Occipitus
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Occipitus is the 507th layer of the Abyss.


Centuries ago, a demonic army invaded Celestia, intent on a campaign of conquest.

The heavenly host repulsed the demon horde, but at great cost.

The angels of Celestia were forced to cast the part of Celestia occupied by the demons into the Abyss, tearing apart the fabric of the plane.

This massive chunk of planar matter came to rest on the 507th layer of the Abyss, and became known to its denizens as "Occipitus."

Ever since, Occipitus has remained an accursed place, feared by both angels and demons.

Fiends who linger here seem to suffer all manner of misfortune, from madness to magical maladies to overly ambitious subordinates.

To most demons, the cause seemed obvious; the chunk of Celestia that Occipitus absorbed was somehow still influencing events there.

Then, Adimarchus, the ruler of Occipitus, suddenly vanished. To most fiends, this event was further proof that Occipitus's curse made the realm more trouble than it was worth.

Thereafter, Occipitus was only sparsely populated, mostly by unlucky fiends with nowhere else to go.

The new ruler of Occipitus shall be granted the title of as the "Master of the Smoking Eye "

Geography


When part of the celestial landscape fell into Occipitus, Adimarchus used the power of the layer itself to consume the wreckage.

This had the side effect of twisting Occipitus into the vaguely organic layer it is today. And the consumption of the celestial landscape is neither complete nor a one·way process. Parts of Occipitus remain a testament to the enduring power of good.

Occipitus appears as a great basin surrounded by impossibly steep mountains that rise to the sky. Near the center of the basin is a low mountain that looks like a half-buried skull.

Amoeba-like blobs of fire continually issue forth from the skull's exposed eye, rising to form the sky and streaming to the moumaintops that form the basin.

These fiery blobs, known as "plasms," bathe the entire landscape in a reddish light. Despite its unusual nature, Occipitus is still a part of the Abyss, and the layer is mildly evil-aligned and mildly chaos-aligned.

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The Skull


While the mountain·sized skull appears from a distance to be made of bone, closer inspection reveals that it's actually made from chalky, white rock.

The rock is prone to crumble without warning. While the mountain isn’t hollow like a real skull would be, it does have a few interior chambers.

The few creatures who know about the chambers access them through an underground tube hidden just south of the skull.

The skull has no major features other than the eye socket from which the plasms issue. Because the plasms are exceptionally dangerous, few venture into the eye socket.

Because the skull is visible from almost anywhere on Occipitus, it's a useful landmark for the layer‘s denizens.

The Skies Above Occipitus


The sky has thousands of plasms full of fire and evil energy streaming to the far edges of the layer. The plasms aren't alive, but they do respond to life by moving nearer to it.

Creatures who fly too near the fiery sky find themselves trapped in a swarm of plasms drawn to their life energy.

Flying creatures on Occipitus soon notice another unusual aspect to the plane: there's no wind.

The Flats


The "ground" on Occipitus is a fleshy, spongy surface, which is warm and slightly damp to the touch.

Nothing grows in the grayish-ted substance. It can't be dug, only cut into chunks and removed. It‘s not alive, however.

The flats stretch unbroken for miles. but the traveler to Occipitus quickly notices variations in the flats that add to its skin like quality.

Some patches of flat have thick. hairlike fibers emerging from them, while others have surface variations reminiscent of scales and wrinkles.

Characters walking the flats may notice some other features common to the terrain. including the following.

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Ground Ulcers


What the denizens of Occipitus call "ulcers" are 5-foot or 10-foot wide holes in the flat surface.

The ulcers generate caustic. bubbling red liquid—sometimes just a seepage. but other times what looks like a fountain.

The ulcer fluid isn’t blood, but it looks and smells like it. The seeping ulcers simply have a shallow pool of ulcer fluid around them.

Such pools are usually about a foot deep and 20 to 30 feet across. Fountain ulcers have a similar pool around them. but above the pool floats a pink mist—miniscule droplets of the ulcer fluid.

Celestial Rubble


Part of Celestia has been subsumed into the pervasive evil of Occipitus. but some parts remain as a reminder of the layer's celestial origins.

The wreckage of Celestia has been scattered across Occipitus. Such areas have dense rubble and ruined structures—usually stone walls, partial statues or intricately carved monoliths.

Unlike the rest of Occipitus, areas of celestial rubble aren't evil—or chaos-aligned.

Tremor Zones


Parts of Occipitus, often but not always near celestial rubble, quiver continuously, as if a minor earthquake were always going on there.

A typical tremor zone has a 100-foot radlus. Within that range, the vibrations are enough to knock a character over.

Ossalc Forests


Formed of a chalky, crumbling substance, the Ossaic forests are collections of gently curving columns that pierce the spongy surface of the layer.

Visitors from the Material Plane often say they look like massive rib bones thrust into the air.

Fibrous Forests


Some parts of Occipitus contain massive tangles of fleshy, ropelike plants that feed off the layer's surface.

Although they aren't living creatures, these tangles of fibers slowly attempt to consume creatures who stay in one place for long.

Creatures within 20 feet of a tangle who spend more than a few seconds in the same spot find that some of the tendrils attempt to grab them.