The Pit
It's a hole, big deal
That 'Big Deal' is a gigantic hole punched from one end of the world to the other, with the endless vaccum of space and nothingness sitting beneath it. Maybe it's the latent primitive instinct in me to see a big old hole and go 'Woah, that's pretty cool' but I think it's earned it's place as somewhere interesting, especially given it's dubious origin, and talent for eating adventuring parties that attempt to explore it. While you could argue that a big old hole in the ground doesn't warrant much reason for exploring, the real mystery lies in the countless openings that sit within it's inner walls. There are various tunnels that can be spotted scattered across the inside of The Pit itself, rumoured to be an intricate network of tunnels that connect across the entire planet. These pathways have been a point of study for many, as the frequency of which they appear has been deemed to be 'too convenient' to be naturally occurring, and is an indication of another civilisation altogether.Where did it come from?
The historical significance of The Pit has yet to be fully established, but there is much speculation. The most favoured theory people have acceptedSo why haven't they?
Many-- And I really do mean many, have attempted to explore the Inner caves within the Pit, and not a single person who has entered them has ever returned. The earliest attempts tried to answer the simplest question:"Why not just fly in?"It was unfortunately very quickly discovered that any means of entry beyond climbing were strictly off the table, when handfuls of winged and magically-inclined inhabitants discovered their ability to fly was quickly snatched away from them. It seems that beyond a certain point in the Pit, all means of flight, both Magical and Natural, cease to function; As if the air carried beneath them simply.. Vanishes. Contrived as hell, right? It's stuff like that making folks think there's something worthwhile down there, instead of seeing it as the warning to stay away that it actually is. And so, to this day people still make their attempts; Anchoring rope ladders to clamber into the nearest entry point only to have materials holding the ladder together fall away just as they step into the cave, forcing them to move forward. Now either there's a really great party going on down there that's compelled people to stay in the tunnels for the last few thousand years or so, or there are a lot of corpses littering those halls. Unfortunately, that too encourages people to explore, snatching up the potential loot left behind by other failed attempts, so the Pit is never left too long without it's next batch of Victims.
Another another problem
There's another explanation for all of the disappearing adventurers, and it's unfortunately one that even the more scholarly of minds find difficult to refute. There is the possibility that these interconnecting tunnels are the hollowed out channels that belonged to the Leylines, a formidable form of natural magic that has all but been lost to Vertinall, save for the dregs of energy left behind, which inhabitants now know to be called Anything. If even a hint of that magic's presence lays within those halls, it would all but certify it's authenticity as an impossible death trap.The contents of this article may entice you to attempt your own exploration of The Pit, on some deluded notion that you will be the one to break the Cycle and to succeed where every single other person has failed, so allow me to make this painfully clear. The only treasure that waits for you in The Pit is Death. Proceed at your own free-will, but with the knowledge that you were offered the chance to turn away, and refused.
"I don't have enough fingers to count the amount of students that have come poking around and asking about exploring The Pit. They tend to stop when I tell them that I have about ten too many fingers to count the amount who have ever come back from their own attempts."
The horror laced with humor in this article is SO awesome! This article reminded me of a piece of media (as we talked about) which I realized has been driving some of my own world inspiration without me even knowing, and I'm excited to see where that thought process takes us now that I have it on the brain >:) I'm going into the pit. I'll get out, I know it.
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