The Gorging Hole

It is known that there are layers in the Abyss that even the tanar'ri are afraid of. But these layers are usually well-hidden, and few travellers ever find their way there. Recently though, an area of the Abyss' very first layer is giving the fiends nightmares: The gorging hole, which appeared only a few weeks ago, has turned into the most popular lurid tale among the tanar'ri.

Basically, the hole is nothing else but, well, a hole in the ground. It appeared when Jujakrojh, ruler of the Citadel of Burning Ice in the first layer, attempted to open a gate to another layer. He assumed that other layer to be ripe for taking, and his intention was to set himself up as new Abyssal Lord of that layer.

Unfortunately, his presumptions were wrong: The layer did have a ruler already. Hidden in the layer's own essence lured Brudahchk, the Eternal Devourer, an ancient deity that was assumed to be long dead. When Jujakrojh opened the gate and attempted to merge his essence with that of the layer, he fed his own energy to Brudahchk. In an attempt to save his life, he spiritually "sank his teeth" into the first layer's ground, attaching himself to that layer to keep himself from being sucked into Brudahchk's spiritual stomach.

Yet, the old deity already had its teeth in Jujakrojh's soul. The would-be ruler is now captured in-between the layers, strong enough not to slip away entirely, but not strong enough to get himself out of the god's grip. Not enough that he is trapped, Jujakrojh's energy is slowly drained away by the deity, feeding the ancient creature and strengthening it, while Jujakrojh is getting weaker and weaker.

To prevent his death, Jujakrojh made the only thing that could save his life for the moment: He gave Brudahchk something else to feed on. And the only thing available was - the first layer of the Abyss.

So, now there is a gaping hole where the Citadel of Burning Ice one stood, and slowly, Brudahchk devours ever more of the Plain of Infinite Portals, with Jujakrojh being his channel for the Abyssal energy. Within a few weeks, the gorging hole has become more than a mile wide, with nothing but darkness and the hollow screams of Jujakrojh inside.

The screams are so horrible that anyone coming closer to the hole than a hundred yards without protective magic instantly becomes deaf - yet still hears the screams. Everyone who comes closer has to make a Will save against DC 10 every round in order to keep his sanity. With every ten yards below a hundred yards distance to the hole, the DC increases by one point.

The real danger awaits those who come closer than twenty yards: Insanity is the least problem here, for the gorging hole sucks away the spiritual energy of anyone this close. So far, no way of protection has been found against this effect.

The victims turn into zombies, empty husks without a mind or soul, without any special powers (if they ever had any) and without a will. In the last weeks, even a few balors and mariliths have been seen to explore the area, and soon after they wandered off like leaves in the wind.

This turn of events alarmed practically the entire Abyss - and residents of most of the other planes, too. Noone knows what would happen if the entire first layer was devoured by Brudahchk, or if he stopped with that layer. The other Abyssal rulers do their best to find a way to stop the Eternal Devourer, for historical texts (and those who live long enough) tell that Brudahchk destroyed dozens of Abyssal Lords when he appeared the last time.

Despite the horrors spawned by Brudahchk's appearance, there are - of course - those who welcome what is happening. Some tanar'ri believe that if Brudahchk only devoured enough of the Abyss' essence, he would be powerful enough to unite the tanar'ri and smash the hated baatezu armies with his might. Others - mostly residents of other planes - hope that Brudahchk will simply destroy the entire Abyss, or at least leave it damaged so badly that the Baatezu will have an easy game in destroying their arch enemies for all times.

Put short, in the chaotic Abyss, Chaos has broken out, and most of the tanar'ri aren't all to happy about it. Still the site is frequently visited, by those who simply go sightseeing, by those who hope to stop what's going on, by those who want to help Brudahchk or Jujakrojh for a variety of reasons, and not to forget, by those who bring victims along which they punish by pushing them to - or into - the hole.

And while the various parties quarrel against each other, Brudahchk's power increases, the gorging hole grows, and Jujakrojh's screams turn more and more desperate.

Some say it is only a matter of time before the first Abyssal rulers will appear personally to try and find a way to handle the events.