The Underworld extends further and deeper than the Shadowlands. There is a vast, dangerous area known as the Tempest, which is simultaneously storm, sea, and wasteland. The lot of wraiths is a dark one. Oblivion, the force and embodiment of non-being, consumes more of the Underworld by the day. Those it grasps fully cease to exist, but those it touches only lightly are twisted and corrupted by it.
Oblivion is a seductive thing, calling to every wraith.
Everywhere a wraith looks, they see dissolution and decay. Its history stretches back in dim legends, and it was ruled by millennia by the legendary figure of Charon. While it had its enemies and rivals, both within and without, nothing could really challenge it. As the years went by, however, Oblivion grew steadily stronger. The ancient rulers of the Hierarchy, the so-called Deathlords, have lost their ties to the living world, and can no longer venture to the Shadowlands to keep firm control.