Jahannam is the sixth realm, and a prison world where the lowest resonance beings exist as their violent tendencies are dangerous to other atman. Danava settled here after losing the war they started in Zion, called the Conflict of Hosts. This war was in response to the abuse that Watchers charged with the protection of Samsara undertook against the souls living there. Their crimes included rape and murder, and lesser infractions like adultery and abuses that could be cataloged under usury. The duta who committed these atrocities felt that they were entitled as they were merely doing so with Bio Vessels, ignoring the damage that their efforts wrought on the atman involved.
The King attempted to help these errant duta understand the gravity of their misconduct, but they dug in to their entitlement and refused to comply. In order for them to come back to Zion, they would have needed to pay penance. That could include giving up the homes they constructed, the treasure they hoarded, surrender any children they produced. In the cases of murder and rape, severe penalties were decided. Those Watchers would be stripped of their rank and duties, and spend and eon in Jahannam and contemplate the crimes they committed against those they were charged to protect.
The danava, as they were now known, refused to accept the terms and the war began as an effort to round them up and secure Samsara for the souls once more. The war pitted Watcher colleagues against one another and rose to a pitch that required Zion’s legions to flood the fifth realm. As is the case in all wars, crimes were expanded. The king was forced to take his offer off the table. Thus, the armies delivered their former brethren to Jahannam and the Sixth Realm was sealed off from those above. Many souls were additionally lost in those days, as they chose the fallen over Zion.
The danava languished in their prison, far from the perpetual light. The seal blocked out their link, and they changed. Their atman devolved. These beings fed upon one another and fought within their ranks to establish factions and a hierarchy. Eight principalities arose from the wreckage of their imprisonment. A ninth land, Asfodel Fields, was created to protect the souls that had been manipulated by the danava and repented their involvement in the war and abuses against their kind. The king was not unkind to these atman, and many were repaired in the years since.
The following is a copy of the glossary entries for each province:
- Abaddon. The only province to be ruled by more than one prince and not divided. Ruling princes: Asmodeus, Amon, Belphegor, Azazel, brothers when duta, brothers as danava.
- Acheron. A central province ruled by Prince Belial and his nobility.
- Asfodel Fields. The forgotten reaches where souls are left to wander at will but cannot cross back to the higher realms as their resonance is so low. This can be remedied, and thus it is a place of redemption. The fields are overseen by Prince Mammon, who is too lazy to herd the souls into his wastes.
- Cocytus. The northernmost province of Jahannam where Lucifer is imprisoned in ice for his leadership in the Conflict.
- Erebus. The desert province ruled by Prince Gediel (the grandfather of Primus Gediel).
- Gehenna. The fiery province ruled by Prince Beelzebub.
- Sheol. The beach and strip of land between the Domdaniel and the rest of Jahannam, also called The Grave. The province is ruled by Prince Azrael.
- Tartarus. A dusty province of giants where Prince Astaroth reigns.
- Tophet. The dead province of Prince Samael.
The land is marked by five rivers: Cocytus (Cocytus), Phlegethon (Tophet, Gehenna, Erebus, and Sheol), Acheron (Acheron and Sheol), Lethe (Erebus and Sheol), and Styx (Abaddon, Erebus, and Sheol). These rivers, however, do not flow with water, though most resemble the liquid. The substances between their banks are considered dangerous.
The climate of Jahannam, outside of Cocytus, is dessert. Nothing grows there, being it is dust and rock. The minimal light is enduring throughout the Jahannam year, and there is only one season. The terrain of Jahannam shifts from sands to rocky stretches. Gorges and canyons crack the surface. Some areas boast serrated and splintering mountains. Other places are caverns beneath the ground, complete with stalagmites and stalactites, as well as pillars.
The Domdaniel is the only ocean in all of Jahannam. It is a highly saline body of water. One would not want to enter the water for a few reasons. It’s polluted by the rotting souls that have been imprisoned in its depths. Those souls behave like ravenous fish, feeding on unfortunates that may fall in. Near the mouth of the Lethe is a massive statue that faces South. It is rumored that a seraphim kept watch in the statue, like a tower, over Jahannam, on behalf of Zion. The inhabitants of the land were dangerous enemies and had lost the war they started with Zion eons ago. In those days, the statue wept tears in honor of the souls that these agitators had brought harm to. The depths of the Domdaniel were substantially lower as well. Since, the sea has risen and the flow of tears has become a waterfall. The entrance of the tower is lost far below the waves. Contact with the watcher in the statue was lost many centuries ago, and it is unknown if he still keeps watch, or has been reduced to nothing because of the things that reside below the water and feed on atman. Rescues were given up when the parties continued to disappear.
Click here to learn more about Orders and Places in The Trailokya Trilogy, and let me know what Order you think you’d belong to, or what place is your favorite in the comments. Check out the online companion, only on Wattpad.
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