A collection on the recounting of the first descent into the Abyss.
From the Reconstruction Archive, 534 Sela
Documented by Magister Tyrus, The Archive
Today, “The Abyss” and all that that terrible expanse entails are commonplace in our daily conversation. Most of us have known at least one person lost to the creatures of The Abyss. Some of us have even personally encountered The Corruption that periodically crawls up from the Abyssal Scars. It is hard to believe that, ten short years ago, that nightmarish place was something most of us considered as we might consider a long dormant volcano: dangerous, certainly, but not a cataclysm one will know in their lifetime.
Indeed, prior to The Blood War, the Abyss was known only by its Scars. Measuring anywhere from twenty feet to a mile long, these jagged fissures in the earth–smelling of bile and smoke–have been a long threatening presence in Circadia. However, before the Blood War, they were understood only as dangerous geographical features which, if stepped into, almost certainly spelled out death. Of course, now we know that these Scars are not mere wounds but the only known entry points into the Abyssal landscape–a world both below us and outside of even the Gods’ purview.
The Rakes’s Decree
It is commonly accepted that the Scars widened and deepened during the Blood War. We know further that, since the Scars have expanded, the forces we call the Corruption have grown in number and frequency.
Prior to the Blood War, only very enterprising individuals ventured into the Abyss, few of them rarely returning. However, the increased presence of The Corruption, and the evergrowing threat of the Scars, neccesitated some sort of action. Odipos Rakes, while he was still High Priest of Nepheris, arranged for the first excursion party to The Abyss. Since this decree, accompanied excursions by elite Devout have become more common, and the Rakes family has ordered the mapping of the Abyss.
While the extant records are many, below is one of the most celebrated. While not the most detailed of accounts, it is, afterall, the first record of an encounter in the Abyss.
The First Descent, A Personal Account
The initial descent felt as if it took us four, perhaps five hours.
Slowly, and unable to use the abilities of our Gods, we lowered ourselves into the steaming trenches of the deep Abyss. In the utter darkness, we could see little but flickering lights rising from some unfathomable base. Squelching, shuddering sounds sometimes rippled up from the depths, but we mostly descended in the naked silence, accompanied by only our own labored breath.
The smell of the place remains difficult to describe. At times it was noxious, like bursts of acid or poisoned smog;other times it was fetid like spoiled meat or rotting grains. Very rarely, though equally powerfully, the smell was pleasantly floral, like a sundrenched meadow perfumed with heady citrus. This combination of scents, always in flux, often turned the stomachs of my comrades, and we frequently paused for bouts of horrific nausea.
When we finally alighted at the first depth, we found some solid footing. We call it the first depth, as its where we took our initial marker. It was as far down as we went, as I will later explain. While we stood on the terrain, our eyes adjusted to the peculiar dark. This was surprising in and of itself–we had assumed and prepared for a world cast in complete shadow. However, the Abyss throws off a slowly pulsing light which created enough by which to see. Fastening our rope to our entry marker, we continued.
There was little of much excitement to see, at least at first. While our cartographer was pleased to finally traverse the landscape, we had expected a bit more action. Considering that the Corruption erupts from the Scars in droves, we had anticipated a skirmish or two. Under normal circumstances, I might have been disappointed. However, my stomach still in knots from the descent, I proceeded on with some cautious ease.
And, indeed, the landscape itself held our interest. It was as though we were traversing the tunnels of some subterranean cave. This was, of course, easy enough to accept given our descent. However, the terrain was like no terrestrial cave system we had ever visited. Rather than being of rock or earth, the Abyss was slimy and fleshy to the touch–it was almost like raw, bloody offal coated in a film of mucus or blood. It was hard to keep our footing, and we frequently slid into one another. In one instance, one of our Paladins lost their balance and touched their hand to a slippery wall. The wall pulsed a bright purple and hummed angrily, jolting the Paladin with a painful shock that sent them reeling. However, when our Cleric tripped into a wall further down the way, she was nearly absorbed by the wall itself, and it took our eight hands worth of strength to recover her. When she emerged, she was covered in a silvery, glittering liquid. The liquid, which she described as midly tingling, quickly sloughed off her, no marks remaining.
In this strange landscape, we walked for roughly an hour, growing more disoriented with each step. We took frequent pauses as the very atmosphere around us drained us of energy and motivation. Frequently, our comrades were confused and claimed to see things others could not. Though we had brought rations to strengthen ourselves, none of us could bring ourselves to pause and eat. It felt too unsafe.
Finally, I stopped and commanded we ought turn back. Though the cartographer protested lightly, we agreed that we were growing increasingly weary and confused.
It was then we heard the sound.
In the darkness, it emanated forth like a skittering rodent might cry out from a dark alley.
We paused, readying ourselves for an attack.
The sound came forth once more, this time clearer. Perhaps it was my own confusion but, at first blush, I thought it sounded familiar. Very strangely, the sound reminded me of an adult woman attempting to masquerade her voice as that of a young girl–singsong, but unsettlingly, inappropriately so. The voice being made seemed too small for the throat in which it originated. Perhaps this is why the noise sounded like shrill giggling and, perhaps, captivated by the noise, this is why we did not simply run.
When the thing poured itself forth from the dark, we had no time but to stagger back. Like the Corruption we had seen in Circadia, the thing was adjacent to a human being while also starkly monstrous. In this instance, the creature seemed to be little more than an amorphous, flowing pile of whitish, malleable flesh. As it billowed forth, it emitted the strange giggling peal; we caught glimpses of a toe or a finger or a tooth, but such glimpses were lost quickly as the shifting flesh reshaped itself into a less and less distinctive pile of features.
Extending what might have been a limb, the creature paused and, if it is anything like a sentient beast, regarded us. At that moment, the creature came into sharper relief.
Long, greasy strands of brown hair sprouted from what might have been its face. Two holes that might have been a nose gasped air, with great effort, in and out. A pinkish, crooked gash let slop forth an indelible tongue.
“Is it,” our Cleric whispered, “human?”
At this sound, the creature turned towards the Cleric; the Cleric, of course, stood a few inches behind me. I felt myself weaken as I became caught in the creature’s gaze.
And this is what captured my horror most. That creature’s eyes. Bulging out from the creature’s pale, shifting flesh, the dozen or so eyes appeared nearly human. By that I mean, I could see whites and pupils and a shape that was round. But, set against the mottled white skin, the eyes protruded from the creature’s body like yellowed boils. These eyes looked beset by irritation or disease, and they moved ceaselessly. I felt, sickeningly, that if you reached out to poke one, it might burst immediately, gooey and formless like a broken egg yolk. Bulging out from the creature’s flesh, the eyes roved and searched until, suddenly, their direction aligned. With a singular, piercing scream, the creature, now looking entirely at me, lunged.
In good truth and faith: I have no recollection of what happened after that moment and my return to the surface. I know that I was knocked unconscious by the creature’s forceful blows, and I know my comrades must have carried me up the ascent. When I awoke, I awoke in my hospital bed. And my comrades who survived… well, whatever happened down there has cast upon them a permanent silence, as well as a deep loathing of the light. To date, they show no signs of recovery.
At least my brother and father have their first map.
Pilar Rakes, Paladin of Beodhen
Glossary
The Abyss-A place seemingly both under and outside of Circadia, the Abyss is a largely unknown landscape of unparalleld danger.
The Corruption-The strange creatures that originate in the Abyss, The Corruption enter Circadia from Scars and attack individuals they encounter mercilessly; The Corruption have no singular appearance, but are instead unnatural forms horrific to behold.
Curious what the Corruption might look like? Check out some inspiration on our Pinterest board.
The First Descent-A famous excursion into the Abyss that ended in tragedy. While its leader, Pilar Rakes, survived the encounter with his health, the other party members–Adona Lionhardt, Petula Myrcelle, Willis Harks, Genuine Fanton, and Stephan Hayes–emerged totally and irrevocably changed and harmed.
Odipos Rakes-The former High Priest of Nepheris, Odipos was the individual who arranged for the first formal descent into the Abyss
Pilar Rakes– A highly respected Paladin of Beodhen who led the first descent into the Abyss; Pilar still leads occassional excursions
The Scars-Sometimes called Abyssal Scars, these strange fissures in the ground lead into the Abyss. These are the only known entries into The Abyss. The Scars grew in number and size during the Blood War, though they have always existed.
The Rakes Family-A family of wealthy nobles, most Devout among the Rakes are followers of Beodhen and/or Nepheris; the Rakes family is connected with the Abyss. Odipos Rakes, the current patriarch, ordered the first excursion, and his eldest son, Pilar, led it. Odipos’s younger son, Devon, is one of the most esteemed cartographers in all of Circadia and maintains maps of the charted Abyssal landscape.
Zealot Larp 