Agulbandal

• Previous
• Next

Agulbandal is a vast depression separating Hells Womb from southern Grashakh. In the Demon Spawn War it became a wasteland, wrecked by two erupting volcanoes. The Typhalumus and the Vaermund volcanoes were fonts of magma designed to thwart its use by Demogorgon's legions. Demogorgon, one of the demon lords of the Abyssal Hegemony, wanted to push north from Hells Womb. He had four possible routes to move his ten legions. In the book Square Nails, it says the furthest from his Demogorgon's base of operations in Ladneg was the Foronir river. Under control of the legendary Covenant admiral Thjorygg, this river could not be used until Demogorgon could build or portage his own navy near it. The other path north was the Underdark. This was the least desirable, to restrictive in your movements, to easy to block your route of advance. The third option was the Dargirth, which he could safely say he commanded south all the way to Dalgs Sundering. Going north from Ladneg, his control of the river ended in the Ripper. This section of the river was the home of "retired" dragons which allied with no side in the conflict raging around them. Many were veterans of the Creation War, old and scarred from battle. They charged exorbitant tolls they called "pensions" for saving the world the first time around. Beyond the dragons, Ripper is subject to gale-force winds that require specially designed ships useful for only one thing, getting the cargo through before it is sandblasted to dust. The last route of advance was going down into the Agulbandal depression then north across a flat land with lakes, rivers and greenery. Demogorgon did not like the look of this place. He was to write in his book Square Nails, "depressions are the best traps Nature conceived". Once Demogorgon began to move his forces, Surtur created the volcano Typhalumus. Two years later, he created Vaermund. These volcanoes would blacken the landscape, turn it into a harsh landscape difficult to move armies.

It is brutally hot, the air hard to breath, lava rivers flowing outward from Surturs Ugly Sisters, and always falling rocks. These are jettisoned from the volcanoes leaving impact craters. Some explode with lava. The worse of them are balls of magma containing fiery puddings. If this is true, then it can only be the work of Juiblex. We have been hearing rumors for months of his side deals with the Covenant.

Yesterday, a giant rock landed in the middle of the army, killing dozens. I was lucky to be near this, my bags full of what the dead don't need anymore.

- Mobis, demon sergeant of Demogorgon's 5th Barbs, from his Letters to Mom collection - "Agulbandal Advance, 4^th Attempt"

Agulbandal is flanked on the east and west by tall jagged peaks. Together, they form the Trudnar mountains. The area between these mountains is the depression. On both ends, one can enter the depression from roads and mule trails.

In the Horgon Era, the Typhalumus volcano was cut-off from its lava feeding river. This made Agulbandal a less volatile place. In the northwestern part, the land became farm lands with rich black soil.

The streams and rivulets that flow into the depression either drain into crevasses or are evaporated off by the streams of lava or become boiling pools of chemical laden water. Beyond the natural hazards of the depressions volcanic landscape, other dangers come in the form of bands of fire giants, fire trolls, hell hounds, salamanders, and all manner of other fiery brutes.

In the middle of the Horgon Era, the fire giant kingdom Talothand was defeated by the Zeymah'kein. Many fire giants and other refugees of this fallen kingdom migrated to this desolate wasteland. These groups splintered into their own factions, fighting each other and raiding the surrounding lands. Across Agulbandal and into the surrounding highlands, many petty states would rise and fall over the next two millennium. In 1517, King Glebvog united most of Agulbandal's fire giants and smaller peoples under the Surticon Empire.