Consuuli is home to few devils, with most outside of its opulent nobility steering well clear of its cities. For the devils outside the sinking towers, life is relatively simple as, provided the tithes of souls are driven from the muck and into the waiting mouths of Consuuli’s forever-hungry regents, individual devils are left largely to their own devices. For this reason, Consuuli’s mud-flats are far more lawless than the rest of the hells, with some devils even daring to operate outside contract, and even forming apostate kingdoms of their own within the filth. 

Those condemned to Consuuli are those who desired to devour all they could in life. For some, this manifests as food, but equally common are those borne of other addictions, such as narcotics, alcohol and occasionally, money. The latter fact has resulted in a long-standing enmity between Mammon and Manducare, as the former believes said souls are rightfully his. However, what separates the greedy of Vricia from those of the layer above is that where the former sought to hoard their wealth for themselves, those of Consuuli were focused moreso on spending their money on displays of wealth, such as hunting a species to extinction to furnish a manor house in its fur or burn an entire forest for a clearer view of a nearby mountain. Those damned to Consuuli spend millennia deep within its muck, briefly glimpsing the treasures within, but filling their lungs with choking clay if they so much as open their mouths to cry out for it. Eventually, however, they are dragged out of the mire by teams of Gelerankh and Rechenar devils and brought to the ever-sinking spires of the layer’s cities. There, they find themselves upon the plates of Consuuli’s nobility, and it is within the stomachs of the foul princelings of Gluttony that they metamorphose into a variety of higher devils befitting their deeds in life, bursting forth in a shower of golden vomit.

Story Hooks in Consuuli

The glimmering capital of Consuuli is Goltaria, a vast spire surrounded by a thousand-mile expanse of gilded palaces and gardens, all of which are constantly sinking into the thick mud below, and as such require constant upward extensions to keep themselves above the swamp. Its lower layers are strange labyrinths formed from mud-spattered joists and soiled chambers full of treasures plundered from a thousand worlds. As such, it is home to hundreds of thieves and wanderers who seek to steal the forgotten wonders of the half-sunken citadel. In fact, many devils, such as those serving Mammon, stage frequent raids into Goltaria’s lower layers in search of valuable art pieces and similar treasures. While Goltaria is drenched in wealth, much of the area beyond it is not, and billions of lesser devils congregate in the shanty-towns known as the Tablescraps to feast on the refuse of the city. However, the chamberlain-knights of Goltaria are careful to ensure little reaches the undesirables below (at least until it is consumed by the swamp, anyway), and as such the devils that cluster in the Tablescraps are frequently exceptionally malnourished. However, on occasion one of these devils finds their way into the city proper, and, while they gorge themselves on whatever they can find, the memory of the hunger which once consumed them leaves them among the most dangerous of Gluttony’s many nobles.

Within the depths of Consuuli’s swamps lie the Amdusian Glasshouses, which rise in their thousands from the swamp like pustules on infected skin. Constructed following one of Manducare’s more spontaneous edicts, the Glasshouses are massive domes constructed of glass and gold, and which hold a huge variety of plants both mundane and magical, and hailing from thousands of worlds. The project was overseen by the Goetic Duke Amdusias, but after both he and the gardens fell out of favour in Manducare’s court, he came to rule the entire place. Now, many of the gardens have fallen into disrepair, with their contents spilling out into the swamp and being grazed upon by herds of infernal unicorns and other strange beasts. Although seldom frequented by devils not loyal to Amdusias, the Gardens are home to many rare (and often dangerous) plants, making them targets for many adventurers or herbalists seeking rare poisons or their antidotes.

Pandorum is built around an exceptionally strict hierarchy, but even it is not without its loopholes. One such loophole is the House of Swine. Appearing as a series of pyramids littered with refuse and cheap merchandise, the House of Swine is overseen by a strange noble of gluttony known as Ciacco, a strange devil bearing a porcine head and eyes that burn with pinkish lightning, alongside eerily human teeth stretched into a constant, soulless smile. Once, it is said that Ciacco was an angel or deva of charity, but long ago the allure of Consuuli and the games he could stage consumed him, and in turn now his court consumes the suffering of millions. Many come to Ciacco in search of power and wealth, and are met with a series of challenges characterised by their wastefulness, lack of regard for the dignity of their contestants, and the fact that they are all performed before the thousands of devils that make up Ciacco’s court, many of which bear eerily childlike masks splattered with mud. True to his word, those who succeed in Ciacco’s gluttonous games are rewarded, often ascending to reasonable status within his court and beyond, but most meet only death or disfigurement. 

Beyond Consuuli’s cities, the layer is a relatively lawless place. A few devils patrol the clearer channels with blade-tipped galleons bought from the fifth layer, and as the nobles of Goltaria only care about the number of souls they can cram into their ship’s greasy holds, the devils that run them often live exceptionally carefree and hedonistic lives. Many host banquets upon the decks of their ships, and leave in their wake a trail of half-eaten food and cracked dishes. As such, lesser devils and infernal scavengers frequently follow in their wake, picking through the refuse for supplies and, occasionally, the remains of powerful devils thrown off the ships during the revelry.

Another example of Manducare’s lack of care for his domain is the existence of the Geldermud Depths. Appearing at first as a great thorn-covered barrow, Geldermud is in fact a vast network of tunnels belonging to the ancient dragon-god Dranhagar. Although technically permitted to dwell within Consuuli by Asmodean law, Dranhagar has long since expanded his influence beyond this, something Manducare has cared little to prevent. As such, Geldermud now contains tunnels that seem to bend space, emerging throughout the upper layers of Pandorum, and allowing passage for smugglers avoiding detection from the usual gateways between layers, especially between Consuuli and Vricia below it. However, Dranhagar expects a cut of all the goods transported between layers, and as such the dragon has grown bloated and wealthy on a hoard that stretches for miles. Ironically, while Geldermud was established without Manducare’s knowledge, so too have others carved out their own domains within it. Most notable of these are the thousands of parasites that cling to Dranhagar’s underbelly, and which have grown in both size and might from a diet of divine dragon blood. Some of these dragon-worms have become detached during the rare times when Dranhagar takes action, and now have established small hoards of their own throughout Geldermud.