The Nightmare Realms

To describe the Void is to attempt to distill madness, distilled insanity and a complete lack of structure. It is ever changing, ever shifting, always in flux. However within the maelstrom of it all there do exist points of limited stability. These areas, these....domains vary in their stability, and none are constant, they still shift and change continually, rapidly. Navigating them is a task best left to the nightmarish entities bound to such a realm, a task mere mortals should avoid. No maps, star charts, or other cartographic tools truly exist for such a place. That is because this is a place of dark dreams and fell nightmares, a place where the deepest, darkest parts of the collected consciousness of the multiverse becomes manifested reality.

However amongst all the various shifting scapes and madness, the smaller stabilities, the wide ranging and continual instability, there do exist eight.....regions, realms if you will, that remain, by comparison to the rest of the Void, somewhat measurably constant. These are the anchors of the Void, the birthplaces of the nightmares and corruptions, where all those dark thoughts, dreams, and nightmares are born, each falling under the dominion, at least initially, of one of these eight realms and its fell god. These....kingdoms of horror and nightmare, these domains, these....dimensional pockets if you will are known as the Nightmare Realms. Though the details we know are at best educated guesswork and indirect study, they shall be presented her for posterity and understanding.

Halyeen Luna'ven, occultist and seer, in her life's work, Walking between Dreams and Nightmares, a tome whom's access is heavily regulated by the Magisterium, though not banned and buried, despite Halyeen having been an apostate in life.

Geography

Blood-Drenched Arenas

The realm of Iracundia, the Enraged, The Eternal Slaughter, Violence Incarnate. This realm is said to be some sort of proving ground of sorts, the souls of the damned made to fight and bleed and die over and over, draining them of all they are to feast upon, until naught remains of the soul but hate, rage and bloodthirst. Then that shredded essence, whats left of it, will be the spark to give life to a new entity, a new twisted monster born from the hatred and frothing bloodlust, to serve Iracundia for all time. This realm is oft depicted as a seemingly impossible arena in size, with battlgrounds upon battlegrounds, and blood-soaked sands, or as a seemingly limitless tower of sorts, every floor but a battlefield, every floor but an arena.

Halls of Hubris

Perhaps the cruelest of the eight realms in its nature, this is the realm of Fastus, the Void God of Hubris, Pride and Manipulation. This realm is oft depicted as a seemingly endless library, whether an open concept room that seem to go on in all directions forever, or a multi-floored structure where the rooms of tomes never seem to end. However in truth the books, the desks, the chairs, all are creatures of this realm, seeking to feast and feed on foolish souls trapped here. Those whom end up here are doomed to a fate some might argue is worse than death. For every tome they attempt to pick up, to read, to peruse, no matter the soul, no matter the person they were, no matter the beliefs they held, the text within will shift to match their worst and most heinous prejudices, biases and beliefs. Trapped in an echo chamber built of their own mind, left to stew in their own hubris, their own overconfidence, whilst the beasts within this realm feast and feed on every other aspect of their psyche until there is naught left but the bias, the hubris, the overconfidence. A creature beyond being reasoned with, a creature that sees everyone and everything as beneath it. From this hallowed out shell of what once was a soul, a new monster will be born.

Isle of Depravity

This realm is the realm of Libidine, The Excess, the Embodiment of Addiction, of Need, of Dependency. At first this island within the Void may seem to those fool souls whom arrive there a boon, a blessing. Be they kidnapped or captured from the Aethyr, sacrificed or promised in some sort of dark spellwork, they may believe this place a reward, not torture. However they are desperately wrong. Every pleasure of every sense, every imbibement, every one you can imagine, and even some you could never know existed, since you are now a soul free of a containing body, will be yours to take. However these are not gifts, but poisons. For the beasts of Libidine, and Libidine itself will feed and feast on your joy and release, allowing naught but the rawest scraps of those feelings arrive to you. You will feel them, but they will be short, incomplete, damning, and leave you needing more and more over time. Again and again will this be done, again and again, drawing you into deeper and deeper behaviors, more desperate, until there is naught but lust, addiction, obsession, left of you. From that twisted soul shall come a beast of black

Mire of the Lost

The realm of Ignavus, the Lethargic, the Ever-Resting, this realm seems a dark and misty swamp and bog, seeming to simply go on forever in every direction. Every step, a struggle, every step draining, the mire up to the waist. Those whom end up here, unbeknownst to them, every movement they attempt to take, which they will, driven to desparately attempt to escape by the very essence of this place, will simply sap their energy permanently, which will be feasted on by the unmoving entities of this realm. Above the sky seems of cloud and darkness, but is actually of Ignavus, his massive sloth-like from constantly decaying, raining rotten fluids, putrifaction into the marsh, so that it may absorb energy, may feed, and return to him, called back by the twisted curses of this place. Once the essence of one trapped here has no more drive, cannot move anymore, they will be twisted, altered, that bit of essence left of what was once a soul giving birth to a new horrifying entity of this place, simply waiting and watching, waiting to feed.

The Evergreen Theatre

The Evergreen Theatre is generally thought to be the youngest or newest realm in the Void, though even it is likely older than we could imagine. It is the realm of Invidias, the Green-Eyed Monster, the Shapeless, the Skin-Thief. This realm is generally depicted in the shape of a theatre of sorts, a endless stage, or several stages as far as the eye can see, with crowds of wildly varied forms watching what occurs. Souls that end up here are tortured with a unique loss of all they are, forced to be players and actors in the everlasting grand drama. Whenever they master a role, they are forced to switch, tortured, beaten and lashed whenever they make a mistake until they perfect the role once again. As soon as they do so, they are forced into a new one yet again. This is done over and over, for as long as it takes, for time has no real meaning or measure in the Void, until there is naught left that can be recognized as any part of the original soul, and at this point a Green-Eyed beast is born.

The Endless Feast

The Realm of Gulagor, the Endless Hunger, the Great Devourer, this realm seems naught but a simple feasting hall, stretching on forever, tables seeming but endless. That is until one takes to close a look at the food being served to the bluberous forms and monstrosties eating at this table. The souls of those damned here are consumed, they are the feast, cooked, shredded, sauteed, roasted, fried and more, over and over again, ripped apart ravenously again and again, feeling every bite, claw and tear, but unable to resist, until their essence can simply not recover any further, their soul is too twisted, tortured and mangled to provide any sustenance. At this point, this is when the birth of one of Gulagor's favored will occur, those last sparks of creation stolen and corrupted beyond recognition to birth something from the deepest wells of darkness.

The Worthless Palaces

This is the realm of Avarita, the Coin-Counter, the Tollman, the Hoarder, and is unique in its structure in many ways. To see how it is depicted one may at first confuse the imagery. A simple creature, massive, bipedal, with spectacles, parchment and ink watches over a seemingly endless expanse of castles and mansions. No visible monsters, entities or otherwise. But that is because they are the buildings. The walls, the floors, the objects within, all are monsters, beasts of black. Souls trapped here end up trapped in a prison very much of their own making. A manor, mansion or castle, complete with all their material desires, everything they could ever wish to possess that can be possessed. Yet they cannot leave, and should they try, they simply return to the room in which they would 'sleep' if sleep was possible or required. They are alone, even if servants are part of those desires, even if slaves. They never see them, cannot interact with them, though they will hear them and find anything they were to expect done will be done. However they have no way to spend these material possessions or fortunes, no way to leave, no way to indulge in all these treasures. And thus the creeping despair, sadnesss, and depression, which allows the beasts of Avarice to feast and feed on all else that once defined the soul as a person. Once naught remains of its essence but this shredded shell of despair and self loathing, from that will be birthed a new creature of the Palaces.

Mount Terror

This realm is the realm controlled and watched over by Timidus, the Lord of Nightmares. He is formless, yet every form. It is the deepest darkest most secretive fear, the thing buried so deep that you may not know it is there, that is what every person and entity sees, when they see him at all, though if they do it is only for but a blink. He longs for terror and panick, feasting upon the calmness thrown away whenever someone has a sudden bout of fear, as do all his minions. The beasts of this realm are far from physical, and do not assault the physical essence of the soul. They attack the psyche, reading it, finding fears based on their power and ability. Horrors are only able to pierce surface thoughts and fears, Terrors a bit deeper, and Nightmares can begin to pierce into phobias and subconscious nightmares. Timidus and his firstborn, Tyranoia feed on the deepest most secretive and buried fears of those they come upon. They feast upon abandoned calmness, logic and reason, wishing naught but panick and terror to be in their domain. Mount Terror manifests as it suggests, an overgrown misty forested mountain, with caves and abandoned mines and tunnels to match. One may feel alone, yet they are not, for they continually see things out of the corner of their eyes. Eventually once a soul is shredded and their is not left but panic and fear, from that a new echo, a new beast, a new shadowy figment of fear is born, a servant to the Lord of Nightmares.