Games - Baator

	Games - Baator

In the Dungeons & Dragons
fantasy role-playing game, Baator, also known as the Nine Hells of Baator or the Nine Hells, is a lawful evil-aligned plane of existence. It is one of a number of alignment-based Outer Planes that form part of the standard Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) cosmology, used in the Planescape
and Greyhawk
campaign settings. It also exists as one of a number of faith-based Outer Planes that form part of the separate 3rd-Edition Forgotten Realms
cosmology, used in the setting of the same name.

Baator is stylised as a plane of sinister evil and cruelty. The different types of devils that dwell here obey a strict hierarchical caste-like social structure. Each continually plots to advance their position through treachery and deception. Unlike the demons of the Abyss, the devils are highly organised, with a logical and calculating nature.

The plane itself is composed of nine different layers, each of which models a differing but no less inhospitable and dreadful environment, including barren plains of ash and rock to frozen wastes of endless ice.

Inhabitants

The principal inhabitants of Baator are the devils, fiendish extra-dimensional creatures of pure lawful evil; the most populous variety of devils are the baatezu, a race which effectively rules the plane. The devils are in a constant conflict known as the Blood War with the chaotic evil demons. The ultimate rulers of Baator are the Lords of the Nine, also called archdevils or Archdukes; each one rules absolutely over one of the layers. The current political climate of Baator was determined by a civil war known as the Reckoning of Hell.

Besides the devils, Baator is home to evil deities such as Tiamat and Kurtulmak, as well as hell hounds, fire giants, rakshasas, and other evil creatures. A few mortals live in well-defended fortresses in Baator.

Baator is also populated by several types of petitioners, the most common being soul shells. These are ghost-like forms which can be molded by the devils into increasingly horrific and agonized forms; ultimately, their destruction results in their essence merging with that of Baator. Especially evil petitioners become lemures, mindless blobs of molten flesh who serve as shock troops in the Blood War and basic servants to other devils.

In earlier Planescape supplements, another type of creature, the nupperibo, is said to inhabit Baator as a remnant of an ancient race that existed long before the Baatezu. Nupperibos grow naturally from larvae present on the plane if left to develop. Since the arrival of the Baatezu, the larvae have been molded by the devils into lemures in an effort to prevent large numbers of nupperibo developing.

Structure

Baator is spatially infinite, consisting of nine infinite layers or sub-planes.

In the standard D&D cosmology, Baator’s first layer, Avernus, shares borders with the neighbouring planes of the Infernal Battlefield of Acheron and the Bleak Eternity of Gehenna; travel is possible between Baator and these planes at certain locations.

In the Forgotten Realms cosmology, Baator links via the Astral Plane, to Toril, the Prime Material Plane. A number of portals directly connect it with the Barrens of Doom and Despair, Clangor, and Blood Rift.

The layers of Baator are configured as a descending cone, with each layer successively lower than the one before it, as opposed to the Upper Planes of good alignment, where one goes higher to enter deeper into the plane.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Baator ]

Searches on eBay

baator