Topheth

**Topheth**, also called **Inferno** or **Burning Hells**, is one of the realms adjacented to the Realm of the Dead where Daemon, Demonic Beasts, and Devils of the Extra Demons live. They are ruled by the Nine Devil Kings, with each Devil King rules over a region of Topheth.

## Overview

In the Hebrew Bible, **Topheth** is a location in Jerusalem in the Valley of Hinnom, where worshipers engaged in a ritual involving "passing a child through the fire", most likely child sacrifice. Traditionally, the sacrifices have been ascribed to [[wikipedia:Moloch. The Bible condemns and forbids these sacrifices, and the tophet is eventually destroyed by king Josiah, although mentions by the prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Isaiah suggest that the practices associated with the tophet may have persisted.

Most scholars agree that the ritual performed at the tophet was child sacrifice, and they connect it to similar episodes throughout the Bible and recorded in Phoenicia and Carthage by Hellenistic sources. There is disagreement about whether the sacrifices were offered to Moloch. Based on Phoenician and Carthaginian inscriptions, a growing number of scholars believe that the word *moloch* refers to the type of sacrifice rather than a deity. There is currently a dispute as to whether these sacrifices were dedicated to Yahweh rather than a foreign deity.

Archaeologists have applied the term "tophet" to large cemeteries of children found at Carthaginian sites that have traditionally been believed to house the victims of child sacrifice, as described by Hellenistic and biblical sources. This interpretation is controversial, with some scholars arguing that the tophets may have been children's cemeteries, rejecting Hellenistic sources as anti-Carthaginian propaganda.

The tophet and its location later became associated with divine punishment in Jewish eschatology.

## Appearance

Topheth is a realm of immense size, stated to be at least three times the size of Earth's landmass, and is filled with fire, smoke, and brimstones. The sky of the red is a reddish-gold color, constantly covered by clouds made of volcanic ashes born of the numerous volcanoes scattered across the realm, and is illuminated by three suns made of bronze and a single moon made of gold.

The realm is divided into nine main regions, each with their own unique geography and ecological system, and is ruled by a Devil King. These realms are placed around the City of Dis, the capital nation of the realm where the elite devils and daemon affiliated with the Extra Demons dwell.

The realm has little to no drinkable water sources, with the majority of lakes and rivers being artificial, as well as located within the property of High-ranked elites. Much like the Netherworld, the realm is physically separated from the Realm of the Dead's mainland by the Boiling Sea, which is - like its name suggests it - a giant body of boiling water hot enough to kill ordinary humans and severely burned Low-class devils.

## Nine Regions

Topheth is divided into nine different regions which somewhat resemble nations on Earth in terms of culture and geography. These nine regions are each ruled by a Devil King whose background closely resembles the Sin most prominent in said region, though the influence of the Extra Demons are still prominent in these regions.

These nine regions are **Limbo** (Virgil), **Luxuria** (Cleopatra), **Gula Moska** (Alayula Nebiros), the **Iron Realm** (Dekadr Mammon), **Stygias** (Phlegyas), **Nakctavi** (Rodrigo de Borgia), **Akhkharu** (Attila the Hun), **Malebolge** (Simon Magus), and **Zamhareer** (Mordred). Due to dimensional rifts, several locations in these regions are also connected to other places in the Realm of the Dead; For example: Stygias and Akhkharu are both connected to Tartarus, or Nakctavi is connected to the Mesopotamian Underworld.

## Notable Locations

### Limbo

**Limbo** (辺獄, *Hengoku*), also called **Limbus** in Latin, is the outermost region of Topheth whose main inhabitants are the shades of atheists. Sealed inside underwater caverns beneath the region's rocky shore are the shades of zealots, blasphemers, or have discriminated against/or harassed followers of the Abrahamic religions.

### Malebolge

**Malebolge** (Template:Furigana), also called the **Unholy Ditches of Evil**, is the eighth region of Topheth whose geography resembles that of a giant swamp. It is the largest of nine regions, its size alone is roughly the same as Earth's entire landmass, and as such, it is further divided into ten smaller regions where the wealthy and influential live in the highlands whereas the poor live beneath the boiling marshes.

### Zamhareer

**Zamhareer** (Template:Furigana), also called the **Frozen Hells**, is the final region of Topheth, characterized by unbearably cold, with blizzards, ice, and snow. This is where all the rivers in the Realm of the Dead ended in, creating a giant frozen lake in the middle of the realm with only a small island in the heart of it. Located on said small island is the Kokytus Prison, where the worst criminals of the supernatural world are imprisoned forever.

### Tomb of Abyss

**Tomb of Abyss** (Template:Furigana), also called the **Mausoleum of Demon Gods**, is a grand mausoleum made of eternal ice and obsidian, decorated with scenes of battle from the Great War engraved upon its walls. Located inside are glass coffins carried statues carved in the images of the demons who fell in the war. Every year, on the 13th day of the fourth month of the demonic calendar, all devils and daemon would go on a pilgrimage to the Tomb to pay honor to their dead creators.

## Trivia

* The air in Topheth contains an abnormally high amount of sulfur.
* An abridged description of Topheth is recorded and spread across the human world in the form of "Inferno", the first part of "Divine Comedy" written by Italian prophet Dante Alighieri.
* Due to the animosity between the 72 Pillars and the Extra Demons, the possibility of war between Topheth and the Netherworld is always there, though with the peace treaty between the Three Factions, the chances of it happening have greatly decreased.