The Forgotten Realms [Fan Version]

The Styx, or River of Blood, links lower planes in both Great Wheel and World Tree cosmologies. Its dark, foul waters inflict amnesia or feeblemindness, though spells or rare remedies, like Stygia's night blossom, can mitigate this. Charon, lord of the Styx, ferries souls for a price; this skeletal, hooded altraloth controls the river's entire course. The Styx's effects and path vary; in Stygia, it winds without mixing, its potency heightened, causing severe memory loss. The river is vital in the Blood War, its banks frequent battlegrounds. Navigating its currents is perilous, demanding skill to reach desired destinations. This cross-planar river is a dangerous, crucial feature of the lower planes, a site of both dread and strategic importance, where fiends clash and souls are ferried to their fates. This segment of the river is between Stygia and Malbolge.

The river's surface is a deep crimson, swirling with dark, viscous liquid that seems to pulse with a life of its own. The banks are littered with the remnants of past battles, and the air is thick with the scent of decay and despair, echoing with the cries of lost souls.