Gates To Hell
by hughpierre
Purpose / Function
Uku Pacha is the dominion of Supay, the god of death, ruler of the underground world and leader of a race of demons.The ancient cosmology was ordered in three spatio-temoral levels. Uku Pacha is located below the world and is associated with death and rebirth; and ruled over by a brutal fertility goddess. Inside the Sankihuasi, is a replica of the experience, if not function, of the real world depictions of the underworld. It serves as a means of final execution for convicted criminals and as a site for "Trial by Ordeal" for suspect individuals. Otherwise, it is a hole in the ground.
Design
Upper Levels
Flint Walls
Walls and ceilings are lined with jagged flints and obsidian shards to prevent the condemned from feeling against the walls to guide them in the dark.Pitfalls
Like the first pit near the gold doors, there are several natural cavities that are the principle paths to the gates' lower level that occupants enter purposely or accidently.Bottom Levels
From the twelfth level and lower, the cavernous corridors are unmapped and largely unexplored.Entries
Gold Door
Twelve foot tall double doors made from solid gold, with their hinged joints glued with honey onto the original burnt stone façade that surround the pit. While it can be opened and closed, the doors are normally kept open at all times so that all those deserving have a clear path.The Pit
The true entrance into the rest of the caverns sits behind the gold doors. It is a huge hole in the ground, three men deep, that can only be accessed through a rope ladder thrown and rolled up from above.Sensory & Appearance
A man put into the pit had no food, no light, and the only water to find pool on the floor.
Smell
It stinks in the underworld. Rain water drips from cracks in the ceiling to stagnate and mix with the blood and urine of previous occupants.Spotlight
The only light to stream into Sankihuasi comes from a single opening in the roof of the uppermost corridor.Denizens
Criminals
Anyone found guilty of egressions crimes to the sapa's empire are sentenced to enter the gates of hell to die a gross death. Or it is merely a punishment for nobles to spend a night or more in the hole. In that case, it is inadvisable to wait under the pit's spotlight because encountering at least one beast is required to properly satisfy the court's sanctioned ordeal.Imperial Architects
For a long time, the aesthetics of Sankihuasi was left unchanged but still heavily associated with the stories of Supaypa. Slowly, Supaypa-Huasin was built up and established to guard the pit entrance and would later begin mapping its layout. Eventually, a Sapa would order the architects to imprint the Lower Universe onto the gate exterior to further terrify the condemned.Sankihuasicamayocs
There are no demons prowling the darkness
Labourers
The series of natural caverns under the city have been deepened and expanded and sealed by teams of labourers after many years since the founding. They continue to serve in the prison's upkeep and assist the architects in keeping maps up to date with falling roofs and shifting walls.Pit Keepers
Workers who keep the darkness filled with all manner of monsters: snakes and spiders and pumas, bears and rats and jaguars. They never clean out the bones of man or beast, just left them there to rot, to terrify traitors in their last moments before they contributed to the Pit’s collection of skeletons.Hazards & Traps
Wild Beasts
An unknowable number of nighttime predators are captured from their natural environments and held in secret rooms under the ground.Collapsing Ceilings
The layout of the caverns consist of several levels connected horizontally by corridors and vertically by pitfalls.Alterations
Trap Doors
Hatch or hinged doors flush with the floor surface which usually connect to a natural chamber repurposed by the architects for maintenance purposes and containing beasts.Sliding Walls
Sliding doors disguised under crevices and shadows that hide the hidden paths from which labourers and keeps traverse and emerge while victims wander the dark maze.History
Millennium of Mud
The ancient mud men who inhabited the Cusp, before the riven and before the innoit, treated the pit like a huaca and honoured it was such.Ca-Chisneu
When the Innoit finally claimed the mountain, they evicted the last remaining mud men in the land and explored Sankihuasi on their own. All who entered to discover what they won experienced frightening images of their tales of death made real.
Secret Inca Gate by Paul Atreid
Alternative Names
- Sankihuasi
- Uku Pacha
- Ukhu Pacha
- Urin Pacha
- Ucu Pacha
- Supaypa-Huasin
- The Pit
Type
Geographic Feature
Parent Location
Connected Rooms
Related Professions
Related Ethnicities
Owning Organization
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