Oinos

[ Gray Waste ] [ Oinos | Niflheim | Pluton ]

Oinos

The Gray Waste — Layer the First

The Gloom of Anguish, the Battle Plain

Themes of the Layer: Oinos, the Gloom of Anguish, is the first layer of the Gray Waste—at least, it’s the layer that the Astral Plane is connected to. This accursed place is the very embodiment of relentless suffering and ceaseless conflict. The key battlefield of the Blood War, Oinos is a realm where the philosophy of evil is entrenched in suffering and decay. It’s a place where hope is but a memory, and survival is a constant struggle against the oppressive forces of darkness.

The Lay of the Land

The landscape of Oinos is a desolate, pockmarked plain of mud and dust, trenches and razor wire, strewn with the ravaged and decaying corpses of countless battles. The ground is scarred from eons of conflict, making it a treacherous terrain for any who dare to traverse it. Stunted trees and plants dot the land, only to be trampled by the relentless march of fiendish armies or wither under the toxic air. The very atmosphere of Oinos is tainted with disease, most notably the Wasting Sickness, a malady that drains the life force from those unfortunate enough to walk the cursed soil here. This sickness weakens a victim slowly, draining first their vitality and then their personality, until they are completely debilitated and ultimately perish.

The sounds of Oinos are a cacophony of pain and violence. Here, you can’t escape the echoing screams of the dying, the distant clashing of weapons, the low rumble and ozone tang of magic, and the pitiful moans of the wounded. The clashing of steel, the tearing of flesh, and the anguished cries of the dying form a grim symphony that never ceases. Even in moments of relative calm, the air is filled with the haunting moans of the wounded. This constant noise serves as a reminder of the endless Blood War that rages across the layer, a battle between the forces of Baator and the Abyss that shows no sign of abating.

Key Features of the Gloom

Khin-Oin, the Wasting Tower, is an awful monument to the yugoloths’ power and ambition. This towering structure, constructed from the massive spinal column of the first power who crossed the yugoloths, rises twenty miles into the air and delves just as deep into the ground. Once the seat of power for the yugoloths, Khin-Oin is now a desolate fortress, its throne room sealed and its corridors echoing with the whispers of ancient secrets. The Siege Malicious, a throne of immense magical power, sits at the tower’s zenith, awaiting any who would dare claim it. However, the current master of Khin-Oin, the ultroloth Mydianchlarus, has not been seen in nearly a century, leaving the tower in a state of eerie abandonment.

The River Styx, that dark and malevolent waterway, winds its way through Oinos, serving as a grim reminder of the pain and anguish that define the layer. Merrenoloths, the boatmen of the Styx, ply their trade along its shores, ever eager to ferry desperate souls out of this cursed place—for a steep price, of course. The Styx itself is a perilous river, its waters capable of erasing memories and sapping the will of those who drink from it.

The Heart of the Blood War

The Blood War, berk, is the grand and grim spectacle of eternal conflict between the fiendish legions of Baator and the chaotic hordes of the Abyss. Imagine the fiercest battles you’ve ever heard of, then amplify the brutality and scale tenfold. That’s the Blood War, a never-ending struggle that rages across the lower planes, with Oinos as one of its central battlefields.

Picture this: vast armies of devils and demons clashing in a tumultuous frenzy, their battles rolling across the bleak plains of Oinos in unstoppable, destructive waves. The air is thick with the stench of blood, brimstone, and decay, while the ground is scarred and pockmarked by countless skirmishes. Weapons clash, claws rend, and magic crackles as these fiends tear into each other with a savagery that defies mortal comprehension.

In Oinos, the devastation is absolute. The landscape itself is scoured by the ferocity of the Blood War. The once flat and featureless plain is now a chaotic terrain of craters, trenches, and decaying corpses. The ground is littered with the remnants of war: shattered weapons, broken armour, and the bodies of the fallen. Everywhere you look, there’s evidence of the unending conflict—be it the blood-soaked soil or the charred remains of demonic and devilish siege engines.

The Field of Nettles is perhaps the most infamous battlefield in Oinos. This sprawling expanse of rocky ground and towering nettles, each capable of draining the blood from those they prick, is fed by the unending carnage of the Blood War. Here, fiends clash in epic battles, their blood nourishing the vicious plants that grow ever taller and more dangerous. The Field of Nettles is a grim shopping ground for scavengers too, who pick through the corpses for useful items, all while trying to avoid the fiendish scouts and the life-sapping essence of the Gray Waste.

Denizens of the Gloom

Important cutters to avoid in Oinos include the night hags, who herd their grotesque larvae across the desolate plains, and the press gangs that rove the battlefield, conscripting the living and the dead alike into the eternal conflict. Anthraxus, the former Oinoloth, once ruled from Khin-Oin with a leprosy-riddled fist, but his whereabouts are now unknown, leaving a power vacuum that the lesser fiends vie to fill.

You should also watch out for the awful likhoradkas, fiendish spawn of the Slavic power Stribog. Each of his favourite diseases twists a likhoradka into a different form, but all of them are malevolent and contagious.

In Oinos, the dangers are many. The ever-present threat of the wasting sickness, the perilous terrain, and the ceaseless conflict all conspire to crush the spirit of any who enter. Yet, the greatest danger of all is the layer’s insidious ability to drain a traveler’s very essence, leaving them a hollow shell devoid of hope and will. Oinos is a place where the philosophy of evil manifests as unrelenting suffering and decay. Its a realm where the clash of fiends and the stench of death permeate every corner, a battlefield where hope is a forgotten dream and survival is the only goal. The cursed land of Oinos embodies the true horror of the Gray Waste, a place where despair reigns supreme and the cycle of death and conflict never ends.

Locations of Oinos

• Bloodrot (realm of Urgathoa)†
  • Planar Adventures [PF1e] p199
• Canker of the Bloom (independent burg)‡
• Cave of Malifustal (site)
  • Contains a portal to the Prime. Dungeon Magazine #107 p30-33
• Cinder Furnace (realm of Szuriel)†
  • Planar Adventures [PF1e] p199
• Charnelhouse (realm of Incabulos)
  • On Hallowed Ground [2e] p166,180
• Clutched Victory (site)
  • Dragon Magazine #233 p27-28
• Crystal Spire, the (realm of Kelemvor and Jergal)
  • On Hallowed Ground [2e] p169,181-182; Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p47; (formerly Cyric’s Bone Castle, formerly Myrkul’s realm; Faiths and Avatars; Powers & Pantheons)
• Drowning Court (realm of Charon)†
  • Planar Adventures [PF1e] p199
• Fatigue (independent burg)‡
• Field of Nettles, the (site)
  • Battle of Thorns (battlefield)
  • Tower of Bones (site)
  • Wasteland, the (site)
  • Book of Vile Darkness [3e] p124; Hellbound [2e] Dark of the War p14,56-57; Wargames p4-7,9-10,13-23 (adventure set in the Field of Nettles)
• Fleshslough (realm of Yurtrus)
  • On Hallowed Ground [2e] p134,177
• Fortress of Disease, the (realm of Morgion)
  • On Hallowed Ground [2e] p180; Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p48
• Glitterhell, the (realm of Abbathor)
  • Abbathor’s Hall (site)
  • Mines, the (site)
  • Trove of Abattoir (site)
  • Village (Redoubt), the (realm town)
  • On Hallowed Ground [2e] p78-79,172; Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p47,51-52
• Heart of Darkness (site)‡
• Khin-Oin, the Wasting Tower (site)
  • Wasting Plain, the (site)
  • Dragon Magazine #358 p68; Dungeon Magazine #107 ; Faces of Evil [2e] p69,71,79-80; Manual of the Planes [3e] p109; Manual of the Planes [5e] p206-207, 209; Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p31,52-53; Player’s Guide p30-31; Planescape Campaign Setting [2e] DM’s Guide p52,59; Planewalker’s Handbook [2e] p22,39
• Lodestone of Misery (site)
  • Planes of Conflict [2e] Player’s Guide p31
• Mictlan (realm of Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecacihuatl)‡
• Mount Desesperance (site)‡
• Nergaltos (realm of Nergal)
  • On Hallowed Ground [2e] p65,172
• Plaguemere (realm of Apollyon)†
  • Planar Adventures [PF1e] p200
• Rivre Gloutonie (river)‡
• River Styx (planar pathway)
• Promise (site)
  • Manual of the Planes [5e] p207
• Sea of Lamentation (site)†
  • Planar Adventures [PF1e] p200
• Shedet (realm of Sobek)‡
• Silent Nation, the (site)†
  • Planar Adventures [PF1e] p200
• Stagnant Stronghold (fortress of Cholerix)
  • Manual of the Planes [5e] p186
• Sword for the Rich / Scythe for the Poor (independent burgs)‡
• Town at the Centre (burg, planar pathway)
  • Planes of Conflict [2e] Player’s Guide p31
• Tsardom of Copper (realm of Stribog)‡
• Uhlsgout (independent burg)‡
• Urdsrest (realm of Kuraulyek)
  • On Hallowed Ground [2e] p176
• White Mountain (site)†
  • Planar Adventures [PF1e] p200
• Withered Court (realm of Trelmarixian)†
  • Planar Adventures [PF1e] p200
• Writ in Blood (independent burg)‡

Powers of Oinos

• Abbathor (dwarvish power of greed)
  • Dragon Magazine #109 p29-30
  • On Hallowed Ground [2e] p47,78-80,172
  • Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malenvolentiae p47,51
• Horsemen of the Apocalypse (powers of famine, pestilence, war and death)†
  • Apollyon (the Horseman of Pestilence)
  • Charon (the Horseman of Death)
  • Szuriel (the Horseman of War)
  • Trelmarixian (the Horseman of Famine)
  • Planar Adventures [PF1e] p198
• Incabulos (Oerdian power of droughts, plagues and nightmares)
  • Dragon Magazine #75 p53; #359 p73
  • On Hallowed Ground [2e] p166-167,180
• Jergal (Faerûnian power of the dead-book)
  • Manual of the Planes [5e] p207
  • Powers & Pantheons [2e] p31-35
• Kelemvor (Faerûnian power of the dead)
  • Dragon Magazine #322 p92; #333 p52
  • On Hallowed Ground [2e] p47,168-169,171,181
  • Manual of the Planes [5e] p208
  • Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p47,50
• Kuraulyek (goblinoid power of urds)
  • On Hallowed Ground [2e] p176
  • Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p47
• Mictecacihuatl (Aztec power of the dead)‡
• Mictlantecuhtli (Aztec power of death)‡
• Morgion (Krynnish power of disease)
  • Hellbound [2e] Dark of the War p72
  • Manual of the Planes [5e] p208
  • On Hallowed Ground [2e] p165,180
  • Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p48
  • Planescape Campaign Setting [2e] DM’s Guide p59
• Nergal (Babylonian power of the dead)
  • Dragon Magazine #016 p4; #329 p36,42,44; #358 p72
  • On Hallowed Ground [2e] p65,172
• Sobek (Egyptian power of crocodiles)
  • Deities and Demigods [3e] p135,137,149,154-156 (156)
  • Dragon Magazine #325 p75-76
• Stribog (Slavic power of disease)‡
• Urgathoa (Golarion power of disease, gluttony, undeath)†
  • Planar Adventures [PF1e] p198
• Yurtrus (Orcish power of death and disease)
• Zyphus (powers of accidental death, graveyards, tragedy)†
  • Planar Adventures [PF1e] p198

Movers and Shakers

• Cholerix (yugoloth altroloth overseer of mercenary armies [she/her] / NE)
  • Manual of the Planes [5e] p185
• Dead Poolers
• Dreabh, Foreman (dwarf fighter proxy of Abbathor [he/him] / NE)
  • Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p52
• Likhoradkas (fiends infected with a variety of highly contagious diseases)‡
• Malifustal (planar night had [she/her] / NE)
  • Night hag who travels to the Prime to capture prisoners. Dungeon Magazine #107 p13,19,25,28,30-33
• Mydianchlarus (The Oinoloth) (planar ultroloth paragon [it/its] / NE)
  • Dragon Magazine #113 p13-14; #358 p68; Dungeon Magazine #107 p19, #144 p82; Faces of Evil [2e] p71,78-79; Manual of the Planes [3e] p109; Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p52-53; Planar Adventures [PF1e] p198

Canonical Sources

• Dragon Magazine #113 p11; #358 p68
• Dungeon Magazine #107 p19
• Faces of Evil [2e] p71
• Hellbound [2e] Dark of the War p36,38,73; Wargames p5-6,42,90,92
• Inner Planes [2e] p115
• Manual of the Planes [3e] p108-110
• Manual of the Planes [5e] p205-207
• On Hallowed Ground [2e] p65,78-79,134,166,169,172,176-177,180-182
• Planar Adventures [PF1e] p196-201†
• Planes of Conflict [2e] Liber Malevolentiae p32,43,45-48,50-53; Player’s Guide p4,28,30-31
• Planescape Campaign Setting [2e] DM’s Guide p59
• Planewalker’s Handbook p21

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