Lorehaven Hearth -13. Elysium and Hades

In this climactic finale of the Lorehaven Hearth Planar Series, Seth and Celina journey to the two opposing hearts of the multiverse — the Blessed Fields of Elysium and the Gray Waste of Hades. From the radiant meadows where the River Oceanus flows to the desolate glooms where color and hope fade away, this episode explores how Dungeons & Dragons has portrayed these realms across every edition, from 1e’s foundational cosmology to 5e’s Great Wheel revival.

Listeners will discover:

• The four layers of Elysium — Amoria, Eronia, Belierin, and Thalasia — and the serene celestials who dwell there.
• The three glooms of Hades — Oinos, Niflheim, and Pluton — and the grim forces that harvest souls.
• How each edition reshaped these planes in lore and mechanics.
• The deep mythological roots of paradise and despair, from the Greek Elysian Fields and Hades to the Egyptian Aaru and Norse Helheim.
• The moral and theological echoes that resonate through these imagined afterlives.

The episode closes with a reflective biblical meditation, contrasting the fleeting peace of Elysium and the hopelessness of Hades with the eternal rest promised in Christ:

“Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:54–55)

Join us for this final journey through the Great Wheel — a tale of light and shadow, hope and despair, and the eternal truth beyond all planes.