Think-Tank 2: Demons, Demon Lords, and Layers.

Xathan · June 07, 2006, 09:10:18 PM

Ok, so Think Tank 1 is being compiled, should be in the Post within a week. I'm going to try putting a new one of these up on a bi-weekly basis now, see how that works. [note]I'm thinking of doing the first Think Tank each month based around the upcoming book, and the second one based around whatever random idea I have.[/note] Each This one, due to the upcoming release of Fiendish Codex I, is going to be focused on making Demons, Demon Lords, and Layers of the Abyss. Post your ideas for these three things here, and I'll compile it, probably next month, and put it on the post for all to see. Remember, as with all Think Tanks, they don't have to be complete ideas or even complete thoughts - just random ideas, be it one line or ten pages. (if you want to talk about Devils or 'Loths, feel free to, though I might do a Think Tank specific to them at a later date.)

Unlike Fantasic Governments, I'm going to be putting my ideas in later, let other people post first, so it isn't just a discussion of my ideas. Also, I'm going to update the first post to include all the ideas, so they are more easy to find and look at.

Numinous · June 07, 2006, 09:16:57 PM

Abyssal layer of lost souls...
Abyssal layer of decay...
Abyssal layer where people who died from suicide go...
Layer full of creepy crawlies...
Layer with a river of blood, or maybe a whole ocean...

just some random thoughts...

Xathan · June 07, 2006, 09:27:38 PM

I like the blood idea. A layer with islands located in a sea of blood, ruled by a demon lord of blood...yeah, that could be really cool. Fun demons could live there, too.

SA · June 07, 2006, 10:27:08 PM

The Place of Rending

This Abyssal Layer is a place of flesh, of mountainous muscular protuberances and pulsing vascular causeways. A sky of jet rains caustic bile and brackish blood, and storms stir sickly effluvial winds and thunder like the rumbling of gastric motions.

The Place of Rending is a land at perpetual war with itself: vast sections of "land", thick with chitinous clawed forests, thrash and wail against each other, tearing chunks of gory flesh from the landscape and swallowing them down dark fetid apertures like razor-toothed sphincters. The creatures that dwell upon and within this realm inhabit its tissue like parasites, living off its rotten and wasted skin or burrowing deep into the labyrinthine vessels and scars that perforate its body.

The Lord of this realm, the Visceral Lord, is a parasite like so many of its unwilling subjects. It dwells somewhere in the bowels of the layer, where it mutates and multiplies. It is amorphous, shapeless and mindless, but it is said that its cancerous malignance is what ails the land, and that one day it will have consumed it in its entirety... and perhaps will spread its infection into the layers beyond.

House of Pieces

While not exactly a layer - perhaps not even part of the Abyss at all - it is upon general consensus among cosmologists that the House of Pieces is closely associated with the demonic. It is a mansion without exterior, wherein rambling hallways of grey plaser and cold ebony tiles stretch for untold miles in every conceivable direction without termination. Flanking these halls are many doors, and beyond those doors are rooms filled floor to ceiling with humanoid pieces. It is said that the Harvesters, the malformed humanoid demons who "patrol" these corrridors, scour the multiverse for new additions to the seemingly inestimable collection of stray fingers, feet and other extremities, and that they have carried out this task for untold eons. For what purpose, it is not known, but it is worth noting that no heads, or any pieces thereof, can be found within the vast collection.

The House of Pieces has no Lord, though the Many-Handed-One, a monstrosity composed entirely of human hands, has stalked the hallways for as long as the House has existed.

Captain Obvious · June 07, 2006, 11:24:51 PM

Quote from: Natural 20Abyssal layer of lost souls...
Abyssal layer of decay...
Abyssal layer where people who died from suicide go...
Layer full of creepy crawlies...
Layer with a river of blood, or maybe a whole ocean...

What kind of stuff would live on each of these places? Who would rule them?

Lost souls: Facttories. Gotta have factories taking the lost souls and processing them into some kind of export. Maybe as spell components (from BoVD). Has anyone read the Lucifer comics series? In there they have wast towers where the lost souls are tortured and their pain is formed into a drug used by the demon nobility.
There could be large jetstreams made of the lost souls flying around the land. Or just a bleak dead plain filled with wanderers.
A cool idea for the lord, would be to have him be a gestalt entitymade up of the sorrow or regret of all the lost souls. So in a way he is everywhere, but is able to manifest by taking over a cloud of souls of something.

Decay: I think it could be cool if this layer looked like a standard countryside with lots of small towns, but they are all being destroyed by plagues and the people who live there must live through their towns being killed over and over. There could be lots of low hanging pestilence clouds everywhere. Maybe above the air is where the rulers live and the air is clear up there. But the majority of the population doesn't know this or can't get there because of huge swarms of abbysal plague flies and squads of Chasme demons patrolling the clouds.
The lord could be the stereotypical diseased and bloated tyrant, but i think that if the clean-upper-air idea is being used, then the lord and his homies should be totally clean and pure looking. I imagine the lord being a fallen angel that kept the same form he had originally, but has lots of plague bringing powers.

Suicides: The sinners there must relieve their suicides/other deaths over and over but can't actually die (so their bodies get gradually more and more ruined). The lord could just a shapeless light of void, but takes on the shape of whoever is observing it. If there's multiple people, then either they each see themselves, or the lord's form is a mix of all the observers'.

Creepy crwalies and lake of blood could be fairly easy to work with. Maybe the blood world is a sub-marine one instead of islands. So some messed up fish/merpeople demons living in a massive ocean of blood.

Let's see more possible layers...
Mechanical layer (one massive machine)
Layer of islands floating in air
Volcanic layer
can't think of any more at the moment...

Kindling · June 08, 2006, 12:24:24 PM

A forest/jungle layer. I know most people tend to think of abyssal stuff as "unnatural," but just imagine the seething tropical darkness swarming with malignant life, stalked by bizzare forest demons and fiendish dinosaurs and stuff.

Fun fun fun...

CYMRO · June 08, 2006, 03:25:03 PM

QuoteAbyssal layer where people who died from suicide go...

That belongs in the Asgardian realms. :angel: :halo:

A layer of insects, all biting, crawling, hopping, and clawing over the others in a sea of bugginess.

Polycarp · June 08, 2006, 08:56:57 PM

The Flailing Sands

The Flailing Sands is an abyssal layer made entirely of coarse, unstable sand. The sand takes the shape of an enormous inverse cone; the sand "slopes" slant sharply towards the center, where all the sand eventually converges in a single deep pit. The slopes are believed to be infinitly high; of the few beings who have returned from this dismal layer, none have ever claimed to have seen the peak of those sliding slopes.

The sand in this layer is sharp and glassy, and easily scrapes and cuts those who are unprotected against such wear and tear. To make matters worse, the sand is constantly sliding downwards. Sometimes, the sand moves so slowly as to be imperceptable; sometimes, it slides in rapid cascading torrents down the slopes. Occasionally, the moving sand displaces various dull rocks, carved to a perfect smoothness from eons of grating sand. On the larger of these rocks, small, pitiful communities of petitioners and lost souls survive for a time, at least until the sand speeds up and sends the rock careening into the void below.

At the deep center of the Flailing Sands is a terrible creature known only as "Zirr," because of the horrid sound made by the torrents of glassy grit that slide by the protruding teeth of its gaping maw. Zirr appears to be largely buried beneath the sand, but the part that shows is a horrendous field of many gnashing mouths, ringed with sharp and jagged teeth. Zirr is enormous - like an iceberg, the greater part of it is likely hidden from view. Zirr's mouths and teeth are large, and sometimes a being may cling onto a tooth for a while - but all eventually succumb to its voracious consumption. Zirr moans eternally, and its voice is like a damned wind, extending throughout the entire layer, and stirring up great clouds of grit that make flying - and often sight itself - impossible. Zirr has several large, gangly arms covered in sandpaper-like scales, with which it eternally thrashes and tears at the sand around it, as if trying to escape. It only succeeds in pulling hapless denizens closer to destruction. Some hypothesize that Zirr's flailings are actually the source of the constant sliding of the sands on this layer, but no communication with the monster has yet succeeded.

The only creatures who can live on the Flailing Sands indefinitely are burrowing creatures with hides strong enough to withstand constant abrasion. Elementals, landsharks, Xorn, and other such creatures live within the deep sands, preying off each other and the forasken surface creatures clinging to life on the sliding slopes. They must be careful not to venture too close to Zirr; it will consume anything, even elementals. Creatures that cannot burrow eventually fall into Zirr's mouths, a process of continual sliding that may take anywhere from a few hours to several years, depending on the sands - if they are not eaten by a burrowing predator or sliced to ribbons by the roving sandstorms first. Even demons avoid this layer; there is little to be had here but pain and looming death.

Tunnels and spaces made by burrowing creatures quickly collapse, making areas of swirling, sinking sand that can bury a creature alive. A rare few of these are actually intermittent portals that dump travellers unceremoniously into another abyssal layer in a heap of sand; most simply lead to a terrible, airless, lightless death. A few are portals that empty out directly over one of Zirr's maws.

Besides these few portals, there are few ways to escape this deadly layer. Spells work normally, though they can be hard to cast due to constant movement and raging sandstorms. Climbing up is fruitless; though one might be able to scramble up the slopes for some distance, the slopes appear to have no end, and one's progress is often quickly reversed by a sudden sandslide.

There is only one stable place on the Flailing Sands for non-burrowing creatures. Known as the Floating Rock, this place is at first tempting, but ultimately as inhospitable as the rest of the layer. It seems that, long ago, a Dao mage named Taqha was trapped in the Flailing Sands. Unable to exit the plane, Taqha used his considerable power to hollow out an extensive habitation of winding tunnels and cavernous rooms within a particularly large rock. Taqha's magic was able to levitate the rock, and keep it from falling into Zirr's clutches; it hovers continually about 50 feet from one side of the sand cone, about three miles above Zirr. Most unfortunate souls have no way to reach it, and look on in despair as they pass it by. Even those who can bridge the gap, however, are not safe - maddened by his inability to escape, Taqha has long since gone insane, and prowls the halls of the Floating Rock in a crazed fury. He is still in full possession of his magical power, and those he does not incinerate on the spot he takes great joy in flinging over the side, into the swirling sands below - sometimes after he has turned them to stone, but often still alive. Even were Taqha to be slain - assuming this did not cause the Rock to fall - the Rock harbors no portals or gates for travellers to escape the layer, only a respite from the predators and sandstorms outside.

SA · June 10, 2006, 01:19:29 AM

The Interminable Chandelier

This layer is also known as the Place of Hard-edged Skies, and with good reason, for is a realm utterly without land of any kind. Rather, its form consists of an infinite "ceiling" of razor-sharp blades and barbs, suspended above a purple-red void that plummets downward with no end. Thus, it is somewhat of a reversed landscape, wherein the "earth" (here nothing more than scythlike metallic protrusions) is at the top and gravity is reversed, coaxing all free objects to fall "upward" into the empty expanse.

The creatures that dwell within are naturally hardy beasts indeed: strange many-limbed demons with the thickest of pelts, who brachiate through the bladed forest above like monkeys might bound through a jungle canopy. And strung liberally about the lethal "chandeliers" are the corpses of various mortals, dragged from the safety of the material plain by their demonic captors, into a realm of slicing and rending that swiftly dispatches them and scatters their pieces across the landscape.

The Lord of this realm is Urcallothix, a demon of phenomenal size and indeterminate form who dwells in a palace far beneath the chandeliers in the quietude of the void. Legends speak of a time eons past wehn she commanded many layers, and many legions (some go so far as to say that she was once a Duchess of Hell or even an Archangel, rather than a Lord of the Abyss), but whatever her past, she is now a creature of little influence, whose claim to power even within her own realm is contested by the Lords of nearby layers.

The Hall of Mournful Seraphim

One of the oldest, vilest and most inacessible layers in all of the Abyss, the Hall of Mournful Seraphim is a grand cathedral hundreds of feet high, anchored in the centre of an interminable ocean of blood. Besides the cathedral and the numerous colonies of eel-like demons that dwell beneath the ocean's surface, the layer is empty. Within the cathedral there is but one room: the incredibly vast hall which gives the layer its name. Shackled to various cruel apparatuses throughout the Hall are two-dozen seraphim, the grandest of the archangels ever to serve under the light of Celestia.

For millennia the balor Saarda has scarred, tortured, maimed and bled the angels, such that they are now unrecognizable as the divine creatures they once were. It is from their unhealing wounds that the layer's ocean was generated, for their wounds weep like fountains without end, and it is with this blood that Saarda intends to fashion Gloursammeng, the Blade of 288 Feathers. As its name suggests, it is a sword whose components are a feather from each wing of every angel (seraphim have twelve wings, in case the mathematics confused you), bound together in its forging by the tears and blood of the divine.

It is said that a blade fashioned in such a manner could slay the purest of souls with but a flourish, though it would find the flesh of the damned impervious to its edge, and for that reason its creation was commissioned by Demogorgon millennia ago. How close it is to completion is not known, but as more blood is poured into the colossal furnace that fuels its forging, the seraphim weep all the harder.

Ishmayl-Retired · June 10, 2006, 08:42:29 AM

Quote from: MithridatesAt the deep center of the Flailing Sands is a terrible creature known only as "Zirr," because of the horrid sound made by the torrents of glassy grit that slide by the protruding teeth of its gaping maw. Zirr appears to be largely buried beneath the sand, but the part that shows is a horrendous field of many gnashing mouths, ringed with sharp and jagged teeth. Zirr is enormous - like an iceberg, the greater part of it is likely hidden from view. Zirr's mouths and teeth are large, and sometimes a being may cling onto a tooth for a while - but all eventually succumb to its voracious consumption. Zirr moans eternally, and its voice is like a damned wind, extending throughout the entire layer, and stirring up great clouds of grit that make flying - and often sight itself - impossible. Zirr has several large, gangly arms covered in sandpaper-like scales, with which it eternally thrashes and tears at the sand around it, as if trying to escape. It only succeeds in pulling hapless denizens closer to destruction. Some hypothesize that Zirr's flailings are actually the source of the constant sliding of the sands on this layer, but no communication with the monster has yet succeeded.

got[/b] to be statted out. Very awesome layer, btw, I'm alreadly looking at a way to incorporate it in my game somehow :)

Polycarp · June 10, 2006, 01:20:13 PM

Ha, if I knew anything about epic rules I might do that, but - having never seen the epic handbook nor played an epic campaign - I would be afraid of under-statting the beast.

I find the best inspiration for this kind of thing is in nature: the idea for the Flailing Sands came from thinking about an Ant Lion, which (in the larval stage) digs sand traps and waits at the bottom, with only its jaws above the surface, waiting for prey to slide in.

the_taken · July 27, 2006, 01:34:25 AM

Quote from: IshmaylThis creature has got to be statted out. Very awesome layer, btw, I'm alreadly looking at a way to incorporate it in my game somehow :)

I'll do it. I'd like Mithridates' permission to post his description of the flailing sands and the creature on in my Unique Creature Compendium on the WotC's monster boards.

Ishmayl-Retired · July 27, 2006, 05:28:33 PM

Hey, don't forget to post it here!

And Mithridates, the Antlion is the first thing I thought of when you described it, except of course, I pictured the one from all the various Final Fantasy games ;)

CYMRO · July 27, 2006, 06:11:16 PM

I have named 66 layers of the Abyss, that is as far as I wanted it to go for Altvogge. It is a (barely) manageable number, and fits the theme. Half the fun was coming up with all the names. :demon:

[spoiler=THE ABYSS]
Sixty-Six Layers of the Abyss(CE):

1. Inferna, ruled by Carreau

2. Nemoc, ruled by Owillet

3. Poena, ruled Polisson

4. Malica, ruled by Scagliola

5. Necrotafion, ruled by Apollyon

6. Zomurut, ruled by Cixx

7. Zhukdomi, ruled by Rosir

8. Zloban, ruled by Behemoth

9. Krenk, ruled by Tchor

10. Punguani, ruled by Culbuetus

11. Aralu, ruled by Bijeli the White Dragon

12. Huzun, ruled by Sourdinas

13. Chthonia, ruled by Angst

14. Motazi, ruled by Embon

15. Paynimus, ruled by Sniden

16. Nifla, ruled by Loupiel

17. Udjahat, ruled by Eblis

18. Biaki, ruled by Nefarion

19. Urefu, ruled by Oliviyae

20. Malsano, ruled by Malgrit

21. Marada, ruled by Azazel

22. Bahaga, ruled by Hoeksa

23. Gevaara, ruled by Puetrifia

24. Chatar, ruled by Ahriman

25. Irbitov, ruled by Deell

26. Mezarlik, ruled by Alklotti

27. Gabana, ruled by Zuriel

28. Apasno, ruled by Entasia

29. Haint, ruled by Ferine

30. Hagruck, ruled by Bolust

31. Vuren, ruled by Voraciel

32. Aneglur, ruled by Erebin

33. Mamnir, ruled by Verrir

34. Pahanlat, ruled by Kochus the Red Dragon

35. Arostia, ruled by Springe

36. Kiken, ruled by Discordiel

37. Drycin, ruled by Budmaz

38. Gorak, ruled by Noxiel

39. Kemsha, ruled by Mendacior

40. Cas, ruled by Desoliat

41. Pelgla, ruled by Guriel

42. Gaenun, ruled by Falzin

43. Hegredik, ruled by Hukmiel

44. Aviack, ruled by Brumage

45. Salue, ruled by Desuntia

46. Jeriu, ruled by Iniqua

47. Budre, ruled by Strabisma

48. Sothakia, ruled by Zingarus

49. Choleha, ruled by Malinsae

50. Velka, ruled by Malafi

51. Kar, ruled by Bavard

52. Maluma, ruled by Teoll the Black Dragon

53. Tamanus, ruled by Delabrus

54. Malsana, ruled by Apathiab

55. Pagum, ruled by Berzag

56. Slet, ruled by Psiyet

57. Baya, ruled by Glaub

58. Mangelful, ruled by Iraetius

59. Vadlivi, ruled by Vhexx

60. Amenti, ruled by Shirq

61. Naraka, ruled by Puzzuzzu

62. Sorglig, ruled by Milliot

63. Kakoethis, ruled by Avariciak

64. Crasbeth, ruled by Korrinus

65. Lethe, ruled by Iuvart

66. Abaddon, ruled by Abaddon.

And below the lowest layer of the abyss, the source of undeath, Abominus, which is ruled by Orcus.
[/spoiler]

the_taken · July 27, 2006, 06:15:38 PM

If you go to the layer below the lowest layer, doesn't the former become the later by default?

The Campaign Builder's Guild

News:

Think-Tank 2: Demons, Demon Lords, and Layers.

Xathan

Numinous

Xathan

SA

Captain Obvious

Kindling

CYMRO

Polycarp

SA

Ishmayl-Retired

Polycarp

the_taken

Ishmayl-Retired

CYMRO

the_taken