Hell · The Nine Hells of Perdition
The Nine Perditions of Hell
Hell is one infernal dominion divided into nine great Perditions: war-frontiers, iron cities, drowned marshes, volcanic kingdoms, frozen seas, crushing wastes, ruined provinces and the deep citadel-realm from which Asmodeus governs them all.
Hell Is a State, Not Nine Unrelated Kingdoms
The Nine Perditions are the great territorial divisions of Hell. Each possesses its own geography, cities, fortifications, courts, armies and political interests, but none stands outside the wider infernal order.
Each Perdition is held by one of the Lords of the Nine beneath the supreme authority of Asmodeus, Lord of Nessus and Overlord of Hell. Their governments intersect with Hell’s Dukes, Courtiers of Perdition, Infernal Highnesses, archdevils, the Dark Ministry, military commands and the wider institutions that bind the plane into a single organised infernal power.
Infernal authority rests upon jurisdiction, recognised claims, contracts, seals, precedent, obligation and enforceable power. The borders between the Perditions therefore matter politically as well as geographically.
The Nine Perditions
From the Blood War frontier of Avernus to the rifts beneath Malsheem, every Perdition serves a different part of Hell’s military, political and economic order.
Avernus
Lord of the First · Bael
Hell’s principal war frontier: a blasted country of fortresses, scarred plains, military roads and infernal strongholds built to sustain the Blood War.
Enter AvernusDis
Lord of the Second · Dispater
The dominion of the Iron City: immense walls, heated streets, shifting districts, black iron and the towering seat from which Dispater governs the Second.
Enter DisMinauros
Lord of the Third · Mammon
A vast region of poisonous marsh, foul water, sinking roads, prisons and accumulated wealth centred upon the great city of Minauros the Sinking.
Enter MinaurosPhlegethos
Lord of the Fourth · Belial
A volcanic Perdition of burning wastes, ash, magma, fire-swept plains and the fortress-city of Abriymoch.
Enter PhlegethosStygia
Lord of the Fifth · Leviathan
A frozen sea-world of black water, ice floes, storm-lit skies and infernal ports through which the River Styx carries traffic deeper into Hell.
Enter StygiaMalbolge
Lord of the Sixth · Lilith
The Crushing Lands: unstable slopes, broken mountains, caverns, falling stone and infernal strongholds clinging to a hostile landscape.
Enter MalbolgeMaladomini
Lord of the Seventh · Beelzebub
A devastated industrial Perdition of ruined cities, quarries, roads, polluted waterways and projects repeatedly built, judged wanting and destroyed.
Enter MaladominiCania
Lord of the Eighth · Mephistopheles
A deadly frozen expanse where glaciers move across buried ruins and armies, dominated by Mephistar and the guarded approaches to the deepest Perdition.
Enter CaniaNessus
Lord of the Ninth · Asmodeus
The deepest Perdition, shattered by immense rifts and canyons. Here stands Malsheem, the seat of Asmodeus and the central government of Hell.
Enter NessusDescending Through Hell
The Perditions are connected, but movement through Hell is neither free nor politically neutral.
Controlled Routes
Travel passes through guarded roads, gates, bridges, ports, fortifications and checkpoints. Infernal officials can demand papers, seals, payment, sponsorship or proof of recognised authority before allowing travellers, cargo or military formations to continue.
The River Styx
The River Styx is one of Hell’s major transport arteries. Its waters and connected ports allow movement of troops, prisoners, goods and travellers through important parts of the infernal realm, including the war frontier and the frozen waters of Stygia.
Infernal Borders
Crossing from one Perdition into another means entering a different jurisdiction. Local courts, commanders and nobles may recognise Hell’s wider hierarchy while still enforcing the particular claims and restrictions of their own Lord.
Trade and War
The same routes that carry travellers also support the infernal economy and war machine: coin, metals, weapons, magic, information, prisoners, labour, tribute, access and souls all move through Hell’s controlled networks.
Souls in the Nine Perditions
Hell does not automatically receive every evil soul. A soul may reach one of the Perditions through an infernal contract, recognised claim, allegiance, supernatural circumstance or the cosmological destination that properly receives it.
Once a soul falls within Hell’s recognised authority it may become part of a much larger infernal system of imprisonment, labour, exchange, tribute, punishment or transformation. Souls are therefore not merely victims of the landscape; they can also become contested assets within Hell’s law and economy.
The Nine Perditions in Hell’s History
Hell itself formed during Eon VII. The ordered devil civilisation that came to dominate it emerged much later, during Eon XVI, when infernal society developed the institutions, hierarchy and organised authority recognisable in the present age.
Lucifer genuinely ruled during an earlier period of Hell’s history. That Luciferian order was eventually succeeded by the Asmodean regime. Asmodeus now rules Nessus and stands above the Lords of the Nine as Overlord of Hell.
The rulers of individual Perditions have changed through wars, depositions, political settlements and infernal succession. The roster shown on this page is the current order of the Nine.