Underworld/History

Summary

The Underworld was formerly the realm of Nether, the Demon of Choice, who played a central role in the daemonic rebellion. Among all the realms, the Hollow Mountains, and therefore the Underworld, were unique because they were connected to countless mortal realms, bridging the gap between them. Although few beings could survive crossing these passages, the Prince of the Underworld could grant safe passage. Owing to this strategic position, the Underworld served as the central stronghold of the Demon Legion. It was nearly impregnable and enabled the six rebellious Demons to rapidly deploy forces across different mortal realms, move between battlefronts unpredictably, and recruit additional warriors, allowing the Demon Legion to contend against the Divine Host during the early years of the Doom War despite being the smaller and weaker force.^[1]

As the Doom War progressed, the fortunes of the daemons declined. Although they achieved early successes, the tides of war eventually turned against them, and as existence itself was being undone by the conflict between the gods and the daemons, the Demon Legion suffered repeated defeats and was forced back on every front. Faced with impending defeat, Nether and the other daemons chose to resort to a final desperate measure by opening the Void Gate to unleash the Forgotten God upon the world.^[1]

During the final days of the Doom War, the Underworld became the last stronghold of the Demon Legion while the victorious Divine Host laid siege to it. Rather than remaining on the defensive, Nether led the Demon Legion into the deepest reaches of the Underworld, descending into the Abyss to invade the Shadow Realm. There, they challenged Death and its endless legions, composed of the shadows of all those who had perished in the cataclysm of the Doom War. Most of the Stone Saints followed Nether in this assault on the Realm of Death, leaving only skeleton crews to guard the Underworld's waystations and settlements. The seven Great Ones slain in the ruined settlements, along with the fallen Stone Saints encountered along the tributary river, had served as the rearguard of the Demon Legion, holding back the Divine Host for as long as possible while the final battle unfolded in the depths below.^[1]

The conflict ultimately ended with the Void Gate being opened. Although the Forgotten God was lulled to sleep by the Nightmare Spell, Corruption still engulfed all of existence. The remaining Stone Saints eventually succumbed to Corruption as well. Thousands of years later, the Underworld had become a realm of elemental darkness ruled by monsters and abominations. Its throne stood empty, while the Stone Saints who had once held back the beings of the dark Abyss had become too few to defend its vast expanse. Even the survivors had been transformed into Nightmare Creatures, their nature twisted by Corruption.^[1]

The remnants of this history were still evident throughout the Underworld. The waystations had originally been constructed to house much larger garrisons, as indicated by the size of their sleeping quarters and armories, but were abandoned with only skeleton crews before eventually falling into ruin. Ancient writings preserved in some waystations revealed details of the distant past, while the entrance to the Underworld remained littered with ancient corpses from the final campaign of the Doom War. Settlements once guarded by the Children of Nether had long since fallen, many reduced to ruins inhabited by powerful Nightmare Creatures, reflecting the collapse of the Stone Saint civilization and the decline of Nether's realm.^[1]