NOVEL NEXT An overview of Hell
Hell: An Overview
Hell is the name that has been given to the land created by Kingu, in which he had created the changelings. After the ruin of the world that separated the lands, that is now the only name that anyone calls it.
It is believed that the creator gods, the direct children of Tiamat, might have heard this name during their time living on the great sealed world before they left in pursuit of their mother. It is a name given to the land where demons live. As demons are a creature that is born from the fearful minds of humans, and the demons always spring up wherever humans dwell, all of the gods felt it was a name only fitting to give to a land that had come to suffer from such a severe human infestation.
While some have developed various expectations in regards to what a land called “Hell” might look like, this abandoned world created by Kingu has all the features of any other world suited to support life. It has blue skies and fertile lands, and great oceans and rivers just as any other world might.
The 4 guardians of Hell
With the gods having abandoned this world, it needed some other powerful force to protect it against the ravages of the ruin that had struck the rest of the world that grew upon the body of Tiamat.
In the south, the very fire bird who brought the omen of ruin to Kingu had taken up the task of protecting this world.
In the East, the humans saw the coming ruin and prayed for they fey and the dragons to save them. Their powerful earnest wish brought the soul of a recently deceased greater dragon back to life as a member of the fey dragons, making her the only one among the greater dragons to ever be reborn as a fey dragon.
In the north, the ruin progressed right up to the edge of the great ocean that existed within the eye of Tiamat. But then, it could progress no further. The dragon of the eastern forest stated that another powerful dragon sleeps beneath those waves, and it is this dragon who protects the north from the ruin.
In the west, no creature with the power of a guardian could be found by anyone. Even the dragon of the east could not find a guardian. And yet, somehow it was still protected. Some theorize that it is the great untamed wilderness of the west that in itself is able to stand up to the ruin. It therefore became a rule that the west was a land in which strife meant salvation and civilization meant death.
The eastern lands:
The forests and plains at the eastern corner of Hell are the most fertile and the most beautiful. The fey are the dominant force in this region, although it is also home to a fairly large population of humans upon whom the fey are dependent. The fey do not respect these humans, however, and largely regard them as one would livestock.
Here, Oren, the great fey dragon who guards the east, lives in the fey capital at the eastern corner of the world. Oren’s power is that of fertility of the land. Under her power, the entire eastern corner of the world has become overgrown with a thick and lush forest in which all the fairies and many of the elves in the world make their home.
Beyond the edge of the forest of fairies are the Hidan plains, which is the land allotted to the humans who live in this region. There, the fey who rule this area tolerate the existence of the humans and largely leave them unmolested unless they have need of them.
Oren regularly charges the changelings, who have also all gathered under her rule, with the task of integrating into the human lands and spying on them. Although most of the fey do not see the value in this, thinking humans to be no real threat, she is wise and aware of the power that human spirit energy can hold. She has deployed an entire committee to the task of monitoring the humans and making certain that the stories they tell about the fey are not ones that might cause them harm in the future.
By order of the fairy queen, all trade of iron goods and weapons from the south has been forbidden.
The southern lands:
This region boasts the true largest population of both humans and dwarves. The rule in the south is that the low-lands are for the humans and the mountains are for the dwarves. The two largely do not bother one another, but have taken up good trade relations with one-another.
The dwarves live deep within the volcanic mountains that are brought to life by the power of the fire-bird, and have mastered the art of using the volcanic heat to smelt their metals. This has made the dwarves the only creatures not touched by the earth spirits who have the ability to smelt and work iron into steel.
The humans of the south survive and thrive by trading with both the dwarves of the fiery peaks and with the humans of the east over the white mountains. Combining this with the lack of interest the fire bird has shown toward any interference with the humans has allowed those who live in the south to live prosperously and has given them room to innovate and develop infrastructure.
In this way, the humans of the south enjoy a far more advanced civilization than the humans of the east. This is exacerbated further by the embargo on iron from crossing the white mountains. Although this hurts the humans of the east the most, it is also a major point of frustration for the human rulers of the south. This removal of a promising trade good limits the degree to which they are able to prosper from their trade relations.
The western lands:
The west is largely populated by the chimeric humanoids of Uridimmu who had migrated over before the ruin began. It is believed that in this land, the indefinite and amorphous spirit of the wilderness is what protects the western boarder from becoming lost to the ruin.
The various chimeric humanoid tribes in this land have divided themselves up, associating mainly with their own race and warring with the other chimeric races. It is not just the chimeric humanoids that are warring in this region either. At some point, near the separation of the worlds, two great avatars of the wilderness arose in the form of a great white tiger and a great black wolf. The white tiger and the black wolf, just as the humanoids who live here, are constantly at war with one another and are fighting for dominance over these lands.
It is unknown whether the white tiger and black wolf may be the true guardians of the west, or if they might simply be a manifestation of the eternal war that has been waged between the various races of the chimeric humanoids who live there.
The ocean of the north:
The northern ocean is home to several floating islands. These islands are, in fact, earth elementals of the same type as Bahamut. Turtle-like in appearance, they swim through the vast ocean and occasionally come to support entire forest biomes on their backs as they rarely if ever allow their backs to become submerged.
Some adventurous humans and chimeric humanoids have even taken to the idea of creating settlements on the backs of these earth elementals.
Beneath the waves, there are populations of merfolk and various sea creatures. Few have ever encountered the sea dragon said to sleep deep within this ocean, but those who have seem to gain a tendency to suddenly become very tight lipped about it. Even the dragon queen of the East who was the first to discover the existence of the sea dragon will not speak a single word more than the simple fact that it is a sea dragon who protects the northern ocean.