The Burning Hells
Realms of Evil
As to the nature of the demons of Hell, I can testify only to having personally seen Diablo and other manner of terrors in both Tristram and else where on Sanctuary, but my experiences are nonetheless limited in the broad scheme of things. I must defer to other sources, such as the writings of Vischar Orous, chief librarian for the Zharesh Covenant, a small offshoot of the notorious Vizjerei mage clan. Orous' careful and scholarly research of the Prime Evils and other demons has been passed to us through historical and scientific tomes.
Ont intriguing piece of information I have gleaned from Orous' research is that not all abominations and violations that appear in Sanctuary are of hellish of demonic origin. For instance, the walking dead are unique to Sanctuary and ate not created in the Burning Hells, but they can be awakened from their morbid sleep by activities of demons and angels.
In order areas I have turned to the writings of my own ancestor, Jered Cain, for information, especially as it concerns the Prime Evils he and his brother mages battled.
The accounts by man of the Burning Hells are very limited. (I myself have gone only so far as the pandemonium Fortress.) Orous relies on information gained by Vizjerei mages who summoned demons into Sanctuary and interrogated them in most ingenious ways. Other information has been gained by casting holy powers into possessed humans, compelling demons who reside within them to speak.
"seven is the number of the powers of Hell, and seven is the number of the Great Evils."
-----Vischar Orous
Still more knowledge has been gathered from scattered fragments, such as the Guhawj Cave Inscriptions, found chiseled into a limestone cave wall beneath Kehjistan, inked long ago with blood. We know nothing of their author or the circumstances of their writing. We can only speculate that they might have been transferred to humans through dreams and divination.
Seven Evils spawned of seven heads.
Seven realms birthed from death,
Infested, unending, cycles upon cycles.
Sins beget sins as men beget men
Terror begets Hate and Hate begets Destruction
Destruction begets Terror as Terror begets Hate as Hate
Begets Destruction as Destruction begets...
(The inscription is unreadable from this point, but it has
been speculated that this incantation repeats many times.)
The Neztem Petroglyphs
The Neztem Petroglyphs were found on what is believed to be a natural pillar far out in the deserts of Aranoch. As a personal note and observation, my young ward, Jeah, was with me on this journey. Upon staring at this rock, she began having visions of a most violent nature. I had to confine her to the tent for the rest of our time there. I have used some of what she said during those visions to inform my descriptions of Hell in the following section.
