The Hells of Herophet

Article by Keith Robinson
Posted April 2 2013 in Zinedoms Vol 3

Herophet is the font of all evil, forged by the hand of Gort. At first it was just one land, and not even a fiery one, until hatred and jealousy poisoned his soul and everything that was good withered and died. Gort dug deep beneath the black Herophet Citadel, creating a vast network of dungeons. At first this was to create and house his spiteful minions, the devils, and to build weapons of war and keep slaves and prisoners, but later many sections of the dungeons were given over to powerful devil lords, who over time changed them so that they became small dimensions in their own right – a part of the dungeon, but at the same time places that reflected the nature of the devil lord who ruled there.

Gort also found other dimensions below Herophet – vast worlds that seemed to draw their energy directly from Herophet, but were nonetheless worlds in their own right. These become known as the Seven Hells of Herophet, seven layers one apparently lower than the previous. At the top comes Herophet itself, where the Lord of all evil sits upon his throne of skulls. Next is Hul, a vast frozen lump of rock floating in the void, and then Thyro, a dreadful land filled with the walking dead, a place where nothing grows. Below Thyro is the freezing crags of Karsia, and then the bottomless pit of Tuska where shadowy misshapen bodies tumble endlessly. The fiery magma sea of Valvara follows, and finally the deepest and coldest of the hells, Gorodin. All are home to devils and nearly all of them are ruled by the Aslah.

Pakara makes up the second, smaller part of Herophet. It was home to Voln, who was Gort’s lover. Pakara is an icy world filled with chaos and is home to demons. Like Herophet, it also has several worlds that draw their energy from it and are also home to powerful Aslah. These are Sota, Tyr, Ellari, Xanaxa, and Altemeri. The demon lords of Pakara and the devil lords of Herophet hate and despise each other and constantly war among themselves.

Together, these dimensions make up the horror that is Herophet, where the demons and devils make constant war upon one another and from where all evil flows. Their impact on the history of the cosmos has changed it forever, and never for the good.