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.... The darkest and most evil place in Britannia. In this outpost of darkness, nothing good can withstand. 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. Regardless how many times the whole Abyss is literally destroyed, evil always resurrects itself in a even worse form than before. Possible reason for the evil powers in the Abyss to resurrect themselves could be due the dimensional walls being thinner in Abyss than elsewhere in Britannia.

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 he/she enters. Because the sheer evil of this place is known to suck the life out of people.

History
In Ultima IV, the Stranger had to descend to Abyss, to find the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom in the Underworld, since the Abyss connected to the Shrine of Singularity. The dungeon was situated in the middle of a huge volcano, and could only be opened with with Book of Truth, Candle of Love and Bell of Courage. It was clear that the dungeon was artificially built.

After the Codex was pulled up to Britannia, and the lava had cooled down, the Shrine of the Codex sealed the entrance to the Abyss, to enclose it for all times with the Codex' wisdom. 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. However, it is most likely that the Abyss again regenerated.

The Abyss in Ascension
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.