Oh Hell

[volin]

As far as we know, there are only a few other realms available to the people of the Iron Kingdoms. The elves know of the veld, the skorne the void, we all know about Urcaen and there are these wierd people from the Infernal Realm. We know all these, and there are references to them in the various entries about those people.

However, since none of these are ever even colloquially referred to as hell, I'm wondering what that word even means in the Iron Kingdoms. For a thin point of reference we have the quote on the Nyss Sorceress page "...we will split the sky asunder and let hell rain down...". Hmm, what is she referring to? Hell jacks are another curious little note, and there are mentions of hell in a number of other places.

[PPS_Dougseacat]

Hell is a term sometimes used to describe the wilds of Urcaen. Wherever Urcaen is at its most savage, chaotic, and dangerous (the deep wilderness between the realms of the gods, where the Devourer prowls), this is equated with hell, hellish, etc. It's best to consider this something of a best translation as there is no proper name for this area, but using hell provides the best image in our readers' minds.

[volin]

Great! Thanks for the answer! I've had players torture themselves time and again trying to avoid saying hell, since it had no context. "Oh Urcaen!" doesn't have much of a ring to it.

[Whimper]

There are also mentions of "hellfire" here and there, so presumably the wilds of Urcaen can be unseasonably hot at times.