How the Series Works

I am frequently asked questions regarding the Underworld/Hell series and it's so hard to answer them all with the character limits the comments give me, so I've decided to answer your questions in-depth here.

The questions that I will answer will not give away spoilers regarding one-shots or anything of the sort. They're general questions about ranking, ages, powers, media, and all that fun stuff in the series! So here we go~

Q: How does the "energy" work to use magic?

A: That can best be described as a full glass of water. Our energy starts out full, but the more we use it, the more they use it, the less water left in the glass until they reach the bottom and they need to recharge with rest, sleep, food, and for gods, ambrosia and nectar.

Q: What about Recharge?

A: Recharge is an illness for gods and demigods in which they use up all their energy and try to push further than that (going without recommended rest, ambrosia, and nectar). The symptoms of Recharge involves high fever, vomiting blood, coughing blood, hallucinations, runny nose, sore throat. Recharge can last from five to twelve days, depending on how much rest the individual gets.

Q: What are ambrosia and nectar?

A: Ambrosia is the food of the gods. It's very sweet, and usually comes in bar shapes, like brownies or health bars. It's usually mixed with other foods to kill the horrible sweet flavor. Nectar is the drink of the gods, also incredibly sweet and usually watered down with booze or juice, even water. Only gods can consume it, and once they do, their powers will steadily be restored.

Q: How do the powers work for gods and demigods?

A: Powers are not chosen at random. Each power with the gods, in particular, depends on the realm of rule that the god owns. For example, the Greek god Apollo. Apollo is the god of music, poetry, plagues, and sunlight. Apollo's abilities would pertain to those realms of rule. As a god of music, he can produce hypnotic melodies. As a god of plagues, he can cast plagues that will cause untold horrors (i.e. Black Plague). Those are just a couple of his powers. He probably has many more that even I don't know about. The powers are produced from his chosen realm of rule. And to maintain their extensive power, they tend to rely on their believers and followers. And despite the decrease in pagan religion, there are still people who believe in the old gods and worship them, giving them power. They also draw in from the Source (the mass from whence all things came).

The same would go for a demigod. Say, Apollo and a mortal woman sire a child. This child would be a demigod and inherit some of Apollo's abilities, such as his ability to compose hypnotic melodies, but he wouldn't have the full powers of a god. Just a couple that can be sustained by his human half.

Q: What about the powers of other Underworld creatures?

A: That would be an infinitely long list, so we'll do the basics and special characters that appear throughout the series. Since we technically already covered gods and demigods, let's start with immortals. Immortals are basically humans that were granted sanctuary or eternal life by a god. For example, the character, Kat, Cain's second-in-command. She is immortal. She was human, until she fought a war in Hades's name. Hades granted her immortality. Immortality also comes with a few other convenient perks, including teleportation, fast healing, and immunity to disease.

Now demons. There are thousands of different demon classifications and they vary widely depending on the culture and region. But most of them have the basic power list that consists of the following: Teleportation, fast healing, immunity to disease, abnormal strength and speed, ability to summon small objects, and can change small features on their physical body (hair, eyes, etc). We'll stick to the demons most frequently mentioned throughout the series. That would be fire demons and ice demons.

As expected, fire demons can manipulate fire. Similar to the fire benders from Avatar: The Last Airbender, fire demons can do whatever they want fire, can produce fire balls, sparks. However, what makes them different is that fire demons can summon fire from nowhere most of the time. They just need a little bit of heat to start the fire, the rest is magical energy. Which explains how Ayo can snap his fingers and start a fire.

Ice demons can manipulate ice. They can generally summon in from nowhere, but that takes a bit more energy and control to do. It's better if they have some sort of water source.

Vampires. You saw this coming. Vampires are ever popular, and ever changing, again, depending on culture and region. One of the most common type of vampire, however, is the blood-sucking creatures that we see. While the gods have ambrosia and nectar, vampires have blood. Blood provides them with an extra kick. Like most vampires, they are immortal, immune to diseases, abnormal strength and speed, can teleport, and do basically the same things demons can. They're cousins to demons in some beliefs. One vampire, however, that is different in the series is Julius.

Julius is not only a vampire that sucks blood, but he feeds on misery and woe. The more miserable someone is around him, the more strength they give him. The more hopeless they feel, the stronger and more powerful he feels. These are called energy vampires, and they do exist.

Shapeshifters, obviously, can change shape. They can expand molecules and manipulate them to take the shape of whatever it is they wish, and their magic assists them in doing so. They have the heightened ability to change one's appearance. While vampires and demons and the like can change small time appearances, shapeshifters can change their whole appearance. They are considered genderless as well because of this. Shapeshifters also cannot teleport or be allowed near large volts of electricity for fear of screwing up their changing abilities, and teleportation could severely rupture their ability to control. But what makes them so fearsome is the fact that when they change, they can take on the abilities of whomever they change into (except god abilities). They can become outrageously strong and nearly invisible with speed.

Faes, or faeries/fairies, are like demons in the sense that there are nearly a thousand categories for each one, but they all link back to whoever their nature deity is. Faes, no matter what their category, are always nature creatures. They have the basic abilities as well as a few added ones, such as flora manipulation (plants), can speak to plants, have a particularly green thumb, can easily be recharged by just being outside, and they can get pregnant. That last one doesn't sound so weird until you realize that males can also get pregnant. Faes are extremely rare since they've been enslaved since 8000 B.C.E. Because of this, around 2000 B.C.E, faes were gifted by the earth deities the ability to procreate-- all of them were. And while female faes can give birth normally through a canal, males cannot and need to have a C-section performed. If this isn't done when the baby is ready to be born, it'll suffocate and die. Faes can also see emotions as physical auras. They see ribbons of color generally stemming from the heart, but sometimes, from the other chakras in the body. Also, you will rarely see a fae with short hair. Long hair is a symbol of pride and power in their community.

Imps are the lowest of the low in the realm. Imps are much like faes in the sense that they actually have the basic abilities of most creatures, and they can also control plantlife. They're also naturally innocent creatures. Imps age slower than most creatures and are actually very good at reading people and finding out what they want. Imps have been enslaved since the beginning of time because of their sweet and docile nature and slow mature rate. It wasn't until recently in the 21st century that slavery for imps, and all other creatures, was abolished in the realms of Hell and Hades.

Q: How does magic and energy work?

A: As you can see throughout the series, sometimes the characters don't get a chance to teleport away, even though it seems they had plenty of time to us as mortals. However, powers don't work like the snap of your fingers, not really. Energy is built up through intense concentration and focus. To open the channel of magic, you have to be relaxed and focused on the intent. For example, to teleport, you can't just poof yourself somewhere. You have to have an image of the location in your head and you have to have a focal point within that location. If you want to teleport to Venice, Italy, you're gonna have to see a picture of the exact location you want to go to. Otherwise, you may end up in a very uncomfortable position, like on top of a building or inside of a wall. Which is why you can't teleport to a place you've never seen or even heard of before, unless of course you're a god because gods can do whatever they want 99.9% of the time *cough*

Basically, to use magic, you have to practice focus, concentration, and study a lot about the world around you. The characters is the story didn't skip the whole awkward going to school phase and go right to ruling the world. They also went to school... for a lot longer than we mortals do. Generally, we attend school for about fifteen or so years, give or take. But most of the characters in the Underworld series went to school for a minimum of thirty years. It takes a lot of knowledge to be able to do what they do. They don't pull it out of their butts like the Sims pull fish out of their butts. That'd just be weird.

Q: How does the schooling system in the Underworld work?

A: That would depend on the realm, but most of the basic principles are the same. You learn basic maths, sciences, languages, and histories. English and Greek are mandatory languages in Hades. There are also some classes on how to increase concentration and focus, classes on specific types of magic, specific history classes, religious classes, and career specialty classes. Want to be a mechanic? They would offer you the appropriate classes to take for this career. Career specialty classes aren't generally available until halfway through the schooling. Basics are covered first. They do go by years. i.e. Year One, Year Two, etc.

Most people are also required to go back to school every so often throughout their eternal life-span in order to keep up with all the new things going on around them. Some don't necessarily go to a school and can be homeschooled (such as our Princes of Hades). All schooling in the Underworld is free because it's paid for by Hades.

Q: Who are the most powerful characters? What's the system for that?

A: A weird system. Basically, the most powerful power that ever existed is the Source. From whence all things began and came from. Each culture has its own name for it, and in the Greek case, they refer to it as Chaos, the one who birthed Gaia, and a couple other deities, one of which includes Alexion. Gaia gave birth to Uranus, who yes, she married. Incest is hardly a surprise when it comes to mythology. So bear with me.

Chaos is the ultimate power. However, anyone who hails from Chaos is considered the second most powerful. They are the firsts. They are the originals. They are the parents of all things in existence from then on. From Gaia and Uranus came the loveable bunch of Titans that we love and know today and I use that with toxic amounts of sarcasm, so approach with caution.

HOWEVER. Keep in mind that Death gods are also extremely powerful and considered to be on the same level as the originals because they deal with one of the most powerful forces in existence-- Death. Each culture has its own death god. For the Greeks, it's Thanatos. For the Judeo-Christian/Luciferians/General Population, it's Death (who named himself Stanton in the 80s). And while there are usually multiple gods of death in a belief, there is always one who deals with it the most, the one who was created for the soul purpose of dealing with death as a whole. These gods are powerful and incredibly fearsome. They can pull souls out of their bodies and hold them within themselves until they can take the soul to its rightful resting place.

After that, it would all depend power wise. Gods, of course, and demigods would come after Death Gods, the Originals, and the Source. Beyond that, it depends on the individual. Of course, it's easy to say that the lowest of the low, the least powerful and threatening, would be the imp.

Q: What about media? How does the news station work and the Demonic Fashion channel?

A: Just like our media. They took something they already knew and advanced in it about the same time we did. Malachi's Demonic Fashion label wasn't launched until the 90s, though, when Abel suggested it to him after a conversation with Akin. Because of the Demonic Fashion channel/magazine/clothing line, Malachi is technically considered the richest of all Hades's sons.

The Demonic Fashion label is the dominating power of the Underworld when it comes to the pop culture world. Every single store in Hades sells their merchandise and they even have their own channel to portay upcoming fashions as well as a couple of popular soap operas, such as Blood Kiss and My Mortal Girlfriend. By the way, these are really cheesy soap operas. These are the General Hospital and Will and Grace of the Underworld. Demonic Fashion is so big that its merchandise can even be found in other realms, particularly Hell, Helheim, and Duat, because all of these realms touch one another.

Q: What's the geography like for Hades?

A: Complicated. It's basically a gigantic valley surrounded by mountain ranges, and Tartarus is technically underground, so it doesn't appear on any maps. If I had to compare sizes, I'd say the realm of Hades is about the size of the United States? If not a little bit smaller. Hades technically has several "city-states", if you will, but there are several popular cities and hundreds of smaller villages within.

The city-states are named after the realms that each son of Hades rules; Inferi, Styx (which makes up a huge portion of the Underworld), Fields of Asphodel, Elysium, Acheron, Tartarus, and the empty valley that Cerberus rules, which is called the Gates, since it's at the main entrance to the Underworld. Most of the terrain is similar to that of Greece considering it's the Greek underworld. The climate is generally quite temperate, but in areas such as Tartarus, the climate is a humid subtropical and areas like Styx are humid, semi-tropical. When it comes to a map of Hades and the other realms that touch it... To the north, Helheim, the Norse Underworld, borders Hades with a large mountain range between them. To the west, the Black Sea and a portion of the Black Mountains separate Hades and Hell. To the south, hot mountains called Devil's Pass separates Hades from Duat, the Egyptian Underworld. To the east is Annwn, the Celtic Underworld.

Q: What about laws? Government?

A: Hades is the government. It'd be a little harsh to say that it's a dictatorship, but that's probably the best way to explain it since he's a god and nobody will be taking his job any time soon. However, he doesn't make rash decisions on the fly like he used to. Whenever a major decision is to be made, he gathers the Princes (his sons)  and they hold a meeting to discuss the issue. If the issue effects other realms, a United Pantheons (UP) meeting must be held in order to make a final decision, in which a representative from Hades will attend the meeting. Usually that rep. is Hades himself or Theo, and on rare occasions, Charon.

Each city-state is ruled by a Prince, one of the original Seven Sons of Hades. Of course, each son has his second-in-command, who makes most of the public appearances. The laws can also change from city-state to city-state, depending on the law. Major laws, such as murder, extortion, or any of the bigger ones, remain the same and will be brought before Hades. More minor laws, like drinking laws, small time crooks, are dealt with depending on whatever the Prince decides to deem it as. Generally, though, the second-in-command deals with those sorts of things.

Q: What is a Titan?

A: A Titan is a Greek god that ruled during the Golden Age, and are generally the children of the originals (Gaia and Uranus). There were twelve main Titans, and several minor ones, just like the new Olympian rulers. The Olympians are the current rulers of the Greek pantheon. Like the Titans, there are twelve main Olympians, and hundreds of minors. However, Adrian doesn't necessarily play by these rules in title. He is referred to as a Titan only as a formality so that officials can keep a close eye on him.

Q: Who can rule a realm?

A: Only gods can rule realms. The only exception to this rule would be Lucifer, because his situation is complicated. Lucifer is technically an archangel of God and belongs to the Judeo-Christian beliefs. However, he was cast out from Heaven and sent to Hell, which at the time was nothing, but a demonic wasteland. With the help of his primordial demon, St. John, Lucifer built on Hell and made it his own. Because of his growing power, more and more people began to worship him not only as an archangel, but even a god. And given the amount of people who believe in his existence, he draws his power from that and therefore is about as powerful as any god.

Also, technically, Purgatory is a realm, but it belongs to both Heaven and Hell as a gateway realm to either Heaven or Hell, depending on the soul's judgement. A judgement that can only be passed by Thorn himself before it is confirmed by God or Lucifer.

Q: Hell doesn't really seem like Hell. Are all the residents sinners?

A: No. Hell is not the inferno that people make it out to be. At least, not most of it. Like other realms, Hell has its main prison for sinners called Gehenna. But Hell is mostly known as the "Rome" of the underworlds. In the beginning, Rome was home to any and all who wanted to stay, mainly the outcasts of other cultures, such as pirates, thieves, "sinners", and so on. Hell is the same way. Hell opens its arms to exiled peoples, and the general population that has nowhere else to go and needs a sanctuary. The real sinners, the one who break the current laws of both God and Lucifer, are sent to Gehenna to suffer eternal damnation. They are judged by Thorn, God, and Lucifer and given a sentence. Most sentences are eternal, but there are occasions when someone can be granted reincarnation.

Q: Can you tell me about Hell? The geography and laws and government maybe?

A: Sure! Again, Hell is considered a sanctuary realm. It's pretty lenient on a lot of things, similar to Hades, however there are some differences. Hell, much like Hades, is a giant valley realm settled amongst a stream of mountains, and several large lakes that make up the border between Hell and the realms around it. When looking at a map of Hell, to the east is Hades, separated by the Black Mountains and the Black sea. To the north is Helheim, separated by a mountain range, and part of the Lake of Non. To the west is the Aztec underworld of Mictlan, separated by Lake of Non. To the south is the realm of Duat, separated by the Abba Mountains. Like Hades, Hell is separated into city-states.

The main city-states are Hell (the capital), Portius, Abbadon, Sheol, and Gehenna. The most populated city-states would be Hell and Portius, setting aside the fact that Sheol is the home to all souls. People who worshipped Lucifer and have died will be sent to Sheol where they relive their greatest memories. Sheol is the largest city-state of Hell and is at the heart of it. Beyond Sheol, bordering the Lake of Non, is Gehenna. Home to sinners and the largest prison since Tartarus. Abbadon is the smallest and borders Duat and is a large melting pot of both Egyptians and Hellions.

Hell does a lot of importing and exporting with Hades. Before the alliance between them, the two realms weren't so hot on each other. Not like they are now. *eyebrow wiggle* But yeah, no, they're allies now and have most of the same things. The schools in Hell are a little different in the sense that you don't stay for so long and they're smaller so that it's easier for students to get help without having to fight a hundred other students in a single classroom. The government is all run by Lucifer and his children, and there's generally a mayor or chief of villages or cities in the realm. Again, major laws are only changed by Lucifer and minor laws change depending on the city-state.

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That's what I managed to cover for now. If I get more questions, I will add things here and you can look up your question :) Also, note that this is the updated information for the series. I still need to go back through and edit some of the books to suit the current information.

Thanks! Hope this answers most of your questions :D