Tartarusian Quarter

The Tartarusian Quarter is a mysterious realm, thought to be sealed away as seperate part of [[1]] and the [[2]]. Many of the beings that reside here predate even the eldest of races, the Zenith, but lack physical forms and sentience despite their monstrous and vile powers. Of those that do hold physicals forms and have maintained sentience, few are feared more than the Relic Gods, eldritch deities that once plunged the universe into true pandaemonium on a whim, and the Endless, an immortal race of beings with no set shape or form and whose power knew no limits. Many say that one of these beings still roams free, occasionally surfacing to plunge the realms back into madness and bloody chaos...

The realm itself is constantly warping and twisting due to strength and minds of the beings trapped within, rarely allowing a single area to remain the same for more than a few moments. Only six areas seem to be unaffected by these constant changes in the realm, these places being the homes of the more powerful, deadly beings.

More recently, a seventh area has appeared in the center of the realm, a place tentatively referred to as the [Abyss|Tartarusian Abyss]. Its nature and purpose remain unknown as even the Relic Gods and Endless fear to tread in this place. It is currently speculated that this space is the domain of something older and more vile than the Relic Gods and Endless, something that is not bound to the ancient prison but its master.

## Areas

### Twisted Abyss

A subterranean tunnel with countless branching paths, dead ends and loops to prevent most who enter from leaving. Additionally, a thick, toxic miasma fills the air, slowly sapping the strength and sanity of those who cannot reach the area's master quickly enough. Creator: Mirrur the Grave.

### Land of Carnage

A perpetual battle raging across a large stretch of land, sea and sky. It is difficult to find the creator of this area in the constant bloodshed and it is even more difficult to avoid the temptation to join the eternal strife. Creator: The Raven Mother.

### The Cold

An icy lake that's chill drains the will of those brave or foolish enough to attempt to brave it. It is said that many who come here meet a frozen end, having been lured into the lake by the song of the area's creator. Creator: Amscias the Caller

### Prison of the Lost Ones

An abyssal cave, home to a pantheon of ancient fiends that have long since been forgotten. While not as confusing or treacherous as the other areas, the amount of pressure and malice emitted from within is enough to kill those unprepared to enter. Only one of the being i lriso ed here came willingly. Denizens: Ol'meloch the Dusk, Primo Evaliance the Dawn, Lucentia-Abscord the Testament, Osha-Makarn the Executioner, Felgrath the Undying.

### Isle of Demise

An island located at the furthest reaches of The Cold. All those who step foot upon the land are never seen again, lost in an obscuring fog. Occasionally, monstrous silhouettes are seen within the fog, but their origin is unknown. Creator: Atol

### Fortress of the Al'Req-vim Na

A solitary castle within the Tartarusian Quarter. The path to the castle itself is a maze-like garden filled with traps and depraved fiends, but the castle is even more confusing and treacherous, especially so because of the Relic God who resides within. Creator: Theryon

### The Barren Expanse

A neverending plain devoid of all life. The connection between the other seven realms lie here.

## -Act Two: The Ravaged Goddess-

Asteria was afraid. The normally fearsome and sadistic being knew this place well, it was where she had been tortured constantly at the hands of one being. The one being whose aid she was to ask for to further Volmond's goal.

Asteria rather liked Volmond, though not as much as she did her partner Helios. Volmond had been the one to free her and had granted her a body. The doctor had also reconstructed her shattered mind and given her someone to love, even if they were both tools to him in the long run. She accepted his one act against her as part of the lonely man's nature, but could not understand her betrothed's hatred of the man anymore than she could understand why people did not simply take what they wanted, disregarding the consequences. Still, she had been amused when Helios ran to her defense along with the muted bird.

"*Ah, Seraph,*" she corrected herself before heading deeper into the castle that had once been her prison. Endless maze-like corridors fill the fortress, most of which lead to death or worse. Asteria was lucky, of all the things to remember about her time here, it was the routes and hidden passages to take to reach *Her*. Despite being cold blooded by nature, the woman shivered at the thought of the one who had broken her mind, then shattered each fragment that remained after destroying her body with constant and insistent torture. "*It's alright Sylran, this time you'll be doing the breaking and tearing... No, we cannot, it would impede us to do so.*"

Asteria continues down the corridors until she reaches a large door, one that she does not remember despite the years she had been in the castle. A fault in her memory she presumed before the gravity of her predicament dawned on her: if she had taken a wrong turn, she would never see her beloved again, at least not as the same person if she made it out of the realm alive. She prepared to turn around, but she felt rooted in front of the door. Something familiar was behind the door, something all too fresh in Asteria's mind. She could never repress the memories of what had been done to her, no matter how much she tried to or how many times Helios had consoled her, and now she was a door away from the source of her suffering. Taking a shaky breath, Asteria forced the door open, steeling herself for what was to come.

The first thing that hit the woman was the tang of rusted iron and blood, interminged with the scent of floral perfume. Then was the sight before her: a room litered with bloody crumpled forms, twisted and broken from the things done to them. Various pieces of metal were jammed into several of the bodies and yet the owners still lived along with rest of the being in the room, evident by the pained sobs, strangled and weakened by the very same pain that brought them. And then there was *Her*, the one who inflicted all of the pain and suffering in the room, yet had the innocent look of a child who hadn't realized her toys could break. Asteria bit back metallic snarl, preventing herself from rushing the woman before her and tearing out her throat out of revenge. Instead, she glared as the woman, appearing no older than twenty, looked up.

As every Relic God was, the woman looked as if she had been sculpted from perfection itself. Her skin was smooth and fair, healthy in coloration and elasticity. Her legs were long and slim, matching her somewhat curvaceous figure, and remained unshod. Her arms were proportional to the rest of her slender frame, not too long and not too thin. She wore a frilly, silken night gown with lacy red trim that extended to the length of a quarter of her legs. Her face was a mix of pointed and rounded, remaining childlike despite how adult it looked. Her hair was of a reddish brown, ruddy coloration and fell in soft curls that framed her face and extended down her back freely. Her eyes were yellow and held slit pupils, her nose petite with a slight point to it and her mouth curved into an attractive smile... Which it would have been had the goddess not been splattered with blood from the ones lying on the bloody floor. The smile only widened as the door closed behind Asteria and the goddess recognized the humanoid.

"*Ah, it has been some time, Sylran, Altania,*" the goddess purred, standing and taking a step towards Asteria*, "Why don't you take a seat with my other 'guests'..."*

"*We would prefer not to, Cruxia,"*replied Asteria, cooly, "*Our company is undesirable at the moment."*The slight falter in the goddess' smile was enough to put Asteria beyond simply being 'on edge'. Something had been off since her arrival and... "*Where are Nostia, Memoira and Ikarin, we wonder? Are you not alone without them?*" When Cruxia didn't respond, the humanoid knew that something very bad was about to happen.

**"My dear Cruxia, could you not have held her attention for a second longer? I almost had her in my grasp..."**A voice resonated in the humanoid's mind, one ancient and as sharp as a burning sword cutting through her mind. Asteria managed to stumble away from where the voice originated before falling to a knee. **"No matter, you were useful while you lasted. Now to dispose of you and claim my prize."**

Cruxia seemed confused and distraught. "*You said you would return my family if I lured them here! Don't tell me you-"*

**"Oh, them? They were amusing for awhile, but then I grew tired of their antics and rather hungry as well..."**The color drained from the Relic God's face once she heard this...

*"N-no, they can't be! They can't be gone!"*

**"Oh don't worry, you'll be joining them in but a moment, dear Cruxia... Just hand me my prize and all of your suffering will end..."**Asteria acted before the goddess can, grabbing her hand then blasting open the door with a burst of black and white energy and sprinting through the door with Cruxia in tow.

*"We are not saving you because we wish to,"*hissed Asteria, pulling her former tormentor behind her as she ducked through multiple corridors. *"We are doing so becase it furthers the doctor's plans!"*The humanoid rounds another corridor when she begins to hear what sounds like static not far behind her. Had Asteria chosen to slow down at that moment, she would have never escaped the castle.

Mere seconds after the static sounded, the castle began to collapse as entire sections were literally erased, white void taking place the place of the missing sections. Asteria growls, a metallic sound tearing from her throat as she narrowly avoids part of the ornate ceiling collapsing into the void.

"*We believe you should tell us who is currently chasing after us, Cruxia,"*snarled the humanoid before reaching a dead end, an area completely consumed by the white void.

*"I c-can't! Even mentioning his name will-,"*the goddess abruptly stoped, surveying the slowly expanding void and sagged to her feet. *"N-no... We can't we won't make it... Not anymore."*Asteria snarled again but understood that the situation wasn't in her favor.

**"I see you have come to see reason,"**the voice rumbles, disorienting Asteria and forcing her to a knee, **"Come to me and hand over the Relic Goddess, child..."**The voice wasn't persuasive, it was commanding and forceful. There was some sort of pull behind it words, but it wasn't the natural attraction of a leader or silver tongued persuader, it was as if the voice was forcing Asteria closer to its unseen source...

*"Sylran, Altania, become-"*

*"Absolutely not,"*shrieks the humanoid, her scarlet eyes blazing, *"We will not return to what we once were!"*

*"I doubt you have a choice," retaliates Cruxia, her eyes steeled, "That's the only way we'll escape in one peice!"*

*"That's not an option!"*As if impatient with the two bickering, the ground beneath them crumbled away dropping the duo into the void.

*"Sylvanea!"*

*"Fine, we'll do it,"*exclaims Asteria before growing deathly still. A second later, her eyes snap open, now irridescent. An instant before the void can consume her and Cruxia, Asteria blinks and both vanish from the crumbling fortress and the Tartarusian Quarter.

**"Foolish children. Do you really believe that you can escape me Sylvanea, Algiata?"**The owner of the voice chuckles to himself before vanishing from the Tartarusian Quarter in pursuit of the two goddesses.