Latest revision as of 12:43, 17 July 2021

Outer Plane
Layers:	Khalas Chamada Mungoth Krangath
Primary Faction:	None
Sect:	None

It is a plane without charity, mercy, or pity.
It is the Oven of Perdition, the Fourfold Furnaces.
It is where yugoloths cavort on endless volcanic slopes.

Gehenna's top layer borders Hades and the Nine Hells, so it is not a pleasant place. Floating in an impenetrable, infinite void are volcanic mountains seemingly without base or peak. They are only finite in the strictest sense of the word, measuring hundreds of thousands of miles in each direction. A single volcanic mountain dominates each of the four layers of Gehenna, though lesser volcanic earthbergs drift and sometimes smash into the greater mountains.

There is no naturally occurring level place in any of the layers; all the slopes are at least 45 degrees, and many are akin to sheer cliffs. Gehenna's fiendish inhabitants have carved artificial ledges, some large enough for entire cities, and switchback paths to connect them. But those edifices not carved by native yugoloths or deities have a tendency to break apart, sending their builders on a long, sliding fall down the mountain. Gehenna's four layers are Khalas, Chamada, Mungoth, and Krangath. Each layer is differentiated from the other by its degree of volcanic activity. Powerful entities that possess realms on Gehenna include many lords of the yugoloths, as well as Melif the Lich-Lord and Memnor, deity of evil cloud giants. The realm of Maanzicorian, an illithid deity, was once located here. But Maanzicorian was slain by Tenebrous, the name taken by the demon lord Orcus when he first returned from supposed annihilation. Accordingly, Maanzicorian's realm has started to crumble, its deity gone.

Traits

Normal Gravity: Gravity is similar to the Material Plane, but naturally occurring volcanic mountains seem to float free in an infinitely larger void. Gravity is normal on the steep slopes of a mountain, and a fall tumbles victims many miles until a chance ledge catches them, or continued rolling abrasions of the fall completely shred the victim.
Normal Time.
Infinite Size: The impenetrable void of Gehenna is infinite, but each volcanic mountain is finite. Each is far larger than the largest known land mass on the Material Plane, however.
Divinely Morphic: Memnor and other deities can alter Gehenna's mountainous landscape. Ordinary creatures find Gehenna is as alterable as the Material Plane.
No Elemental or Energy Traits.
Mildly Evil-Aligned: Good characters on Gehenna suffer a –2 penalty on all Charisma-based checks.
Normal Magic.

Connections

Like all the lower planes, Gehenna has the River Styx flowing through at least its first layer, Khalas. In fact, it is the biggest river on the layer, and it hurtles through gorges and canyons with breathtaking speed. Its cataracts are legendary, and the occasional ledge creates waterfalls of epic, if polluted, proportion. Attempting to change planes via the Styx is a very dangerous thing indeed, on Gehenna. Portals to other planes are fairly common, as are portals between layers of Gehenna. They usually appear as bottomless black chasms. Sometimes they are marked as portals, but sometimes yugoloths mark actual bottomless chasms as portals by mistake or with malice.

Inhabitants

The yugoloths, masters of schemes, are most at home on Gehenna, though sages note that yugoloths actually originate in Hades. But the yugoloths have been on Gehenna longer than most of the deities who now have their realms there.

Petitioners

Petitioners of Gehenna are the refuse of the planes. Greedy and grasping, they care only for themselves. Expect no favors from such a petitioner unless proof of immediate recompense is at hand. Unlike on many of the other Outer Planes, petitioners on Gehenna are more willful, traveling from layer to layer on their own personal quests for power. They're looking for the ultimate exercise in free will, though they are destined to never find it. Gehenna's petitioners have the following special petitioner qualities:

Additional Immunities: Poison, acid.
Resistances: Fire 20, cold 20.
Other Special Qualities: Surefooted. Surefooted (Ex): All petitioners have a +10 competence bonus on Climb checks.

Movement and Combat

Movement on Gehenna is much like movement on the Material Plane, though the mountainous, sloping nature of Gehenna imposes constant dangers.

Falling on Gehenna Because every natural surface on Gehenna slopes at least 45 degrees (except for occasional ledges and artificial constructions), moving from place to place is dangerous. The description of the Climb skill in Chapter 4 of the Player's Handbook describes how characters move about on Gehenna's slopes. The DC for Climb checks on Gehenna varies from 0 for ordinary slopes to 15 for steep areas and 25 for sheer cliffs. Creatures can move at one-quarter speed as a moveequivalent action on the sloping surfaces, or at one-half speed as a full-round action. Attempting to move faster incurs a –5 penalty on the climb check, as described in the Player's Handbook. Those who fail their Climb checks make no progress. If they fail their Climb checks by 5 or more, they fall. If a fall occurs, the victim rolls, bounces, and rebounds off the endless steep slope of Gehenna. Falling characters get a chance to catch themselves by making a Climb check (DC 10 on a slope, 35 in a steep area, and 45 on a cliff). If the fall occurs in a random location, the victim comes to a stop on a natural ledge some 10d10+100 feel farther below and takes 10d6 points of damage from the bouncing, bone-jarring descent. In some locations on Gehenna, a victim's fall could end sooner—in a river of lava.

Combat on Gehenna is much like it is between two climbing foes on the Material Plane. Anyone on the surface of Gehenna's mountains loses his Dexterity bonus to AC and cannot use a shield. Attackers get a +2 bonus to attack climbers, even if they're climbing themselves. A climber who takes damage must immediately make a new Climb check against the DC of the slope. If the climber fails, he immediately falls, taking damage as described in Falling on Gehenna, above.

Features

Each layer of Gehenna (called a mount) is slightly different, but each burns with an evil will. The lava flows seem to seek out the casual traveler, and fissures open under a visitor's feet as if the ground itself hungers. As on Carceri, the sloping earth itself provides light, so shadows stretch upward.

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 ! colspan=2 style="border-bottom:1px solid grey;"| Outer Plane
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+[[File:gehenna.jpg|right|caption]]
+* It is a plane without charity, mercy, or pity.
+* It is the Oven of Perdition, the Fourfold Furnaces.
+* It is where yugoloths cavort on endless volcanic slopes.
-[[File:gehenna.jpg|right|caption]]Gehenna, the Furnace of Perdition, comprises exactly four steep volcanoes, with peaks at the top and bottom and nary a flat stretch in between. The volcanoes float in an impenetrable void, each mount a layer unto itself. Any berk knows what that means: These volcanoes are huge, literally hundreds of thousands of miles across, up, and down. Still, it doesn't hide the fact that Gehenna is, overall, ne of the smallest planes in physical area. That doesn't mean the plane's not boundless like all the rest; the void stretches off into empty infinity. But unlike any other [[Outer Planes|Outer Plane]], it's got a finite amount of physical, measurable ground.
+Gehenna's top layer borders Hades and the Nine Hells, so it is not a pleasant place. Floating in an impenetrable, infinite void are volcanic mountains seemingly without base or peak. They are only finite in the strictest sense of the word, measuring hundreds of thousands of miles in each direction. A single volcanic mountain dominates each of the four layers of Gehenna, though lesser volcanic earthbergs drift and sometimes smash into the greater mountains.
-On the other hand, what Gehenna lacks in size it makes up for in sheer mean-spiritedness. This is a plane totally without charity, without any concept of pity, mercy, or any other redeeming quality. This doesn't just apply to the inhabitants; the land itself spits on the unfortunates here, and a body can consider himself lucky if he's not overrun by a lava flow or shoved off the side of a mountain.
+There is no naturally occurring level place in any of the layers; all the slopes are at least 45 degrees, and many are akin to sheer cliffs. Gehenna's fiendish inhabitants have carved artificial ledges, some large enough for entire cities, and switchback paths to connect them. But those edifices not carved by native yugoloths or deities have a tendency to break apart, sending their builders on a long, sliding fall down the mountain. Gehenna's four layers are Khalas, Chamada, Mungoth, and Krangath. Each layer is differentiated from the other by its degree of volcanic activity. Powerful entities that possess realms on Gehenna include many lords of the yugoloths, as well as Melif the Lich-Lord and Memnor, deity of evil cloud giants. The realm of Maanzicorian, an illithid deity, was once located here. But Maanzicorian was slain by Tenebrous, the name taken by the demon lord Orcus when he first returned from supposed annihilation. Accordingly, Maanzicorian's realm has started to crumble, its deity gone.
+=Traits=
+*Normal Gravity: Gravity is similar to the Material Plane, but naturally occurring volcanic mountains seem to float free in an infinitely larger void. Gravity is normal on the steep slopes of a mountain, and a fall tumbles victims many miles until a chance ledge catches them, or continued rolling abrasions of the fall completely shred the victim.
+*Normal Time.
+*Infinite Size: The impenetrable void of Gehenna is infinite, but each volcanic mountain is finite. Each is far larger than the largest known land mass on the Material Plane, however.
+*Divinely Morphic: Memnor and other deities can alter Gehenna's mountainous landscape. Ordinary creatures find Gehenna is as alterable as the Material Plane.
+*No Elemental or Energy Traits.
+*Mildly Evil-Aligned: Good characters on Gehenna suffer a –2 penalty on all Charisma-based checks.
+*Normal Magic.
-This plane's home to the [[yugoloths]], one of the few planar races that aren't spawned from petitioners. Legend has it that the yugoloths came here from [[the Gray Waste]], perhaps to escape the constant battles of the [[Blood War]], perhaps for other, more nefarious reasons. Still, the yugloths pose one of the main dangers of the plane, and a body would be well advised to steer clear of them, for both physical and spiritual safety.
+=Connections=
+Like all the lower planes, Gehenna has the River Styx flowing through at least its first layer, Khalas. In fact, it is the biggest river on the layer, and it hurtles through gorges and canyons with breathtaking speed. Its cataracts are legendary, and the occasional ledge creates waterfalls of epic, if polluted, proportion. Attempting to change planes via the Styx is a very dangerous thing indeed, on Gehenna. Portals to other planes are fairly common, as are portals between layers of Gehenna. They usually appear as bottomless black chasms. Sometimes they are marked as portals, but sometimes yugoloths mark actual bottomless chasms as portals by mistake or with malice.
+=Inhabitants=
+The yugoloths, masters of schemes, are most at home on Gehenna, though sages note that yugoloths actually originate in Hades. But the yugoloths have been on Gehenna longer than most of the deities who now have their realms there.
-Gehenna's four layers are, in order out from [[Astral Plane|the Astral]]: Khalas, the Gentle Land; Chamada the Molten; Mungoth, the Burning Ice; and Krangath, the Dead Furnace. Each layer has it's own physical peculiarities, but some things are common to all.
+=Petitioners=
+Petitioners of Gehenna are the refuse of the planes. Greedy and grasping, they care only for themselves. Expect no favors from such a petitioner unless proof of immediate recompense is at hand. Unlike on many of the other Outer Planes, petitioners on Gehenna are more willful, traveling from layer to layer on their own personal quests for power. They're looking for the ultimate exercise in free will, though they are destined to never find it. Gehenna's petitioners have the following special petitioner qualities:
+*Additional Immunities: Poison, acid.
+*Resistances: Fire 20, cold 20.
+*Other Special Qualities: Surefooted. Surefooted (Ex): All petitioners have a +10 competence bonus on Climb checks.
-The ground generates each layer's light and heat, not some sun or burning star in the sky. On some of the layers, the heat's enough to cause non-natives to burst into flame. The light's red, cast by the slagged rock and the heated metals of each layer. As the layer cools, so does the light die. Thus it is that the light constantly rises and falls around the plane as fresh fumaroles and geysers of lava sprout up and cool off.
+=Movement and Combat=
+Movement on Gehenna is much like movement on the Material Plane, though the mountainous, sloping nature of Gehenna imposes constant dangers.
+Falling on Gehenna
+Because every natural surface on Gehenna slopes at least 45 degrees (except for occasional ledges and artificial constructions), moving from place to place is dangerous. The description of the Climb skill in Chapter 4 of the Player's Handbook describes how characters move about on Gehenna's slopes. The DC for Climb checks on Gehenna varies from 0 for ordinary slopes to 15 for steep areas and 25 for sheer cliffs. Creatures can move at one-quarter speed as a moveequivalent action on the sloping surfaces, or at one-half speed as a full-round action. Attempting to move faster incurs a –5 penalty on the climb check, as described in the Player's Handbook. Those who fail their Climb checks make no progress. If they fail their Climb checks by 5 or more, they fall. If a fall occurs, the victim rolls, bounces, and rebounds off the endless steep slope of Gehenna. Falling characters get a chance to catch themselves by making a Climb check (DC 10 on a slope, 35 in a steep area, and 45 on a cliff). If the fall occurs in a random location, the victim comes to a stop on a natural ledge some 10d10+100 feel farther below and takes 10d6 points of damage from the bouncing, bone-jarring descent. In some locations on Gehenna, a victim's fall could end sooner—in a river of lava.
-As noted above, there isn't a single level plane on the face of the four mountains; at least, not a naturally occurring one. Plenty of folks take the time to clear off a spot for themselves so that they can sleep without fear of rolling off, but most of these don't last too long. Something about the plane just seems to hate a level surface, and most ledges (those not formed by a power, anyway) have a way of breaking off and carrying those on 'em to a painful doom.
-If a body doesn't want to fall from the outer slopes, his best bet is to stick inside the canyons. All the layers sport caverns beneath their surfaces. Those of Khalas cave in under the heat of the magma regularly, and only the most addle-coved of all Clueless would consider making one a home. Chamada's caverns are even more dangerous; it takes about 10 minutes for a cavern to fill with boiling rock, and the caverns themselves are really too hot for anybody to step into. Indeed, instead of being caverns, they're more like giant air bubbles in the magma. Berks only enter these "bubbles" looking for a way to get to Mungoth. Sometimes a covern holds off the lava a bit longer; these usually have tunnels ore passages to the outer shell of the layer.
+Combat on Gehenna is much like it is between two climbing foes on the Material Plane. Anyone on the surface of Gehenna's mountains loses his Dexterity bonus to AC and cannot use a shield. Attackers get a +2 bonus to attack climbers, even if they're climbing themselves. A climber who takes damage must immediately make a new Climb check against the DC of the slope. If the climber fails, he immediately falls, taking damage as described in Falling on Gehenna, above.
-Mungoth's caverns are the most habitable. In fact, they're the most comfortable places on this cold layer, and they're fiercely contested. The cave complex of Krangath is dark and cold, just as the outside of the dead land is. It's home to a variety of beings, each of which regard light as inimical and something best destroyed, along with whatever happens to be carrying it. It's a chill, dank place, without much that any ordinary basher'd want anyway.
+=Features=
+Each layer of Gehenna (called a mount) is slightly different, but each burns with an evil will. The lava flows seem to seek out the casual traveler, and fissures open under a visitor's feet as if the ground itself hungers. As on Carceri, the sloping earth itself provides light, so shadows stretch upward.
-The petitioners of Gehenna are the refuse of the planes, or so it's said. They're greedy and grasping, caring only for themselves. They perform no services or favors without some sort of immediate response. Because precious little in the way of valuables exists on Gehenna (at least, not available to petitioners), they're also mighty suspicious, and they won't render any help without demonstration of a body's ability to pay.
-Unlike those on many planes, the petitioners here are a willful lot. They've spread out across the plane with no regard as to what they're here for, traveling as freely as they like between layers in their quest for power. They're looking for the ultimate exercise in will as they believe it to be, and they exercise that will whenever they can.
-Surprisingly, Gehenna's not all that hard to figure out, travel-wise. Aside from the [[River Styx|Styx]], which, like a great liquid snake flows where it will, not much is dark about Gehenna's ins and outs. It's not a cage like [[Carceri]], and it's not as diabolically clever as [[Baator]]; it's just a plane that seems to have some incredibly hostile intentions.
-Obviously, a body can get here by the usual methods: a portal from [[Sigil]], a gate from the adjacent planes, an Astral pool, or the Styx. Portals are always found in the deep caverns of the layer, and they appear as bottomless black chasms. They're usually marked, and this is the only time a service is performed for free in Gehenna. Of course, some of these marked pits are ''actually'' bottomless pits, dropping a body into the void beneath the mountain - that's the cruel sort of amusement played by the denizens of Gehenna.
-The portals between the layers are also found beneath the furnaces of the plane, usually in dead-end corridors. Occasionally they open into a volcanic bubble if a body's going to the second or third layer, or into a totally sealed cavern if a basher's travelling to the fourth. Sometimes the portals are only one way, too, so a body should be prepared to do some digging, or to protect himself from a sudden rush of lava.

Gehenna: Difference between revisions