Minethys

Carceri — Layer the Third

The Blasted Chain, the Stinging Sands, the Moral Desert

Themes of the Layer: The relentless, punishing consequences of greed and betrayal. The endless sandstorms and brutal environment reflect the harsh reality that those who betrayed trust for personal gain now face—a world where every interaction is transactional, and survival is a constant struggle. Greed strips away all value, leaving only the barest necessities to be fought over in a barren wasteland. The pursuit of selfish gain leads to isolation, endless toil, and a harsh, unforgiving existence.

The Lay of the Land

*Minethys is littered with sand-buried ruins*

Minethys is what happens when greed and betrayal manifest as an endless, sandblasted wasteland. Picture a vast desert of crimson sand, sharp as broken glass and blown by ceaseless, howling winds. These cruel winds don’t just whip up a bit of dust; they’re fierce enough to strip flesh from bone within hours if you’re addled enough to wander around unprotected. Even worse, tornadoes tear through the place regularly, strong enough to fling the unlucky to another sphere of Minethys… or even to another plane entirely! The air itself stinks of decay and ruin, making each breath a chore. It’s as if the plane itself resents your presence as much as you resent it.

Berk, life on Minethys isn’t just miserable; it’s a perpetual struggle against the environment. The locals wrap themselves head to toe in tattered cloth—you’d be forgiven for thinking they were mummies—just to keep the sand from flaying them alive. These wrappings have to be replaced as often as the wind shifts, leaving only the eyes exposed, which is just as well since there’s not much worth seeing here. The dwellings, if you can call them that, are little more than sand-filled pits or half-buried huts, offering minimal shelter from the relentless windstorms. Living in these squalid conditions is less about comfort and more about survival.

The Heart of the Blood War

Minethys is also a battleground of sorts, but not in the glorious, epic sense. It’s more of a dreary, miserable standoff between the forces of Baator and the Abyss. Neither side is particularly keen on this layer, yet neither will cede it to the other, lest some unknown advantage be gained. The battles here are little more than trench warfare, with both sides digging in deep to avoid the biting winds and waiting for the rare lull to launch a half-hearted assault. It’s a war with no glory, no honour—just endless waiting and digging in the sand.

Prisoners of Minethys

*Is that a dreaded sandstorm or just a dragon?*

The inhabitants of Minethys are a twisted lot for sure, embodying greed in its purest, most destructive form. Every interaction here is transactional, and nothing—absolutely nothing—is given freely. Want water? Trade for it. Need shelter? Better have something valuable to barter. This layer is a cruel joke on the avaricious petitioners, those who betrayed trust in life for a quick gain, only to now find themselves in a place where all their wealth is meaningless. There’s no jink here, no shiny coins to weigh you down—just a never-ending cycle of bartering for the basics of survival. The poor sods cursed to exist here have grown thick, leathery skin over time, a bitter adaptation that protects them from the worst of the sandstorms and the rough landings after a tornado toss.

The plane’s native creatures are a menacing bunch too. Fomorians, twisted giant-kin cast off by their own kind, and the gautiere, self-punishing creatures with a long history of betrayal, call this place home. Both are well-suited to the harshness of Minethys, with skins thick enough to shrug off the worst the layer can throw at them. Yet even they are trapped in this cycle of greed and survival, unable to escape the eternal sandstorm that is Minethys.

Minethys is a sharp sandy purgatory for the greedy and the treacherous, a place where every grain of glass-sand is a scouring reminder of the price paid for betrayal, and every breath is a struggle to stay alive. Welcome to the Moral Desert, berk—try not to get blown away.

Locations of Minethys

Coeus’ Temple (realm of Coeus)
Library of Xideous (site)
- Manual of the Planes [5e] p183
Mausoleum of Pain (aka the Falzureum) (realm of Faluzure)
- On Hallowed Ground [2e] p175
Payratheon (buried burg)
- Manual of the Planes [3e] p106
Rack of Injustice, the (realm of Karontor)
- Manual of the Planes [5e] p186; On Hallowed Ground [2e] p175
Scourged Palace (realm of Vyndiax)
- Manual of the Planes [5e] p184
Tamag (Underworld of the Turkic pantheon)‡
Trickster’s Delight (realm of Parrafaire)
- On Hallowed Ground [2e] p176

Powers of Minethys

Coeus (Titan of questions and intelligence)
- Dragon Magazine #358 p68; On Hallowed Ground [2e] p128; Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p18; Planescape Campaign Setting [2e] DM’s Guide p56
Faluzure (Falazure, The Night Dragon) (draconic power of undeath, decay, exhaustion)
- Dragon Magazine #344 p84-85; Manual of the Planes [5e] p186; On Hallowed Ground [2e] p47,175; Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p10
Karontor (giantish power of deformity, hatred, beasts)
- Manual of the Planes [5e] p186; On Hallowed Ground [2e] p175; Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p11
Parrafaire (naga power of guardianship, magical secrets)
- On Hallowed Ground [2e] p47,176; Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p11

Movers and Shakers

Narwhel’s Claw (shator gehreleth / [he/him] / CE)
- Hellbound [2e] Dark of the War p32
Vyndiax (gehreleth Master of Minethys / [he/him])
- Manual of the Planes [5e] p184
Xideous (shator gehreleth / [he/him])
- Manual of the Planes [5e] p184

Creatures of Minethys

Dune stalker
- Ambush attackers with a kiss of death. Monster Manual II [3e] p88-89
Gautiere
- Rag-wrapped wandering nomadic humanoids of Minethys. Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p13,20; Monstrous Supplement p14-15
Salka‡
- Quasi-demonic entities, akin to vampiric fiends
Wrackworm†
- Immense worms with scythe-like claws and a massive fanged mouth, these worms usually gnaw on the flesh of imprisones Rovagug, but occasionally escape to wreak havoc across the planes with the ability to bite through dimensions. They seem to favour the stinging sands of Minethys. Planar Adventures [PF1e] p250
Wraithworm
- Planescape Monstrous Compendium Vol 2 [2e] p124

Canonical Sources

Hellbound [2e] Dark of the War p32,60-61
Planescape Monstrous Compendium Volume 2 [2e] p124 (wraithworms common on Minethys)
Manual of the Planes [3e] p104,106
On Hallowed Ground [2e] p175-176
Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p6,10,12-14,20; Monstrous Supplement p14-15; Player’s Guide p18
Planescape Campaign Setting [2e] DM’s Guide p56
Uncaged Faces of Sigil [2e] p90

Canonwatch: Entries are from D&D canon unless otherwise marked, although when the canon is sparse I’ve got creative with the details; † adapted from a 3rd party publication; ‡ homebrew. I think the name of the layer derives from the Greek, ‘minytheo’, which means ‘to waste away. Or another possibility—Minthe was a nymph of the Underworld loved by Hades. She was turned to dust by a jealous Persephone—Hades then turned this dust into the aromatic herb we know as mint.

More details to follow!

Other Sources:

Jon Winter-Holt