Pits of Carnage

The Pits of Carnage is a name given to a penal colony on an unnamed world. The Avatar visits them in Ultima Underworld II.

Description

The world the pits inhabited had always been warlike, but before making contact with the Guardian, the fighters who peopled it had been bound by the dictates of chivalry and honor. Once the realm fell to the Red Titan, however, such trifling considerations were quickly abandoned as warlords vied for a place in the Guardian's armies of conquest. As the general populace of the planet grew increasingly bloodthirsty and barbaric, so did its criminals. In time, an underground complex known as the Pits of Carnage was developed as a prison to hold the worst elements of the new society. The Guardian placed a magical seal upon the only entrance to this dark abyss, preventing anyone cast into it from ever returning to the surface.

Within the caverns of the pits, the prisoners developed a crude culture centered around martial prowess, in which warriors were esteemed according to their ability to cow others with force of arms. Four arenas themed around the classic elements were fashioned for ritual dueling, and virtually all conflicts within the colony were decided by formal combat. Etiquette dictated that the choice of arena always went to the challenged party, leading many to attempt to bait their opponents into issuing a challenge first.

Inhabitants

• Blog: rock-collecting troll
• Dorstag: reigning champion of the pits
• Jospur: oddsmaker
• Krilner: cowardly fighter
• Pit fighters: dark warriors
• Zaria: sorceress contending for Dorstag's position
• Zogith: magician
• Zoranthus: reclusive magician and staunch opponent of the Guardian

Lore

“

At the bidding of my esteemed colleague Bishop, I, Zoranthus the Mage, shall undertake for you a description of the terrain surrounding my squalid residence. The Pits of Carnage, which have been my home for many years now, are a savage prison in a savage world. On the surface above, the Guardian uses my people as soldiers in his wars against other dimensions. The few that return alive are granted rich rewards for furthering the Guardian's bloody cause, so there is a fierce competition to become a member of his elite forces. Much like the prison here, the law of the surface is one of violence and cruelty. Mind you, it was not always so. In the years before the Guardian came to rule, mine were a people who lived with honor and chivalry. Slowly, over the course of decades, the Guardian twisted the values of my folk, replacing honor with treachery, and chivalry with bloodlust. For those who became too dangerous, or whom the Guardian deemed to be a threat to his new order, the Pits of Carnage were constructed as a “permanent solution.” There is only one entrance to the Pits, and that is kept magically sealed by the Guardian himself. Down here there is no law save for which can be enforced at swordpoint. A mockery of order has arisen around the four arenas wherein one warrior can challenge another to a death duel, but reality there is as much wanton violence outside of these arenas as there is within. – from Gems of Enlightenment (Ultima Underworld II)

Trivia

• Zogith mentions that Zoranthus graduated from Scintillus Academy at the age of sixteen, implying that either the Pits of Carnage and Scintillus Academy may both be found on the same world or that the two worlds housing them have had contact across the planes.

Gallery

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  The arena of fire

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  The arena of earth

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  The arena of water

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  The arena of air

References

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Worlds in the Ultima Series
Main Worlds	Britannia ☥ Sosaria ☥ Serpent Isle ☥ Pagan ☥ Earth ☥ Eodon ☥ Mars
Worlds of the Blackrock Jewel	Tarna ☥ Killorn Keep ☥ Anodunos ☥ Talorus ☥ Scintillus Academy ☥ Pits of Carnage ☥ Rhiannon ☥ Ethereal Void
Ahistorical Solar System	Sun ☥ Mercury ☥ Venus ☥ Earth ☥ Mars ☥ Jupiter ☥ Saturn ☥ Uranus ☥ Neptune ☥ Pluto ☥ Planet X
Other Worlds	Nexus of the Worlds ☥ Caledonia ☥ Balema ☥ Ashtalarea ☥ Alucinor