It is the plane of exile.
It is the prison plane of the multiverse
It is where the overthown plot their return. . .
Carceri may seem the least overtly dangerous of the Lower Planes, but that first impression quickly disappears - acid seas and sulfurous atmospheres may be rare on this plane, but the danger of Carceri is a subtler thing. This is the plane of darkness and despair, of passions and poisons, and of kingdom-shattering betrayals. On Carceri, hatreds run like a deep slow moving river, and there's no telling what the flood of treachery is going to consume next.
It is said that a prisoner on Carceri may only escape when she has become stronger than whatever imprisoned her there. That's a difficult task on a plane whose very nature breeds despair, betrayal, and self-hatred.
- Manual of the Planes
Gatecrasher's Guide[]
There's some berks that say Sigil's a birdcage, a prison, and other folks are too dim to realize it. Well, they ain't seen Carceri. That's a prison. Sigil's a holy temple compared to this plane. Known as Tarterus to green primes, Carceri is the land of exiles, the place where the outcast, the overthrown, and the defeated fume and plot for the day when they'll return. Olympic titans are the best known of the lot. Carceri plays its role in the Blood War by serving as a mustering ground and battlefield for the mindless armies of gehreleth.
Carceri is called the six-fold realm because it has six layers nested like little wooden dolls, one inside the other. Each layer is of immense size, sometimes the equal of the layer that contains it, and infinite by most standards. The layers radiate their own light, a dull reddish glow like that of a fire beetle. Though the light is fiery, it gives no heat, so the layers of Carceri range from cool to bitter freezing.
Petitioners consigned to Carceri are most frequently dead traitors, backstabbers, and other souls of underhanded ambition. While the petitioners don't remember their past lives, the old traits can't be broken. Thus it is that no petitioner of Carceri can ever speak the entire truth. They lie compulsively and most cunningly.
- Guide to the Planes
Traits[]
- Normal Gravity
- Normal Time
- Infinite Size - The layers, or "orbs" of Carceri are of finite size, but there are an infinite number of these planetoids
- Divinely Morphic
- No Elemental or Energy Traits
- Mildly Evil-Aligned
- Normal Magic
Features[]
Carceri is called the sixfold realm because it has six layers nested within each other like little wooden dolls. On each layer, a strange of small planets stretches in two directions towards infinity.
Some of Carceri's layers are battle-scarred and wasted, the legacy of the Blood War. While much of Carceri remains oblivious to the war raging across the lower planes, portions of the plane are used as staging grounds or even battlefields.
Orthrys[]
The first layer of Carceri is a realm of vast bogs and quicksand. The River Styx runs freely through the layer, saturating the ground with its magic. Channels carved into the soft ground through eons of erosion are wide and deep. Where there is no river, there are swamps. Though patches of dry ground exist, they are rare and usually climb swiftly to rugged mountains where enraged titans dwell.
Mosquitoes swarm the air above the bogs, annoying travelers. Even more annoying are the smooth-talking petitioners that populate this dreary realm.
Cathrys[]
The orbs in the second layer of Carceri are covered with fetid jungles and scarlet plains. The stench of decay fills the air, a rot fueled by acidic secretions of jungle plants. Those without immunity to acid are soon rendered down to their component materials if they stay too long amid the swaying trees.
The plains of Cathrys are more habitable. Vast wind-swept grasslands cover the planes. Some patches possess razor-sharp leaves, which can cut a traveler not mindful of them to ribbons.
Minethys[]
The third layer of Carceri is filled with sand. Stinging grit is driven so hard by the wind that it can strip and exposed being to the bone in a matter of hours. Sandstorms are frequent, as are tornadoes.
Colothys[]
The fourth layer of Carceri is a realm of mountains so tall, rough, and cruel as to stagger the imagination of a traveler from one of the Material Planes. Travel on foot here is almost impossible, because the land is divided by canyons miles deep where it is not lifted to absurd heights by mighty tectonics. A few trading routes do exist, usually in the form of rickety bridges and cliff face trails barely wide enough for one.
Porphatys[]
Each orb of Porphatys is covered in a cold shallow ocean fed by constant black snow. The snow and water are mildly acidic.
Artificial structures do not last long in Porphatys. Small islands barely taller than sandbars rise above the waves. Most petitioners crow from atop the small sandbars, promising anything to those who can take them away.
Agathys[]
The coldest layer of Carceri is also the lowest - or innermost, given the nested nature of the plane. Unlike the other layers, Agathys has only a single orb: a sphere of black ice streaked with red. The Necromanteion, citadel of the deity Nerull, watches over the otherwise deserted ice layer.
On the Server[]
There is a portal near the Mercykiller's Prison in the Lady's Ward that is said to lead to an island in Porphatys. This island is larger than many, and holds a prison.
Brave travelers should note that this portal is only one way. Those who enter will have to find another way out of the prison plane.
There is a quest item in the deepest depths of the prison; rescue a tortured captive by bringing their soul gem to the Shrine of Domiel in Mercuria (in the grate right by the entrance portal) and handing it over to the attending angel to be freed in exchange for an ingot of Solanian Truesteel.
If you go up the mountain from the beach, there is a portal to the next layer of the plane: Colothys. The key is a Razorvine Whip, which is only found as loot in the module. Colothys is home to a boss encounter, triggered by trying to take fruit from the plants of of the layer, and a quest.
Carceri is also home to the following quests: