In Dungeons & Dragons there are many places where one generally prefers not to linger if it can be avoided. The Nine Hells definitely belong to that category.
What are the Nine Hells in Dungeons & Dragons? The Nine Hells are in Dungeons & Dragons the ultimate places of lawful evil and the home of intelligent and organized, manipulative devils. The realm consists of nine distinct layers, each representing a unique, torturous landscape.
From fiery plains to icy deserts to toxic swamps, each is ruled by a powerful archdevil who emphasizes a different cruel focus or sin.
Even gods fear these places. Not so much because of the direct cruelty of the devils, but due to their cunning methods and their role in the fabric of the multiverse. Through seemingly unbreakable, binding contracts, the Lords of Hell take away from the gods their most important resources: the souls and faith of mortals.
At the same time, the disciplined legions of hell are the only defense of the multiverse against the even greater, all-consuming chaos of the demons from the Abyss, putting the gods in a strategic dilemma.
Mortals usually enter the Hells through three ways: The most common is a pact with a devil, where the soul serves as payment after death. Alternatively, the souls of those who have led a life of cruelty are judged by the god Kelemvor after death and banished there. In rarer cases, mortals may also be kidnapped while alive or travel as brave adventurers into this dangerous plane.
To prepare you for what you’re getting into, we will introduce the Nine Hells to you in detail.
Avernus
- Ruler: Zariel
- Focus: Wrath & War
Avernus is the first layer of the Nine Hells and the physical manifestation of all-consuming wrath and endless, brutal conflict. Its ruler is Zariel, who was once an archangel (Solar) of the sun god Lathander. Due to an unauthorized attack on Avernus, in which she suffered a defeat, she also lost her heavenly status.
Asmodeus, the supreme ruler of the Nine Hells and the ninth layer Nessus, offered her dominion over Avernus due to her combativeness, which caused her predecessor Bel to be degraded. Now she leads the eternal battle in Avernus, a blood war between devils and demons that seems to have no end. Bel, in the meantime, incessantly devises plans to regain his position.
Avernus itself is a dismal, rocky wasteland ravaged by the endless battles of the blood war. The sky is a dark, smoky firmament from which fiery comets constantly rain down and create huge craters in the ground.
Rivers of blood flow through the land, their stench filling the air and ultimately merging into the River Styx. The entire plane is littered with the remnants of countless conflicts, with rusted weapons, crumbling fortresses, and mountains of bones of fallen devils and demons.
