The Realms
😈 The Infernal Depths: Rulers of Damnation
The lower planes are not a unified force but a collection of predator states, each embodying a different facet of evil.
The Outer Planes: The Nine Cantons of Hell
"They promised me power. Purpose. A place in the grand design. They did not lie. I am now a cog. My number is 9-Zeta-7. My function is to process soul-slurry for the Forge Canton. My torment is not fire, but the perfect, eternal, screaming silence of a purpose utterly devoid of meaning."
-Archived soul-imprint of a former Syndicate Merchant King
Overview & Philosophy Hell is not a pit of chaotic evil; it is the ultimate expression of lawful evil. It is a perfectly structured, artificial plane-engine built to an impossible scale, designed with a single, horrifying purpose: to process the raw energy of mortal souls into pure, unyielding order. Asmodeus, the Iron Tyrant, is not a king but a cosmic CEO, and Hell is his grand enterprise to "fix" the flawed chaos of the universe by systematically stripping it of free will.
The Nature of Damnation: The Soul-Engine Souls damned to Hell are not punished for the sake of sadism; they are raw materials. Upon arrival, a soul is stripped of its individuality in a horrific bureaucratic and magical process. Its spiritual energy is siphoned off to power the plane's vast machinery. Its memories are downloaded and archived in frozen data-vaults. Its very essence is then repurposed—reformatted into a lesser devil to serve the system, or rendered down into pure conceptual fuel for infernal war machines and diabolical pacts. Damnation in Hell is the complete and utter loss of self to an eternal, grinding, cosmic machine.
The Nine Cantons (The Layers) Hell is organized into nine "Cantons," which are less geographical layers and more cosmic-scale departments or processing facilities within the great Soul-Engine.
Avernus, The Bastion Canton: Ruled by Zariel. This is the militarized outer shell of Hell, a cosmos-spanning fortress of black iron and weapon emplacements. It is a scene of eternal, disciplined war against the chaotic hordes of the Abyss. Damned souls here are reformatted into tireless, unthinking shock troops.
Dis, The Panopticon Canton: Ruled by Dispater. An infinite city of impossibly tall, black iron towers, each topped with a single, glowing red sensor. This is Hell's surveillance and intelligence hub. Every soul here is an informant, their consciousness slaved to a network that watches for secrets and betrayal across all of reality.
Minauros, The Gilded Sump: Ruled by Mammon. A polluted, perpetually sinking metropolis where the sky rains black, oily tears. The souls of the greedy are brought here and rendered down into "soul-coinage," a form of pure conceptual wealth that powers the Syndicate's darkest contracts and fuels the infernal economy.
Phlegethos, The Forge Canton: A Canton of volcanic, planet-sized forges and automated production lines. Here, soul-energy is used to manufacture Hell's war machines, the razor-sharp chains that bind devils, and the very ink used to write soul-binding contracts.
Stygia, The Archive Canton: A frozen, silent wasteland of crystalline data-servers that stretch for light-years. The memories, regrets, and knowledge of every soul ever processed by Hell are stored here as cold, dead information, guarded by silent, spectral devils.
Malbolge, The Processing Canton: A chaotic, tumbling landscape of grinding gears and bureaucratic labyrinths. This is the "Intake Department," where newly arrived souls are sorted, stripped of their identity, and prepared for their final purpose in the machine. It is a realm of absolute, maddening bureaucracy.
Maladomini, The Administrative Canton: An endless, perfectly ordered city of black marble offices and silent archives. Legions of lesser devils (Imps, Spined Devils) work here as clerks and lawyers, endlessly drafting the laws of Hell and finding new loopholes in cosmic law to exploit.
Cania, The Think-Tank Canton: A frozen, desolate plane of absolute cold and silence. The greatest, most cunning minds captured by Hell—and the most brilliant of the Archdevils—reside here in silent contemplation, running endless simulations to plot the final, orderly subjugation of the entire multiverse.
Nessus, The Core Canton: Asmodeus's throne room. It is not a place of fire, but a silent, perfect void at the very heart of the Soul-Engine. Here, Asmodeus presides from a simple throne of black iron, a point of absolute stillness and cold, calculating thought from which he directs the entire infernal machine.
The Abyss: The Hunger of Chaos
✨ The Supernal Realms: Bastions of Hope
The upper planes are a bastion of light and hope, though their inhabitants often disagree on the best path to achieve a better future.
Heaven: The Fortress of Law
Structure: Heaven is ruled by the Celestial Concord, a council of lawful good deities (and some neutral good allies) who believe that justice, order, and community are the keys to protecting the universe from the darkness.
Key Deities (Vanguard Pantheon):
Sol Invictus (LG): The Sun-God of Justice and Truth, and the de-facto leader of the Concord. He is the patron of righteous kings, selfless judges, and the most devout orders of the Stellar Imperium.
The Forge-Mother (NG/LG): Goddess of Invention, Community, and Civilization. She is worshipped by artisans, engineers, and city-planners who believe that building a better, safer society is the highest calling.
The Sentinel (LG): The stoic God of Protection, Duty, and Self-Sacrifice. He is the patron deity of paladins, bodyguards, and all who stand unwavering in the defense of others. The death of the God of War, his former brother-in-arms, has left The Sentinel grim and vengeful.
Elysium: The Haven of Freedom
Structure: Elysium is guided by the Whispering Constellation, a loose fellowship of chaotic good and neutral good deities who champion individual freedom, compassion, and rebellion against tyranny.
Key Deities (Vanguard Pantheon):
The Wanderer (CG): God of Exploration, Luck, and Liberty. He is the beloved patron of adventurers, rebels, smugglers with a heart of gold, and all who blaze new trails across the Material Sea.
The Verdant Mother (NG): Goddess of Life, Growth, and Empathy. A powerful neutral good deity whose influence bridges Heaven and Elysium. She is the central figure of the Veridian Concordance, embodying the "Great Bloom" itself.
The Muse (CG): Goddess of Art, Passion, and Revolution. She inspires creations of breathtaking beauty and the fiery speeches that topple empires. Her followers believe that emotion, not law, is the truest path to good.
⏳ The Elder Gods: The Watchers Beyond
This is the most crucial distinction: The Elder Gods do not dwell in the Outer Planes.
The Outer Planes, for all their conceptual power, are still a feature of this universal cycle. The Elder Gods predate this reality entirely.
Their Domain: They reside in a conceptual realm outside the cosmic map, a place known as the Timeless Archives. It is not a physical location you can reach with a ship or a portal. It is a state of being, a nexus of pure information and possibility that underpins all of reality. One might glimpse it at the moment of a universe-altering scientific discovery, in the deepest state of monastic meditation, or in the heart of a magical paradox.
Their Nature: They are living concepts.
The God of Magic doesn't live on a plane; it is the sentient, self-aware consciousness of the Cosmic Weave itself.
The God of Fate is the consciousness of the Axiom of Law, perceiving all lines of cause and effect.
They don't have temples; a library is a temple to the God of Knowledge. A functioning clock is a prayer to the God of Time.
Their Role: They are the custodians of the Great Cycle. They watch, they record, and they ensure that the universe proceeds towards its natural conclusion. Kaleerus and the Saiyans represent the first true unforeseen variable in their calculations in eons, which is the only reason they have acted in a remotely direct manner.