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Gnelmagua, more commonly referred to as the Underworld, is the planet Spade lived on prior to the events of CC.
Gnelmagua is a planet without a moon or any natural satellites, and it orbits a red supergiant along with twelve other planets. The planet itself has a surface of lava and magma and is uninhabited except by a few species that have adapted to surface life, including magma fish and briar eagles. The vast population of humanoids and other creatures live in a city below the surface.
Day and night cycles are regulated artificially by the senate that rules the city, and each cycle lasts approximately 20 Earth hours resulting in 40 hour days. The city of the Underworld is comparable to modern day New York, being a mix of vibrant nightlife and busy streets, with thick yet breathable thermo-smog filling the air.
The Underworld doesn’t experience seasons or weather in the same way as most inhabited planets, in that the only weather experienced below the surface is rain-rocks and occasional lavafalls, both of which are effectively rain composed of small chunks of basalt and drops of magma repectively. Lavafalls are generally caused by the loosening of tectonic plates opening cracks in magma chambers beneath surface volcanoes. On the other hand, rain-rocks generally fall when there has been an earthquake on the surface or a particularly violent eruption of a surface volcano.
Citizens of the Underworld are highly resistant to lava and magma due to evolution, and can even eat or drink cooled magma. They’re less resistant to lava however, hence why they’re unable to live on the surface. Oftentimes if Underworld dwellers get caught in a lavafall, they’re left with scorch marks wherever they were hit, but this is generally the extent of the damage and these scorch marks go away within the same day. If they are caught in a lavafall for an extended period of time however, they will suffer anywhere from minor burns to entire sections of flesh melting off. This doesn’t affect more powerful entities (such as Spade’s father) however, as they are partially non-corporeal.
The Underworld is divided into two main sub-groups of intelligent life; dwellers and sojourners. Dwellers are the commonfolk of the Underworld, and as such most citizens are classed as dwellers. Sojourners are the more powerful entities mentioned earlier, and are often found in postions of power. For example, Spade’s father is a sojourner, and is also the ruler of the Underworld. Dwellers can become sojourners later in life, either by being granted sojourner status by an established sojourner, or by being born to a sojourner which will lead to them naturally becoming one later in life.