Great Stygian Abyss




 * Dungeon type: Dungeon
 * Opposes the Virtue: All of them
 * Word of Power: None (but the password for the Codex is VERAMOCOR)

Description
The Stygian Abyss, situated on the south part of the Isle of the Avatar, is the darkest and most evil place in Britannia. The Abyss is the antithesis of all good things, opposing all of the virtues at the same time. Dark creatures of unbelievable evil, Balron Lords, aggressive Dragons and numerous other monsters inhabit this hole of evil. This makes the Abyss a place to be avoided at all costs, for only the most virtuous person won't forfeit their life as soon as they enter.

Regardless how many times the whole Abyss is destroyed, evil always resurrects itself in an even worse form than before. A possible reason for this may be the fact that the walls between dimensions are thinner in Abyss than anywhere else in Britannia.

For a solution of the hardest puzzle in the Abyss, see Abyss Room Puzzle.

History
In Ultima IV, the Stranger had to descend through the Abyss to find the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom in the Underworld, since the Abyss was connected to the Shrine of Singularity which housed the Codex. The dungeon was situated in the middle of a huge volcano, and could only be opened using the Book of Truth, the Candle of Love and the Bell of Courage. This was also the only place the Skull of Mondain could be destroyed. It was clear that the dungeon was not a natural formation but artificially built.

After the Codex was pulled up to Britannia, and the lava had cooled down, the Shrine of the Codex was built to seal the entrance to the Abyss. In Ultima Underworld I, Sir Cabirus had erected a colony in the Abyss, using another entrance. But the colony degraded into a prison, and in the end, everything sank into boiling lava.

The Abyss is the last dungeon visited in Ascension. The Avatar has to use Pyros to enter it and travels through four elemental areas before going down into the Abyss itself to find Lord British and Lord Blackthorn in a duel.

Trivia

 * Although unvisited in Ultima III the Abyss is mentioned in the introduction of The Book of Amber Runes;