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She'ol, also known as the Netherworld and the half-realm, is the home of the Rephaim, described by Warden as the midway point between life, the human world, and death, the æther.

Description[]

The Netherworld is the cradle of immortal life. The original purpose of the Netherworld was to ease the passage of death by providing a safe place for human spirits to come to terms with their death and prepare for the journey to the last light. This stops spirits from lingering on Earth, which raises the ethereal threshold. The Netherworld also created the Rephaim. Rephaim are not born, instead they emerge from the Netherworld fully formed. From time to time, more Rephaim would surface throughout the Netherworld, though the waves of creation were sporadic. Time has no effect on the Netherworld or its inhabitants. The Netherworld is the place from which essence of amaranth and Emite blood are harvested.

When the corporeal world became overpopulated with drifting spirits, deep rifts began to appear in the æther, forming cold spots that can be found on Earth by rhabdomancers. When the rifts became too wide, the ethereal threshold broke, making moving between the "veils" of these dimensions possible. According to Nashira Sargas, when Earth broke its threshold in 1859, it became exposed to She'ol, which in turn became accessible to the Emim. This event is known as the Waning of the Veils. The Emim caused the Netherworld to begin rotting. It is now decayed and essentially uninhabitable. A large part of the Netherworld is overrun with Emim. The Ranthen believe the Netherworld can be restored.

Warden describes the Netherworld to Paige Mahoney. The buildings are colossal and carved from iridescent stone. Cities shine like shattered glass. The main river is the Grieving and has a bed of pearl-like pebbles. Rephaite weapons are made of a Netherworld element named opaline. It's the only substance that can hew through Rephaite bone. Besides the Rephaim, there are sarx-creatures that inhabit the Netherworld. One of these creatures is called the chol-bird. It's a winged sarx-creature that are companions of the Rephaim and can travel to Earth in spirit forms as psychopomps. The Fall is the door to the æther from that realm. When spirits were ready to accept their deaths and go to the last light, the Rephaim would lead them to this chasm and the spirits would cast themselves over.

Etymology[]

She'ol is the Hebrew word for hell, the Netherworld, or the Underworld.

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