The Tower of Bālal, The Gateway to the Hells
The Gateway to Sin
Before me there were no created things,
only eterne, and I eternal last.
All hope abandon, ye who enter in
-The text written upon the first most gate into the land
Past the dark and gloomy forests, lies the first place one shall approach when descending into hell. Even though the Hells represent chaos and horror, there is still a bureaucracy that most be maintained. Souls must be flung into the areas that will produce the most wonderous screams and pain that the devils and demons may feed on. Thus lies the dreaded tower, the Tower of Bālal, a monument to horror and sin and almost as freightening as the other layers themselves. It is the city of the Damnned, demons and devils living here, slaves being whipped, mutilated, and abused by uncaring and laughing masters, and of course the worst or most demented of mortals seeking to journey into the hells.
This tower is rumored to share architecture similar to the Ishtar Empire that fell oh so long ago, leading some to assume that this tower might be a super massive structure the late Ishtari built. Perhaps its forceful relocation was what caused that great empire to fall, or perhaps it has always been here, and is just a unkowable joke the devils like to play. It is awash with hellish energy, powered by the souls of the damned, and it is here where teeming massess of souls that hell has claimed (or according to the Church of the Flames doctrine: the sinners, the heretics, the pagan) are marched fourth. Some are taken off to the side if demons adn devils take a liking to the idea of keeping them as slaves or whatever damnable acts unkowable entities might delight in. Those that aren't are pushed forward admist the teeming massess, some even being mutilated or tramepled to death in these crowds.
Admist the teeming magical and horrific statues and chains. THe great hell giants forced in chains to carry and work admist the city, at the very edge of the city, lies the dreaded tower that sits just over the Endless Pit. It is here that the great demon, Uvall of the Infernal Gate, resides. Uvall is a calous, and unflinching beast of a man, horrific as he is grand, a monster that delights in punishment and pain. However he is also of a focused mind, never spending time away from his job, and has slaves tend to his needs or wants even as hes focused upon his work. He has a great serpintine tails that when a soul is forced before him get ready for the strike. These souls presented to him are made to vomit out their deeds in life, not a single one is missed, and with this and a stroke of flesh crafted pen is where Uvall makes his judgment. His serptine tails coil the soul a number of times corrsponding to the layer they shall be sent. They are then flung screaming and wailing down the pit, as imps pick at their flesh before and during the drop, and all the while Uvall laughs before quickly getting back to work. He rarely ever makes exceptions, but it is said that he has one weakness: a weakness for beauty. It is this weakness that according to legend, some have been able to sneak by him or even be sent to the layer they wish to quest in, though these adventures are so rare that their names are lost to time. The only other special exceptions he ever makes are if a Arch-Devil has specifically claimed a particular soul, as curiously unlike his brethern he is seeminly uncaring of moving up past his station.
Regardless, the land is a horrific realm of fire and lava. A land where blood and flesh fly in the sky, where devils and demons delight in the pain and torture of those souls they wished for themselves. One wonders if it is perhaps lucky to be a soul stuck here as a slave, than to be sent down into the infinite blackness of the pits. Such thoughts threaten to blacken the soul with despair...
Alternative Name(s)
The Realm of Judged Sinners, The Start of the Descent, The First Test
Owner/Ruler
