Approved Location [Netherworld] Hellmouth

[Atlas Drake]

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• 
  Intent: To create a rift location inside ORC space for faction RP and as a local netherworld access point.
  
• 
  ​Image Credit: Volcano Pyramid by Tiago Sousa, Stock Tunnel
  
• 
  Canon: /
  
• 
  Links: /
  

SETTING INFORMATION

• 
  Rift Name: Hellmouth
  
• 
  Rift Alignment: Neutral
  
• 
  Location: Demonsgate
  
• 
  Destination: Behelian Canyon
  
• 
  Direction: Both
  
• 
  Size: Large
  
• 
  Accessibility: The Black Pyramid is not observable from orbit or high atmosphere. It is surrounded by a Force phenomenon known as the 'Phantom Zone', a valley of mirages that can make locating the true pyramid challenging for those without a strong Force affinity. Once within the Pyramid itself, a shifting labyrinth serves as the rift's final ward against intrusion. It is a dangerous journey, as netherworld spirits and creatures tend to bleed into the material plane within the confines of the valley.
  
• 
  Description: Housed deep within a mysterious Black Pyramid, the Hellmouth itself is a circular chasm. Despite vast depths, a bright glow the color of hellfire illuminates its descent. The rift chamber itself is ancient and any defining features are mostly worn away, but it appears to have at one point been used for some ritual purpose untold aeons past.
  

RIFT EFFECTS

• Down Is Up: At a certain point any who pass through the rift will discover that instead of going deeper, they are actually ascending. There is no clearly observable moment when this occurs, and any memory of the change takes on a dreamlike quality.
• We're All Mad Here: Spontaneous hysteria and mass insanity is not common, but a distinct possibility. Some minds just aren't built to handle the transition, those touched by this particular affliction are known to ramble nonsensically as well as injure both themselves and others.
• Life Is But a Dream: After passage through the Hellmouth, waking life can continue to take on a dreamlike quality for some time after. Some never recover from this sensation of 'waking sleep', and a rare few experience visions/hallucinations of ritual ceremonies conducted in the Hellmouth chamber that are believed to be memories of the pyramid's builders somehow trapped within the rift itself.

POINTS OF INTEREST

• The Phantom Zone: A desolate molten valley much like the rest of Demonsgate's surface, the Phantom Zone's defining feature is a series of identical obsidian pyramids scattered throughout its landscape. Only one pyramid is real, the others are mirages generated through unknown means. The true pyramid's geographic location is not static, it is in a different place each time, which means that a Force trained guide is recommended for any who seek the rift.
• The Black Pyramid: An imposingly large pyramid constructed out of pure unmolded obsidian, the structure that houses the Hellmouth is a modern scientific marvel. Theories abound as to everything from the method of its construction to how advanced the civilization was that built it. Despite several extensive surveys of the site, only a fraction of the pyramid's internal structure has been mapped out.
• Shifting Labyrinth: Further frustrating both explorers and researchers alike, a labyrinthine maze of unadorned corridors separates the entrance from the rift chamber. Just like the valley beyond, its layout seems to be somehow transitory. A different route is required to reach either end, and many explorers have been lost forever to these ancient halls.

HISTORICAL INFORMATION

"And when that candle, bare and white
Sheds at last its dancing light
Then we will rouse, with raiséd rod
To pierce the very house of God."​

Although the Black Pyramid is a relatively recent archaeological discovery, all indications suggest that the nether rift is actually hundreds of thousands of years old at least. No record of its builders or any who knew of its existence have survived into the modern era, but based on its overall grandeur and stupefying inner workings, there are two main theories as to its original purpose. Either the Hellmouth was intentionally created as a gateway to the underworld, or it was a natural phenomenon that was discovered long ago and used as a place of ritual worship and sacrifice.

The pyramid itself is impervious to sensor scans, and undetectable from any height higher than about five hundred meters. This is either a natural phenomenon of the rift, or a byproduct of extraordinarily advanced precursor technology sealed somewhere within parts of the structure that remain inaccessible. Several years ago the Black Pyramid was first charted by a FarStar Initiative expedition team. Only one third of the original team survived, but subsequent expeditions have established security protocols that limit fatalities as much as possible.