Manual of the Planes

CHAPTER 7:THE OUTERPLANESThe abandoned cities are not empty. They serve ashome for petitioners who’ve fled their devilish tormentors,beasts from other planes who’ve become especiallylost, and lost planar travelers who don’t want to befound.Malagard: The current city under construction iscalled Malagard, and it serves as home for the Lord of theSeventh, Baalzebul. It is a beautiful city of perfectlystraight boulevards, fountains of delicate yet terriblevisage, and towers that reach straight as an arrow intothe blood-black sky. It is the greatest city yet seen inMaladomini, but no one doubts that it, too, will soon beabandoned, as Baalzebul strives for hellish perfectionin all things.Grenpoli: Grenpoli, the City of Diplomacy, is domed,and access is granted only through one of four gates onthe city’s exterior. Entrance to the city comes after a thoroughsearch during which all weapons are taken for theduration of a visitor’s stay. Strife and open displays ofmagical aggression are against the law, and those whobreak the law are slain immediately.The Political School of the Nine Hells, in Grenpoli, iswhere enterprising devilish nobility come to learn abouttreachery and deception. An erinyes named MysdemnWordtwister rules Grenpoli.CaniaThe eighth layer of The Nine Hells is another realm ofcold, but Cania’s cold is so bitterly penetrating that it islike a living thing. Glaciers moving as fast as a runningman grind and crash against each other, sending avalanchesof snow down upon any creature unfortunateenough to be caught between the battling ice titans.The frigid cold penetrates even the warmest naturalclothing. Characters take 3d10 points of cold damageevery round they are in an unsheltered area in Cania.Moving glaciers often reveal thousand-year-old corpses,past victims of the merciless chill.Mephistar: A blue-white jewel fashioned of ice, thismighty citadel perches upon an equally impressive glaciernamed Nargus. Clouds of vapor constantly roll off thesides of the icy spike. The glacier’s movement is controlledby the Lord of the Citadel, Mephistopheles, andNargus has flowed over and obliterated many a lesser glacier,as well as its share of rival fiendish armies caughtunaware in Cania.The interior of Mephistar is heated. In fact, lavishheated baths, scented fires, and hell-bright tapestries areeverywhere. Gelugon nobles abide in the warm sanctuaryof Mephistar, waiting on the whims of their lordMephistopheles, who is the Lord of the Eighth.Shapes in the Ice: Some glaciers in Cania entombalien shapes frozen in the heart of the ice. The frosted glacierdistorts vision, so it’s difficult to make out exactlywhat’s buried in such an icy prison. From time to time,enterprising mortals melt exploratory shafts toward particularlyintriguing blots. Some of the blots are apparentlydevas and archons frozen in place fighting spinedcreatures of unknown origin. Other shapes are abandonedcities of prosaic or alien design.The Pit: Mighty glaciers form a ledge surrounding adark pit several hundred feet in diameter. The utterly darkPit is the primary access down to the lowest layer of theNine Hells. One devil-guarded stairway cuts back andforth down one glacier’s face, and on each landing sits aguard tower bristling with gelugons.Of course, one could forgo the stairs and plunge directlyinto the Pit. However, a supernaturally strongdowndraft makes any type of flying a chancy proposition.Fliers must make a Reflex save (DC 30) whenpqqqqrs122LORD OF THE SEVENTH: BAALZEBUL THEARCHDUKEOnce, Baalzebul was an archon of Celestia called Triel, but hewas cast down into the Nine Hells. Asmodeus quickly promotedTriel to devilhood in a dread ritual. Baalzebul’s relentless drivefor perfection served him well as climbed the ranks of devilry,culminating in Baalzebul’s ascension to the Lord of the Seventh.And Baalzebul didn’t just attain his lordship—he deposed theearlier Lord and expunged all mention of that entity. Leavingbehind his former name with his former allegiance, Baalzebul isalso called the Lord of Flies because not even a fly can escape hisnet of intrigues.Like virtually every other lord, Baalzebul once plotted againstAsmodeus during the failed rebellion and purge known as theReckoning. To punish Baalzebul, Asmodeus transformed hisformerly angelic body into a melted, sluglike form.Now, Baalzebul openly plots against only Mephistopheles,Lord of the Eighth. But his undying anger yet burns forAsmodeus, as does his undying ambition for the throne of theKing of the Nine Hells.LORD OF THE EIGHTH: MEPHISTOPHELESMephistopheles once engineered his own coup, when he wasreplaced by Baron Molikroth. However, Molikroth was secretlyMephistopheles, and that duplicity has now ended (as have thelives of “Molikroth’s” coconspirators. The Lord of the Eighthappears as a 9-foot-tall humanoid with hell-red skin, horns,wings. He grips a magic ranseur that burns eternally. Heprefers to drape himself in dramatic capes as black as thedeepest void.Like the other archdukes of the Nine Hells, Mephistophelesfailed to unseat Asmodeus’s rulership over theNine Hells. And like many other archdukes, he retained hisposition when the Reckoning was over. His biggest rival isBaalzebul, and his court is thick with plots against the Lordof the Flies.pqqqqrs