Phlegethos

In Phlegethos, fire itself is more than an element—it is a living force. The sentient flames of Phlegethos lash out at intruders, their hunger insatiable, while ignoring the layer’s native devils and sworn servants. The heat is so intense that even infernal steel warps and cracks without constant care.  

Notable Location

Abryimoch

Rising from the caldera of an extinct volcano, Abriymoch is a masterpiece of obsidian spires and crystal towers. Its streets glow faintly from the magma flows beneath, and its air is thick with the scent of brimstone. According to legend, the city was built atop the grave of a god slain by Asmodeus in ancient aeons. Today, it is as much a center of infernal revelry—filled with decadent taverns and performance halls—as it is a bastion of military power.

• The Court of Flame and Fragrance: Fierna’s salon-palace; disputes are settled by wit, dance, and consequences.
• The Brandery of Belial: A black tower where infernal brands are smelted—clauses you wear on your skin.
• The Ember Exchange: Market for memories, sensations, and oaths, all bottled or braided into talismans.
• The Pit Flame: One of the most feared and revered sites in all the Nine Hells, the Pit Flame is a colossal, ever-burning fissure said to burn with the distilled essence of Hell’s wrath. To be cast into it is both an execution and an honor, for those who survive are forever transformed.

 

The Red Riviera

A chain of “baths” built along thermoclines where pain becomes bliss. Favored by erinyes emissaries and their targets.  

Glassfall Basin

A crater that collects vitrified sandstorms; artisans harvest razor-petals to inlay torment engines and couture.  

The Phlogiston Stairs

An adamantine helical stair bored through a volcanic throat; every landing hosts a different vice, escalating as you descend.  

Iron Lily Theatres

Open-air amphitheaters over vents. Opera, trial, and execution blend into a single performance.  

Seas of Slag

Vast molten lakes whose surfaces crust, buckle, and calve into glowing bergs.  

Obsidian Deserts

Knife-edged dunes sing in the wind; buried heat vents can glass a caravan in heartbeats.  

Basalt Arches & Pillars

Natural bridges span calderas; many are bored through to channel pyroclastic rivers.  

Cavern Throatlands

Sub-realms of red-hot stalactites and dripping stone, used for forges, prisons, and theaters.  

Government

Phlegethos is unique among the layers in that it is ruled jointly by two archdevils: Fierna and Belial. This arrangement, an exception sanctioned by Ashmedai himself, is as volatile as the land they govern. Fierna’s charm and dangerous allure mask a ruthless will, while Belial’s cunning legal mind shapes much of the layer’s infamous judiciary. Together, they preside over The Diabolical Court, the Nine Hells’ supreme seat of judgment, where disputes between devils are settled and promotions, or demotions, are decreed.   Rituals of ascension and punishment in Phlegethos involve a symbolic trial by fire. The condemned or the hopeful are immersed in the layer’s sacred flames, which strip away all infernal protections, leaving even the most powerful devil vulnerable to harm.  

Inhabitants

Phlegethos teems with hamatulas and cornugons, who enforce the archdevils’ will with brutal precision. Hell hounds prowl its streets and borders, imps skitter between volcanic markets, and spinagons serve as messengers in the choking heat. The layer is heavily fortified, and outsiders are rarely tolerated unless summoned for a purpose.

Phlegethos mirrors the raw fury of the Elemental Plane of Fire, but twisted by the order and cruelty of Hell. The land is cracked and fissured, venting superheated gas and molten rock. Volcanoes are so numerous that their eruptions blend into a constant background roar. Lava rivers flow into an incandescent ocean of fire, whose tides lap at the shores of basalt plateaus.   The flames here are not mere hazards... they are predators, intelligent and vengeful toward the uninvited. Even the sky burns, the air shimmering with living embers that drift lazily before striking like sparks into kindling.   There additional effects such as:

• Sinner's Softening, meaning that extended exposure here weakens the mind and compulsion effects are enhanced.
• Powerful acts of oath-breaking, betrayal, extstatic rites and such leave residual hear signatures readable for days.
• Certain ash dritfts nump pain while amplifying compliance; These are harvested for 'medical' diplomacy.
• There are many flames called Living Flame, which are essentially fire elementals with predatory curiosity who are to secrets whispered in confidence.

The Weather is like the Elemental Plane of Fire, with firestorms, always Rolling fronts of superheated ash; follow with glassfall and choking afterwinds. In addition, Cinder Squalls, which are Lateral blasts that flay exposed skin and polish bone in minutes.   One special effect is the Heat Mirage, where optical lures that look like shade, water or an old lover's face for anyone who look upon.