Othrys

Carcerian Layer
Order:	First
Realms:	The Bastion of Last Hope Mount Othrys The Crypt The Palace of Thunder

The outermost layer of Carceri's six is the bet known of the lot, mostly for its famed inhabitants the Titans. Groups of sods travel here seeking the advice of the exiles. Some of them're successful, and return to tell the tale.

The Styx runs freely throughout the layer, saturating the ground with its poison. Channels carved into the soft ground through eons of erosion carry the Styx and other native waters, all mixing together in a boiling turmoil of hatred and forgetfulness. If a body needs something to drink, he'd best pray that he brought his own liquid, 'cause one stream looks much like the next.

Quicksand and boggy terrain fill the layer of Othrys, much of which drags a visitor down almost before he knows he's in trouble. Swamps extend across the layer, even unto infinity. Though patches of dry ground exist, the swamp definitely dominates. Mountains break the monotony of the terrain on the orbs, and these hold the domains of the Titans. Though some petitioners have been brave enough to try to build hear, most steer clear of the jagged terrain. Better to endure the swamps and the quicksand than the wrath of a Titan, they figure. And they're making the prudent choice.

Othrys has few natural hazards, especially when compared to the other layers. The swamps themselves are plenty dangerous, especially since the quicksand patches can be 2 feet or 2,000 feet deep. The quicksand glows with an unearthly green light, but it's most often covered by patches of sticks and grass that hide its true nature. Certain patches seem to migrate around the layer, and have no known bottom; these patches claim the lives of many travellers, and many may never give up their corpses. Occasionally, however, the bleached bones of a victim turn up on a mountainside.

Villages of the layer consist of wood cut from the tiny mangroves and cypreses of the nearby swamps. Most are built miles away from their neighbours, constructed on high stilts so that the houses won't be inundated when the swamp water rises. Each village has its own form of government, and carries on a kind of diplomacy with it neighbours. Raiding parties and wars are common, and the traitors on all sides make the wars fairly interesting and spiffingly bloody.

Prolonged exposure to the air of Orthys - that is, longer than a week or two - has an averse effect on the habitants and visitors. Though it makes 'em smarter, it also makes 'em scheming and cunning. If they can help it, they do their best to make sure that their plans benefit them and no one else. This effect usually wears off in about the same amount of time a body spent in Orthys.

Yet another problem with the area - the bogs attract trolls. Though trolls aren't native to the plane, a few were imported from a prime long ago, and they've bred prolifically. They lurk in the quicksand and the swamps like alligators, ready to seize on the unwary who pass too close. They also prey on the unfortunate petitioners who leave the safety of their stilt villages. The trolls don't go into the mountains, partly because they find the swamps more to their liking. But mostly because the Titans don't encourage visitors, and they find the trolls particularly offensive.

Carcerian Layers

Othrys . Cathrys . Minethys . Colothys . Porphatys . Agathys