Underworld

If one was to quantify the Hellene afterlife in a single word or phrase, the best I can cook up in my myriad pages is this:

Disappointment.

The Hellene afterlife is neither a place of redemption nor a place of eternal torment. While there are places with torment and attempted bliss, the majority of the Underworld is bland and boring.

Ruled over by Persephone and Hades, the Underworld is the land of the dead. Due to the passage of time, the population of Shades (Hellene for soul) is expansive and far more numerous than the population of the living in any one given time or place. Thus, Persephone and Hades have a lot to do. They are the busiest deities I've come across, and constantly busy about their dominion while coordinating other Chthonic deities.

Geography

The Underworld is a gloomy place, even the best vantage points of Elysium are as exciting as a dreary day in a wet and drizzly environ. Parallel, separate and other, the Underworld does have places which touch against the Realms of Midgard and Olympus. Some places where the Underworld is the most flimsy jut against Navje, Yomi and Helheimr. Cave-like and vaulted underneath reality, the Underworld has rivers and crystal spires, rocks, planes of moss, cities of the dead and eventually, the inner and darker places of Tartarus.

Ecosystem

Not much survives aside from Pomegranates and a few strange plants. The rest is a reflection of plant life and environment, with many forms of moss, rocks, stale air and burbling water. A bit of fire around the edges.

Localized Phenomena

Croquet in Elysium was popularized a while ago, along with bocci ball and darts.

Climate

Dreary

Fauna & Flora

Pomegranates.

Natural Resources

Dank.

History

One of the foundational places of creation, the Underworld is as old as the first death. Many consider deities like Tiamat or Erishkegal to be the originators of the land of the dead, but according to my research, the Chthonic goddess Persephone Kore Chthonia is either contemporary but geographically distant, or in actuality, Erishkegal with an image update and more time under her crown.

Hades was not the original god, who dragged the Maiden of Springly Fertility down to the Underworld, emanating later during the late Mycenaean age, where before Hades existed in the archaeological record, the god in question was known as a proto-Poseidon. Regardless, the Queen of the Underworld is one of the most ancient of deities in the history of the Realms, making her dominion as ancient as the first creation and first emanations.

While the Underworld developed over time to include more spaces, especially with more dead needing a place to exist prior to reincarnation for the lucky ones, all the way to eternal punishment for the truly terrible, its origin point is an ancient and dry cave.

Tourism

Are you legitimately lacking in sense? Do not visit the Underworld unless you're Orpheus, Aeneas, or dead.

Dreary Hellene Afterlife

The Underworld

Alternative Name(s)

Hades, Afterlife

Type

Plane of Existence

Location under

Cosmos

Included Locations

Owner/Ruler

Persephone Chthonia

Additional Rulers/Owners

Hades Pluto Chthon

Ruling/Owning Rank

High Queen

Appears In

Wax Wing