Acorghas

Description

In abyssal, Acor: Temple, Ghas: City. Temple City. Other options for Acor are Redemption, Tower, and Sword.

The first city after Nelghas. It is built on the edge of the Inner Crater, where Abbadon broke it and faced Naru, the city built around and slightly into the passage.

The sheer cliff of the Inner Crater is the first thing visible, as well as the white light above Acorghas. As you get closer, the giant gap in the cliff as well as the giant white light burning above the city become apparent. In the middle of the gap in the cliff, stands a giant tower, about half the height of the cliffs to either side. Above the tower and the cliffs, nearly as big as the city walls, there is a giant halo made of white flame.

The city is sprawled to the foot of the tower, a complex of stone buildings that become more and more wooden and provisional as you reach the far side of the wall.

The wall itself is about half as high as Nelghas’s wall, standing at 5 meters high. It lacks the magical inner working of Nelghas’s wall, which means it is not nearly as wide (about 2 meters wide).

The gates are local wood strengthened with steel, adorned in the middle with Abbadon’s symbol made of bronze (which also looks like a silhouette of the city).

Demographic

The city is composed by about 50% redeemed demons. Most of the rest are exiled mortals, who have somehow made their way to Acorghas. More rarely, monsters seek Acorghas of their own volition, in their quest for redemption.

The redeemed demons are mostly fervent followers of Abbadon, some of them redeemed by his own hand.

City Structure

“Left” and “Right” are relative to when looking at the city from the Outer Crater, that is, towards the plains and hills, opposite to the cliff of the Inner Crater and direction of the center.

In general, the closer you are to the Temple, the more desirable the land, And quarters are arranged more-or-less in semi-circle tiers around the Tower.

The Temple Tower

The tower in the middle of the city is a temple to Abbadon. It hollow inside, leaving the central space with a view all the way to the sky. In the middle of this central hall there is the True Blade of Abbadon, which is a flaming longsword. It is embedded to the middle of the blade into plain rock rising from the floor.

From the roof it is plain to see that the Halo above Acorghas actually centers on the Temple and not the city.

The priests are mostly local demons, though there are some humans.

Priesthood

Shina Mudur (human f): Latest in joining the Lampart Conjecture. It is implied being wild and sleeping with randoms is part of her Redemption.
Vulen Urira (elf m): An elf priest that tries to behave high and mighty but is actually very lazy.
Annor (wood giant m): He was captured young and brought to the fighting pits in the south-west, where he grew up as a slave-gladiator. He was very popular, bought his freedom, and worked his way up all the way to the Arena of Perseverance. There, old and weary, he fought another young wood giant, raised in the pits like himself. He killed the young contender, but this senseless bloodshed broke his will- and he sought redemption, swearing to hurt no one.
Enam Nala (human m): A man in his 40s, he has grey hair and wears no beard. He has wise grey eyes, and a serenity that envelops him. Before he redeemed himself he was a general in Edon’s army, and helped him conquer. When war broke him, he swore to help man find the right path again and joined the priesthood. He was recently selected by Abbadon to lead the priesthood, and although for the priests themselves Abbadon’s word is law, many in the general public of demons think he lacks the ability to properly redeem their kind.
Jennakoth (Cacodaemon m): A demon priest serving on the court of the fallen. Has an old flare, he likes to get to the bottom of the cases brought before him.

Tower Quarter

The area immediately around the tower is known as the Tower Quarter or the First Quarter. It is the oldest quarter, being built even before the Tower itself, to house Abbadon’s first Redeemed followers. Most buildings has been since rebuilt to a more luxurious standard, but some of the original buildings (and their original inhabitants) still remain.

Red Quarter

This quarter is named for the color of its buildings, which is mostly red and gold- the colors of Abbadon. It houses mostly Redeemed demons and demon businesses, which are all followers of Abbadon and so often flaunt his colors.

It is placed behind and to the left of the Tower Quarter.

Exiles Quarter

The quarter is named for its demographic, predominantly normal mortals and monsters that have been exiled to Avernus. This quarter is not as rich as the Red or Tower quarters, but it is still fairly well put- most of the reputable businesses in the city are housed in this quarter. Though some Redeemed demons do live in this quarter, they tend to be the ones who are less fervent, and more interested in leading “mortal” lives.

It is placed in the same tier as the Red Quarter, to its right.

The Vindication Stockade

The Vindication Stockade is Acorghas’s jail and courtroom. It is located in the exile’s quarter, on the border with the red and tower quarters. It is a large and chunky stone building, surrounded with a wooden wall. It is also the Headquarters for Acorghas’s guard.

Notable Members of the Guard

Procedure

Generally, those convicted of grave offenses are simply exiled “until they find their Redemption”, so the Vindication Stockade doesn’t serve as a prison.

The Court of the Fallen hands out judgment, and it is staffed mostly by the Acorghas Priesthood, but sometimes other members of note is Acorghas that are not strictly priests. The seniority of the member of the court judging a case is correlated to the severity of the offense.

The court also follows the “rule of mortality”: you can only be judged by someone with the same life expectancy (elves can’t judge humans, but they can judge gnomes- demons only judge demons and ageless monsters, and for monsters it varies depending on the type).

The court’s official job is to “guide the fallen towards their redemption”- this is where it draws its name from, why it is mostly staffed by priests, and why they follow the rule of mortality. [#]_

Newcomers Quarter

Named so because it houses mostly new demons and mortals that have not found a place in the other Quarters, this Quarter is more prone to trouble mostly in clashes between new mortals in the city, and redeemed demons and monsters that the new mortals don’t know how to deal with, and the redeemed in turn are still foreign to civilization.

It is in the next tier to the Red and Exiles quarters, surrounding the Exiles Quarter completely from behind and sprawling a little to the back side of the Red Quarter.

Farmer’s Quarter

This Quarter houses mostly livestock, open markets, horses, and small squat buildings for the caretakers of all of those.

It is placed behind the Red Quarter, and stretches all the way to the main gate.

The Order

Ains Wind, the Swordswoman is currently in charge in the city. Her objective is obviously to get Abbadon’s True Blade. See The Heist.

Bell Trueflame is visiting the city, attached to Ains, but she does not include him in her operations, despite his protests. She thinks he is young an inexperienced.

Bell is also recognized by Elas due to his relation with Lilina Trueflame, which his master tried to summon.

Inns and Taverns

The Severed Horn

A reputable inn in the Exiles Quarter, it is owned by a Redeemed Minotaur named Hornless Arnus.

Arnus was once a normal Minotaur, living with his tribe in the underground caverns somewhere. He led normal Minotaur life, preying on miners and other passers-by, until at some point his clan became too much of a nuisance and adventurers and soldiers were sent to eradicate it. Bloodied and running for his life with one horn broken, Arnus understood for the first time the feelings he caused in his prey. He cut off his other horn, and from there sought redemption.

He appears tall and muscular, covered in brown fur. From the sides of his head, above his cow-like ears, two horn stumps emerge- The left one has a rough and uneven end, while the right one is clean-cut.

The sign for his Inn is an X made from two curved horn, one with a straight, clean base, and one with a rough, uneven base. On the inside there is a large, well-lit common room, with stairs to the rooms on the upper floor on the right. At the back end of the room there is a massive counter, a full meter and a half above the floor, and behind that shelves with bottles and small caskets. At the top of this cabinet, surrounded to the sides with shelves full of bottles, There is a big display space, housing a big wooden shield with a big curved horn.

Shops

Astrog’s Armory

This is a magical armor and items shop located in the Tower Quarter. It looks out of place, a small squat building of gray stone and a large chimney, with an open front revealing a large but short forge, with anvils and barrels sunk into the ground. On the inside, one wall is filled with shelves lined with items, and the other three walls are lined with suites of armor and shields.

Astrog is a Brimorak demon. As such, he is about 1m high. He looks very muscular, and wears a large belt with various hammers and smithing tools hanging from it. On the bottom of his feet, he wears large metal blocks, which surround his hoofs and prevent them from burning.

He is blacksmith and magicsmith, specializing in creating magical armor and tools. He is especially known for creating fire-resistant armor.

He was originally created at Jeles, shortly after Gaedon turned, which makes him one of the oldest demons in existence. The task given to him and his kin, when they were created, was to burn Jeles to the ground- they turned the whole city into an inferno, burning it and its inhabitants to cinders. As part of Abbadon’s host, he burned great cities and ancient forests- fields of grain lush hillsides. City walls were turned to fire-traps, homes into infernos.

In the battle that marked the end of the Cruel Age, Astrog survived, and was soon redeemed by Abbadon’s hand. The screams of burning mortals and the view of ancient tree burning as their inhabitants jump off of them still haunt him, which is why he focuses on armor and tools to combat fires.

Selling:

The Bound Scroll

A book shop ran by a Cacodaemon named Zarkog. Has arcane tomes as well as general books.

Random People

Toya and Kylre

Note

Inspired by Critical Role, C2E1-4: Small Girl with broken voice adopted by big and scary demon. I wrote Hezrou because that’s a frog monster like in CR, but for balance reasons a Ceustodaemon might be more appropriate.

Toya Deepheart is an orphan dwarven girl about the age of 12. She was exiled with her father to Avernus at the age of 6, but he died shortly after fending off a Hezrou. Her voice is badly damaged, she sounds hoarse permanently.

Kylre (Kyle Ree) is a Hezrou and Toya’s adoptive father. He was redeemed by caring for Toya after killing her father.

The story goes thus: Soon after Toya and her father arrived in Avernus, Kylre- at this point not Redeemed- found a tasty meal in them. Her father fought Kylre and instructed her to run, and so she did, crying all the while, breaking her voice until it would never heal. After consuming her father, Kylre gave chase, looking to finish his meal with a snack- but when he cornered Toya, sitting on the floor with a twisted ankle, her back to a tree and a monster looming over her, all she could was cry for her father. Encountering this tiny, crying form, Kylre was puzzled- he decided to save the snack for later. Over the next few months, Kylre began to redeem himself- always “saving the snack for later”, he fed Toya and defended her. Eventually, he realized he is no longer the demon he once was, and made his way to Acorghas, where he now lives with Toya.

This make Kylre a 1st generation Redeemed demon, without Abbadon’s influence (which should be quite rare).