Abyss Gazetteer

We had crossed an ocean of boiling blood and crawled through miles of black caverns that honeycombed the land like an aching disease, fighting vile demonic creatures all the way. We now lay at the lip of a canyon vast enough to swallow entire worlds. But at that moment I stood at a more perilous precipice: Iomedae↗ forgive me, I teetered on the edge of a chasm of mad despair, painfully tempted to throw myself into its depths. For the most depraved truth about the Abyss is that just when you're certain you've witnessed the ultimate blasphemous horror, an even viler abomination comes slithering forth—sometimes from within your own mind.

—From The Account of Onden Ellowy: A Paladin of Kenabres in the Abyss

As the vast majority of the seemingly endless plane known as the Abyss consists of constantly fluctuating matter, attempts to fully map and describe its more stable regions is an exercise in utter futility. Just as its most powerful denizens regularly remake and destroy portions of their respective realms, the very fabric of the Abyss is in conflict with order. Those scholars who make the study of the Abyss their concern agree on little, in part because they approach the subject from such diverse perspectives-some seeking understanding in order to fight against its malevolent forces, others wishing to harness its power for their own varying purposes, and vile demon worshipers striving to curry favor with its abhorrent natives.

A controversy among those studying the Abyss involves the question of whether the Abyss is actually expanding. One widely held theory posits that the appearance of the plane's growth is an illusion, and it's only the limited vantage of mortality that fools observers. After all, one would otherwise expect the gods to be more alarmed by the Abyss's seemingly aggressive growth. No, say these academics, the toxic nature of the Abyss itself, the Maelstrom, and perhaps even forces beyond consume what the plane belches forth at a rate to at least equal the plane's blasphemous fecundity. Another common theory maintains that this is dangerously wishful thinking. This alarmist camp asserts that the plane is like a cancer that grows upon the bones of the Outer Sphere, eats away at the fabric of the planes, and sinks tendrils of chaos and rot throughout other realms. This presumption is a favorite of naturally opposed parties-demoniacs reveling in the prospect of the eventual triumph of evil and entropy over all, and the forces of righteousness who labor to beat back (or at least contain) the Abyss's relentless advance.

A dreadful variety of malignant beings call the Abyss home. Demons are its most common denizens, coming from countless differing breeds that are further varied via crossbreeding, mutation, and deliberate manipulation. The ancient qlippoth lurk amid unfathomed depths alien creatures of pure malevolence with little resemblance to the more common forms of sentient life. But travelers too are found in the Abyss, for many from across the multiverse have business in there, whether they seek knowledge, power, the release of imprisoned souls, or some other insane purpose.

The Abyss holds an insidious allure for alchemists because of the many substances found nowhere else in the multiverse (most of them frighteningly unstable). Forms of such matter-solid, liquid, and gas-fetch kings' ransoms across many worlds, though there are many cautionary tales of the gruesome ends met by those who dared experiment with these supremely dangerous materials. The Abyss is a plane of endless horror and violence. The unending clashes that rage through the plane make the mighty, empire-spanning conflicts on the worlds of the Material Plane look like the playground bickering of children. Indeed, some of the hostilities between the forces of Abyssal gods and major demon lords are millennia-old, and the carnage is terrible to witness. Despite the fact that beings of great power direct most of these battles through the tremendous force of their wills, it's not uncommon for a cohort or even a single combatant within an army to suddenly turn on its unwary fellows in a wicked explosion of bloodlust. What discipline exists among the combatants of the Abyss is achieved mostly through fear and punishment, though the promise of booty in the form of power, wealth, or obscene privilege can be effective with more intelligent beings. However, by their very nature many of the Abyss's denizens are utterly ungovernable, even by the most potent demon lord.

Numerous desires might lure individuals to this plane of evil, but most seekers never leave the Abyss alive. Those non-natives foolish or desperate enough to traverse the Abyss must exercise great caution and be prepared for a myriad of dangers, from both the plane's hostile inhabitants and the very matter of the Abyss itself

Planar Traits

The Abyss is a nightmare realm of unmitigated horror where desire and suffering are given demonic form—a place devoid of law, order, and hope. It's the spawning ground of unnumerable races of demons. The reaches of the Abyss are comprised of various yawning chasms in the fabric of the Outer Planes, threaded through by the foul waters of the River Styx. These layers connect to one another in continually shifting pathways. The Abyss has the following traits:

Divinely Morphic and Sentient: Deities with domains in the Abyss can alter their domains within the Abyss at will. The Abyss can also alter itself by whatever unknowable will it possesses.

Strongly Chaos-Aligned and Strongly Evil-Aligned: A -2 circumstance penalty applies on all Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma-based checks attempted by creatures that aren't chaotic or evil. The penalties for the chaotic and evil components of the alignment trait stack.

Enhanced Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities with the chaotic or evil traits are enhanced.

Impeded Magic: Spells and spell-like abilities with the lawful or good traits are impeded.

Controlling Realms

Demon lords most often gain authority over portions of the Abyss in one of two ways. The first is simple conquest, by wresting influence from another demonic overlord. Such conflicts may involve vast armies, devious espionage, clever traps, political subterfuge, or any combination thereof. Whatever form this takes, it almost always leads to an ultimate confrontation between ruler and usurper, and such titanic battles are the stuff of legend.

The other doesn't involve challenging a ruler, but challenging the Abyss itself. It is the final test of power for a nascent demon lord: demonstrating the ability to exert its will on the very fabric of the Abyss, accomplished by powerful transmutation magic or the purposeful focus of a dominating presence. For weaker demon lords, this task occupies every fiber of their being and is monstrously draining. For the strongest demon lords, demigods and gods, such manipulation of matter is a minor chore accomplished without serious effort. Some battles between rival demon lords involve a test of wills in which both attempt to control the same Abyssal matter; resulting in the violent making and unmaking of the realm, potentially spelling doom for countless beings unfortunate enough to exist in the battleground.

Even once control of a realm is solidified, there are limits to a demon lord's power over the Abyss. Notably, no amount of control allows one to form rare materials (such as Nahyndrian crystals) or other unique substances from the raw matter that makes up the plane. That's the province of the Abyss itself.

Abyssal Realms

The overwhelming majority of the Abyss is composed of the raw stuff of chaos-shifting, bubbling, corrupting, metamorphic chaos shooting through the rifts and no man's lands of the Outer Planes. As such, the Abyss isn't a single contiguous realm, like the mounting layers of Heaven or the depths of Hell. Rather, its wilds are linked by tendrils and cavities reaching through the firmament of the planes, by unpredictable portals, and by thoroughfares that only the most demented entities dare traverse. Abyssal realms that have achieved a stable, recognizable form were forced into this state either by the will of extraordinarily powerful resident beings (gods and demon lords), the collective malevolent psyches of many foul creatures, or the plane's own transient whim (some theorize the planes each have their own inscrutable intelligence). Most demonic realms are shaped by their rulers to suit their own fell purposes. The deeper, terrifying qlippoth realms are prone to greater flux, constantly reshaped by the combined wills of countless minds alien to even the planes' vilest deities. These places are scenes of staggeringly brutal butchery, senseless violence, and atrocities likely to drive unfortunate witnesses mad.

Ahvoth-Kor: The realm of Angazhan, the Ravenous King, is an endless tropical jungle growing along the two facing cliff sides of an Abyssal rift. Its inhabitants include fiendish versions of those bestial creatures found prowling the jungles of worlds across the multiverse: ravenous dinosaurs, insects of obscene size, winged predators, toothy carnivorous plants, and vicious screeching primates. Gravity on this plane pulls toward the sides of the cliff walls, so those who manage to penetrate the jungle canopy see another canopy on the opposing surface. Huge expanses of mist envelope great portions of Ahvoth Kor, and torrential rains pummel the realm frequently. However, the growth in this realm is fed more by the blood of victims slain here than by any rainfall.

Akigyiat: One of the deepest known Abyssal realms, many believe that this foul place is the den of the iathavos qlippoth-the colossal, hideous, winged beast shunned by all but the parasitic nyogoth qlippoth that feed on the detritus and filth the great creature leaves in its destructive wake. No demon lord currently lays claim to the realm; there's little about its barren, rocky hills and cavernous pits worth contesting the qlippoth for.

Argahoz: This cavernous realm-dominated by a vast, yawning pit-is but a third of the domain of the bat-god Camazotz. Flocks of demonic bats flit about its black depths, along with skittering insectile horrors and shadowy flying demons.

Ashen Forge: The Ashen Forge pulsates with the enslaved minions of the dark dwarven god Droskar. His thralls forever build a tangled labyrinth of mine shafts and forges that is just as quickly unmade by the Abyss itself. Droskar's workers labor at this task of ultimate futility, spurred on by the scourges of hateful taskmasters. It's rumored that veins of valuable gems and minerals are struck daily in the endless toil, thrown aside along with dirt, stone, and debris in the mindless effort to replace the structures consumed by the Abyss.

The Barren Wood: Mestama rules over this vexing forest of dead and dying pine and fir trees. Scattered houses of wood and stone serve as lairs for the many cruel acolytes of the Mother of Witches, enticing unfortunates wandering the dead forest with the smell of a cook fire and promise of warmth. The wilderness between these seemingly inviting dwellings is populated by black flocks of fiendish ravens and crows, castrated demons seeking out targets on whom to visit their wrath, and mysterious hooded travelers going about the goddess's inscrutable business. Some remote forests on Golarion have doorways into the Barren Wood, lying in wait for the unwary to stumble through.

Basalfeyst: Lamashtu↗ created this strange realm by drawing a corner of Hell across the Maelstrom to augment her own realm of Kurnugia. Most of this realm is made of rocky hills that spontaneously liquefy and then return to solid form, trapping unfortunate travelers in place-easy prey for the carnivorous scavengers that haunt the land. The barghest hero-gods of goblinkind rule over this realm at Lamashtu's sufferance, in exchange for serving as allies of the Demon Queen. Nomadic tribes of hulking, mutant bugbears wander the place in a constant state of war with one another. Many would-be demon lords have sought to harness these anarchic armies, but ultimately have found the hordes can't be controlled for any organized purpose beyond unadulterated bloodshed.

Blood Clefts: Areshkagal holds dominion over this land of stony crimson hills and gulches seeping rivers of blood. Monuments to the demon lord are scattered across the realm, and legends suggest that fabulous wealth is buried beneath each one, awaiting the first to solve its riddles and puzzles. Areshkagal drills her armies endlessly here, readying them for frequent assaults on the realm of her hated half-sister, Aldinach. Numerous vrocks dwell here, as do despicable cadres of dretches used by more powerful demonic soldiers as training dummies.

Bloodpyre Fields: This cavernous world is the domain of the demon lord of fire, Flauros. Immense volcanic mountains, which endlessly erupt in rivers of magma, surround a sea of molten rock. Demonic minions of the Burning Maw sail this strange sea in enchanted ships, carting slaves and harvested larvae to feed their lord's endless hunger. A number of balor demons favor Flauros' realm and, with his profane blessing, have built towering keeps on islands in the rivers of lava.

Cathedral Thelemic: This massive structure, consisting of thousands of different rooms over a few square miles, is nestled in a sylvan woodland of deceptive comfort. This enormous building is ruled by The Silken Sin, Socothbenoth, and is designed for the exclusive indulgence of his countless vices. His army of servants, terribly warped by the demon lord's perversity and clad in flowing, brightly colored robes, wander the structure's maze of hallways and chambers, seeing to the needs of their lord and his guests, both willing and unwilling. Incubi and succubi are the most common denizens of this monument of perversions.

Cerebulim: Ruled over by Haagenti, Lord of Transformation, this realm comprises myriad libraries, laboratories, torture chambers, menageries, and rooms dedicated to occult arts, all of which shift position as though pieces of a mighty clockwork contraption. Many alchemists and inventors have weathered the dangers of the River Styx in effort to reach this place, seeking forbidden knowledge and elusive insight. All but the boldest and luckiest instead become the subjects of Haagenti's cruel experiments.

Charnelhome: The realm of Shax, this place is a city sized house perched atop a stony bluff overlooking a bog of thorny, blood-drinking plants. The rooms of this house are populated by ingenious traps and hideous bestial guardians. The Blood Marquis is fond of setting captives loose in one wing or another of Charnelhome, delighting in their deaths as they futilely attempt to escape the perilous structure.

Everglut: Kabriri lords over this sprawling necropolis of ghouls and other hungry undead. Linked to the River Styx, Everglut's cavernous space hosts many winding tunnels that connect to graveyards across the multiverse. The expansive libraries found within are said to contain the secrets every sentient being has ever taken to the grave.

Ghahazi: The realm of Xoveron is a vast ruined city with thousands of leering sculptures hanging from its crumbling walls. The massively deep catacombs beneath this sprawling ruin, which is itself surrounded by razor sharp hills of flint and iron, are said to connect to several other Abyssal realms. For this reason, Ghahazi is often a waypoint for travelers hoping to bypass the Abyss's more lethal routes, though flights of ancient gargoyles prowl the ruins and make meals of many of these sojourners.

Gluttondark: This realm is a great network of caverns connected by subterranean rivers and yawning chasms, with an enormous jungle moon adrift at its core. Ruled over by Zevgavizeb, Gluttondark is populated by herds of carnivorous dinosaurs and ravening armies of demonic troglodytes that roam the caves and nightmare jungles, looking for flesh on which to gorge.

High M'Vania: This lies in one of the largest Abyssal rifts. It's ruled by the elder demon lord Pazuzu, who lives amid the tangle of black towers of Shibaxet, at the center of an enormous city sprawling upon a great cliff shelf. This rift allows access to many of the outer spheres, making it a common transit point for travelers. High M'Vania's demonic avian residents take advantage of this fact, with countless flocks of vrocks, fiendish harpies, and other winged horrors constantly hunting for those attempting to pass through.

Ishiar: The ancient demon lord Dagon rules this vast Abyssal ocean from his underwater city of Ugothanok. The waters of this dark realm teem with vile life, and its shores touch upon many other Abyssal realms. The River Styx pours through Ishiar, and demonic mariners of every description sail its turbulent waves.

Ivory Labyrinth: Minotaurs and demons of every sort inhabit this vast maze. Innumerable esoteric secret societies spread their enigmatic doctrines and vile rituals from headquarters here, all answering to the realm's ruler, Baphomet. It's said many trapped in the labyrinth wander eternally, being killed and then reforming again and again.

Jeharlu: This is both a realm and a being-an immense fungus that's capable of extending its tendrils into other worlds to corrupt them. It's ruled by Cyth-V'sug, who dwells at the center of this parasitic spherical growth. Demons, bizarre dragons, colossal worms, and other contaminated beings terribly altered by the realm-thing prowl the fungal chambers, seeking sustenance in the form of others unfortunate enough to find themselves in this diseased realm.

Jhuvumirak: The demon lord Kostchtchie rules this realm of glaciers, frozen seas, and snow-covered mountains. His fortress, Skyscar, is carved from one of these great peaks. The icy horrors that call this land home prey on one another, as well as on anyone foolish enough to traverse this wintery domain-a land offended by any source of warmth, be it the light of a torch or the beating of a heart.

Khavak-Vog: This hive-like conglomeration of caverns is infested with hordes of vermin and ruled over by Mazmezz. The Creeping Queen's labyrinthine realm is alive with drow, drider, and ettercap servants, as well as her beloved bebiliths, many grown to outrageous sizes. Though many other demon lords loathe the realm and avoid it, Khavak-Vog is sometimes used to hide artifacts and treasures of great value. Mazmezz exacts unspeakable payment from those using the hive for such purposes.

Kurnugia: As it flows through the Abyss , the River Styx first meanders through the massive realm that is Kurnugia. Kurnugia's vast size allows for all manner of terrain, from enormous seas to parched deserts, all surrounding the single immense city-mesa of Yanaron. This is the realm of the god Lamashtu, and it's appropriately populated by hosts of beasts and demonic creatures. Some are loosely structured into warring principalities, such as the thirteen fiendish gnoll kingdoms known as the Bloodgash Nations. Other denizens have formed into nomadic armies that clash eternally with one another, with allegiances changing from moment to moment. All residents serve the cruel, mercurial will of the Mother of Monsters in one way or another, and nothing occurs in this massive realm without her insidious awareness.

Kuthan: The great red sun of this parched realm never moves from its zenith, forever beating down on vast deserts, dry savannas, and rocky canyons. This is Nurgal's domain, and as the demon lord of deserts and senseless warfare, his brutal subjects engage in ceaseless battles across these burnt lands. A number of warlords vie for the cruel lord's favor by designing ever more elaborate and bloody assaults on neighboring fortresses and fields ofbattle.

Malvyrea: Sunken catacombs and shipwrecks surround this graveyard island. Home of Menxyr, a nascent demon lord known as the Coffin Groom, the realm is full of the flotsam of thousands of bloody sea battles and cursed sailors who had the misfortune of slipping through portals to Menxyr's realm. Demons and undead abound in this realm, serving this would be lord's growing power and feeding his loathsome appetites.

Mephizim: Located within the expansive Abyssal ocean that is Ishiar, this immense swamp is ruled over by Gogunta. This dreadful, fecund marsh is populated by fiendish amphibians and other monstrous swamp creatures, and many hezrou demons pledge their unholy fealty to the demon lord of boggards. She grooms these demons for tasks on mortal worlds, guiding evil swamp-dwelling humanoids. Her stinking realm is known as a source for powerful substances that augment poisons, accounting for a favorite boast among poisoners: "My wares carry the reek of Mephizim."

Midnight Isles: This immense archipelago of night shrouded islands lies in a region of Ishiar, its waters black and the sky above haunted by a huge, pale moon. Linked to the River Styx, these fell islands are ruled by Nocticula and increase in number when Our Lady in Shadows murders others demon lords (adding to her already impressive list of kills). Succubi and incubi populate her growing kingdom, ruling some of these shadowed isles.

Moonbog: This sprawling realm of fens and marshy plains is shrouded in everlasting night; a fat, full moon casts its pale light from above. The swampy regions are populated by countless fell beasts, from ravenous hezrous to fiendish froghemoths, all feeding on one another as often as on lesser prey. The moors play host to endless hunts held by powerful lycanthropes and antipaladin champions devoted to this realm's ruler, Jezelda. Isolated communities of humanoids kidnapped from a hundred worlds dot the moors, serving as prey for the demon lord and her stalking minions.

Muravelara: Gyronna, the Hag Queen, is the putative ruler of this woodland realm, though she's seldom in residence, leaving fiendish hag sorcerers and demon witches-known as the Daughters of Gyronna-to govern in her absence. Men found in this realm are hunted down like wild animals to be cannibalized, burned as torches to light the witches' foul rituals, or torn to pieces in bloody frenzies.

Nesh: This mountainous realm reaches from snowy peaks and glacial valleys to jungle slopes and swampy lowlands. Zura, the Vampire Queen, allows no sun to ever rise on her cursed lands. There are many huddled settlements across Nesh peopled by denizens of a hundred mortal worlds, unaware that they exist in a corner of the Abyss. This secret is maintained by the towns' cruel and capricious rulers, servants of Zura responsible for keeping their citizens in ignorance and terror as they are preyed upon.

Pleroma: The appearance of this realm, ruled by Abraxas, is a lie-illusions project a paradise that hides the sinister truth. The demon lord governs from Diovengia, his deceptively beautiful city of towers and fortress-libraries, their spaces confused repositories of forbidden lore and forgotten knowledge. Many who come to the Abyss do so seeking knowledge from these athenaeums, but their custodians-clever and malicious demonic beings led by powerful mariliths-demand brutal services and exorbitant payments for access, a price that most visitors come to regret.

Rankarrus: Nestled deep beneath Argahoz, this realm is a massive cavern filled with ammonia, guano, pestilential air, and demons of unspeakable foulness. Once ruled over by Vyriavaxus, before the Lord of Shadows was slain by Nocticula, it's now unclaimed and used as a dumping ground. Some say that items of real worth are discarded here, leading seekers to foolishly venture into these contaminated depths.

Rasping Rifts: Scholars of Golarion are more aware of this labyrinthine profusion of chasms and canyons than perhaps any other portion of the Abyss, for this realm pierces theirs as the embattled wasteland known as the Worldwound. Deskari, the Lord of the Locust Host, rules this realm of insectile monsters hungry for mortal flesh, and earthquakes opening new rifts constantly shake the land.

Rift of Repose: None know who created this hidden chasm, the walls of which are decorated with the fossilized remains of dead demon lords. Though no lord claims this isolated place, it's far from empty-the Rift is home to demons known as the Curators. These mythic nalfeshnees act as self-appointed custodians, watching over the giant corpses like stewards of an insane and macabre museum. The righteous have been known to seek out the Rift in order to obliterate the cadaver of various slain lords to assure that a particular evil can never be resurrected. Unfortunately for these crusaders, bodies destroyed in the Rift have a habit of reforming elsewhere in it, and it's not unheard of for one of them to spontaneously resurrect upon reforming.

Sea of Whispering Sands: This vast desert realm, ruled by Aldinach, one of Lamashtu's daughters, is an endless sea of dunes interspersed with strange ruined cities created in her honor. Aldinach, demon lord of sand, scorpions, and thirst, has held this parched land for only a short time, having recently wrested it from her sister Areshkagal, who constantly seeks to win back this Abyssal territory. Demonic scorpion-humanoid hybrids of great size act as Aldinach's generals and command her armies of mummified demons.

Sekatar-Seraktis: This underground cavern realm is said to lie at the center of the Spiral Path, part of which is ruled by Yamasoth and the remainder by i3 bickering balor lords, vavakias, and vrolikais who fight endless petty conflicts with one another. A wide variety of fiendish spiders ranging from small to enormous spin complex webs throughout the caverns. Artisans throughout the multiverse covet the unusual silk used in these intricate webs.

Slithering Pools: This reach of tidal flats and rocky pools stretches for miles into the Abyssal sea of Ishiar. It was once ruled by Ibdurengian before he was slain by Aroden and a holy army soon after that fallen god's ascension. The remains of Ibdurengian's coral palace have attracted many adventurers seeking pearls the size of human heads, which are spoken of in ancient tales. To date, no explorers are known to have returned from such brazen aquatic ventures.

Spiral Path: This twisting network of tunnels is not truly a realm; rather, its labyrinthine passages connect the underground of every known Abyssal realm. Yhidothrus, the Ravager Worm, formed these tunnels over eons, but he doesn't rule so much as wander this confusing rocky maze. A host of monstrous leeches and worms, as well as ghosts and corporeal undead, wander these warrens with the demon lord, rending the flesh from all encountered.

Uligor: Though Orcus is the ruler of this realm of haunted cities, frozen seas, ragged mountains, and infested swamps, his authority is contested by a number of thanatotic titans who pay no fealty to the Prince of Undeath. The demon lord's minions-including powerful liches and undead-demon hybrids-populate many necropolises and ruins across the realm.

Undersump: Jubilex, the Faceless Lord, rules this stinking maze of sewer-like catacombs that wind through the Abyss and connect to the undercities of countless Abyssal settlements. Linked to the River Styx, the Undersump is a frequent destination for those searching the Abyss for rare substances, especially potent poisons. The fumes are uniquely toxic to most life, save the fiendish oozes that crawl about the Undersump's depths. Qlippoth are more common here than in most Abyssal realms, making these reeking cesspits and fetid tunnels extraordinarily dangerous.

Vantian: Sifkesh, the Sacred Whore, rules over this realm from the legendary City of Open Windows, which sprawls along a vast cliff overlooking Ishiar. Waves from this violent Abyssal ocean endlessly shave the cliff, causing the city to constantly collapse into the waters-forcing its inhabitants to constantly rebuild. False temples to every known deity are found within the city, tended by former clerics of those gods, unfortunates who, in crucial moments when their faith was truly tested, surrendered to despair and committed suicide.

Vault of Ten Thousand Deaths: This sprawling trap laden dungeon of iron and stone is ruled by the Razor Princess Andirifkhu. The blood of countless victims serves as grease for the Vault's many deadly contraptions. Numerous dungeons across the multiverse are said to have portals to these lethal chambers, though those who have passed through such doorways likely didn't know what they were stepping through and now pay the price for their carelessness for eternity.

Verakivhan: This catastrophic realm consists of an incessantly burning forest lashed by powerful storms whose foul rainfall actually fuels the conflagration. Ruled by Urxehl the Trollfather, this inferno is populated by fiendish elementals of every description, and is home to demons who revel in the ongoing calamitous disaster about them.

Vlorus: This kingdom of decay was once ruled by Xar Azmak, the Lord of Rust, until he and his army were destroyed by the forces of the archdevil Dispater. It's a realm of refuse and putrefaction, a massive valley filled with the castoffs of millennia and ringed by rusting castles and strange, pernicious constructs. Amid junk and refuse, some treasured keepsakes and items of power find their way here, drawing many an adventurer to brave the dangers of this place, which include demonic xorns.

Winding Wood: This gloomy woodland, populated by demonic incorporeal spirits and cloaked figures with fell intents, is ruled by Shivaska. At the realm's center is the Chained Maiden's massive keep, known as the Ticking House; it features an enormous 13-hour clock face with a complex system of gears tended to by children kidnapped from across the multiverse. Belligerent clockwork creations prowl the corridors of the place, which is in many ways nothing more than a gigantic prison and workhouse of ceaseless toil.

Yad Iagnoth: This shunned realm, deep below most of the other more settled reaches of the Abyss, is thought to be the primary entrance to the qlippoth-ruled regions of the plane. No lord holds claim on this foul place, which seethes with formless horrors that prey upon one another as readily as on those foolish enough to enter this pestiferous place.

Larvae

Souls of chaotic evil mortals are drawn to the Abyss upon death and reform as the revolting larvae: pale, worm-bodied creatures with insectile heads somewhat resembling those they had in life, but with bestial features. For most of these despised petitioners, their sense of identity have been obliterated, and all that remains are their execrable natures, animal instincts, and hostility for the living. Like a pernicious infestation, larvae are found in every realm of the Abyss. Those larvae not consumed by other feral life eventually undergo a metamorphosis, transforming into one of the endless varieties of demons, a form that often mirrors the petitioner's sins and vices in life.

The economy of the Abyss varies from realm to realm, but in every corner larvae are valued commodities: as food, as components for ceremonies and sorcery, and as playthings for the despicable population. So coveted are these foul creatures that some enterprising denizens create vile farms where larvae are corralled like cattle, fed on the various filth in the Abyss, and "nurtured" until they have achieved particular states of "ripeness" that appeal to the various depraved tastes of various fiends, evil magic-users, and worse. Other larvae are raised through grueling processes into exacting forms of designed demonic life, tended with the careful ministrations of Abyssal artisans. These malign sculptors blend the cultivation of specific degraded and evil qualities with bizarre surgical magic to produce demons that suit the needs and desires of their specialized clientele.