Realm of the Dead

**Realm of the Dead**, also known as **The Underworld** or **The Afterlife**, is the mythological location where shades of humans shall descend to after death. It is ruled by the Lords of the Underworld, gods of the dead from various pantheon and mythologies.

## Overview

The concept of a life after death is found in almost every civilization and "may be as old as humanity itself".

Common features of underworld myths are accounts of living people making journeys to the underworld, often for some heroic purposes. Other myths reinforce traditions that entrance of souls to the afterlife requires a proper observation of ceremony and/or funeral rites and offerings.

A number of mythologies incorporate the concept of the souls of the dead making its own journey to the afterlife, with the dead needing to be taken across a defining obstacle such as a lake or a river to reach this destination. Imagery of such myths and journeys can be found in both ancient and modern art, and the descend itself has been described as "the single most important myth for Modernist authors."

## Appearance

Despite popular beliefs, the Realm of the Dead appears as a seemingly endless metropolitan city formed of numerous skyscrapers and buildings built of gleaming obsidian, all built around a giant pit where the core of the realm and the entrance to the Kokytus Prison is located.

Outside the metropolis are vast meadows of ghostly flowers, which make the realm appear as enchanting and serene from afar. The plants that can be found in the realm are often those associated with death or funerals, such as asphodels, chrysanthemums, poppies, red spider lilies, white poplars... There are also many rivers smelling like embalming oils and running across the realms, which serve the function of masking away the natural smell of rotten corpse the realm naturally has.

The sky here is always dark, with no celestial bodies up upon the sky. The only sources of light come from the numerous magic lamps, neon and electric lights, and illuminating floras native to the realm. Despite this, the realm has many strange and often dangerous weather phenomena, such as dagger-rains (steel daggers raining from the sky) or intestine-storms (human innards rain down from sky alongside violent winds and blood rain), which make living here extremely difficult even for the natives.

The actual size of the realm is unknown, as it continuously grows every year without any warning or order, forming new territories for the various chthonic pantheons to snatch in countless political and military struggles, as well as to accommodate the endlessly growing human population living on the various worlds and dimensions within the mortal world, especially the numerous variations of Earth. There are no seas or oceans within the realm, only large rivers and bodies of water, though in the far west where Netherworld and the Realm of the Dead are connected, the two realms are separated by a great sea called the Boiling Sea.

## Gateways

Each of the mythological underworlds are connected to the Realm of the Dead through numerous gateways stationed all across the borderlands of the realm and the Netherworld, such as one that leads to Naraka, or Haides, or Yomi, etc. These gateways are fashioned out of precious metals and jewels, and are placed in the heart of a great temple complex of their respective religion.

Known gateways to the mythological underworlds and their respective pantheon are:

* Duat (Egyptian)
* Duzakh (Persian)
* Haides (Greco-Roman)
* Helheim (Norse)
* Iriy (Slavic)
* Irkalla (Mesopotamian)
* Naraka (Hindu)
* Niraya (Buddhism)
* Otherworld (Celtic)
* Tuonela (Finnish)
* Xibalba (Maya)
* Yomi (Japanese)

## Known Locations

### Limbo

**Limbo** (異教徒の来世リンボ, *Rinbo*) is the realm located on the edge of the Realm of the Dead. It is where the shades of pagans are judged to see which afterlife they will be sent to and what will be waiting them there, punishment or salvation. Gates connecting to Purgatory and Heaven are located there, guarded by fallen angels and angels respectively.

### Netherworld

**Netherworld** (冥界めいかい, *Meikai*) is the new home-realm of demons, devils and daemon who are stranded in Creation after the Underworld is sealed behind the Ouroboros Barrier and was originally the top layer of the Underworld that got stranded in the separation process. While not being considered a part of the Realm of the Dead, map of the realm depicted the Netherworld as a neighboring "nation", located in the far west of the realm and the two realms are separated by the Boiling Sea.

### Kokytus Prison

**Kokytus Prison** (裏切りの凍った刑務所コキトゥス・プリゾン, *Kokito~usu Purizon*) is an inter-pantheon maximum security prison reserved for some of the most dangerous criminals the supernatural world has ever faced. It is placed in the deepest part of the Realm of the Dead where many rare and dangerous monsters live, and remnants of damaged souls of those who had committed the gravest sins or perpetrated betrayals are eternally bound to.

It was built shortly after the Angelos Concordat was signed to signify the peace between Heaven and the pagan pantheons.

#### Rizevim's Institute

A research institute in the outskirts of a valley made of ice near the Kokytus Prison that investigates anomalies and irregularities that are disproportionate to the prison. It is one of Rizevim's hideouts before he and his Faction got destroyed. There is a strict security system and a password is applied to the door that connects each floor, so it is necessary to go through the door to over twelve doors to get inside. At the deepest part, there is a culture layer that fills the entire vast floor, and the body of the original Lilith is stored in it.

### Labyrinthus de Michahel

**Labyrinthus de Michahel** (運命の古代神の天の神社ラビリンサス・デ・ミカヘル, *Rabirinsasu de Mikaheru*) is where the gods of fate from various pantheons dwell. It is located beneath the Chthonian Central Park of the northwest sector of the Realm of the Dead, and can only be accessed through a secret entrance. It is known as a labyrinth because of its immense size and complex structure, which is impossible for any god or mortal unfamiliar with the working of fate to decipher.

In the heart of the labyrinth is a shrine built in the architectural style of the Edenith civilization, with ritualistic symbols and iconography from the Old Religion, and a ceiling made of stained glass in the shape of a seven-pointed star. In the middle of the shrine is a gold-and-ivory statue, carved based on the likeness of Michael, the Celestial Prince who governs the fate and destiny of anything and everything within existence and even beyond, including that of the deathless gods. Surrounding him are hundreds and thousands of lit candles and incense is burnt every three hours.

Every year, on the thirteenth day of every four moons, the statue is brought outside in an ancient ceremony and all residents of the Realm of the Dead must not look unless they wish to have their eyes gouged out, gods and monsters alike, to the halls of the gods where it is bathed from water collected from all the rivers and offerings are burnt, sacred animals are sacrificed, and priceless libations are poured in Michael's name.

## Trivia

* The technical adjective for all things belonged/connected to the realm is called *chthonic*.
	+ It means "in, under, or beneath the earth" or "subterranean".
* The official religion of the realm is the Faith of the Presence.
* Located beneath the realm is the Dimensional Gap.
* The temperature in the Realm of the Dead is always several degrees belows that of the living world.
* The official language of the realm is Chthonian, with several regional dialects such as Abyssal, Purgatic, Gehennic, and Tartarian.
* Despite being the afterlives for those of the Abrahamic faiths, neither Heaven nor the Underworld is considered a part of the Realm of the Dead, instead both belong to a higher realm of existence.