![]() Physical travel is possible from Avernus to the upper citadels of Dis, the second layer of Hell. Styx also connects to Nessus, the ninth layer, although this is rarely known as its pit fiend guards kill most unwanted visitors. It also connects Avernus to Stygia, the fifth layer of Hell. The river Styx runs through Avernus and connects it to the other lower planes. One known path known to guides is called the Road of Good Intent, and leads from the town of Darkspine through other ruined settlements, across the river Styx, and on to the Maggot Pit. Travel in this regard is difficult, even with a local guide. The expanses of endless flat terrain make it difficult to determine the distance of settlements or landmarks accurately. The ground is littered with sharp obsidian and quartz, making it risky to travel at normal rate. ĭraukari, underground lair of Kurtulmak the Peaceable Lands, lair of Bargrivyek, and Set's realm also occupy this plane. Arraka has been known to accept bribes in exchange for safe passage. Lemures and nupperibo are born from this pit, guarded by a red abishai named Arraka. Tiamat's Lair lies within a cave entrance in a sheer rock wall known as the Dragon Cliff, at the edge of the Maggot Pit, a crater a thousand feet wide filled with mind-numbing poisonous slime and maggots. The devils keep well away from this place. Far from the other major landmarks of the plane, it is a place of beautiful nature and wildlife whose origins and purpose are unknown. ![]() It flows from the Lake of Blood in the Stigmaris mountains, and ultimately flows into the river Styx. The River of Blood is a slow, partially clotted flow which winds through Avernus, a hundred feet or more in width. It is around twenty feet tall and 10 feet in circumference. Most are humanoid, and constantly argue and bicker with each other. The Pillar of Skulls is a tower of living, disembodied, screaming heads. The ruins of four such cities form a straight line between Darkspine and the river Styx. Darkspine is not the first gate-town pulled into the plane, and it may not be the last. Only a few scavengers remain in the town. The ruined town of Darkspine was once a bustling gate-town in the Outlands until the devils pulled the settlement into Hell. By now, the citadel covers an area of hundreds of square miles, and the original Bronze Citadel proper is protected with twelve concentric rings of walls. Devils and masses of slaves work to reinforce its defenses, an ongoing and continuous process that started long ago. The ruler's fortress is known as the Bronze Citadel. Time, magic, and gravity behave normally here, although it is hard to tell time due to the lack of any day/night cycle. It is divinely morphic, and can be altered by will of by lesser deities and above, though ordinary people can affect it as they would the material plane. Like all of the Nine Hells, Avernus is infinite in size. It is considered the "top" layer, though how it connects to the others is not clear until one travels down to the lower layers of Hell and observes the upper layers from that perspective. It is occasionally chosen as a battleground for spell duels between powerful mages.ĭespite being technically infinite in size, Avernus is the broadest relative to the other layers of the Nine Hells. One valuable export is Baatorian green steel. Īvernus is largely too barren to support any significant civilization or trade. Fireballs, striking seemingly at random, are a constant danger to non-devil visitors who do not possess resistance to fire. Rivers of blood run throughout Avernus, said to be the blood of the plane's victims. A scent of ozone and sulfur fills the air. ![]() The only local food source suitable for humanoids is fire fungus, a dull red moss which grows where the fireballs strike. ![]() Little grows here, and the few plants which do survive are short and twisted. Fireballs can be seen weaving through the sky, and unexpectedly strike visitors, causing the formation of pieces of obsidian. The atmosphere is filled with pockets of glowing flammable gas which pose a threat to visitors. There is no sun in the sky here, but the entire plane is suffused with a constant blood-red light. This sharp scree litters the ground, endlessly flat except for a slight one degree downward slant in the direction of Tiamat's Lair. The mountains and rocky hills here are plentiful in sharp obsidian and quartz, which serve to injure climbers. Rocky crags rise across the layer's landscape. Avernus is a rocky wasteland beneath a dark red sky. ![]()
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