Some cutters would rather die in chains than obey another sod's orders; Acheron's a place that'll thwart even that, because the armies of Acheron aren't interested in the sufferings of principled berks. The underlying laws and order of Acheron all serve conformity and evil, and evil thrives in war. The plane's laws and strict organization force all creatures to do battle. Give fiends the power of life and death, and soon there's nothing but a wasteland. The iron-shod battle plains of Acheron are the most lawful of the evil planes, bridging the gap between the highly organized and evil realms of Baator and the ultimate organization of the clockwork disks of [Mechanus](https://adnd2e.fandom.com/wiki/Mechanus:_Ultimate_Unfeeling_Order_\(PoL\) "Mechanus: Ultimate Unfeeling Order (PoL)"). Acheron's the home to those who inflict evil as an afterthought, between the desire for organization and order. Many armies wander through Acheron, though they have surprisingly few leaders, for the nature of leadership demands those who are capable of initiative to drift toward planes with more definite alignments. Acheron's one of the hinterlands of the Great Ring. The few berks who scratch out their living from its iron ground are too busy stabbing each other in the back to notice the opportunities of the rest of the multiverse, the poor sods. It's almost as if the Rule of Threes limits their ambitions; their sights are set on plunder, provisions, and power — nothing more. If they are ever united under a single power, the petitioners might be a force equal to the archons, but until then they're just despairing soldiers unable to leave the war and the jaded merchants who'll profit from it. Hope and decency are in short supply in Acheron. _ARCHERON IS THE HOME OF DREAMS GONE WRONG._ - DEVA ISAB OF THE BENT WING ## Physical Conditions[](https://auth.fandom.com/signin?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fadnd2e.fandom.com%2Fwiki%2FBattlefields_of_Acheron_%28PoL%29%3Fveaction%3Dedit%26section%3D1&uselang=en "Sign in to edit") Acheron's divided into four layers, each layer stressing order over evil, the group over any single soldier. Only the first layer is thickly inhabited, and even that's a stretch. After all, Acheron isn't made to support life. Each layer consists of enormous iron cubes floating in an airy void, cubes that collide in jarring, echoing blows like the ring of swords in battle. The cubes themselves are pitted and scarred with craters, cracks, and dents from their many collisions, though in the orderly plane of Acheron the cubes always rust or fracture along straight lines and at right angles. Not even weeds grow in Acheron. All four layers drift in a void of air that supports life and flight. Gravity here conforms to the shape of the solid, always pointing to the center. Thus, armies can range on all six sides of one of the immense cubes, or they can walk on both the top and bottom of [Ocanthus's](https://adnd2e.fandom.com/wiki/Ocanthus_\(PoL\) "Ocanthus (PoL)") drifting plates. Travelers in [Avalas](https://adnd2e.fandom.com/wiki/Avalas_\(PoL\) "Avalas (PoL)") and [Thuldamin](https://adnd2e.fandom.com/wiki/Thuldalin_\(PoL\) "Thuldalin (PoL)") must be wary of collisions between the cubes, since everything between the two masses is crushed. Nearing cubes are seen a day or two in advance, depending on size, giving just enough warning to escape. (So pitched are some of the wars between legions that they fight until crushed, ignoring all other perils.) The plane's lit by a gray, fluctuating light that varies slightly between bright moonlight and a dark, cloudy day: never bright enough to harm the eyes of orcs or the goblin races, but never so dim that a cutter can't see the hand in front of him. Though the source of this illumination has never been found, it's strong enough that the cubes break the light up into shafts and shadows, and some recently collided cubes have surfaces shiny enough to reflect the shafts of light in odd directions. Some say that a single cube somewhere glows bright enough to light the rest of the plane, and that it's been glowing forever — after all, that's the only way it could light an infinite space. Regardless of the explanation, the light is there. Acheron's weather's best described as brooding, and none too warm, either. On the first layer, Avalas, the cold metal cubes sap the heat from travelers. Blizzards, waterless realms, ice storms, and the sudden appearance and disappearance of the River Styx all confound armies marching across the land. At least the blizzards are useful for predicting periods free of collisions; they're taken as signs that no collision is imminent, since snow forms around a cube only when it's floated in the void for long months, far from other cubes. Only one area has predictable weather: Thunder always signals the approach of Lei Kung's free-floating realm. As for the other layers, Thuldanim's weather is usually ignored since most berks only see its caverns, but it's prone to hail and ice storms. [Tintibulus](https://adnd2e.fandom.com/wiki/Tintibulus_\(PoL\) "Tintibulus (PoL)") has no real weather, only a constant cool temperature. Ocanthus has only one form of weather, the constant rain of razor-sharp shards of black ice. Many of the cubes of Acheron are hollow and pierced with tunnels, some of them collapsed into scrap or riddled like wormy cheese. The tunnels are uniform, always circular and about 20 feet in diameter. Cubes that are cratered or laced with tunnels are favorites for permanent habitation, because cities or structures built on the flat surfaces of cubes are always crushed sooner or later, when the cubes collide. Interior caverns are often square like the cubes themselves, and a few of them serve as strongholds, hiding places, and treasuries for the armies that struggle on the surface. The tunnels are also crucial sources of food, for they support humid, fertile mushroom beds and a strange form of woody, black, earthy fruit called provender stones. Provender stones are edible, though just barely. The stones are square, black blocks that sit on the iron plains like dark boulders and seem to grow constantly, for the largest are house-sized or larger, sufficient to feed an army. A few sages have even suggested that stones allowed to grow large enough are somehow transformed into the iron cubes. Army regulations among all the combatants require that the white seeds of provender stones be immediately planted, to provide future provisions. Failure to do so is punishable by immediate execution in all the major armies. The real dark of Acheron's that its barren iron plains are cluttered with many strange relics of ancient times, living, mechanical, and magical. Long-forgotten armies come boiling over the edge of a cube, as fresh as the day they were first marshalled before a banner. Cubes drift out into the void, returning centuries later as if it were mere days or months. Some barmies say that time flows differently on every cube, and the Guvnors blither on about how it only changes "in relation to a cube's proximity to others," but here's the chant: Time simply stops on the cubes of Acheron if they sail through the void without colliding with another cube. Some say this proves the existence of the powers, since it keeps the poor marooned berks on a cube from starving if there are no tethered gates on their cube (see "Paths and Portals" below). A blood finds herself a way out or opens her own gate quickly, before centuries pass back in the Cage. Some armies have found a way to create magical, mobile fortifications for their constant wars; necessary, since immobile structures are crushed flat whenever the cubes collide. These mobile fortresses are called hassitorium, after the immeasurably ancient race that first created them, the hassitor, a race known only through its works and monuments. The hassitor citadels are a product of ancient necromancy combined with bizarre architecture and stone-masonry: Hordes of slaves are built into the walls of the hassitorium. The iron walls of the hassitorium are half-living, half-metal, and constantly in pain; the slaves within them must drag the iron ramparts along on rough iron skids. Slaves that fail to keep the grueling pace of their masters may stumble and fall, but even as they are smeared into a rusty paste, they serve to smooth the progress of the citadel onward over the echoing battlefields. Eight of these citadels are known to exist on the first layer of Acheron, but the wreckage of many more has been found in the scrapheap of Thuldanim, the second layer. ### Paths and Portals[](https://auth.fandom.com/signin?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fadnd2e.fandom.com%2Fwiki%2FBattlefields_of_Acheron_%28PoL%29%3Fveaction%3Dedit%26section%3D2&uselang=en "Sign in to edit") The River Styx meanders from cube to cube on Avalas, providing a (rather unreliable) method of transportation for those unable to fly. Thing is, the Styx doesn't wander as a normal river does, flowing in loops and bends. It literally meanders, flowing over the iron in vast sheets, plunging into caverns only to reappear on another cube entirely, washing over entire cities and realms, leaving behind only wreckage and drowned sods. Marraenoloths provide the usual ferry services in the few places where the river remains confined to its banks for long periods of time. Though the Styx flows erratically here and a cutter's hard-pressed to find a quick river-route out of Acheron, the cubes themselves are littered with portals. In fact, the entire plane's linked with a series of portals, much like the gate-mazes of Mechanus. Sages and mages have found that gates can connect any two blocks that have collided, and one day every cube will be connected to every other. Some say that that's when the plane will dissolve—or evolve—into something else, though a cutter won't find two graybeards who agree on what that "something" is. In Acheron, there's two kinds of permanent portals to and from other planes: tethered and free-floating. Tethered portals are simply those anchored to a specific cube, making them reliable entry and egress points. Problem is, the natives of the plane have marked each portal and usually have some kind of watch on them, to track who and what comes through. Not the best way for a cutter to make a stealthy entrance. Free-floating portals hang at set points in space while blocks slowly orbit around them. Planewalkers who pass through this type of portal float in space and are slowly drawn to the nearest large block, finally landing at a powerful, dangerous speed (20d6 points of damage). Bloods know to have flying spells and items that provide flight ready when they travel through a free-floating permanent portal into Acheron. Whatever the type, each portal's spherical and activated by touch. The sound it makes when activated tells a cutter where the portal leads. A sphere that rings with a harmonious chord leads to Mechanus, a discordant sphere leads to Baator, and silent spheres lead to the Outlands. Gates to the Astral and to other layers of Acheron sound a single note, not a chord. A map of the major permanent (tethered) portals, cubes, and routes between them is provided on page 32. ## Magical Conditions[](https://auth.fandom.com/signin?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fadnd2e.fandom.com%2Fwiki%2FBattlefields_of_Acheron_%28PoL%29%3Fveaction%3Dedit%26section%3D3&uselang=en "Sign in to edit") Magic in Acheron's usually straightforward, and proceeds with frightening order and precision. There's no half measures, no gray, no maybes or power-sharing. Every magical action has a magical reaction. What one mage gains, another must lose. What's this mean for a cutter who's just arrived from across the Great Ring? Well, for each new spirit that enters Acheron, another spirit must die. For each ice storm, a fire storm occurs elsewhere. For each healing, someone suffers. Each of these reflections appears at the moment the spell takes effect and then rushes off, just like a whizzing spell crystal. It don't matter what it's called, it's the reversed, frozen form of another spell, resembling an ioun stone or a spell crystal from some prime world. The reflections can be captured by a spectral hand, a Bigby's hand spell of any kind, and certain magical gloves. If captured, reflections are used to undo the magic that created them, so long as death ain't involved. A berk polymorphed into a snail returns to her own form if touched by the crystal formed when her shape was first shifted; a berk frozen by a cone of cold becomes unfrozen, and regains the hit points lost to the spell in the first place. Reflections last one hour per level of the spell; there's not much point to tracking down the reflection of a magic missile (even if it could be found within an hour), but the chance to undo a wish gone awry is certainly worth the chase. Most reflections are useful only as counter- measures to negate malevolent spell effects, but current chant's that some ambitious magelings are conducting research to determine if the reflections may be turned to other purposes. These spell reflections have a thousand different colors, patterns, and shapes, and some less-than-honest members of the Fraternity of Order claim to know the dark of which reflection holds what spell. Half of them offer a "concordance" or a "guide" to the powers of Acheron's reflections, but every last one of them's a sheer farce. Mercykillers don't take kindly to frauds and cheats, so these knights of the post usually don't hawk their ragsheets for long. Finally, casting spells with material or somatic components when two cubes collide is impossible - the reverberations and aftershocks last for as much as an hour, as the cubes' impact diminishes and the two bodies slowly separate. Otherwise, the conditions for casting spells are pretty good, though the difficulty in scrounging material components can bring even a great mage to his knees. **Conjuration/Summoning.** Creatures summoned to Acheron must always obey the letter of any command, though they strive to avoid the spirit; no order can be refused, no matter how suicidal. Since elementals, fiends, and other creatures have no chance of disobeying a caster's commands or slipping from his control, these summoned creatures are often used as suicide troops to break strongpoints and strategic locations. There's a price for such perfect obedience, however. For each creature summoned, the mage who calls must provide a petitioner or planar in its place as a sort of magical hostage; in the case of summoned baatezu, this duty usually results in the death of the unfortunate victim. The hostage automatically trades places with the intended summoned creature. The intended victim's entitled to a saving throw versus death magic to avoid the effect. If the victim makes the save, the caster must then make a saving throw versus death magic to avoid being drawn in as a hostage. If both victim and caster save, the summoning spell fails. If the caster fails and is pulled away, the desired creature arrives without magical restraint - unfortunately for whomever's left in the area. **Divination.** Divinations in Acheron can never be used to spy on opposing forces; the nature of the plane requires careful scouting and encourages surprise attacks. This applies only to divinations that might have military significance; it has no effect on civilians or adventuring individuals, objects, or places with little strategic value. Omens are common and are often skewed to show the worst possible result. Any positive or negative omen (from an augury or divination) always applies to the entire group that the caster belongs to, whether that group is a party of heroes or an army of thousands. For this reason, casters who report too many bad omens to their generals rarely live to enjoy their old age. **Necromancy.** Acheron's a good plane for raising armies of the undead, for any number of followers can be raised here to serve as an army. However, other forms of necromancy are less successful. All necromancy on Acheron depends on the magical aptitude of the caster. If his life force is greater than the life force of his target, his spells succeed. Specifically, if the caster's level or Hit Dice are greater than the target's, then the spell works. Trouble is, if the caster's life force is weaker, his spells reverse and redouble against him, draining hit points equal to twice the level of the failed spell. For instance, a cutter tries to fend off a rust dragon with an _enervation_ spell, but the rust dragon has 10 Hit Dice and the necromancer only has 7, and so the necromancer loses 8 hit points (twice the spell's level) himself. **Wild Magic.** The effects of wild magic are sharply reduced on Acheron. Wild mages lose two levels of spell-casting ability when on the plane, including their available number of spell slots. All wild magic spells have range, duration, and other factors reduced appropriately, and wild mages can memorize only the spells available at the lower level. Their normal level of ability returns when they leave the plane. In addition, wild surges simply don't occur on Acheron. **Elemental.** With the right keys, elemental magic works well on Acheron, especially the magics of fire and water. Earth magics have absolutely no effect on the iron cubes of the plane. Air magic works, though only on the surface of cubes - within the cubes all air magic fails. Fire magic affects everything, including the iron of the cubes, which reacts as if under a _heat metal_ spell near any fire. The diameter of the heated metal is 10 feet per level of the fire spell involved. A _fireball_, for instance, heats the metal in a 30-foot radius. Water magic works normally within the cubes, but on the surface such magic only rusts the iron within a radius of 10 feet per level of the spell. ### Seals and Wards[](https://auth.fandom.com/signin?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fadnd2e.fandom.com%2Fwiki%2FBattlefields_of_Acheron_%28PoL%29%3Fveaction%3Dedit%26section%3D4&uselang=en "Sign in to edit") Acheron is a place of order, propaganda, strict hierarchies, and organized violence. Service in its armies is almost slavery, both humiliating and deadly. Magic helps enforce that servitude. The following wizard spells help generals and other leaders keep their followers in their place, by preventing desertion. These spells are widespread in Acheron, though little known elsewhere. - [Gate Ward](https://adnd2e.fandom.com/wiki/Gate_Ward_\(Wizard_Spell\) "Gate Ward (Wizard Spell)") Level 2 (Abjuration) - [Gate Seal](https://adnd2e.fandom.com/wiki/Gate_Seal_\(Wizard_Spell\) "Gate Seal (Wizard Spell)") Level 3 (Abjuration) - [Cubehopper](https://adnd2e.fandom.com/wiki/Cubehopper_\(Wizard_Spell\) "Cubehopper (Wizard Spell)") Level 6 (Alteration) ### Spells Keys[](https://auth.fandom.com/signin?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fadnd2e.fandom.com%2Fwiki%2FBattlefields_of_Acheron_%28PoL%29%3Fveaction%3Dedit%26section%3D5&uselang=en "Sign in to edit") The keys to unlocking magic in Acheron are rigidly defined but otherwise meaningless sets of words, motions, and substances. Precise ritual and adherence to form are required for each key; tradition and the battle mages' desire for order and precision have given many of these spell keys names, such as the blood key for *magic missile*, the gray key for *invisibility*, the lesser fire key for *burning hands*, the great fire key for all elemental fire spells, and the swords key for *enchanted weapon*. There are no known spell keys for any form of wild magic in Acheron. Wild mages don't advertise their presence, for those who fall into the hands of Acheron's warring armies are quickly enslaved and set to disrupting enemy formations. The mere thought of chaos magic is enough to panic some of Acheron's soldiers. ### Power Keys[](https://auth.fandom.com/signin?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fadnd2e.fandom.com%2Fwiki%2FBattlefields_of_Acheron_%28PoL%29%3Fveaction%3Dedit%26section%3D6&uselang=en "Sign in to edit") Power keys in Acheron are very rare outside the vast armies that roam the Battleplains. Orc, goblin, and hobgoblin officers (captains, generals, and chaplains) are often entrusted with power keys for the spheres of Combat, Guardian, Healing, Necromancy, Protection, and War. These keys are common enough in armies that some officers sell them for the proper bribe (at least 1,000 gp per key), since they can always claim they were lost in battle. These keys always resemble arcane marching orders or commissions, complete with seals, ribbons, and florid handwriting. Most keys are only good for a given duration (with the expiration sometimes written in the language of the baatezu on the key itself), and some unscrupulous officers sell theirs shortly before they expire. There's no penalty for selling a key, especially if the money's used to hold the loyalty of mercenaries. Owning a stolen key, however, is a crime punishable by a huge fine and banishment from the ranks, a mistake no military blood'll make twice. The armies may be rigid and over-disciplined, but they're canny as fiends, and they'll take a cutter's jink twice if she's not careful — once for a key, and once for the fine. Lei Kung's power keys are sparks of lightning and claps of thunder, which must be absorbed into the caster (making him into a living lightning rod). They're released whenever a spell is cast, a little at a time, and each spell cast thunders, sparks, and growls to reflect Lei Kung's concerns and sphere of influence. The number of "charges" varies, though each charge seems to work for any level spell. The power key can only be removed by slaying its holder and catching his dying breath in a vial, which shimmers and sparkles until it's infused into the next holder of the key. The power keys of Laduguer are items forged by the caster himself, then blessed by a duergar priest and lucky enough to attract Laduguer's notice. They only function for their maker.