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[Feanor]

What's the difference between the Abyss and the Nine Hells ?

[T.G.Maestro]

INFINITE LAYERS OF THE ABYSS
It is an infinity of clutching horror.
It is home to demons.
It is where morality crumbles and ethics perish.
The Abyss is all that is ugly, all that is evil, and all that is chaotic reflected in infinite variety through layers beyond count. Its virtually endless layers spiral downward into ever more atrocious forms. Conventional wisdom places the number of layers of the Abyss at 666, though there may be far more. The whole point of the Abyss, after all, is that it's far more terrible than conventional wisdom could ever encompass.
Each layer of the Abyss has its own unique, horrific environment. No theme unifies the multifarious layers other than their harsh, inhospitable nature. Lakes of caustic acid, clouds of noxious fumes, caverns of razorsharp spikes, and landscapes of magma are all possibilities. So are less immediately deadly terrains such as parched salt deserts, subtly poisonous winds, and plains of biting insects. The Abyss is home to demons, creatures devoted to death and destruction. A demon in the Abyss looks upon visitors as food or a source of amusement. Some see powerful visitors as potential recruits (willing or not) in the never-ending war that pits demons against devils: the Blood War.
Demon lords and deities inhabit the Abyss, including Demogorgon, Graz'zt, Pazuzu, Blibdoolpoolp (deity of kuotoa), Diirinka (deity of the derro), the Great Mother (deity of beholders), Gruumsh (deity of orcs), Hruggek (deity of bugbears), and many others, including the well-known deity Lolth (draw deity and queen of the demonweb pits).
Other demon princes include Yeenoghu, Alzrius, Baphomet, Eldanoth, Fraz Urblu, Juiblex, Kostchtchie, Lissa'aera, Lupercio, Lynkhab, Pale Night, Verin, and Vucarik.
As noted before, the Abyss has layers beyond count, though the top layer is well-known: the Plain of Infinite Portals.

NINE HELLS OF BAATOR
It is Hell, where sympathy withers and malice blooms.
It is home to devils.
It is the plane where the rule of law reveals evil's heart.
The Nine Hells of Baator, sometimes simply called Baator or even Hell, best satisfy the imagination of travelers, the greed of treasure-seekers, and the battle-fury of paladins. It is the ultimate plane of law and evil, the epitome of premeditated, crafted cruelty. The devils of the Nine Hells all obey a higher law than themselves, but all that really means is that they chafe and rebel in their caste. Most undertake any plot or action, no matter how foul, to advance themselves. At the very top of the hierarchy is Asmodeus, who has yet to be bested. That is the law of the Nine Hells. The Nine Hells compete with any other lower plane for their sheer diversity of vileness. The devils are more cunning, more subtle, and more dangerous than other fiends?or so say the devils. A demon revels in slavering, insane, evil power, but a devil always has an agenda, a plan of attack, and a carefully conceived plot for retribution if necessary. Baator consists of nine layers, each lower than the next, like ledges stepping down into an ever-deeper pit. Each layer descended gives a traveler a better view of the Nine Hells as a whole; the layers fit together like puzzle pieces, and each new descent allows a traveler greater understanding of how the puzzle comes together. It is an evil enticement. The Nine Hells are home to minor, major, and noble devils, as well as true deities of evil (such as Kunulmak of the kobolds and Sekolah of the sahuagin). The Dark Eight are eight powerful pit fiends who control the primary devil armies engaged in the Blood War. Worse still are the Lords of the Nine: Each lord controls one layer of the Nine Hells, hovering in status somewhere between scion pit fiend and demideiry. Of course, all the lords ultimately answer to Asmodeus, the Lord of the Nine, who rules from Nessus, the bottom layer of the Nine Hells.

[Bane]

The nine layers of Baator are explained a bit more in Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark

Here is some extra info from the game that will be done below here in case you don't want to see these MAJOR spoilers of the game (these will reveal a lot of the story line, I would not read them if you intend to play the game):





















































MAJOR SPOILERS:
The eighth lord of Baator (mephistopoles) tries to take over Toril (the world in which Faerun is situated) so that eventually he becomes powerful enough to fight Asmodeus to become the most powerful devil and undisputed power of the hells. Asmodeus decreed that none of the lords may directly attack Toril but mephistopoles allowed himself to be bound by an evil drow empress so tht he could gain access to Toril and he thens finds a way of breaking her hold on him and is let free. Each level of Baator is different, the eighth being extremely cold with lava pools found every now and then. As TG has pointed out Demons are chaotic and do what they want when they want. Devils are tactical, charismatic and cunning and all obey higher laws (because they have to) but will try to break these wherever possible. I dislike both and believe that they should be destroyed wherever possible whether you are good or evil (they will betray you if they needed to).

Edited by Felstorm, 10 June 2004 - 02:53 AM.