Underworld General Knowledge

NOTE: This is a player's guide to relatively common knowledge about current and past events in the Underworld, to streamline roleplay and context.

• Archons are tall, fickle, shapeshifting beings that range from glorified nobles and quiet mayors to conquering warlords and manic sorcerers.
• They are the de facto ruling bodies of the Underworld.
• In-depth knowledge about Archons is unknown to commonfolk.
• The Elder-Archons are mostly unknown, the title in line with an old fairytale.
• The current date is 654 PS (post-splintering).
• A lot of people tend to avoid interacting with Archons or their subordinates if they can help it; better to not invite danger for fear of volatile escalation.
• Viafir, the former ruler of the Underworld, disappeared approximately 99 years ago. His whereabouts are completely unknown.
• Most people think Viafir is dead or an urban legend nowadays.
• The Invasion occurred about 24 years before Viafir's disappearance. It was both a success and a failure.
• The Invasion was a massive-scale military campaign headed by Viafir, in order to purge the Overworld's threats and influence permanently.
• Overworld incursions were very common before the Invasion, nowadays very few Overworlders enter the Underworld.
• The economy is in shambles, due to relying on a steady stream of lured Overworlders and raiding parties before travel between was forbidden.
• Because of this, expansion outward into the Outlands has become a necessity, but progress is slow and dangerous.
• Ingresses are massive portals that lead to and from the Overworld.
• The Ingresses are all nonoperational except for a handful.
• Crystalline Gates are a risky form of transportation rarely used anymore.
• The Dark Ten are the gods of this plane, temples and clerics dedicated to them exist, but are hard to find and cultish in nature.
• Devils and tieflings are viewed with mistrust and suspicion, ever since the Malevolent Age.
• The Outlands are slowly encroaching on known civilization, distressing commonfolk living near them.
• Extraplanar outcasts are relatively common in the Underworld and tend to stick together.
• Leaving the Underworld through planar travel is extremely difficult, though the reason why is unknown.
• Small, unnamed villages and hamlets are scattered throughout the Underworld, preferring to stay away from Archons. They tend to be prime bait for brigands and monsters, unfortunately.