The Abyss

The Infinite Layers of the Abyss is the birthplace of the demons, a chaotic evil universe unto itself with uncountable layers of infinite variety connected haphazardly. The Abyss is a fairly constant: a violent, malevolent place where the strong survive on the backs of the weak, the weak conspire to overthrow the strong, alliances only last while convenient, and the landscape itself tortures the mind and body of all who dare to pass.

The number of layers in the Abyss is unknown and perhaps unknowable, with at least 679 having been catalogued. Each layer has its own characteristics, which are as varied as the demons themselves. All types of terrain, atmosphere, weather, gravity, and material composition re represented in the myriad layers. Lessarith, the Deceiver, makes her home within the Abyss, in her divine realm, the Veiled Labyrinth.

Despite its name and notoriety for being never-ending, it is not known whether the layers of the Abyss are truly infinite in number. Part of the reason for this is that some places might be so absolutely inhospitable that none, not mortal, nor god, nor demon lords themselves can survive (the deeper layers reportedly having been even worse in the past), and hence are not known about.

The first layer, for example, named Pazunia after the demon lord Pazuzu, is described as a barren, dusty place baking under a red sun, broken only by great iron fortresses, huge holes in the ground, and the river Styx. Some branches of the Styx flow down the holes (which were conduits to the various layers) and some of these holes supply water to the Styx in reverse waterfalls.

While the hundreds of layers of the Abyss might seem to utterly eclipse all other Outer planes put together, this figure is misleading. Besides the issue of uninhabitability, layers and divine realms, the personal territories of powers, are often one in the same in the Abyss, whereas other planes often have several realms on one layer. Exacerbating the problem, and another reason why the Abyssal layers cannot be properly counted, is that the number was always in a state of flux.

In the very depths of the Abyss, the heart of the plane is constantly cleaving through the primal foundations of the cosmos, spawning new layers. Arguably worse, if a demonic invasion is allowed to fester, entire worlds can fall into the Abyss, becoming the basis of new layers and realms. Conversely, the Abyss is also capable of losing layers. The individual layers of the Abyss have primal urges and a constant need for nourishment, shrinking and weakened until nothing is left if not fed. Alternatively, they might be absorbed by other layers, only able to escape this state by acquiring sufficient sustenance. Occasionally the battling of demons over control of a layer can become so cataclysmic that the entire realm is outright obliterated.

It is also a possibility that destroyed layers are capable of being reborn elsewhere in the Abyss, although this is not a certainty. This is ignoring the fact that layers re shaped by the conscious manipulations and subconscious wills of its resident demon lord, and so even the nature of a single layer can become obsolete by the time such information is established.

There are myriad types of demons, too numerous to catalog here, but including the tanar'ri, obyriths, and loumaras. Non-demonic life can be found in the Abyss as well, with both mortal explorers and captives and the petitioners brought there after death.