyons and gorges of the lowest layer of the Nine Hells. And those that take these myths as truth point to the Serpent’s Coil as the epicenter of the fall.

The deepest canyon in all of Nessus, Serpent’s Coil is a spiraling labyrinth of black rock cliffs that grows deeper the further along one travels. Some say the corkscrew path was underground long ago but time has eroded the surface to create the ever-deepening canyon. And at the end sits the palace of Asmodeus himself, in an unfathomably deep crevasse where light is forbidden to shine, guarded by the most fanatically loyal devils in all of Baator. These devils are the literal manifestation of Asmodeus, born of his spilled blood, and they patrol Serpent’s Coil with a righteous zeal.

A dwarf miner from the wilds of Bytopia managed to take a team into Nessus long ago and return with samples of the black rock that form Serpent’s Coil. She found that the stone reacted strongly to light but could be worked with a hot enough force to form items of unquestionable beauty. The dwarf crafted a few trinkets and weapons of the black stone before succumbing to a madness that sent her fleeing into the multiverse, but not before she built an idol dedicated to Asmodeus himself.

Shadowcast Forges

Dispater employs the most talented weapon and armor smiths in all the Nine Hells to work in the endlessly belching forges in the city of Dis. The best of the best, however, the archduke saves for a special project deep in the underbowels of the city. There, the infernal masters work tirelessly in the darkness of the Shadowcast Forges, fashioning items from pure shadow steel for use by Dispater’s elite soldiers.

The Shadowcast Forges are lit by a burning black fire originating from the Negative Energy Plane. The energy is pumped and harnessed by powerful bellows and then worked by devilish crafters to form items of liquid shadow, as strong as steel and as transparent as smoky glass. The iron shadows that serve as Dispater’s eyes and ears across the city are birthed in the Shadowcast Forges, unholy monstrosities given life and sentience by dangerous and unpredictable arcane forces.

The devils that work the Shadowcast Forges are not allowed access to the outside, and none but Dispater himself are allowed into the labyrinthine bowels of Dis where the forges operate. Knowing the potency of the weapons and armor created there, several of Dispater’s archdevil rivals have sent scouts in search of the location but so far none have prevailed in finding let alone crippling the powerful site.

Stones of the Nightmare Eye

The wasteland of Maladomini is dotted with cyclopean ruins of unknown but ancient origin, but out there in the blowing dust and clouds of flies are a series of standing stones that do not date back to the time before devils. This arrangement of six great stone blocks, pulsating red and black, are much more recent, having been built by Baalzebul as a way to contain a powerful rival from his own layer. Known as the Nightmare Eye, it was a conflagration ooze of tremendous proportion and endless hunger that sought to usurp the archdevil.

Baalzebul put down the uprising and, in order to keep the Nightmare Eye from reforming, broke it up into six massive blocks, hardened it with powerful magic, and threw the stones into the wasteland of Maladomini to stand forever in silence. But the Nightmare Eye has been anything but. It has learned to communicate telepathically with other conflagration oozes across the plane, along with other fiendish oozes and slimes, and its plot for revenge against the Prince of Lies works slowly behind the scenes. It has worked to place its subtle minions all around Baalzebul’s personal Palace of Filth, with some acting as sentries to the archdevil’s abode.

Is Baalzebul truly ignorant of the threat posed by the Nightmare Eye? The slug-like archdevil seems to pay the oozes and slimes that surround his palace and infest Maladomini little heed, but on the other hand Baalzebul is known to play the long game with foes. When the Nightmare Eye moves against the Lord of the Seventh, who will come out on top?

Tomb of Levistus

Levistus is the Lord of the Fourth, ruler over Stygia, but he is an archdevil with a problem. Long ago, he moved against Asmodeus in a grand coup attempt that failed miserably, and as a result the Lord of the Ninth entombed Levistus within a glacier in Stygia’s frozen landscape. Geryon took over as Lord of the Fourth while Levistus, frozen and unmoving but not dead, could do little but seethe and dream of the day of his revenge.

That day came suddenly when Geryon was deposed and Levistus reinstated as Stygia’s ruler. But, his tomb remained firm and steadfast. His mind sharpened by years of nothing but thinking, Levistus has learned to control the elements of Stygia mentally and has gained a respectable command of psychic power. The Tomb of Levistus where his body rests now in magically hardened ice remains his forever prison, but the wily archdevil has managed to turn the tables and gain an advantage over many of his foes. Geryon, now deposed, works to return to Stygia’s throne but he has little idea as to the extent of Levistus’ new power.

The Tomb of Levistus is attended to by a tribe of fiendish yetis who pledged their undying loyalty to the archdevil ages ago. They now serve as his caretakers and constantly try to dig Levistus out, though thus far their efforts have been in vain. That fact has not bothered Levistus much as he continues to use his psychic powers to gain leverage over the other Lords of the Nine and plot his ascent to the throne of Nessus.