Post by pepsi on Oct 24, 2022 19:10:10 GMT
[attr="class","rules_container"]
The Demon World is separated into two regions known as Upper and Lower Echelons.
The Upper Echelon is covered in trees and green, and features a much less hostile ecosystem as well as a more hospitable climate that accommodates life.
The Lower Echelon is a chaotic region of the world
Differently from the Human World, where there are predictable patterns of weather and climate, the Demon World has very distinct large portions of land that exist under a very specific climate (known as "Biomes" and whose unique weather and ecosystems operate under very specific rules.
This is true especially for the Lower Echelon of hell, as it features the most extreme Biomes one next to the other. Besides this, the Demon World features a regular day-night cycle like the Human World.
Everywhere in the Demon World one can find settlements and small cities where sentient Demons live and prosper, trying to make the best of what their Biome gives them.
The river Styx originates from the tallest peak of this region and cuts through it, draining the earth of all the toxic substances and renewing the ecosystem with pure water.
Nearly every type of forest can be found in this region, from jungles, to rainforests, to Mediterranean-type forests, to peat swamps, to mangrove forests. The local Demon fauna is also occasionally similar to the type of fauna one would expect in the same regions in the Human World, although Demon animal species are often much more dangerous than their counterparts: large spiders, highly venomous snakes and toxic plants abound; not to mention the wide variety of living carnivorous vegetation that thread the line between animal and plant.
More "primal" forms of life are also seen here, such as massive lizards that resemble early depictions of dinosaurs. This is the Biome where the species of Echidna, Nidhogg and all the variants of Blade originate from.
One can find all kinds of low bushes, flowers and small plants on Elysium reminiscent of the best and most colorful places on Earth. For unknown reasons, this attempt was deemed a failure and Mundus decided instead to invade Earth.
Other than the wide meadow, Elysium also features rolling hills and high mountains. As such, it also offers many "earthly" biomes one can find around mountain ranges. One especially tall mountain is located at the border between Devil's Garden and Elysium; at the peak of this mountain the river Styx flows out towards the Garden's side.
Creatures that inhabit Elysium are generally harmless Demons that try to live like the Humans of millennia ago: primitive tools and wooden shacks can often be found in very far apart and isolated villages. There is a very unique "medieval" feel to this region, almost as if time and progress never reached it even after the Veil was Torn for good.
The Styx passes through this region and flows into the Temen-Ni-Gru, cutting through the strait between the Upper and Lower Echelons.
The city's architecture has a very characteristic gothic feel to it, as many buildings seem to be inpired by (or, perhaps more accurately, they seem to have inspired) gothic cathedrals and Victorian churches.
Many areas, especially close to the historical center of the city, feel a bit more like historical city centers with narrow streets and large squares. All in all, the architectural styles fluctuate between the Renaissance and the 1800's; large neo-classical monuments sit not too far from tall cathedral with spires pointed up against the sky.
There is, however, a very anachronistic feel to Dis. Especially thanks to the Tearing of the Veil, all kinds of new technology has been brought into the city in the last few years: cars, phones, televisions, the Internet, and more.
Because of this, Dis has started to morph into something more similar to modern cities especially at the outermost edge where new buildings and regions can be constructed.
The outskirts of Dis slowly blend into Devil's Garden, which actually separates Dis from Elysium permanently and prevents the city from pouring into the paradise. This region features many small city clusters that have expanded beyond the city's main body, and act as satellites for it.
All sorts of demons live in Dis. While crime does happen in the city, it is not any more common than most industrialised and civilised cities of the Human World; one can say that Dis' society lives in a certain kind of harmony. This is especially surprising given that a city as big as Dis needs a lot of resources to sustain itself.
Dis is the city where the Descendants of Charon have their headquarters; this is nothing but a large portual zone on the western shores, where the region meets the sea of Murimuria and an offshoot of the river Styx allows Charon Skiffs to enter and exit the river. The highest authority in Dis however is not the Charon, but the government of the city led by its Demon-King, Fourth Eternity Ryomen Sukuna.
Nobody knows who built the tower, nor what kind of purpose it could've served if any. The tower is partially immersed into the sea of Murimuria, making passage for ships impossible unless they are able to swim under it or fly over it.
The insides of the Temen-Ni-Gru are made of stone, metal, brass and wood. The entire tower is one enormous clockwork machine, which makes it look alive. Some believe it actually is alive, and that the river Styx is simply the air that the tower breathes.
To be inside the Temen-Ni-Gru has been described by many as being inside the mind of a Victorian watchmaker. The tower feels like a giant castle, or perhaps a mansion, filled to the brim with secret doors, traps, constructs and odd machinery. It's also true that the laws of space and time inside the tower do not matter, as the tower actually seems to go on forever in every direction. Despite this, one can occasionally find the exit, or some large glass window that shows how one's currently located inside the sea of Murimuria, or find themselves into one of the rooms where the river Styx powers the tower's mechanisms.
Death Scissors originate from this place, and they haunt the paintings hung around the walls of the tower.
Being by far the largest of all the Hell Biomes, Murimuria shows the most variety in sub-biomes. Nearly every single underwater biome present on Earth can be found here; there is even more interesting variety of flora and fauna, as instead of being inhabited by earthly creatures often one finds that massive Leviathan Demons haunt the deepest waters.
Not every portion of Murimuria is effectively "endless", that is, there are regions - often closest to the Upper Echelon - that do have a seabed to speak of. This often doesn't make the idea of diving into Murimuria one bit less terrifying, as the creatures that inhabit its waters are something not even the Eternities scoff at.
Giant squids, massive sea serpents and other monsters are simply creatures from Murimuria that managed to sneak into the Human World, pehaps exploiting some fortuitous thinning of the Veil.
The area around the city resembles partially the rocky deserts of Tartaros, but almost everywhere the earth has been scorched and has long turned into dead ashes. There are almost no trees to speak of, and nearly no water except around the river Styx; the river pours into the region from the Temen-Ni-Gru, which acts as a one-way pipe for the river to flow from Upper to Lower Echelon.
One can likely find all sorts of hidden treasures in the rubble, however. Ancient demon equipment and magical artifacts that belong to the era of the Dark Emperor still linger below, if one is willing to enter the dungeons that the ruined buildings have become.
The typical inhabitant of Pandamonium is a Demon with no regards for life other than its very own, and it is not uncommon to see a number of demons team up to create gangs that rule the local area.
Especially after the Tearing, a few technlogies have trickled down all the way through to Pandaemonium. They do so primarily in the form of trash, scrap and rejects from Dis, making Pandaemonium also one gigantic ever-growing garbage patch.
In particular, old rusty vehicles and firearms are now a favourite toy of the resident Demons, who enjoy forming raiding parties and riding on their weird four-wheelers (or more-wheelers) fashioned out of scrap and rusty metal.
All in all, Pandaemonium gives off a gritty "Mad Max" energy because of its history and current conditions.
As the name implies, Gehenna's earth is scorched earth and its only rivers are rivers of lava. The landscape is hellish beyond imagination, with pools of lava cascading into enormous lakes lined with basalt; scorched ruins of civilisations still linger after the inhabitants have been wiped out by Gehenna's terrifying volcanoes and near-unbreathable air.
The sea around Gehenna is extremely hot and even boiling in many places, which makes marine life essentially impossible besides the odd living organism here and there.
Clearly Demons originating from here have adapted to the extreme temperatures and climate of the region; often that means they are literally made of fire, lava, stone or other inflammable materials. Belial, for example, was the ruler of a large settlement in Gehenna; Balrog is the name of a Demon that currently resides here.
Some other Gehennoan Demons feature characteristics similar to typical depictions of imps, devils or even dragons, and are thought to be the inspirations behind these figures in popular culture.
It is believed that as Gehenna cools off and its volcanic ash deposits on the ground, the action of time and hot winds eventually grinds down the rocks into sand; thus, Tartaros was born where originally a body of water filled the space between Gehenna and Yomi.
In Tartaros one can find all sorts of old settlements, especially ancient ruins, buried under the sand. The Demons that inhabit this region have adapted to their environment like Earth's animals, although many of them feature animalistic hybridisations that accommunate them to egyptian gods. Gigantic worm-like Demons dwell underground, where a vast cave system hoards all the water that filters through Yomi.
Other bug-like demons originate from Tartaros, for example the Empusa.
The reason why Yomi looks like this is that as Devil's Garden drains toxins and negative energy from its forest it dumps it into the river Styx. After the river passes through the Temen-Ni-Gru, all of this negative energy waiting to be released is partially absorbed by the tower and partially poured into the first bits of land where the Styx pours out: Yomi.
Moreover, Yomi is mostly flat and has very little incline, making the flow of the river very slow and allowing all the corrupted essence stored in the water to settle in the surrounding area. As a result, Yomi absorbs it all, and turns into a putrescent land.
Fog oozes from the still lakes of Yomi and the river slows down to a still, before finally pouring into the vast ocean of Murimuria.
Yomi is connected to Japan, on Earth, through the Tear in the Veil that opened on the country in 2025. For this reason it is often possible to pass from one to the other with relative ease.
The native demons of Yomi have inspired legends such as Yokai and figures such as the undead. The typical organism native of this region is actually mushrooms, as the conditions are ripe to host large mushroom and mold colonies.
As such, living mushroom colonies with the wildest and most alien biologies dot the land especially near the still lakes.
Faust and Mephisto are examples of demon species that originate from Yomi.
Around the continent, a vast layer of frozen saltwater prevents easy access to land and forces outsiders to rely on powerful Icebreaker Charon Skiffs to enter Cocytus.
The demons that dwell in this region have adapted to the cold climate by either incorporating ice into their biology or pushing it towards insulating themselves from the cold. The frog-like species Bael and Dagon, as well as the Frost, are native to this region.
[attr="class","rules_title"]The Demon World
The Demon World is the homeworld of Demons. It is a nearly lawless land, filled to the brim with dangerous and often very hostile creatures native to this plane of existence. It is very often referred to as "Hell" or "the Underworld", although the typical depictions of hell are only partially related to the Demon World and constitute only a fraction of its true nature.The Demon World is separated into two regions known as Upper and Lower Echelons.
The Upper Echelon is covered in trees and green, and features a much less hostile ecosystem as well as a more hospitable climate that accommodates life.
The Lower Echelon is a chaotic region of the world
Differently from the Human World, where there are predictable patterns of weather and climate, the Demon World has very distinct large portions of land that exist under a very specific climate (known as "Biomes" and whose unique weather and ecosystems operate under very specific rules.
This is true especially for the Lower Echelon of hell, as it features the most extreme Biomes one next to the other. Besides this, the Demon World features a regular day-night cycle like the Human World.
Everywhere in the Demon World one can find settlements and small cities where sentient Demons live and prosper, trying to make the best of what their Biome gives them.
[attr="class","rules_title"]The Upper Echelon
[attr="class","rules_subtitle"]Devil's Garden
The vast expanse of trees and thick forest that covers the middle of the Upper Echelon is called Devil's Garden. It is believed that this region is so lush because it falls under the rule of the First Eternity, Asmodeus; this is essentially one large forest spanning the size of a country, five to six times the size of the Amazon Rainforest.The river Styx originates from the tallest peak of this region and cuts through it, draining the earth of all the toxic substances and renewing the ecosystem with pure water.
Nearly every type of forest can be found in this region, from jungles, to rainforests, to Mediterranean-type forests, to peat swamps, to mangrove forests. The local Demon fauna is also occasionally similar to the type of fauna one would expect in the same regions in the Human World, although Demon animal species are often much more dangerous than their counterparts: large spiders, highly venomous snakes and toxic plants abound; not to mention the wide variety of living carnivorous vegetation that thread the line between animal and plant.
More "primal" forms of life are also seen here, such as massive lizards that resemble early depictions of dinosaurs. This is the Biome where the species of Echidna, Nidhogg and all the variants of Blade originate from.
[attr="class","rules_subtitle"]Elysium
Elysium looks just like the Human World, flipping the concept of "Hell on Earth" around. This "Earth on Hell" is the result of the Mundus' first attempt to bring the paradise that is Earth into the Demon World; together with his powerful servants he took dirt, stone and rock to recreate a peaceful meadow that extends as far as the eye can see. As a result, Earth is missing an entire continent that should've been located where the Mariana Trench is located today.One can find all kinds of low bushes, flowers and small plants on Elysium reminiscent of the best and most colorful places on Earth. For unknown reasons, this attempt was deemed a failure and Mundus decided instead to invade Earth.
Other than the wide meadow, Elysium also features rolling hills and high mountains. As such, it also offers many "earthly" biomes one can find around mountain ranges. One especially tall mountain is located at the border between Devil's Garden and Elysium; at the peak of this mountain the river Styx flows out towards the Garden's side.
Creatures that inhabit Elysium are generally harmless Demons that try to live like the Humans of millennia ago: primitive tools and wooden shacks can often be found in very far apart and isolated villages. There is a very unique "medieval" feel to this region, almost as if time and progress never reached it even after the Veil was Torn for good.
[attr="class","rules_subtitle"]Dis
Dis completes the trio of biomes that make up the Upper Echelon. Dis is the name of the main city, about as large as a whole country; its size is comparable to an European country on Earth, with the density of an industrialised city. Because of its importance, Dis gives the name to the entire region to the left of Devil's Garden.The Styx passes through this region and flows into the Temen-Ni-Gru, cutting through the strait between the Upper and Lower Echelons.
The city's architecture has a very characteristic gothic feel to it, as many buildings seem to be inpired by (or, perhaps more accurately, they seem to have inspired) gothic cathedrals and Victorian churches.
Many areas, especially close to the historical center of the city, feel a bit more like historical city centers with narrow streets and large squares. All in all, the architectural styles fluctuate between the Renaissance and the 1800's; large neo-classical monuments sit not too far from tall cathedral with spires pointed up against the sky.
There is, however, a very anachronistic feel to Dis. Especially thanks to the Tearing of the Veil, all kinds of new technology has been brought into the city in the last few years: cars, phones, televisions, the Internet, and more.
Because of this, Dis has started to morph into something more similar to modern cities especially at the outermost edge where new buildings and regions can be constructed.
The outskirts of Dis slowly blend into Devil's Garden, which actually separates Dis from Elysium permanently and prevents the city from pouring into the paradise. This region features many small city clusters that have expanded beyond the city's main body, and act as satellites for it.
All sorts of demons live in Dis. While crime does happen in the city, it is not any more common than most industrialised and civilised cities of the Human World; one can say that Dis' society lives in a certain kind of harmony. This is especially surprising given that a city as big as Dis needs a lot of resources to sustain itself.
Dis is the city where the Descendants of Charon have their headquarters; this is nothing but a large portual zone on the western shores, where the region meets the sea of Murimuria and an offshoot of the river Styx allows Charon Skiffs to enter and exit the river. The highest authority in Dis however is not the Charon, but the government of the city led by its Demon-King, Fourth Eternity Ryomen Sukuna.
[attr="class","rules_title"]Between the Echelons
[attr="class","rules_subtitle"]Temen-Ni-Gru
The Temen-Ni-Gru is the infamous tower of the Underworld. This tower connects the Lower and Upper Echelons like a pipe thousands of kilometers in length; the pipe analogy is particularly poignant, because large part of the river Styx flows into the entrance of the tower and fills its core, powering endless contraptions as it goes, and spews out the other side into Pandaemonium.Nobody knows who built the tower, nor what kind of purpose it could've served if any. The tower is partially immersed into the sea of Murimuria, making passage for ships impossible unless they are able to swim under it or fly over it.
The insides of the Temen-Ni-Gru are made of stone, metal, brass and wood. The entire tower is one enormous clockwork machine, which makes it look alive. Some believe it actually is alive, and that the river Styx is simply the air that the tower breathes.
To be inside the Temen-Ni-Gru has been described by many as being inside the mind of a Victorian watchmaker. The tower feels like a giant castle, or perhaps a mansion, filled to the brim with secret doors, traps, constructs and odd machinery. It's also true that the laws of space and time inside the tower do not matter, as the tower actually seems to go on forever in every direction. Despite this, one can occasionally find the exit, or some large glass window that shows how one's currently located inside the sea of Murimuria, or find themselves into one of the rooms where the river Styx powers the tower's mechanisms.
Death Scissors originate from this place, and they haunt the paintings hung around the walls of the tower.
[attr="class","rules_subtitle"]Murimuria
An endless abyss, where the rules of biology often give space to fantasy and horror. Murimuria is the collection of all the bodies of water on the Demon World that are not surrounded by land, and instead it surrounds the land. The River Styx flows into this sea out of the shores of Yomi.Being by far the largest of all the Hell Biomes, Murimuria shows the most variety in sub-biomes. Nearly every single underwater biome present on Earth can be found here; there is even more interesting variety of flora and fauna, as instead of being inhabited by earthly creatures often one finds that massive Leviathan Demons haunt the deepest waters.
Not every portion of Murimuria is effectively "endless", that is, there are regions - often closest to the Upper Echelon - that do have a seabed to speak of. This often doesn't make the idea of diving into Murimuria one bit less terrifying, as the creatures that inhabit its waters are something not even the Eternities scoff at.
Giant squids, massive sea serpents and other monsters are simply creatures from Murimuria that managed to sneak into the Human World, pehaps exploiting some fortuitous thinning of the Veil.
[attr="class","rules_title"]The Lower Echelon
[attr="class","rules_subtitle"]Pandaemonium
The lawless city of the Demon World, Pandaemonium is what Dis should've been. The city lives in a state of post-apocalyptic ruination, where bands of Demons struggle to survive. What were once buildings are now mountains of rubble that barely hold any water when it rains; the earth is generally inhospitable or infertile, the climate is arid, which makes it nearly impossible to actually extract any resources from the land. Once, Pandaemonium was the first city of the Demon World and home of Mundus; after his fall, the city has fallen into a state of disarray from which it has never recovered.The area around the city resembles partially the rocky deserts of Tartaros, but almost everywhere the earth has been scorched and has long turned into dead ashes. There are almost no trees to speak of, and nearly no water except around the river Styx; the river pours into the region from the Temen-Ni-Gru, which acts as a one-way pipe for the river to flow from Upper to Lower Echelon.
One can likely find all sorts of hidden treasures in the rubble, however. Ancient demon equipment and magical artifacts that belong to the era of the Dark Emperor still linger below, if one is willing to enter the dungeons that the ruined buildings have become.
The typical inhabitant of Pandamonium is a Demon with no regards for life other than its very own, and it is not uncommon to see a number of demons team up to create gangs that rule the local area.
Especially after the Tearing, a few technlogies have trickled down all the way through to Pandaemonium. They do so primarily in the form of trash, scrap and rejects from Dis, making Pandaemonium also one gigantic ever-growing garbage patch.
In particular, old rusty vehicles and firearms are now a favourite toy of the resident Demons, who enjoy forming raiding parties and riding on their weird four-wheelers (or more-wheelers) fashioned out of scrap and rusty metal.
All in all, Pandaemonium gives off a gritty "Mad Max" energy because of its history and current conditions.
[attr="class","rules_subtitle"]Gehenna
Gehenna (also called "Gehennon", "Muspelheim", or "Inferno") is reminiscent of the most common depictions of hell as a land of fire and brimstone, and for this reason it is commonly referred to as "Fire Hell".As the name implies, Gehenna's earth is scorched earth and its only rivers are rivers of lava. The landscape is hellish beyond imagination, with pools of lava cascading into enormous lakes lined with basalt; scorched ruins of civilisations still linger after the inhabitants have been wiped out by Gehenna's terrifying volcanoes and near-unbreathable air.
The sea around Gehenna is extremely hot and even boiling in many places, which makes marine life essentially impossible besides the odd living organism here and there.
Clearly Demons originating from here have adapted to the extreme temperatures and climate of the region; often that means they are literally made of fire, lava, stone or other inflammable materials. Belial, for example, was the ruler of a large settlement in Gehenna; Balrog is the name of a Demon that currently resides here.
Some other Gehennoan Demons feature characteristics similar to typical depictions of imps, devils or even dragons, and are thought to be the inspirations behind these figures in popular culture.
[attr="class","rules_subtitle"]Tartaros
Tartaros (also called "Duat", or "Sheol") is a vast desertic Hell Biome about twice as big as the Sahara desert. One can find here all sorts of desertic sub-biomes, from small oasis near the Southern section to the rocky desert of the North, where Tartaros slowly gives way to Gehenna. Tartaros is hot during the day and extremely cold during the night.It is believed that as Gehenna cools off and its volcanic ash deposits on the ground, the action of time and hot winds eventually grinds down the rocks into sand; thus, Tartaros was born where originally a body of water filled the space between Gehenna and Yomi.
In Tartaros one can find all sorts of old settlements, especially ancient ruins, buried under the sand. The Demons that inhabit this region have adapted to their environment like Earth's animals, although many of them feature animalistic hybridisations that accommunate them to egyptian gods. Gigantic worm-like Demons dwell underground, where a vast cave system hoards all the water that filters through Yomi.
Other bug-like demons originate from Tartaros, for example the Empusa.
[attr="class","rules_subtitle"]Yomi
Yomi (also called "Spirit Realm", "Hades", or "Afterlife") is also very similar to the common depiction of hell as a place shrouded in darkness and purple mist. In Yomi, almost everything is putrid and corrupted, making it impossible for normal organisms to live there and pushing evolutionary traits further.The reason why Yomi looks like this is that as Devil's Garden drains toxins and negative energy from its forest it dumps it into the river Styx. After the river passes through the Temen-Ni-Gru, all of this negative energy waiting to be released is partially absorbed by the tower and partially poured into the first bits of land where the Styx pours out: Yomi.
Moreover, Yomi is mostly flat and has very little incline, making the flow of the river very slow and allowing all the corrupted essence stored in the water to settle in the surrounding area. As a result, Yomi absorbs it all, and turns into a putrescent land.
Fog oozes from the still lakes of Yomi and the river slows down to a still, before finally pouring into the vast ocean of Murimuria.
Yomi is connected to Japan, on Earth, through the Tear in the Veil that opened on the country in 2025. For this reason it is often possible to pass from one to the other with relative ease.
The native demons of Yomi have inspired legends such as Yokai and figures such as the undead. The typical organism native of this region is actually mushrooms, as the conditions are ripe to host large mushroom and mold colonies.
As such, living mushroom colonies with the wildest and most alien biologies dot the land especially near the still lakes.
Faust and Mephisto are examples of demon species that originate from Yomi.
[attr="class","rules_subtitle"]Cocytus
Yet another known representation of hell, Cocytus is often referred to as "Ice Hell". This is a frozen land more or less the size of Antarctica; temperatures fall well below zero Celsius, and never rise above it. Water is extremely hard to come by, as the continent is entirely encased in ice and snow.Around the continent, a vast layer of frozen saltwater prevents easy access to land and forces outsiders to rely on powerful Icebreaker Charon Skiffs to enter Cocytus.
The demons that dwell in this region have adapted to the cold climate by either incorporating ice into their biology or pushing it towards insulating themselves from the cold. The frog-like species Bael and Dagon, as well as the Frost, are native to this region.
