Flying fortress

Flying Fortress Flying fortresses were enormous mobile siege weapons utilized by the archdevils of the Nine Hells, specifically those battling the countless demonic hordes of the Abyss on the battlefield of Avernus.

"A weapon made for an archdevil, ravaged in battle and ripe for plunder."

- The Cartographer.

Description
The massive hull of a fortress vaguely resembled the blade of a sword that dragged along the landscape point-down, standing anywhere from, to over in height.

Within each fortress was a massive iron cylinder known as a soul intake, that ran through nearly the entirety of its hellish structure from its intake vent to a great cistern beneath the command deck. The intake provided power to the hellish device by siphoning souls from the River Styx and utilizing them as a form of fuel.

The topmost level of the fortress was its command deck, the front of which comprised the vessel's bridge. Within this command center was the ship's "black bell", a tall iron device that kept the flying fortress aloft in the sky and flying parallel with the ground. The deck did not have any manual controls for maneuvering and directing the fortress, as this was accomplished by a form of telepathy.

Armament
Fortresses were equipped with unique machinery that aided in the devils' war efforts. Among these devices were those that could emit telepathic messages to all nearby devils within a radius, disrupt all telepathic communication within that same range, or simply send messages to other flying fortresses.

Activities
Flying fortresses replenished their stores of tormented soul-fuel at Stygian docks, refueling and service platforms located along the banks of the River Sytx.

History
Flying fortress were used by the devils of the Nine Hells as front-line siege batteries in the countless conflicts of the Blood War.

Inhabitants
Fortress housed great crews of infernal combatants including swarms of imps, barbazu shock troopers, erinyes to serve as officers, and even pit fiends when so called upon.

Notable Flying Fortresses

 * A crashed fortress that was carrying the nine adamantine rods that could be used to unlock the the Companion on Toril.
 * Zariel's Flying Fortress, the gargantuan fortress commanded by Zariel, Archduchess of Avernus.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus


 * Video Games
 * • Baldur's Gate III