Bottomless Pit

The Bottomless Pit is a gateway stretching from the Gates of Hell to the Fourth Circle of Hell, Greed. It is a subregion of Hell which serves as another safe place for damned souls, but freedom is still not an option for this area, the souls are forever imprisoned in the area, unless judged by either Minos, Cronus, or Rhadamanthus.
In The Saga, the Bottomless Pit contains most of the elements of the Greek underworld (while Hell itself contains elements of Dante's Inferno). The Bottomless Pit actually ends to the crater of Mount Vulcan, where the stronghold of Persephone floats over.
==The Domain==
Bottomless Pit is the entrance to the underworld, probably it's the tube where the dead souls passes through before going to the actual Hell (more known as Erebus). Erebus is just a term for the "shallow Bottomless Pit". To make this Underworld different from the Greek myths, there are a few additions and rearrangements. And the actual places on the Bottomless Pit include:
#Erebus
#Elysium (from the Elysian Wastelands, to Plains, and to the Fortunate Isles)
#Lethe ("river of unmindfulness")
#Asphodel Meadows
#Black Market (the city, to the station, to Tower of Babel)
#Acheron ("river of pain")
#Great Judgment Grounds (House of Pain of Minos, to the castle of Cronus and Rhadamanthus.)
#Hall of the Unholy
#Great Royal Grounds (palace of Persephone)
#Circle of Lust (House of Lust), Circle of Gluttony (Hall of Gluttons), Circle of Greed (Wheel of Fortune), Circle of Wrath (Mt. Vulcan), Styx ("river of hate")
The domains are also being led by some lieutenants of Lucifer.
*The other Titans (not including Khaos, Atlas, Cronus, Gaea, and Uranus) - guardians of Mt. Vulcan
*Cronus - his palace at the Great Judgment Grounds, the Elysian Islands (Fortunate Isles)
*Rhadamanthus - his palace at the Great Judgment Grounds, the Elysian Plains and Wastelands
*Persephone - Mt. Vulcan, Asphodel Meadows, Hall of the Unholy
*Minos - Limbo, House of Pain
*Hades - Tower of Babel, Circle of Wrath, Great Royal Grounds
*Morpheus - Lethe
*Charon - Acheron
*Phlegyas - Styx
*Lucifer - Erebus, Black Market
*Cleopatra - Circle of Lust
*Cerberus - Circle of Gluttony
*Plutus - Circle of Greed
The other rivers (Phlegethon and Cocytus) is not a part of Bottomless Pit but a part of the Greek Underworld. The Kingdom of Gravitas is also a part of the Bottomless Pit but was protected by the Benevolent Empire of the Christians.
==The Regions of Bottomless Pit==
===Erebus===
After entering the Gates of Hell, Erebus will be the first place to be encountered. It starts of with a pit which seems to be endless and ends over a platform, known as the Gathering Circle. Erebus is also known as the "shallow Bottomless Pit".
Erebus is made up of different platforms:
*Gathering Circle - the place where the souls gather, the place where a soul will stay temporarily before receiving eternal punishment.
*Council Court - the place of the first judgment, announcement of who will be thrown to Hell. The Plank is an area in this platform where a guilty soul will jump off from a cliff and it depends from the sin of he will go to Elysium, Asphodel Meadows, or Tartarus. A waterfall of magma is also found here, it is the place when a soul is decided to be thrown directly to Hell, without undergoing judgment from Minos, Cronus, or Rhadamanthus.
*Sacrificial Monument - the place where a body is burned alive and the soul will be given to Satan as a sacrifice, this happens to traitors who didn't need to pass the judges, especially if treachery against God, the burned body will be fed to Cerberus. The Crucifixion Circle is the place where a soul is crucified and whipped to death and rot to bones, and be fed to Cerberus. The soul will later pass on to the circle of Gluttony.
===Elysium===
Elysium is the place to be known as the paradise of the underworld. It is a place where the virtuous dead are thrown to taste an almost blessed afterlife. But there is still a punishment behind this place's beautiful view. The paradise might die into a wasteland whenever the leaders want to. Other punishments include being imprisoned inside graves whenever the leaders want to. The rulers of Elysium are Lethe, Cronus, and Rhadamanthus.
Over Elysium, there is a great view of the outer space and the other planets. But at the Elysian Wastelands, flaming flakes descend from the skies and fall over the place, but unlike the Burning Sands in the eighth circle, these flakes are easy to put out, with the help of the Lethe ("river of unmindfulness") river, which crosses over whole Elysium. Elysium is found at the banks of Acheron, where Lethe is connected.
Elysium is divided into different parts:
*Elysian Wastelands - a place as a complete contrast from the original Elysium. The place becomes a dry land, with Lethe river acting as the source of water. Burning flakes also fall from the skies. The Elysian Graveyard is a region in the said part where the souls suffer from being buried in graves temporarily.
*Elysian Plains - the Elysian Plains is a close-to-exact copy of Paradiso in the Bottomless Pit. The place is known to be fertile. Unlike other places in Hell, the sun can be seen here shining over the fertile land.
*Lethe - also known as "river of unmindfulness", is a river crossing all-over Elysium and is connected with Acheron. It is ruled by Morpheus, and has the same function as the River of Oblivion in Morpheus' Dream World.
*Elysian Islands (Fortunate Isles) - also known as the Islands of the Blessed, are a separate part of Elysium and is found where Lethe and Oceanus connect. Like the Elysian Plains, it is a blissful paradise.
Elysian Graveyard.jpg|The Elysian Graves
Elysian Wastelands.jpg|An aerial view of the Elysian Wastelands
Elysian Plains and Lethe River.jpg|The Lethe River with a view of the Elysian Skies
===Black Market===
The Black Market is the capital city of the Bottomless Pit. It is also the center of the industry in Hell.
The Black Market is also the place where materials (or sometimes, souls) are transported to many parts of the Underworld, with the help of the Infernal Transport Station.
The Tower of Babel, after being destroyed on the surface world, was rebuilt at the shores of Acheron River, overlooking the Black Market. This is the residential area to many of the creatures in the city.
Black Market is the center of gambling, trading, and selling in Hell, it is the perfect place to buy a slave. Other creatures are being sold here too, as workers, slaves, etc. Black Market is the second most civilized city in the Bottomless Pit (first is The Kingdom of Gravitas). The whole city itself is a market, that's why there are many varieties of what to buy. It is like an international store which has everything from around the world. There have been several wars which brought the city down, and the worst was the "War For Money" where the war started over a single gold-covered coin which led to a war and caused the worst destruction of the city.
Tower of Babel.png|Tower of Babel overlooking the Black Market
Infernal Transport Station.jpg|The Infernal Transport Station, center of Black Market's government.
Black Market Outskirts.jpg|A train station outside the city
===The Kingdom of Gravitas===
The Kingdom of Gravitas is the former capital city of the Bottomless Pit. Since their king, father of Albion Gaea, failed to finish his task as part of the Waves of Dark Forces, the kingdom was punished to stay in the Bottomless Pit forever, and losing their power to pull their kingdom back to the surface again.
Their kingdom undergone great punishments by Lucifer but since they left the Waves of Dark Forces, they began a new life and rebuilt their city after the damage during the magnetic shift. The Benevolent Order of Christians and Holy Christian Order of Orion (HCO - Orion).
Since the Christians ruled over the kingdom, the place was never accepted as a part of the Bottomless Pit and the kingdom tasted independence.
===Asphodel Meadows===
The Asphodel Meadows is a vast plains which seems to be endless. If the souls taste bliss at Elysium, the souls here on the Meadows are equal to good and evil, and they're getting an equal punishment for doing it. Still part of the Limbo, the souls are here because of lack of faith and have no repentance for their sins.
The Asphodel Meadows is covered with a never-before-seen kind of asphodel flowers which mysteriously bites everyone near them, since the meadows is flooding with these things, there's no safe place for our feet, and that's the first punishment. The place has an endless night too but the souls will remain restless.
The Asphodel Meadows is also near the Citadel of Limbo, and if a soul got lost into the part where the walls of the citadel is built, the soul will be transported to Limbo and be judged by Minos, Cronus, or Rhadamanthus. Another punishment is the souls will wander endlessly and even if they feel tired, they'll never rest.
The icy mountains of Elysium can also be reached here, but whenever a soul got lost there, the lifestream wind will bring them back to Limbo to take judgment from Minos.
===The Great Grounds===
The Great Grounds is the final major region of the Bottomless Pit. It stretches from the River Acheron to the floating Necropolis of Persephone.
The Great Grounds is divided into three platforms:
*Great Judgment Grounds - the place where the final judgment of the dead soul happens. It is also the place known to be the "Final Destination". The Great Judgment Grounds is made up of the houses of the three judges of the dead:
#House of Pain of Minos
#Palace of Cronus
#Citadel of Rhadamanthus (Citadel of Limbo)
*Hall of the Unholy - a hall which connects the two major platforms of the Great Grounds. The hall also passes by the next three circles after Limbo: Lust, Gluttony, and Greed. Over the balcony of the hall, the Limbo can be seen, with the sky forever dark because of light has been forbidden to shine above it. The unholy souls from the Limbo walk here to reach the Necropolis, in order to serve Persephone, and somehow escape from the punishment Hell might bring.
*Great Royal Grounds - the place where Persephone and Hades lives. The Necropolis is a floating castle where many undead stay and demons have their share with shelter. It is floating over Mt. Vulcan in the circle of Wrath. The Grove of Persephone is found by the foot of the volcano and is the final part of the Bottomless Pit, some parts of River Styx is still considered as a part of Bottomless Pit.
The infernal City of Dis is a former part of this region but it was declared a part of Hell so it was removed from the Bottomless Pit.
===Tartarus===
Tartarus is the final part of the Greek underworld, but not a part of the Bottomless Pit. The official Tartarus starts from the circle of Wrath, ending at the River Cocytus, where the Devil is.
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Overall, Bottomless Pit is still considered as a subregion of Hell but it is independent when it comes to degrees of punishments. One more note, the whole of Limbo is a shared territory of The Pit and Hell while the circles of Lust, Gluttony, Greed, and Wrath are partially captured by The Pit and Hell, go back to Hall of the Unholy to get more information.
==The Greek Underworld==
The Greek Underworld is the reference for the Bottomless Pit. The map of Erebus, shallow Underworld, is embedded at the right (click to enlarge). Here are the parts of Erebus and their counterpart or similarity on The Saga's Bottomless Pit and Hell.
===Erebus itself===
Erebus, in The Saga, is just a region in the pit, the shallowest part of it. See the section "Erebus" above.
===The Gate===
The Gate of Shades is the only gate found in The Saga it is the main entrance to Hell, The Gates of Hell.
Like here, it is found on the surface.
===Charon, Acheron, and Avernus===
Charon and Acheron are a part of the circle of Limbo in Hell.
Avernus is a lake found in the middle of Lethe, Acheron, and the River of Human Wastes (in Gluttony). It is where those rivers meet but the human wastes which came from the circle of Gluttony with be filtered and thrown back to the shores of Gluttony.
===Cerberus===
Cerberus is found watching over the circle of Gluttony, it is Hades' watchdog too.
===Elysion and Lethe===
Elysion (Elysium) is a region of the Bottomless Pit, which is like a paradise in the Underworld. They're the same with the original Elysion.
Lethe is the river that flows throughout Elysium and ends in Oceanus, where the Fotunate Isles are found.
===Asphodel Fields===
Asphodel Fields is more known in The Saga as Asphodel Meadows. It is the place where the indifferent dead goes. See Asphodel Meadows section above.
===Styx and Phlegethon===
Styx is the marsh that flows through the fifth circle of Hell, Wrath. It is the primary river that flows from Mt. Vulcan and meets with Phlegethon in the City of Dis.
Phlegethon is the river of boiling blood which originally flows to Tartarus. In The Saga, it flows through the circle of Violence.
===Palace of Hades and Judges of the Dead===
The Palace of Hades, in The Saga, is found floating over Mt. Vulcan of Wrath. It is more known as Necropolis.
The Judges of the Dead are found in Limbo. They are Cronus, Rhadamanthus, and Minos.
===Kokytos===
Kokytos (more known as Cocytus) is originally a river also leading to Tartarus, like Phlegethon. In The Saga, it is a frozen lake found in the last circle of Hell, Treachery.
===Land of Dreams and Gates===
The Land of Dreams is the place where the Oneiroi, the gods of dreams, lives. In The Saga, it is Morpheus' Dream World. The Gates of Horn and Ivory is present at both, it is the name of the Gate going to and from the area.
The Horn, if sounded, represents that the dream will come true. If the Ivory is sounded, the dream is just an illusion. A river, named Oblivion, is a river that flows through the Halls of Night, which helps forget dreams, it is connected with Lethe.
===Tree of False Dreams===
In The Saga, the Tree of False Dreams is known as Tree of Nightmares, it is found in the circle of Violence, in the Suicide Woods.
===Tartarus===
Tartarus is the same as the original, in The Saga, it starts from the circle of Wrath.
==See Also==
*Hell
*Necropolis
*City of Dis
*Black Market
*Lucifer
Category:The Saga