Manual of the Planes

Gehenna CombatCombat on Gehenna is much like it is between twoclimbing foes on the Material Plane. Anyone on the surfaceof Gehenna’s mountains loses his Dexterity bonus toAC and cannot use a shield. Attackers get a +2 bonus toattack climbers, even if they’re climbing themselves.A climber who takes damage must immediately make anew Climb check against the DC of the slope. If theclimber fails, he immediately falls, taking damage asdescribed in Falling on Gehenna, above.FEATURES OF GEHENNAEach layer of Gehenna (called a mount) is slightly different,but each burns with an evil will. The lava flows seemto seek out the casual traveler, and fissures open under avisitor’s feet as if the ground itself hungers. As on Carceri,the sloping earth itself provides light, so shadowsstretch upward.KhalasThe air of Gehenna’sfirst and lowest layerhas a crimson tintnear the ground, dueto the magma flowsand pyroclastic ash,but it quickly fades toblack no more thana few dozen feetoverhead. Strangely,the next mount,Chamada, is visiblein the darknessoverhead, though itis so far away that itburns like a small,bloody moon.The slopes ofKhalas are streakedwith waterfalls andcloaked in steam.The falls neverfind the bottom of the layer, either evaporating or disappearinginto fissures. The mightiest waterfalls are thosemade by the River Styx as it makes its tumultuous passageacross this forbidding layer.Teardrop Palace: Located along the Styx, a nautilusshapedpagoda crouches with two smaller shrines setbeside it. A wrought-iron fence encircles TeardropPalace, which occupies an obviously deity-carvedledge. The pagoda measures miles on each side, as dothe lesser shrines.A crowded bazaar thrives between the two smallershrines, filled with milling yugoloths, petitioners,devils, demons, other outsiders, and the occasionalmortal visitor. The bazaar buys and sells everything—the ultimate black market because almost everythinghas been stolen from some other part of the GreatWheel. Prices are high and pickpockets are a constantthreat, but the market has a reputation for selling exotic,hard-to-find items.ChamadaThe second mountof Gehenna isthe most savage.The slopes burnwith constantlyflowing magmaso thick thatsolid, cool groundis rare, and sobright that theglare blots outthe sky itself. Cascadinglava riverssometimes hardenand briefly dam thefiery flow, only to explosivelyburst forth in newdirections. Vents unexpectedlyopen, spewing fresh ejecta, andminiature volcanoes are common. The airitself is usually filled with feather-soft gray ash, whichCHAPTER 7:THE OUTERPLANES Illus. by W. ReynoldspqqqqrsTHE CRAWLING CITYA great metropolis of obsidian and ash, the Crawling Citymoves across Gehenna, moving from layer to layer at the willof the its master, the general of Gehenna. The Crawling Citymoves by virtue of thousands of fiendish, fire-immune legsgrafted under the massive lower deck of the city, allowing themetropolis to cling to the steepest cliff face on Gehenna andslowly ford the broadest river of lava.The general is an ultroloth whose power is said to approachthat of a demideity. In theory, all yugoloths answer to thegeneral, although the yugoloths’ proclivity for plots and websof deception means that many have divided loyalties.The city has low barracks for devilish, demonic, and otherassorted elite mercenaries, and siege towers housing potentwar magic. There’s also a war academy where brilliantfiendish strategists teach their lore to up-and-coming officersbound for the Blood War, and massive factories wheresmithies constantly turn out the latest in fiendish militaryhardware.The Crawling City itself, in all the millennia of its existence,has never directly entered the Blood War. Ancient propheciestell that should it ever do so, the Blood War will finally reacha decisive conclusion in an apocalyptic final battle.pqqqqrs113