Othrys

Othrys,  also called Orthrys or Titans' Home, was the first layer of Carceri.

Description
Othrys looked like a string of planet-sized beads, or orbs, but without a string. The distance between two orbs was about.

Compared to the other layers of Carceri, Othrys had few natural hazards.

Othrys was mostly swampland. The Styx and other waters eroded the ground, producing bogs and quicksand fields that were between deep and that glowed with green light that was often hidden by green grass. However, dry land existed in the form of mountains. They were often inhabited by the Titans. These mountains were sometimes tall enough to touch other orbs' mountain peaks, as in the case of Mount Othrys.

The swamps had swarms of mosquitoes and other insects. A means to protect against these insects was a local plant called stinkweed that could be rubbed on the body. However, rubbing it on the body worked like a stinking cloud that knocked out a person for one to four minutes.

The air of Othrys was dangerous to the mind. Inhaling it over an extended period&mdash;a week or two&mdash;resulted in a person becoming more intelligent but also egotistic and scheming. This effect wore off after spending about the same time outside of Othrys.

However, Othrys's most dangerous feature was its music. This music sounded like it was played on slightly off-kilter bells and made people believe that it led to their heart's desire. According to the only one who managed to come back from hearing it, a person by the name Vyaki, the music led outside of the string of orbs to a gulf where monsters older than the Titans lived.

Cosmography
In Carceri, the Styx ran only in Othrys. It ran freely, causing the ground of Othrys to be filled with its memory-loss magic.

Mount Olympus also connected to the layer close to the Titans' realm in Mount Othrys, but that route was usually avoided by travelers. Since the Titans could not use the mountain to escape, so they resented any visitors coming in that way. Through Mount Olympus, the layer was once linked to the Arvandor layer of Arborea, Pluton, and various Prime Material worlds. However, the Olympian powers used their combine might to shatter that bond in the process of banishing the titans to Othrys, thereby ensuring their imprisonment in the layer.

Locations
Villages in Othrys were generally built on stilts in the swamp. This was because the dry parts were often controlled by the Titans and people preferred the dangers of the swamp over the ones posed by the Titans. Each of these villages had their own government and diplomatic relationships with other villages. However, raiding and betrayal were common. The latter erupted into particularly bloody battles.

Notable Locations

 * Bastion of Last Hope:
 * The headquarters of the Revolutionary League, the Bastion of the Last Hope was a place where people could buy any form of forged documents, plastic surgery for disguise, and other services for deception.


 * Mount Othrys:
 * Mount Othrys was the home of of the greater titans, the eleven children of Uranus and Gaea. In particular, Mount Othrys held Cronus's palace.

Inhabitants
The Titans lived on Othrys and were sought out for their advice and some people actually got it from them.

The petitioners of Othrys were the souls of people who used lies to gain power, like traitors to their own countries, politicians, religious frauds, and so on. They were all very charismatic and smooth talkers but also compulsive liars who hoped to betray others with their lies.

At some point trolls were imported to Othrys from the Prime Material and took up residence in its swamps, where they bred prolifically and lurked like alligators. They kept to the swamps and never went into the mountains, for they favored the terrain and because the Titans did not want the trolls in their vicinity. They were known to prey upon unwary petitioners that wandered away from their stilt villages.