Gehenna

The **Bleak Purgatory of Gehenna** is a plane of existence that is considered an outer plane and one of the *realms above**.* Not heaven but not quite hell, the Bleak Purgatory is one of the realms of the afterlife where souls are sent to atone for their sins before being allowed to enter the other realms above as other planar beings. It is the only plane to border Hell.

Although Gehenna has been referenced throughout *WovenRealm*'s campaign with the only members of the Emerald Caravan to have been there being Emi as the Spirit-farer and Fenris' soul being reborn a specter after death.

## Description

Upon arriving in Gehenna, the most notable feature is the lack of color anywhere. Everything, regardless of one's perception, appears without color. Gravity seems to work at a forty-five degree angle to the ground, making travelers feel as if they were on the side of a mountain with no base or peak. Gehenna is often referred to as the 'Purgatorial Mounts' as its 7 layers are sloping mountains with the valleys giving way to the Tundra of the Damned. Buildings and structures in Gehenna are often constructed in a way where they are either built or carved into the slopes of the Purgatorial Mounts.

As revealed by Fenris to Soren in S3E2 'Parting Gift,' time is experienced differently in the realm of Gehenna than it is in the material with him stating since dying the previous day he 'had experienced an eternity of torment.' This could likely also be a result of Cersei's power as a deity.

### Khalas

The uppermost layer of Gehenna and probably the most hospitable of the layers. Waterfalls cascade down the slopes of Khalas, with the largest falls coming from the rivers Styx, Acheron, and Phlegethon. The River of Conflict flows from Cocytus into Gehenna, also flowing over the slopes of Khalas. Portals to various places can be found throughout Khalas if one knows what to look for in the jagged crags and valleys of Khalas. Steam rises up from far below, blocking out the view of the other purgatorial mounts. The air here is saturated with smoke, but the strange moon, Nimicri, can be best observed here as its strange 'unlight' breaks the soot and smoke.

### Purgos

Purgos is noted for the center of its layer being a grey mire where the planar rivers 'meet' into the lake of Purgos. Surrounding the churning swamps of the lake is a forest of jagged, thorny trees with contorted, twisted faces that wail and scream to alert the resident colossi of nephilim and specters trying to escape the realm. It is thought that the Screaming Forest is tended to by Night Hags. Within the Screaming Forest, if one is fortunate and prepared well enough, they may find the entrance to the Night Hag realm, the Ravellmaze. Journeying to the center of this bramble labyrinth brings travelers to the Night Hag city of Puzzlewell.

### Omegos

As a layer, Omegos is a city carved into the peak of the layer and it spans the whole layer itself. Omegos is secured by the Wall of the Faithless, where mortals go to inscribe their names to denounce the gods, which has earned the city of Omegos the moniker of 'the Godless City.' At the 'geographic center' of the city is the Cathedral of Torment, wrapped in chains. Magical chains reach out from the Cathedral, suspending it above the Omegos.

### Chamada

Perhaps the most violently active layer in terms of volcanic activity where lava cascades and flows for miles and volcanoes yawn open, spewing soot and smoke into the air. The air here is foul and acrid and can cause harm to those who are not properly prepared to traverse the inhospitable terrain. As one descends Chamada, the air grows fresher and cooler with the lava flows slowing until they harden into a strange, obsidian ice with the air smelling of decay and burnt flesh and hair.

### Mungoth

As one traverses further down into Gehenna, the ash turns to burning snow which builds up in the darker realms of Gehenna. The volcanic furnaces found throughout the realm are scant and far between in this realm as Gehenna begins to give way to the final layers. Avalanches of snow, ice, and fiery rock are common hazards in this region with most utilizing undergrown passageways to navigate Mungoth in relative safety. One can also sail the River of Conflict here as well.

### Krangath

Devoid of any sort of volcanic activity, even underground, Krangath is a cold and dark place with Nimicri's unlight having difficulty breeching the smoke and ash above. Krangath is geologically dead and has been for a great amount of time. There is no wind and no natural sounds here except for the bellowing of colossi, the only living creatures that seem to call this realm home. In the underground caves of this realm is where many inhabitants fight fiercely for somewhere to survive.

### Tundra of the Damned

The bottom layer of the Purgatorial Mounts, the Tundra of the Damned is a flat expanse of dead cold. The Tundra is so cold that touching the ice or snow here burns, and the landscape sees nary a footprint. The only life here are colossi and the most wicked of Nephilim. The River of Conflict freezes to a crawl in the Tundra of the Damned before crossing through the only known place in the planes to border hell, the Tartarian Gate.

## Cosmography

Gehenna is the only plane to border hell on a cosmographical scale. Khazav borders Gehenna in quite a few places as does the Stygian Engine of Cocytus. There are rumors that the Mountain of Olympus connects to Gehenna at a few various points, but this has yet to be proven by planar sages. The planar rivers Styx, Phlegethon, and Acheron flow through Gehenna. The River of Conflict, originating in Cocytus, flows through Gehenna and into Hell. Gehenna is the only place in the multiverse that can be used to directly access Hell.

## Inhabitants

Barghests are one of the few creatures believed to be native to the plane, with little of the life in Gehenna having developed there. The strange, cyclopian Gehenna houn often kept by Nephilm can be found in almost all of the first 6 layers. Pyroclastic dragons can be found layering within the various Purgatorial Mounts, especially in the furnaces of Chamada. Night hags are believed to have been born within the Screaming Forest. The Colossi that call the realm home are great constructs and are believed to have been 'created' by the plane after the fall of the Giant pantheon.

Souls of the non-wicked are reborn in Gehenna as Specters and wander the plane hoping to escape the gaze of the colossi and nephilim.

It is not uncommon for devils to cross over into the realm either attempting to escape or fulfilling Covenants of Service.

### Nephilim

The strange and devious fiends that wander the Bleak Purgatory of Gehenna are known as the Nephilim and are one of the primary types of creatures to take up residence in the realm. Many nephilim are of a survivalist mindset and of malevolent intent, but planar sages are aware of the fact the nephilim souls may be redeemed through escaping the purgatorial realm, a task much easier said than done. Nephilim often find themselves as string-pullers in planar affairs, especially in regards to their fellow fiends and the lower gods. The first Nephilim are said to have crawled from the slurry of dead snow and volcanic ash in Gehenna when the first evil soul was judged to be redeemable in the great cycle. It is believed the Night Hags gave these souls their forms they wander the Bleak Purgatory in.

Many nephilim are selfish beings, acting in ways that prove to be most profitable to them and their goals. For the most wicked nephilim, even the promises of redemption and escape from Gehenna are not enticing enough for them to attempt to change. Nephilim are infamous for backstabbing when presented with an opportunity to advance themselves. Nephilim are not above working together to achieve their goals.

Nephilim come in a wide variety of forms with each having varying strengths and weaknesses and varying powers. When nephilim gather into groups or settlements such as in the City of Omegos, their forms often place them in a strict social hierarchy with scholars. The least evil the nephilim, the lesser they are seen in the hierarchy with the most powerful nephilim forms being for the most wicked of souls with the weaker and lesser of their kind tend toward less malicious behaviors with some even willing to extend acts of kindness. The first Nephilim are said to have crawled from the snow of the Tundra of the Damned when the first wicked, but redeemable soul, had entered the cycle. Although the Greyfiends are often recognized as the first of the Nephilim, according to legends amongst the lower planes, the Doom Whisperers were the first.

#### Lesser Nephilim

* **Doom Whisperers**: Said to have once been powerful nephilim who have since lost their edge, the shrouded Doom Whisperers dwindle in numbers and live throughout Gehenna and the other lower planes as hermits and alleged sages. Those who find credence in their stories may find a Doom Whisperer to be a valuable source of information.
* **Festertoad**: Toad-like fiends that tend to congregate in the swamps and marshes that gather around the Lake of Purgos. They tend to the Screaming Forest for the Night Hags.
* **Gehenna Snail**: A slug fiend that takes residence in the various skulls found littering the realms of Gehenna. As the Gehenna snail grows in power, so does it size, and thus, more powerful snails reside in larger skulls.
* **Mantisfiend**: An insectoid fiend that takes on the shape of a praying mantis. Utilize camouflage and ambush tactics to surprise unsuspecting victims. When not utilizing guerilla tactics, Mantisfiends act as shock troops in Nephilim raiding parties.
* **Nollops:** Impish, cyclopian creatures, Nollops are weak alone but find strength in numbers and overrunning their foes. Often pushed around by all the other nephilim.
* **Stygian Mariner**: Skeletal fiends that navigate the various planar rivers in the most literal sense; by boat. They may be willing to take travelers on their ferries.

#### Greater Nephilim

* **Librarians**: Fox-like fiends that take on a shape that resembles a corrupted Phoonzang by replacing the lion-esque features with the trickster fox. Hoarders of knowledge and secrets. Collectors and holders of vast arcane libraries from across the planes and ages. Masters of the arcane.
* **Grey Fiend**: An uncanny humanoid creature, their featureless faces and orb-like eyes almost immediately betray their wicked nature. Considered the most evil of the nephilim. Highly deceptive and masters of cursed psionics.
* **Nycofiend**: A fiend that takes on a corrupt hybrid form with the face of a wolf and body of a wolf, four reptilian arms, a set of bats wings, and a set of hawk talons for feet. Brutal survivalists and noted for being mighty warriors amongst the Nephilim. Often become warlords that only answer to Grey Fiends.
* **Tower Recluse**: A strange, spider nephilim that gains power from constructing towers with power gathered through a mysterious ritual involving a Night Hag. Noted amongst the Nephilim for being highly expressive and having unique interests. Crafters of skull knights.

#### Nephilim Adjacent

* **Gehenna Hound:** Although kept and cared for by Nephilim, Gehenna hounds are creatures that are native to the plane and are not actual nephilim themselves.
* **Skull Knight:** Strange, undead constructs constructed by Tower Recluses to serve as warriors. Crafted from the ashen bones and armor of those annihilated by a Colossi. Skull knights that grow powerful enough may become Death Lords.

#### Notable Inhabitants

The Bleak Purgatory of Gehenna is home to a variety of ascended souls who have been sent here to carry out a cosmic sentence. The Nephilim try to overcome their souls' wickedness in the hopes of passing through Gehenna for another chance. Specters haunt the realm, not sentenced out of wickedness, but by other circumstances that the cosmos demand justice or balance; this was the case with Fenris being sent to Gehenna in Oleander's place in *WovenRealm* S3E1 'A Soul for a Soul.' The only creatures truly native and born of the plane are the strange colossi, constructs thought to be made from the bones of the dead giant pantheon.

##### Resident Deities

* Urboch the Winter Colossus
* Kabor the Reaper, Shadow of Day
* Cersei, Terror Incarnate
* The Emerald Star, Spirit-Farer

##### Notable Characters

* Fenris Amarak
* Anastasia Skyheart
* Stick
* General of Gehenna
* Phantorax, Composer of Pain
* Frogaggog, Prince of the Festertoads
* Aeros the Depraved
* Captain Skurvy

## Realms

Most deities make a point to avoid Gehenna. Gods that tend toward chaos, wickedness, and evil are in other realms such as the Clockwork Necropolis of Khazav and Cocytus. The resident deities of Gehenna include:

* Urboch, god of winter, misfortune, sickness, and famine, the Winter Colossus, calls the realm of Gehenna his home. He primarily wanders the Tundra of the Damned, but will traverse other layers.
* Cersei, Terror Incarnate, was imprisoned in the Cathedral of Torment in Omegos following the God War.
* The Spirit-farer, an arch-existence who is serves as a guide of souls to their afterlives. They often find themselves crossing through Gehenna and has a shelter set up in Khalas.
* Kabor, god of death, dying, caves, and darkness has a realm named Shadow Harvest located in Krangath.
* Although not the realm of a deity, the Crawling City, said to be build from the remains of slain colossi, moves all around Gehenna. A powerful nephilim known as the General of Gehenna, oversees the Crawling City.

## Campaign

In the *WovenRealm* campaign, Emi's prophecy before dying referred to the Tundra of the Damned, the most referenced layer in game. The Devil Muertos is thought to have had to pass through Gehenna to reach the material plane, and Oleander was absolutely certain that is where her soul was bound to because of her second life. After dying, Fenris' soul was sent to Gehenna where he was reborn as a Specter; the reasoning for his sentence has not been made clear if its due to his and his birth mother's Sojourner faith or if he is serving Oleander's sentence.

In S2E2 'Parting Gift,' Soren's book briefly transported him to Gehenna, or an echo of the plane, where he was informed by Fenris' specter that Anastasia Skyheart was also a specter, and she was currently in Cersei's chains. Fenris' conversation with Soren as well as other meta-knowledge obtained by Oleander through skill checks greatly suggests Fenris was also tormented by the goddess imprisoned in Omegos.

## Trivia

* The Bleak Purgatory of Gehenna is based on the plane of Gehenna found in the *Dungeons & Dragons* cosmology. Puddins has stated that Gehenna was a personal favorite plane of his and felt it vastly underutilized within DnD.
* With Evarencia's lore divorced from alignment, unlike many other d20 fantasy settings, Gehenna's place in the cosmos changed from a purely evil plane to a purgatorial realm.
* The concept of a purgatorial realm is inspired by the Catholic concept of Purgatory, a realm where souls go to be purified before admittance into Heaven. The concept is quite similar in the cosmology of *WovenRealm.*
* Gehenna's cube-shaped moon, Nimicri, is the only source of light in Gehenna that isn't a lava flow or other byproduct of energy transference. It is also a living entity.