The Abyss' Genetic make-up - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

The Abyss' Genetic make-up

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
zombiegleemax
Apr 13, 2005 13:33:20 If one third of the Abyss is controlled by Demon Lords, one third supplying battlefields for the Blood War and the remaining third too disgusting, hostile or hopeless for the attention of a Demon Lord AND given that the listing of the known Abyssal Layers (like the Concordance of the Abyss) is accepted canon which details roughly 300+ layers, THEN What are the remaining undescribed layers to classified as?

o More Battle Field Layers for the Blood War
o More Uninhabitable Layers
o A New Classification of Layer
o Additional Layers for Demonic Conquest
o Primordial Soup Awaiting Reformation as a Layer
o Abyssal life form classified as a Layer
o Layers that are technically part of neighboring Planes but connected to the Abyss
o A Void that is classified as more than one Layer
o A vast layer that has a different name at each portal

Also, if one third is Blood War battlefields and of the 300+ accepted as canon only mention or describe @ 25-30 as battlefields, does that mean that there are only 90 true layers or that the remainder of the battlefields have yet to be given a voice?

[just some discussion from my gaming group shared for greater perspective]
#2
ripvanwormer
Apr 13, 2005 18:42:43 I don't think Blood War battlefields are at all common in the Abyss, actually. It's an inherently hostile environment for baatezu and even yugoloths - the home field advantage for tanar'ri is pretty great. Nearly all local flora and fauna will rise against any law-spawn that dare to invade, putting aside local conflicts to destroy the infection.

Most battles in the Blood War will be fought on the lower planes of conflict - Carceri, Gehenna, and particularly the Gray Waste where neither extreme has any advantage.

Most layers of the Abyss will be battlefields of demons fighting other demons, however, at least to some extent.
#3
Shemeska_the_Marauder
Apr 14, 2005 7:17:16 Speaking of the Blood War and the Abyss... I have to share a link to one of the more recent contributions over on Planewalker. Not one of mine, but ye gods did it strike me as awesome...

The Charnel House
#4
weenie
Apr 14, 2005 18:34:57 Classifying the Abyss is the most pointless thing ever. This week. The Abyss is there to be experienced, not classified. But now I'm beginning to sound like a soddin' Sensate, so just ignore me...

The Charnel House

Yeah, I remember that one. Nicely done, but it wasn't really a layer IIRC, just a location.

Speaking of pw.com, Shemeshka, did you happen to catch the new arcanaloth-related intro text at the Creature Codex, written by Seraph of Babel? Makes me wonder how do you people get enough minions, anyway? You can't be a scheming bastard without minions, and you can't have minions if you keep skining them alive to make parchment...
#5
ripvanwormer
Apr 16, 2005 0:36:37
Yeah, I remember that one. Nicely done, but it wasn't really a layer IIRC, just a location.

It's a sub-layer, technically, a demiplane-like region like a major Abyssal layer but finite, occasionally merging with the Plain of Infinite Portals.

But like you said, imposing classification on the Abyss is ultimately pointless. Layer, sub-layer, or location - such definitions are rarely stable in the planes of Chaos.
#6
zombiegleemax
Apr 18, 2005 8:03:31
o More Battle Field Layers for the Blood War
o More Uninhabitable Layers
o A New Classification of Layer
o Additional Layers for Demonic Conquest
o Primordial Soup Awaiting Reformation as a Layer
o Abyssal life form classified as a Layer
o Layers that are technically part of neighboring Planes but connected to the Abyss
o A Void that is classified as more than one Layer
o A vast layer that has a different name at each portal

They can be all of the above or anything else your little mind can dream up. That's one of the beautiful things about Chaos and Planescape in general, any view point is completely valid and can be totally invalidated. Planescape is itself a contradiction in terms, an infinite dimension made up of infinite dimensions. One of the concepts I like for some of these 'unknown' layers of the Abyss is that 2 or more of them are tanar'ii themselves and like all fiends war amongst themselves. It's an expansion of an idea presented in Torment where a picture was painted of an abyssal layer which was divided into two parts the 'sky' and 'ground' these parts were fiends warring against each other. Like others have said you can't 'nail down' the abyss it's Chaos for crying out loud. The only thing you can say for sure about the Abyss is that it's evil.
#7
zombiegleemax
Apr 20, 2005 12:28:28
Like others have said you can't 'nail down' the abyss it's Chaos for crying out loud.

The main focus of the inquiry wasn't an attempt to "nail down" the Abyss, it was (since no one bothered to read what was in the brackets) a sharing of a previous discussion via my gaming group. The purpose being the acquisition of other perspectives on what could occupy the those layers that hitherto are unmarked. DISCUSSION, people, discussion was the focus, not an attempt to lock into a finite structure that which technically can't be described the same way twice.

More often than not, IMC a layer may take on several different attributes than when it was first encountered but the overall lesson remains; STAY OUT OF THE ABYSS!!!!!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Apr 13, 2005 13:33:20	If one third of the Abyss is controlled by Demon Lords, one third supplying battlefields for the Blood War and the remaining third too disgusting, hostile or hopeless for the attention of a Demon Lord AND given that the listing of the known Abyssal Layers (like the Concordance of the Abyss) is accepted canon which details roughly 300+ layers, THEN What are the remaining undescribed layers to classified as? o More Battle Field Layers for the Blood War o More Uninhabitable Layers o A New Classification of Layer o Additional Layers for Demonic Conquest o Primordial Soup Awaiting Reformation as a Layer o Abyssal life form classified as a Layer o Layers that are technically part of neighboring Planes but connected to the Abyss o A Void that is classified as more than one Layer o A vast layer that has a different name at each portal Also, if one third is Blood War battlefields and of the 300+ accepted as canon only mention or describe @ 25-30 as battlefields, does that mean that there are only 90 true layers or that the remainder of the battlefields have yet to be given a voice? [just some discussion from my gaming group shared for greater perspective]
#2 ripvanwormer Apr 13, 2005 18:42:43	I don't think Blood War battlefields are at all common in the Abyss, actually. It's an inherently hostile environment for baatezu and even yugoloths - the home field advantage for tanar'ri is pretty great. Nearly all local flora and fauna will rise against any law-spawn that dare to invade, putting aside local conflicts to destroy the infection. Most battles in the Blood War will be fought on the lower planes of conflict - Carceri, Gehenna, and particularly the Gray Waste where neither extreme has any advantage. Most layers of the Abyss will be battlefields of demons fighting other demons, however, at least to some extent.
#3 Shemeska_the_Marauder Apr 14, 2005 7:17:16	Speaking of the Blood War and the Abyss... I have to share a link to one of the more recent contributions over on Planewalker. Not one of mine, but ye gods did it strike me as awesome... The Charnel House
#4 weenie Apr 14, 2005 18:34:57	Classifying the Abyss is the most pointless thing ever. This week. The Abyss is there to be experienced, not classified. But now I'm beginning to sound like a soddin' Sensate, so just ignore me... The Charnel House Yeah, I remember that one. Nicely done, but it wasn't really a layer IIRC, just a location. Speaking of pw.com, Shemeshka, did you happen to catch the new arcanaloth-related intro text at the Creature Codex, written by Seraph of Babel? Makes me wonder how do you people get enough minions, anyway? You can't be a scheming bastard without minions, and you can't have minions if you keep skining them alive to make parchment...
#5 ripvanwormer Apr 16, 2005 0:36:37	Yeah, I remember that one. Nicely done, but it wasn't really a layer IIRC, just a location. It's a sub-layer, technically, a demiplane-like region like a major Abyssal layer but finite, occasionally merging with the Plain of Infinite Portals. But like you said, imposing classification on the Abyss is ultimately pointless. Layer, sub-layer, or location - such definitions are rarely stable in the planes of Chaos.
#6 zombiegleemax Apr 18, 2005 8:03:31	o More Battle Field Layers for the Blood War o More Uninhabitable Layers o A New Classification of Layer o Additional Layers for Demonic Conquest o Primordial Soup Awaiting Reformation as a Layer o Abyssal life form classified as a Layer o Layers that are technically part of neighboring Planes but connected to the Abyss o A Void that is classified as more than one Layer o A vast layer that has a different name at each portal They can be all of the above or anything else your little mind can dream up. That's one of the beautiful things about Chaos and Planescape in general, any view point is completely valid and can be totally invalidated. Planescape is itself a contradiction in terms, an infinite dimension made up of infinite dimensions. One of the concepts I like for some of these 'unknown' layers of the Abyss is that 2 or more of them are tanar'ii themselves and like all fiends war amongst themselves. It's an expansion of an idea presented in Torment where a picture was painted of an abyssal layer which was divided into two parts the 'sky' and 'ground' these parts were fiends warring against each other. Like others have said you can't 'nail down' the abyss it's Chaos for crying out loud. The only thing you can say for sure about the Abyss is that it's evil.
#7 zombiegleemax Apr 20, 2005 12:28:28	Like others have said you can't 'nail down' the abyss it's Chaos for crying out loud. The main focus of the inquiry wasn't an attempt to "nail down" the Abyss, it was (since no one bothered to read what was in the brackets) a sharing of a previous discussion via my gaming group. The purpose being the acquisition of other perspectives on what could occupy the those layers that hitherto are unmarked. DISCUSSION, people, discussion was the focus, not an attempt to lock into a finite structure that which technically can't be described the same way twice. More often than not, IMC a layer may take on several different attributes than when it was first encountered but the overall lesson remains; STAY OUT OF THE ABYSS!!!!!