Colothys

Colothys is a hell of treacherous elevation and fractured trust. The orbs that make up this layer are less like spheres and more like massive spikes, their shapes warped by the chaotic nature of the plane. Mountains rise like knives, some hundreds of miles tall, split by yawning abyssal chasms. From a distance, each orb appears as a blood-red thorn against the backdrop of an utterly black sky.

  The landscape itself symbolizes perpetual conflict, mountains crash into one another, cliffs collapse endlessly, and earth splits open into yawning chasms, reflecting the prisoners' ceaseless, destructive ambition and internal discord.   The scale of Colothys is not just oppressive—it is fatal. Even the act of flying between orbs can lead to death, as misjudging approach angles on the irregular terrain often ends in mid-air collisions or catastrophic crashes. These orbs are separated by nearly 500,000 miles, far greater than any other layer, ensuring that travel is rare, desperate, and likely fatal.    

Notable Locations

• Ellaniath

  The divine domain of Vhaeraun, lies veiled behind a veil of divine secrecy. Any who enter lose all memory of it upon leaving, if they leave at all.
 
• The Garden of Malice grows only on a single orb, its alluring blossoms masking a carnivorous trap. It lures the greedy or curious, ensnares them, and scatters its seeds through the digestive tracts of scavengers, spreading its deadly beauty across the layer.
 

• Land of the Hunt

  The sacred demesne of Menas, a rare stretch of Colothys covered in wild greenery. It teems with game and primal energy.
 

• The Vault

  A fortress-prison, is buried deep in a canyon wall. While said to uphold order, its true legacy is one of cruelty, corruption, and abuse, its wardens as violent as the criminals they keep.

• The Mountains of Discord

  An endless range of jagged, stone peaks in constant collision, sending avalanches and earthquakes through the landscape. Traversal requires constant balance.

• Valley of Echoing Conflict

  Deep valleys echo endlessly with the sounds of ancient battles, screaming warriors, and clashing steel. Travelers risk succumbing to battle frenzy.

• Fortress of Bitter Iron

  A colossal stronghold built from rusted iron and broken weapons, ruled by warlords endlessly battling each other. Captives here are forced to relive their worst defeats repeatedly, fueling their torment and hatred. The fortress is treated as one of the greatest bastions of Demodands.

• The Chasm of Shattered Shields

  A vast canyon filled with broken shields and armor of countless forgotten armies. The area is haunted by restless warrior spirits that drain vitality. Those spirits are somewhat fueled by anger by the Demodands.

 

Traversing the landscape

Climbing Colothys’s mountains is a near-impossible feat. The cliffs are vertical or inverted, and the few trees that cling to the stone offer no aid, which is only illusionary hope. Natural plateaus occasionally dot the slopes, and artificial rope bridges span from cliff to cliff, though most sway dangerously in the layer’s howling winds.   The most vital pathways are the carved ledges: one-foot-wide footpaths etched along the mountainsides. These precarious trails are often the only viable trade or travel routes, but are highly contested. Clashes over territory, tolls, or vendettas frequently erupt into bloodshed. Many of these paths lead not to safety, but to traps, bandit camps, or lairs of monstrous predators.  

Inhabitants

This is home to the souls of deceivers, those who rose through lies, manipulation, and betrayal. These petitioners often form unstable cliffside villages, built into canyons where they squabble violently over food, tools, ledges, or merely out of bloodlust. Conflict is constant, and insult is often met with instant, deadly violence.   Alongside them dwell Giants twisted by planar influence, as well as demons, daemons, and demodands. Many make their lairs deep within the mountain hollows, emerging to torment or consume the weak. The canyon floors, while marginally more stable, are paradoxically the most cursed places, plagued by wandering monsters, pestilence, and perpetual misfortune. Only the outcasts and desperate dare settle there.

Summoning and Binding

Entities summoned from Colothys require tokens of ruthless ambition or martial betrayal. Summoned beings are aggressive warriors skilled in sowing discord and devastation.  

Entry and Escape

Entering Colothys is usually done via Plane Shift, using a token of betrayal, conquest, or martial violence as a key.
Escaping Colothys is only achieveable by overcoming one's internal conflicts or making peace between eternal enemies. Alternatively, divine intervention or artifcats, are rumoed to be open a path temporarily.