Agathion (layer)

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Agathion was the fourth and last layer of Pandemonium. The strangest and deadliest of all four layers, it consisted of isolated chambers within an infinite expanse of solid rock.

Geography
The broad tunnels of Pandesmos narrowed down progressively in Cocytus and Phlegethon until they reduced to nothing in Agathion. The layer was marked by dead ends and completely isolated caverns, accessible only by portals from the other layers and from other planes.

Only approximately half of the caverns of Agathion contained air. The other half of the chambers were in vacuum. In both cases, portals opening from other layers of Pandemonium invariably caused sudden and violent windstorms.

History
In the distant past, when Kiaransalee defeated Orcus and sought to remove every trace of his existence from the multiverse, she had two of her servants hide the Wand of Orcus in a hidden vault buried within Agathion. The power that emanated from the wand excavated a large cave complex in the layer, as the artifact actively sought to be eventually found. Orcus, in his disguise as Tenebrous, overthrew Primus in Mechanus and ordered an extemporaneous Great Modron March, which became known as the Rogue March, in an effort to learn the location of the wand.

Some other time, the Lady of Pain defeated a powerful wizard who had challenged her and imprisoned his soul inside the Labyrinth Stone, a nearly indestructible ebony gem. She hid the gem away in one of the chambers of Agathion. In the days before the Faction War, Duke Rowan Darkwood sent a party of explorers into the layer to search for the gem, in an effort to use the wizard's power for his own gain. The party managed to access the chamber after a new passage to it was carved by the death throes of a deity.

Rumors & Legends
The immense difficulty of locating the caverns of Agathion made them the perfect place for deities to hide a variety of items. Rumors existed of artifacts, mementos, powerful monsters, languages, and even cosmologies hidden away within the natural vaults. For additional security, some of these chambers were also populated with monsters charged with protecting the hidden items.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Doors to the Unknown • Dead Gods • Faction War