Minauros, the third layer of the Nine Hells.
This was a realm formed of muddy, foul-smelling swamps. The water in the marshes was so cold that some places had frozen over, yet elsewhere, the chill waters boiled, steaming with the heat of Hellfire.
Unknown and terrifying creatures roamed the black waters; even devils dared not wander too far from their cities. At this layer's lowest point, viscous sewage dripped endlessly, surging into a long waterfall that plunged down to the fourth layer. Many lost travelers and petitioners were accidentally swept into that long, deadly cascade leading to Phlegethos.
Minauros was also known as the Sinking City, for the weight of the city itself caused it to constantly slide deeper into the sewage swamps.
Only the City of Chains—Jangling Hiter, suspended above Minauros by chains—could keep it from finally yielding to the swamp waterfall. Countless thick metal chains strained against it, sustained by the eternal labor of countless petitioners and slaves under the harsh supervision of chain devils. Even so, the city still sank a little deeper into the muck every year.
And Mammon, Archduke and third lord of Hell, resided in a magnificent mausoleum-like structure at the heart of Minauros.
Mammon was also an archdevil, yet in appearance he resembled more a giant venomous serpent, wielding a spear-like harpoon and possessing a human torso, head, and pair of arms.
And if one had to give him the label that left the deepest impression upon devils, then it was—
Traitor!
And Mammon was a traitor among traitors.
Though he had once allied with Dispater, the Iron Duke, and Mephistopheles, Lord of Hellfire, against Asmodeus, when that failed rebellion codenamed [Pick Up the Tab] ended and Asmodeus ultimately proved victorious, Mammon had been the first to submit to the Ninth Lord.
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