Welcome to Heck!
Yep -- that does indeed say Heck. The Realm of Heck is one of many "sub-nherbis" connected to one or more of the 40 Nherbis; whereas a full nherbi is roughly in the same size range as what humans would call a "universe" (in fact, "the universe" as humans know it is actually the 40th Nherbi), a sub-nherbi can be many, many times smaller. Heck is quite large for a sub-nherbi, being at least as vast as a decent-sized planet, and for good reason: the Realm of Heck is the place where those assigned to keep track of the afterlife's records dwell, and those records are not limited to a single planet, solar system, galaxy, or even a single nherbi. The "accountants of the afterlife" who live and work in Heck are responsible for keeping track of the living and dead across all of existence, a job which requires billions of workers focusing on their tasks day by day.
Heck's entire expanse takes the form of a vast, rocky underground cavern, lit mostly by mysterious orbs of colored light placed in the populated areas. These orbs are likely magical in nature, perhaps created by the Heckspawn of centuries upon centuries ago in order to make the place easier to traverse -- though Heckspawn do tend to have good night-vision, not all of them are equally gifted in this area and some probably would have difficulty getting around if not for these lights. In areas outside of population centers, light sources include bioluminescent fungi growing on various surfaces and the occasional eruptions of the energy known as "Heckfire," which looks much like normal fire but tends to have skull-shaped patterns flickering about within its flames and has a tendency to ignore the laws of physics from time to time, sometimes being capable of burning underwater or in the absence of any obvious fuel source. Heck has no native plantlife, but plenty of fungal lifeforms have taken root here, most notably the enormous spiky purple structures that grow up from the ground as Heck's equivalent to trees (seen in the background of the picture above.)
Populated areas in Heck consist of massive rock formations that have been hollowed out to form Heck's equivalent of high-rise apartment buildings and offices. These buildings are remarkably similar to human society's equivalents, though they are generally cleaner and less prone to falling apart (though this may be at least partially the result of how much magic is being used in and around them, reinforcing the structures as well as cleaning and repairing them.) Almost everything in Heck is carved out of the stone that makes up much of its landscape, sometimes even all the way up to the furniture in a building -- there's no worry of tables or cabinets being knocked over or moved out of place, as they're literally growing up out of the floor or permanently fused to the wall! Some other materials (such as various metals and glass) are sometimes used, though wood is incredibly rare, partly due to the absence of trees of any sort in Heck and partly due to the occasional flares of Heckfire that would be likely to destroy wooden furniture. Oddly enough, paper is abundant despite the lack of trees (or any other plantlife) with which to make it; it's possible that Heck's "paper" is in fact made from one of the various fungus species growing there, or even created magically in some way from other materials.
Heckspawn
The native population of Heck, commonly known as "Heckspawn," are an unusual sort of beings who can take many forms. It's unclear whether they are ordinary living beings or something else, hovering in an odd border region between spirit and mortal, or between living and dead (or that which was never technically "alive" in the first place.) By human standards they live extremely long lives, though the exact lifespan of a Heckspawn is unknown. Though their exact appearance will vary wildly from one region of Heck to another, Heckspawn can generally be categorized as one of three basic "types"...
...as shown in the picture above, which shows a small group of Heckspawn headed off to (or from) an ordinary day at work. The three types are as follows:
Skeleton-type Heckspawn: Probably the most widely known among those few humans who are aware of their existence at all, skeleton-type Heckspawn resemble the skeletons of various living beings, though they were born as skeleton-type Heckspawn -- rather than having any actual connection to the living creature whose skeleton they resemble -- regardless of how they may appear. Males and females are almost identical, and it's possible that there is in fact no physical difference between them at all. In regions of Heck tasked with monitoring planets where humanoid species live, these Heckspawn usually resemble humanoid skeletons (fairly short ones, in most cases, with few ever reaching heights of more than 5'08"); in areas watching over a very different world with little or no humanoid life, they will take a different form. Some say that tales of the god Gatadz in ancient K'hyurbhi mythology were actually inspired by the sight of a Heckspawn -- perhaps even a Grim Reaper -- who looked like a skeletal Numnum. Quite a few Grim Reapers from around the world have been skeleton-types, a fact which has given rise to the popular image of the Grim Reaper in human culture as a scythe-wielding skeleton wearing a hooded cloak.
Devil-type Heckspawn: This variety of Heckspawn is fairly consistent from one region of Heck to the next, taking on forms that are (usually) short and squat with red skin, horns, and often wings and pointed ears and tails. In some regions, hooved feet are common; in others they may have different sorts of feet instead, or more than just two feet (and legs), or even no feet at all -- a Heckspawn with a snake-like lower body or even just a wisp of semi-solid energy (similar to the "tail" of a genie) in place of feet has been reported from time to time. Unlike the other two varieties of Heckspawn, devil-types have fairly distinct visual differences between their males and females, including facial features, body shapes (particularly the presence or absence of breasts), and the size of their wings -- males usually, but not always, tend to have tiny vestigial wings that can only be used for brief fluttering without the aid of magic, while females often have a full-sized pair of wings that is fully capable of propelling them off the ground if needed. Devil-type Heckspawn seem to enjoy management positions more than day-to-day research or accounting, and as a result few of them ever venture outside of Heck and even fewer end up becoming Grim Reapers -- going out into the field every day and actually doing work (and maybe even having to fight, on rare occasions!) would seem exhausting to most of their kind.
Shadow-type Heckspawn: The most mysterious of the three varieties of Heckspawn, shadow-types have entirely black bodies which are not entirely physically "there" at all times, allowing them to do a variety of strange things that other Heckspawn cannot -- flattening themselves down into a shadow on the floor and "oozing" under doors, for example. The only constants in their appearance are their glowing eyes and clawed hands (and perhaps feet, if they even have feet), with their body shape varying wildly from one region of Heck to another. They most often wear hooded cloaks as seen above, at least when they take a humanoid (or even remotely close) form, though it's not unheard of to see them wearing something else or even nothing at all. As with skeleton-type Heckspawn, it is virtually impossible to tell males and females apart and it's possible that they do not even have two separate sexes the way that humans would understand them. Though not as commonly as with skeleton-types, the shadow-types do produce a steady supply of Grim Reapers from among their ranks.
Heckspawn of all three types are naturally inclined toward magic use and have developed their own style of magic that has similarities to both that of the Burijeoo (focusing on elemental-manipulation spells) and the magic used by human wizards (focusing on utility spells that can come in handy in various situations.) The Heckspawn style seems to take most of the strengths of both of the two styles while leaving the weaknesses behind -- unlike human magic the use of "magic words" or long, drawn-out rituals is all but unheard of, and unlike Burijeoo magic there is no need to focus one's attention on just one or two elemental categories in order to avoid spreading one's power too thin. On average, shadow-types are the most magically-inclined of the three types while devil-types are the weakest; in terms of physical strength this hierarchy is reversed, with shadow-types having very little and devil-types having the most despite their shorter stature. None of the three types is especially notable when it comes to strength, however, with even most of the tougher devil-types falling far short of the level that creatures like the Numnums or Blurbys are on.
Grim Reapers
The most notable Heckspawn are the Grim Reapers, who are responsible for venturing out into the 40 Nherbis and taking records of the living and the dead firsthand rather than serving the rather unglamorous (but also less dangerous) duties of "the accountants of the afterlife" back home in Heck. It is the Grim Reapers who provide Heck with its data on the outside world(s), sensing the presences of living and dead beings and sending back reports on the current status of each individual as each day goes by. Each Grim Reaper covers a certain area, sometimes as tiny as a single small country and sometimes as vast as an entire planet, or even an entire solar system. On Earth most Grim Reapers cover one or several countries (depending on land area and population), while rumor has it that Nummorro has been watched over by a single Grim Reaper at most points in history due to the longer lifespans, little or no overpopulation, and less frequent warfare of its inhabitants. It's likely that Earth, with its dozens of Grim Reapers, is the exception rather than the rule -- most planets populated by intelligent lifeforms do not suffer from such rampant overpopulation and clashes between (and among) its species, after all.
The process of becoming a Grim Reaper is a long one, and one that includes an extensive period of training both in the use of magic and in learning the ways that life and death are supposed to operate when nothing is skewing the balance to one side or the other. Though Heckspawn do have a bit of a head start in this training, not all Grim Reapers are Heckspawn -- over the years some members of other species (such as humans) have occasionally managed to find their way into a Grim Reaper position one way or another as well. While most of a Grim Reaper's duties include relatively peaceful tasks such as keeping records of the living and the dead (and reporting those records back to Heck) and giving the souls of the deceased advice on how to properly move on if they happen to find themselves "stuck" in the world of the living after death, from time to time a Grim Reaper may have to take a more active role in making sure the cycle continues without delay or interruption. One situation that calls for drastic measures is the case of souls being bound to the living realm by some outside force (as opposed to being held back by the weight of their own past deeds and distorted mindsets that they have not yet repented for); this was the reason that Señor Death, the Grim Reaper of Mexico, ventured far north of his usual region in 2008. Another situation where a Grim Reaper is authorized to become personally involved is the case of an individual extending their lifespan through unnatural means, such as by siphoning the life out of other beings and transferring it to themselves or by having power and extended life granted to them by various evil beings such as Lords of Moronism or even the Rupoo. In these cases a Grim Reaper is authorized to end their target's life by force, though this option will only be taken if it becomes clear that the target cannot be reasoned with. Some individuals from history and legend who ended up living unusually long lives may in fact have been magic-users who had managed to make an especially convincing case to the Grim Reaper assigned to limit their lives to a reasonable length, particularly in cases where their method caused little or no harm to others in the process.
The position of Grim Reaper comes with great power, most notably much more powerful magic than that of an ordinary Heckspawn -- though most of this power is the result of intense training and study (and experience in the field over the decades or centuries they have held their job) rather than simply being granted to the individual upon reaching the position. Powers that are granted to a Grim Reaper as part of their job description include being able to sense the presence and status of people native to their assigned region, being able to peer into the memories of those they watch over in order to better explain to them what past mistakes might be holding them back from the afterlife now, and even near-instantaneous teleportation between any two points within their region. This teleportation technique comes with a shadowy aura and a fwuum sound, causing the user to sink into a pool of shadowy energy on the ground and reappear from a similar shadow elsewhere. Shadow-type Heckspawn have been known to use a lesser variation of this as a normal magic spell, but only Grim Reapers are capable of transporting themselves hundreds or even thousands of miles this way.
Along with enhanced magic and various powers related to the job, all Grim Reapers are provided with at least one weapon known as a "Reaper Scythe," though these weapons are not necessarily scythes. These weapons are generally infused with magic that makes them cause more damage to living beings, with the intent being to make the process of the Reaper claiming the lives of any who disrupt the cycle of life and death as quick and painless as possible. The Reaper Scythes of each individual Grim Reaper have their own individual characteristics, and while some are passed down from one Reaper to the next over the centuries, others are shattered when a former Reaper retires or passes on and magically recreated by the incoming Reaper each time so that they will always take a form more fitting to their current owner.
The one disadvantage of the Grim Reaper is that, in order to encourage them attending to their duties and not wandering off and busying themselves with other things, they will begin to grow weaker and weaker every moment they spend outside of their assigned region. For Reapers assigned to a very large area this is not a major problem, but Reapers on Earth could quite easily find themselves with depleted powers just for venturing a few dozen miles too far in one direction or another. This limitation is not absolute, though with enough time even the mightiest and strongest-willed Reapers will begin to suffer from its effects -- when Señor Death traveled as far north as Alaska in order to free the captured Mexican souls held there to power a giant robot, for example, he was required to push himself beyond his usual limits just to keep up with the level of power displayed by his allies El Garbanzo, Señor Rialgo, and Schnee McBoobs. At the beginning of their trip, when he left Mexico along with El Garbanzo and Señor Rialgo, he had been holding back a significant amount of his true power just to allow them to keep up with him. As all Grim Reapers must return to Heck from time to time, this restriction does not apply to them within that realm -- only when they wander to other countries (or planets, or galaxies, or nherbis...) beyond their assigned jurisdiction within the mortal universe. There is even an annual Grim Reaper convention held in Heck where all Grim Reapers who aren't currently too busy with their jobs are encouraged to return home and interact with their comrades; Señor Death was known to attend one such convention following the events of the year 2008, as did the Grim Reapers of southeast Asia and various other regions of Earth.
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