The Hell Planes

TODO: Well, this whole part, right?

Being In Between Worlds

You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here.

In the real world, there is pretty much only one universe you can exist in, and so being in multiple different worlds can be hard to imagine. Here are the states of being one can have:

In the Mortal World

This is precisely like being in the universe is for those of us outside the game. A character in the mortal world is safe from attack from things in other worlds, and cannot be physically affected by them. Normal people cannot perceive or touch things in other worlds while they are in the Mortal World. Some disciplines allow characters to perceive, but not touch, things that are in the Shallows of other worlds. So for example, if your character has Necromancy, they can perceive goings-on in the Shallow Gloom, but they are still safe from physically being harmed by creatures or objects there. When a character moves completely from one world to another, they come out in the nearest place that they can fit, which in some cases will be several meters away from their relative location in the original world.

In the Shallows

The Shallows of any world are very similar to the Mortal World, and appear to be a compromise of sorts. While a character is in the Shallows, they are essentially in what appears to be a copy of Earth with strange decor, more monsters, and a lot less people. The basic lay of the land, including placement and layout of buildings, is almost exactly the same, although there is generally speaking less stuff.

In the Deeps

The Deeps of any world are just completely crazy, and in no way similar to the Mortal World. While there are objects that have been transported or copied from the Mortal World to the Deeps, by and large the Deeps are their own alien wildernesses.

Between Worlds

One can occupy both the mortal world and the Shallows of another world, or the Shallows and the Deeps of another world simultaneously. This usually happens while a character is physically in a Bleed (see below), but may also occur during travel from one world to another. Since floors and tables tend to be in the same places in both versions of the world, characters can usually navigate just fine while perceiving and interacting with objects in both worlds simultaneously. The character will appear to be hallucinating to observers from either reality (who aren't also in the Bleed or whatever), because there are things (most especially creatures) that are in only one world and not the other. An effect cannot extend a character into a solid object in the other world, so if a character is standing in empty space in the Shallow Gloom and there's a big pile of sand there in the Mortal World, an event like a convergence or an ability like Shadow Gate would simply fail.

Existence in two worlds is inherently unstable, and is limited in both time and space. If a character moves far enough from their current position or waits for enough time to pass, they will end up in one world or the other. And which world they end up in is not always predictable (although if the character is in Limbo, they must pass the Gauntlet to end up in more Earthly surroundings). But while a character is between worlds, both prying eyes and bullets from either world can reach them.

Bleeds

There are places where the worlds merge, where a character is literally in two worlds because the ground itself is in two worlds. The experience of this is no different than being in just one world at a time, because in such places there is really only one table in the room. And while said table may be in the style of an Earthly table or a table of Limbo, it will still be a single solid object. Where things get weird is at the edges of the Bleed, where a character inside may see two different outsides. Bleeds have a tendency to oscillate between sending those who leave to one world or the other. Sometimes this is very simple (such as opening a door onto either a blighted hellscape or a normal suburban street), and sometimes it's just plain hard to figure out (such as the difference between a foggy forest and a foggy forest that happens to be in Maya).