The Netherworld

The Netherworld is a place of darkness, chaos, and magic unknown. Merely being inside of this dimension wreaks insanity across even the most strong-willed. Death is near certain for those who overstay their welcome.

The world is a volcanic and corrupted wasteland, on a scale dwarfing even the rotted wastes of the Morire Forest. The unnatural foliage and fauna that tread this scorned dimension assail the mind and heart of the most iron-willed adventurer. Frequently those who tread this world alone never return.

The Netherworld has, however, over the millennia since it was first discovered, been explored to a degree where at least some rudimentary knowledge remains. Despite many texts being lost from the Dark Ages, the 5th era and its era of enlightenment have brought to bear some facts regarding the nature of this world.

A Wise man once said, “The Netherworld is a place of darkness, chaos, and magic unknown. Merely being inside of this dimension wreaks insanity across even the most strong-willed. Death is near certain for those who overstay their welcome.”

The people have lost countless artifacts from the Netherworld, but more importantly. Was the knowledge of how to use those artifacts. The History of the Netherworld shall tell us just how we can use them… But…The History of the Netherworld is not a simple one, it has gone through many horrors much more terrifying than ours. We may not know much, but that of what we do know tells a grand story. A story of a war that would change the fate of the Netherworld for all eternity.

From what is known of the Netherworld it has been a death-infected land for long before we arrived. The tainted lands of the Netherworld are mysterious in many ways, ancient buildings lie dormant in the dust of the ground. Giant creatures beyond anything imaginable may have once roamed the land. But how could something such as this come to an end? Well, from what we know there may have once existed a race of people that inhabited the Netherworld, using Chaos magic to bend Nature and the land to its will.

They abused this Magic to create new technology and new ways of ruling the land, they were an absolute race that originated from tribes of war. The tribes of these people fought and fought until there was only one warrior standing. Although at some point in their time a single warrior came to be known throughout the tribes, stone slabs of this person have been found all throughout the Netherworld, this person making their way through the NetherWold conquering tribe after tribe uniting them all under one name and one army: the Nether Queen's army.

The army started their crusade as fast as it ended. No man nor beast could stop their blazing trail of destruction. They used their power to bend the will of the people to build grand structures for themself. Long peace was finally achieved, but how could they do it? The Netherworld was a vast land many isles may have once existed, and the lava ridden oceans were impassable. Chaos magic, Chaos Magic was a mostly known source of magic in the Netherworld but was looked down upon by the tribes because it was either too powerful or un-chivalry-like. So, it was unused for generations, although one tribe in the Netherworld may have used this magic to create a warrior that could conquer the lands for them.

They used her and called her the Nether Queen, the slayer of beasts and conquerer of the Nergal tribes. Since the Nether Queen may have originated from this tribe that used Chaos Magic it was becoming more and more common to see upon the Netherworld. Although some still disapproved of it. Chaos magic was eventually found almost everywhere, whether that be weapons, armor, even to grow food and tame animals. The magic was able to produce results that you wouldn’t be able to get from performing a task physically, it required less strength to forge weapons and gave the forgers more precision. The more and more this was used the fiercer the ground shook. This Shaking though, what was it. The Nether Queen didn’t worry about it. They had fell creatures of Great size, and conquered all the tribes of the Netherworld after all.

But this shaking was the one thing they couldn’t conquer. Mother Nature. She was angry, angry at the Nether Queen, she had been abusing this magic, causing the World to become more and more unstable. The Nether Queen fought back though, but to no avail. Mother Nature was the one creature too strong to fall. The Nether Queen and their armies fell, their flesh, bones, and souls forever being trapped in the land. The last bastions around the Netherworld fell one by one after another. Before the light of a new dawn could be seen. The Nether Queen was slain, and the Netherworld was reset. Reset into a new fate.

Mother Nature is a beast, one that no man shall conquer. But you can treat it well, and it shall treat you well. Mother Nature is a creature that shall remain until the end of time, until the end of Humanity. We hope that this fate never comes upon us. And that we can spare our children this fate. The Research into the Netherworld shall still continue, we shall know more and more about it every looming day, but the more we know. The more we may be afraid of.

We have no confident description on what this race of the Netherworld looked like, but we have found some writings. Stone Slabs are the most common as they are some of the most resistant to shifts created by Mother Nature. Ancient libraries are very rare as most buildings were burnt away and lost in the shifting sands of time, although the ruins that remain, we have found some books on the Netherworld, and what it may have been like. Other buildings and ancient beast fossils have been found.

## Geography of the Netherworld

### The Wastes:

Rumors lay claim that The Wastes are a land which once laid host to an ancient beast, but now it is nothing more than a home to ruins, becoming a land of despair. Once, perhaps, some ancient Civilizations or beasts called this expanse home. However, now, not even the denizens of the Netherworld themselves traverse these lands in fear of what may lie here. The Wastes are boasts greater mysteries than any other region throughout the Netherworld. Even the corrupted vegetation that dot the other terrains of the Netherworld seem to shy away from these areas. The Wastes are dotted with the remains of massive beasts from what was surely the Netherworlds chaotic inception.

### The Basalt Deltas:

Volcanic outcroppings characterize this area. The tectonic movements of the Netherworld run aplenty, and new volcanic eruptions occur constantly. These deltas are a force of nature not to be trifled with. To the denizens of the Netherworld, it is sacred land, and they worship the volcanic wrath. “Respect it well and it shall respect you” The Nether Queen once said. Even with the People that had once roamed this land, the Basalt deltas still erupt with lava, the volcanoes waiting once more to see what shall come of this land.

### The Crimson Forests:

Known for its uncanny similarities to that which has overcome the Morire Forest. It is a place that is still very mysterious to this day. Not much is known about these lands. Maybe something was once here that could’ve been of some use to people, but no more as the flesh forest has taken over any unclaimed lands on these isles. This mere fact brings the most curious observer to some startling conclusions regarding the true nature of the Morire Forest and what it entails for the future of Eyumel. After all... The Morire Forest is growing outward. The Crimson Forests of the Netherworld bear host to abominable flora. Rising out of the bones of dead beasts that call these forests home, it is no wonder that so many explorers have lost their lives here.

### The Warped Forests:

The Warped Forests of the Netherworld are perhaps the ones that appear the most natural. Some speculation has arisen over whether these areas are remains of whatever past the Netherworld may have once possessed. For if theories regarding the nature of the Morire forest are to be believed, the Netherworld may very well have once been a thriving dimension. The Warped Forests remain magical... Yet still possesses the same level of eeriness as the rest of the Netherworld. At the center of its forest stands a tall mountain, wherein lies a Great World Tree, its size dwarfing even the entire forest.

### Soul Sand Valleys:

These magical hotspots in the Netherworld are rumored to capture the souls of the dead—animal and the many races alike. The life that arises here is unnatural—as characterized by much of this dimension. These areas tend to be avoided, for they are rather difficult to traverse.

## Netherworld Rifts

Netherworld Rifts are unnatural machinations, remnants of a bygone era when chaotic magic was more widespread and heavily utilized—particularly by sects of divergent Battlemages. Since its eventual banning and general renouncement by the greater whole of the civilized races, the art of the creation of Netherworld Portals has primarily remained hidden and only retained by distant fringes of society.

Deep in the recesses of the world, however, remnants of a bygone era persist. Ruined structures, filled with dark magic taunts even the most strong-willed of delvers. Whispering their corruption into their minds. Should these rifts to the horrible dimension ever be restored, damnation may surely come to those who are ill-prepared.

Even the most ardent preparation may result in destruction for those who so dare take steps into the practicing of the chaotic magic that so created the monstrosity of the Morire forest. Beware, for dark magics should not be tread lightly upon.