Infernum

Infernum, the Infernal Realm, the Inferno, or simply Hell is the native home of demons. What is known of the realm is greatly limited to scholars of the mundane realm, resulting in most records of Infernum being overwhelmingly speculative. These limitations can be attributed to the great lengths needed to travel between our star and Infernum, the rarity of interactions between mortal and demon, and the duplicitous nature of demons.

Despite this, the relations between both realms is of great importance to the inhabitants of Infernum and our Earthly Star. The souls possessed by mortals of our realm are of great value to the residents of Infernum, to the point of being the preferred currency of devils, and the history of man does not want of devils making arrangements to acquire such souls. Without doubt, the greatest impact that Infernum has had on our realm is the Daemonomachy, also known as the Period of Infernal Reckoning, where the ruling Archdevils of Infernum mobilized immense forces of demons and invaded the star for over a hundred millennia during most of the Unfounded Era.

It should be understood that due to this limited knowledge and even conflicting information, interpretations of Infernum differ greatly between cultures. Infernum has its greatest presence among Braandish and Januan folklore and religion, particularily works aligned with the worship of La'a, Lupaxes, Miametes, Saelo, and Saesca. From these cultures, common depictions of Infernum include blazing fires, molten rock, brimstone, and conditions generally seen as inhospitable and grim. Less commonly there is also depictions of frozen wastes, which, despite being in direct opposition to the former interpretations, theologians and demonologists believe are just as credible.

Locum

Infernum is not believed to possess a location shared within our realm and instead believed to exist entirely outside of it. Its superphysical nature means that it has its own vulgar deviations from our realm's physical laws. Its environment largely does not follow the same logic as our own, but is still similar enough that it holds some physical structure and would not reject our own corporeal forms if we were to, somehow, set foot in Infernum. However, this also means that travel between our realm and Infernum is not possible through physical means. No sail, carriage, tunnel, or bridge as we know them are capable of bringing the mortal foot into Infernum. The only known passage between realms is through the ability of devils and esoteria, the former of which has been crippled greatly at the end of the Daemonomachy.

Rings

Infernum is theorized to be made up of countless rings: relatively flat and circular expanses of land with their own contained climates and terrain. They serve similarily for Infernum as how the stars and celestial bodies do for the heavens, but are not analogous. The range of sizes which rings may possess varies wildly and make up the overwhelming majority of territory and geography of Infernum. The overall size of Infernum is not known, however it is believed to be infinite, immeasurably massive, or has the impression to be either due to how difficult it is to properly comprehend the logic of the realm.

Though rings are unique from one another, nearly all can fall under one of three categories: phlegyan, cocytian, and cataclysmic.

Phlegyan rings fit are the most commonly present ring and what most perceive Infernum to be: fiery realms of carved, red stone and unbearable heat. Many do have unique traits among one another, but the most common shared factor between them is the element of fire and high temperatures.

Cocytian rings directly oppose phlegyan rings. While phlegyan rings are assosciated with fire, cocytian are strongly aligned with the cold and ice. They are the second most common type of ring that makes up Infernum. It should be noted that 'ice' in this context is made up of very little water, as water is incredibly rare within Infernum. The ice that makes up the landscapes of the cocytian rings consist of mostly the substance dakryangelion, or simply dakrya.

Somewhat comparable to the orbit of our stars, the rings of Infernum are constantly undergoing a transition within the infernal expanse that is not too unlike movement. The nature of this state is poorly understood, but it is believed that it is the cause of great collisions between rings. When two rings collide, they form a new ring after a long and painful period of chaos. If one ring was phlegyan and another cocytian, the result created by the collision is a cataclysmic ring. Cataclysmic rings are the most volatile of the three and also the most uncommon. The environments often either host patches of areas that alternate between the conditions of phlegyan rings and cocytian rings or, rarely, large areas of relatively moderate temperatures. Regardless, it's believed massive and violent implosions pock the surface of the rings without pattern or predictability.

The Infernal Expanse

As mentioned, the rings of Infernum exist similarily to the stars. But where the heavenly bodies are divided by space, rings are seperated by a theoretical infernal expanse which distributes all space of Infernum to the rings. Infernal expanse is what creates the outer borders the rings, and attempts to traverse beyond the expanse results in confusion, hallucinations, and ultimately redirection back into the ring the traveller started from. It is seemingly fighting individuals from passing it, almost knowingly keeping its inhabitants imprisoned. In addition to the listed obstacles provided by the infernal expanse, there are additional effects that are present among some borders but absent in others.