The Eternal Planes

## Ruin

When the Weftyril first gifted Magic with sentience, they accidentally created demons. Realizing their folly, they sacrificed their entire civilization to forge a shadowy realm set apart from Geth. The demonic hordes were forced within by the concerted efforts of gods and mortals both. This prison realm is called Ruin.

Though created as a reflection of Geth, the nine demon lords, or Narga, can shape Ruin, bending it to their whims until nothing but nightmarish hellscapes remain. Seers who dare to peek into The Nine Hells speak of horrors uncountable; towers of flesh and bone, oceans of boiling blood, captured souls screaming as they are dragged to demonic pleasure-palaces. Most are driven mad by such sights.

Demons sometimes escape their prison, often with the aid of mortal spellcasters or cultists, but rarely in large enough numbers to threaten Geth; and always in places saturated by Magic. The Narga themselves are simply far too powerful to enter the mortal plane, a blessing for all mortal-kind.

The Nine Hells are known as:

 The Palace Of Unending Delights
 The Festering Domin
 Paragon's Lament
 The Voiceless Gloom
 The Profane Carnival
 The Kingdom Of Chains
 The Shivering Void
 The Plain Of Denial

## Nether

Nether is both a realm and an ethereal barrier, a space wedged between the mortal plane and Ruin; where unclaimed souls are forced to roam. Descriptions of Nether gleaned from ghosts and seers speak of an endless fog-shrouded expanse, with few landmarks save for netheric monuments... objects in the mortal plane, steeped in netheric energy, somehow existing in both places at once. Such monuments are said to call out to lost spirits.

There are three ways for a soul to leave Nether:

* Being collected by celestials of a Greater God and taken to The Holds
* Becoming anchored to the Mortal Plane by spellcraft or by finding a netheric monument
* Being dragged into Ruin by demonic entities

Those who remain in Nether wander aimlessly through the unending fogs, with no sense of time passing. A lucky few stumble upon Soul's Rest, the Divine Hold of Kree, and join the god of death in his long vigil.

Nether acts as a protective veil, keeping Ruin's demons from spilling into the mortal plane. Alas, every-so-often tears are made in Nether's spectral fabric. These tears act as bridges, bypassing Nether entirely until sealed once more.

## The Divine Holds

Each Greater God (barring Zorg) has devised their own astral realm. Known as The Divine Holds, they are sanctuaries for the souls of slain devotees, protecting them from demonic predation in Nether. Celestial servants of the gods also dwell in The Holds, awaiting their masters' commands.

The landscape of each Divine Hold is shaped by the god's aspects and temperament; souls within Balrof's Hold are likely to find sweeping halls forever-trod by glorious armies, whilst a visitor to Gowlur's Hold might see impossibly lush forests filled with tall tree-like celestials. It is important to note that mortals who claim to have seen The Holds (perhaps before a resurrection, or during divine visions) retain only vague memories of the experience.

The eight Divine Holds are called:

 The Bright Hold
 The Glade Eternal
 The Deep Hold
 The Divine Maze
 The Library of Gnosis
 Soul's Rest
 The Thunder Forge