The Grand Abyss

Layer 4: **The Grand Abyss** functions in many ways similarly to Pazunia in that it facilitates travel to other realms of the Abyss. It is a great chasm, supposedly excavated by Tharzax and then abandoned when it got the attention of Phraxas then invaded by Obox-Ob and the Queen of Chaos. Over the eons it has changed hands many many times, going from a rough hewn cavern to a well-maintained fortress with heavy iron doors blocking each portal. The open nature of the layer, with portals all leading into the wide open chamber make it much less popular than Pazunia for the simple fact that it's incredibly dangerous and the doors are more elaborate to open. There are two sweeping walls that meet in the chasm, with the Cesspool at the bottom.

### Hazards

Petitioners fall into the pit constantly, dretches and manes falling head-first into the Cesspool below. Some structures are uneven and brittle, some by design but most by decay. The doors have gone through so many different rulers and seen so many armies that some mechanisms do not work, are dangerous because the mechanisms are falling apart, or are outright trapped to kill anyone unlucky enough to be opening it.

A Klurichir named the **Guardian of the Gates** stands watch over the layer and lays waste to intruders that come in its path. Asima was destroyed for creating it.

### Locations

The Brittle Bridge is a wide bridge stretching across the cavern with the door to the Iron Wastes on one side and the door to Furnace on the other. The bridge is caught through two extremes and is incredibly brittle, leading many to fall through it, but then it rebuilds itself. Minions of Garyx and Kostchtchie sometimes do battle on it, but more often their soldiers attempt to destroy the bridge once and for all.

The Devouring Door is a being created by Ugudenk. It's a horrible worm-like creature that looks almost identical to a portal, but its gateway leads only to its stomach.

Cabiri developed a portal here called The Hallucination Gate that leads to the Plane of Mirrors.

Six Tricks is a platform with six portals placed all around its edges, the portals are sentient and can communicate through smoky ethereal images. The portals appear to take one all over the abyss, but they all lead to Hollow's Heart instead. When one of these portals is taken they create an illusory copy of any non-evil creature that has gone through, who returns to their original plane if possible and attempts to steal their life. It's unclear what Fraz’Urb’Luu intends to do with these doppelgangers. At one point he wished to turn every portal into one leading to his realm, but other obligations came up.

Cesspool is a place where unclaimed petitioners come to rest after falling into the Abyss. Cesspool is full of Nalfeshnee and other powerful demons who fight amongst one another, claiming petitioners in the name of the Demon Lords they serve.

This part of the layer was originally under the control of Eltab who attempted to monopolize this source of petitioners and use the portals to invade other layers before Abraxas convinced Laz'bralthull to invade. This invasion bought the other Lords time to prepare themselves against incursions from the Grand Abyss, and led to Zuggtmoy defeating Laz'Bralthull in combat and sealing him within the Wells of Darkness. After Zuggtmoy left, Eltab returned and took over once again before being murdered by Kardum, who was in turn deposed by Orcus and Demogorgon who fought over the realm for a time, and so on and so forth it has exchanged hands every few weeks.