Planar Chaos
Planar Profiles: Heim (Helheim)
The plane of Helheim is home to Sverre, a planeswalker who refers to himself by the title of Grave Birther. Sverre's influence on the plane is undeniable after the time he has called it home since the Mending.
The plane is organized around a large, central tree known as Yggdrasil sitting alone in a vast ocean. This world tree has three distinct layers, the roots, known as Helheim, the trunk, Medheim, and the branches, Azheim. The wurm Jormungandr lies coiled around the tree's roots waiting for the century-long cycle of Ragnarok to come to its climax before rising to Medheim to do battle with its perpetually reincarnated enemies, the Guardians.
Helheim, as the lowest layer of the plane, is the graveyard, resting place of both civilians and heroes who fight and die in the cycle of Ragnarok. The entrance is through a little known, well-guarded cavern, and it exists in perpetual twilight, rarely ever being what could be called warm. This layer of the plane is swampy, dotted with bogs that give rise to zombies who wander aimlessly until they finally decay and are drawn back into Yggdrasil to feed another cycle. There are sparse forests, little more than thickets, scattered among the bogs that are connected to the great central tree through their roots. A female Guardian named Ehla once presided over this layer, but was replaced by Sverre after he usurped her throne, converting the palace from which she ruled over the dead and dark beings into his laboratory for alchemical experiments into the cyclical nature of the plane and the source of the Guardians' pseudo-immortality. He had since been able to distill an essence from the remains of Guardians into a life-prolonging potion that he takes regularly.
Fertile Medheim is home to mortal beings such as beasts, ogres, and humans. This is the site of Ragnarok where the great battle between the serpent sleeping underground and the Guardians and immortals living in Azheim takes place. Some of the Alfen, a race that seems to be related to Elves of other planes, also make their home on Medheim rather than in the lowest branches of Yggdrasil with their kin. In the years between Ragnaroks, they enjoy a time of peace and prosperity, praising the Guardians as deities who protect the mortal races from the evils living in Helheim led by Jormungandr by laying down their lives. Some humans also take part in the great battle, hoping to be chosen by the angelic Valkyries to become an immortal spirit and join the Guardians in their treetop home. A mysterious species of deer roams Medheim, feeding only on the bark of Yggdrasil itself and shunning the many offshoots that form the forests of Medheim. They are said to have mystical healing powers and be linked to the Guardians.
The main city-states of Medheim are Trollhof, the hillside settlement of the ogres surrounded by treacherous fens and flat fields, Emblavin, a lush meadow that is the High Capital of the human occupied principalities, and the seaside kingdom of Skadivik nestled in an icy fjord and home to magical learning.
The highest layer, Azheim, is the home of the Guardians, their Valkyries, and a host of spirits, the ghosts of fallen mortal heroes waiting their turn to lead the forces of Ragnarok. Guardians that die in Ragnarok are reborn from one of these spirits, chosen by Valkyries during previous Ragnaroks. The Guardians emerge from the tree fully grown and fulfill a variety of religious roles for the mortal races below. The Alfen are not wholly immortal, but live long lives and serve as stewards of Azheim and the Guardians, caring for the tree and aiding the process of reincarnation while the Guardians are below in Medheim.
Other creatures inhabiting the plane are the Fenris, a pack of ravenous wolves that roam all over and attack everything in their path. It is even said that they hunt the sun and moon across the sky. It is almost impossible for a person to tame a Fenris, but there are stories of heroes from ancient times riding them into battle as mounts. Supposedly they turned feral and savage when their masters died and no one but their masters' descendants can attempt to tame the beasts. Since records are rather difficult to maintain on a plane that experiences a massive battle once every century, the birth and death records of the Fenris riders have been lost to the ages. Nobody has made the attempt for fear of their bloodline not being recognized as valiant enough to subdue a Fenris.
Off the coast of Medheim, lying just over the horizon and buffeted by the frigid north wind lie islands said to be inhabited by a race of Frost Giants. Few have dared venture forth to investigate this claim, but the ones who have returned tell tales of pale beings with glowing blue eyes that stand taller than trees. It is often said that Tyrodyn, Guardian of Justice, does constant battle with these Frost Giants to keep them away from Medheim. He is accompanied by the divine steed Silepener, a black horse with eight legs that can run faster than the wind and leap higher than the stars, as well as two ravens who keep him informed of the goings on in Medheim. Some say that if either raven brings back news of the wickedness of men that Tyrodyn will abandon his post and let the Frost Giants overrun Medheim.
There exists a race of dwarves who have set up their own small settlement around the cave leading to the roots of Yggdrasil and Helheim. Their histories state they were placed there by Yord, Guardian of the Earth, and that she charged them with keeping mortals from entering the underworld. They are aided by a small group of Alfen dedicated to her worship and that of the Guardian of Heroes, Tor, the sworn enemy of Jormungandr. The dwarves work tirelessly to make weapons fit for the Guardians and Valkyries to carry into battle against the forces of the underworld.
In recent cycles, it has become increasingly difficult to actually kill Jormungandr and bring Ragnarok to a close. This is likely due to Sverre's influence on the plane. Prior to the Mending when he first arrived on Helheim, Sverre resurrected the corpse of Jormungandr, turning the beast into a zombie familiar before it could be reabsorbed into Yggdrasil and reborn. He used the creature to defeat Ehla, Queen of the Dead, and replaced her symbolically with Oona, Queen of the Fae, a faerie from Lorwyn whom he secreted away rather than letting something he viewed as the most precious treasure of the multiverse be touched by the claws of death. The denizens of the bottom layer did not notice much of a difference, since the plane's magic affected Oona in such a way that she became the size of a normal human when she arrived with Sverre. Oona's light blue skin was similar enough to Ehla's pallid appearance that she could sit on the throne unopposed. Since Ehla did not take part in Ragnarok and had never been reincarnated, once Sverre delivered the killing blow she remained dead. No spirit existed in reserve to fill her place.