Mungoth

[ Gehenna ] [ Khalas | Chamada | Mungoth | Krangath ]

Gehenna — Layer the Third

The Crackling Furnace, the Twilight Flames, the Treacherous, the Burning Ice

Themes of the Layer: Mungoth embodies the themes of exploitation, corporate greed, and a staggering lack of compassion.

The third mount of Gehenna is a treacherous, wasteland of flaming ice where the landscape itself seems to conspire against you. It’s a frozen desert peppered with volcanic vents that cast a ghostly twilight violet glow, at least, the ones that aren’t snuffed out by acidic snow and storms of caustic ash. The ground is a fragile crust of rock, frequently rocked by tremors and mudslides. The void surrounding the mountain is perpetually dark, with the only light being a dim, eerie violet from the death throes of the volcano. Snowstorms here are no ordinary blizzards; they are lethal mixes of ash and acid that will etch metallic armours and even strip unprotected flesh from bone. The air is filled with the acrid scent of sulphur and burnt flesh, a constant reminder of the layer’s hostility to anything mortal.

The Dangers of Mungoth

Mungoth is a frozen hellscape where the steep slopes are constantly shifting and quaking. The snow is deadly, burning through clothing and flesh alike, dealing damage to anyone unprotected by magic. Mudslides, a deadly mixture of ash, snow, and lava, frequently cascade down the slopes, threatening to engulf any unwary sod. While the stench of sulphur is not as intense here as in Chamada, it still permeates every nook and cranny, making the air heavy and difficult to breathe. Visibility is often limited by the constant snowfall and ash fall, making navigation perilous, and scouting out dangers a constant challenge.

All in all, life of the surface is a miserable existence. And this is why the extinct lava-tubes, caverns and underground spaces of Mungoth are so hotly contested. Deep inside the mountain there’s at least some residual warmth, with rocks that glow a dull red or violet. The deeper you go, the less the cold bites, but the more fiercely there caves are guarded. However, planewalkers should be warned that mudslides and lava-bursts can also fill the caverns, turning the subterranean refuges into potential deathtraps too. Ah, Mungoth! Always a delight.

The Denizens of Mungoth

Why would anyone be barmy enough to travel to this accursed place? Well cutter, you’d be surprised. Firstly, of course, there’s the petitioners, who frankly don’t get a lot of choice. The sods who end up here were those with true ice in their heart, misers who did nothing when they could have helped by donating a coin, corrupt lawmakers who fabricate evidence to frame a sod just to get themselves ahead, or berks who lie to send an innocent to the gallows, to protect someone close to them.

The followers of Loviatar, Mistress of Pain, also make pilgrimage to her realm, Ondtland. Her domain is a place of suffering and harsh discipline, where her devotees come eagerly to seek her cruel embrace. No doubt they find in Mungoth’s burning caress a reflection of their own inner pain and a second harsh, unloving mistress in the environment itself.

As for planewalkers, well there’s a reason that they might come here too. The diamond mines of Mungoth yield the largest, clearest, purest blood diamonds of any in the Lower Planes. Some call them blood diamonds because of the colour, others because they’re so dangerous to extract, and yet more because the Blood War is never far behind when a new motherlode of gems is discovered. Dwarves and duergar, svirfneblin and tieflings, even adventurous humans come here to try and strike it rich. The most dangerous jobs are done by slaves, naturally, but even the slave-drivers take enormous risks.

Most end up in the dead-book, of course, and that’s partly because the surface of Mungoth also is home to the shira divs, who embody the deadly nature of the wild. These fiends prowl the icy wastelands, their brutal hunts a testament to the survival of the fittest. They revel in adding to the harshness of the environment, pushing their prey to its absolute limits. Apparently, that just makes the corpses taste even sweeter. Diamond-hunters beware, because the shira are diamond hunter-hunters.

Last, and certainly most, are the yugoloths. While they’re less numerous here than on Chamada or Khalas, there are still more than you’d want. The ‘loths come here for business, and you’d better bet that yugoloths you’re unlucky enough to encounter on Mungoth are even more secretive than usual.

Usually known as the shock troops of the yugoloth armies, nycaloths are brutish and powerful, resembling hulking demons with bat-like wings. In Mungoth, they serve as enforcers and guards, patrolling the slopes and ensuring that any cutters who come snooping around are swiftly crushed. They revel in the violence, finding great joy in the pain and suffering of others. You might also be surprised to see hydroloths here. There’s precious little water, but the hydroloths have a knack with the mudslides—guiding them away from locations important too yugoloth goals, and if that means they accidentally destroy a mining burg at the same time, well that’s just a bonus. But what are they defending? Well, cutter, that’s a dark for another time… you’ve not garnished me nearly enough jink for me to risk telling you that.

Mungoth is a reminder to us mere bashers of the destructive power of greed and exploitation. It’s a place where the very ground beneath your feet is a potential deathtrap, where the air is poison, and the snow burns. Only the most resilient and well-prepared mortals can hope to survive here, and even then, it’s a grim and thankless existence.

Locations of Mungoth

Allegation (realm of Apate)‡
Burning Glacier (site)
- Hellbound: Dark of the War [2e] p61
Death’s Embrace (realm of Mellifleur/Velsharoon)
- On Hallowed Ground [2e] p176
Force of Character (Signer burg)‡
Gateway to the Underworld (realm of Chitza-Atlan)‡
Hulgis’ Cleft (independent burg)
- Planes of Conflict [2e] Player’s Guide p27
Ondtland (realm of Loviatar)
- Aasbern (realm town)
- Smertzen (realm town)
- On Hallowed Ground [2e] p104,173,181; Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p37-38
Portent (independent burg)
- Bazaar, the (site)
- Great Hall, the (site)
- Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p38-40, Player’s Guide p26
Skarach’s Gorge (site)
- Dungeon Magazine #055 p46
Steep Ascent (planar pathway)
Valley of the Outcast (site)
- Manual of the Planes [3e] p114
Winter’s Embrace (realm of Cailleach)‡

Powers of Mungoth

Apate (Greek power of deceit, lies and betrayal)‡
Cailleach (Celtic power of cold)‡
Chitza-Atlan (centaur power of the Underworld)‡
Gullveig (Norse power of black magic and greed)
- Dragon Magazine #110 [1e] p17
Loviatar (Faerûnian and Finnish power of pain)
- On Hallowed Ground [2e] p38,102,104-105,168,173,181; Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p28,37-38, Player’s Guide p24,27; Player’s Primer to the Outlands [2e] p17; Planescape Campaign Setting DM;s Guide [2e] p58
Mellifleur / Velsharoon (Oerdian / Faerûnian power of necromancy and liches)
- Dragon Magazine #322 [3e] p88, #358 p68, #359 p121; Manual of the Planes [3e] p111,114; On Hallowed Ground [2e] p47,176; Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p28; Powers and Pantheons [2e] p76
Vara (Oerdian power of nightmares and fear)
- The Scarlet Brotherhood [2e] p41

Movers and Shakers

Hulgis Zynzaar (scarred tiefling high-up of Hulgis’ Cleft)
- Planes of Conflict [2e] Player’s Guide p27
Inimigle (yagnoloth inhabitant of Skarach’s Gorge)
- Dungeon Magazine #055 [2e] p20-29,39-47,70
Laughing Jane (tiefling of Portent)
- Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p38-40
Tastuo (fire giant inhabitant of the Valley of the Outcast)
- Manual of the Planes [3e] p114

Creatures of Mungoth

Achaierai
- Manual of the Planes [3e] p124; Planes of Law [2e] Acheron p11,30 Monstrous Supplement p2-3,29; Planescape Campaign Setting DM’s Guide [2e] p49,56
Baatezu
- Exiled, hiding or Blood War troops
Barghest
- Dragon Magazine #26 p44, #138 p77, #350 p56; Faces of Evil [2e] p88; Planar Handbook [3e] p95; Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p32; Planescape Campaign Setting Monstrous Supplement [2e] p6-7
Combusted†
- Reanimated corpse of a victim of spontaneous combustion. Bestiary 6 [PF1e] p63
Death dog†
- Worm-infested two-headed pack hunters. Bestiary 4 [PF1e] p44; Fiend Folio [3e] p41
Destrachan†
- Cruel reptilian pack hunters using sonic attacks. Bestiary 2 [PF1e] p83
Div†
- Aghash†
  - Embodiments of the evil eye. Bestiary 3 [PF1e] p84; Bestiary 3 [PF2e]
- Akvan†
  - Destroyers of beauty and wonder. Bestiary 3 [PF1e] p85
- Bushyasta†
  - Fiends of sloth and laziness. Book of the Damned [PF1e] p248
- Doru†
  - Corrupting whispers in the dead of night. Bestiary 3 [PF1e] p86; Bestiary 3 [PF2e]
- Druj nasu†
  - Corrupters of corpses. What Grows Within [PF1e] p84
- Pairaka†
  - Seductive div of lust and corruption. Bestiary 3 [PF1e] p88; Bestiary 3 [PF2e]
- Sepid†
  - Elite enforcers of the div. Bestiary 3 [PF1e] p89; Bestiary 3 [PF2e]
- Shira†
  - Bestial stalkers and assassins. Bestiary 3 [PF1e] p90
- Taromaiti‡
  - The gorgons of hate and malice. Creature Codex [PF1e]
Duergar
- The wicked cousins of the dwarves, miners, bandits and general bad eggs of the underground
Gehreleth
- Raiding party out of Carceri, seeking slaves, food or just mindless violence
Ghorazagh†
- Tunneling monstrosities who build nests out of blood-glue. Bestiary 3 [PF1e] p124
Giant, cloud
- Towering giants with smooth pale skin. Giants Revisted [PF1e]
Giant, tomb†
- Towering lean giant with milk-white skin and a scythe. Bestiary 6 [PF1e]
Goblin
- Petitioner or planar goblin, they’re trouble either way, and the Gehennan gobs are meaner than most
Goblin dog†
- They might look like mangy riding dogs but these are actually riding rats, used by Gehennan goblins. Bestiary 1 p157
Hyakume†
- Hideous and corpulent, with numerous eyes dotting their bodies, hyakumes are mystics of malevolence. Bestiary 4 [PF1e] p153
Imp
- Small winged devilish creature, formed from larvae by fiends. Often used a cantankerous familiars. Planescape Monstrous Compendium [2e]; Bestiary 1 [PF1e] 78, Monster Manual 1 [3e]
Joroguma†
- Beautiful woman with eight spider legs growing from their backs, these monsters lure planewalkers to their doom. Bestiary 3 [PF1e] p156
Larva
- Spirits of the evil dead, reformed into horrid worms with humanoid faces. Planescape Monstrous Compendium [2e] p62
Mi-go†
- Graceful fungoid race who appear to be insect-like. They are scientists and colonists from an alien realm. Bestiary 4 [PF1e] p193.
Night hag
- Traders in larvae and soul gems. Planescape Monstrous Compendium [2e] p80
Nightmare
- Flaming equine harbingers of death who carry only the most evil of riders. Planescape Monstrous Compendium [2e] p82; Bestiary 1 [PF1e] p216
Nightmare, Cauchemar†
- A more dangerous species of the nightmare, reputed to be able to step into the Ethereal Plane with its rider as well as plane shift. 101 Variant Monsters [PF1e]
Phiuhl
- Spirits of slain elementals which haunt the desolate cliffs of Gehenna. Planes of Conflict [2e] Monstrous Supplement, Fiend Folio [3e] p135
Quasit
- Small winged demonic creature, formed from larvae by fiends. Often used a treacherous familiars. Planescape Monstrous Compendium [2e]; Bestiary 1 [PF1e] p66, Monster Manual 1 [3e]
Sabosan†
- Bat-like muscular vicious humanoid predators with leathery wings. Bestiary 3 [PF1e] p233
Slasrath
- Flying lamprey predators. Planes of Conflict [2e] Monstrous Supplement, Fiend Folio [3e] p158
Spider, hook
- Patient psionic hunters of fiends. Planescape Monstrous Compendium II [2e] p92
Tanar’ri
- Almost any kind of tanar’ri — they could be fugitives or Blood War troops
Terlen
- Vicious winged shark predators of the land, rivers and skies. Fiend Folio [3e] p174; Planescape Monstrous Compendium 2 [2e] p114; Monster Manual 2 [3e] p197; Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae 13,32,50
Urhag†
- Urhags are unnatural creatures of ancient ruins and barren canyons. Originally natives of the Demiplane of Leng, they can slip into the waking world via an infected dreamer’s flesh. Bestiary 6 [PF1e] p269
Vaath
- Relentless, vicious predatory killers who love to inflict pain. Book of Vile Darkness [3e] p182, Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p13, Monstrous Supplement p26; Planewalker’s Handbook [2e] p20
Vaporighu
- Bloated creatures covered in oozing sores and emitting a foul odour. They embody the pollution of the air itself. Planescape Monstrous Compendium 2 [2e] p118; Monster Manual 2 [3e] p197; Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p32; Planescape Campaign Setting DM’s Guide [2e] p58
Vrykolakas†
- This twisted rancid monstrosity knows only rage and relishes the suffering of those who failed it in life. Pathfinder 29: Mother of Flies
Weaverworm†
- Foul servants of powers of greed and gluttony. Pathfinder Adventure Path #45, Broken Moon [PF1e] p86
Yugoloth
- Arcanaloth
  - Record keepers and contract executors, recording Blood War transactions. They embody death by conspiracy. Planescape Monstrous Compendium [2e] p120
- Baernaloth
  - Elder race of outcast solitary yugoloths, thought of as mythical. Planes of Conflict Monstrous Supplement [2e] p30
- Canoloth
  - Scouts and skirmishes in yugoloth armies, guardians and bodyguards of more powerful ‘loths. Manual of the Planes [3e] p185; Planescape Monstrous Compendium [2e] p126
- Dergoloth
  - Spherical insect-like beasts with five legs and three arms, mercenaries in the Blood War known for devouring the injured and dying on the battlefields. Personification of death by violence and insanity. Planescape Monstrous Compendium 2 [2e] p121; Bestiary 2 [PF1e] p66
- Gacholoth
  - Infinitrators and terrorists of the Blood War. Personification of death by terrorism. Dungeon Magazine #49; Monstrous Compendum Annual Vol, 4 [2e] p93
- Guardian Yugoloth (Ceustoloth)
  - Summoning fodder of the yugoloths, personification of death by suicide. Monstrous Manual [2e], Bestiary 2 [PF1e] p65 (as ceustodaemon)
- Hydroloth
  - Elite fighting force for amphibious attacks. Personification of death by drowning. Planescape Monstrous Compendium 2 [2e] p122; Bestiary 2 [PF1e] p67
- Marraenoloth
  - Skeletal ferrymen of the River Styx. Planescape Campaign Setting Monstrous Supplement [2e] p30; Tome of Horrors [PF1e], as charonodaemon
- Mezzoloth
  - Humanoid insects used as foot soldiers and mercenaries. Manual of the Planes [3e] p186; Planescape Monstrous Compendium [2e] p123
- Nycaloth
  - Elite cavalry, observers and reporters on Blood War battles. Personify death by falling. Planescape Monstrous Compendium [2e] p124, Manual of the Planes [3e] p185
- Piscoloth
  - Sergeants and overseers of mercenary armies. Personification of death by poisoning. Planescape Monstrous Compendium [2e] p125; Fiend Folio [3e] p196; Bestiary 2 [PF1e] 72
- Purroloth†
  - Generals of massive armies, master tacticians. Bestiary 2 [PF1e] p73 (as purrodaemon)
- Ultroloth
  - Officers and generals of Blood War armies. Represent death by oppression. Planescape Monstrous Compendium [2e] p126, Manual of the Planes [3e] p185
- Voor, Lasher
  - Hulking, brutish yugoloths used as guardians or bodyguards. Monster Manual IV [3e] p193
- Yagnoloth
  - Nobles of yugoloth fiefs. Planescape Monstrous Compendium [2e] p127

Canonical Sources

Dungeon Magazine #055
Hellbound: The Blood War [2e]
Manual of the Planes [1e, 3e, & 5e]
On Hallowed Ground [2e]
Planar Handbook [3e]
Planes of Conflict [2e]
Planescape Campaign Setting: DM’s Guide to the Planes [2e]
Planescape Monstrous Compendium Vols. 1 & 2 [2e]
Planewalker’s Handbook [2e]

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