Carceri is a plane of endless imprisonment and bitter despair, where hatred festers, hope withers, and every path seems to lead deeper into darkness.
Description
Carceri is a grim outer plane of chaotic evil essence, a realm of crumbling worlds and poisoned horizons where betrayal and vengeance shape the land itself. The plane is composed of a series of vast, orb-like layers, each a self-contained prison-world drifting in an infinite void.
Jagged mountains, ash-choked wastelands, frozen wastes, and lightless swamps dominate the terrain, broken only by the ruins of ancient fortresses and forgotten cities that once promised refuge but now serve as tombs or torture dens. Rivers run thick with sludge or brine, forests rot even as they grow, and the air carries whispers of curses and distant screams.
Inhabitants
Carceri is populated by creatures defined by cruelty, treachery, and spite. The dominant race that inhabit the layered orbs are the winged demodands. Yugoloths, especially the more sadistic varieties, maintain strongholds and trade in souls, secrets, and suffering. Night hags stalk the wastes, harvesting anguish and weaving it into vile magic. Demons, fallen celestials, and other damned beings often find themselves trapped here, either cast down by cosmic judgment or lured by promises of power.
The plane is also infamous for housing legendary prisoners: traitor gods, imprisoned demon lords, cursed titans, and mortals whose crimes shook entire worlds. These captives are often bound by ancient magic, living out eternal sentences in specially crafted hell-prisons or labyrinthine oubliettes.
Adventuring in Carceri
To walk Carceri is to test one’s resolve against unrelenting hopelessness. Food spoils quickly, rest brings haunted dreams, and even allies may begin to doubt one another under the plane’s corrosive influence.
Those who escape Carceri rarely forget it. The plane leaves scars not only on the body, but on the soul, with reminders that some prisons are built of stone and others are built of despair.
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