Doldrums

Sorry that it's in black-and-white.

The Doldrums is a void located within Russiac's mantle along the equator (hence its name; on Earth the Doldrums is the area on the Earth surrounding the equator). It is a vast, lonely, desolate wasteland that is hauntingly silent. The Doldrums is considered the underworld of Russiac mythology, due to being the holy lands of the Major Goddess of Life, Gaia.

The Doldrums is connected to various portals along the planet's surface, such as the crater by the Tower of Illusions and the elevator within the Bell Tower of Westvard. When a lifeform dies, its soul seeks out the neartest portal and leaves the planet surface typically forever.

Despite being the home of the dead (the undead and living are as a rule not allowed to live in the Doldrums), there is surprisingly little death (can't say life) in the majority of the void. The grey, dry, bare rock that accounts for the enormous wasteland of the Doldrums has hardly a soul prowling through it, and visitors have frequently commented on how lonely the Doldrums makes one feel. It can be a wondrous place, though, with the souls of those who died falling from the "sky" like snow.

Standing by a sacred graveyard is the Grim Tower, a crooked, small chapel where O-Kapi (the God of Death) and Felix (the God of Ghosts) make their home. The three mini-roofs sticking out of the tower represent the three portals within the tower: one leading to "heaven," one leading to an "in-between," and one leading to the "bad place."

The only place in the Doldrums with plentiful death is Gaia's Bayou, Gaia's haunted garden of the wretched trees known as Gaia Trees, whose roots plague the swamp (Gaia Roots, when not Gaia's own roots, are the roots of these trees). Standing alone in the center of the swamp stands the glowing stained glass window-filled palace known as Gaia's Sanctuary (Gaia liked naming things after herself). In the spiraling clouds above Gaia's home are the Gates of the Terreris, who guard the entrance to Typhon's universe.

Hidden in the mountains are the homes of the dead. There is the tranquil Gaia Meadow, where the particularly good people go when they die. There is the Lagoon of Despair, where ordinary people go when they die. Lastly, there is the Mantle Crater, a hole in the Doldrums where particularly naughty people go. The worst of the worst are sent to Typhon's laboratories for experimentation.

A particularly odd thing about the Doldrums is the eternally twilight sky. No matter which way you look, Gaia's symbol floats on the horizon.

Though nobody has been able to see if this is true or not, it is believed that the Doldrums is present on all planets. Nobody quite knows why souls from other planets don't arrive in Russiac's Doldrums.

The Doldrums, Grim Tower, Gaia's Bayou, Dreadful Mountains, Gates of Terreris, Gaia's Sanctuary, etc. (c) 2005-2008 Me