Othrys

Carceri — Layer the First

The Chain of Treachery; Titans’ Home; the Swamps of Spite

Themes of the Layer: The whole layer’s a testament to futility. Othrys is the emptiness that comes from hunger for power for power’s sake. Here you’ll meet the souls who betrayed their kin, leaders who led their followers to ruin, and revolutionaries who sold out their cause. They’re stuck in a cycle of deceit and false hope, trying to drag newcomers into their mess.

Welcome to Othrys, Berk!

Ah, Othrys. Carceri’s first layer, the Titans’ home-from-home, and now your new stomping ground! Basher, if you thought your life was hard before, wait till you get a whiff of this ol’ swampy hellhole that calls itself Othrys. Just got here, have you? By the look of your clean clothes and wide eyes I’d wager that’s a yes. Look around berk, take in the sights, and say goodbye to your so-called freedom.

No doubt the first thing that’s slapped you in the face is the smell, eh? You bet it’s like a bog of rotten eggs mixed with the stench of sweaty demons. The thick, soupy air is filled with the croaks and buzzing of insects the size of your fist that look like they’ve got a personal vendetta against you. Swamps as far as the eye can see, and beyond that too, littered with dead trees that like the bones of giants long forgotten. Canals clogged with debris, fens littered with bodies, quicksand and shallow graves. And that fog, it’s there to ruin your day, personally—a constant, cloying reminder that you’re never seeing sunlight again. Oh that? No, that;’s not the sun, that’s another orb of Othrys. The layer’s strung out like a necklace of poisonous pearls, each little world a new prison for its inhabitants. No, not another layer, those orbs are all still Othrys; if you want to get to the next layer you’ve gotta go down.

Shock and Denial

Here’s the dark of it: Every berk like you who ends up in Othrys starts off the same way—shock and denial. The oppressive fog ain’t just physical, it clouds the mind too. You’ll see fresh out-of-towner berks wandering around, eyes glazed, mouths agape, not quite believing the fix they’re in. The swamps and marshes are a perfect metaphor for their state of your mind too you know—murky, confusing, and ready to swallow you whole if you’re not careful. They say shock and denial are the first stages of grief, and trauma. And better believe it berk, you’ll be finding plenty of both of those things in your new life in Carceri.

The landmarks of this place? You’ll find ruins of once-mighty empires, now nothing more than crumblin’ stone and shattered dreams. You’ll see the remnants of the Titans’ marble temples, grand structures, once big-as-you-like, but now just scream of lost power and their futile grasping. They’re a grim reminder that even the mightiest will fall eventually one day, and when they do, better believe it’s a long, hard plummet to rock bottom.

What’s that, a garnish? Don’t mind if I do. Right cutter, now you’ve earned some chant beyond me old fire and brimstone. Top up me mug with ale too and I’ll give you the dark.

What to Watch Out For

First rule of Othrys: trust no one. The petitioners here especially have perfected the art of betrayal. They’re the ones who turned their backs on their causes in life, stabbed their mates in the back, and now, they’re chafing to pull the same stunt on fresh meat like you. If someone’s offering help for free, best assume there’s a catch. They’ll smile, they’ll charm, but the knife’s always ready.

Then there’s the environment itself. Watch your step, or you’ll end up in the red-glowing quicksand, which looks solid enough—deceptively so—until you’re neck-deep and sinking fast. Those stagnant rivers you see? They’re veins of the River Styx. Drink from them, and you’ll forget who you are faster than you can say ‘Cutter.’ The air’s thick with disease-carrying insects, oh and let’s not forget the trolls—big, nasty blighters who’d love nothing more than to chew your limbs off. Are they alive or petitioners, you say? Berk, who cares. Trolls is trolls.

Now, over yonder, you might spot the Palace of Thunder. Raiden’s bolt-hole. Mind you, it’s not a tourist attraction. Get too close, and you’ll end up pretty crispy. Lightning flashes like a bad temper tantrum all around that place, illuminating the landscape in harsh, sudden bursts. And don’t even think about seeking refuge in the mountains over there. That’s Mount Othrys, yes berk, same as the plane, and Titans claim that peak. Better believe they don’t take too kindly to trespassers.

The Inmates of Othrys

I already warned you about the petitioners right? Well wait for it, there’s worse. Oh sure, there’s always a risk of the baatezu and tanar’ri swinging by and churning up the place with that pointless war of theirs. You’ll definitely want to steer clear of that—unless you’ve a right brave berk and stow away in an army to try and get yourself off of the plane? Does that ever work, you ask? Of course not.

No, much more dangerous than the devils and the demons are the yugoloths. They seem to get everywhere these days, like the muck of the swamp, only more ‘embodiment of pure evil’, like. Chant goes they’re up to something, but of course it does, those bleeders are always up to something. But it’s something big.

“Are the neighbours friendly?”
— The stupidest thing to say when building a castle in Carceri

The Titans

Speaking of big… then there’s the Titans. Once they were grand, now they’re just grandiose. Chant goes these colossal berks were the original heavyweights of Greek mythology, ruling the cosmos before those upstart Olympian powers like Zeus came along and gave ’em the boot. Titanomachy, they called it. Just desserts, I call it. Defeated and exiled, they and their Mountain ended up here, nursing their grudges, plotting endless revenge schemes, and cluttering up the view. It’s a twisted reflection of their lost glory; crumbling marble palaces, tumble-down temples, smashed-up statues. Stark reminders of their fallen status. They’ve got nothing but time and bitterness, and they use both in abundance. Cronos, Hyperion, and the rest—each one a shadow of their former self, powerful yet impotent, stuck in an eternal rut of resentment.

But it’s not all good news. The presence of those Titanic berks presence warps the land, their bitterness seeps into the ground, making the layer even more treacherous. Oh sure, they command respect, but their arrogance and scheming make them dangerous to approach. They’re not just here because they lost a war; they’re here because they embody the consequence of betrayal and ambition unfulfilled. They’re here as prisoners of their own hubris.

The Gehreleth

Now the real locals here, they’re the gehreleths. Yeah berk, I’m sure you’ve only heard them called demodands before, and frankly they’re not conversationalists enough that it’ll rightly matter what you call them to their faces. They’re the foul spawn of old Apomps themself, part fiend, part yugoloth, part corpse, part pure malice, so the chant goes. And better believe they’re universally foul-tempered. Each one has a different thing wrong with them, a corruption if you like. Seems old Apomps is losing his touch these days when it comes to making new fiends. Somehow those sods know the secret ways in and out of this prison, perhaps they’ve got the keys? But cutters they’re the worst kind of jailer you could ever ask for.

Well, me mug is empty and it looks like you’ve run out of jink. Yes you have, I saw that tiefling lift your purse while you were flapping your bonbon with me. No need to thank me, that particular lesson on keeping your wits about you was free. Welcome to the Swamps of Spite. Keep your wits about you, trust no one, and don’t stop moving. The shock will wear off, the denial will fade, but the harsh reality of this place? That’s here to stay. Embrace the swamp, berk, because it’s all you’ve got now. Best of luck, though I wouldn’t bet any of your—well, my—jink on your chances.

Locations of Othrys

Bastion of Last Hope, the (Anarchist burg)
- Dragon Magazine #315 p48; Manual of the Planes [3e] p105; Planar Handbook [3e] p177; Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p12,15-16; Planewalker’s Handbook [2e] p20,67
Botanical Gardens, the (site)
- Manual of the Planes [5e] p182
Bottom of the Barrel (independent burg)‡
Crypt, The (realm of Nerull)
- On Hallowed Ground [2e] p166,180; Manual of the Planes [3e] p105; Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p14-19
Gorehold (fortress of Culexa)
- Manual of the Planes [5e] p184
Labyrinth (independent burg)‡
Moldrus’ Gap (site)
- Hellbound [2e] Dark of the War p57
Mount Fujiyama (planar pathway)‡
Mount Othrys (realm-prison of the titans)
- Dragon Magazine #358 p68; Manual of the Planes [3e] p105; On Hallowed Ground [2e] p128,174; Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p14,16,18-19; Player’s Guide p18; Planewalker’s Handbook [2e] p20,67
Palace of Thunder (realm of Raiden)
- On Hallowed Ground [2e] p159,179
Red Pit, The (site)
- Planar Handbook [3e] p177
Reflective Chasm (site)
- Faces of Evil [2e] p80
River Styx (planar pathway)‡
Skullrot Asylum (prison of Adimarchus)
- Dragon Magazine #360 p13
Stones of Draetilus, the (site)
- Hellbound [2e] Dark of the War p57-58
Tower of Incarnate Pain (site)
- Faces of Evil [2e] p80

Powers of Oinos

Adimarchus (Abyssal lord, tanar’ri prince of madness)
- Dungeon Magazine #107 p39-40,49-51,54-55,62,67-69; #147 60,79-80; Fiendish Codex I [3e] p65,118,155,157
Cronus (Titan of sinister ambition)
- Deities and Demigods [3e] p99,101,112,116,125,129; Dragon Magazine #357 p62-64; Dragon Magazine #358 p68; Hellbound [2e] Dark of the War p58; Manual of the Planes [3e] p105; On Hallowed Ground [2e] p116,118,120,128-129,174; Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p11,16,18,61; Planescape Campaign Setting [2e] DM’s Guide p56; Monstrous Supplement p29
Hyperion (Titan of the sun)
- On Hallowed Ground [2e] p128; Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p18; Planescape Campaign Setting [2e] DM’s Guide p56
Iapetus (Titan of mortal creation)
- On Hallowed Ground [2e] p128; Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p18; Planescape Campaign Setting [2e] DM’s Guide p56
Mnemosyne (Titan of memory)
- On Hallowed Ground [2e] p128; Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p18; Planescape Campaign Setting [2e] DM’s Guide p56
Phoebe (Titan of purity and brightness)
- On Hallowed Ground [2e] p128; Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p18; Planescape Campaign Setting [2e] DM’s Guide p56
Polyphemos (cyclopean Titan)
- Deities and Demigods [3e] p129; Planes of Chaos [2e] Chaos Adventures p14-15
Raiden (Japanese power of thunder and arrows)
- Dragon Magazine #013 p12; On Hallowed Ground [2e] p159,179; Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p10-11
Surma (Finnish power of death)
- On Hallowed Ground [2e] p102,105,173
Tethys (Titan of the sea’s water)
- Deities and Demigods [3e] p99,131; On Hallowed Ground [2e] p128; Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p18; Planescape Campaign Setting [2e] DM’s Guide p56
Theia (Titan of the sight and vision)
- On Hallowed Ground [2e] p128; Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p18; Planescape Campaign Setting [2e] DM’s Guide p56
Themis (Titan of law and justice)
- On Hallowed Ground [2e] p128; Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p18; Planescape Campaign Setting [2e] DM’s Guide p56

Movers and Shakers

Allenos, Athenos (slave) (dead)
- Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p18
Antiphonus (planar human cleric of Cries [he/him] / CE)
- Well of Worlds [2e] p66-67
Blind Trust (prime human thief [he/him / Revolutionary League / CN)
- Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p16
Bubonix (yugoloth architect of the Tower of Incarnate Pain)
- Manual of the Planes [5e] p185
Culexa (gehreleth Overlord of Othrys / [she/her])
- Manual of the Planes [5e] p184
Damaskaros, Althea (planar human cleric [she/her] / N)
- Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p18
duBran, Veddish
- Planewalker’s Handbook [2e] p20
Razor Jack (planar tiefling fighter [he/him] / Harmonium / LE)
- Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p15
Steward (planar half-elf thief [she/her] / Revolutionary League / NE)
- Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p15
Tanuki, The (proxy of Raiden / CE)
- On Hallowed Ground [2e] p159
Varn, Raidan (petitioner)
- Planes of Conflict [2e] Player’s Guide p16

Bestiary of Othrys

Ahuizotl
- Muck-dwelling predators with the body of a monkey and the hind legs of a dog. Fiend Folio [3e] p14; Bestiary 2 [PF1e] p10
Mobogo†
- Gigantic toads with leathery wings, fangs, horns and three eyes. The mobogo are ancient creatures treated as gods by boggarts. Bestiary 3 [PF1e] p194

Canonical Sources

Dragon Magazine #315 p48
Dragon Magazine #358 p68
The Great Modron March [2e] p93
Hellbound [2e] Dark of the War p36,57
Planescape Monstrous Compendium 2 [2e] p114
Manual of the Planes [3e] p104-105
On Hallowed Ground [2e] p105,128,159,166,173-174,179-180
Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p6,8,11-12,14-19; Player’s Guide p4,18
Planescape Campaign Setting [2e] DM’s Guide p56
Something Wild [2e] p4,39

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.

More details to follow!

Other Sources:

Jon Winter-Holt