Minethys
The blasted land of Minethys, the third layer of Carceri, is an arid, lifeless wasteland, its orbs holding nothing but wide expanses of freezing deserts besot with swirling sandstorms that obliterate any unprotected life on the layer, so strong that they can blast a body to bones in but a few hours. Because of these storms, all that walk about on Minethys must do so while wholly covered in protective clothing, leaving not a bit exposed - the local preference amongst both petitioner and planar is for tight body wrappings that are easy to replace and allow for freedom of movement. Even beyond the sandstorms, though, around once every tenday any given orb is hit with massive tornadoes so powerful that those caught in them end up thrown to other orbs entirely.
Because of these horrid conditions, the only livable buildings in Minethys are low-built huts half-buried in the sand, and designed to be easily fully covered should they end up in the path of one of Minethys's tornadoes — deeper stone ruins buried far within the sand are found from time to time, thought by most to be from past cities perhaps from a time when Minethys wasn't as vicious a landscape, but these obviously aren't usable as shelter. Minethysian huts tend to be found arranged in loose clusters, if for no other reason than to allow for easier barter for services one another lack — barter is far preferred to jink here, gold and gems being merely something to weigh a person down should they have to move quickly. Trade is extremely important in Minethys, as this layer is the layer of the greedy, those that betrayed their professional duty for short-term gain whether that take the form of money, power, or any other transitory state. Here, no petitioner (and thus, most mortal residents) will give anything away for free, or even cheap. No service is given without a more valuable service in exchange, unrestrained capitalism taken to utter extremes. There's a horrid irony in the fact that such a situation has taken hold in a realm where no trade company dare establish a foothold, where no trade caravan bothers to operate; the barest of trips before continuing onto Colothys, and only for those unlucky enough to not find a full tunnel system across Minethys from top to bottom.
As on all layers of Carceri, petitioners of this layer do eventually adapt to the ill conditions, as they grow more used to their life here. On Minethys, that results in thick, leathery skin almost like that of a rhinoceros, enough to protect against not only the stinging sand, but the impact of a rough fall after the influence of a tornado. Hill giants are still somewhat common amongst the petitioners of Minethys, but not quite as much as on the previous layer; besides that, it holds the usual assortment one would expect here. Minethys is also home to two other mortal peoples, the fomorians and the gautiere. The fomorians, the cast-offs of the giants, take Minethys as their home because just about nowhere else will take them, the effects of the sands barely even noticeable through their thick folds of skin. The gautiere, meanwhile, reside on Minethys for their own self-flagellating reasons; while they refuse to say for certain, tales have echoed among sages for a while of a time of great betrayal in their distant past, when they still dwelled upon the Outlands.
Locations
- Sites
- Realms
- The Mausoleum of Pain (Faluzure's realm)
- The Rack of Injustice (Karontor's realm)
- Trickster's Delight (Parrafaire's realm)
References
- Manual of the Planes, 3rd edition, pp.106
- Planes of Conflict - Liber Malevolentiae, pg.20
