Collapsing City

Character: Every berk for himself, as long as you keep out of others way and stick to your business you may stay out of trouble. Life's hard so you got to be harder to keep from falling off the edge.

Ruler: There is no one ruler, only the many guilds that operate in the city, so people normally associate with one of them Mafia-style. Each of them has it's own rules, but most share a lot of the same ground.

Behind the Throne: The baatezu come every blue moon and try to infiltrate the city and control its guilds, but generally the latter form short-term alliances to drive them off. There is however a growing power in town, a 'security' guild that manages the free spaces and assign them at service of the other guilds. It is led by the quick-thinking yagnoloth Terfydeck (Pl/yugoloth (yagnoloth)/Godsmen/NE).

Description: Devorth or 'the Collapsing City' sits in a huge magma lake in a more stable canyon. However the city compensates for that as it slowly sinks in the lava. At a rate of half a meter per day, the spiraling tower of houses, slums, taverns and the like with height of approximately 5 kilometers rebuilds itself endlessly each three decades, stacking one house over another. The areas closest to the lava have long been cleared by the city inhabitants and on the top and sides there's always some basher trying to build his kip with whatever he finds, which results in occasional collapses and dispute for the innermost spaces.

No one knows who built the city or what sustains it in place, all they know is that it has always been like that since they arrived, so why bother? Truth is that as long as they don't tempt fate by concentrating too many people in an edge, the houses maintain stability. What may speak in the city's favor is that in Chamada there are very few places where you can keep your feet out of the molten Furnace and evade the eruptions and lava flows.

The city is riddled with stairs and passages with light being scarce in the pitch-black void. Of importance too is the fact that, in the uppermost places, there is not much heat in the surrounding void.

Flying can make the best access to the city. Or, you can cross an old bridge that is as hot as the rest of the plane. The bridge crosses to the lower sections, about 15 meters over the lava, so do not touch it. This means that a body's still got to manage the rest of the 5 to 10 meters on his own or with some help from the citizens, which is unlikely unless they're garnished. A third option is the pretty unreliable transport system provided by Herrapton (Pl/male baatezu (red abishai)/LE). He and his black colleagues can carry a berk and his stuff up for a price. Now pay attention: whether that means up to the city or up in the air depends on the contract you make with them. Prices vary based on destination and can change often.

About two years ago a major battle of the Blood War took place near the city, as abishai and chasme poured in from all directions. But it surely didn't stay that way for long and the fiends invaded the middle sections, tearing some seventy meters down as a pit fiend blasted a nalfshnee into oblivion. People wondered how the place didn't collapse on the broken side, but by now most of it is already occupied by other buildings.

Devorth has its power divided into the guilds that also provide food and general goods essential to survival in the Furnace. They also fight for dominance over the spiral stairs, service leagues, corridors, people and anything else they can bully into paying 'insurance' against guild reprisal. If a basher is going to stay for a long time he'd better make his choice carefully, if not just leaving the town once business is over is preferred.

Militia: Each guild has its own view of law and punishment. Some berks are scragged for asking the wrong questions, others for talking too loud and, in some cases, for killing also. Punishment comes in two forms: the body may be spanked and/or interrogated or put in the dead-book. In manners of death, the upper guilds prefer to just throw a body into lava, while the lower ones prefer to tie the sod up and let him await slow death as the room sinks into a pool of magma. Patrols are uncommon, but when seen it is best to just steer clear of it.

Services: Most kind of services can be found here, from smiths, taverns, guides, mercenaries and others common in the Lower Planes. There are few special goods here, as well as real quality items.

Local News: Terfydeck seems to be interested in reducing the number of operating guilds without increasing their power. He has been manipulating them into self-destruction or just falling into the lava by some "rival's sabotage" of their headquarters.

The baatezu are again planning to get some influence into the city, but this has been unnoticed by the yagnoloth. They are infiltrating anything from disguised baatezu to lawful types and trying to reinforce some more orderly guilds in the chance it may slide straight into Baator, probably Phlegethos.

A more curious rumor states that some portal was found in the higher places that lead to Sigil and the city's been seeing more visitors lately. But even stranger is the chant that deep in the lava, in the older sunken sections, lies a portal to an important fortress in the Abyss. However, again it may be just barmy screed or Blood War paranoia.