Avalas	Thuldanin	-	Tintibulus	Ocanthus
The Outer Planes	-	Deities & Demigods	-	Manual of the Planes

    The iron-shod plains of Acheron are the most lawful
of the evil planes, bridging the gap between the highly organized
and evil Nine Hells and the ultimate organization of the clockwork
disks of Nirvana. Acheron is the home of those who inflict evil
secondarily, their chief aim being organization and order. There
are many armies in Acheron, but surprisingly few leaders, for the
nature of leadership is such that those who are capable of init
drift toward other planes with more definite alignments. <that is very debatable: in theory, leadership = lawful> <i think Jeff is confusing Cha with leadership, in theory>

Acheron is divided into four layers, each layer stressing order
over evil, the group over the individual. Each layer consists of
huge blocks that drift together, join for a time, then part again.
These blocks are the size of nations, yet when they collide there
are no tremors. While blocks are joined, beings can change
blocks and travel with the new block as it drifts off. Gravity is
toward the center of each block; the medium between the blocks
can be considered air for purposes of breathing and flying.

Avalas

The topmost plane of Acheron has the greatest number
of block-like worlds and the most inhabitants. Here the armies
of the afterworlds come to battle, both those native to Acheron
and those from other planes here to settle differences in a neutral
territory. The ground is black and hard as metal (hend the term "iron shod)
and reverberates to the  passing of thousands of
troops. What terrain there is consists of cone-shaped mountains
and pits, the iron citadels of various armies, and the river Styx,
which rises from one pit, travels across two or three sides of a
block, then disappears into another pit. The Styx does not run
through all the blocks, but those it does run through can be
reached by Charon and his servants.
 

Thuldanin

    The second layer of Acheron is the scrap heap for
all manner of unusual creations that came about either through
design or accident. The blocks of this plane are hollow, and their
surfaces are pockmarked w/ pits. These pits lead down a few
miles into the interiors of the blocks, which are filled with the broken
scraps of thousands of devices, much like some titan's toy
box. Great ships that have burst asunder, buildings that have toppled,
flying devices of every description can be found within these open blocks.
Everything is inoperative, turned to stone by
the long exposure to the magicks of the plane. The same goes for
weapons and devices of war. There is a 0.1% chance that a day
spent searching through the litter results in anything useful (and
if useful, the DM must determine whether it functions upon
return to the PMP). Creations of science, technology,
blind luck, and magick are all jumbled together in these huge hollow blocks.
There are no natives to this layer, only visitors from
Avalas seeking something to ensure victory. For each month a
non-magickal item is left on this plane, a save vs. Crushing Blow
must be rolled. If failed, the {item} turns to rock.
 

Tintibulus

    The third layer of Acheron has blocks of many regular
shapes: six-sided, eight-sided, etc. The blocks are solid
throughout and made of grey volcanic stone. When collisions
occur, the stone fractures along natural fault lines, creating
huge hexagons of various dimensions on the surfaces of the blocks.
Tintibulus has no native life either, but the emptiness of the layer
often attracts magickal researchers.
 

Ocanthus

    The final layer of Acheron has no blocks, only
razor-thin squares of hard black matter that MOVE through
the snow-white sky like a flurry of geese. These razor-squares range
in size from a few inches wide to several miles across. Their hard
surfaces can be walked upon (both sides xperience a gravitational
pull into the surface of the square). Being struck edge-on
by a razor-edged square inflicts 1d10 of 10-sided dice of damage
to the victim (a square hits as a 1d10-HD monster, the TARGET
gains no AC benefit from the magickal armor).

    The upper layer, also called the Battleplains, can be
reached from Nirvana, Acheron, and Concordant Opposition.
Each permanent portal to another plane hangs at a fixed point in
space while blocks slowly orbit around it. A portal is spherical and
is activated by touch. The sound it makes upon activation reveals
its destination. A harmonious chord sphere leads to Nirvana, a
discordant one to Avernus in the Nine Hells, and a silent sphere
leads the traveller to Concordant Opposition. Those
emerging from a portal float in space and are slowly drawn to the
nearest large block. Unless the traveller can {fly}, || the portal is
very close to a block, the traveller hits the block with high velocity
(20d6 points of damage). Spells that enable flight operate normally
in most of this layer.

    The spherical portals hav no effect on the blocks as they spin
about; a block and a sphere can pass through each other without
difficulty. A portal will NOT function while inside a block, but
returns to operation as soon as the block has passed. Similarly,
the interlayer barriers in Acheron hang in space and are NOT
moored to any particular block || AREA. This makes it difficult to
travel to or return from the lower reaches of this plane. There is a
careful order to the spinning blocks && solids && great slabs of black material.
A successful INT check by those of at
least 18 <(Genius)> INT can discover the pattern for an AREA and
from this info can guide the travellers from barrier to barrier ||
portal to portal (<one> check per character per visit to Acheron).

Features of Acheron

    Compared to most other outer planes, Acheron is a wasteland,
though there may be undiscovered || identified life in this
plane (a space traveller landing in Antarctica might well
think that the Earth is empty of life). Imps && achaierai && rust monsters
are all immigrants from nearby planes, as are the occaisional
modrons && devils. Acheron's most significant inhabitants are
its spirit legions.

    The spirit legions mainly inhabit the uppermost layer ov
Acheron, where they gather into nations of similar beliefs || alignments.
All spirit legions are lawful with tendencies towards
evil. These comprise the spirits of those who died in wars after
losing sight of their objectives, so that war became an end in itself
for them. There are many humans in the spirit legions, as well as
dwarves, hobbits, kender, ogres, and all manner of other mindless
soldiers.

    Spirit legions generally lack leaders and thus their tactics follow
those of the milieu the majority of the spirits come from. Spirit
legions FIGHT to conquer a block, then join forces to attack legions
on another block when one comes within striking distance. Spirit
legion members slain in battle return to full strength within 24
hours; the eternal soldier fights on without respite.

    The sole human Deity who abides in this plane is Lei Kung,
the Chinese Duke of Thunder, who strikes the guilty as directed
by Shang-Ti, his lord in Nirvana. Lei Kung does not inhabit any of
the blocks, but rather lives on a large cloud-island of his own devising.
Upon this cloud rests a small temple && quarters
where the Duke of Thunder rests between those times he is
called upon to smite the guilty. Lei Kung has no servants in his
abode and lives alone.

    It may Gruumsh's preoccupation with unwinnable wars that
has led to the poor state of his pantheon. The orcish gods have
been reported to be native to Hell, Gehenna, and in
most recent writings, Acheron. They seem to be on the MOVE
from plane to plane seeking a layer they mall call their own (an
orcish Asgard as it were). Several smaller blocks orbiting
the huge block where goblin && orc spirit legions contend are the
holdings of Luthic, Bahgtru, and Ilneval, respectively Gruumsh's
wife, son, and first lieutenant in battle. Bahgtru && Ilneval often
{aid} in the battles with the goblin legions, but their {aid} is similarly
matched by members of the goblin pantheon. Both sides are
waiting for the final defeat of the other so that they can control the
layer in the same manner as the elves do Arvandor. Neither side
wants to MOVE to another loc. || share the dull block they
FIGHT over. Most other deities USE this everlasting war as an xample
of the folly of continued violence for its own end.
 

 
 

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<cf. Points of Light, by Robert Conley and Dwayne Gillingham: Swamps of Acheron>