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Abyss

2020-08-12T05:29:03Z

2601:203:480:4C60:C876:79D4:5AEA:A043: /* Inhabitants */

[[File:Abyss layers 3e.webp|thumb|right|300px]]
{{Topquote|1=During the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that conditions called war; and such a war, as if of every man, against every man.|2= Thomas Hobbes}}
'''The Infinite Layers of the Abyss''' is the [[Alignment|Chaotic Evil]] [[plane]] in ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'s'' [[Great Wheel]] cosmology. It's home to an infinite number of [[demon]]s, the Chaotic Evil fiends. Expect [[METAL]].

The plane is such a mess of chaos and upheaval that it doesn't even stay the same in basic state from time to time, which is another way of saying the writers can't keep it straight and [[retcon|change it]] whenever it's convenient. It's an infinite plane, like the others, but actually has an infinite number of different layers as well, meaning that the aforementioned changes might just be an examination of a different subset of layers. According to one faction in the ''[[Planescape]]'' setting it also specifically has 666 layers, [[Derp|because that's totally the same as infinite.]] Then again, it's one of the chaotic planes, so not making sense is probably [[Just As Planned|the whole idea]] (ignoring the fact that [[Arborea]] is just as consistent as any of the Lawful planes).

It's also a plane in the [[World Axis]] cosmology of D&D too, but here is a more modestly sized "universe-swallowing" vortex of corruption and evil that lies in the [[Elemental Chaos]], created when [[Tharizdun]] planted a crystallized shard of pure evil from the dying universe of the [[obyrith]]s in the Elemental Chaos.

In the [[World of Darkness]] games, the Abyss is a realm of cold blackness from which [[shade]]s and [[Demon#In_the_World_of_Darkness|demons]] and the [[Wyrm|god of Oblivion]] hail, and from which [[vampires]] wielding [[Obtenebration]] summon either a black ectoplasmic substance for various effects, such as the creation of tentacles, or a raw [[Entropy|Oblivionic]] energy for disintegrating targets. Thematically it is closer to [[D&D]]'s [[Negative Energy Plane]] or [[Shadowfell]] plane.

==Notable Layers==
Most of the layers are often described as containing wildly different inhospitable biomes, sometimes on the same layer side-by-side. All of them are full of the kind of [[Slaanesh|Chaoticy-Evilly fuckery you'd expect]], so none of them are great places for vacation homes. The named layers are also given numbers, but given that they are in no way consistently arranged in space, those numbers are meaningless and changed often (except for the first one). Officially, though, they are numbered in order of their discovery by mortals.

The descriptions are, naturally, weighted to the lower numbers.

A major source for the below is the Planescape box, ''Planes of Chaos''.

'''Pazunia:''' 1st layer

The Plane of Infinite Portals, and the way you get to any of the others. It's covered in giant sinkholes, each one a portal to another layer of the Abyss. This is also the layer that the [[River Styx]] flows through on its path from [[Pandemonium]] to [[Acheron]]. Iron fortresses on this layer are also where Demon Princes leave their bodies when they're busy roaming around the [[Astral Plane]]. Dozens of minor demon princes co-rule this layer, though, officially, [[Pazuzu]] is in charge. The Grand Abyss is sometimes the 4th layer and Pazunia is the Styx shorelines.

This is one of the great battlefields of the Blood War. Mostly, this is a staging ground for the various demon hordes being flung at the [[Baator|Nine Hells]], but that creates a whole set of problems by itself. As some of you may already know, beings that are inherent Chaotic and Evil are just as likely to start axe-murdering one another as anything else. So put a million such beings of pure Chaotic Evil side by side in one place, and count the seconds until they just start killing each other instead of doing what they were told. Now, complicate that problem with the fact that some demon princes may actually want such an outburst to occur to weaken the forces of a rival. Now throw in yugoloth mercenaries turning stag on a demon employer (devils, after all, are much better at keeping their words on contracts and payments and the like). Toss in a force of devils being sent for scouting and/or raiding duties to better prepare for said horde before it even gets to Avernus. And finally, sprinkle in the dozens of other planars - celestials, adventurers, etc. - who are visiting and know that the best way to deal with an ornery demon is basically to fucking destroy it.

Now, it's not all murderhobos and axes to the face. There's a few fiends that run some odd little fortified establishments out here. Some are mercenaries who can press-gang enough demons to make it worth someone's effort to pay for it. There's even a few mercantile or entertainment venues around. But mostly, if you run into a fiend out here, you murder the shit out of it and hope it didn't have any friends who really gave a shit about it. This is the first layer of an infinite amount of Chaotic Evil, by the way; it only gets more fun the further down the spiral you go.

It should be noted that oddly, this is the most stable layer of the Abyss. No, really: it hasn't actually changed all that much, fundamentally, in all of existence. The demons that inhabit it, and who's running what, that does change, and yes, the land itself has been ripped up, rebuilt, wash, rinse, repeat. But this is basically where the teeming, seething primordial chaos of the Abyss touches reality, and thus this connection is by necessity stable. (Since if the Abyss disconnected, even temporarily, it would probably be adrift in the Astral, or possibly it would fuck off from reality altogether for the Far Realm; it's hard to say what the metaphysics of that scenario would look like.)

'''Driller's Hives:''' 2nd layer

This horrible place is one of the most unpleasantly inhospitable layers in all of the Abyss. It's not so much because of the indigenous fiendish insects who try to kill anything on sight, but because of how all visitors who enter risk contracting a horrible disease that causes the sufferer to break out in hatching insect eggs until the afflicted dies and decomposes into a mass of rot and insect eggs over the course of '''minutes.''' The addition of the giant, intelligent fiendish insect thralls of the ruler, Tharzax ''the Chattering Prince'', help make the whole place a big, sentient shit-sprinkle-covered crapcake of '''NOPE'''.

'''The Forgotten Land:''' 3rd layer

This is an almost endless landscape of empty ruins that suggest a once bustling city. No demons, other than the layer's Lord, Zzyczesiya ''The Ungrasped'', master of malevolent ignorance and confusion, come here. The place was abandoned due to a catastrophe, for which Zzyczesiya has been traditionally blamed, and now, entering the layer causes any sentient being's mind, even those of demons and sapient undead, to fritter away like moist cotton candy, leaving visitors as catatonic and braindead. Constructs are immune to the effects, and persistent visitors often use golem stand-ins to explore this godawful place. Allegedly, Zzyczesiya destroyed all the original inhabitants by accident, 1st through 3rd edition claiming by changing the course of the [[River Styx]], and was punished by imprisonment in the Wells of Darkness. Zzyczesiya would escape, and return to the Forgotten Land in order to use the power of this layer to unremember something really, really, really horrible (possibly a first draft of the script for ''Gigli'').

'''The Grand Abyss:''' 4th layer

What starts as a gaping chasm on the first layer is an infinitely deep pit where the walls are dotted with portals which connect to all of the other layers in the plane. Navigation is tricky because the only dimensions of relevance are vertical, so you need to either fly or be a patient climber. This place was created by the now-dead Lord, Asima ''The Unanticipated'', who apparently died because she(?) didn't anticipate pissing off the Queen of Chaos enough to assassinate her. Now, Asima's corpse lies in her tomb, the Tumulus of Abhorrence, which is filled with treasure and secrets, and is guarded by her "seraph," a super-demon named "Guardian of the Gates" who pretty much super-kills anyone unlucky enough to encounter him. Guardian of the Gates periodically leaves his master's tomb to harass/super-kill schmucks in the Grand Abyss, as per his master's original orders: adventurers stupid enough to think that there are no other defenders of the Tumulus tend to die screaming.

'''Realm of a Million Eyes:''' 6th layer

Home of the [[Great Mother]], princess of the Beholders. Presumably not a great place to be for anyone else, because no one's ever bothered to describe it in detail.

'''Phantom Plane:''' 7th layer

Ruled by Sess'lnnek the other god of the [[lizardfolk]]. He grew bored with the Tanar'ri's Blood War, withdrew and officially closed the layer off so that no one can enter without his explicit permission.

'''Skin-shedder:''' 8th layer

Ruled by Volisupula the Flensed Marquesse, lord of ostentatious finery. The layer itself makes you more evil the longer you stay there. Tieflings are immune.

'''Burningwater:''' 9th layer

Acid ocean, so the crustaceans and fish have shells of silica.

'''That Hellhole:''' 10th layer

It's the body of an actual fiend. The dwarf who found this place got chewed up (through adamantite!) before beaming out of there.

'''Molrat:''' 11th layer

Dark tunnels, where the tanar'ri hunt by smell. Besides the demon horde the plane is more friendly to life than most.

'''Twelvetrees:''' 12th Layer

Definitely a place of horror, and a living example of why you can never, ever trust a demon.

Eons ago, some demons tricked some astral devas into having a meeting for the sake of peace. Basically, the powers from the Upper Planes saw the tanar'ri overthrow the obyriths, and thought maybe that the new fiends were "better" than the old ones. Big fucking mistake there: the demons turned on the angels, bound them to twelve of the biggest trees in the layer, and then performed a blasphemous arcane ritual that sacrificed them to the layer, allowing their eternal suffering to become fuel for all kinds of evil shit.

The angels can still be heard screaming, and a big altar now commemorates the site of the sacrifice, surrounded by twelve sickly pines that ooze some kind magically-infused slime. Evil-descriptor spells are Maximized and Extended automatically for free as a result of the power of the place. Demons make pilgrimages to the layer, to honor the screw job their kind put to the forces of good, and the overwhelming evil of the place is like a drug to the fiends, as they bask in a haze of quasi-religious ecstasy and basically don't give a shit what's happening around them, making it scarily easy for non-demons to wander around pretty freely (you only gotta dodge some chasmes that patrol the skies, maybe some kelvezus that look for intruders to murder).

But that's not all. See, someone figured out how to harness all that deliciously evil energy to create a new weapon of war: the ''ship of chaos''. This horrible thing is basically made of flesh, bone, and spirit; it's hull seems to be comprised of some kind of twisted, thick, ropelike fibers, woven into an organic mass of mottled white and yellow, with translucent blue blisters along the flanks. They are powered by the annihilation of soul larvae... meaning that the ship itself absolutely destroys souls beyond recovery in order to operate. It can generate an "entropy field" almost the length of 5 football fields that either drives beings insane or simply repulses them, and shoots waves of force out of the mouths at the front and back. It can warp itself to travel through small portals, but this causes magic stuff onboard to possibly break unless it is made from the Abyss, and tanar'ri and their kin aren't particularly messed up by the warping.

The scaffolds for these ships dot the area around Twelvetrees. Six have been completed for sure. There was a seventh ship in the 2nd edition Planescape adventure In The Abyss, but it's highly likely that it was destroyed. The 3rd edition supplement FC2: Hordes of the Abyss notes another seventh ship is being built, which seems likely. In theory, these ships will not only be awesome weapons to use against the devils, but will mean the demons don't need the yugoloths to help them travel to Baator anymore.

And all this time, the angels keep screaming.

'''Blood Tor:''' 13th Layer

Ruled by the Goddesses [[Beshaba]] and [[Umberlee]], from the [[Forgotten Realms]]. A plane of bad luck - including for tanar'ri, because the baatezu did a successful raid here early in the Blood War.

'''Steaming Fen:''' 14th Layer

Ruled by [[The Queen of Chaos]], the old Lord of Obyriths and creator of [[Demogorgon]].

'''Pleroma/Death's Reward:''' 17th layer

Ruled by demon prince Abraxas ''the Unfathomable''. He has a roosters head and a bunch of snakes for a lower body. He's big on magic and the occult. Diovengia is his city which houses some of the best libraries in the entire Abyss.

'''The Sixth Pyre:''' 21st layer

Ruled by Prince Kardum, the lord of Balors.

'''Ice Wastes:''' 23rd layer

[[Kostchtchie]] is the resident [[Demon Prince]]. An infinite expanse of jagged mountains, glaciers and frozen tundras. Kostchtchie commands a big army of frost giants which he used to further "conquer" his layer, when he isn't siccing them on other demon lords for laughing at him, or conquering other tribes of frost giants on the Prime Material Plane.

'''Sholo-Tovoth/ Fields of Consumption:''' 32rd layer

Ruled by [[Demon Prince]] [[Turaglas]], ''The Ebon Maw'', who was spawned directly from the Abyss. A 100% pure demon and therefore envied by [[Orcus]] and [[Demogorgon]] for this (Demogorgon was a creation of the Obyriths, while Orcus was a former mortal) who joined against him and imprisoned him for a while. His goal is to devour and destroy, he has spawned his own breed of demons, the turagathshee. The layer itself, like That Hellhole #10, tries to eat anyone that enters it that's not either Turaglas or one of his minions, with mouths and tongues popping up everywhere. Those minions number millions of insatiably hungry demons.

'''Azzagrat:''' 45th, 46th, and 47th Layers

Ruled by [[Graz'zt]], demon lord of depending on your source, A)tyrants, manipulation, and, unofficially, blatant nepotism, or B) [[Slaanesh| lust, hedonism, and incubi]]. There's a salt river that connects all three layers. [[Zelatar]] is a big, shiny, evil pastiche of the Emerald City of Oz that stretches across the three layers. Relatively well-behaved demons, not that it's saying much, as all of Graz'zt's minions know that Graz'zt torturing them to death for a minor screw up is the least he can do to them. Not a terrible place for a party, assuming it's [[Slaanesh|the right kind of party]].

'''Phage Breeding Ground:''' 53rd Layer

Ruled by Urae-Naas, a "female" [[slaad]] [[Demon Prince]]ss so bloated with eggs she can't walk anymore and has to drag herself along on her long arms and enormous tongue. Comprised from the interiors of the ever-rotting organs of her former boyfriend, the slain [[Archomental|Primordial]] Ramenos. Iconic local feature: screaming, insane humanoids sewn into the walls begging ceaselessly for help before she gets around to implanting her offspring in their bodies. Created in 4th edition, and probably lost with the change to 5th edition seeing as how Slaad are Chaotic Neutral in all non-4 editions.

'''Torturous Truth:''' 57th layer

Ruled by Alvarez the Purging Duke, the head of the demonic Inquisition. His forces investigate the tanar'ri for any signs of lawful behavior. His torture is notorious throughout the Abyss.

'''The Demonweb Pits:''' 66th layer usually

The place where [[Lolth]], the deity of the drow, and the rest of the drow pantheon, hangs out with her spiders. In [[Demonweb Pits|Jeff Grubb's entry]], the Demonweb was 65th and her actual abode on the 66th. In [[3e]] this was changed to be an entirely separate plane, though it's still connected to the Abyss.

'''Heavenly Hills:''' 67th layer

Swamps and hills, which swap places after (frequent) earthquakes. And varrangoin ruins.

'''Morgenta's Layer:''' 68th layer

Barren, "abandoned", and airless. No-one's named it but ''Planes of Chaos'' does have a name for the planewalker who survived to enter it into the list: Morgenta, the mage.

'''The Crushing Plain:''' 69th layer

A surface made up of chasme, manes, and lemures all "crawling over one another". ''Planes of Chaos'' claims they are avoiding suffocation but it's more likely they end up squished like bugs further down.

'''The Ice Floe:''' 70th layer

That ice would be ''thin'', over black running water. The cold acts as energy-drain. As to whence / whither the water flows, we're not told but we can guess probably the Styx.

'''Spirac:''' 71st layer

Tree-ferns and spiky mountains. A happy hunting ground like Molrat / #11. The demons might be friendlier, or maybe that's just because they got along better with the cutter who penned this entry.

'''Darklight:''' 72st layer

Visitors get a halo of darkness (if evil) or light (good). Either is a beacon for the demons here, who enslave the former and kill the latter.

'''[[Wells of Darkness]]:''' 73rd layer

A spa-cum-prison for some of the worst prisoners the plane could play host to. Jacuzzi tubs of black ink keep unspeakably powerful beings trapped beneath the surface, unable to get out, but perfectly conscious and able to communicate. The demons don't visit. It's amusing because the idea of an unbreakable prison on a chaotic plane constantly attracts ''break-in'' attempts by those who just want to prove otherwise.

'''Smargard:''' 74th layer

[[Merrshaulk]] rules here. He is the deity of the Yuan-ti snake men. Basically a nightmarish, evil, rainforest (one of several in the Abyss).

'''The Gates of Heaven:''' 77th layer

Actually not named ironically, it's apparently a gate to Celestia in the middle of a Chaotic Evil hell. Must be a really sturdy gate. Ruled by demon lords and brothers, Munkir and Nekir.

'''Abysm/The Gaping Maw:''' 88th layer

The realm of [[Demogorgon]]. Also known as "The Upside Down" thanks to ''Stranger Things''. Pretty much a tropical nightmare, with demon- and demonic-disease-infested jungles and a roiling ocean. [[Dagon]], his special friend and mentor, lives in his basement.

'''Shadowsea:''' 89th layer

Ruled by [[Dagon]] one of the few obyrith lords still part of the establishment. It's an underwater realm without a surface although it connects to the 88th. Filled with myriads of aquatic demons.

'''[[Demonwing]]:''' layer unknown

An entire layer of the Abysm transformed into a crazy demonic pirate ship by Demogorgon that can move freely about the planes.

'''The Guttering Grove:''' 90th layer

Ruled by Ilsidahur, the Howling King, who's a bootlicker to [[Demogorgon]]. He leads the bar-lgura, these orangutan looking demons, as well as these winged gorilla looking guys. The Guttering Grove was recently subsumed into Abysm by Demogorgon as punishment for Ilsidahur screwing up an invasion of [[Arcadia]], though Ilsidahur is apparently either too unaware, too uncaring or too stupid to notice.

'''Ulgurshek''': 92nd layer

Ruled by a being also named Ulgurshek who is older than the [[Great Wheel]]. Either that or the ruler ''is'' the layer.

'''The Realms:''' 99th layer

Plotted out by Rick Swan in the ''Tales of the Outer Planes'' anthology. The Abyssal chaos sometimes diverts visitors here when they're aiming for elsewhere, Kali's plane in this one. It's a network of sub-layers, attached to each other through portals:
* Gray Realm. Desert of black sand, infested with dretch.
* Lightning Realm. "Blank white" plain with pillars. Disputed between Orcus and Demogorgon. Yeah, this is oldschool.
* Swirling Realm. Connects to Juiblex's crib. It's a waterfall and ocean... made of puddings and slimes. Yecch!
* Yellow Realm. Primordial tropical forest. 50' blades of grass.
* Fog Realm. "Jellyfish" surface and it stinks. It's a colossal demon uterus.
* Silver Realm. A silvery ice glacier, where sound doesn't travel.
* Star Realm. Another black sand desert, but cratered. Kali's kitchen, preparing souls for her breakfast.
At a guess, only the Gray Realm is truly the 99th. The others look to be other Abyssal layers entirely, like #222 or, indeed, #500.

'''The Mind of Evil:''' 111st layer

Ruled by Prince Sch'theraqpasstt, the Serpent Reborn.

'''Thanatos:''' 113th layer

Its as much undead as demonic. [[Orcus|Orcus's]] crib. He spends most of his time chilling here not doing things.

'''Slugbed:''' 128th layer

Lupercio the Baron of Sloth rules here. It's a tropical, mostly overcast realm filled with lush forests and coral reefs filled with all manner of demon gastropods. Because Lupercio is too busy spending most of his time sleeping, where his perpetually darkness-shrouded form is perpetually parasitized by shadow demons, and too spending what precious little waking hours he has maniacally doing ''something,'' the demon gastropods of Slugbed do not recognize his authority, and, instead, do their own thing, i.e., eating the scenery, each other, and intruders too stupid to understand the threat posed by demon gastropods until they get eaten. An army of angels has secretly constructed fortresses in the clouds above Slugbed, and eventually intend to use their fortresses here to stage attacks on the demons of the Abyss.

'''Outcast's End:''' 137th layer

Ruled by the exiled and outcast Azazel, Prince of Scapegoats.

'''Lifebane:''' 142nd layer

Ruled by [[Chemosh]], the god of undeath in [[Dragonlance|Krynn]].

'''Hollow's Heart:''' 176th layer

Ruled by [[Fraz-Urb'luu]]. Fraz-Urb'luu pissed off virtually all of the other demon lords by learning how to summon them in order to humiliate them in front of his sniveling minions. This led to the demon lord being forced to take a sabbatical in the dungeons of [[Oerth]] while lesser Lords moved in, turning the place into a demonic continent of crazy shit, including a jungle of skin, where trees are hairs sprouting from the ground; a desert made of grains of clotted blood; and a city shrouded in powerful illusions to make petitioners think everything is happy and safe, so the demons can take it away piece by piece.

'''Writhing Realm of Ugudenk: ''' 177th layer

Little is known about this layer except that it is the place where Golothomas are most commonly found and it consists of lightless tunnels.

'''The Rotting Plain:''' 181st layer

Ruled by [[Laogzed]] the god of the [[troglodyte]]. Here they archive everyone's browsing history, purchases, and other personal information forever.

'''Vulgarea:''' 193th layer

Ruled by demon princess Eshebala the [[furry|foxwoman and wolfwere]] goddess.

'''Shedaklah, the Slime Pits:''' 222nd layer

[[Juiblex]], the Slime Lord, and [[Zuggtmoy]], the Lady of Fungi rule here. A fetid swamp of every variety of ooze, slime, fungus and filth; obviously a disgusting place. Sometimes the 528th layer.

'''The Dreaming Gulf:''' 230th layer

A phantasmal dark and wind-swept realm with no ruler. This is where the dreams of evil gods go when they die, slowly being given form by the Abyss, becoming the incorporeal demons known as [[Loumara]]s.

'''Palpitatia:''' 241st layer

Grankhul and Skiggaret, the [[bugbear]] gods, rule here.

'''The Scalding Sea:''' 245th layer

Another ocean of acid but this one at least has a surface; it might even be the route out for Burningwater. It also has islands... of black glass. Probably deserted, the one island town is empty, with its former occupants encrusting the town's walls while the town's fountain screams eternally and sprays yet more acid.

'''The Hidden Layer:''' 248th layer

A huge thunderstorm-ravaged wasteland. Was ruled by Demon Prince Eltab, until he was summoned into the [[Prime Material]] and bound there, also sucking small portions of his realm with him to [[Faerun]] in the form of demoncysts and leaving his subordinates to fight amongst themselves over control of the rest.

'''Durao:''' 274th layer

A ruler-less layer dotted by military encampments and demon barracks interconnected by iron roads that snake through the otherwise swampy environs along the River Styx. It was from here that most of the demon armies staged before departing to wage the [[Blood War]] in [[Gehenna]].

'''Feng-Tu:''' 300th layer

A citadel overlooking a tributary of the River Styx, it is ruled by Tou Mu, goddess of the North Star, and Lu Yueh, god of epidemics, both gods from the [[China|Chinese]] [[Mythology#Chinese Mythology|Mythology]].

'''The Sulfanorum:''' 303rd layer

As the [[Coenobites]] have taught us, what are demons to some are angels to others; so what's a hell to many could be a heaven to some. Here is the tobacconist's heaven, as ''Planes of Chaos'' wittily illustrated. Full of flames designed to light pipes, which the Abyssals smoke here.

'''The Broken Scale:''' 333rd layer

Ruled by [[Hiddukel]], the ''[[Dragonlance]]'' god of greed and treachery.

'''Fortress of Indifference:''' 348th layer

Rough terrain with fiery skies. An evil 200 foot tower is the main attraction, and is [[Hellbound: The Blood War|why we don't let Monte Cook listen to Nine Inch Nails anymore]]. Its the home of outcasts, half-fiends, [[tiefling]]s, etc. that turned their backs on the [[Blood War]]. Its particularly anarchic. Tapheon, a barely held together demon, tries to rule here but mostly goes around torturing random beings.

'''Arch of Eternity:''' 359th layer

Ruled by Eldanoth, the Prince of Crime. He once served under Orcus but left after Orcus was overthrown for a time, now his servants sabotage Orcus's plans. He's worshiped by criminals. The realm is, ironically, a huge, but finite plane of fire and snakes with a copper fortress at its center.

'''The Plains of Gallenshu:''' 377th layer

Dirt-storms, and "bat-winged creatures" forever fighting the tanar'ri slavers here.

'''Hungry Tarns:''' 380th layer

A bleak and poisonous realm of fens and black bottomless lakes that once was ruled by the [[Obyrith]] [[Sertrous]] but is now abandoned since Sertrous's death. As Sertrous returns to life, the layer becomes more infested with Golothomas and other serpentine monsters.

'''The Worm Realm:''' 399th layer

Urdlen's home, another plane of tunnels. Very diseased - possibly from a clash with Zuggtmoy.

'''The Woeful Escarand:''' 400th layer

Here, under a great mountain, is the court of judgement for chaotic-evils.

'''White Kingdom:''' 421st layer

Ruled by the King of Ghouls, who, depending on the author, is either a toady of Orcus, a hostage-turned-minion of Yeenoghu, or an undead god who's free to do his own shit.

'''Death Dells:''' 422nd layer

Also called the Seeping Woods in ''Planescape''. Ruled by [[Yeenoghu]], Demon Prince of [[Gnolls]].

'''Ahriman-abad:''' 452nd layer

Ruled by Ahrimanes, the Chief of the Cacodaemons.

'''Androlynne:''' 471st layer

Owned by [[Pale Night]]. This layer has become a battlefield where the forces of good fight to protect a group of [[Eladrin]] children who were trapped there by a deal with Pale Night. This may have backfired on Pale Night because the amount of people fighting for good on this layer is slowly causing the layer to change its appearance, and may eventually shift it out of the abyss to a higher plane.

'''Guttlevetch:''' 480th layer

A sea eternally swept by perpetual typhoons and hurricanes, its beaches of blood are littered with innumerable shipwrecks. Was ruled by Zuregurex, Lord of the Drowned, but he seriously fucked up when he tried to invade Demogorgon's layer. Zuregurex fled to the 245th layer to escape retribution.

'''Mansion of the Rake:''' 487th layer

An entire layer stylized as a perpetually shifting baroque-style palace. Ruled by Kanchelsis the god of [[vampire]]s, born of the blood of the elven gods. His primary servants are vampires, drow, and the occasional crazy birds in his aviaries. His live-in boarders-turned-sort-of-minions are a trio of crazed blood fiends, Memnul, Dagrobard, and Vonce, who are so unpleasant, they apparently scare even Kanchelsis shitless.

'''Noisome Vale:''' 489th layer

Tarnhem is the official ruler here, though he's left for a while to go and hike Mt. Everest to find himself or something (if playing ''Return to the Tomb of Horrors''', he's now his son [[Acererak]]'s guest). The layer itself is mostly volcanic, creating a poisoned and acidic atmosphere. However, a deep canyon carves its way through the layer which is infested with worms. These worms thrive in the acidic air, breathing it in and expelling breathable air as a waste byproduct. Tarnhem's estate is built along the ravine, and his servants still occupy it awaiting his return.

'''Kali:''' 500th layer

Kali makes her home in a big red India-themed jungle under a cloudless red sky, on the shore of the Screaming Sea; all described in Rick Swan's adventure. Or not. ''Planes of Chaos'' has her in layer #643 instead. But she's ''Kali''; she's probably got several layers.

'''Torremor:''' 503rd layer

An aerie, built out of bridges, buildings and junk, floating in a void, and inhabited by vrock, chasme and other flying demons. Officially ruled by [[Pazuzu]], though, he has, more or less, abandoned it to his ex-girlfriend, [[Lamashtu]]. For a while they were a disgustingly close couple, then Lamashtu betrayed him, and then they broke up when he ate out her eyes and impaled her on top of a tower at the very top of Torremor, where ever that is. He's more or less forgiven her, but still can not be assed to un-impale her.

'''Occipitus:''' 507th layer

Adimarchus, Prince of Madness, founded this plane and was its first prince. He is a fallen Celestial and thus this layer is actually a fragmented piece of Celestia (the Seven Heavens) that fell with him. Demons avoid this layer all together, its filled with ruins and basins. Adimarchus fought a big fight against [[Graz'zt]] and lost at one point. He has a split personality, one angelic, one demonic, which is why he's called "Prince of Madness." Now he's imprisoned in Skullrot in [[Pandemonium]], the Great Wheel's funny farm.

'''Shatterstone:''' 524th layer

Ruled by Vaprak the [[Troll]] and [[ogre]] deity.

'''Vudra:''' 531st layer

Ruled by [[Shaktari]], the queen of [[Marilith]]s.

'''Fleshforges:''' 558th layer

Ruled by Demon Prince Dwiergus, the Chrysalis Prince. He has control over the shaping of demonic races. Probably older than Pale Night. The Father of Demons in some ways. A mentor to Baphomet who taught him how to create new demons. Stats in Dragon #359.

'''Shendilavri:''' 570th layer

Islamic Paradise! ...for Malcanthet, Queen of the Succubi. Not so much for her visitors and guests.

'''Prison of the Mad God:''' 586th layer

A maelstorm of various gasses and orbiting rock. Imprisons Diinkarazan, one of the two gods of the [[derro]]. Space itself is warped.

'''Goranthis:''' 597th layer

A little demonic [[Magical Realm|slice of paradise]]. This pleasure-palace and the surrounding gardens are the realm of [[Socothbenoth|Socothbenoth, the Persuader]] who rules from atop his [[/d/|Palace of Quivering Flesh]].

'''Shubgottia, The Endless Maze:''' 600th layer

Ruled by [[Baphomet]], Prince of Beasts. He lets [[Pale Night]], a ghost looking entity, the mother of demons allegedly, have a castle here as well though she rarely does anything. Lyktion is his palace and at his ''Tower of '''Fucking''' Science'' he experiments and creates new demon breeds and such. He has vast armies of beastmen looking demons and is revered by the minotaurs. He is smart, savage, one of the top tier princes, and is not to be fucked with. He began as a mortal creature, either as a beast that lived as a man or a man that lived as a beast, and was cursed by the gods, though obviously he made the best of it.

'''Conflagratum:''' 601rst layer

Ruled by Alzrius, Lord of the Flowing Flame. He usually manifests himself as a pillar of fire and leads his legions to the burning of all [[bitches]].

'''Caverns of the Skull:''' 643rd layer

Kali again, ''Planescape'' edition. The authors decided that reading Sanskrit would be too hard so just watched ''Temple Of Doom'' for this one.

'''Zionyn:''' 663rd layer

Ruled by [[Obox-ob]], Prince of Vermin. As an obyrith and, perhaps, the last surviving aspect of the old Prince of Demons, he plots here to dethrone Demogorgon and to run all [[tanar'ri]] off the Abyss.

'''Unnamed Layer:''' 665th layer

A layer with gravity and atmosphere but nothing to stand on, spells that prevent or slow down falling do not work, and all portals connected to it go in but not out, so if you stumble into it and can't teleport out or have someone rescue you, you will endlessly fall until you die of dehydration or get ripped apart by the air friction.

'''Bottomless Pit:''' 666th layer

Ruled by the Demon Lord Abaddon, Prince of Apocalypse. The center of the layer is a literal black hole singularity that is slowly eating away at all of creation and the Abyss. Anything that enters the singularity, known as the Maelstrom, is lost forever. It is theorized by the [[Fraternity of Order]] in [[Sigil]] that a portion of the energy devoured by the Maelstrom is used to keep [[Tharizdun]] imprisoned, which is a bit ironic on a plane devoted to chaos and evil.

'''Abyssian Ocean:''' Many layers

The Abyssian Ocean is not really a layer of the abyss, but is a vast ocean that connects to all of the oceans that exist in the abyss and so spans across many layers, making it a useful way of traveling around the abyss. No demon lord rules over the Abyssian Ocean as it is protected by the extremely powerful myrmyxicuses, who rule it in floating citadels made of bone, shells, and coral.

=Inhabitants=
The main race in the Abyss are demons. There are four different categories of demons: The [[Tanar'ri]], the [[Obyrith]]s, the [[Loumara]]s, and everything else. The Tanar'ri are the only ones who ever get shit accomplished. They are also the "most numerous". This may owe to Georg Cantor's metamathematic: the number of rational (lawful) numbers is infinite but countable (aleph-null, the smallest possible infinity. You can never finish counting them all but it is possible to put them in order using a pattern so they can counted.), but the number of all real numbers including irrational (unlawful) numbers is infinite and can't be counted (hypothesized to be aleph-1 but possibly higher. You can't even start counting them because no method of putting them in order can include all of them.) - so some infinities are greater than others. The demon ''princes'' are finite: most Tanar'ri, though there are some Obyriths.

The petitioners in the Abyss are called manes, and become a low caste of Tanar'ri. If they survive for a very long time, they can be promoted up into the ranks of the not-worthless, and even to demon lords if they're cunning enough. This is how [[Orcus]] got his start.

Most of the chaotic evil deities live in the Abyss as well, for obvious reasons, including the aforementioned Great Mother and Lolth (depending on edition). Deities here are also called demon lords, because that's generally just a title and not any kind of useful disambiguation. Also because there's plenty of layers to go around so if you've got the power you might as well rule one.

==Why You Really REALLY Shouldn't Come Here==
Whenever some berk (that's an idiot, in Sigil cant) drops by here, there's a chance she gets killed. It's often the case that said berk wasn't Chaotic Evil herself. In the Outer Planes, undead as such don't exist - yeah, we know, Orcus but here we're really dealing with the damned in the ''form'' of undead. So a decent person getting into the dead-book on the Abyss ''should'' have her soul end up in a final rest suited for her true alignment. Anywhere but here.

As one final barbed grind up the arse, that depends on ''how'' one dies here. Here are some chaotic energies so mighty and blasphemous that it twists a person's body and soul into a special, Abyssal sort of unlife. Such a wretch is a [[Bodak]].

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:World Axis Plain of 1000 Portals.png|A map of Pazunia's [[World Axis]] counterpart.
File:Pazunia 3e.jpg|Pazunia
File:Grand abyss 3e.jpg|The Grand Abyss
File:Twelvetrees 3e.jpg|Twelvetrees
File:Abysm.jpg|The brine flats in Abysm
File:Drooling jungle 3e.jpg|The Drooling Jungle in Hollow's Heart
File:Shedaklah 3e.jpg|A map of Shedaklah
</gallery>

{{OuterPlanes}}

Abyss

2020-08-12T05:11:54Z

2601:203:480:4C60:C876:79D4:5AEA:A043: /* Inhabitants */

[[File:Abyss layers 3e.webp|thumb|right|300px]]
{{Topquote|1=During the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that conditions called war; and such a war, as if of every man, against every man.|2= Thomas Hobbes}}
'''The Infinite Layers of the Abyss''' is the [[Alignment|Chaotic Evil]] [[plane]] in ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'s'' [[Great Wheel]] cosmology. It's home to an infinite number of [[demon]]s, the Chaotic Evil fiends. Expect [[METAL]].

The plane is such a mess of chaos and upheaval that it doesn't even stay the same in basic state from time to time, which is another way of saying the writers can't keep it straight and [[retcon|change it]] whenever it's convenient. It's an infinite plane, like the others, but actually has an infinite number of different layers as well, meaning that the aforementioned changes might just be an examination of a different subset of layers. According to one faction in the ''[[Planescape]]'' setting it also specifically has 666 layers, [[Derp|because that's totally the same as infinite.]] Then again, it's one of the chaotic planes, so not making sense is probably [[Just As Planned|the whole idea]] (ignoring the fact that [[Arborea]] is just as consistent as any of the Lawful planes).

It's also a plane in the [[World Axis]] cosmology of D&D too, but here is a more modestly sized "universe-swallowing" vortex of corruption and evil that lies in the [[Elemental Chaos]], created when [[Tharizdun]] planted a crystallized shard of pure evil from the dying universe of the [[obyrith]]s in the Elemental Chaos.

In the [[World of Darkness]] games, the Abyss is a realm of cold blackness from which [[shade]]s and [[Demon#In_the_World_of_Darkness|demons]] and the [[Wyrm|god of Oblivion]] hail, and from which [[vampires]] wielding [[Obtenebration]] summon either a black ectoplasmic substance for various effects, such as the creation of tentacles, or a raw [[Entropy|Oblivionic]] energy for disintegrating targets. Thematically it is closer to [[D&D]]'s [[Negative Energy Plane]] or [[Shadowfell]] plane.

==Notable Layers==
Most of the layers are often described as containing wildly different inhospitable biomes, sometimes on the same layer side-by-side. All of them are full of the kind of [[Slaanesh|Chaoticy-Evilly fuckery you'd expect]], so none of them are great places for vacation homes. The named layers are also given numbers, but given that they are in no way consistently arranged in space, those numbers are meaningless and changed often (except for the first one). Officially, though, they are numbered in order of their discovery by mortals.

The descriptions are, naturally, weighted to the lower numbers.

A major source for the below is the Planescape box, ''Planes of Chaos''.

'''Pazunia:''' 1st layer

The Plane of Infinite Portals, and the way you get to any of the others. It's covered in giant sinkholes, each one a portal to another layer of the Abyss. This is also the layer that the [[River Styx]] flows through on its path from [[Pandemonium]] to [[Acheron]]. Iron fortresses on this layer are also where Demon Princes leave their bodies when they're busy roaming around the [[Astral Plane]]. Dozens of minor demon princes co-rule this layer, though, officially, [[Pazuzu]] is in charge. The Grand Abyss is sometimes the 4th layer and Pazunia is the Styx shorelines.

This is one of the great battlefields of the Blood War. Mostly, this is a staging ground for the various demon hordes being flung at the [[Baator|Nine Hells]], but that creates a whole set of problems by itself. As some of you may already know, beings that are inherent Chaotic and Evil are just as likely to start axe-murdering one another as anything else. So put a million such beings of pure Chaotic Evil side by side in one place, and count the seconds until they just start killing each other instead of doing what they were told. Now, complicate that problem with the fact that some demon princes may actually want such an outburst to occur to weaken the forces of a rival. Now throw in yugoloth mercenaries turning stag on a demon employer (devils, after all, are much better at keeping their words on contracts and payments and the like). Toss in a force of devils being sent for scouting and/or raiding duties to better prepare for said horde before it even gets to Avernus. And finally, sprinkle in the dozens of other planars - celestials, adventurers, etc. - who are visiting and know that the best way to deal with an ornery demon is basically to fucking destroy it.

Now, it's not all murderhobos and axes to the face. There's a few fiends that run some odd little fortified establishments out here. Some are mercenaries who can press-gang enough demons to make it worth someone's effort to pay for it. There's even a few mercantile or entertainment venues around. But mostly, if you run into a fiend out here, you murder the shit out of it and hope it didn't have any friends who really gave a shit about it. This is the first layer of an infinite amount of Chaotic Evil, by the way; it only gets more fun the further down the spiral you go.

It should be noted that oddly, this is the most stable layer of the Abyss. No, really: it hasn't actually changed all that much, fundamentally, in all of existence. The demons that inhabit it, and who's running what, that does change, and yes, the land itself has been ripped up, rebuilt, wash, rinse, repeat. But this is basically where the teeming, seething primordial chaos of the Abyss touches reality, and thus this connection is by necessity stable. (Since if the Abyss disconnected, even temporarily, it would probably be adrift in the Astral, or possibly it would fuck off from reality altogether for the Far Realm; it's hard to say what the metaphysics of that scenario would look like.)

'''Driller's Hives:''' 2nd layer

This horrible place is one of the most unpleasantly inhospitable layers in all of the Abyss. It's not so much because of the indigenous fiendish insects who try to kill anything on sight, but because of how all visitors who enter risk contracting a horrible disease that causes the sufferer to break out in hatching insect eggs until the afflicted dies and decomposes into a mass of rot and insect eggs over the course of '''minutes.''' The addition of the giant, intelligent fiendish insect thralls of the ruler, Tharzax ''the Chattering Prince'', help make the whole place a big, sentient shit-sprinkle-covered crapcake of '''NOPE'''.

'''The Forgotten Land:''' 3rd layer

This is an almost endless landscape of empty ruins that suggest a once bustling city. No demons, other than the layer's Lord, Zzyczesiya ''The Ungrasped'', master of malevolent ignorance and confusion, come here. The place was abandoned due to a catastrophe, for which Zzyczesiya has been traditionally blamed, and now, entering the layer causes any sentient being's mind, even those of demons and sapient undead, to fritter away like moist cotton candy, leaving visitors as catatonic and braindead. Constructs are immune to the effects, and persistent visitors often use golem stand-ins to explore this godawful place. Allegedly, Zzyczesiya destroyed all the original inhabitants by accident, 1st through 3rd edition claiming by changing the course of the [[River Styx]], and was punished by imprisonment in the Wells of Darkness. Zzyczesiya would escape, and return to the Forgotten Land in order to use the power of this layer to unremember something really, really, really horrible (possibly a first draft of the script for ''Gigli'').

'''The Grand Abyss:''' 4th layer

What starts as a gaping chasm on the first layer is an infinitely deep pit where the walls are dotted with portals which connect to all of the other layers in the plane. Navigation is tricky because the only dimensions of relevance are vertical, so you need to either fly or be a patient climber. This place was created by the now-dead Lord, Asima ''The Unanticipated'', who apparently died because she(?) didn't anticipate pissing off the Queen of Chaos enough to assassinate her. Now, Asima's corpse lies in her tomb, the Tumulus of Abhorrence, which is filled with treasure and secrets, and is guarded by her "seraph," a super-demon named "Guardian of the Gates" who pretty much super-kills anyone unlucky enough to encounter him. Guardian of the Gates periodically leaves his master's tomb to harass/super-kill schmucks in the Grand Abyss, as per his master's original orders: adventurers stupid enough to think that there are no other defenders of the Tumulus tend to die screaming.

'''Realm of a Million Eyes:''' 6th layer

Home of the [[Great Mother]], princess of the Beholders. Presumably not a great place to be for anyone else, because no one's ever bothered to describe it in detail.

'''Phantom Plane:''' 7th layer

Ruled by Sess'lnnek the other god of the [[lizardfolk]]. He grew bored with the Tanar'ri's Blood War, withdrew and officially closed the layer off so that no one can enter without his explicit permission.

'''Skin-shedder:''' 8th layer

Ruled by Volisupula the Flensed Marquesse, lord of ostentatious finery. The layer itself makes you more evil the longer you stay there. Tieflings are immune.

'''Burningwater:''' 9th layer

Acid ocean, so the crustaceans and fish have shells of silica.

'''That Hellhole:''' 10th layer

It's the body of an actual fiend. The dwarf who found this place got chewed up (through adamantite!) before beaming out of there.

'''Molrat:''' 11th layer

Dark tunnels, where the tanar'ri hunt by smell. Besides the demon horde the plane is more friendly to life than most.

'''Twelvetrees:''' 12th Layer

Definitely a place of horror, and a living example of why you can never, ever trust a demon.

Eons ago, some demons tricked some astral devas into having a meeting for the sake of peace. Basically, the powers from the Upper Planes saw the tanar'ri overthrow the obyriths, and thought maybe that the new fiends were "better" than the old ones. Big fucking mistake there: the demons turned on the angels, bound them to twelve of the biggest trees in the layer, and then performed a blasphemous arcane ritual that sacrificed them to the layer, allowing their eternal suffering to become fuel for all kinds of evil shit.

The angels can still be heard screaming, and a big altar now commemorates the site of the sacrifice, surrounded by twelve sickly pines that ooze some kind magically-infused slime. Evil-descriptor spells are Maximized and Extended automatically for free as a result of the power of the place. Demons make pilgrimages to the layer, to honor the screw job their kind put to the forces of good, and the overwhelming evil of the place is like a drug to the fiends, as they bask in a haze of quasi-religious ecstasy and basically don't give a shit what's happening around them, making it scarily easy for non-demons to wander around pretty freely (you only gotta dodge some chasmes that patrol the skies, maybe some kelvezus that look for intruders to murder).

But that's not all. See, someone figured out how to harness all that deliciously evil energy to create a new weapon of war: the ''ship of chaos''. This horrible thing is basically made of flesh, bone, and spirit; it's hull seems to be comprised of some kind of twisted, thick, ropelike fibers, woven into an organic mass of mottled white and yellow, with translucent blue blisters along the flanks. They are powered by the annihilation of soul larvae... meaning that the ship itself absolutely destroys souls beyond recovery in order to operate. It can generate an "entropy field" almost the length of 5 football fields that either drives beings insane or simply repulses them, and shoots waves of force out of the mouths at the front and back. It can warp itself to travel through small portals, but this causes magic stuff onboard to possibly break unless it is made from the Abyss, and tanar'ri and their kin aren't particularly messed up by the warping.

The scaffolds for these ships dot the area around Twelvetrees. Six have been completed for sure. There was a seventh ship in the 2nd edition Planescape adventure In The Abyss, but it's highly likely that it was destroyed. The 3rd edition supplement FC2: Hordes of the Abyss notes another seventh ship is being built, which seems likely. In theory, these ships will not only be awesome weapons to use against the devils, but will mean the demons don't need the yugoloths to help them travel to Baator anymore.

And all this time, the angels keep screaming.

'''Blood Tor:''' 13th Layer

Ruled by the Goddesses [[Beshaba]] and [[Umberlee]], from the [[Forgotten Realms]]. A plane of bad luck - including for tanar'ri, because the baatezu did a successful raid here early in the Blood War.

'''Steaming Fen:''' 14th Layer

Ruled by [[The Queen of Chaos]], the old Lord of Obyriths and creator of [[Demogorgon]].

'''Pleroma/Death's Reward:''' 17th layer

Ruled by demon prince Abraxas ''the Unfathomable''. He has a roosters head and a bunch of snakes for a lower body. He's big on magic and the occult. Diovengia is his city which houses some of the best libraries in the entire Abyss.

'''The Sixth Pyre:''' 21st layer

Ruled by Prince Kardum, the lord of Balors.

'''Ice Wastes:''' 23rd layer

[[Kostchtchie]] is the resident [[Demon Prince]]. An infinite expanse of jagged mountains, glaciers and frozen tundras. Kostchtchie commands a big army of frost giants which he used to further "conquer" his layer, when he isn't siccing them on other demon lords for laughing at him, or conquering other tribes of frost giants on the Prime Material Plane.

'''Sholo-Tovoth/ Fields of Consumption:''' 32rd layer

Ruled by [[Demon Prince]] [[Turaglas]], ''The Ebon Maw'', who was spawned directly from the Abyss. A 100% pure demon and therefore envied by [[Orcus]] and [[Demogorgon]] for this (Demogorgon was a creation of the Obyriths, while Orcus was a former mortal) who joined against him and imprisoned him for a while. His goal is to devour and destroy, he has spawned his own breed of demons, the turagathshee. The layer itself, like That Hellhole #10, tries to eat anyone that enters it that's not either Turaglas or one of his minions, with mouths and tongues popping up everywhere. Those minions number millions of insatiably hungry demons.

'''Azzagrat:''' 45th, 46th, and 47th Layers

Ruled by [[Graz'zt]], demon lord of depending on your source, A)tyrants, manipulation, and, unofficially, blatant nepotism, or B) [[Slaanesh| lust, hedonism, and incubi]]. There's a salt river that connects all three layers. [[Zelatar]] is a big, shiny, evil pastiche of the Emerald City of Oz that stretches across the three layers. Relatively well-behaved demons, not that it's saying much, as all of Graz'zt's minions know that Graz'zt torturing them to death for a minor screw up is the least he can do to them. Not a terrible place for a party, assuming it's [[Slaanesh|the right kind of party]].

'''Phage Breeding Ground:''' 53rd Layer

Ruled by Urae-Naas, a "female" [[slaad]] [[Demon Prince]]ss so bloated with eggs she can't walk anymore and has to drag herself along on her long arms and enormous tongue. Comprised from the interiors of the ever-rotting organs of her former boyfriend, the slain [[Archomental|Primordial]] Ramenos. Iconic local feature: screaming, insane humanoids sewn into the walls begging ceaselessly for help before she gets around to implanting her offspring in their bodies. Created in 4th edition, and probably lost with the change to 5th edition seeing as how Slaad are Chaotic Neutral in all non-4 editions.

'''Torturous Truth:''' 57th layer

Ruled by Alvarez the Purging Duke, the head of the demonic Inquisition. His forces investigate the tanar'ri for any signs of lawful behavior. His torture is notorious throughout the Abyss.

'''The Demonweb Pits:''' 66th layer usually

The place where [[Lolth]], the deity of the drow, and the rest of the drow pantheon, hangs out with her spiders. In [[Demonweb Pits|Jeff Grubb's entry]], the Demonweb was 65th and her actual abode on the 66th. In [[3e]] this was changed to be an entirely separate plane, though it's still connected to the Abyss.

'''Heavenly Hills:''' 67th layer

Swamps and hills, which swap places after (frequent) earthquakes. And varrangoin ruins.

'''Morgenta's Layer:''' 68th layer

Barren, "abandoned", and airless. No-one's named it but ''Planes of Chaos'' does have a name for the planewalker who survived to enter it into the list: Morgenta, the mage.

'''The Crushing Plain:''' 69th layer

A surface made up of chasme, manes, and lemures all "crawling over one another". ''Planes of Chaos'' claims they are avoiding suffocation but it's more likely they end up squished like bugs further down.

'''The Ice Floe:''' 70th layer

That ice would be ''thin'', over black running water. The cold acts as energy-drain. As to whence / whither the water flows, we're not told but we can guess probably the Styx.

'''Spirac:''' 71st layer

Tree-ferns and spiky mountains. A happy hunting ground like Molrat / #11. The demons might be friendlier, or maybe that's just because they got along better with the cutter who penned this entry.

'''Darklight:''' 72st layer

Visitors get a halo of darkness (if evil) or light (good). Either is a beacon for the demons here, who enslave the former and kill the latter.

'''[[Wells of Darkness]]:''' 73rd layer

A spa-cum-prison for some of the worst prisoners the plane could play host to. Jacuzzi tubs of black ink keep unspeakably powerful beings trapped beneath the surface, unable to get out, but perfectly conscious and able to communicate. The demons don't visit. It's amusing because the idea of an unbreakable prison on a chaotic plane constantly attracts ''break-in'' attempts by those who just want to prove otherwise.

'''Smargard:''' 74th layer

[[Merrshaulk]] rules here. He is the deity of the Yuan-ti snake men. Basically a nightmarish, evil, rainforest (one of several in the Abyss).

'''The Gates of Heaven:''' 77th layer

Actually not named ironically, it's apparently a gate to Celestia in the middle of a Chaotic Evil hell. Must be a really sturdy gate. Ruled by demon lords and brothers, Munkir and Nekir.

'''Abysm/The Gaping Maw:''' 88th layer

The realm of [[Demogorgon]]. Also known as "The Upside Down" thanks to ''Stranger Things''. Pretty much a tropical nightmare, with demon- and demonic-disease-infested jungles and a roiling ocean. [[Dagon]], his special friend and mentor, lives in his basement.

'''Shadowsea:''' 89th layer

Ruled by [[Dagon]] one of the few obyrith lords still part of the establishment. It's an underwater realm without a surface although it connects to the 88th. Filled with myriads of aquatic demons.

'''[[Demonwing]]:''' layer unknown

An entire layer of the Abysm transformed into a crazy demonic pirate ship by Demogorgon that can move freely about the planes.

'''The Guttering Grove:''' 90th layer

Ruled by Ilsidahur, the Howling King, who's a bootlicker to [[Demogorgon]]. He leads the bar-lgura, these orangutan looking demons, as well as these winged gorilla looking guys. The Guttering Grove was recently subsumed into Abysm by Demogorgon as punishment for Ilsidahur screwing up an invasion of [[Arcadia]], though Ilsidahur is apparently either too unaware, too uncaring or too stupid to notice.

'''Ulgurshek''': 92nd layer

Ruled by a being also named Ulgurshek who is older than the [[Great Wheel]]. Either that or the ruler ''is'' the layer.

'''The Realms:''' 99th layer

Plotted out by Rick Swan in the ''Tales of the Outer Planes'' anthology. The Abyssal chaos sometimes diverts visitors here when they're aiming for elsewhere, Kali's plane in this one. It's a network of sub-layers, attached to each other through portals:
* Gray Realm. Desert of black sand, infested with dretch.
* Lightning Realm. "Blank white" plain with pillars. Disputed between Orcus and Demogorgon. Yeah, this is oldschool.
* Swirling Realm. Connects to Juiblex's crib. It's a waterfall and ocean... made of puddings and slimes. Yecch!
* Yellow Realm. Primordial tropical forest. 50' blades of grass.
* Fog Realm. "Jellyfish" surface and it stinks. It's a colossal demon uterus.
* Silver Realm. A silvery ice glacier, where sound doesn't travel.
* Star Realm. Another black sand desert, but cratered. Kali's kitchen, preparing souls for her breakfast.
At a guess, only the Gray Realm is truly the 99th. The others look to be other Abyssal layers entirely, like #222 or, indeed, #500.

'''The Mind of Evil:''' 111st layer

Ruled by Prince Sch'theraqpasstt, the Serpent Reborn.

'''Thanatos:''' 113th layer

Its as much undead as demonic. [[Orcus|Orcus's]] crib. He spends most of his time chilling here not doing things.

'''Slugbed:''' 128th layer

Lupercio the Baron of Sloth rules here. It's a tropical, mostly overcast realm filled with lush forests and coral reefs filled with all manner of demon gastropods. Because Lupercio is too busy spending most of his time sleeping, where his perpetually darkness-shrouded form is perpetually parasitized by shadow demons, and too spending what precious little waking hours he has maniacally doing ''something,'' the demon gastropods of Slugbed do not recognize his authority, and, instead, do their own thing, i.e., eating the scenery, each other, and intruders too stupid to understand the threat posed by demon gastropods until they get eaten. An army of angels has secretly constructed fortresses in the clouds above Slugbed, and eventually intend to use their fortresses here to stage attacks on the demons of the Abyss.

'''Outcast's End:''' 137th layer

Ruled by the exiled and outcast Azazel, Prince of Scapegoats.

'''Lifebane:''' 142nd layer

Ruled by [[Chemosh]], the god of undeath in [[Dragonlance|Krynn]].

'''Hollow's Heart:''' 176th layer

Ruled by [[Fraz-Urb'luu]]. Fraz-Urb'luu pissed off virtually all of the other demon lords by learning how to summon them in order to humiliate them in front of his sniveling minions. This led to the demon lord being forced to take a sabbatical in the dungeons of [[Oerth]] while lesser Lords moved in, turning the place into a demonic continent of crazy shit, including a jungle of skin, where trees are hairs sprouting from the ground; a desert made of grains of clotted blood; and a city shrouded in powerful illusions to make petitioners think everything is happy and safe, so the demons can take it away piece by piece.

'''Writhing Realm of Ugudenk: ''' 177th layer

Little is known about this layer except that it is the place where Golothomas are most commonly found and it consists of lightless tunnels.

'''The Rotting Plain:''' 181st layer

Ruled by [[Laogzed]] the god of the [[troglodyte]]. Here they archive everyone's browsing history, purchases, and other personal information forever.

'''Vulgarea:''' 193th layer

Ruled by demon princess Eshebala the [[furry|foxwoman and wolfwere]] goddess.

'''Shedaklah, the Slime Pits:''' 222nd layer

[[Juiblex]], the Slime Lord, and [[Zuggtmoy]], the Lady of Fungi rule here. A fetid swamp of every variety of ooze, slime, fungus and filth; obviously a disgusting place. Sometimes the 528th layer.

'''The Dreaming Gulf:''' 230th layer

A phantasmal dark and wind-swept realm with no ruler. This is where the dreams of evil gods go when they die, slowly being given form by the Abyss, becoming the incorporeal demons known as [[Loumara]]s.

'''Palpitatia:''' 241st layer

Grankhul and Skiggaret, the [[bugbear]] gods, rule here.

'''The Scalding Sea:''' 245th layer

Another ocean of acid but this one at least has a surface; it might even be the route out for Burningwater. It also has islands... of black glass. Probably deserted, the one island town is empty, with its former occupants encrusting the town's walls while the town's fountain screams eternally and sprays yet more acid.

'''The Hidden Layer:''' 248th layer

A huge thunderstorm-ravaged wasteland. Was ruled by Demon Prince Eltab, until he was summoned into the [[Prime Material]] and bound there, also sucking small portions of his realm with him to [[Faerun]] in the form of demoncysts and leaving his subordinates to fight amongst themselves over control of the rest.

'''Durao:''' 274th layer

A ruler-less layer dotted by military encampments and demon barracks interconnected by iron roads that snake through the otherwise swampy environs along the River Styx. It was from here that most of the demon armies staged before departing to wage the [[Blood War]] in [[Gehenna]].

'''Feng-Tu:''' 300th layer

A citadel overlooking a tributary of the River Styx, it is ruled by Tou Mu, goddess of the North Star, and Lu Yueh, god of epidemics, both gods from the [[China|Chinese]] [[Mythology#Chinese Mythology|Mythology]].

'''The Sulfanorum:''' 303rd layer

As the [[Coenobites]] have taught us, what are demons to some are angels to others; so what's a hell to many could be a heaven to some. Here is the tobacconist's heaven, as ''Planes of Chaos'' wittily illustrated. Full of flames designed to light pipes, which the Abyssals smoke here.

'''The Broken Scale:''' 333rd layer

Ruled by [[Hiddukel]], the ''[[Dragonlance]]'' god of greed and treachery.

'''Fortress of Indifference:''' 348th layer

Rough terrain with fiery skies. An evil 200 foot tower is the main attraction, and is [[Hellbound: The Blood War|why we don't let Monte Cook listen to Nine Inch Nails anymore]]. Its the home of outcasts, half-fiends, [[tiefling]]s, etc. that turned their backs on the [[Blood War]]. Its particularly anarchic. Tapheon, a barely held together demon, tries to rule here but mostly goes around torturing random beings.

'''Arch of Eternity:''' 359th layer

Ruled by Eldanoth, the Prince of Crime. He once served under Orcus but left after Orcus was overthrown for a time, now his servants sabotage Orcus's plans. He's worshiped by criminals. The realm is, ironically, a huge, but finite plane of fire and snakes with a copper fortress at its center.

'''The Plains of Gallenshu:''' 377th layer

Dirt-storms, and "bat-winged creatures" forever fighting the tanar'ri slavers here.

'''Hungry Tarns:''' 380th layer

A bleak and poisonous realm of fens and black bottomless lakes that once was ruled by the [[Obyrith]] [[Sertrous]] but is now abandoned since Sertrous's death. As Sertrous returns to life, the layer becomes more infested with Golothomas and other serpentine monsters.

'''The Worm Realm:''' 399th layer

Urdlen's home, another plane of tunnels. Very diseased - possibly from a clash with Zuggtmoy.

'''The Woeful Escarand:''' 400th layer

Here, under a great mountain, is the court of judgement for chaotic-evils.

'''White Kingdom:''' 421st layer

Ruled by the King of Ghouls, who, depending on the author, is either a toady of Orcus, a hostage-turned-minion of Yeenoghu, or an undead god who's free to do his own shit.

'''Death Dells:''' 422nd layer

Also called the Seeping Woods in ''Planescape''. Ruled by [[Yeenoghu]], Demon Prince of [[Gnolls]].

'''Ahriman-abad:''' 452nd layer

Ruled by Ahrimanes, the Chief of the Cacodaemons.

'''Androlynne:''' 471st layer

Owned by [[Pale Night]]. This layer has become a battlefield where the forces of good fight to protect a group of [[Eladrin]] children who were trapped there by a deal with Pale Night. This may have backfired on Pale Night because the amount of people fighting for good on this layer is slowly causing the layer to change its appearance, and may eventually shift it out of the abyss to a higher plane.

'''Guttlevetch:''' 480th layer

A sea eternally swept by perpetual typhoons and hurricanes, its beaches of blood are littered with innumerable shipwrecks. Was ruled by Zuregurex, Lord of the Drowned, but he seriously fucked up when he tried to invade Demogorgon's layer. Zuregurex fled to the 245th layer to escape retribution.

'''Mansion of the Rake:''' 487th layer

An entire layer stylized as a perpetually shifting baroque-style palace. Ruled by Kanchelsis the god of [[vampire]]s, born of the blood of the elven gods. His primary servants are vampires, drow, and the occasional crazy birds in his aviaries. His live-in boarders-turned-sort-of-minions are a trio of crazed blood fiends, Memnul, Dagrobard, and Vonce, who are so unpleasant, they apparently scare even Kanchelsis shitless.

'''Noisome Vale:''' 489th layer

Tarnhem is the official ruler here, though he's left for a while to go and hike Mt. Everest to find himself or something (if playing ''Return to the Tomb of Horrors''', he's now his son [[Acererak]]'s guest). The layer itself is mostly volcanic, creating a poisoned and acidic atmosphere. However, a deep canyon carves its way through the layer which is infested with worms. These worms thrive in the acidic air, breathing it in and expelling breathable air as a waste byproduct. Tarnhem's estate is built along the ravine, and his servants still occupy it awaiting his return.

'''Kali:''' 500th layer

Kali makes her home in a big red India-themed jungle under a cloudless red sky, on the shore of the Screaming Sea; all described in Rick Swan's adventure. Or not. ''Planes of Chaos'' has her in layer #643 instead. But she's ''Kali''; she's probably got several layers.

'''Torremor:''' 503rd layer

An aerie, built out of bridges, buildings and junk, floating in a void, and inhabited by vrock, chasme and other flying demons. Officially ruled by [[Pazuzu]], though, he has, more or less, abandoned it to his ex-girlfriend, [[Lamashtu]]. For a while they were a disgustingly close couple, then Lamashtu betrayed him, and then they broke up when he ate out her eyes and impaled her on top of a tower at the very top of Torremor, where ever that is. He's more or less forgiven her, but still can not be assed to un-impale her.

'''Occipitus:''' 507th layer

Adimarchus, Prince of Madness, founded this plane and was its first prince. He is a fallen Celestial and thus this layer is actually a fragmented piece of Celestia (the Seven Heavens) that fell with him. Demons avoid this layer all together, its filled with ruins and basins. Adimarchus fought a big fight against [[Graz'zt]] and lost at one point. He has a split personality, one angelic, one demonic, which is why he's called "Prince of Madness." Now he's imprisoned in Skullrot in [[Pandemonium]], the Great Wheel's funny farm.

'''Shatterstone:''' 524th layer

Ruled by Vaprak the [[Troll]] and [[ogre]] deity.

'''Vudra:''' 531st layer

Ruled by [[Shaktari]], the queen of [[Marilith]]s.

'''Fleshforges:''' 558th layer

Ruled by Demon Prince Dwiergus, the Chrysalis Prince. He has control over the shaping of demonic races. Probably older than Pale Night. The Father of Demons in some ways. A mentor to Baphomet who taught him how to create new demons. Stats in Dragon #359.

'''Shendilavri:''' 570th layer

Islamic Paradise! ...for Malcanthet, Queen of the Succubi. Not so much for her visitors and guests.

'''Prison of the Mad God:''' 586th layer

A maelstorm of various gasses and orbiting rock. Imprisons Diinkarazan, one of the two gods of the [[derro]]. Space itself is warped.

'''Goranthis:''' 597th layer

A little demonic [[Magical Realm|slice of paradise]]. This pleasure-palace and the surrounding gardens are the realm of [[Socothbenoth|Socothbenoth, the Persuader]] who rules from atop his [[/d/|Palace of Quivering Flesh]].

'''Shubgottia, The Endless Maze:''' 600th layer

Ruled by [[Baphomet]], Prince of Beasts. He lets [[Pale Night]], a ghost looking entity, the mother of demons allegedly, have a castle here as well though she rarely does anything. Lyktion is his palace and at his ''Tower of '''Fucking''' Science'' he experiments and creates new demon breeds and such. He has vast armies of beastmen looking demons and is revered by the minotaurs. He is smart, savage, one of the top tier princes, and is not to be fucked with. He began as a mortal creature, either as a beast that lived as a man or a man that lived as a beast, and was cursed by the gods, though obviously he made the best of it.

'''Conflagratum:''' 601rst layer

Ruled by Alzrius, Lord of the Flowing Flame. He usually manifests himself as a pillar of fire and leads his legions to the burning of all [[bitches]].

'''Caverns of the Skull:''' 643rd layer

Kali again, ''Planescape'' edition. The authors decided that reading Sanskrit would be too hard so just watched ''Temple Of Doom'' for this one.

'''Zionyn:''' 663rd layer

Ruled by [[Obox-ob]], Prince of Vermin. As an obyrith and, perhaps, the last surviving aspect of the old Prince of Demons, he plots here to dethrone Demogorgon and to run all [[tanar'ri]] off the Abyss.

'''Unnamed Layer:''' 665th layer

A layer with gravity and atmosphere but nothing to stand on, spells that prevent or slow down falling do not work, and all portals connected to it go in but not out, so if you stumble into it and can't teleport out or have someone rescue you, you will endlessly fall until you die of dehydration or get ripped apart by the air friction.

'''Bottomless Pit:''' 666th layer

Ruled by the Demon Lord Abaddon, Prince of Apocalypse. The center of the layer is a literal black hole singularity that is slowly eating away at all of creation and the Abyss. Anything that enters the singularity, known as the Maelstrom, is lost forever. It is theorized by the [[Fraternity of Order]] in [[Sigil]] that a portion of the energy devoured by the Maelstrom is used to keep [[Tharizdun]] imprisoned, which is a bit ironic on a plane devoted to chaos and evil.

'''Abyssian Ocean:''' Many layers

The Abyssian Ocean is not really a layer of the abyss, but is a vast ocean that connects to all of the oceans that exist in the abyss and so spans across many layers, making it a useful way of traveling around the abyss. No demon lord rules over the Abyssian Ocean as it is protected by the extremely powerful myrmyxicuses, who rule it in floating citadels made of bone, shells, and coral.

=Inhabitants=
The main race in the Abyss are demons. There are four different categories of demons: The [[Tanar'ri]], the [[Obyrith]]s, the [[Loumara]]s, and everything else. The Tanar'ri are the only ones who ever get shit accomplished. They are also the "most numerous". This may owe to Georg Cantor's metamathematic: the number of rational (lawful) numbers is infinite but countable (aleph-null, the smallest possible infinity), but the number of all real numbers including irrational (unlawful) numbers is not (hypothesized to be aleph-1 but possibly higher) - so some infinities are greater than others. The demon ''princes'' are finite: most Tanar'ri, though there are some Obyriths.

The petitioners in the Abyss are called manes, and become a low caste of Tanar'ri. If they survive for a very long time, they can be promoted up into the ranks of the not-worthless, and even to demon lords if they're cunning enough. This is how [[Orcus]] got his start.

Most of the chaotic evil deities live in the Abyss as well, for obvious reasons, including the aforementioned Great Mother and Lolth (depending on edition). Deities here are also called demon lords, because that's generally just a title and not any kind of useful disambiguation. Also because there's plenty of layers to go around so if you've got the power you might as well rule one.

==Why You Really REALLY Shouldn't Come Here==
Whenever some berk (that's an idiot, in Sigil cant) drops by here, there's a chance she gets killed. It's often the case that said berk wasn't Chaotic Evil herself. In the Outer Planes, undead as such don't exist - yeah, we know, Orcus but here we're really dealing with the damned in the ''form'' of undead. So a decent person getting into the dead-book on the Abyss ''should'' have her soul end up in a final rest suited for her true alignment. Anywhere but here.

As one final barbed grind up the arse, that depends on ''how'' one dies here. Here are some chaotic energies so mighty and blasphemous that it twists a person's body and soul into a special, Abyssal sort of unlife. Such a wretch is a [[Bodak]].

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:World Axis Plain of 1000 Portals.png|A map of Pazunia's [[World Axis]] counterpart.
File:Pazunia 3e.jpg|Pazunia
File:Grand abyss 3e.jpg|The Grand Abyss
File:Twelvetrees 3e.jpg|Twelvetrees
File:Abysm.jpg|The brine flats in Abysm
File:Drooling jungle 3e.jpg|The Drooling Jungle in Hollow's Heart
File:Shedaklah 3e.jpg|A map of Shedaklah
</gallery>

{{OuterPlanes}}

Dabus

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The '''Dabus''' are a mysterious species of [[plane|extraplanar]] humanoids native to [[Sigil]] in the [[multiverse]] of [[Dungeons & Dragons]]. Introduced with the arrival of the [[Planescape]] setting, dabus are one of the more distinctive, or at least easily recognizable, aspects of Sigil itself.

Though possessing the ability of speech, dabus almost always communicate only through visual rebuses they create, filling the air near them with golden shining lines (from which the name Dabus originates). Physically, a Dabus resembles a humanoid with yellow-tan skin, goatlike horns, and a shock of white hair. Dabus float off the ground, their feet never touching the earth. The character Fell is the only exception to this.

Their agenda strictly follows the orders of the Lady of Pain, but their principal duty is to build and rebuild the living and growing buildings and streets of the city of Sigil.

Certain sources suggest that Dabus can in fact speak, but fear that if they were to do so "their thoughts would be overheard." Another, more cynical source suggests that they simply enjoy frustrating others with their puzzles, though communication with a Dabus proves them to be extremely patient, if rather aloof and alien.

The only Dabus with an identity is actually a fallen one known as Fell, who had become an outcast after he proclaimed the god [[Aoskar]] (god of portals) as his patron deity. Shortly after that, the Lady destroyed Aoskar and his temple but for reasons unknown, she let Fell live. He now runs a tattoo parlor in Sigil's Grand Bazaar where he uses his ability to dream whole stories into one picture to create unique tattoos for adventurers who visit it. Most locals still prefer to avoid him, for fear of retribution by the Lady.

The rebuses of the Dabus are so annoying to both in-game characters and real-world players that the [[splatbook]] "Uncaged: Faces of Sigil" introduced a [[Lillend]] NPC who has made a small fortune creating an instruction manual on how to translate them.

Dabus were first statted in the Planescape Campaign Setting boxed set for [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] 2nd edition. They then were updated to [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition]] in the adventure module "Expedition to the Demonweb Pits", and to [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition]] in the [[Dungeon Master's Guide]] 2.

{{D&D-Outsiders}}

Yugoloth

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[[File:Zastava-yugo-311-1982-300300.jpg|thumb|right|The purest distillation of evil]]Also known as '''[[Daemon#Dungeons_.26_Dragons_and_Pathfinder|daemons]]''' (no, not [[Daemon#Warhammer|''those'' Daemons]]), '''Yugoloths''' are the [[Alignment#Neutral_Evil|neutral evil]] grid-fill for the [[devils]] and [[demons]] in post-1980 [[Dungeons & Dragons]].

The first published were the Mezzodaemon and Nycadaemon of [[Drow trilogy|D3]], just chillin' in [[Erelhei-Cinlu]] as fiends do; whence they went into the [[Fiend Folio]], and then got more buddies in the second Monster Manual. A decade later [[2e]] did to daemonkind what it did to the [[Baatezu]] and [[Tanar'ri]] (and [[Demodand]]), changing the name to some babble, because it SOUNDED too much like "demon" for [[Lorraine Williams]] to allow in an [[RPG]].

But in this (rare) case That Woman had a point. Their name was always redundant with "demon"; and as spelled out, it conflicts with the ancient Greek word for “spirit” or even "lesser god" - Socrates had a daemon with him, for instance. And the eeevil daemons never enjoyed anything like the popularity as the two major fiendish races on either side, nor were they as well known. Her name-change didn't help their case, though. We'll get to some reasons why not.

As the Neutral Evil outworlders daemons got allocated to the Gray Waste of [[Hades]]. Though ''[[Planescape]]'' shifted most of them to [[Gehenna]] because Hades really sucks.

Yugoloths embody the platonic idea of Evil itself. Not “evil”, mind you, but capital-e Evil. They lie, cheat, and betray for its own sake, and generally seek to cause as much suffering and hate as possible to everyone. Whereas the demons embody anarchy, and the devils embody tyranny, the yugoloth embody sociopathy. They're kind of dicks like that. They act as mercenaries (primarily in the [[Blood War]], but they'll work for anyone who can meet their price, even their polar opposites the [[guardinal|Guardinals]]), constantly switching sides between the factions involved in whatever conflict they were paid to fight in (this can happen multiple time in a single battle). In fact, as regards the blood war there're conspiracy theories that ''they'' are the original fiends and/or that they're the ones who started the Blood War and are playing it to their own end.

=Why The Yugoloths Are [[FAIL]]=
As to why the Yugoloths own the Great Wheel's Wooden Spoon, behind Law's and Chaos': A philosophical reason might be that "pure" evil without a desire to destroy or dominate doesn't actually seem likely to do much of anything with real consequences. A narrative-based reason might be that demons and devils are more easily contrasted with each other. A more realistic reason for their low profile is that they're just really boring, having failed to tap into the predominant [[Mythology#Abrahamic_Mythology (Judaism,_Christianity,_Islam)|Abrahamic mythos]] the way that tanar'ri demons and baatezu devils did. The Archdemons are some of the [[Baphomet|biggest]], [[Orcus|baddest]], and [[Lamashtu|most horrifying]] creatures in the entire setting, while the ruler of the Nine Hells is a [[Creed|strategic mastermind]] who pretends to be The God-Fiend of the Pit, Master of Slavery and Tyranny because that is ''less'' threatening than [[Asmodeus|what he really is]]. Not to mention a wide variety of lesser demons who are iconic, terrifying, and awesome. Despite the fact that in Gygax's ''Come Endless Darkness'' novel the oinoloth Infestix and the deity [[Nerull]] are the same being, [[Lorraine_Williams|the sociopathic bitch]] had already ousted [[Gygax|D&D founder Gary Gygax]] from [[TSR]] so Nerull-as-Infestix was never included in published game materials; yugoloths have fewer interesting leaders (about which very little is known), just a city that moves around or some shit. Forget these assholes and get back to headbutting pit fiends in [[Baator]]; D&D publishers dropped the ball by not publishing a neutral evil [https://d20npcs.fandom.com/wiki/Bale_Fiend ''bale fiend''] yugoloth, which would have fit perfectly in [[Planescape]]'s notion that yugoloths were the origin of the other [[Fiend|fiends]].
[[Image:Yugoloths.png|400px|thumb|right|Planescape's cattle call]]
Yugoloths' heyday was ''Planescape'', where they met an actual niche as the [[Blood War]]'s profiteers. But here they were battling hags for market-share. And then they lost even that in 3e and beyond.

With [[Planescape]] not getting an official 3.x release, and the Blood War thusly getting a lot less shilling, the yugoloths were mostly forgotten aside from the occasional update in a [[Monster Manual]]. In [[4e]] they lost their whole reason to exist with the almost non-existent Blood War and were instead made a subtype of Demon. The jackal-like Arcanoloths were even divorced entirely from the Daemon family tree and made an entirely new species of scheming, manipulative evil immortals called [[Raavasta]].

In [[5e]], Yugoloths were created by the Baatezu in order to combat the Tanar'ri. However, the Baatezu lost control of them, and now they're a mercenary fiend race giving their help wherever the most profit is to be made.

Pathfinder avoided the Yugoloth name for copyright reasons, with their [[Daemon_(Pathfinder)|daemons]] becoming an omnicidal race lead by (a version of) the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. But after the ''Legacy of Fire'' [[Adventure Path]] introduced [[Divs]]... why even bother?

Truly the yugoloth is well named, to sum up; putting a daemon in your campaign is like driving to prom in a 1982 Yugo.

=If You Gotta Use 'Em=
==As Player Characters (LOL)==
It should come as no surprise that the same edition of D&D that made [[neogi]], [[unbodied|flying ghost brains]], [[maug|extraplanar robots]], [[mind flayer]]s, and the [[ixitxachitl]] playable or pseudo-playable also took a shot at making Yugoloths playable. Specifically, the ''Canoloth'', of all variants, was given a level adjustment in the 2001 [[Manual of the Planes]], although between the adjustment and racial hit dice they're largely still unplayable.

==The Truest Fiends==
The Yugoloth maintain a number of strongholds on the Lower Planes. Their biggest one is the Crawling City making its way on the slopes of Gehenna. Here the General of Gehenna, the leader of the Yugoloth, holds his court and plots against the Multiverse itself. Also on Gehenna is the Tower Arcane, where the Arcanoloth record all the deals made with mortals and Outsiders alike. Hades houses Khin-Oin, a massive tower allegendly made from the spine of a deity the Yugoloth killed. Here many of the soldiers of the Yugoloth armies live and train. Finally there is the Tower of Incarnate Pain, which is still under construction in [[Carceri]]. Made from the screaming bodies of petitioners and the skin of a dead god, the Yugoloth intend to use the tower to link their two other towers and obtain considerable power that way. The native inhabitants of Carceri, the [[Demodand|Gehreleth]] do not agree with this and frequently attack the tower to tear it down. Without their attacks the Yugoloth would have been done centuries ago, but because of the actions of the Gehreleth they are far behind on schedule. While the fiends are very limited in number and the Yugoloth could easily crush them with a superior force, they do not do this because it would draw too much attention to their secret project.

==The Shapes of Evil==
===Yugoloth Creations===
*'''[[Canoloth]]s''' eyeless quadrupedal guard dog yugoloth with the tongue <s>you wish your boyfriend had</s> of a chameleon.
*'''[[Guardian Yugoloth]]s:''' Least, Lesser, Greater.
*'''[[Battleloth]]s:''' Arrow, Axe, Crossbow, Pick, Spiked Chain, Sword.

===Lesser Yugoloths===
*'''[[Mezzoloth]]''': Mid-ranking bug monsters. Most notable for dropping massed Cloudkill spells.
*'''[[Dergholoth]]''': Remarkably ridiculous four-armed insectoids in D&D; their heads don't turn, but their entire torso whirls about wildly. [[Pathfinder]]'s [[Daemon_(Pathfinder)#Derghodaemon|derghodaemons]] however look like nightmares of Ginsu blades that could vivisect you before you could even scream.
*'''[[Piscoloth]]''': If [[Cthulhu]] and a lobster had a lovechild, it would be a piscoloth.
*'''[[Hydroloth]]''': Flying frog monsters. Take dips into the Styx, which makes their minds both scrambled and unreadable. Trade-in information, ironically.
*'''[[Yagnoloth]]''': Goofy-looking lopsided freaks, yagnoloths bear much of the blame for why D&D aficionados typically regard tanar'ri and baatezu as cooler than yugoloths.
*'''[[Marraenoloth]]''': Boatmen of the Styx. Loyal to their boats and nothing else.

===Greater Yugoloths===

*'''[[Nycaloth]]''' : Classically horned and draconian winged fiends. Headsmen and executioners. They're large, brutish, and carry vorpal axes. In [[3e|3rd edition D&D]] nycaloths gained the distinction of having four arms.

*'''[[Arcanaloth]]''': Probably the most famous of the yugoloth species [at least among [[furry]] fans], arcanaloths look like anthropomorphic jackals and are known for managing the mercenary contracts that are the lifeblood of the yugolothic personal involvement in the [[Blood War]]. In essence, all contracts to hire yugoloths ultimately get approved by these guys. These guys are perhaps best known because they have two representative characters living in [[Sigil]]; A'kin the Friendly Fiend, a seemingly benevolent (not that anyone buys it) merchant, and [[Shemeshka]] the Marauder, aspiring to be the biggest wheeler-dealer in the Cage, who calls herself "King of the Crosstrade" and is famous as one of the first canonical non-cisgender NPCs -- she calls herself female, but her profile in the Sigil bigwig NPC splat "Uncaged: Faces of Sigil" depicts her with a ''male'' symbol, implying she's trans. Of course, according to ''Faces of Evil'', all yugoloths are hermaphrodites (<strike>not that the hypothetical sex of a fiend even matters, since fiends of all varieties "reproduce" by uplifting Maggots, which are the forms evil mortals take upon dying and arriving at any of the lower planes</strike>. Actually, yugoloths don't reproduce from maggots/larva. They procreate as mammals do, and when one dies, another mezzoloth is spat out, ensuring their numbers never decrease). By [[4e|4th edition D&D]] the publishers finally realized that [[Furry|jackal furries]] (only some of which even have horns) are just not daemonic enough, and so [[Retcon|retconned]] them to instead be the [[raavasta]] race (with distant yugoloth ancestry). If D&D publishers had actually put effort into making arcanadaemons, well, daemonic, they all would have had larger-than-merely-token horns, mange-exposed patches of diseased skin, and one or more additional monstrous/daemonic features (such as tentacles).

*'''[[Ultroloth]]''': Unlike the pit fiends and balors of the devils and demons, respectively, the leaders of the yugoloths are thinking, scheming mages-sneaks that disguise their strength behind melted, emaciated, and shifting forms rather than roar into battle wreathed in flame. Unfortunately, the fact that ultroloths have zero daemonic features and instead look like <s>weather balloons</s> sci-fi aliens is much of why Balor demons and pit fiend devils better fascinated [[God|dungeon masters]] and [[murderhobos|players]] alike, whose cultural mythos is primarily [[Mythology#Abrahamic Mythology (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)|Abrahamic]]. Now imagine an ultroloth but with large horns and tentacles; much more daemonic, eh?

===[[Altraloth]]s===
If they are willing to serve the [[Hag#Night_Hags|Night Hags]] for a specific purpose, a yugoloth can choose to undergo a ritual to become a powerful new being: an altraloth. In a long and painful ritual any yugoloth from mezzoloth to ultraloth can be turned into a new creature of superior power, but to do this they will have to enter a contract with the Night Hags and complete its terms before being freed. Most yugoloth chafe at this because they are not able to betray their new mistresses: hurting them will result in unspeakable pain for the altraloth, and if one of them were to die for any reason the altraloth perishes as well. As such, they are invested to the wellbeing of their masters and will do anything to protect them.

===[[Baernaloths]]===
Unverified ancient texts claim that baernaloths were the first [[Fiend|fiends]], and the origin of the other fiends. Those versions which TSR/WotC have published so far have sucked the papery scrotum of Hades himself. Homebrew versions exist online, though, worthy of these most primordial of fiends.

===[[Oinoloths]]===
The prefix ''oino''- means "one"; the word ''oinoloth'' is a title of the yugoloth ruler of [[Hades]], not a type of yugoloth, though the process of attaining the oinoloth title could conceivably involve a transformation.

...at least originally. now the being with the best claim to being "ruler of all yugoloth" is the General of Gehenna, assumed to be an ultraloth, and now oinoloths are just another type of yugoloth that specializes in disease.

==Yugoloth Lords==
Most active yugoloth lords are altraloths.

*'''[[Apomps]] the Three-Sided''' - baernaloth

*'''[[Anthraxus]] the Decayed''' - altraloth (and held oinoloth title)

*'''[[Bubonix]]''' - altraloth

*'''[[Charon]] (a.k.a. Cerlic)''' - altraloth

*'''[[Cholerix]]''' - altraloth

*'''[[The General of Gehenna]]''' - ultroloth (and probably an altraloth)

*'''[[Helekanalaith]]''' - arcanaloth

*'''[[Infestix]]''' - [[Gygax]]'s ''Come Endless Darkness'' novel posits that the first oinoloth Infestix and the deity [[Nerull]] were the same being.

*'''[[Mydianchlarus]]''' - ultroloth (and held oinoloth title)

*'''[[Taba]]''' - altraloth

*'''[[Typhus]]''' - altraloth

* '''[[Xengahra]]''' - altraloth

=See Also=
*[[Daemon (Pathfinder)]]
*[[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition races]]

{{D&D-Outsiders}}
[[Category:FAIL]]

Mephit

2020-08-12T00:13:08Z

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'''Mephits''' are a species of [[imp]]-like [[elemental]] monsters native to the [[Elemental Planes]] and [[Energy Planes]] of [[Dungeons & Dragons]]. Coming in a vast array of subspecies based on particular elements, their appearances, abilities and personalities all differ depending on their precise elemental affinity. The one trait they share in common is that they are all incredibly annoying.

==Planescape==
Mephits proliferated with the [[Planescape]] setting, which expanded their numbers hugely. There is literally at least one mephit breed native to every single Elemental, Paraelemental and Quasielemental Plane you can think of. Except the Plane of Vacuum/Void, and even then, that's not certain.

In fact, Planescape's original lore is that whilst [[Cryonax]] is the only true [[Archomental]] of a Paraelemental/Quasielemental plane, unusually powerful mephits actually fill a similar role on all the others.

In Planescape lore, there's actually an established form of code language involving sending mephits to people you don't like, where the type(s) of mephit sent and the number of them sent conveys different responses or information. For obvious reasons, you only send mephits to rivals, enemies and other people you just don't like.

* Air: The gift of an air mephit indicates that the sender intends to either ambush the recipient or politically betray them. Naturally, these are usually timed to arrive after the plot is already in motion.
* Ash: These mephits are normally only sent to get the last word in, as they indicate a very strong and very rude refusal to correspond with the recipient anymore. They signal the recipient is no longer seen as being worth talking to.
* Dust: Receiving a Dust Mephit is a subtle threat, typically indicating that the giver has recognized some plot you are holding against him.
* Earth: Indicating a strong refusal to concede to demands, sending an Earth Mephit to somebody is a very firm declaration of "NO!"
* Fire: These mephits indicate displeasure with some recent action of the recipient's, with the number sent indicating just how mad the sender is.
* Ice: These mephits indicate that the recipient is now officially forbidden from entering the home of the sender, with the number of Ice Mephits sent roughly indicating just how harshly they will be punished if they try.
* Lightning: Serving as a simultaneous warning and boast, the gift of a Lightning Mephit cautions the recipient to reconsider their tactics against the sender, as the sender has acquired some hidden ally who can swing things in their favor. These mephits are often, but not always, a bluff.
* Magma: One of these mephits is only sent in response to the sender having recently bested the recipient in some intellectual or diplomatic challenge. Basically, it's the sender's way of gloating.
* Mineral: An exception to the general rule of mephit code, the gift of a Mineral Mephit indicates that the sender is willing to compromise on something and is asking for more direct communication to be opened.
* Mist: Getting one of these indicates that someone close to you is an assassin, but the mephit itself almost never knows who. Given the usual audience for mephit codes, it's typically intended to inspire paranoia.
* Ooze: These mephits are intended as sarcastic gifts, and basically serve as a way for the sender to say that the recipient is a weakling.
* Radiant: Like the Mineral Mephits, these are an exception to the generally hostile nature of the mephit code. The gift of a Radiant Mephit is essentially like receiving a white flag; it indicates that the sender wants to declare a truce.
* Salt: As the most unpleasant of all mephits, sending somebody a Salt Mephit serves as a declaration of open warfare between sender and recipient.
* Smoke: Similar in nature to Salt Mephits, but less extreme; the gift of a Smoke Mephit is a sign of insolence and contempt, and is usually used to declare a vendetta.
* Steam: Serving as opposite of the Earth Mephit, the gift of a Steam Mephit indicates that the sender is agreeing to some request of the recipient. There is, however, a connotation of gloating — it serves as a way to say "yes, but I told you so!"
* Void: As mentioned above, the Plane of Void (or Vacuum, depending on where you look) has no native mephits, so "to get a Void Mephit" means to never get a reply.
* Water: Serving as formal answer to an Air Mephit, the gift of a Water Mephit indicates a sarcastic congratulation on a failed attempt by the recipient to trap or plot against the sender.

==3e==
All of the Mephits from AD&D returned to haunt D&D 3rd edition. Additionally, three new varieties manifested themselves in this edition;

'''Glass Mephits''' are native to the boundary regions of the [[Elemental Planes]] of Earth and Fire, characterized by their glossy skin and internal glow. They can spew gouts of molten glass over their foes, heat metal 2/day and blur themselves 1/day. They have the fast healing ability, but only when touching molten glass or a flame that is at least torch-sized. Introduced in the Sandstorm splatbook, we know nothing about their personalities.

'''Sulphur Mephits''' look like winged [[goblin]]s made from living sandstone, hailing from the boundary regions of the [[Elemental Planes]] of Earth and Air. They can create a haboob - a swirling, blinding cloud of dust and grit that blinds and grinds away at anything caught within - centered on themselves 1/hour, and cast a stinking cloud 1/day. Their breath weapon is a nauseating cloud of gases that renders its victims unconscious, and their Fast Healing power only works when they are within fumes, such as volcanic gasses. Also from Sandstorm, we likewise don't know anything about this creature.

'''Mirror Mephits''' appeared in the adventure "Expedition to the Demonweb Pits". One of the few species native to the obscure lesser [[plane]] known as the [[Plane of Mirrors]], they resemble winged [[goblins]] with smooth, mirrored skin, solidly black eyes, clawed fingers, and wings that resemble panes of clear glass. Their skin develops cracks and chips if they are wounded, and they shatter into a pile of glass dust. Their fast healing only works when they can see their reflection, their breath weapon is a cone of glass slivers, and they can cast mirror image and silent image at will as well as simulacrum 1/day. Though they are incredibly vulnerable to bludgeoning weapons and the shatter spell, they can reflect spells specifically targeted at them. Weirdly, their flavor text describes them as being able to see through and walk through reflective surfaces, but no mechanics for this ability are described! Mirror mephits enjoy teasing and tricking others; they are especially fascinated by the inhabitants of the [[Prime Material]] and spend great deals of time watching them - males tend to like watching spellcasters, arcane or divine, whilst females prefer rogues and warriors. They hate their plane for being so boring and readily answer summons - indeed, they love to try and tempt casters into calling them forth, making ridiculous promises of loyalty that are swiftly forgotten once they escape. They are often surprisingly adept at crafts such as stone carving, glassblowing, gem cutting or jewelry making, and have been known to become clerics to gods of trickery, illusions and shadow, although they are more likely to become wizards. Those who take the spellcaster's path often strive to construct wondrous items from mirrors, glass, enamel or semi-precious stones. A spell to summon mirror mephits is a 2nd level spell available to bards, clerics, sorcerers and wizards. They are most infamous for having Simulacrum as a SLA, so any called Mirror Mephit hands the caster one of the best spells in the game.

==4th Edition==
Reappearing in [[Dragon Magazine]] #421, the mephit was pretty unchanged in this edition. Natives of the [[Elemental Chaos]], they became prank-loving and playful, but naturally servile, lesser [[elemental]]s, frequently summoned by [[mage]]s or more powerful elemental creatures to perform various minor tasks. Though they readily gravitate towards evil under the influence of an evil master, they are defined as impressionable and easy to please, which indirectly confirms that mephits who work for good masters will, in turn, become good creatures.

The list of mephits in this edition is shorter than that of the last two, cutting itself down to Earth Mephits, Air Mephits, Water Mephits, Fire Mephits, Dust Mephits, Smoke Mephits, Ice Mephits, Steam Mephits and Mist Mephits. Each retains its own unique appearance, abilities and personality based on its elemental affinity. Each has a melee attack and a close blast 3 breath weapon, as well as the [[regeneration]] ability, but each has at least one unique trait or ability - Earth Mephits being able to temporarily grow from their native Small size to Large sized for a round, for example.

==5th Edition==
Come 5th edition, mephits suffered a huge setback; to fit the new variant of the [[Great Wheel]], they were stripped of most of their member species and reduced to only six races; Dust Mephits, Ice Mephits, Magma Mephits, Mud Mephits, Smoke Mephits, and Steam Mephits. This new lore is that mephits are only born when two (or possibly more) types of elemental energy interweave, which is also why they tend to be weaker than pure elementals.

All mephits in 5e have a breath weapon, a "Death Burst" ability that triggers on their death, and the ability to disguise themselves as innocuous elemental matter.

==Monstergirls?==
{{Monstergirls}}

Though you might think that mephits would pass unnoticed by the monstergirls crowd, it's not as implausible to sexualize them. A mephit is basically an [[elemental]] [[imp]], and both of those get sexualized plenty often. Add in that [[genasi]] have had it in their lore that mephits are as likely to be their progenitors as [[genie]]s since they first appeared in the pages of [[Planescape]], to the point that Pathfinder's <s>genasi</s> elemental planetouched have alternate racial traits directly referencing mephit ancestry, and... well, you can do worse than a [[shortstack]] playful elemental imp, right?

Pathfinder eventually introduced the Changeling Familiar feat, which grants your familiar an alternate form of a teenage humanoid. With the sheer variety of familiar options in Pathfinder this feat unintentionally (?) explains where a ''lot'' of the weird human crossbreeds come from.

{{D&D-Outsiders}}

Obyrith

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The '''Obyrith''' are pre-primordial demons in ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]''. They are all unfathomably [[Alignment|chaotic and evil]] extradimensional horrors that existed long before the [[tanar'ri]] came into being and very likely existed before the universe itself. They take heavy inspiration from the cosmic horrors found in [[Lovecraft]]'s [[Cthulhu Mythos]].

Obyrith first appeared in 2006's ''Fiendish Codex I'' sourcebook for [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition|''D&D'' 3.5]], which dealt with the [[Abyss]] and all its horrific denizens. Here they were introduced as one of the three types of demons alongside the [[tanar'ri]] and [[loumara]]. Two types of obyrith were detailed, the [[ekolid]] and [[sibriex]], as well as [[Dagon|Dagon, Prince of the Darkened Depths]] who was a fully fledged obyrith [[Demon Prince]]. Over the next year a few more types of obyrith would be trickled out in supplemental online postings, magazines and ''[[Monster Manual]] V'', while Dagon himself would get a much more posh write-up in ''[[Dragon Magazine|Dragon]] #349''.

But it was [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition|4th Edition]] that really shoved obyrith more into the spotlight. Confirming their identity as having come from a universe before the current one, the Obyrith actually won the war of Order versus Chaos! The absolute mad<s>men</s>things! They devoured and twisted reality so badly that their own universe was finally unmade, collapsing into a singularity of pure spite and hatred for existence. But this Shard of Pure Evil™ somehow managed to pierce the veil into [[Greyhawk|a different universe]] that was just beginning to take form, and inside of it about a dozen Obyrith managed to survive making the leap.

'''And they were pissed!''' Here they were, just getting done finally destroying existence, and now there's another one being created! Luckily for them, their shard was found by one of the new neutral [[god]]s who was starting to tidy up the chaotic elemental afterbirth, [[Tharizdun]], and they were able to instantly and so thoroughly corrupt him that he created the [[Abyss]] at their behest. Now free to exact their hate on a new universe, they began to battle other primordial entities for control of the newly minted Abyss.

Meanwhile, all the other gods stopped doing whatever it was that they were doing and placed Tharizdun in the ''D&D'' equivalent of gay baby jail for all of eternity. These lore changes would also [[retcon]] several established Demon Princes to actually have been obyrith ''the whole time!'' Most notable are [[Pazuzu]] and [[The Queen of Chaos]].

The Queen of Chaos would be the main leader of the forces of chaos as they attacked the forces of law and order; however, infighting would eventually lead to a fracturing between the obyrith and the tanar'ri they created to be their footsoldiers. Chaos gonna chaos. This opening allowed the [[Upper Planes]] to invade the Abyss and righteously buttfuck the obyrith to the brink of extinction.

===Types of Obyrith===
* Draudnu: Strange round demons with three long spider-like legs at the top of their body. Their body tapers towards the bottom, ending in a red eye surrounded by three wicked clawed arms.
* Ekolid: Vile insectoid horrors, combining all the worst aspects of ants, scorpions, spiders and anything else you wouldn't want to get bitten or stung by. They typically exist in swarms, but on the 663rd layer of the Abyss they construct massive hives as complex as cities.
* Golothoma: Long and wormlike with a single red eye at their anterior end surrounded by three scything claw-like appendages. These claws can reach through dimensions to attack other creatures. They don't have a mouth, so they feed through their own shadow.
* Laghathti: Like a disgusting slimy, black octopus, laghathti lurk within the [[River Styx]] and steal memories from souls that pass by.
* Sibriex: These resemble enormous and grotesque floating humanoid heads that are shackled to the ground by hooks and chains. Said to have a knack for flesh-crafting, the creation of the tanar'ri is likely their doing.
* Uzollru: Similar to colossal aquatic centipedes, but with flippers instead of legs. Their head has a single red eye surrounded by feeder tentacles. They mostly serve Dagon in the 89th layer of the Abyss, Shadowsea.
* Verakia: XBAWKSHUEG [[dragon]]-esque obyriths which exist in the 88th layer of the Abyss, which is [[Demogorgon]]'s pad. They are mindless marauding abominations; anyone who would even look upon one is driven to homicidal fury.

The [[qlippoth]] of ''[[Pathfinder]]'' are basically a knock-off of these nasty bastards since obyrith, much like the tanar'ri, are not available for use under the [[Open Gaming License]].

{{D&D-Outsiders}}
[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]]
[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons Monsters]]

Baatezu

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[[Image:Baatezu Army.jpg|300px|thumb|right|No, not that kind of [[PROMOTIONS|Promotion]], at least, [[Monstergirl|probably not.]]]]
The [[Alignment|lawful evil]] badguys from another dimension, in [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] 2nd edition. Formerly known as devils in the earlier editions, living in what was once called ''The Nine Hells''. This change was because of one-time CEO of [[TSR]] [[Lorraine Williams]], due to the events of the [[Satanic Panic]]. The term ''Baatezu'' is a [[Open_Gaming_License#Parts_of_D.26D_that_are_not_Open_Game_Content|trademark of Wizards Of The Coast]], so you won't find them mentioned in any Open License products like the d20 SRD nor [[Pathfinder]]. Their home is now called "[[Baator]]", but each of the nine levels still has the same names from Dante's Inferno.

Baatezu represent the lawful side of evil: the concept that cruelty and malice should be distributed in an orderly and efficient fashion. Backstabbers, vicious politicians and cruel warlords can opt to become petitioners in the "nine hells". They fight the [[Blood War]] against the [[Tanar'ri]] at behest of [[Asmodeus]], the ruler of Baator.

Baatezu are not born as mortals are. While only the most powerful of devils can breed at all, most opt not to do so because a child is a dangerous rival and a potent tool for their enemies. Instead new devils are made from the tortured souls of the damned, who are reprocessed after an [[Grimdark|extensive period of torture]] to strip them of their individuality. These soul shells are then reprocessed and turned into Lemures, starting their new existence as Baatezu. Lemures who please their dark lords enough - through a combination of gathering corrupted souls, guile, defeating their enemies and their master's enemies - may be promoted to a Spinagon, a grotesque, spiny gargoyle-esque monster. From stage to stage, devils begin looking more and more like their horrible masters, with the process being detailed more just below.

==The Hierarchy of Hell==
Baatezu are Lawful to a fault. They are masters of forming contracts that give themselves as many loopholes to exploit as possible, while bringing those for the other party down to zero. If a devil turns out to be clever, powerful, deceitful, lucky and sycophantic enough they may be promoted in an agonising ritual that grows a miniature fetal version of the new form inside of the devil, eventually bursting out in a grotesque and agonizing display. If a subject however fails its master, is betrayed in some way or if the master needs the energy that is released when doing so, a baatezu can be demoted back into a lesser form - which is a great humilitation for a devil.

All the various forms are part of a ranked hierarchy: the higher up the more powerful a devil is. Devils can only be promoted and demoted by their direct superiors, so it is not possible for rival devils to demote all of their rivals' servants or promote themselves to increase in power. As mentioned before, there is only so much power around to promote devils, gathered from souls. If a "drought" of sorts were to befall an area, high-ranking devils would be more stringent with their promotions or even demote their followers to reallocate resources: the latter is a powerful motivator for all devils to keep corrupting souls.

{|border=0 align=right cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 style="margin: 1em; border: 2px solid black;"
|-
! Category || Rank || Form || Punishment || Fallen Angels || Abishai
|-
| '''Least Devils''' || 1 || Lemure
|-
| || 2 || Legion Devil Advespa|| Nupperibo || || White Abishai
|-
| || 3 || Spined Devil || || || Black Abishai
|-
| '''Lesser Devils''' || 4 || Bearded Devil || || || Green Abishai
|-
| || 5 || Imp || || || Blue Abishai
|-
| || 6 || Steel Devil || || || Red Abishai
|-
| || 7 || Chain Devil
|-
| || 8 || Harvester Devil Pain Devil || || Erinyes
|-
| || 9 || Amnizu
|-
| '''Greater Devils''' || 10 || Bone Devil Orthon Narzugon || Malebranche
|-
| || 11 || Barbed Devil
|-
| || 12 || Ice Devil || Xerfilstyx
|-
| || 13 || Horned Devil || || Pleasure Devil
|-
| || 14 || Assassin Devil
|-
| || 15 || Paeliryon
|-
| || 16 || Pit Fiend
|}

A few of the forms in the hierarchy are not part of the regular advancement. The wretched Nupperibo is the result of a demotion of a higher-ranking devil (from 3.5 onwards at least, see below), though it still outranks the lowly Lemures. However, it is skipped in the regular progrssion and is a form used as punishment, as are the Malebranche and the Xerfilstyx.

The Erinyes are an unusual group. Instead of being created from soul shells they are either fallen angels turned into their current form or born from another Erinyes. The most powerful of the Erinyes can be promoted to the rank of Brachina, or Pleasure Devil. These creatures are alluring seductresses and are ruthless in their searches for advancing to the highest ranks of devilkind. But because the step between Erinyes and Brachina is so big, only the most accomplished of Erinyes can be promoted to this rank.

Finally there are the Abishai. They are beholden to [[Tiamat]], who lives on the first layer of Baator.

==The Devils' Many Forms==
As they progress through the ranks Baatezu change into new forms: stronger, cleverer, more magical and so on. While some details might differ a higher ranking Devil is always more dangerous than its last form in some way or shape. Baatezu is the name the devils use for themselves: to make it more confusing it is also a creature subtype. All Baatezu devils have the following abilities: immunity to fire, immunity to poison, cold resist 20, acid resist 20, can see in total darkness including magical darkness, telepathic communication 100ft.

===Inside the Hierarchy===
* A '''Lemure''' is a small, pitiable creature standing at a mere 5' tall. Whenever a devil of any authority needs cannon fodder, they gather up some Maggots (the form that the petitioners of all [[Lower Planes]] take) and promote them into Lemures. Lemures are mindless and cannot speak, though they can understand telepathic commands. They are cruel and try to claw apart whatever they can as a way to get revenge on the multiverse. Promotions from Lemures are often made as a matter of convenience for a higher ranking fiend: they promote a batch of them into forms like Imps if they need spies or Bearded Devils if they need more shock troops for their armies.
* A '''Legion Devil''', or Merregon, are the weakest footsoldiers of hell who all look identical to each other. They are sharp-toothed red-skinned humanoids whose left arms are bloated, covered in metal, and end in a useless vestigial hand. They wear armor and carry a sword in their right hand. They have several abilities that make them more dangerous when they are in large groups. For example, legion devils in a group all share hit points with each other such that it is not possible to down just one of them, but when the group runs out of hit points they all drop dead at the same time. And if you target a single legion devil with a mind affecting spell, all of the legion devils around it also get a saving throw, and the spell fails if just one of the succeeds, but if none of them succeed it will affect all of them instead of just one.
* An '''Advespa''', are low class devils resembling giant black wasps with a woman's face. The more yellow strips on their body the higher their rank. They can quickly regenerate from damage except for acid and holy damage.
* A '''Spined Devil''', also known as the Spinagon is a small gargoyle-like creature covered in spines. They are sometimes used as spies by high-ranking devils, but because of their low intelligence their reports are not always dependable and tend to miss the finer nuances of what they had observed. They are cruel beings, but because of their low standing a single Spinagon is only a threat to Lemures and Nupperibos, on whom they vent their frustration and cruelty.
* '''Barbazu''' ([[Neckbeard|Bearded Devils]]) are often employed as shock troops for powerful fiends. Bearded Devils are aggressive and revel in fighting, where they swing their powerful glaives with skill. So much in fact that if they land a hit the wound will fester until attended to by either a skilled healer or a powerful healing spell is used, and even then the wound is difficult to treat. A Barbazu's beard can inflict a powerful disease upon a foe, infecting them with Devil Chills which saps away their strength. The disease has a short incubation period and lasts a lifetime when untreated, however short or long that may be. Bearded Devils can also burst into fits of frenzy, cutting through enemies in a way much like a raging [[Barbarian]] would.
* '''Imps''' are not actually Baatezu for some reason but are still part of the hierarchy of hell. They are small and weak so instead of fighting they prefer to try and tempt people into evil, laying claim to their souls if they manage to do so. Imps are cowardly and stay away from fights but they are willing to sting with their tails if the opportunity to do so arises.
** The 3rd edition [[Fiend Folio]] details three variant imps. Bloodbag imps have blood that heals people that drink it, making them the medics of hell, and they can also cast a curse that worsens bleeding from wounds. Euphoric imps are living drug dispensers with venom that causes hallucinations, which they like to use on themselves. Filth imps are outcasts from hell due to their horrible smell and often find work on the material plane using their talent for languages and codes.
* '''Steel Devils''' are powerful warriors, fighting on the front lines of the wars of Hell: either in the Blood Wars or against the armies of fellow devils. These Bueroza take the shapes of humanoids in heavy steel armor, covered in cobwebs and dust. While they can strike with enough force to send an enemy reeling, their strength comes from them gaining bonuses from fighting in ranks with their fellow Bueroza, becoming swifter and more durable as they fight. Their most potent ability is their chanting: a horrible shrieking that debilitates enemy casters and makes it more difficult for them to cast spells, making them easy prey for the Steel Devils.
* '''Chain Devils''' resemble tall humanoids dressed in nothing but chain. They can swing these around in deadly fashion, tearing at their prey in horrible ways. They can take control of chains in their range and have them attack anyone at will, and while it is possible to break a Kyton's control of a chain they will not let anyone just do this whenever they want. Chain Devils can also change their visage to resemble that of someone's loved ones or hated enemies, stunning a target. They can also regenerate parts of their bodies that were cut off and are adept at metalworking. Chain Devils are sometimes charged with torture, something they relish. This has caused them to grow a rivalry with the Pain Devils.
* '''Harvester Devils''' are often found in the material planes where they offer mortals contracts of power, wealth and other such things in exchange for their souls. They lurk in sewers, at crossroads at midnight, in back rooms of corrupt businesses or serving as courtiers to nobility. Any who approach them can ask for an infernal pact: anything they want for the price of their undying soul. They are not powerful combatants; while they carry blades that will instill a curse upon anyone that forces them to strike a good creature. Instead they will try to escape when entering combat, trying to find someone else to tempt with their contracts. But they cannot be killed unless the devil ''starts'' the fight: for some strange reason the Falxugon are protected by [[Plot Armor|powerful magic]] that remains in place unless they strike someone first. They look like mostly humanoid beings but with horns, tails and hooves, and tend to go dressed in expensive clothing.
* '''Pain Devils''' are masters of torture. Because they are hated by all other Baatezu and will be destroyed when not beholden to a lord they offer themselves to the service of powerful devils as torturers. They are very good at this, inflicting untold pain upon anyone unfortunate enough to fall into their hands. They torture the soul shells entering Hell and whoever has failed their masters, making for a powerful motivation to not fail. The Excruciarchs carry great spiked chains which they can imbue with powerful agonizing energy or swing around to hit all standing close to them. They can also inflict wounds upon non-Baatezu by just standing nearby, gain more power from inflicting wounds and can study an enemy to negate any damage reduction it might have.
* The '''Amnizus''' are the bureaucrats of hell. They record the soul shells that enter Baator, stand guard at the portals to and from the plane and record all who go through, often extorting them out of their valuables. Amnizu are particularly ambitious and try their best to improve their lot in life, working their way up the ranks through politics, intrigue and assassination. They are also tasked with hunting down fugitives, something they take much pleasure in. When facing an enemy that they cannot defeat on their own without any significant risk to them they will send their minions to deal with the target. When they can fight, an Amnizu prefers to take wing and strike targets with their [[Derp|intelligence-damaging]] touch.
* '''Bone Devils''' police the Nine Hells, observing the activities of other Baatezu and reporting on them. They are tall and strong and possess some magical ability. The Osyluth, as they are sometimes called, are freakishly thin and have large stingers with which they can inject targets with potent poisons. They will ruthlessly attack anyone who opposes them.
* '''Orthons''' are powerful soldiers in the front lines of the Blood War, specialized in killing demons. They use a combination of their bladed spears that are usable in both long and short range and magical crossbows that shoot powerful blasts of energy. Orthon are large, covered in metal plates bolted directly onto their bodies, possesses large tusks and has a pained look on its face. Orthons are skilled in fighting in formation, increasing their power and durability. They also possess the ability to stop all interdimensional movement in a 20' radius. When an Orhton is slain maggots burst from its body, who try to devour anything near the slain host before expiring themselves. Because of the nature of their armor Orthons are in constant pain, and [[World Eaters|only battle takes their mind off of this]]. They are very loyal though, and will not plot against their masters.
* '''Narzugons''' or Hell Kights are the cavalry of hell, who ride on flaming horses called Nightmares. They are humanoids wearing spiky armor. Narzugons hate everything including themselves but are surprisingly honorable and obedient, as they are formed from the souls of former paladins who fell into evil as a result of following the letter instead of the spirit of the law, and so are filled with [[RAGE]] from learning that their actions in life were wrong.
* '''Barbed Devils''' serve as the guards and bodyguards of Hell. They are tall and covered in spikes, hitting all that come too close to them. Fighting a Hamatula in close range will always result in the devil using its many spikes to stab or even impale an enemy that comes too close to them. They possess some magical ability, being able to cast Hold Person so they can use their impale attacks at their leisure.
* '''Ice Devils''', also called Gelugons, are commanders of the armed forces of hell. They prefer to avoid direct battle if possible. They are quite tall and look something like white devilish ants, often carrying large spears. Striking with its spear will cause a powerful numbing effect on a target, making it an easy prey for either the Ice Devil itself or one of its servants. They can cast several spells as well, most of which are ice-based.
* '''Horned Devils''' are powerful creatures, serving as the elite soldiers of Baator. It is a large scaled fiend with huge wings, often carrying spiked chains. They can use these weapons to deliver blows powerful enough to stun a target, and they can use their tails to cause dangerous persistent wounds. The Cornugon also possess magical abilities and can regenerate.
* '''Assassin Devils''' are widely feared and distrusted. They are vaguely humanoid with featureless faces aside from their mouths, lined with sharp teeth. They can meld into shadows with ease and cast clouds of fog to hide themselves, striking when they feel the time is right. The original Assassin Devils were natives to Baator, melted down and reformed into the Dogai. The most experienced of the bunch often have levels in the [[assassin]] [[prestige class]].
* A '''Corruption Devil''' is an information broker, trading knowledge for hefty sums of money, souls or other information. They are putrid creatures who dwell in comfort, opulence and excess, often bathing in disgusting pools and eating the finest of foods. They are some of the most powerful creatures in Baator, and not just because of its personal power. A Corruption Devil, also known as a Paeliryon or That Fucking Guy, has a lot of information about a vast number of beings and can use this information to manipulate or blackmail them in a way that is profitable for themselves. These devils are very vain, and will use their claws to disfigure their opponents in combat and belittle them as they do battle. Also, they look like obese drag queens with too many teeth.
* The '''Pit Fiends''' are the nobility of hell. They are immensely powerful, can use many kinds of magic, have teeth that transmit Devil Chills, poisoned claws, can strangle enemies to death with their bare hands and are pretty big. At this level the intrigues of hell are the most dangerous and cutthroat, with enemies on all sides trying to get the upper hand over any given devil. From this position Pit Fiends can be promoted to the rank of duke. From there one can be promoted to an unique devil with their own gender, powers and personalities, but this is seldom done because of the huge threat such a being poses to the Archdukes of hell. If this sounds familiar, good job. The highest ranking demon, called the Balor, is almost exactly the same thing - giant humanoid winged infernal monsters at the almost-top-except-uniques part of their hierarchy. The main difference, aside from the Law/Chaos thing, is that Pit Fiends are usually shown to be a bit more reptilian and don't get giant flaming whips. This makes them ''also'' almost the same thing as a [[Bloodthirster]].

===Other Promotions within the Hierarchy===
* '''Nupperibo''' are bloated, ugly creatures used as base servitors in Hell. Used as a punishment for low-ranking devils, Nupperibo are slow, blind, deaf, and unthreatening compared to other devils and fight without any kind of finesse. Yet they are used for frontline warfare in the Blood War, as cannon fodder. As such they are rarely promoted back to their former form because of the high mortality rate. Nupperibo are possibly more useful to the rivals of their superiors than to their superiors themselves. By stealing one of these fiends from its master and changing it back the devil might have important information about its master, and might even help its new master get revenge on the old one.
**At least, that's what they are from 3.5 onwards. Prior to that, they weren't even Baatezu. See normally, a Maggot just stays a Maggot until some devil either needs a Lemure or gets hungnry. But sometimes, one of them would randomly evolve into a Nupperibo. The Baatezu would herd these things and demote them back into Maggots so as to immediately promote them into Lemures, since in those editions nupperibos were the Lemure-equivalent rank of entities called "True Baatorans," which were the inhabiants of Baator before Asmodeus came to power. The idea of these things returning scares the piss out of every last baatezu. Some sources said that the baatezu were so thorough that no nupperibo ever evolved further, but other sources said there were tales of a scant few being lucky enough to do so, taking on strange forms resembling ones imprisoned in the ice of [[Baator|Stygia]].
***Reconned again in 5th edition. Now they are simply formed from the souls of people who were too lazy in their mortal life to be worthy of promotion to a higher form.
* The form of the '''Malebranche''' are used to punish fiends, yet allow them to keep fighting for their masters. They are deadly in combat and use their massive ranseurs to strike with great force.
* '''Xerfilstyx''' are some of the most pitiable creatures in Hell. Shaped like bloated slug-devils they live in the depths of the river Styx, stripping them of all their memories. The constant exposure to the Styx has driven them insane, with the creatures finding only some solace in the memories of the lost that gather at the bottom of the river. It is nearly impossible for a Xerfilstyx to be promoted back to a higher rank because of its insanity and it being bound to the Styx.
* Based on the Furies of Greek myth, the '''Erinyes''' originate from the angels that left heaven alongside Asmodeus when Baator was being established. Others joined their ranks in later eons, all of them fallen angels. While most of them are female in form there are a few males amongst their number, with no difference being made between them. The gorgeous Erinyes stand apart from their fellow devils, their corrupted angelic arrogance making them see the souls of the damned as being beneath them. In turn the other Baatezu see the Erinyes as stuck up pretenders and usurpers of the title of devil. Still they are respected for their strength, cruelty and intelligence. Unique to the Erinyes, their promoted forms and unique female devils they are capable of becoming pregnant. Their children will always be Erinyes, and are raised in secret and well-guarded compounds. Because of their arrogance Erinyes often forego promotion to higher forms, instead opting to stay in their current, less powerful form.
* A '''Pleasure Devil''' is an improved form of the Erinyes. Even more beautiful, seductive and powerful than their previous forms, the Pleasure Devils do intend to advance to the rank of Pit Fiend. They are conniving and plotting as the other devils of their ranks, and will use their considerable skills to advance themselves. Brachina as they are sometimes called are sent to tempt those of particular virtue and goodness to the side of evil, using their wiles, bodies and spellcasting to get their way. Because of their unearthly beauty they are popular playthings amongst the highest ranking devils, discarded as quickly as selected. Because of this and the ambition of the Brachina they tend to spend a lot of time on the material plane so that they are in command, and not some other fiend.
* '''Abishai''' are the cruel servants of Tiamat. They are arrogant, even for draconic creatures; they consider themselves [[Bullshit|far above the rank of Tiamat's other servants]], including full-blooded dragons and the dragonspawn. They exist in several colors are very cruel, [[Skub|hate everyone not of their own kind]]. Souls that enter the Nine Hells under her control still become Lemures, but after that become Abishai, dragon-looking devils who tempt mortals to enter pacts with them, only to torture the mortal to the limit of their suffering. After the rank of Red Abishai they can continue to promote as normal, starting with becoming a Chain Devil, but almost all Abishai stop advancing at the rank of the Red Abishai.

==[[Archdevil|The Archdukes of Hell]]==
The various layers of hell are ruled by a group of unique devils of immense power; whether or not these Archdukes are the same thing as [[Archdevil]]s seems to vary depending on which sourcebook you have access to. Each of them is a force to be reckoned with, commanding vast resources and armies of Baator. They all carry the blessing of Asmodeus in some way, which is very important: Asmodeus can withdraw his support at will and without explanation, as poor Moloch can attest. While the various lords have to deal with the machinations of their servants like all devils do, their greatest foes are their fellow lords, plotting and scheming against one another. In their high positions there are only two ways to gain a promotion: either by defeating one of their rivals and usurping their territories or overthrowing the Overlord of Hell himself, Asmodeus. Hence why Asmodeus never leaves the place that instantly kills anyone he doesn't want to be there, ignoring all defenses.

== Dungeons & Dragons 4E ==
As with a lot of things, the Baatezu of [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition]] have in some ways changed dramatically and in other ways haven't changed at all. For starters, because this is now years after the [[Satanic Panic]] died down, the term "Baatezu" is no longer used; Devils are Devils, and the game even uses traditional AD&D names for the distinct races.

Their origins in this edition have changed, since 4e's cosmology no longer uses [[alignment]] as the end-all justification for anything's existence. 4e's devils are Fallen Angels - which is an entirely separate thing to being Evil Angels, as [[angel]]s in this edition are Unaligned and serve all deities equally, benevolent or malevolent. What this means is that devils are not merely "Angels who are Evil", it means that they are Angels who betrayed their patron deity and were cursed by it, corrupted into twisted reflections of what they once were.

The story is long and the threads differ depending on the source, but the ultimate tapestry remains the same; [[Asmodeus]] was once an [[Archangel]] serving under a benevolent deity, until he chose to betray his master. Maybe because of pride, maybe because of the manipulations of [[Pazuzu]], maybe because he meant well and saw his master failing in his efforts to contribute to the Dawn War. The end result was the same: Asmodeus descended into the newly created [[Abyss]] and achieved something that even the [[Demon Prince]]s had failed at - he found the Seed of Evil, the crystalized remains of the [[obyrith]]s' dead universe that had created the Abyss. Breaking off just a sliver of the Seed, also known as the Heart of the Abyss, he fashioned it into his Ruby Rod and used its power to become a god.

Incidentally, this is why the [[Blood War]] is fought in 4e; the demons are outraged that Asmodeus stole some of the Heart, whilst Asmodeus regrets not stealing even ''more'' and wants to get back down there to take some more. After all, if this tiny sliver made him so powerful, what would a larger hunk do?

Anyway, now brimming with power, Asmodeus manipulated most of his fellow angels into joining him as he murdered their former ruler. As the god died, though, he cursed them all, which had three effects. Firstly, it devastated the Dominion that Asmodeus had sought to claim, burning it into the blasted realm of [[Baator]]. Secondly, it wracked the Fallen Angels, corrupting them into hideously deformed mockeries of their former selves. Finally, it bound them all to Baator, rendering them prisoners in the wasteland that was they had sought to conquer.

This is why Asmodeus and his minions are so interested in claiming mortal souls. Beyond the fact they need souls to propagate themselves - unlike demons, who spontaneously arise from the stuff of the Abyss - it is through torturing the damned that they extract the magical energies they need to slowly wear away at the bindings that imprison them as a whole in Baator. Plus, getting summoned is, for many devils, their only chance of leaving Baator. As a result, devils compete with each other fiercely for who can accumulate the most souls for Hell, but all are united in accumulating souls and denying the gods their petitioners.

Who was the god they betrayed? Nobody knows anymore; Asmodeus has done his level best over the eons to erase all knowledge of that god, fearful that if somebody discovered his name, they could resurrect him, and he would be ''pissed'' with his former minions. He's only ever referred to as "He-Who-Was", and some suspect he might have been humanity's creator god. Like [[Zarus]], but not evil.

* '''Imp''' level 3 lurker
* '''Legion Devils''' compose Hell's armies, level 6-21 minions
* '''Spined Devil''' or Spinagon, level 6 skirmisher
* '''[[Succubus]]''' are devils in 4E not demons, level 9 controller
* '''Chain Devil''' or Kyton, level 11 skirmisher
* '''Bearded Devil''' or Barbazu, level 13 soldier
* '''Bone Devil''' or Osyluth, level 17 controller/leader
* '''Ice Devil''' or Gelugon, level 20 soldier
* '''War Devil''' or Malebranche, level 22 brute/leader
* '''Pit Fiend''' level 26 elite soldier/leader

== Dungeons & Dragons 5E ==
{|border=0 align=right cellspacing=0 cellpadding=1 style="margin: 1em; border: 2px solid black;"
|-
! Category || Rank || Form || Abishai
|-
| '''Least Devils''' || 1 || Lemure Nupperibo
|-
| '''Lesser Devils''' || 2 || Imp
|-
| || 3 || Spined Devil
|-
| || 4 || Bearded Devil Merregon
|-
| || 5 || Barbed Devil || White Abishai
|-
| || 6 || Chain Devil || Black Abishai
|-
| || 7 || Bone Devil
|-
| '''Greater Devils''' || 8 || Horned Devil Orthon
|-
| || 9 || Erinyes ||
|-
| || 10 || Ice Devil Narzugon || Green Abishai Blue Abishai
|-
| || 11 || Pit Fiend Amnizu || Red Abishai
|-
| '''Archdevils''' || 12 || Duke or Duchess
|-
| || 13 || Archduke or Archduchess
|}
In 5e the Hierarchy changed for the Devils.

==Pathfinder==
In Pathfinder the devils perform pretty much the same duty as in D&D. The difference is that they aren't called Baatezu or live in Baator, since those names are excluded by the [[Open Gaming License]]. Instead they're just devils who live in capital-H Hell. There are 20 different kinds of devils mentioned in the six Bestiaries that are released so far, ranging the whole garmut from CR1 to CR20. All the devils from the OGL like the Pit Fiend are included as well, though the Chain Devil has been [[Kyton| given its own subspecies]], because... well, bluntly, because ''someone'' over there is getting off on extreme body mod/BDSM stuff, have you ''seen'' [[Zon-Kuthon]]?

Bestiary 6 also lists the eight [[Archdevil]]s of Hell. They are Mythic level monsters with a CR in the 26-30 range. Aside from getting a whole slew of spell-like abilities, the use of the Miracle spell as befits their portfolio and +10 on Sense Motive checks, many of them also possess artifacts that are nigh impossible to destroy. I mean, the artifact of the weakest Archdevil can only be destroyed by exposing it to a truth spoken by an immortal which has only ever spoken lies, then cast into a magic portal with no entrance or destination. Many of the names of these Archdevils overlap with those of Baator with matching layers to rule, with a few calling back to earlier Lords of the Nine.

{{Pathfinder-Fiends}}
{{D&D-Outsiders}}

Tanar'ri

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'''Tanar'ri''' are the [[Alignment|chaotic evil]] supernatural badguys, in [[2nd Edition Dungeons and Dragons]]. After TSR got their new CEO [[Lorraine Williams]] and [[Gary Gygax]] left in disgust, Williams said "no more demons, or any of that junk". In [[3e]] they wisely decided to use "demon" again, but kept the term "tanar'ri" as a subtype of demon. Since TSR bothered to register "tanar'ri" [[Open_Gaming_License#Parts_of_D.26D_that_are_not_Open_Game_Content|as a trademark]], you will not find this demon subtype in [[Open Gaming License]] materials like the D20SRD.

They are the archetypical chaotic evil outsiders, seeking to destroy all order and plunge creation into mad, violent chaos in different ways. They are one of the two major factions in the ideological [[Blood War]], the other being their lawful evil counterparts, the [[baatezu]], or devils.

''Fiendish Codex II - Tyrants Of The Nine Hells'' states that Devils call all demons Tanar'ri for short, which is strange considering that in the same book it says that in the devils' language "only one correct way exists to construct any given statement in Infernal." and "Devils, except when in disguise, they find the urge to correct errors in spoken or written Infernal nearly impossible to resist." This may be a hint as to the origin of Lorraine Williams, since she also insisted on using the term "tanar'ri" instead of "demon."

==Types of Tanar'ri==
There are many types of Tanar'ri, one more terrible than the next. There is something of a degree of power that seperates the various demons, but this is not absolute. There are five categories that divide them however, and each group is more powerful than the ones below it.

Tanar'ri can ascend to a new form if they believe they have what it takes to do so (mainly based on how deadly it is) and can prove this to those around them. While ascending step by step though the ranks is the most common way to do this, particularly powerful or intelligent Tanar'ri can skip one or more forms.

===Least Tanar'ri===
*'''[[Mane]]s''': The lowest of the Tanar'ri and barely worth the name, Manes are a source of food and cannon fodder, herded at the enemy to tire them before the main forces strike. This is what a mortal beomes if they end up in the Abyss when they die, or depending on edition, the first form they take upon being promoted from Maggots, which are the forms that all petitioners take in the [[Lower Planes]].
*'''[[Dretch]]es''': Barely above the Manes, the Dretches are real Tanar'ri, albeit the lowest in rank. They suck up to the more powerful members of their race (pretty much all of them), and are treated as such in reply.
*'''[[Rutterkin]]''': Vicious and despised by all other Tanar'ri, the Rutterkin are the preferred targets of higher-ranking demons for harassment, torture and murder. In return a Rutterkin will attack anything that they think can kill without much risk to them.
*'''[[Gadacro]]''': A small sneaky demon that likes to blind enemies.
For some weird reason [[Quasit]]s, which are the chaotic equivalent of the [[Imp]] are not classified as Tanar'ri. They are demons but not part of any of the demon races.

===Lesser Tanar'ri===
*'''[[Alu-fiend]]s''': The female child of a Succubus and a mortal, Alu-fiends can only be born into their rank. They are not physically powerful but they are powerful spellcasters and physically attractive, which makes them useful to the high-ups in the Abyss.
*'''[[Cambion]]s''': The opposite of their Alu-fiend sisters, Cambions are the children of a Tanar'ri and a female mortal. A major Cambion is born when the father is a Lesser or Greater Tanar'ri, while a True Tanar'ri sires a Baron or Marquise Cambion, who are significanlty more powerful than their lesser kin.
*'''[[Armanite]]s''': The [[centaur]]s and [[bariaur]]s of the Abyss. They band together as mercenary groups and hire themselves out to whoever pays the most.
*'''[[Maurezhi]]''': These Tanar'ri have the strange ability to gain the memories and experiences of whoever they eat. They can only be created by Abyssal Lords for specific missions, but can grow to new forms as usual.
*'''[[Succubus]]''': You know them, you love them.
*'''[[Yochlol]]''': The handmaidens of [[Lolth]], the Yochlol are shapeshifters who can freely change between their [[drow]] form, a spider form or that of [[slime|a great mass of yellow ooze with a single staring eye]]. They enjoy Lolth's protection from other demons and act like it, but they'll get brutally murdered if another demon thinks it can get away with it.
*'''[[Bar-lgura]]''': Gorilla-like Tanar'ri trained in guerilla warfare, they are brutish, dumb, slow of mind and can casually rip your arm off. They get very annoyed when you call them "bar-igura", so please don't refer to them with sans-serif font.
*'''[[Bulezau]]''': Rocking a traditional Satan-esque look, the Bulezau are powerful, elite soldiers who want nothing less than murder all their enemies within sight.
*'''[[Jovoc]]''': A small black humanoid with red three-fingered claws. Whenever one of them is damaged, non-Tanar'ri creatures within 30 feet also take damage, and they also heal from their injuries very quickly.
*'''[[Solemith]]''': A large obese demon with a transparent stomach filled with the faces of the other demons and petitioners it has eaten. Their flesh is explosive, and they fight by tearing off pieces of their flesh and throwing them like bombs.
*'''[[Uridezu]]''': Cowardly rat people with a paralyzing bite, command over rats, and the ability to teleport between planes, but not during combat. They enjoy serving under a master, but because other demons abuse them they often are found serving mortal masters on the material plane.

===Greater Tanar'ri===
*'''[[Nabassu]]''': Gargoyle-shaped things serving as the heralds of the Abyss, seducing humanoids to the service of the Abyss.
*'''[[Chasme]]''': Huge fly-like things that seek out deserters of the [[Blood War]]. They mostly stay out of the affairs of others to carry out their duties.
*'''[[Babau]]''': The recruiters for the [[Blood War]]. Or rather than recruiting they press-gang other demons to fight. If they don't meet their quotas however they have to fight themselves.
*'''[[Goristroi]]''': 20' [[Minotaur|bullmen]] that serve as living siege engines to topple walls and crush enemies below their feet. Mentioned in the second Monster Manual which forgot to write them up, so they had to be written up in ''Dragon'' instead.
*'''[[Palrethee]]''': Demons who attempted to become balors and failed become palrethees as punishiment. To further the humiliation, they often end up as subordinates to balors. They are emaciated humanoids with bony wings whose bodies are constantly on fire.
*'''[[Zovvut]]''': Muscular pale-skinned three-eyed humanoids with feathery wings and massive barbed claws. They can heal themselves by draining energy from victims with their gaze, and victims who are killed by their gaze rise as [[wight]]s. Probably were originally created by [[Orcus]].
*'''[[Arrow Demon]]''': A grey skinned humanoid with four arms that can wield two longbows at the same time.
*'''[[Cerebrilith]]''': A large hunchbacked demon with an oversized protruding spine which its brain visibly extends into. They have psionic abilities.
*'''[[Adaru]]''': A millipede with a man's face that is able to charm other tanar'ri and constantly produces a cloud around itself that is poisonous to non-evil creatures and strengthens evil creatures
*'''[[Lilitu]]''': A promoted form of a Succubus that infiltrates and corrupts churches by pretending to be [[cleric]]s. They lose their wings but gain four tentacles with poison stingers. They have several of the abilities as a cleric. They are vulnerable to divine magic, but good spells and good magic items treat them as if they were good. By hugging a humanoid, they can place a magical tattoo on them for 24 hours that charges them with chaotic energy and allows the lilitu to communicate with and observe them.

===True Tanar'ri===
*'''[[Vrock]]''': Humanoid vultures that serve as elite soldiers in the [[Blood War]]. Not sure why they are listed as true tanar'ri, as they are actually weaker than several of the demons in both the lesser and greater classes.
*'''[[Hezrou]]''': Frog-shaped Tanar'ri possess a cool, sharp intellect that allows them to perform their duties in the [[Blood War]] with precision and dedication.
*'''[[Glabrezu]]''': The primary summoning material, they are skilled at tempting their summoners and giving them plenty of gifts of power, only to withdraw said power at the worst possible moment to get them killed and pulled into the Abyss.
*'''[[Alkilith]]''': The Type III.5 Demon, if you will. Oozes that can corrupt anything and anyone with a mere touch. They don't fight in the Blood War, mainly for practical reasons on account of them being oozes.
*'''[[Nalfeshnee]]''': The pig-ape judges of the Abyss. All petitioners that enter the Abyss pass by a Nalfeshnee who judges them based on their lives and appoints them a new form. At least sometimes: other times they hand out forms at random. They also determine who gets to be in charge of the armies and who gets to be promoted, demoted or removed from (as in: destroyed) its ranks.
*'''[[Marilith]]''': [[Lamia|Attractive women with the lower body of a snake]] and six arms, they are the tacticians of the Abyss. They have keen minds, anticipate what the forces of Law are going to do and act upon it, much to the rage of the Baatezu who cannot understand the plots of the Marilith.
*'''[[Balor]]''': The dreaded kings of the Abyss, Balors are the most powerful of the Tanar'ri aside from [[Demon Prince]]s and the rarely seen Klurichirs and Myrmyxicuses, serving as lords, generals and leaders, inspiring and threatening others into fighting for the cause. A mix of passion and reason, they are as intelligent and sharp as they are evil and chaotic. These are ''exactly'' the same as the [[Bloodthirster]] of Warhammer, right down to the flaming whips and being literally made evil and chaos (or [[Chaos]]) with the sole difference being that they use swords instead of axes. They like to eat doggies and beat up Pit Fiends in their spare time.
*'''[[Klurichir]]''': The most powerful type of Tanar'ri besides [[Demon Prince]]s. All other tanar'ri including balors are terrified of them. They have skin the color of a frostbitten corpse, four arms, black spines covering their neck and back, red wings, a face like a cross between a orc and a mule, and a giant second mouth with a huge pair of extremely sharp mandibles on their abdomen. They are the elite generals of the most powerful [[Demon Prince]]s and they usually only appear when their master wants to be absolutely sure that an important mission will be completed.
*'''[[Myrmyxicus]]''': Another Tanar'ri that beats the Balor in power. They rule over the oceans of the Abyss. It looks like an giant eel with a reptile skull for a face, six goat horns, four arms, six tentacles around its waist, and a lamprey-mouth on the end of its tail.
*'''[[Jarilith]]''': Demonic lions that like to hunt other demons.
*'''[[Kelvezu]]''': The infiltrators and assassins of the abyss. Aside from the pink skin and poisonous fingernails, they appear almost exactly like a short human.
*'''[[Sorrowsworn]]''': Demons that appear in places where many people have suffered loss. They have an aura that causes feelings of loss in those around them. They read the minds of their enemies and use that to determine the best way to torment them by reminding them of things that cause them to feel more loss. A sorrowsworn demon is a large but skinny grey-skinned humanoid with black wings and a constantly frowning face.

===Guardian Tanar'ri===
*'''[[Molydeus]]''': The only Tanar'ri within this rank, a Molydeus stands outside of the ranks of the other Tanar'ri, making sure that their kind stays true to the ideals of the Blood War. While they report to the Balors, a Molydeus will not hesitate to turn on their leader if they are not showing sufficient zeal. So in essence they are axe-wielding, dog-faced [[Commissar]]s with a snake growing out of the back of their heads.

===Ex Tanar'ri===
*'''[[Shadow Fiend]]''': The [[Fiend Folio]] Shadow Demon was summarily taken off the Tanar'ri list because "shadow tanar'ri" just sounded too gay. It slunk back by way of Ravenloft, MC Appendix; then Planescape of course. It was still Chaotic Evil, and still hung out at the Abyss.
*'''[[Blood Fiend]]''': A demon that became a vampire like undead.

==Demon Lords==
The first amongst the demons, the lords of the Tanar'ri (more commonly known as Demon Lords) are some of the most powerful, dangerous, cunning and deadly beings in existence. They attained their position by strength of arms and cleverness (mostly the former) to rule over their servants. Those who wish to challenge their lords are quickly struck down as an example and to keep the other minions in line.

{{D&D-Outsiders}}

Abyss

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[[File:Abyss layers 3e.webp|thumb|right|300px]]
{{Topquote|1=During the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that conditions called war; and such a war, as if of every man, against every man.|2= Thomas Hobbes}}
'''The Infinite Layers of the Abyss''' is the [[Alignment|Chaotic Evil]] [[plane]] in ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'s'' [[Great Wheel]] cosmology. It's home to an infinite number of [[demon]]s, the Chaotic Evil fiends. Expect [[METAL]].

The plane is such a mess of chaos and upheaval that it doesn't even stay the same in basic state from time to time, which is another way of saying the writers can't keep it straight and [[retcon|change it]] whenever it's convenient. It's an infinite plane, like the others, but actually has an infinite number of different layers as well, meaning that the aforementioned changes might just be an examination of a different subset of layers. According to one faction in the ''[[Planescape]]'' setting it also specifically has 666 layers, [[Derp|because that's totally the same as infinite.]] Then again, it's one of the chaotic planes, so not making sense is probably [[Just As Planned|the whole idea]] (ignoring the fact that [[Arborea]] is just as consistent as any of the Lawful planes).

It's also a plane in the [[World Axis]] cosmology of D&D too, but here is a more modestly sized "universe-swallowing" vortex of corruption and evil that lies in the [[Elemental Chaos]], created when [[Tharizdun]] planted a crystallized shard of pure evil from the dying universe of the [[obyrith]]s in the Elemental Chaos.

In the [[World of Darkness]] games, the Abyss is a realm of cold blackness from which [[shade]]s and [[Demon#In_the_World_of_Darkness|demons]] and the [[Wyrm|god of Oblivion]] hail, and from which [[vampires]] wielding [[Obtenebration]] summon either a black ectoplasmic substance for various effects, such as the creation of tentacles, or a raw [[Entropy|Oblivionic]] energy for disintegrating targets. Thematically it is closer to [[D&D]]'s [[Negative Energy Plane]] or [[Shadowfell]] plane.

==Notable Layers==
Most of the layers are often described as containing wildly different inhospitable biomes, sometimes on the same layer side-by-side. All of them are full of the kind of [[Slaanesh|Chaoticy-Evilly fuckery you'd expect]], so none of them are great places for vacation homes. The named layers are also given numbers, but given that they are in no way consistently arranged in space, those numbers are meaningless and changed often (except for the first one). Officially, though, they are numbered in order of their discovery by mortals.

The descriptions are, naturally, weighted to the lower numbers.

A major source for the below is the Planescape box, ''Planes of Chaos''.

'''Pazunia:''' 1st layer

The Plane of Infinite Portals, and the way you get to any of the others. It's covered in giant sinkholes, each one a portal to another layer of the Abyss. This is also the layer that the [[River Styx]] flows through on its path from [[Pandemonium]] to [[Acheron]]. Iron fortresses on this layer are also where Demon Princes leave their bodies when they're busy roaming around the [[Astral Plane]]. Dozens of minor demon princes co-rule this layer, though, officially, [[Pazuzu]] is in charge. The Grand Abyss is sometimes the 4th layer and Pazunia is the Styx shorelines.

This is one of the great battlefields of the Blood War. Mostly, this is a staging ground for the various demon hordes being flung at the [[Baator|Nine Hells]], but that creates a whole set of problems by itself. As some of you may already know, beings that are inherent Chaotic and Evil are just as likely to start axe-murdering one another as anything else. So put a million such beings of pure Chaotic Evil side by side in one place, and count the seconds until they just start killing each other instead of doing what they were told. Now, complicate that problem with the fact that some demon princes may actually want such an outburst to occur to weaken the forces of a rival. Now throw in yugoloth mercenaries turning stag on a demon employer (devils, after all, are much better at keeping their words on contracts and payments and the like). Toss in a force of devils being sent for scouting and/or raiding duties to better prepare for said horde before it even gets to Avernus. And finally, sprinkle in the dozens of other planars - celestials, adventurers, etc. - who are visiting and know that the best way to deal with an ornery demon is basically to fucking destroy it.

Now, it's not all murderhobos and axes to the face. There's a few fiends that run some odd little fortified establishments out here. Some are mercenaries who can press-gang enough demons to make it worth someone's effort to pay for it. There's even a few mercantile or entertainment venues around. But mostly, if you run into a fiend out here, you murder the shit out of it and hope it didn't have any friends who really gave a shit about it. This is the first layer of an infinite amount of Chaotic Evil, by the way; it only gets more fun the further down the spiral you go.

It should be noted that oddly, this is the most stable layer of the Abyss. No, really: it hasn't actually changed all that much, fundamentally, in all of existence. The demons that inhabit it, and who's running what, that does change, and yes, the land itself has been ripped up, rebuilt, wash, rinse, repeat. But this is basically where the teeming, seething primordial chaos of the Abyss touches reality, and thus this connection is by necessity stable. (Since if the Abyss disconnected, even temporarily, it would probably be adrift in the Astral, or possibly it would fuck off from reality altogether for the Far Realm; it's hard to say what the metaphysics of that scenario would look like.)

'''Driller's Hives:''' 2nd layer

This horrible place is one of the most unpleasantly inhospitable layers in all of the Abyss. It's not so much because of the indigenous fiendish insects who try to kill anything on sight, but because of how all visitors who enter risk contracting a horrible disease that causes the sufferer to break out in hatching insect eggs until the afflicted dies and decomposes into a mass of rot and insect eggs over the course of '''minutes.''' The addition of the giant, intelligent fiendish insect thralls of the ruler, Tharzax ''the Chattering Prince'', help make the whole place a big, sentient shit-sprinkle-covered crapcake of '''NOPE'''.

'''The Forgotten Land:''' 3rd layer

This is an almost endless landscape of empty ruins that suggest a once bustling city. No demons, other than the layer's Lord, Zzyczesiya ''The Ungrasped'', master of malevolent ignorance and confusion, come here. The place was abandoned due to a catastrophe, for which Zzyczesiya has been traditionally blamed, and now, entering the layer causes any sentient being's mind, even those of demons and sapient undead, to fritter away like moist cotton candy, leaving visitors as catatonic and braindead. Constructs are immune to the effects, and persistent visitors often use golem stand-ins to explore this godawful place. Allegedly, Zzyczesiya destroyed all the original inhabitants by accident, 1st through 3rd edition claiming by changing the course of the [[River Styx]], and was punished by imprisonment in the Wells of Darkness. Zzyczesiya would escape, and return to the Forgotten Land in order to use the power of this layer to unremember something really, really, really horrible (possibly a first draft of the script for ''Gigli'').

'''The Grand Abyss:''' 4th layer

What starts as a gaping chasm on the first layer is an infinitely deep pit where the walls are dotted with portals which connect to all of the other layers in the plane. Navigation is tricky because the only dimensions of relevance are vertical, so you need to either fly or be a patient climber. This place was created by the now-dead Lord, Asima ''The Unanticipated'', who apparently died because she(?) didn't anticipate pissing off the Queen of Chaos enough to assassinate her. Now, Asima's corpse lies in her tomb, the Tumulus of Abhorrence, which is filled with treasure and secrets, and is guarded by her "seraph," a super-demon named "Guardian of the Gates" who pretty much super-kills anyone unlucky enough to encounter him. Guardian of the Gates periodically leaves his master's tomb to harass/super-kill schmucks in the Grand Abyss, as per his master's original orders: adventurers stupid enough to think that there are no other defenders of the Tumulus tend to die screaming.

'''Realm of a Million Eyes:''' 6th layer

Home of the [[Great Mother]], princess of the Beholders. Presumably not a great place to be for anyone else, because no one's ever bothered to describe it in detail.

'''Phantom Plane:''' 7th layer

Ruled by Sess'lnnek the other god of the [[lizardfolk]]. He grew bored with the Tanar'ri's Blood War, withdrew and officially closed the layer off so that no one can enter without his explicit permission.

'''Skin-shedder:''' 8th layer

Ruled by Volisupula the Flensed Marquesse, lord of ostentatious finery. The layer itself makes you more evil the longer you stay there. Tieflings are immune.

'''Burningwater:''' 9th layer

Acid ocean, so the crustaceans and fish have shells of silica.

'''That Hellhole:''' 10th layer

It's the body of an actual fiend. The dwarf who found this place got chewed up (through adamantite!) before beaming out of there.

'''Molrat:''' 11th layer

Dark tunnels, where the tanar'ri hunt by smell. Besides the demon horde the plane is more friendly to life than most.

'''Twelvetrees:''' 12th Layer

Definitely a place of horror, and a living example of why you can never, ever trust a demon.

Eons ago, some demons tricked some astral devas into having a meeting for the sake of peace. Basically, the powers from the Upper Planes saw the tanar'ri overthrow the obyriths, and thought maybe that the new fiends were "better" than the old ones. Big fucking mistake there: the demons turned on the angels, bound them to twelve of the biggest trees in the layer, and then performed a blasphemous arcane ritual that sacrificed them to the layer, allowing their eternal suffering to become fuel for all kinds of evil shit.

The angels can still be heard screaming, and a big altar now commemorates the site of the sacrifice, surrounded by twelve sickly pines that ooze some kind magically-infused slime. Evil-descriptor spells are Maximized and Extended automatically for free as a result of the power of the place. Demons make pilgrimages to the layer, to honor the screw job their kind put to the forces of good, and the overwhelming evil of the place is like a drug to the fiends, as they bask in a haze of quasi-religious ecstasy and basically don't give a shit what's happening around them, making it scarily easy for non-demons to wander around pretty freely (you only gotta dodge some chasmes that patrol the skies, maybe some kelvezus that look for intruders to murder).

But that's not all. See, someone figured out how to harness all that deliciously evil energy to create a new weapon of war: the ''ship of chaos''. This horrible thing is basically made of flesh, bone, and spirit; it's hull seems to be comprised of some kind of twisted, thick, ropelike fibers, woven into an organic mass of mottled white and yellow, with translucent blue blisters along the flanks. They are powered by the annihilation of soul larvae... meaning that the ship itself absolutely destroys souls beyond recovery in order to operate. It can generate an "entropy field" almost the length of 5 football fields that either drives beings insane or simply repulses them, and shoots waves of force out of the mouths at the front and back. It can warp itself to travel through small portals, but this causes magic stuff onboard to possibly break unless it is made from the Abyss, and tanar'ri and their kin aren't particularly messed up by the warping.

The scaffolds for these ships dot the area around Twelvetrees. Six have been completed for sure. There was a seventh ship in the 2nd edition Planescape adventure In The Abyss, but it's highly likely that it was destroyed. The 3rd edition supplement FC2: Hordes of the Abyss notes another seventh ship is being built, which seems likely. In theory, these ships will not only be awesome weapons to use against the devils, but will mean the demons don't need the yugoloths to help them travel to Baator anymore.

And all this time, the angels keep screaming.

'''Blood Tor:''' 13th Layer

Ruled by the Goddesses [[Beshaba]] and [[Umberlee]], from the [[Forgotten Realms]]. A plane of bad luck - including for tanar'ri, because the baatezu did a successful raid here early in the Blood War.

'''Steaming Fen:''' 14th Layer

Ruled by [[The Queen of Chaos]], the old Lord of Obyriths and creator of [[Demogorgon]].

'''Pleroma/Death's Reward:''' 17th layer

Ruled by demon prince Abraxas ''the Unfathomable''. He has a roosters head and a bunch of snakes for a lower body. He's big on magic and the occult. Diovengia is his city which houses some of the best libraries in the entire Abyss.

'''The Sixth Pyre:''' 21st layer

Ruled by Prince Kardum, the lord of Balors.

'''Ice Wastes:''' 23rd layer

[[Kostchtchie]] is the resident [[Demon Prince]]. An infinite expanse of jagged mountains, glaciers and frozen tundras. Kostchtchie commands a big army of frost giants which he used to further "conquer" his layer, when he isn't siccing them on other demon lords for laughing at him, or conquering other tribes of frost giants on the Prime Material Plane.

'''Sholo-Tovoth/ Fields of Consumption:''' 32rd layer

Ruled by [[Demon Prince]] [[Turaglas]], ''The Ebon Maw'', who was spawned directly from the Abyss. A 100% pure demon and therefore envied by [[Orcus]] and [[Demogorgon]] for this (Demogorgon was a creation of the Obyriths, while Orcus was a former mortal) who joined against him and imprisoned him for a while. His goal is to devour and destroy, he has spawned his own breed of demons, the turagathshee. The layer itself, like That Hellhole #10, tries to eat anyone that enters it that's not either Turaglas or one of his minions, with mouths and tongues popping up everywhere. Those minions number millions of insatiably hungry demons.

'''Azzagrat:''' 45th, 46th, and 47th Layers

Ruled by [[Graz'zt]], demon lord of depending on your source, A)tyrants, manipulation, and, unofficially, blatant nepotism, or B) [[Slaanesh| lust, hedonism, and incubi]]. There's a salt river that connects all three layers. [[Zelatar]] is a big, shiny, evil pastiche of the Emerald City of Oz that stretches across the three layers. Relatively well-behaved demons, not that it's saying much, as all of Graz'zt's minions know that Graz'zt torturing them to death for a minor screw up is the least he can do to them. Not a terrible place for a party, assuming it's [[Slaanesh|the right kind of party]].

'''Phage Breeding Ground:''' 53rd Layer

Ruled by Urae-Naas, a "female" [[slaad]] [[Demon Prince]]ss so bloated with eggs she can't walk anymore and has to drag herself along on her long arms and enormous tongue. Comprised from the interiors of the ever-rotting organs of her former boyfriend, the slain [[Archomental|Primordial]] Ramenos. Iconic local feature: screaming, insane humanoids sewn into the walls begging ceaselessly for help before she gets around to implanting her offspring in their bodies. Created in 4th edition, and probably lost with the change to 5th edition seeing as how Slaad are Chaotic Neutral in all non-4 editions.

'''Torturous Truth:''' 57th layer

Ruled by Alvarez the Purging Duke, the head of the demonic Inquisition. His forces investigate the tanar'ri for any signs of lawful behavior. His torture is notorious throughout the Abyss.

'''The Demonweb Pits:''' 66th layer usually

The place where [[Lolth]], the deity of the drow, and the rest of the drow pantheon, hangs out with her spiders. In [[Demonweb Pits|Jeff Grubb's entry]], the Demonweb was 65th and her actual abode on the 66th. In [[3e]] this was changed to be an entirely separate plane, though it's still connected to the Abyss.

'''Heavenly Hills:''' 67th layer

Swamps and hills, which swap places after (frequent) earthquakes. And varrangoin ruins.

'''Morgenta's Layer:''' 68th layer

Barren, "abandoned", and airless. No-one's named it but ''Planes of Chaos'' does have a name for the planewalker who survived to enter it into the list: Morgenta, the mage.

'''The Crushing Plain:''' 69th layer

A surface made up of chasme, manes, and lemures all "crawling over one another". ''Planes of Chaos'' claims they are avoiding suffocation but it's more likely they end up squished like bugs further down.

'''The Ice Floe:''' 70th layer

That ice would be ''thin'', over black running water. The cold acts as energy-drain. As to whence / whither the water flows, we're not told but we can guess probably the Styx.

'''Spirac:''' 71st layer

Tree-ferns and spiky mountains. A happy hunting ground like Molrat / #11. The demons might be friendlier, or maybe that's just because they got along better with the cutter who penned this entry.

'''Darklight:''' 72st layer

Visitors get a halo of darkness (if evil) or light (good). Either is a beacon for the demons here, who enslave the former and kill the latter.

'''[[Wells of Darkness]]:''' 73rd layer

A spa-cum-prison for some of the worst prisoners the plane could play host to. Jacuzzi tubs of black ink keep unspeakably powerful beings trapped beneath the surface, unable to get out, but perfectly conscious and able to communicate. The demons don't visit. It's amusing because the idea of an unbreakable prison on a chaotic plane constantly attracts ''break-in'' attempts by those who just want to prove otherwise.

'''Smargard:''' 74th layer

[[Merrshaulk]] rules here. He is the deity of the Yuan-ti snake men. Basically a nightmarish, evil, rainforest (one of several in the Abyss).

'''The Gates of Heaven:''' 77th layer

Actually not named ironically, it's apparently a gate to Celestia in the middle of a Chaotic Evil hell. Must be a really sturdy gate. Ruled by demon lords and brothers, Munkir and Nekir.

'''Abysm/The Gaping Maw:''' 88th layer

The realm of [[Demogorgon]]. Also known as "The Upside Down" thanks to ''Stranger Things''. Pretty much a tropical nightmare, with demon- and demonic-disease-infested jungles and a roiling ocean. [[Dagon]], his special friend and mentor, lives in his basement.

'''Shadowsea:''' 89th layer

Ruled by [[Dagon]] one of the few obyrith lords still part of the establishment. It's an underwater realm without a surface although it connects to the 88th. Filled with myriads of aquatic demons.

'''[[Demonwing]]:''' layer unknown

An entire layer of the Abysm transformed into a crazy demonic pirate ship by Demogorgon that can move freely about the planes.

'''The Guttering Grove:''' 90th layer

Ruled by Ilsidahur, the Howling King, who's a bootlicker to [[Demogorgon]]. He leads the bar-lgura, these orangutan looking demons, as well as these winged gorilla looking guys. The Guttering Grove was recently subsumed into Abysm by Demogorgon as punishment for Ilsidahur screwing up an invasion of [[Arcadia]], though Ilsidahur is apparently either too unaware, too uncaring or too stupid to notice.

'''The Realms:''' 99th layer

Plotted out by Rick Swan in the ''Tales of the Outer Planes'' anthology. The Abyssal chaos sometimes diverts visitors here when they're aiming for elsewhere, Kali's plane in this one. It's a network of sub-layers, attached to each other through portals:
* Gray Realm. Desert of black sand, infested with dretch.
* Lightning Realm. "Blank white" plain with pillars. Disputed between Orcus and Demogorgon. Yeah, this is oldschool.
* Swirling Realm. Connects to Juiblex's crib. It's a waterfall and ocean... made of puddings and slimes. Yecch!
* Yellow Realm. Primordial tropical forest. 50' blades of grass.
* Fog Realm. "Jellyfish" surface and it stinks. It's a colossal demon uterus.
* Silver Realm. A silvery ice glacier, where sound doesn't travel.
* Star Realm. Another black sand desert, but cratered. Kali's kitchen, preparing souls for her breakfast.
At a guess, only the Gray Realm is truly the 99th. The others look to be other Abyssal layers entirely, like #222 or, indeed, #500.

'''The Mind of Evil:''' 111st layer

Ruled by Prince Sch'theraqpasstt, the Serpent Reborn.

'''Thanatos:''' 113th layer

Its as much undead as demonic. [[Orcus|Orcus's]] crib. He spends most of his time chilling here not doing things.

'''Slugbed:''' 128th layer

Lupercio the Baron of Sloth rules here. It's a tropical, mostly overcast realm filled with lush forests and coral reefs filled with all manner of demon gastropods. Because Lupercio is too busy spending most of his time sleeping, where his perpetually darkness-shrouded form is perpetually parasitized by shadow demons, and too spending what precious little waking hours he has maniacally doing ''something,'' the demon gastropods of Slugbed do not recognize his authority, and, instead, do their own thing, i.e., eating the scenery, each other, and intruders too stupid to understand the threat posed by demon gastropods until they get eaten. An army of angels has secretly constructed fortresses in the clouds above Slugbed, and eventually intend to use their fortresses here to stage attacks on the demons of the Abyss.

'''Outcast's End:''' 137th layer

Ruled by the exiled and outcast Azazel, Prince of Scapegoats.

'''Lifebane:''' 142nd layer

Ruled by [[Chemosh]], the god of undeath in [[Dragonlance|Krynn]].

'''Hollow's Heart:''' 176th layer

Ruled by [[Fraz-Urb'luu]]. Fraz-Urb'luu pissed off virtually all of the other demon lords by learning how to summon them in order to humiliate them in front of his sniveling minions. This led to the demon lord being forced to take a sabbatical in the dungeons of [[Oerth]] while lesser Lords moved in, turning the place into a demonic continent of crazy shit, including a jungle of skin, where trees are hairs sprouting from the ground; a desert made of grains of clotted blood; and a city shrouded in powerful illusions to make petitioners think everything is happy and safe, so the demons can take it away piece by piece.

'''Writhing Realm of Ugudenk: ''' 177th layer

Little is known about this layer except that it is the place where Golothomas are most commonly found and it consists of lightless tunnels.

'''The Rotting Plain:''' 181st layer

Ruled by [[Laogzed]] the god of the [[troglodyte]]. Here they archive everyone's browsing history, purchases, and other personal information forever.

'''Vulgarea:''' 193th layer

Ruled by demon princess Eshebala the [[furry|foxwoman and wolfwere]] goddess.

'''Shedaklah, the Slime Pits:''' 222nd layer

[[Juiblex]], the Slime Lord, and [[Zuggtmoy]], the Lady of Fungi rule here. A fetid swamp of every variety of ooze, slime, fungus and filth; obviously a disgusting place. Sometimes the 528th layer.

'''The Dreaming Gulf:''' 230th layer

A phantasmal dark and wind-swept realm with no ruler. This is where the dreams of evil gods go when they die, slowly being given form by the Abyss, becoming the incorporeal demons known as [[Loumara]]s.

'''Palpitatia:''' 241st layer

Grankhul and Skiggaret, the [[bugbear]] gods, rule here.

'''The Scalding Sea:''' 245th layer

Another ocean of acid but this one at least has a surface; it might even be the route out for Burningwater. It also has islands... of black glass. Probably deserted, the one island town is empty, with its former occupants encrusting the town's walls while the town's fountain screams eternally and sprays yet more acid.

'''The Hidden Layer:''' 248th layer

A huge thunderstorm-ravaged wasteland. Was ruled by Demon Prince Eltab, until he was summoned into the [[Prime Material]] and bound there, also sucking small portions of his realm with him to [[Faerun]] in the form of demoncysts and leaving his subordinates to fight amongst themselves over control of the rest.

'''Durao:''' 274th layer

A ruler-less layer dotted by military encampments and demon barracks interconnected by iron roads that snake through the otherwise swampy environs along the River Styx. It was from here that most of the demon armies staged before departing to wage the [[Blood War]] in [[Gehenna]].

'''Feng-Tu:''' 300th layer

A citadel overlooking a tributary of the River Styx, it is ruled by Tou Mu, goddess of the North Star, and Lu Yueh, god of epidemics, both gods from the [[China|Chinese]] [[Mythology#Chinese Mythology|Mythology]].

'''The Sulfanorum:''' 303rd layer

As the [[Coenobites]] have taught us, what are demons to some are angels to others; so what's a hell to many could be a heaven to some. Here is the tobacconist's heaven, as ''Planes of Chaos'' wittily illustrated. Full of flames designed to light pipes, which the Abyssals smoke here.

'''The Broken Scale:''' 333rd layer

Ruled by [[Hiddukel]], the ''[[Dragonlance]]'' god of greed and treachery.

'''Fortress of Indifference:''' 348th layer

Rough terrain with fiery skies. An evil 200 foot tower is the main attraction, and is [[Hellbound: The Blood War|why we don't let Monte Cook listen to Nine Inch Nails anymore]]. Its the home of outcasts, half-fiends, [[tiefling]]s, etc. that turned their backs on the [[Blood War]]. Its particularly anarchic. Tapheon, a barely held together demon, tries to rule here but mostly goes around torturing random beings.

'''Arch of Eternity:''' 359th layer

Ruled by Eldanoth, the Prince of Crime. He once served under Orcus but left after Orcus was overthrown for a time, now his servants sabotage Orcus's plans. He's worshiped by criminals. The realm is, ironically, a huge, but finite plane of fire and snakes with a copper fortress at its center.

'''The Plains of Gallenshu:''' 377th layer

Dirt-storms, and "bat-winged creatures" forever fighting the tanar'ri slavers here.

'''Hungry Tarns:''' 380th layer

A bleak and poisonous realm of fens and black bottomless lakes that once was ruled by the [[Obyrith]] [[Sertrous]] but is now abandoned since Sertrous's death. As Sertrous returns to life, the layer becomes more infested with Golothomas and other serpentine monsters.

'''The Worm Realm:''' 399th layer

Urdlen's home, another plane of tunnels. Very diseased - possibly from a clash with Zuggtmoy.

'''The Woeful Escarand:''' 400th layer

Here, under a great mountain, is the court of judgement for chaotic-evils.

'''White Kingdom:''' 421st layer

Ruled by the King of Ghouls, who, depending on the author, is either a toady of Orcus, a hostage-turned-minion of Yeenoghu, or an undead god who's free to do his own shit.

'''Death Dells:''' 422nd layer

Also called the Seeping Woods in ''Planescape''. Ruled by [[Yeenoghu]], Demon Prince of [[Gnolls]].

'''Ahriman-abad:''' 452nd layer

Ruled by Ahrimanes, the Chief of the Cacodaemons.

'''Androlynne:''' 471st layer

Owned by [[Pale Night]]. This layer has become a battlefield where the forces of good fight to protect a group of [[Eladrin]] children who were trapped there by a deal with Pale Night. This may have backfired on Pale Night because the amount of people fighting for good on this layer is slowly causing the layer to change its appearance, and may eventually shift it out of the abyss to a higher plane.

'''Guttlevetch:''' 480th layer

A sea eternally swept by perpetual typhoons and hurricanes, its beaches of blood are littered with innumerable shipwrecks. Was ruled by Zuregurex, Lord of the Drowned, but he seriously fucked up when he tried to invade Demogorgon's layer. Zuregurex fled to the 245th layer to escape retribution.

'''Mansion of the Rake:''' 487th layer

An entire layer stylized as a perpetually shifting baroque-style palace. Ruled by Kanchelsis the god of [[vampire]]s, born of the blood of the elven gods. His primary servants are vampires, drow, and the occasional crazy birds in his aviaries. His live-in boarders-turned-sort-of-minions are a trio of crazed blood fiends, Memnul, Dagrobard, and Vonce, who are so unpleasant, they apparently scare even Kanchelsis shitless.

'''Noisome Vale:''' 489th layer

Tarnhem is the official ruler here, though he's left for a while to go and hike Mt. Everest to find himself or something (if playing ''Return to the Tomb of Horrors''', he's now his son [[Acererak]]'s guest). The layer itself is mostly volcanic, creating a poisoned and acidic atmosphere. However, a deep canyon carves its way through the layer which is infested with worms. These worms thrive in the acidic air, breathing it in and expelling breathable air as a waste byproduct. Tarnhem's estate is built along the ravine, and his servants still occupy it awaiting his return.

'''Kali:''' 500th layer

Kali makes her home in a big red India-themed jungle under a cloudless red sky, on the shore of the Screaming Sea; all described in Rick Swan's adventure. Or not. ''Planes of Chaos'' has her in layer #643 instead. But she's ''Kali''; she's probably got several layers.

'''Torremor:''' 503rd layer

An aerie, built out of bridges, buildings and junk, floating in a void, and inhabited by vrock, chasme and other flying demons. Officially ruled by [[Pazuzu]], though, he has, more or less, abandoned it to his ex-girlfriend, [[Lamashtu]]. For a while they were a disgustingly close couple, then Lamashtu betrayed him, and then they broke up when he ate out her eyes and impaled her on top of a tower at the very top of Torremor, where ever that is. He's more or less forgiven her, but still can not be assed to un-impale her.

'''Occipitus:''' 507th layer

Adimarchus, Prince of Madness, founded this plane and was its first prince. He is a fallen Celestial and thus this layer is actually a fragmented piece of Celestia (the Seven Heavens) that fell with him. Demons avoid this layer all together, its filled with ruins and basins. Adimarchus fought a big fight against [[Graz'zt]] and lost at one point. He has a split personality, one angelic, one demonic, which is why he's called "Prince of Madness." Now he's imprisoned in Skullrot in [[Pandemonium]], the Great Wheel's funny farm.

'''Shatterstone:''' 524th layer

Ruled by Vaprak the [[Troll]] and [[ogre]] deity.

'''Vudra:''' 531st layer

Ruled by [[Shaktari]], the queen of [[Marilith]]s.

'''Fleshforges:''' 558th layer

Ruled by Demon Prince Dwiergus, the Chrysalis Prince. He has control over the shaping of demonic races. Probably older than Pale Night. The Father of Demons in some ways. A mentor to Baphomet who taught him how to create new demons. Stats in Dragon #359.

'''Shendilavri:''' 570th layer

Islamic Paradise! ...for Malcanthet, Queen of the Succubi. Not so much for her visitors and guests.

'''Prison of the Mad God:''' 586th layer

A maelstorm of various gasses and orbiting rock. Imprisons Diinkarazan, one of the two gods of the [[derro]]. Space itself is warped.

'''Goranthis:''' 597th layer

A little demonic [[Magical Realm|slice of paradise]]. This pleasure-palace and the surrounding gardens are the realm of [[Socothbenoth|Socothbenoth, the Persuader]] who rules from atop his [[/d/|Palace of Quivering Flesh]].

'''Shubgottia, The Endless Maze:''' 600th layer

Ruled by [[Baphomet]], Prince of Beasts. He lets [[Pale Night]], a ghost looking entity, the mother of demons allegedly, have a castle here as well though she rarely does anything. Lyktion is his palace and at his ''Tower of '''Fucking''' Science'' he experiments and creates new demon breeds and such. He has vast armies of beastmen looking demons and is revered by the minotaurs. He is smart, savage, one of the top tier princes, and is not to be fucked with. He began as a mortal creature, either as a beast that lived as a man or a man that lived as a beast, and was cursed by the gods, though obviously he made the best of it.

'''Conflagratum:''' 601rst layer

Ruled by Alzrius, Lord of the Flowing Flame. He usually manifests himself as a pillar of fire and leads his legions to the burning of all [[bitches]].

'''Caverns of the Skull:''' 643rd layer

Kali again, ''Planescape'' edition. The authors decided that reading Sanskrit would be too hard so just watched ''Temple Of Doom'' for this one.

'''Zionyn:''' 663rd layer

Ruled by [[Obox-ob]], Prince of Vermin. As an obyrith and, perhaps, the last surviving aspect of the old Prince of Demons, he plots here to dethrone Demogorgon and to run all [[tanar'ri]] off the Abyss.

'''Unnamed Layer:''' 665th layer

A layer with gravity and atmosphere but nothing to stand on, spells that prevent or slow down falling do not work, and all portals connected to it go in but not out, so if you stumble into it and can't teleport out or have someone rescue you, you will endlessly fall until you die of dehydration or get ripped apart by the air friction.

'''Bottomless Pit:''' 666th layer

Ruled by the Demon Lord Abaddon, Prince of Apocalypse. The center of the layer is a literal black hole singularity that is slowly eating away at all of creation and the Abyss. Anything that enters the singularity, known as the Maelstrom, is lost forever. It is theorized by the [[Fraternity of Order]] in [[Sigil]] that a portion of the energy devoured by the Maelstrom is used to keep [[Tharizdun]] imprisoned, which is a bit ironic on a plane devoted to chaos and evil.

'''Abyssian Ocean:''' Many layers

The Abyssian Ocean is not really a layer of the abyss, but is a vast ocean that connects to all of the oceans that exist in the abyss and so spans across many layers, making it a useful way of traveling around the abyss. No demon lord rules over the Abyssian Ocean as it is protected by the extremely powerful myrmyxicuses, who rule it in floating citadels made of bone, shells, and coral.

=Inhabitants=
The main race in the Abyss are demons. There are four different categories of demons: The [[Tanar'ri]], the [[Obyrith]]s, the [[Loumara]]s, and everything else. The Tanar'ri are the only ones who ever get shit accomplished. They are also the "most numerous". This may owe to Georg Cantor's metamathematic: lawful infinity is in essence countable, unlawful infinity not - so some infinities are greater than others. The demon ''princes'' are finite: most Tanar'ri, though there are some Obyriths.

The petitioners in the Abyss are called manes, and become a low caste of Tanar'ri. If they survive for a very long time, they can be promoted up into the ranks of the not-worthless, and even to demon lords if they're cunning enough. This is how [[Orcus]] got his start.

Most of the chaotic evil deities live in the Abyss as well, for obvious reasons, including the aforementioned Great Mother and Lolth (depending on edition). Deities here are also called demon lords, because that's generally just a title and not any kind of useful disambiguation. Also because there's plenty of layers to go around so if you've got the power you might as well rule one.

==Why You Really REALLY Shouldn't Come Here==
Whenever some berk (that's an idiot, in Sigil cant) drops by here, there's a chance she gets killed. It's often the case that said berk wasn't Chaotic Evil herself. In the Outer Planes, undead as such don't exist - yeah, we know, Orcus but here we're really dealing with the damned in the ''form'' of undead. So a decent person getting into the dead-book on the Abyss ''should'' have her soul end up in a final rest suited for her true alignment. Anywhere but here.

As one final barbed grind up the arse, that depends on ''how'' one dies here. Here are some chaotic energies so mighty and blasphemous that it twists a person's body and soul into a special, Abyssal sort of unlife. Such a wretch is a [[Bodak]].

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:World Axis Plain of 1000 Portals.png|A map of Pazunia's [[World Axis]] counterpart.
File:Pazunia 3e.jpg|Pazunia
File:Grand abyss 3e.jpg|The Grand Abyss
File:Twelvetrees 3e.jpg|Twelvetrees
File:Abysm.jpg|The brine flats in Abysm
File:Drooling jungle 3e.jpg|The Drooling Jungle in Hollow's Heart
File:Shedaklah 3e.jpg|A map of Shedaklah
</gallery>

{{OuterPlanes}}

Abyss

2020-08-11T23:16:38Z

2601:203:480:4C60:C876:79D4:5AEA:A043: /* Notable Layers */

[[File:Abyss layers 3e.webp|thumb|right|300px]]
{{Topquote|1=During the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that conditions called war; and such a war, as if of every man, against every man.|2= Thomas Hobbes}}
'''The Infinite Layers of the Abyss''' is the [[Alignment|Chaotic Evil]] [[plane]] in ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'s'' [[Great Wheel]] cosmology. It's home to an infinite number of [[demon]]s, the Chaotic Evil fiends. Expect [[METAL]].

The plane is such a mess of chaos and upheaval that it doesn't even stay the same in basic state from time to time, which is another way of saying the writers can't keep it straight and [[retcon|change it]] whenever it's convenient. It's an infinite plane, like the others, but actually has an infinite number of different layers as well, meaning that the aforementioned changes might just be an examination of a different subset of layers. According to one faction in the ''[[Planescape]]'' setting it also specifically has 666 layers, [[Derp|because that's totally the same as infinite.]] Then again, it's one of the chaotic planes, so not making sense is probably [[Just As Planned|the whole idea]] (ignoring the fact that [[Arborea]] is just as consistent as any of the Lawful planes).

It's also a plane in the [[World Axis]] cosmology of D&D too, but here is a more modestly sized "universe-swallowing" vortex of corruption and evil that lies in the [[Elemental Chaos]], created when [[Tharizdun]] planted a crystallized shard of pure evil from the dying universe of the [[obyrith]]s in the Elemental Chaos.

In the [[World of Darkness]] games, the Abyss is a realm of cold blackness from which [[shade]]s and [[Demon#In_the_World_of_Darkness|demons]] and the [[Wyrm|god of Oblivion]] hail, and from which [[vampires]] wielding [[Obtenebration]] summon either a black ectoplasmic substance for various effects, such as the creation of tentacles, or a raw [[Entropy|Oblivionic]] energy for disintegrating targets. Thematically it is closer to [[D&D]]'s [[Negative Energy Plane]] or [[Shadowfell]] plane.

==Notable Layers==
Most of the layers are often described as containing wildly different inhospitable biomes, sometimes on the same layer side-by-side. All of them are full of the kind of [[Slaanesh|Chaoticy-Evilly fuckery you'd expect]], so none of them are great places for vacation homes. The named layers are also given numbers, but given that they are in no way consistently arranged in space, those numbers are meaningless and changed often (except for the first one). Officially, though, they are numbered in order of their discovery by mortals.

The descriptions are, naturally, weighted to the lower numbers.

A major source for the below is the Planescape box, ''Planes of Chaos''.

'''Pazunia:''' 1st layer

The Plane of Infinite Portals, and the way you get to any of the others. It's covered in giant sinkholes, each one a portal to another layer of the Abyss. This is also the layer that the [[River Styx]] flows through on its path from [[Pandemonium]] to [[Acheron]]. Iron fortresses on this layer are also where Demon Princes leave their bodies when they're busy roaming around the [[Astral Plane]]. Dozens of minor demon princes co-rule this layer, though, officially, [[Pazuzu]] is in charge. The Grand Abyss is sometimes the 4th layer and Pazunia is the Styx shorelines.

This is one of the great battlefields of the Blood War. Mostly, this is a staging ground for the various demon hordes being flung at the [[Baator|Nine Hells]], but that creates a whole set of problems by itself. As some of you may already know, beings that are inherent Chaotic and Evil are just as likely to start axe-murdering one another as anything else. So put a million such beings of pure Chaotic Evil side by side in one place, and count the seconds until they just start killing each other instead of doing what they were told. Now, complicate that problem with the fact that some demon princes may actually want such an outburst to occur to weaken the forces of a rival. Now throw in yugoloth mercenaries turning stag on a demon employer (devils, after all, are much better at keeping their words on contracts and payments and the like). Toss in a force of devils being sent for scouting and/or raiding duties to better prepare for said horde before it even gets to Avernus. And finally, sprinkle in the dozens of other planars - celestials, adventurers, etc. - who are visiting and know that the best way to deal with an ornery demon is basically to fucking destroy it.

Now, it's not all murderhobos and axes to the face. There's a few fiends that run some odd little fortified establishments out here. Some are mercenaries who can press-gang enough demons to make it worth someone's effort to pay for it. There's even a few mercantile or entertainment venues around. But mostly, if you run into a fiend out here, you murder the shit out of it and hope it didn't have any friends who really gave a shit about it. This is the first layer of an infinite amount of Chaotic Evil, by the way; it only gets more fun the further down the spiral you go.

It should be noted that oddly, this is the most stable layer of the Abyss. No, really: it hasn't actually changed all that much, fundamentally, in all of existence. The demons that inhabit it, and who's running what, that does change, and yes, the land itself has been ripped up, rebuilt, wash, rinse, repeat. But this is basically where the teeming, seething primordial chaos of the Abyss touches reality, and thus this connection is by necessity stable. (Since if the Abyss disconnected, even temporarily, it would probably be adrift in the Astral, or possibly it would fuck off from reality altogether for the Far Realm; it's hard to say what the metaphysics of that scenario would look like.)

'''Driller's Hives:''' 2nd layer

This horrible place is one of the most unpleasantly inhospitable layers in all of the Abyss. It's not so much because of the indigenous fiendish insects who try to kill anything on sight, but because of how all visitors who enter risk contracting a horrible disease that causes the sufferer to break out in hatching insect eggs until the afflicted dies and decomposes into a mass of rot and insect eggs over the course of '''minutes.''' The addition of the giant, intelligent fiendish insect thralls of the ruler, Tharzax ''the Chattering Prince'', help make the whole place a big, sentient shit-sprinkle-covered crapcake of '''NOPE'''.

'''The Forgotten Land:''' 3rd layer

This is an almost endless landscape of empty ruins that suggest a once bustling city. No demons, other than the layer's Lord, Zzyczesiya ''The Ungrasped'', master of malevolent ignorance and confusion, come here. The place was abandoned due to a catastrophe, for which Zzyczesiya has been traditionally blamed, and now, entering the layer causes any sentient being's mind, even those of demons and sapient undead, to fritter away like moist cotton candy, leaving visitors as catatonic and braindead. Constructs are immune to the effects, and persistent visitors often use golem stand-ins to explore this godawful place. Allegedly, Zzyczesiya destroyed all the original inhabitants by accident, 1st through 3rd edition claiming by changing the course of the [[River Styx]], and was punished by imprisonment in the Wells of Darkness. Zzyczesiya would escape, and return to the Forgotten Land in order to use the power of this layer to unremember something really, really, really horrible (possibly a first draft of the script for ''Gigli'').

'''The Grand Abyss:''' 4th layer

What starts as a gaping chasm on the first layer is an infinitely deep pit where the walls are dotted with portals which connect to all of the other layers in the plane. Navigation is tricky because the only dimensions of relevance are vertical, so you need to either fly or be a patient climber. This place was created by the now-dead Lord, Asima ''The Unanticipated'', who apparently died because she(?) didn't anticipate pissing off the Queen of Chaos enough to assassinate her. Now, Asima's corpse lies in her tomb, the Tumulus of Abhorrence, which is filled with treasure and secrets, and is guarded by her "seraph," a super-demon named "Guardian of the Gates" who pretty much super-kills anyone unlucky enough to encounter him. Guardian of the Gates periodically leaves his master's tomb to harass/super-kill schmucks in the Grand Abyss, as per his master's original orders: adventurers stupid enough to think that there are no other defenders of the Tumulus tend to die screaming.

'''Realm of a Million Eyes:''' 6th layer

Home of the [[Great Mother]], princess of the Beholders. Presumably not a great place to be for anyone else, because no one's ever bothered to describe it in detail.

'''Phantom Plane:''' 7th layer

Ruled by Sess'lnnek the other god of the [[lizardfolk]]. He grew bored with the Tanar'ri's Blood War, withdrew and officially closed the layer off so that no one can enter without his explicit permission.

'''Skin-shedder:''' 8th layer

Ruled by Volisupula the Flensed Marquesse, lord of ostentatious finery. The layer itself makes you more evil the longer you stay there. Tieflings are immune.

'''Burningwater:''' 9th layer

Acid ocean, so the crustaceans and fish have shells of silica.

'''That Hellhole:''' 10th layer

It's the body of an actual fiend. The dwarf who found this place got chewed up (through adamantite!) before beaming out of there.

'''Molrat:''' 11th layer

Dark tunnels, where the tanar'ri hunt by smell. Besides the demon horde the plane is more friendly to life than most.

'''Twelvetrees:''' 12th Layer

Definitely a place of horror, and a living example of why you can never, ever trust a demon.

Eons ago, some demons tricked some astral devas into having a meeting for the sake of peace. Basically, the powers from the Upper Planes saw the tanar'ri overthrow the obyriths, and thought maybe that the new fiends were "better" than the old ones. Big fucking mistake there: the demons turned on the angels, bound them to twelve of the biggest trees in the layer, and then performed a blasphemous arcane ritual that sacrificed them to the layer, allowing their eternal suffering to become fuel for all kinds of evil shit.

The angels can still be heard screaming, and a big altar now commemorates the site of the sacrifice, surrounded by twelve sickly pines that ooze some kind magically-infused slime. Evil-descriptor spells are Maximized and Extended automatically for free as a result of the power of the place. Demons make pilgrimages to the layer, to honor the screw job their kind put to the forces of good, and the overwhelming evil of the place is like a drug to the fiends, as they bask in a haze of quasi-religious ecstasy and basically don't give a shit what's happening around them, making it scarily easy for non-demons to wander around pretty freely (you only gotta dodge some chasmes that patrol the skies, maybe some kelvezus that look for intruders to murder).

But that's not all. See, someone figured out how to harness all that deliciously evil energy to create a new weapon of war: the ''ship of chaos''. This horrible thing is basically made of flesh, bone, and spirit; it's hull seems to be comprised of some kind of twisted, thick, ropelike fibers, woven into an organic mass of mottled white and yellow, with translucent blue blisters along the flanks. They are powered by the annihilation of soul larvae... meaning that the ship itself absolutely destroys souls beyond recovery in order to operate. It can generate an "entropy field" almost the length of 5 football fields that either drives beings insane or simply repulses them, and shoots waves of force out of the mouths at the front and back. It can warp itself to travel through small portals, but this causes magic stuff onboard to possibly break unless it is made from the Abyss, and tanar'ri and their kin aren't particularly messed up by the warping.

The scaffolds for these ships dot the area around Twelvetrees. Six have been completed for sure. There was a seventh ship in the 2nd edition Planescape adventure In The Abyss, but it's highly likely that it was destroyed. The 3rd edition supplement FC2: Hordes of the Abyss notes another seventh ship is being built, which seems likely. In theory, these ships will not only be awesome weapons to use against the devils, but will mean the demons don't need the yugoloths to help them travel to Baator anymore.

And all this time, the angels keep screaming.

'''Blood Tor:''' 13th Layer

Ruled by the Goddesses [[Beshaba]] and [[Umberlee]], from the [[Forgotten Realms]]. A plane of bad luck - including for tanar'ri, because the baatezu did a successful raid here early in the Blood War.

'''Steaming Fen:''' 14th Layer

Ruled by [[The Queen of Chaos]], the old Lord of Obyriths and creator of [[Demogorgon]].

'''Pleroma/Death's Reward:''' 17th layer

Ruled by demon prince Abraxas ''the Unfathomable''. He has a roosters head and a bunch of snakes for a lower body. He's big on magic and the occult. Diovengia is his city which houses some of the best libraries in the entire Abyss.

'''The Sixth Pyre:''' 21st layer

Ruled by Prince Kardum, the lord of Balors.

'''Ice Wastes:''' 23rd layer

[[Kostchtchie]] is the resident [[Demon Prince]]. An infinite expanse of jagged mountains, glaciers and frozen tundras. Kostchtchie commands a big army of frost giants which he used to further "conquer" his layer, when he isn't siccing them on other demon lords for laughing at him, or conquering other tribes of frost giants on the Prime Material Plane.

'''Sholo-Tovoth/ Fields of Consumption:''' 32rd layer

Ruled by [[Demon Prince]] [[Turaglas]], ''The Ebon Maw'', who was spawned directly from the Abyss. A 100% pure demon and therefore envied by [[Orcus]] and [[Demogorgon]] for this (Demogorgon was a creation of the Obyriths, while Orcus was a former mortal) who joined against him and imprisoned him for a while. His goal is to devour and destroy, he has spawned his own breed of demons, the turagathshee. The layer itself, like That Hellhole #10, tries to eat anyone that enters it that's not either Turaglas or one of his minions, with mouths and tongues popping up everywhere. Those minions number millions of insatiably hungry demons.

'''Azzagrat:''' 45th, 46th, and 47th Layers

Ruled by [[Graz'zt]], demon lord of depending on your source, A)tyrants, manipulation, and, unofficially, blatant nepotism, or B) [[Slaanesh| lust, hedonism, and incubi]]. There's a salt river that connects all three layers. [[Zelatar]] is a big, shiny, evil pastiche of the Emerald City of Oz that stretches across the three layers. Relatively well-behaved demons, not that it's saying much, as all of Graz'zt's minions know that Graz'zt torturing them to death for a minor screw up is the least he can do to them. Not a terrible place for a party, assuming it's [[Slaanesh|the right kind of party]].

'''Phage Breeding Ground:''' 53rd Layer

Ruled by Urae-Naas, a "female" [[slaad]] [[Demon Prince]]ss so bloated with eggs she can't walk anymore and has to drag herself along on her long arms and enormous tongue. Comprised from the interiors of the ever-rotting organs of her former boyfriend, the slain [[Archomental|Primordial]] Ramenos. Iconic local feature: screaming, insane humanoids sewn into the walls begging ceaselessly for help before she gets around to implanting her offspring in their bodies. Created in 4th edition, and probably lost with the change to 5th edition seeing as how Slaad are Chaotic Neutral in all non-4 editions.

'''Torturous Truth:''' 57th layer

Ruled by Alvarez the Purging Duke, the head of the demonic Inquisition. His forces investigate the tanar'ri for any signs of lawful behavior. His torture is notorious throughout the Abyss.

'''The Demonweb Pits:''' 66th layer usually

The place where [[Lolth]], the deity of the drow, and the rest of the drow pantheon, hangs out with her spiders. In [[Demonweb Pits|Jeff Grubb's entry]], the Demonweb was 65th and her actual abode on the 66th. In [[3e]] this was changed to be an entirely separate plane, though it's still connected to the Abyss.

'''Heavenly Hills:''' 67th layer

Swamps and hills, which swap places after (frequent) earthquakes. And varrangoin ruins.

'''Morgenta's Layer:''' 68th layer

Barren, "abandoned", and airless. No-one's named it but ''Planes of Chaos'' does have a name for the planewalker who survived to enter it into the list: Morgenta, the mage.

'''The Crushing Plain:''' 69th layer

A surface made up of chasme, manes, and lemures all "crawling over one another". ''Planes of Chaos'' claims they are avoiding suffocation but it's more likely they end up squished like bugs further down.

'''The Ice Floe:''' 70th layer

That ice would be ''thin'', over black running water. The cold acts as energy-drain. As to whence / whither the water flows, we're not told but we can guess probably the Styx.

'''Spirac:''' 71st layer

Tree-ferns and spiky mountains. A happy hunting ground like Molrat / #11. The demons might be friendlier, or maybe that's just because they got along better with the cutter who penned this entry.

'''Darklight:''' 72st layer

Visitors get a halo of darkness (if evil) or light (good). Either is a beacon for the demons here, who enslave the former and kill the latter.

'''[[Wells of Darkness]]:''' 73rd layer

A spa-cum-prison for some of the worst prisoners the plane could play host to. Jacuzzi tubs of black ink keep unspeakably powerful beings trapped beneath the surface, unable to get out, but perfectly conscious and able to communicate. The demons don't visit. It's amusing because the idea of an unbreakable prison on a chaotic plane constantly attracts ''break-in'' attempts by those who just want to prove otherwise.

'''Smargard:''' 74th layer

[[Merrshaulk]] rules here. He is the deity of the Yuan-ti snake men. Basically a nightmarish, evil, rainforest (one of several in the Abyss).

'''The Gates of Heaven:''' 77th layer

Actually not named ironically, it's apparently a gate to Celestia in the middle of a Chaotic Evil hell. Must be a really sturdy gate. Ruled by demon lords and brothers, Munkir and Nekir.

'''Abysm/The Gaping Maw:''' 88th layer

The realm of [[Demogorgon]]. Also known as "The Upside Down" thanks to ''Stranger Things''. Pretty much a tropical nightmare, with demon- and demonic-disease-infested jungles and a roiling ocean. [[Dagon]], his special friend and mentor, lives in his basement.

'''Shadowsea:''' 89th layer

Ruled by [[Dagon]] one of the few obyrith lords still part of the establishment. It's an underwater realm without a surface although it connects to the 88th. Filled with myriads of aquatic demons.

'''[[Demonwing]]:''' layer unknown

An entire layer of the Abysm transformed into a crazy demonic pirate ship by Demogorgon that can move freely about the planes.

'''The Guttering Grove:''' 90th layer

Ruled by Ilsidahur, the Howling King, who's a bootlicker to [[Demogorgon]]. He leads the bar-lgura, these orangutan looking demons, as well as these winged gorilla looking guys. The Guttering Grove was recently subsumed into Abysm by Demogorgon as punishment for Ilsidahur screwing up an invasion of [[Arcadia]], though Ilsidahur is apparently either too unaware, too uncaring or too stupid to notice.

'''The Realms:''' 99th layer

Plotted out by Rick Swan in the ''Tales of the Outer Planes'' anthology. The Abyssal chaos sometimes diverts visitors here when they're aiming for elsewhere, Kali's plane in this one. It's a network of sub-layers, attached to each other through portals:
* Gray Realm. Desert of black sand, infested with dretch.
* Lightning Realm. "Blank white" plain with pillars. Disputed between Orcus and Demogorgon. Yeah, this is oldschool.
* Swirling Realm. Connects to Juiblex's crib. It's a waterfall and ocean... made of puddings and slimes. Yecch!
* Yellow Realm. Primordial tropical forest. 50' blades of grass.
* Fog Realm. "Jellyfish" surface and it stinks. It's a colossal demon uterus.
* Silver Realm. A silvery ice glacier, where sound doesn't travel.
* Star Realm. Another black sand desert, but cratered. Kali's kitchen, preparing souls for her breakfast.
At a guess, only the Gray Realm is truly the 99th. The others look to be other Abyssal layers entirely, like #222 or, indeed, #500.

'''The Mind of Evil:''' 111st layer

Ruled by Prince Sch'theraqpasstt, the Serpent Reborn.

'''Thanatos:''' 113th layer

Its as much undead as demonic. [[Orcus|Orcus's]] crib. He spends most of his time chilling here not doing things.

'''Slugbed:''' 128th layer

Lupercio the Baron of Sloth rules here. It's a tropical, mostly overcast realm filled with lush forests and coral reefs filled with all manner of demon gastropods. Because Lupercio is too busy spending most of his time sleeping, where his perpetually darkness-shrouded form is perpetually parasitized by shadow demons, and too spending what precious little waking hours he has maniacally doing ''something,'' the demon gastropods of Slugbed do not recognize his authority, and, instead, do their own thing, i.e., eating the scenery, each other, and intruders too stupid to understand the threat posed by demon gastropods until they get eaten. An army of angels has secretly constructed fortresses in the clouds above Slugbed, and eventually intend to use their fortresses here to stage attacks on the demons of the Abyss.

'''Outcast's End:''' 137th layer

Ruled by the exiled and outcast Azazel, Prince of Scapegoats.

'''Lifebane:''' 142nd layer

Ruled by [[Chemosh]], the god of undeath in [[Dragonlance|Krynn]].

'''Hollow's Heart:''' 176th layer

Ruled by [[Fraz-Urb'luu]]. Fraz-Urb'luu pissed off virtually all of the other demon lords by learning how to summon them in order to humiliate them in front of his sniveling minions. This led to the demon lord being forced to take a sabbatical in the dungeons of [[Oerth]] while lesser Lords moved in, turning the place into a demonic continent of crazy shit, including a jungle of skin, where trees are hairs sprouting from the ground; a desert made of grains of clotted blood; and a city shrouded in powerful illusions to make petitioners think everything is happy and safe, so the demons can take it away piece by piece.

'''Writhing Realm of Ugudenk: ''' 177th layer

Little is known about this layer except that it is the place where Golothomas are most commonly found and it consists of lightless tunnels.

'''The Rotting Plain:''' 181st layer

Ruled by [[Laogzed]] the god of the [[troglodyte]]. Here they archive everyone's browsing history, purchases, and other personal information forever.

'''Vulgarea:''' 193th layer

Ruled by demon princess Eshebala the [[furry|foxwoman and wolfwere]] goddess.

'''Shedaklah, the Slime Pits:''' 222nd layer

[[Juiblex]], the Slime Lord, and [[Zuggtmoy]], the Lady of Fungi rule here. A fetid swamp of every variety of ooze, slime, fungus and filth; obviously a disgusting place. Sometimes the 528th layer.

'''The Dreaming Gulf:''' 230th layer

A phantasmal dark and wind-swept realm with no ruler. This is where the dreams of evil gods go when they die, slowly being given form by the Abyss, becoming the incorporeal demons known as [[Loumara]]s.

'''Palpitatia:''' 241st layer

Grankhul and Skiggaret, the [[bugbear]] gods, rule here.

'''The Scalding Sea:''' 245th layer

Another ocean of acid but this one at least has a surface; it might even be the route out for Burningwater. It also has islands... of black glass. Probably deserted, the one island town is empty, with its former occupants encrusting the town's walls while the town's fountain screams eternally and sprays yet more acid.

'''The Hidden Layer:''' 248th layer

A huge thunderstorm-ravaged wasteland. Was ruled by Demon Prince Eltab, until he was summoned into the [[Prime Material]] and bound there, also sucking small portions of his realm with him to [[Faerun]] in the form of demoncysts and leaving his subordinates to fight amongst themselves over control of the rest.

'''Durao:''' 274th layer

A ruler-less layer dotted by military encampments and demon barracks interconnected by iron roads that snake through the otherwise swampy environs along the River Styx. It was from here that most of the demon armies staged before departing to wage the [[Blood War]] in [[Gehenna]].

'''Feng-Tu:''' 300th layer

A citadel overlooking a tributary of the River Styx, it is ruled by Tou Mu, goddess of the North Star, and Lu Yueh, god of epidemics, both gods from the [[China|Chinese]] [[Mythology#Chinese Mythology|Mythology]].

'''The Sulfanorum:''' 303rd layer

As the [[Coenobites]] have taught us, what are demons to some are angels to others; so what's a hell to many could be a heaven to some. Here is the tobacconist's heaven, as ''Planes of Chaos'' wittily illustrated. Full of flames designed to light pipes, which the Abyssals smoke here.

'''The Broken Scale:''' 333rd layer

Ruled by [[Hiddukel]], the ''[[Dragonlance]]'' god of greed and treachery.

'''Fortress of Indifference:''' 348th layer

Rough terrain with fiery skies. An evil 200 foot tower is the main attraction, and is [[Hellbound: The Blood War|why we don't let Monte Cook listen to Nine Inch Nails anymore]]. Its the home of outcasts, half-fiends, [[tiefling]]s, etc. that turned their backs on the [[Blood War]]. Its particularly anarchic. Tapheon, a barely held together demon, tries to rule here but mostly goes around torturing random beings.

'''Arch of Eternity:''' 359th layer

Ruled by Eldanoth, the Prince of Crime. He once served under Orcus but left after Orcus was overthrown for a time, now his servants sabotage Orcus's plans. He's worshiped by criminals. The realm is, ironically, a huge, but finite plane of fire and snakes with a copper fortress at its center.

'''The Plains of Gallenshu:''' 377th layer

Dirt-storms, and "bat-winged creatures" forever fighting the tanar'ri slavers here.

'''Hungry Tarns:''' 380th layer

A bleak and poisonous realm of fens and black bottomless lakes that once was ruled by the [[Obyrith]] [[Sertrous]] but is now abandoned since Sertrous's death. As Sertrous returns to life, the layer becomes more infested with Golothomas and other serpentine monsters.

'''The Worm Realm:''' 399th layer

Urdlen's home, another plane of tunnels. Very diseased - possibly from a clash with Zuggtmoy.

'''The Woeful Escarand:''' 400th layer

Here, under a great mountain, is the court of judgement for chaotic-evils.

'''White Kingdom:''' 421st layer

Ruled by the King of Ghouls, who, depending on the author, is either a toady of Orcus, a hostage-turned-minion of Yeenoghu, or an undead god who's free to do his own shit.

'''Death Dells:''' 422nd layer

Also called the Seeping Woods in ''Planescape''. Ruled by [[Yeenoghu]], Demon Prince of [[Gnolls]].

'''Ahriman-abad:''' 452nd layer

Ruled by Ahrimanes, the Chief of the Cacodaemons.

'''Androlynne:''' 471st layer

Owned by [[Pale Night]]. This layer has become a battlefield where the forces of good fight to protect a group of [[Eladrin]] children who were trapped there by a deal with Pale Night. This may have backfired on Pale Night because the amount of people fighting for good on this layer is slowly causing the layer to change its appearance, and may eventually shift it out of the abyss to a higher plane.

'''Guttlevetch:''' 480th layer

A sea eternally swept by perpetual typhoons and hurricanes, its beaches of blood are littered with innumerable shipwrecks. Was ruled by Zuregurex, Lord of the Drowned, but he seriously fucked up when he tried to invade Demogorgon's layer. Zuregurex fled to the 245th layer to escape retribution.

'''Mansion of the Rake:''' 487th layer

An entire layer stylized as a perpetually shifting baroque-style palace. Ruled by Kanchelsis the god of [[vampire]]s, born of the blood of the elven gods. His primary servants are vampires, drow, and the occasional crazy birds in his aviaries. His live-in boarders-turned-sort-of-minions are a trio of crazed blood fiends, Memnul, Dagrobard, and Vonce, who are so unpleasant, they apparently scare even Kanchelsis shitless.

'''Noisome Vale:''' 489th layer

Tarnhem is the official ruler here, though he's left for a while to go and hike Mt. Everest to find himself or something (if playing ''Return to the Tomb of Horrors''', he's now his son [[Acererak]]'s guest). The layer itself is mostly volcanic, creating a poisoned and acidic atmosphere. However, a deep canyon carves its way through the layer which is infested with worms. These worms thrive in the acidic air, breathing it in and expelling breathable air as a waste byproduct. Tarnhem's estate is built along the ravine, and his servants still occupy it awaiting his return.

'''Kali:''' 500th layer

Kali makes her home in a big red India-themed jungle under a cloudless red sky, on the shore of the Screaming Sea; all described in Rick Swan's adventure. Or not. ''Planes of Chaos'' has her in layer #643 instead. But she's ''Kali''; she's probably got several layers.

'''Torremor:''' 503rd layer

An aerie, built out of bridges, buildings and junk, floating in a void, and inhabited by vrock, chasme and other flying demons. Officially ruled by [[Pazuzu]], though, he has, more or less, abandoned it to his ex-girlfriend, [[Lamashtu]]. For a while they were a disgustingly close couple, then Lamashtu betrayed him, and then they broke up when he ate out her eyes and impaled her on top of a tower at the very top of Torremor, where ever that is. He's more or less forgiven her, but still can not be assed to un-impale her.

'''Occipitus:''' 507th layer

Adimarchus, Prince of Madness, founded this plane and was its first prince. He is a fallen Celestial and thus this layer is actually a fragmented piece of Celestia (the Seven Heavens) that fell with him. Demons avoid this layer all together, its filled with ruins and basins. Adimarchus fought a big fight against [[Graz'zt]] and lost at one point. He has a split personality, one angelic, one demonic, which is why he's called "Prince of Madness." Now he's imprisoned in Skullrot in [[Pandemonium]], the Great Wheel's funny farm.

'''Shatterstone:''' 524th layer

Ruled by Vaprak the [[Troll]] and [[ogre]] deity.

'''Vudra:''' 531st layer

Ruled by [[Shaktari]], the queen of [[Marilith]]s.

'''Fleshforges:''' 558th layer

Ruled by Demon Prince Dwiergus, the Chrysalis Prince. He has control over the shaping of demonic races. Probably older than Pale Night. The Father of Demons in some ways. A mentor to Baphomet who taught him how to create new demons. Stats in Dragon #359.

'''Shendilavri:''' 570th layer

Islamic Paradise! ...for Malcanthet, Queen of the Succubi. Not so much for her visitors and guests.

'''Prison of the Mad God:''' 586th layer

A maelstorm of various gasses and orbiting rock. Imprisons Diinkarazan, one of the two gods of the [[derro]]. Space itself is warped.

'''Goranthis:''' 597th layer

A little demonic [[Magical Realm|slice of paradise]]. This pleasure-palace and the surrounding gardens are the realm of [[Socothbenoth|Socothbenoth, the Persuader]] who rules from atop his [[/d/|Palace of Quivering Flesh]].

'''Shubgottia, The Endless Maze:''' 600th layer

Ruled by [[Baphomet]], Prince of Beasts. He lets [[Pale Night]], a ghost looking entity, the mother of demons allegedly, have a castle here as well though she rarely does anything. Lyktion is his palace and at his ''Tower of '''Fucking''' Science'' he experiments and creates new demon breeds and such. He has vast armies of beastmen looking demons and is revered by the minotaurs. He is smart, savage, one of the top tier princes, and is not to be fucked with. He began as a mortal creature, either as a beast that lived as a man or a man that lived as a beast, and was cursed by the gods, though obviously he made the best of it.

'''Conflagratum:''' 601rst layer

Ruled by Alzrius, Lord of the Flowing Flame. He usually manifests himself as a pillar of fire and leads his legions to the burning of all [[bitches]].

'''Caverns of the Skull:''' 643rd layer

Kali again, ''Planescape'' edition. The authors decided that reading Sanskrit would be too hard so just watched ''Temple Of Doom'' for this one.

'''Zionyn:''' 663rd layer

Ruled by [[Obox-ob]], Prince of Vermin. As an obyrith and, perhaps, the last surviving aspect of the old Prince of Demons, he plots here to dethrone Demogorgon and to run all [[tanar'ri]] off the Abyss.

'''Unnamed Layer:''' 665th layer

A layer with gravity and atmosphere but nothing to stand on, spells that prevent or slow down falling do not work, and all portals connected to it go in but not out, so if you stumble into it and can't teleport out or have someone rescue you, you will endlessly fall until you die of dehydration or get ripped apart by the air friction.

'''Bottomless Pit:''' 666th layer

Ruled by the Demon Lord Abaddon, Prince of Apocalypse. The center of the layer is a literal black hole singularity that is slowly eating away at all of creation and the Abyss. Anything that enters the singularity, known as the Maelstrom, is lost forever. It is theorized by the [[Fraternity of Order]] in [[Sigil]] that a portion of the energy devoured by the Maelstrom is used to keep [[Tharizdun]] imprisoned, which is a bit ironic on a plane devoted to chaos and evil.

'''Abyssian Ocean:''' Many layers

The Abyssian Ocean is not really a layer of the abyss, but is a vast ocean that connects to all of the oceans that exist in the abyss and so spans across many layers. No demon lord rules over the Abyssian Ocean as it is protected by the extremely powerful myrmyxicuses.

=Inhabitants=
The main race in the Abyss are demons. There are four different categories of demons: The [[Tanar'ri]], the [[Obyrith]]s, the [[Loumara]]s, and everything else. The Tanar'ri are the only ones who ever get shit accomplished. They are also the "most numerous". This may owe to Georg Cantor's metamathematic: lawful infinity is in essence countable, unlawful infinity not - so some infinities are greater than others. The demon ''princes'' are finite: most Tanar'ri, though there are some Obyriths.

The petitioners in the Abyss are called manes, and become a low caste of Tanar'ri. If they survive for a very long time, they can be promoted up into the ranks of the not-worthless, and even to demon lords if they're cunning enough. This is how [[Orcus]] got his start.

Most of the chaotic evil deities live in the Abyss as well, for obvious reasons, including the aforementioned Great Mother and Lolth (depending on edition). Deities here are also called demon lords, because that's generally just a title and not any kind of useful disambiguation. Also because there's plenty of layers to go around so if you've got the power you might as well rule one.

==Why You Really REALLY Shouldn't Come Here==
Whenever some berk (that's an idiot, in Sigil cant) drops by here, there's a chance she gets killed. It's often the case that said berk wasn't Chaotic Evil herself. In the Outer Planes, undead as such don't exist - yeah, we know, Orcus but here we're really dealing with the damned in the ''form'' of undead. So a decent person getting into the dead-book on the Abyss ''should'' have her soul end up in a final rest suited for her true alignment. Anywhere but here.

As one final barbed grind up the arse, that depends on ''how'' one dies here. Here are some chaotic energies so mighty and blasphemous that it twists a person's body and soul into a special, Abyssal sort of unlife. Such a wretch is a [[Bodak]].

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:World Axis Plain of 1000 Portals.png|A map of Pazunia's [[World Axis]] counterpart.
File:Pazunia 3e.jpg|Pazunia
File:Grand abyss 3e.jpg|The Grand Abyss
File:Twelvetrees 3e.jpg|Twelvetrees
File:Abysm.jpg|The brine flats in Abysm
File:Drooling jungle 3e.jpg|The Drooling Jungle in Hollow's Heart
File:Shedaklah 3e.jpg|A map of Shedaklah
</gallery>

{{OuterPlanes}}

Abyss

2020-08-11T23:16:15Z

2601:203:480:4C60:C876:79D4:5AEA:A043: /* Notable Layers */

[[File:Abyss layers 3e.webp|thumb|right|300px]]
{{Topquote|1=During the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that conditions called war; and such a war, as if of every man, against every man.|2= Thomas Hobbes}}
'''The Infinite Layers of the Abyss''' is the [[Alignment|Chaotic Evil]] [[plane]] in ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'s'' [[Great Wheel]] cosmology. It's home to an infinite number of [[demon]]s, the Chaotic Evil fiends. Expect [[METAL]].

The plane is such a mess of chaos and upheaval that it doesn't even stay the same in basic state from time to time, which is another way of saying the writers can't keep it straight and [[retcon|change it]] whenever it's convenient. It's an infinite plane, like the others, but actually has an infinite number of different layers as well, meaning that the aforementioned changes might just be an examination of a different subset of layers. According to one faction in the ''[[Planescape]]'' setting it also specifically has 666 layers, [[Derp|because that's totally the same as infinite.]] Then again, it's one of the chaotic planes, so not making sense is probably [[Just As Planned|the whole idea]] (ignoring the fact that [[Arborea]] is just as consistent as any of the Lawful planes).

It's also a plane in the [[World Axis]] cosmology of D&D too, but here is a more modestly sized "universe-swallowing" vortex of corruption and evil that lies in the [[Elemental Chaos]], created when [[Tharizdun]] planted a crystallized shard of pure evil from the dying universe of the [[obyrith]]s in the Elemental Chaos.

In the [[World of Darkness]] games, the Abyss is a realm of cold blackness from which [[shade]]s and [[Demon#In_the_World_of_Darkness|demons]] and the [[Wyrm|god of Oblivion]] hail, and from which [[vampires]] wielding [[Obtenebration]] summon either a black ectoplasmic substance for various effects, such as the creation of tentacles, or a raw [[Entropy|Oblivionic]] energy for disintegrating targets. Thematically it is closer to [[D&D]]'s [[Negative Energy Plane]] or [[Shadowfell]] plane.

==Notable Layers==
Most of the layers are often described as containing wildly different inhospitable biomes, sometimes on the same layer side-by-side. All of them are full of the kind of [[Slaanesh|Chaoticy-Evilly fuckery you'd expect]], so none of them are great places for vacation homes. The named layers are also given numbers, but given that they are in no way consistently arranged in space, those numbers are meaningless and changed often (except for the first one). Officially, though, they are numbered in order of their discovery by mortals.

The descriptions are, naturally, weighted to the lower numbers.

A major source for the below is the Planescape box, ''Planes of Chaos''.

'''Pazunia:''' 1st layer

The Plane of Infinite Portals, and the way you get to any of the others. It's covered in giant sinkholes, each one a portal to another layer of the Abyss. This is also the layer that the [[River Styx]] flows through on its path from [[Pandemonium]] to [[Acheron]]. Iron fortresses on this layer are also where Demon Princes leave their bodies when they're busy roaming around the [[Astral Plane]]. Dozens of minor demon princes co-rule this layer, though, officially, [[Pazuzu]] is in charge. The Grand Abyss is sometimes the 4th layer and Pazunia is the Styx shorelines.

This is one of the great battlefields of the Blood War. Mostly, this is a staging ground for the various demon hordes being flung at the [[Baator|Nine Hells]], but that creates a whole set of problems by itself. As some of you may already know, beings that are inherent Chaotic and Evil are just as likely to start axe-murdering one another as anything else. So put a million such beings of pure Chaotic Evil side by side in one place, and count the seconds until they just start killing each other instead of doing what they were told. Now, complicate that problem with the fact that some demon princes may actually want such an outburst to occur to weaken the forces of a rival. Now throw in yugoloth mercenaries turning stag on a demon employer (devils, after all, are much better at keeping their words on contracts and payments and the like). Toss in a force of devils being sent for scouting and/or raiding duties to better prepare for said horde before it even gets to Avernus. And finally, sprinkle in the dozens of other planars - celestials, adventurers, etc. - who are visiting and know that the best way to deal with an ornery demon is basically to fucking destroy it.

Now, it's not all murderhobos and axes to the face. There's a few fiends that run some odd little fortified establishments out here. Some are mercenaries who can press-gang enough demons to make it worth someone's effort to pay for it. There's even a few mercantile or entertainment venues around. But mostly, if you run into a fiend out here, you murder the shit out of it and hope it didn't have any friends who really gave a shit about it. This is the first layer of an infinite amount of Chaotic Evil, by the way; it only gets more fun the further down the spiral you go.

It should be noted that oddly, this is the most stable layer of the Abyss. No, really: it hasn't actually changed all that much, fundamentally, in all of existence. The demons that inhabit it, and who's running what, that does change, and yes, the land itself has been ripped up, rebuilt, wash, rinse, repeat. But this is basically where the teeming, seething primordial chaos of the Abyss touches reality, and thus this connection is by necessity stable. (Since if the Abyss disconnected, even temporarily, it would probably be adrift in the Astral, or possibly it would fuck off from reality altogether for the Far Realm; it's hard to say what the metaphysics of that scenario would look like.)

'''Driller's Hives:''' 2nd layer

This horrible place is one of the most unpleasantly inhospitable layers in all of the Abyss. It's not so much because of the indigenous fiendish insects who try to kill anything on sight, but because of how all visitors who enter risk contracting a horrible disease that causes the sufferer to break out in hatching insect eggs until the afflicted dies and decomposes into a mass of rot and insect eggs over the course of '''minutes.''' The addition of the giant, intelligent fiendish insect thralls of the ruler, Tharzax ''the Chattering Prince'', help make the whole place a big, sentient shit-sprinkle-covered crapcake of '''NOPE'''.

'''The Forgotten Land:''' 3rd layer

This is an almost endless landscape of empty ruins that suggest a once bustling city. No demons, other than the layer's Lord, Zzyczesiya ''The Ungrasped'', master of malevolent ignorance and confusion, come here. The place was abandoned due to a catastrophe, for which Zzyczesiya has been traditionally blamed, and now, entering the layer causes any sentient being's mind, even those of demons and sapient undead, to fritter away like moist cotton candy, leaving visitors as catatonic and braindead. Constructs are immune to the effects, and persistent visitors often use golem stand-ins to explore this godawful place. Allegedly, Zzyczesiya destroyed all the original inhabitants by accident, 1st through 3rd edition claiming by changing the course of the [[River Styx]], and was punished by imprisonment in the Wells of Darkness. Zzyczesiya would escape, and return to the Forgotten Land in order to use the power of this layer to unremember something really, really, really horrible (possibly a first draft of the script for ''Gigli'').

'''The Grand Abyss:''' 4th layer

What starts as a gaping chasm on the first layer is an infinitely deep pit where the walls are dotted with portals which connect to all of the other layers in the plane. Navigation is tricky because the only dimensions of relevance are vertical, so you need to either fly or be a patient climber. This place was created by the now-dead Lord, Asima ''The Unanticipated'', who apparently died because she(?) didn't anticipate pissing off the Queen of Chaos enough to assassinate her. Now, Asima's corpse lies in her tomb, the Tumulus of Abhorrence, which is filled with treasure and secrets, and is guarded by her "seraph," a super-demon named "Guardian of the Gates" who pretty much super-kills anyone unlucky enough to encounter him. Guardian of the Gates periodically leaves his master's tomb to harass/super-kill schmucks in the Grand Abyss, as per his master's original orders: adventurers stupid enough to think that there are no other defenders of the Tumulus tend to die screaming.

'''Realm of a Million Eyes:''' 6th layer

Home of the [[Great Mother]], princess of the Beholders. Presumably not a great place to be for anyone else, because no one's ever bothered to describe it in detail.

'''Phantom Plane:''' 7th layer

Ruled by Sess'lnnek the other god of the [[lizardfolk]]. He grew bored with the Tanar'ri's Blood War, withdrew and officially closed the layer off so that no one can enter without his explicit permission.

'''Skin-shedder:''' 8th layer

Ruled by Volisupula the Flensed Marquesse, lord of ostentatious finery. The layer itself makes you more evil the longer you stay there. Tieflings are immune.

'''Burningwater:''' 9th layer

Acid ocean, so the crustaceans and fish have shells of silica.

'''That Hellhole:''' 10th layer

It's the body of an actual fiend. The dwarf who found this place got chewed up (through adamantite!) before beaming out of there.

'''Molrat:''' 11th layer

Dark tunnels, where the tanar'ri hunt by smell. Besides the demon horde the plane is more friendly to life than most.

'''Twelvetrees:''' 12th Layer

Definitely a place of horror, and a living example of why you can never, ever trust a demon.

Eons ago, some demons tricked some astral devas into having a meeting for the sake of peace. Basically, the powers from the Upper Planes saw the tanar'ri overthrow the obyriths, and thought maybe that the new fiends were "better" than the old ones. Big fucking mistake there: the demons turned on the angels, bound them to twelve of the biggest trees in the layer, and then performed a blasphemous arcane ritual that sacrificed them to the layer, allowing their eternal suffering to become fuel for all kinds of evil shit.

The angels can still be heard screaming, and a big altar now commemorates the site of the sacrifice, surrounded by twelve sickly pines that ooze some kind magically-infused slime. Evil-descriptor spells are Maximized and Extended automatically for free as a result of the power of the place. Demons make pilgrimages to the layer, to honor the screw job their kind put to the forces of good, and the overwhelming evil of the place is like a drug to the fiends, as they bask in a haze of quasi-religious ecstasy and basically don't give a shit what's happening around them, making it scarily easy for non-demons to wander around pretty freely (you only gotta dodge some chasmes that patrol the skies, maybe some kelvezus that look for intruders to murder).

But that's not all. See, someone figured out how to harness all that deliciously evil energy to create a new weapon of war: the ''ship of chaos''. This horrible thing is basically made of flesh, bone, and spirit; it's hull seems to be comprised of some kind of twisted, thick, ropelike fibers, woven into an organic mass of mottled white and yellow, with translucent blue blisters along the flanks. They are powered by the annihilation of soul larvae... meaning that the ship itself absolutely destroys souls beyond recovery in order to operate. It can generate an "entropy field" almost the length of 5 football fields that either drives beings insane or simply repulses them, and shoots waves of force out of the mouths at the front and back. It can warp itself to travel through small portals, but this causes magic stuff onboard to possibly break unless it is made from the Abyss, and tanar'ri and their kin aren't particularly messed up by the warping.

The scaffolds for these ships dot the area around Twelvetrees. Six have been completed for sure. There was a seventh ship in the 2nd edition Planescape adventure In The Abyss, but it's highly likely that it was destroyed. The 3rd edition supplement FC2: Hordes of the Abyss notes another seventh ship is being built, which seems likely. In theory, these ships will not only be awesome weapons to use against the devils, but will mean the demons don't need the yugoloths to help them travel to Baator anymore.

And all this time, the angels keep screaming.

'''Blood Tor:''' 13th Layer

Ruled by the Goddesses [[Beshaba]] and [[Umberlee]], from the [[Forgotten Realms]]. A plane of bad luck - including for tanar'ri, because the baatezu did a successful raid here early in the Blood War.

'''Steaming Fen:''' 14th Layer

Ruled by [[The Queen of Chaos]], the old Lord of Obyriths and creator of [[Demogorgon]].

'''Pleroma/Death's Reward:''' 17th layer

Ruled by demon prince Abraxas ''the Unfathomable''. He has a roosters head and a bunch of snakes for a lower body. He's big on magic and the occult. Diovengia is his city which houses some of the best libraries in the entire Abyss.

'''The Sixth Pyre:''' 21st layer

Ruled by Prince Kardum, the lord of Balors.

'''Ice Wastes:''' 23rd layer

[[Kostchtchie]] is the resident [[Demon Prince]]. An infinite expanse of jagged mountains, glaciers and frozen tundras. Kostchtchie commands a big army of frost giants which he used to further "conquer" his layer, when he isn't siccing them on other demon lords for laughing at him, or conquering other tribes of frost giants on the Prime Material Plane.

'''Sholo-Tovoth/ Fields of Consumption:''' 32rd layer

Ruled by [[Demon Prince]] [[Turaglas]], ''The Ebon Maw'', who was spawned directly from the Abyss. A 100% pure demon and therefore envied by [[Orcus]] and [[Demogorgon]] for this (Demogorgon was a creation of the Obyriths, while Orcus was a former mortal) who joined against him and imprisoned him for a while. His goal is to devour and destroy, he has spawned his own breed of demons, the turagathshee. The layer itself, like That Hellhole #10, tries to eat anyone that enters it that's not either Turaglas or one of his minions, with mouths and tongues popping up everywhere. Those minions number millions of insatiably hungry demons.

'''Azzagrat:''' 45th, 46th, and 47th Layers

Ruled by [[Graz'zt]], demon lord of depending on your source, A)tyrants, manipulation, and, unofficially, blatant nepotism, or B) [[Slaanesh| lust, hedonism, and incubi]]. There's a salt river that connects all three layers. [[Zelatar]] is a big, shiny, evil pastiche of the Emerald City of Oz that stretches across the three layers. Relatively well-behaved demons, not that it's saying much, as all of Graz'zt's minions know that Graz'zt torturing them to death for a minor screw up is the least he can do to them. Not a terrible place for a party, assuming it's [[Slaanesh|the right kind of party]].

'''Phage Breeding Ground:''' 53rd Layer

Ruled by Urae-Naas, a "female" [[slaad]] [[Demon Prince]]ss so bloated with eggs she can't walk anymore and has to drag herself along on her long arms and enormous tongue. Comprised from the interiors of the ever-rotting organs of her former boyfriend, the slain [[Archomental|Primordial]] Ramenos. Iconic local feature: screaming, insane humanoids sewn into the walls begging ceaselessly for help before she gets around to implanting her offspring in their bodies. Created in 4th edition, and probably lost with the change to 5th edition seeing as how Slaad are Chaotic Neutral in all non-4 editions.

'''Torturous Truth:''' 57th layer

Ruled by Alvarez the Purging Duke, the head of the demonic Inquisition. His forces investigate the tanar'ri for any signs of lawful behavior. His torture is notorious throughout the Abyss.

'''The Demonweb Pits:''' 66th layer usually

The place where [[Lolth]], the deity of the drow, and the rest of the drow pantheon, hangs out with her spiders. In [[Demonweb Pits|Jeff Grubb's entry]], the Demonweb was 65th and her actual abode on the 66th. In [[3e]] this was changed to be an entirely separate plane, though it's still connected to the Abyss.

'''Heavenly Hills:''' 67th layer

Swamps and hills, which swap places after (frequent) earthquakes. And varrangoin ruins.

'''Morgenta's Layer:''' 68th layer

Barren, "abandoned", and airless. No-one's named it but ''Planes of Chaos'' does have a name for the planewalker who survived to enter it into the list: Morgenta, the mage.

'''The Crushing Plain:''' 69th layer

A surface made up of chasme, manes, and lemures all "crawling over one another". ''Planes of Chaos'' claims they are avoiding suffocation but it's more likely they end up squished like bugs further down.

'''The Ice Floe:''' 70th layer

That ice would be ''thin'', over black running water. The cold acts as energy-drain. As to whence / whither the water flows, we're not told but we can guess probably the Styx.

'''Spirac:''' 71st layer

Tree-ferns and spiky mountains. A happy hunting ground like Molrat / #11. The demons might be friendlier, or maybe that's just because they got along better with the cutter who penned this entry.

'''Darklight:''' 72st layer

Visitors get a halo of darkness (if evil) or light (good). Either is a beacon for the demons here, who enslave the former and kill the latter.

'''[[Wells of Darkness]]:''' 73rd layer

A spa-cum-prison for some of the worst prisoners the plane could play host to. Jacuzzi tubs of black ink keep unspeakably powerful beings trapped beneath the surface, unable to get out, but perfectly conscious and able to communicate. The demons don't visit. It's amusing because the idea of an unbreakable prison on a chaotic plane constantly attracts ''break-in'' attempts by those who just want to prove otherwise.

'''Smargard:''' 74th layer

[[Merrshaulk]] rules here. He is the deity of the Yuan-ti snake men. Basically a nightmarish, evil, rainforest (one of several in the Abyss).

'''The Gates of Heaven:''' 77th layer

Actually not named ironically, it's apparently a gate to Celestia in the middle of a Chaotic Evil hell. Must be a really sturdy gate. Ruled by demon lords and brothers, Munkir and Nekir.

'''Abysm/The Gaping Maw:''' 88th layer

The realm of [[Demogorgon]]. Also known as "The Upside Down" thanks to ''Stranger Things''. Pretty much a tropical nightmare, with demon- and demonic-disease-infested jungles and a roiling ocean. [[Dagon]], his special friend and mentor, lives in his basement.

'''Shadowsea:''' 89th layer

Ruled by [[Dagon]] one of the few obyrith lords still part of the establishment. It's an underwater realm without a surface although it connects to the 88th. Filled with myriads of aquatic demons.

'''[[Demonwing]]:''' layer unknown

An entire layer of the Abysm transformed into a crazy demonic pirate ship by Demogorgon that can move freely about the planes.

'''The Guttering Grove:''' 90th layer

Ruled by Ilsidahur, the Howling King, who's a bootlicker to [[Demogorgon]]. He leads the bar-lgura, these orangutan looking demons, as well as these winged gorilla looking guys. The Guttering Grove was recently subsumed into Abysm by Demogorgon as punishment for Ilsidahur screwing up an invasion of [[Arcadia]], though Ilsidahur is apparently either too unaware, too uncaring or too stupid to notice.

'''The Realms:''' 99th layer

Plotted out by Rick Swan in the ''Tales of the Outer Planes'' anthology. The Abyssal chaos sometimes diverts visitors here when they're aiming for elsewhere, Kali's plane in this one. It's a network of sub-layers, attached to each other through portals:
* Gray Realm. Desert of black sand, infested with dretch.
* Lightning Realm. "Blank white" plain with pillars. Disputed between Orcus and Demogorgon. Yeah, this is oldschool.
* Swirling Realm. Connects to Juiblex's crib. It's a waterfall and ocean... made of puddings and slimes. Yecch!
* Yellow Realm. Primordial tropical forest. 50' blades of grass.
* Fog Realm. "Jellyfish" surface and it stinks. It's a colossal demon uterus.
* Silver Realm. A silvery ice glacier, where sound doesn't travel.
* Star Realm. Another black sand desert, but cratered. Kali's kitchen, preparing souls for her breakfast.
At a guess, only the Gray Realm is truly the 99th. The others look to be other Abyssal layers entirely, like #222 or, indeed, #500.

'''The Mind of Evil:''' 111st layer

Ruled by Prince Sch'theraqpasstt, the Serpent Reborn.

'''Thanatos:''' 113th layer

Its as much undead as demonic. [[Orcus|Orcus's]] crib. He spends most of his time chilling here not doing things.

'''Slugbed:''' 128th layer

Lupercio the Baron of Sloth rules here. It's a tropical, mostly overcast realm filled with lush forests and coral reefs filled with all manner of demon gastropods. Because Lupercio is too busy spending most of his time sleeping, where his perpetually darkness-shrouded form is perpetually parasitized by shadow demons, and too spending what precious little waking hours he has maniacally doing ''something,'' the demon gastropods of Slugbed do not recognize his authority, and, instead, do their own thing, i.e., eating the scenery, each other, and intruders too stupid to understand the threat posed by demon gastropods until they get eaten. An army of angels has secretly constructed fortresses in the clouds above Slugbed, and eventually intend to use their fortresses here to stage attacks on the demons of the Abyss.

'''Outcast's End:''' 137th layer

Ruled by the exiled and outcast Azazel, Prince of Scapegoats.

'''Lifebane:''' 142nd layer

Ruled by [[Chemosh]], the god of undeath in [[Dragonlance|Krynn]].

'''Hollow's Heart:''' 176th layer

Ruled by [[Fraz-Urb'luu]]. Fraz-Urb'luu pissed off virtually all of the other demon lords by learning how to summon them in order to humiliate them in front of his sniveling minions. This led to the demon lord being forced to take a sabbatical in the dungeons of [[Oerth]] while lesser Lords moved in, turning the place into a demonic continent of crazy shit, including a jungle of skin, where trees are hairs sprouting from the ground; a desert made of grains of clotted blood; and a city shrouded in powerful illusions to make petitioners think everything is happy and safe, so the demons can take it away piece by piece.

'''Writhing Realm of Ugudenk: ''' 177th layer

Little is known about this layer except that it is the place where Golothomas are most commonly found and it consists of lightless tunnels.

'''The Rotting Plain:''' 181st layer

Ruled by [[Laogzed]] the god of the [[troglodyte]]. Here they archive everyone's browsing history, purchases, and other personal information forever.

'''Vulgarea:''' 193th layer

Ruled by demon princess Eshebala the [[furry|foxwoman and wolfwere]] goddess.

'''Shedaklah, the Slime Pits:''' 222nd layer

[[Juiblex]], the Slime Lord, and [[Zuggtmoy]], the Lady of Fungi rule here. A fetid swamp of every variety of ooze, slime, fungus and filth; obviously a disgusting place. Sometimes the 528th layer.

'''The Dreaming Gulf:''' 230th layer

A phantasmal dark and wind-swept realm with no ruler. This is where the dreams of evil gods go when they die, slowly being given form by the Abyss, becoming the incorporeal demons known as [[Loumara]]s.

'''Palpitatia:''' 241st layer

Grankhul and Skiggaret, the [[bugbear]] gods, rule here.

'''The Scalding Sea:''' 245th layer

Another ocean of acid but this one at least has a surface; it might even be the route out for Burningwater. It also has islands... of black glass. Probably deserted, the one island town is empty, with its former occupants encrusting the town's walls while the town's fountain screams eternally and sprays yet more acid.

'''The Hidden Layer:''' 248th layer

A huge thunderstorm-ravaged wasteland. Was ruled by Demon Prince Eltab, until he was summoned into the [[Prime Material]] and bound there, also sucking small portions of his realm with him to [[Faerun]] in the form of demoncysts and leaving his subordinates to fight amongst themselves over control of the rest.

'''Durao:''' 274th layer

A ruler-less layer dotted by military encampments and demon barracks interconnected by iron roads that snake through the otherwise swampy environs along the River Styx. It was from here that most of the demon armies staged before departing to wage the [[Blood War]] in [[Gehenna]].

'''Feng-Tu:''' 300th layer

A citadel overlooking a tributary of the River Styx, it is ruled by Tou Mu, goddess of the North Star, and Lu Yueh, god of epidemics, both gods from the [[China|Chinese]] [[Mythology#Chinese Mythology|Mythology]].

'''The Sulfanorum:''' 303rd layer

As the [[Coenobites]] have taught us, what are demons to some are angels to others; so what's a hell to many could be a heaven to some. Here is the tobacconist's heaven, as ''Planes of Chaos'' wittily illustrated. Full of flames designed to light pipes, which the Abyssals smoke here.

'''The Broken Scale:''' 333rd layer

Ruled by [[Hiddukel]], the ''[[Dragonlance]]'' god of greed and treachery.

'''Fortress of Indifference:''' 348th layer

Rough terrain with fiery skies. An evil 200 foot tower is the main attraction, and is [[Hellbound: The Blood War|why we don't let Monte Cook listen to Nine Inch Nails anymore]]. Its the home of outcasts, half-fiends, [[tiefling]]s, etc. that turned their backs on the [[Blood War]]. Its particularly anarchic. Tapheon, a barely held together demon, tries to rule here but mostly goes around torturing random beings.

'''Arch of Eternity:''' 359th layer

Ruled by Eldanoth, the Prince of Crime. He once served under Orcus but left after Orcus was overthrown for a time, now his servants sabotage Orcus's plans. He's worshiped by criminals. The realm is, ironically, a huge, but finite plane of fire and snakes with a copper fortress at its center.

'''The Plains of Gallenshu:''' 377th layer

Dirt-storms, and "bat-winged creatures" forever fighting the tanar'ri slavers here.

'''Hungry Tarns:''' 380th layer

A bleak and poisonous realm of fens and black bottomless lakes that once was ruled by the [[Obyrith]] [[Sertrous]] but is now abandoned since Sertrous's death. As Sertrous returns to life, the layer becomes more infested with Golothomas and other serpentine monsters.

'''The Worm Realm:''' 399th layer

Urdlen's home, another plane of tunnels. Very diseased - possibly from a clash with Zuggtmoy.

'''The Woeful Escarand:''' 400th layer

Here, under a great mountain, is the court of judgement for chaotic-evils.

'''White Kingdom:''' 421st layer

Ruled by the King of Ghouls, who, depending on the author, is either a toady of Orcus, a hostage-turned-minion of Yeenoghu, or an undead god who's free to do his own shit.

'''Death Dells:''' 422nd layer

Also called the Seeping Woods in ''Planescape''. Ruled by [[Yeenoghu]], Demon Prince of [[Gnolls]].

'''Ahriman-abad:''' 452nd layer

Ruled by Ahrimanes, the Chief of the Cacodaemons.

'''Androlynne:''' 471st layer

Owned by [[Pale Night]]. This layer has become a battlefield where the forces of good fight to protect a group of [[Eladrin]] children who were trapped there by a deal with Pale Night. This may have backfired on Pale Night because the amount of people fighting for good on this layer is slowly causing the layer to change its appearance, and may eventually shift it out of the abyss to a higher plane.

'''Guttlevetch:''' 480th layer

A sea eternally swept by perpetual typhoons and hurricanes, its beaches of blood are littered with innumerable shipwrecks. Was ruled by Zuregurex, Lord of the Drowned, but he seriously fucked up when he tried to invade Demogorgon's layer. Zuregurex fled to the 245th layer to escape retribution.

'''Mansion of the Rake:''' 487th layer

An entire layer stylized as a perpetually shifting baroque-style palace. Ruled by Kanchelsis the god of [[vampire]]s, born of the blood of the elven gods. His primary servants are vampires, drow, and the occasional crazy birds in his aviaries. His live-in boarders-turned-sort-of-minions are a trio of crazed blood fiends, Memnul, Dagrobard, and Vonce, who are so unpleasant, they apparently scare even Kanchelsis shitless.

'''Noisome Vale:''' 489th layer

Tarnhem is the official ruler here, though he's left for a while to go and hike Mt. Everest to find himself or something (if playing ''Return to the Tomb of Horrors''', he's now his son [[Acererak]]'s guest). The layer itself is mostly volcanic, creating a poisoned and acidic atmosphere. However, a deep canyon carves its way through the layer which is infested with worms. These worms thrive in the acidic air, breathing it in and expelling breathable air as a waste byproduct. Tarnhem's estate is built along the ravine, and his servants still occupy it awaiting his return.

'''Kali:''' 500th layer

Kali makes her home in a big red India-themed jungle under a cloudless red sky, on the shore of the Screaming Sea; all described in Rick Swan's adventure. Or not. ''Planes of Chaos'' has her in layer #643 instead. But she's ''Kali''; she's probably got several layers.

'''Torremor:''' 503rd layer

An aerie, built out of bridges, buildings and junk, floating in a void, and inhabited by vrock, chasme and other flying demons. Officially ruled by [[Pazuzu]], though, he has, more or less, abandoned it to his ex-girlfriend, [[Lamashtu]]. For a while they were a disgustingly close couple, then Lamashtu betrayed him, and then they broke up when he ate out her eyes and impaled her on top of a tower at the very top of Torremor, where ever that is. He's more or less forgiven her, but still can not be assed to un-impale her.

'''Occipitus:''' 507th layer

Adimarchus, Prince of Madness, founded this plane and was its first prince. He is a fallen Celestial and thus this layer is actually a fragmented piece of Celestia (the Seven Heavens) that fell with him. Demons avoid this layer all together, its filled with ruins and basins. Adimarchus fought a big fight against [[Graz'zt]] and lost at one point. He has a split personality, one angelic, one demonic, which is why he's called "Prince of Madness." Now he's imprisoned in Skullrot in [[Pandemonium]], the Great Wheel's funny farm.

'''Shatterstone:''' 524th layer

Ruled by Vaprak the [[Troll]] and [[ogre]] deity.

'''Vudra:''' 531st layer

Ruled by [[Shaktari]], the queen of [[Marilith]]s.

'''Fleshforges:''' 558th layer

Ruled by Demon Prince Dwiergus, the Chrysalis Prince. He has control over the shaping of demonic races. Probably older than Pale Night. The Father of Demons in some ways. A mentor to Baphomet who taught him how to create new demons. Stats in Dragon #359.

'''Shendilavri:''' 570th layer

Islamic Paradise! ...for Malcanthet, Queen of the Succubi. Not so much for her visitors and guests.

'''Prison of the Mad God:''' 586th layer

A maelstorm of various gasses and orbiting rock. Imprisons Diinkarazan, one of the two gods of the [[derro]]. Space itself is warped.

'''Goranthis:''' 597th layer

A little demonic [[Magical Realm|slice of paradise]]. This pleasure-palace and the surrounding gardens are the realm of [[Socothbenoth|Socothbenoth, the Persuader]] who rules from atop his [[/d/|Palace of Quivering Flesh]].

'''Shubgottia, The Endless Maze:''' 600th layer

Ruled by [[Baphomet]], Prince of Beasts. He lets [[Pale Night]], a ghost looking entity, the mother of demons allegedly, have a castle here as well though she rarely does anything. Lyktion is his palace and at his ''Tower of '''Fucking''' Science'' he experiments and creates new demon breeds and such. He has vast armies of beastmen looking demons and is revered by the minotaurs. He is smart, savage, one of the top tier princes, and is not to be fucked with. He began as a mortal creature, either as a beast that lived as a man or a man that lived as a beast, and was cursed by the gods, though obviously he made the best of it.

'''Conflagratum:''' 601rst layer

Ruled by Alzrius, Lord of the Flowing Flame. He usually manifests himself as a pillar of fire and leads his legions to the burning of all [[bitches]].

'''Caverns of the Skull:''' 643rd layer

Kali again, ''Planescape'' edition. The authors decided that reading Sanskrit would be too hard so just watched ''Temple Of Doom'' for this one.

'''Zionyn:''' 663rd layer

Ruled by [[Obox-ob]], Prince of Vermin. As an obyrith and, perhaps, the last surviving aspect of the old Prince of Demons, he plots here to dethrone Demogorgon and to run all [[tanar'ri]] off the Abyss.

'''Unnamed Layer:''' 665th layer

A layer with gravity and atmosphere but nothing to stand on, spells that prevent or slow down falling do not work, and all portals connected to it go in but not out, so if you stumble into it and can't teleport out or have someone rescue you, you will endlessly fall until you die of dehydration or get ripped apart by the air friction.

'''Bottomless Pit:''' 666th layer

Ruled by the Demon Lord Abaddon, Prince of Apocalypse. The center of the layer is a literal black hole singularity that is slowly eating away at all of creation and the Abyss. Anything that enters the singularity, known as the Maelstrom, is lost forever. It is theorized by the [[Fraternity of Order]] in [[Sigil]] that a portion of the energy devoured by the Maelstrom is used to keep [[Tharizdun]] imprisoned, which is a bit ironic on a plane devoted to chaos and evil.

'''Abyssian Ocean:''' Many layers
The Abyssian Ocean is not really a layer of the abyss, but is a vast ocean that connects to all of the oceans that exist in the abyss and so spans across many layers. No demon lord rules over the Abyssian Ocean as it is protected by the extremely powerful myrmyxicuses.

=Inhabitants=
The main race in the Abyss are demons. There are four different categories of demons: The [[Tanar'ri]], the [[Obyrith]]s, the [[Loumara]]s, and everything else. The Tanar'ri are the only ones who ever get shit accomplished. They are also the "most numerous". This may owe to Georg Cantor's metamathematic: lawful infinity is in essence countable, unlawful infinity not - so some infinities are greater than others. The demon ''princes'' are finite: most Tanar'ri, though there are some Obyriths.

The petitioners in the Abyss are called manes, and become a low caste of Tanar'ri. If they survive for a very long time, they can be promoted up into the ranks of the not-worthless, and even to demon lords if they're cunning enough. This is how [[Orcus]] got his start.

Most of the chaotic evil deities live in the Abyss as well, for obvious reasons, including the aforementioned Great Mother and Lolth (depending on edition). Deities here are also called demon lords, because that's generally just a title and not any kind of useful disambiguation. Also because there's plenty of layers to go around so if you've got the power you might as well rule one.

==Why You Really REALLY Shouldn't Come Here==
Whenever some berk (that's an idiot, in Sigil cant) drops by here, there's a chance she gets killed. It's often the case that said berk wasn't Chaotic Evil herself. In the Outer Planes, undead as such don't exist - yeah, we know, Orcus but here we're really dealing with the damned in the ''form'' of undead. So a decent person getting into the dead-book on the Abyss ''should'' have her soul end up in a final rest suited for her true alignment. Anywhere but here.

As one final barbed grind up the arse, that depends on ''how'' one dies here. Here are some chaotic energies so mighty and blasphemous that it twists a person's body and soul into a special, Abyssal sort of unlife. Such a wretch is a [[Bodak]].

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:World Axis Plain of 1000 Portals.png|A map of Pazunia's [[World Axis]] counterpart.
File:Pazunia 3e.jpg|Pazunia
File:Grand abyss 3e.jpg|The Grand Abyss
File:Twelvetrees 3e.jpg|Twelvetrees
File:Abysm.jpg|The brine flats in Abysm
File:Drooling jungle 3e.jpg|The Drooling Jungle in Hollow's Heart
File:Shedaklah 3e.jpg|A map of Shedaklah
</gallery>

{{OuterPlanes}}

Abyss

2020-08-11T23:09:18Z

2601:203:480:4C60:C876:79D4:5AEA:A043: /* Notable Layers */

[[File:Abyss layers 3e.webp|thumb|right|300px]]
{{Topquote|1=During the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that conditions called war; and such a war, as if of every man, against every man.|2= Thomas Hobbes}}
'''The Infinite Layers of the Abyss''' is the [[Alignment|Chaotic Evil]] [[plane]] in ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'s'' [[Great Wheel]] cosmology. It's home to an infinite number of [[demon]]s, the Chaotic Evil fiends. Expect [[METAL]].

The plane is such a mess of chaos and upheaval that it doesn't even stay the same in basic state from time to time, which is another way of saying the writers can't keep it straight and [[retcon|change it]] whenever it's convenient. It's an infinite plane, like the others, but actually has an infinite number of different layers as well, meaning that the aforementioned changes might just be an examination of a different subset of layers. According to one faction in the ''[[Planescape]]'' setting it also specifically has 666 layers, [[Derp|because that's totally the same as infinite.]] Then again, it's one of the chaotic planes, so not making sense is probably [[Just As Planned|the whole idea]] (ignoring the fact that [[Arborea]] is just as consistent as any of the Lawful planes).

It's also a plane in the [[World Axis]] cosmology of D&D too, but here is a more modestly sized "universe-swallowing" vortex of corruption and evil that lies in the [[Elemental Chaos]], created when [[Tharizdun]] planted a crystallized shard of pure evil from the dying universe of the [[obyrith]]s in the Elemental Chaos.

In the [[World of Darkness]] games, the Abyss is a realm of cold blackness from which [[shade]]s and [[Demon#In_the_World_of_Darkness|demons]] and the [[Wyrm|god of Oblivion]] hail, and from which [[vampires]] wielding [[Obtenebration]] summon either a black ectoplasmic substance for various effects, such as the creation of tentacles, or a raw [[Entropy|Oblivionic]] energy for disintegrating targets. Thematically it is closer to [[D&D]]'s [[Negative Energy Plane]] or [[Shadowfell]] plane.

==Notable Layers==
Most of the layers are often described as containing wildly different inhospitable biomes, sometimes on the same layer side-by-side. All of them are full of the kind of [[Slaanesh|Chaoticy-Evilly fuckery you'd expect]], so none of them are great places for vacation homes. The named layers are also given numbers, but given that they are in no way consistently arranged in space, those numbers are meaningless and changed often (except for the first one). Officially, though, they are numbered in order of their discovery by mortals.

The descriptions are, naturally, weighted to the lower numbers.

A major source for the below is the Planescape box, ''Planes of Chaos''.

'''Pazunia:''' 1st layer

The Plane of Infinite Portals, and the way you get to any of the others. It's covered in giant sinkholes, each one a portal to another layer of the Abyss. This is also the layer that the [[River Styx]] flows through on its path from [[Pandemonium]] to [[Acheron]]. Iron fortresses on this layer are also where Demon Princes leave their bodies when they're busy roaming around the [[Astral Plane]]. Dozens of minor demon princes co-rule this layer, though, officially, [[Pazuzu]] is in charge. The Grand Abyss is sometimes the 4th layer and Pazunia is the Styx shorelines.

This is one of the great battlefields of the Blood War. Mostly, this is a staging ground for the various demon hordes being flung at the [[Baator|Nine Hells]], but that creates a whole set of problems by itself. As some of you may already know, beings that are inherent Chaotic and Evil are just as likely to start axe-murdering one another as anything else. So put a million such beings of pure Chaotic Evil side by side in one place, and count the seconds until they just start killing each other instead of doing what they were told. Now, complicate that problem with the fact that some demon princes may actually want such an outburst to occur to weaken the forces of a rival. Now throw in yugoloth mercenaries turning stag on a demon employer (devils, after all, are much better at keeping their words on contracts and payments and the like). Toss in a force of devils being sent for scouting and/or raiding duties to better prepare for said horde before it even gets to Avernus. And finally, sprinkle in the dozens of other planars - celestials, adventurers, etc. - who are visiting and know that the best way to deal with an ornery demon is basically to fucking destroy it.

Now, it's not all murderhobos and axes to the face. There's a few fiends that run some odd little fortified establishments out here. Some are mercenaries who can press-gang enough demons to make it worth someone's effort to pay for it. There's even a few mercantile or entertainment venues around. But mostly, if you run into a fiend out here, you murder the shit out of it and hope it didn't have any friends who really gave a shit about it. This is the first layer of an infinite amount of Chaotic Evil, by the way; it only gets more fun the further down the spiral you go.

It should be noted that oddly, this is the most stable layer of the Abyss. No, really: it hasn't actually changed all that much, fundamentally, in all of existence. The demons that inhabit it, and who's running what, that does change, and yes, the land itself has been ripped up, rebuilt, wash, rinse, repeat. But this is basically where the teeming, seething primordial chaos of the Abyss touches reality, and thus this connection is by necessity stable. (Since if the Abyss disconnected, even temporarily, it would probably be adrift in the Astral, or possibly it would fuck off from reality altogether for the Far Realm; it's hard to say what the metaphysics of that scenario would look like.)

'''Driller's Hives:''' 2nd layer

This horrible place is one of the most unpleasantly inhospitable layers in all of the Abyss. It's not so much because of the indigenous fiendish insects who try to kill anything on sight, but because of how all visitors who enter risk contracting a horrible disease that causes the sufferer to break out in hatching insect eggs until the afflicted dies and decomposes into a mass of rot and insect eggs over the course of '''minutes.''' The addition of the giant, intelligent fiendish insect thralls of the ruler, Tharzax ''the Chattering Prince'', help make the whole place a big, sentient shit-sprinkle-covered crapcake of '''NOPE'''.

'''The Forgotten Land:''' 3rd layer

This is an almost endless landscape of empty ruins that suggest a once bustling city. No demons, other than the layer's Lord, Zzyczesiya ''The Ungrasped'', master of malevolent ignorance and confusion, come here. The place was abandoned due to a catastrophe, for which Zzyczesiya has been traditionally blamed, and now, entering the layer causes any sentient being's mind, even those of demons and sapient undead, to fritter away like moist cotton candy, leaving visitors as catatonic and braindead. Constructs are immune to the effects, and persistent visitors often use golem stand-ins to explore this godawful place. Allegedly, Zzyczesiya destroyed all the original inhabitants by accident, 1st through 3rd edition claiming by changing the course of the [[River Styx]], and was punished by imprisonment in the Wells of Darkness. Zzyczesiya would escape, and return to the Forgotten Land in order to use the power of this layer to unremember something really, really, really horrible (possibly a first draft of the script for ''Gigli'').

'''The Grand Abyss:''' 4th layer

What starts as a gaping chasm on the first layer is an infinitely deep pit where the walls are dotted with portals which connect to all of the other layers in the plane. Navigation is tricky because the only dimensions of relevance are vertical, so you need to either fly or be a patient climber. This place was created by the now-dead Lord, Asima ''The Unanticipated'', who apparently died because she(?) didn't anticipate pissing off the Queen of Chaos enough to assassinate her. Now, Asima's corpse lies in her tomb, the Tumulus of Abhorrence, which is filled with treasure and secrets, and is guarded by her "seraph," a super-demon named "Guardian of the Gates" who pretty much super-kills anyone unlucky enough to encounter him. Guardian of the Gates periodically leaves his master's tomb to harass/super-kill schmucks in the Grand Abyss, as per his master's original orders: adventurers stupid enough to think that there are no other defenders of the Tumulus tend to die screaming.

'''Realm of a Million Eyes:''' 6th layer

Home of the [[Great Mother]], princess of the Beholders. Presumably not a great place to be for anyone else, because no one's ever bothered to describe it in detail.

'''Phantom Plane:''' 7th layer

Ruled by Sess'lnnek the other god of the [[lizardfolk]]. He grew bored with the Tanar'ri's Blood War, withdrew and officially closed the layer off so that no one can enter without his explicit permission.

'''Skin-shedder:''' 8th layer

Ruled by Volisupula the Flensed Marquesse, lord of ostentatious finery. The layer itself makes you more evil the longer you stay there. Tieflings are immune.

'''Burningwater:''' 9th layer

Acid ocean, so the crustaceans and fish have shells of silica.

'''That Hellhole:''' 10th layer

It's the body of an actual fiend. The dwarf who found this place got chewed up (through adamantite!) before beaming out of there.

'''Molrat:''' 11th layer

Dark tunnels, where the tanar'ri hunt by smell. Besides the demon horde the plane is more friendly to life than most.

'''Twelvetrees:''' 12th Layer

Definitely a place of horror, and a living example of why you can never, ever trust a demon.

Eons ago, some demons tricked some astral devas into having a meeting for the sake of peace. Basically, the powers from the Upper Planes saw the tanar'ri overthrow the obyriths, and thought maybe that the new fiends were "better" than the old ones. Big fucking mistake there: the demons turned on the angels, bound them to twelve of the biggest trees in the layer, and then performed a blasphemous arcane ritual that sacrificed them to the layer, allowing their eternal suffering to become fuel for all kinds of evil shit.

The angels can still be heard screaming, and a big altar now commemorates the site of the sacrifice, surrounded by twelve sickly pines that ooze some kind magically-infused slime. Evil-descriptor spells are Maximized and Extended automatically for free as a result of the power of the place. Demons make pilgrimages to the layer, to honor the screw job their kind put to the forces of good, and the overwhelming evil of the place is like a drug to the fiends, as they bask in a haze of quasi-religious ecstasy and basically don't give a shit what's happening around them, making it scarily easy for non-demons to wander around pretty freely (you only gotta dodge some chasmes that patrol the skies, maybe some kelvezus that look for intruders to murder).

But that's not all. See, someone figured out how to harness all that deliciously evil energy to create a new weapon of war: the ''ship of chaos''. This horrible thing is basically made of flesh, bone, and spirit; it's hull seems to be comprised of some kind of twisted, thick, ropelike fibers, woven into an organic mass of mottled white and yellow, with translucent blue blisters along the flanks. They are powered by the annihilation of soul larvae... meaning that the ship itself absolutely destroys souls beyond recovery in order to operate. It can generate an "entropy field" almost the length of 5 football fields that either drives beings insane or simply repulses them, and shoots waves of force out of the mouths at the front and back. It can warp itself to travel through small portals, but this causes magic stuff onboard to possibly break unless it is made from the Abyss, and tanar'ri and their kin aren't particularly messed up by the warping.

The scaffolds for these ships dot the area around Twelvetrees. Six have been completed for sure. There was a seventh ship in the 2nd edition Planescape adventure In The Abyss, but it's highly likely that it was destroyed. The 3rd edition supplement FC2: Hordes of the Abyss notes another seventh ship is being built, which seems likely. In theory, these ships will not only be awesome weapons to use against the devils, but will mean the demons don't need the yugoloths to help them travel to Baator anymore.

And all this time, the angels keep screaming.

'''Blood Tor:''' 13th Layer

Ruled by the Goddesses [[Beshaba]] and [[Umberlee]], from the [[Forgotten Realms]]. A plane of bad luck - including for tanar'ri, because the baatezu did a successful raid here early in the Blood War.

'''Steaming Fen:''' 14th Layer

Ruled by [[The Queen of Chaos]], the old Lord of Obyriths and creator of [[Demogorgon]].

'''Pleroma/Death's Reward:''' 17th layer

Ruled by demon prince Abraxas ''the Unfathomable''. He has a roosters head and a bunch of snakes for a lower body. He's big on magic and the occult. Diovengia is his city which houses some of the best libraries in the entire Abyss.

'''The Sixth Pyre:''' 21st layer

Ruled by Prince Kardum, the lord of Balors.

'''Ice Wastes:''' 23rd layer

[[Kostchtchie]] is the resident [[Demon Prince]]. An infinite expanse of jagged mountains, glaciers and frozen tundras. Kostchtchie commands a big army of frost giants which he used to further "conquer" his layer, when he isn't siccing them on other demon lords for laughing at him, or conquering other tribes of frost giants on the Prime Material Plane.

'''Sholo-Tovoth/ Fields of Consumption:''' 32rd layer

Ruled by [[Demon Prince]] [[Turaglas]], ''The Ebon Maw'', who was spawned directly from the Abyss. A 100% pure demon and therefore envied by [[Orcus]] and [[Demogorgon]] for this (Demogorgon was a creation of the Obyriths, while Orcus was a former mortal) who joined against him and imprisoned him for a while. His goal is to devour and destroy, he has spawned his own breed of demons, the turagathshee. The layer itself, like That Hellhole #10, tries to eat anyone that enters it that's not either Turaglas or one of his minions, with mouths and tongues popping up everywhere. Those minions number millions of insatiably hungry demons.

'''Azzagrat:''' 45th, 46th, and 47th Layers

Ruled by [[Graz'zt]], demon lord of depending on your source, A)tyrants, manipulation, and, unofficially, blatant nepotism, or B) [[Slaanesh| lust, hedonism, and incubi]]. There's a salt river that connects all three layers. [[Zelatar]] is a big, shiny, evil pastiche of the Emerald City of Oz that stretches across the three layers. Relatively well-behaved demons, not that it's saying much, as all of Graz'zt's minions know that Graz'zt torturing them to death for a minor screw up is the least he can do to them. Not a terrible place for a party, assuming it's [[Slaanesh|the right kind of party]].

'''Phage Breeding Ground:''' 53rd Layer

Ruled by Urae-Naas, a "female" [[slaad]] [[Demon Prince]]ss so bloated with eggs she can't walk anymore and has to drag herself along on her long arms and enormous tongue. Comprised from the interiors of the ever-rotting organs of her former boyfriend, the slain [[Archomental|Primordial]] Ramenos. Iconic local feature: screaming, insane humanoids sewn into the walls begging ceaselessly for help before she gets around to implanting her offspring in their bodies. Created in 4th edition, and probably lost with the change to 5th edition seeing as how Slaad are Chaotic Neutral in all non-4 editions.

'''Torturous Truth:''' 57th layer

Ruled by Alvarez the Purging Duke, the head of the demonic Inquisition. His forces investigate the tanar'ri for any signs of lawful behavior. His torture is notorious throughout the Abyss.

'''The Demonweb Pits:''' 66th layer usually

The place where [[Lolth]], the deity of the drow, and the rest of the drow pantheon, hangs out with her spiders. In [[Demonweb Pits|Jeff Grubb's entry]], the Demonweb was 65th and her actual abode on the 66th. In [[3e]] this was changed to be an entirely separate plane, though it's still connected to the Abyss.

'''Heavenly Hills:''' 67th layer

Swamps and hills, which swap places after (frequent) earthquakes. And varrangoin ruins.

'''Morgenta's Layer:''' 68th layer

Barren, "abandoned", and airless. No-one's named it but ''Planes of Chaos'' does have a name for the planewalker who survived to enter it into the list: Morgenta, the mage.

'''The Crushing Plain:''' 69th layer

A surface made up of chasme, manes, and lemures all "crawling over one another". ''Planes of Chaos'' claims they are avoiding suffocation but it's more likely they end up squished like bugs further down.

'''The Ice Floe:''' 70th layer

That ice would be ''thin'', over black running water. The cold acts as energy-drain. As to whence / whither the water flows, we're not told but we can guess probably the Styx.

'''Spirac:''' 71st layer

Tree-ferns and spiky mountains. A happy hunting ground like Molrat / #11. The demons might be friendlier, or maybe that's just because they got along better with the cutter who penned this entry.

'''Darklight:''' 72st layer

Visitors get a halo of darkness (if evil) or light (good). Either is a beacon for the demons here, who enslave the former and kill the latter.

'''[[Wells of Darkness]]:''' 73rd layer

A spa-cum-prison for some of the worst prisoners the plane could play host to. Jacuzzi tubs of black ink keep unspeakably powerful beings trapped beneath the surface, unable to get out, but perfectly conscious and able to communicate. The demons don't visit. It's amusing because the idea of an unbreakable prison on a chaotic plane constantly attracts ''break-in'' attempts by those who just want to prove otherwise.

'''Smargard:''' 74th layer

[[Merrshaulk]] rules here. He is the deity of the Yuan-ti snake men. Basically a nightmarish, evil, rainforest (one of several in the Abyss).

'''The Gates of Heaven:''' 77th layer

Actually not named ironically, it's apparently a gate to Celestia in the middle of a Chaotic Evil hell. Must be a really sturdy gate. Ruled by demon lords and brothers, Munkir and Nekir.

'''Abysm/The Gaping Maw:''' 88th layer

The realm of [[Demogorgon]]. Also known as "The Upside Down" thanks to ''Stranger Things''. Pretty much a tropical nightmare, with demon- and demonic-disease-infested jungles and a roiling ocean. [[Dagon]], his special friend and mentor, lives in his basement.

'''Shadowsea:''' 89th layer

Ruled by [[Dagon]] one of the few obyrith lords still part of the establishment. It's an underwater realm without a surface although it connects to the 88th. Filled with myriads of aquatic demons.

'''[[Demonwing]]:''' layer unknown

An entire layer of the Abysm transformed into a crazy demonic pirate ship by Demogorgon that can move freely about the planes.

'''The Guttering Grove:''' 90th layer

Ruled by Ilsidahur, the Howling King, who's a bootlicker to [[Demogorgon]]. He leads the bar-lgura, these orangutan looking demons, as well as these winged gorilla looking guys. The Guttering Grove was recently subsumed into Abysm by Demogorgon as punishment for Ilsidahur screwing up an invasion of [[Arcadia]], though Ilsidahur is apparently either too unaware, too uncaring or too stupid to notice.

'''The Realms:''' 99th layer

Plotted out by Rick Swan in the ''Tales of the Outer Planes'' anthology. The Abyssal chaos sometimes diverts visitors here when they're aiming for elsewhere, Kali's plane in this one. It's a network of sub-layers, attached to each other through portals:
* Gray Realm. Desert of black sand, infested with dretch.
* Lightning Realm. "Blank white" plain with pillars. Disputed between Orcus and Demogorgon. Yeah, this is oldschool.
* Swirling Realm. Connects to Juiblex's crib. It's a waterfall and ocean... made of puddings and slimes. Yecch!
* Yellow Realm. Primordial tropical forest. 50' blades of grass.
* Fog Realm. "Jellyfish" surface and it stinks. It's a colossal demon uterus.
* Silver Realm. A silvery ice glacier, where sound doesn't travel.
* Star Realm. Another black sand desert, but cratered. Kali's kitchen, preparing souls for her breakfast.
At a guess, only the Gray Realm is truly the 99th. The others look to be other Abyssal layers entirely, like #222 or, indeed, #500.

'''The Mind of Evil:''' 111st layer

Ruled by Prince Sch'theraqpasstt, the Serpent Reborn.

'''Thanatos:''' 113th layer

Its as much undead as demonic. [[Orcus|Orcus's]] crib. He spends most of his time chilling here not doing things.

'''Slugbed:''' 128th layer

Lupercio the Baron of Sloth rules here. It's a tropical, mostly overcast realm filled with lush forests and coral reefs filled with all manner of demon gastropods. Because Lupercio is too busy spending most of his time sleeping, where his perpetually darkness-shrouded form is perpetually parasitized by shadow demons, and too spending what precious little waking hours he has maniacally doing ''something,'' the demon gastropods of Slugbed do not recognize his authority, and, instead, do their own thing, i.e., eating the scenery, each other, and intruders too stupid to understand the threat posed by demon gastropods until they get eaten. An army of angels has secretly constructed fortresses in the clouds above Slugbed, and eventually intend to use their fortresses here to stage attacks on the demons of the Abyss.

'''Outcast's End:''' 137th layer

Ruled by the exiled and outcast Azazel, Prince of Scapegoats.

'''Lifebane:''' 142nd layer

Ruled by [[Chemosh]], the god of undeath in [[Dragonlance|Krynn]].

'''Hollow's Heart:''' 176th layer

Ruled by [[Fraz-Urb'luu]]. Fraz-Urb'luu pissed off virtually all of the other demon lords by learning how to summon them in order to humiliate them in front of his sniveling minions. This led to the demon lord being forced to take a sabbatical in the dungeons of [[Oerth]] while lesser Lords moved in, turning the place into a demonic continent of crazy shit, including a jungle of skin, where trees are hairs sprouting from the ground; a desert made of grains of clotted blood; and a city shrouded in powerful illusions to make petitioners think everything is happy and safe, so the demons can take it away piece by piece.

'''Writhing Realm of Ugudenk: ''' 177th layer

Little is known about this layer except that it is the place where Golothomas are most commonly found and it consists of lightless tunnels.

'''The Rotting Plain:''' 181st layer

Ruled by [[Laogzed]] the god of the [[troglodyte]]. Here they archive everyone's browsing history, purchases, and other personal information forever.

'''Vulgarea:''' 193th layer

Ruled by demon princess Eshebala the [[furry|foxwoman and wolfwere]] goddess.

'''Shedaklah, the Slime Pits:''' 222nd layer

[[Juiblex]], the Slime Lord, and [[Zuggtmoy]], the Lady of Fungi rule here. A fetid swamp of every variety of ooze, slime, fungus and filth; obviously a disgusting place. Sometimes the 528th layer.

'''The Dreaming Gulf:''' 230th layer

A phantasmal dark and wind-swept realm with no ruler. This is where the dreams of evil gods go when they die, slowly being given form by the Abyss, becoming the incorporeal demons known as [[Loumara]]s.

'''Palpitatia:''' 241st layer

Grankhul and Skiggaret, the [[bugbear]] gods, rule here.

'''The Scalding Sea:''' 245th layer

Another ocean of acid but this one at least has a surface; it might even be the route out for Burningwater. It also has islands... of black glass. Probably deserted, the one island town is empty, with its former occupants encrusting the town's walls while the town's fountain screams eternally and sprays yet more acid.

'''The Hidden Layer:''' 248th layer

A huge thunderstorm-ravaged wasteland. Was ruled by Demon Prince Eltab, until he was summoned into the [[Prime Material]] and bound there, also sucking small portions of his realm with him to [[Faerun]] in the form of demoncysts and leaving his subordinates to fight amongst themselves over control of the rest.

'''Durao:''' 274th layer

A ruler-less layer dotted by military encampments and demon barracks interconnected by iron roads that snake through the otherwise swampy environs along the River Styx. It was from here that most of the demon armies staged before departing to wage the [[Blood War]] in [[Gehenna]].

'''Feng-Tu:''' 300th layer

A citadel overlooking a tributary of the River Styx, it is ruled by Tou Mu, goddess of the North Star, and Lu Yueh, god of epidemics, both gods from the [[China|Chinese]] [[Mythology#Chinese Mythology|Mythology]].

'''The Sulfanorum:''' 303rd layer

As the [[Coenobites]] have taught us, what are demons to some are angels to others; so what's a hell to many could be a heaven to some. Here is the tobacconist's heaven, as ''Planes of Chaos'' wittily illustrated. Full of flames designed to light pipes, which the Abyssals smoke here.

'''The Broken Scale:''' 333rd layer

Ruled by [[Hiddukel]], the ''[[Dragonlance]]'' god of greed and treachery.

'''Fortress of Indifference:''' 348th layer

Rough terrain with fiery skies. An evil 200 foot tower is the main attraction, and is [[Hellbound: The Blood War|why we don't let Monte Cook listen to Nine Inch Nails anymore]]. Its the home of outcasts, half-fiends, [[tiefling]]s, etc. that turned their backs on the [[Blood War]]. Its particularly anarchic. Tapheon, a barely held together demon, tries to rule here but mostly goes around torturing random beings.

'''Arch of Eternity:''' 359th layer

Ruled by Eldanoth, the Prince of Crime. He once served under Orcus but left after Orcus was overthrown for a time, now his servants sabotage Orcus's plans. He's worshiped by criminals. The realm is, ironically, a huge, but finite plane of fire and snakes with a copper fortress at its center.

'''The Plains of Gallenshu:''' 377th layer

Dirt-storms, and "bat-winged creatures" forever fighting the tanar'ri slavers here.

'''Hungry Tarns:''' 380th layer

A bleak and poisonous realm of fens and black bottomless lakes that once was ruled by the [[Obyrith]] [[Sertrous]] but is now abandoned since Sertrous's death. As Sertrous returns to life, the layer becomes more infested with Golothomas and other serpentine monsters.

'''The Worm Realm:''' 399th layer

Urdlen's home, another plane of tunnels. Very diseased - possibly from a clash with Zuggtmoy.

'''The Woeful Escarand:''' 400th layer

Here, under a great mountain, is the court of judgement for chaotic-evils.

'''White Kingdom:''' 421st layer

Ruled by the King of Ghouls, who, depending on the author, is either a toady of Orcus, a hostage-turned-minion of Yeenoghu, or an undead god who's free to do his own shit.

'''Death Dells:''' 422nd layer

Also called the Seeping Woods in ''Planescape''. Ruled by [[Yeenoghu]], Demon Prince of [[Gnolls]].

'''Ahriman-abad:''' 452nd layer

Ruled by Ahrimanes, the Chief of the Cacodaemons.

'''Androlynne:''' 471st layer

Owned by [[Pale Night]]. This layer has become a battlefield where the forces of good fight to protect a group of [[Eladrin]] children who were trapped there by a deal with Pale Night. This may have backfired on Pale Night because the amount of people fighting for good on this layer is slowly causing the layer to change its appearance, and may eventually shift it out of the abyss to a higher plane.

'''Guttlevetch:''' 480th layer

A sea eternally swept by perpetual typhoons and hurricanes, its beaches of blood are littered with innumerable shipwrecks. Was ruled by Zuregurex, Lord of the Drowned, but he seriously fucked up when he tried to invade Demogorgon's layer. Zuregurex fled to the 245th layer to escape retribution.

'''Mansion of the Rake:''' 487th layer

An entire layer stylized as a perpetually shifting baroque-style palace. Ruled by Kanchelsis the god of [[vampire]]s, born of the blood of the elven gods. His primary servants are vampires, drow, and the occasional crazy birds in his aviaries. His live-in boarders-turned-sort-of-minions are a trio of crazed blood fiends, Memnul, Dagrobard, and Vonce, who are so unpleasant, they apparently scare even Kanchelsis shitless.

'''Noisome Vale:''' 489th layer

Tarnhem is the official ruler here, though he's left for a while to go and hike Mt. Everest to find himself or something (if playing ''Return to the Tomb of Horrors''', he's now his son [[Acererak]]'s guest). The layer itself is mostly volcanic, creating a poisoned and acidic atmosphere. However, a deep canyon carves its way through the layer which is infested with worms. These worms thrive in the acidic air, breathing it in and expelling breathable air as a waste byproduct. Tarnhem's estate is built along the ravine, and his servants still occupy it awaiting his return.

'''Kali:''' 500th layer

Kali makes her home in a big red India-themed jungle under a cloudless red sky, on the shore of the Screaming Sea; all described in Rick Swan's adventure. Or not. ''Planes of Chaos'' has her in layer #643 instead. But she's ''Kali''; she's probably got several layers.

'''Torremor:''' 503rd layer

An aerie, built out of bridges, buildings and junk, floating in a void, and inhabited by vrock, chasme and other flying demons. Officially ruled by [[Pazuzu]], though, he has, more or less, abandoned it to his ex-girlfriend, [[Lamashtu]]. For a while they were a disgustingly close couple, then Lamashtu betrayed him, and then they broke up when he ate out her eyes and impaled her on top of a tower at the very top of Torremor, where ever that is. He's more or less forgiven her, but still can not be assed to un-impale her.

'''Occipitus:''' 507th layer

Adimarchus, Prince of Madness, founded this plane and was its first prince. He is a fallen Celestial and thus this layer is actually a fragmented piece of Celestia (the Seven Heavens) that fell with him. Demons avoid this layer all together, its filled with ruins and basins. Adimarchus fought a big fight against [[Graz'zt]] and lost at one point. He has a split personality, one angelic, one demonic, which is why he's called "Prince of Madness." Now he's imprisoned in Skullrot in [[Pandemonium]], the Great Wheel's funny farm.

'''Shatterstone:''' 524th layer

Ruled by Vaprak the [[Troll]] and [[ogre]] deity.

'''Vudra:''' 531st layer

Ruled by [[Shaktari]], the queen of [[Marilith]]s.

'''Fleshforges:''' 558th layer

Ruled by Demon Prince Dwiergus, the Chrysalis Prince. He has control over the shaping of demonic races. Probably older than Pale Night. The Father of Demons in some ways. A mentor to Baphomet who taught him how to create new demons. Stats in Dragon #359.

'''Shendilavri:''' 570th layer

Islamic Paradise! ...for Malcanthet, Queen of the Succubi. Not so much for her visitors and guests.

'''Prison of the Mad God:''' 586th layer

A maelstorm of various gasses and orbiting rock. Imprisons Diinkarazan, one of the two gods of the [[derro]]. Space itself is warped.

'''Goranthis:''' 597th layer

A little demonic [[Magical Realm|slice of paradise]]. This pleasure-palace and the surrounding gardens are the realm of [[Socothbenoth|Socothbenoth, the Persuader]] who rules from atop his [[/d/|Palace of Quivering Flesh]].

'''Shubgottia, The Endless Maze:''' 600th layer

Ruled by [[Baphomet]], Prince of Beasts. He lets [[Pale Night]], a ghost looking entity, the mother of demons allegedly, have a castle here as well though she rarely does anything. Lyktion is his palace and at his ''Tower of '''Fucking''' Science'' he experiments and creates new demon breeds and such. He has vast armies of beastmen looking demons and is revered by the minotaurs. He is smart, savage, one of the top tier princes, and is not to be fucked with. He began as a mortal creature, either as a beast that lived as a man or a man that lived as a beast, and was cursed by the gods, though obviously he made the best of it.

'''Conflagratum:''' 601rst layer

Ruled by Alzrius, Lord of the Flowing Flame. He usually manifests himself as a pillar of fire and leads his legions to the burning of all [[bitches]].

'''Caverns of the Skull:''' 643rd layer

Kali again, ''Planescape'' edition. The authors decided that reading Sanskrit would be too hard so just watched ''Temple Of Doom'' for this one.

'''Zionyn:''' 663rd layer

Ruled by [[Obox-ob]], Prince of Vermin. As an obyrith and, perhaps, the last surviving aspect of the old Prince of Demons, he plots here to dethrone Demogorgon and to run all [[tanar'ri]] off the Abyss.

'''Unnamed Layer:''' 665th layer

A layer with gravity and atmosphere but nothing to stand on, spells that prevent or slow down falling do not work, and all portals connected to it go in but not out, so if you stumble into it and can't teleport out or have someone rescue you, you will endlessly fall until you die of dehydration or get ripped apart by the air friction.

'''Bottomless Pit:''' 666th layer

Ruled by the Demon Lord Abaddon, Prince of Apocalypse. The center of the layer is a literal black hole singularity that is slowly eating away at all of creation and the Abyss. Anything that enters the singularity, known as the Maelstrom, is lost forever. It is theorized by the [[Fraternity of Order]] in [[Sigil]] that a portion of the energy devoured by the Maelstrom is used to keep [[Tharizdun]] imprisoned, which is a bit ironic on a plane devoted to chaos and evil.

=Inhabitants=
The main race in the Abyss are demons. There are four different categories of demons: The [[Tanar'ri]], the [[Obyrith]]s, the [[Loumara]]s, and everything else. The Tanar'ri are the only ones who ever get shit accomplished. They are also the "most numerous". This may owe to Georg Cantor's metamathematic: lawful infinity is in essence countable, unlawful infinity not - so some infinities are greater than others. The demon ''princes'' are finite: most Tanar'ri, though there are some Obyriths.

The petitioners in the Abyss are called manes, and become a low caste of Tanar'ri. If they survive for a very long time, they can be promoted up into the ranks of the not-worthless, and even to demon lords if they're cunning enough. This is how [[Orcus]] got his start.

Most of the chaotic evil deities live in the Abyss as well, for obvious reasons, including the aforementioned Great Mother and Lolth (depending on edition). Deities here are also called demon lords, because that's generally just a title and not any kind of useful disambiguation. Also because there's plenty of layers to go around so if you've got the power you might as well rule one.

==Why You Really REALLY Shouldn't Come Here==
Whenever some berk (that's an idiot, in Sigil cant) drops by here, there's a chance she gets killed. It's often the case that said berk wasn't Chaotic Evil herself. In the Outer Planes, undead as such don't exist - yeah, we know, Orcus but here we're really dealing with the damned in the ''form'' of undead. So a decent person getting into the dead-book on the Abyss ''should'' have her soul end up in a final rest suited for her true alignment. Anywhere but here.

As one final barbed grind up the arse, that depends on ''how'' one dies here. Here are some chaotic energies so mighty and blasphemous that it twists a person's body and soul into a special, Abyssal sort of unlife. Such a wretch is a [[Bodak]].

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:World Axis Plain of 1000 Portals.png|A map of Pazunia's [[World Axis]] counterpart.
File:Pazunia 3e.jpg|Pazunia
File:Grand abyss 3e.jpg|The Grand Abyss
File:Twelvetrees 3e.jpg|Twelvetrees
File:Abysm.jpg|The brine flats in Abysm
File:Drooling jungle 3e.jpg|The Drooling Jungle in Hollow's Heart
File:Shedaklah 3e.jpg|A map of Shedaklah
</gallery>

{{OuterPlanes}}

Tanar'ri

2020-08-11T22:13:28Z

2601:203:480:4C60:C876:79D4:5AEA:A043: /* Greater Tanar'ri */

'''Tanar'ri''' are the [[Alignment|chaotic evil]] supernatural badguys, in [[2nd Edition Dungeons and Dragons]]. After TSR got their new CEO [[Lorraine Williams]] and [[Gary Gygax]] left in disgust, Williams said "no more demons, or any of that junk". In [[3e]] they wisely decided to use "demon" again, but kept the term "tanar'ri" as a subtype of demon. Since TSR bothered to register "tanar'ri" [[Open_Gaming_License#Parts_of_D.26D_that_are_not_Open_Game_Content|as a trademark]], you will not find this demon subtype in [[Open Gaming License]] materials like the D20SRD.

They are the archetypical chaotic evil outsiders, seeking to destroy all order and plunge creation into mad, violent chaos in different ways. They are one of the two major factions in the ideological [[Blood War]], the other being their lawful evil counterparts, the [[baatezu]], or devils.

''Fiendish Codex II - Tyrants Of The Nine Hells'' states that Devils call all demons Tanar'ri for short, which is strange considering that in the same book it says that in the devils' language "only one correct way exists to construct any given statement in Infernal." and "Devils, except when in disguise, they find the urge to correct errors in spoken or written Infernal nearly impossible to resist." This may be a hint as to the origin of Lorraine Williams, since she also insisted on using the term "tanar'ri" instead of "demon."

==Types of Tanar'ri==
There are many types of Tanar'ri, one more terrible than the next. There is something of a degree of power that seperates the various demons, but this is not absolute. There are five categories that divide them however, and each group is more powerful than the ones below it.

Tanar'ri can ascend to a new form if they believe they have what it takes to do so (mainly based on how deadly it is) and can prove this to those around them. While ascending step by step though the ranks is the most common way to do this, particularly powerful or intelligent Tanar'ri can skip one or more forms.

===Least Tanar'ri===
*'''[[Mane]]s''': The lowest of the Tanar'ri and barely worth the name, Manes are a source of food and cannon fodder, herded at the enemy to tire them before the main forces strike. This is what a mortal beomes if they end up in the Abyss when they die, or depending on edition, the first form they take upon being promoted from Maggots, which are the forms that all petitioners take in the [[Lower Planes]].
*'''[[Dretch]]es''': Barely above the Manes, the Dretches are real Tanar'ri, albeit the lowest in rank. They suck up to the more powerful members of their race (pretty much all of them), and are treated as such in reply.
*'''[[Rutterkin]]''': Vicious and despised by all other Tanar'ri, the Rutterkin are the preferred targets of higher-ranking demons for harassment, torture and murder. In return a Rutterkin will attack anything that they think can kill without much risk to them.
*'''[[Gadacro]]''': A small sneaky demon that likes to blind enemies.
For some weird reason [[Quasit]]s, which are the chaotic equivalent of the [[Imp]] are not classified as Tanar'ri. They are demons but not part of any of the demon races.

===Lesser Tanar'ri===
*'''[[Alu-fiend]]s''': The female child of a Succubus and a mortal, Alu-fiends can only be born into their rank. They are not physically powerful but they are powerful spellcasters and physically attractive, which makes them useful to the high-ups in the Abyss.
*'''[[Cambion]]s''': The opposite of their Alu-fiend sisters, Cambions are the children of a Tanar'ri and a female mortal. A major Cambion is born when the father is a Lesser or Greater Tanar'ri, while a True Tanar'ri sires a Baron or Marquise Cambion, who are significanlty more powerful than their lesser kin.
*'''[[Armanite]]s''': The [[centaur]]s and [[bariaur]]s of the Abyss. They band together as mercenary groups and hire themselves out to whoever pays the most.
*'''[[Maurezhi]]''': These Tanar'ri have the strange ability to gain the memories and experiences of whoever they eat. They can only be created by Abyssal Lords for specific missions, but can grow to new forms as usual.
*'''[[Succubus]]''': You know them, you love them.
*'''[[Yochlol]]''': The handmaidens of [[Lolth]], the Yochlol are shapeshifters who can freely change between their [[drow]] form, a spider form or that of [[slime|a great mass of yellow ooze with a single staring eye]]. They enjoy Lolth's protection from other demons and act like it, but they'll get brutally murdered if another demon thinks it can get away with it.
*'''[[Bar-lgura]]''': Gorilla-like Tanar'ri trained in guerilla warfare, they are brutish, dumb, slow of mind and can casually rip your arm off. They get very annoyed when you call them "bar-igura", so please don't refer to them with sans-serif font.
*'''[[Bulezau]]''': Rocking a traditional Satan-esque look, the Bulezau are powerful, elite soldiers who want nothing less than murder all their enemies within sight.
*'''[[Jovoc]]''': A small black humanoid with red three-fingered claws. Whenever one of them is damaged, non-Tanar'ri creatures within 30 feet also take damage, and they also heal from their injuries very quickly.
*'''[[Solemith]]''': A large obese demon with a transparent stomach filled with the faces of the other demons and petitioners it has eaten. Their flesh is explosive, and they fight by tearing off pieces of their flesh and throwing them like bombs.
*'''[[Uridezu]]''': Cowardly rat people with a paralyzing bite, command over rats, and the ability to teleport between planes, but not during combat. They enjoy serving under a master, but because other demons abuse them they often are found serving mortal masters on the material plane.

===Greater Tanar'ri===
*'''[[Nabassu]]''': Gargoyle-shaped things serving as the heralds of the Abyss, seducing humanoids to the service of the Abyss.
*'''[[Chasme]]''': Huge fly-like things that seek out deserters of the [[Blood War]]. They mostly stay out of the affairs of others to carry out their duties.
*'''[[Babau]]''': The recruiters for the [[Blood War]]. Or rather than recruiting they press-gang other demons to fight. If they don't meet their quotas however they have to fight themselves.
*'''[[Goristroi]]''': 20' [[Minotaur|bullmen]] that serve as living siege engines to topple walls and crush enemies below their feet. Mentioned in the second Monster Manual which forgot to write them up, so they had to be written up in ''Dragon'' instead.
*'''[[Palrethee]]''': Demons who attempted to become balors and failed become palrethees as punishiment. To further the humiliation, they often end up as subordinates to balors. They are emaciated humanoids with bony wings whose bodies are constantly on fire.
*'''[[Zovvut]]''': Muscular pale-skinned three-eyed humanoids with feathery wings and massive barbed claws. They can heal themselves by draining energy from victims with their gaze, and victims who are killed by their gaze rise as [[wight]]s. Probably were originally created by [[Orcus]].
*'''[[Arrow Demon]]''': A grey skinned humanoid with four arms that can wield two longbows at the same time.
*'''[[Cerebrilith]]''': A large hunchbacked demon with an oversized protruding spine which its brain visibly extends into. They have psionic abilities.
*'''[[Adaru]]''': A millipede with a man's face that is able to charm other tanar'ri and constantly produces a cloud around itself that is poisonous to non-evil creatures and strengthens evil creatures
*'''[[Lilitu]]''': A promoted form of a Succubus that infiltrates and corrupts churches by pretending to be [[cleric]]s. They lose their wings but gain four tentacles with poison stingers. They have several of the abilities as a cleric. They are vulnerable to divine magic, but good spells and good magic items treat them as if they were good. By hugging a humanoid, they can place a magical tattoo on them for 24 hours that charges them with chaotic energy and allows the lilitu to communicate with and observe them.

===True Tanar'ri===
*'''[[Vrock]]''': Humanoid vultures that serve as elite soldiers in the [[Blood War]]. Not sure why they are listed as true tanar'ri, as they are actually weaker than several of the demons in both the lesser and greater classes.
*'''[[Hezrou]]''': Frog-shaped Tanar'ri possess a cool, sharp intellect that allows them to perform their duties in the [[Blood War]] with precision and dedication.
*'''[[Glabrezu]]''': The primary summoning material, they are skilled at tempting their summoners and giving them plenty of gifts of power, only to withdraw said power at the worst possible moment to get them killed and pulled into the Abyss.
*'''[[Alkilith]]''': The Type III.5 Demon, if you will. Oozes that can corrupt anything and anyone with a mere touch. They don't fight in the Blood War, mainly for practical reasons on account of them being oozes.
*'''[[Nalfeshnee]]''': The pig-ape judges of the Abyss. All petitioners that enter the Abyss pass by a Nalfeshnee who judges them based on their lives and appoints them a new form. At least sometimes: other times they hand out forms at random. They also determine who gets to be in charge of the armies and who gets to be promoted, demoted or removed from (as in: destroyed) its ranks.
*'''[[Marilith]]''': [[Lamia|Attractive women with the lower body of a snake]] and six arms, they are the tacticians of the Abyss. They have keen minds, anticipate what the forces of Law are going to do and act upon it, much to the rage of the Baatezu who cannot understand the plots of the Marilith.
*'''[[Balor]]''': The dreaded kings of the Abyss, Balors are the most powerful of the Tanar'ri aside from [[Demon Prince]]s and the rarely seen Klurichirs and Myrmyxicuses, serving as lords, generals and leaders, inspiring and threatening others into fighting for the cause. A mix of passion and reason, they are as intelligent and sharp as they are evil and chaotic. These are ''exactly'' the same as the [[Bloodthirster]] of Warhammer, right down to the flaming whips and being literally made evil and chaos (or [[Chaos]]) with the sole difference being that they use swords instead of axes. They like to eat doggies and beat up Pit Fiends in their spare time.
*'''[[Klurichir]]''': The most powerful type of Tanar'ri besides [[Demon Prince]]s. All other tanar'ri including balors are terrified of them. They have skin the color of a frostbitten corpse, four arms, black spines covering their neck and back, red wings, a face like a cross between a orc and a mule, and a giant second mouth with a huge pair of extremely sharp mandibles on their abdomen. They are the elite generals of the most powerful [[Demon Prince]]s and they usually only appear when their master wants to be absolutely sure that an important mission will be completed.
*'''[[Myrmyxicus]]''': Another Tanar'ri that beats the Balor in power. They rule over the oceans of the Abyss. It looks like an giant eel with a reptile skull for a face, six goat horns, four arms, six tentacles around its waist, and a lamprey-mouth on the end of its tail.
*'''[[Jarilith]]''': Demonic lions that like to hunt other demons.
*'''[[Kelvezu]]''': The infiltrators and assassins of the abyss. Aside from the pink skin and poisonous fingernails, they appear almost exactly like a short human.
*'''[[Sorrowsworn]]''': Demons that appear in places where many people have suffered loss. They have an aura that causes feelings of loss in those around them. They read the minds of their enemies and use that to determine the best way to torment them by reminding them of things that cause them to feel more loss. A sorrowsworn demon is a large but skinny grey-skinned humanoid with black wings and a constantly frowning face.

===Guardian Tanar'ri===
*'''[[Molydeus]]''': The only Tanar'ri within this rank, a Molydeus stands outside of the ranks of the other Tanar'ri, making sure that their kind stays true to the ideals of the Blood War. While they report to the Balors, a Molydeus will not hesitate to turn on their leader if they are not showing sufficient zeal. So in essence they are axe-wielding, dog-faced [[Commissar]]s with a snake growing out of the back of their heads.

===Ex Tanar'ri===
*'''[[Shadow Fiend]]''': The [[Fiend Folio]] Shadow Demon was summarily taken off the Tanar'ri list because "shadow tanar'ri" just sounded too gay. It slunk back by way of Ravenloft, MC Appendix; then Planescape of course. It was still Chaotic Evil, and still hung out at the Abyss.
*'''[[Blood Fiend]]''': A demon that became a vampire like undead.

==Demon Lords==
The first amongst the demons, the lords of the Tanar'ri (more commonly known as Demon Lords) are some of the most powerful, dangerous, cunning and deadly beings in existence. They attained their position by strength of arms and cleverness (mostly the former) to rule over their servants. Those who wish to challenge their lords are quickly struck down as an example and to keep the other minions in line.

{{D&D-Outsiders}}