User:Moviesign/Sandbox

Hades was an Outer Plane in the Great Wheel cosmology model, home of the daemons. Located at the midpoint of the Lower Planes, it was a plane of evil balanced between Law and Chaos.

Description
The three layers of Hades were called glooms for good reason; they were realms devoid of emotion, hope, and peace. Grey land and grey sky throughout, with no sun, moon or seasons to break the monotony. Any color other than shades of grey would be obvious against the background but would fade to grey in a week or two. And like bright colors, beings would begin to fade also. At first they would feel the drain of emotions leaving only sadness, ennui, and defeatism. In a tenday or two they would be trapped in Hades and their existence would begin to fade until finally they became larvae.

Hades was a unique plane, as described by the Great Wheel cosmology model, because it not only joined to adjacent planes in the Great Wheel, it also held the foundation of Mount Olympus and the roots of Yggdrasil the World Ash. These two planar artifacts connected Hades to Olympus and Gladsheim respectively, allowing travel between Hades, the Upper planes, and Alternate Prime Material Planes without going through the Astral Plane, much like the World Tree in the World Tree cosmology.

Oinos
The first layer of Hades was named for the lord of the daemons (the Oinodaemon), Anthraxus the Decayed. Oinos was the land of disease with stunted and withered plants amid grey rocky terrain. The river Styx flowed through this layer and there were portals to Tarterus, Gehenna, and Concordant Opposition that looked like huge spinning metal coins, visible for miles/kilometers, often guarded by iron fortresses. Anyone walking this land or floating on the river Styx had a chance of contracting a major disease. Many of the daemons and some of the other creatures from the lower middle planes who were immune to disease made their home here.

Niflheim
Compared to Oinos, the terrain in the second layer was rougher, like foothills, with cooler temperatures, healthier vegetation including pine trees, and no disease. Everything was cloaked in dreary fog and mist, limiting vision to about a hundred feet (thirty meters). Yggdrasil's roots reached Niflheim, connecting it to Asgard in Gladsheim.

Pluton
The lowest level of Hades contained the base of Mount Olympus, a direct conduit through the Astral Plane to the plane of Olympus. The grey motif continued throughout this layer but most of the vegetation was black willow trees and dry, dying poplars.