Abyss Piranoths Steps

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The old name of the Abyss is Piranoths Steps. It was named such, because it was built by the great primordial of creation Piranoth. The "steps" represented the 666 worlds that Piranoth created from Chaos. The first world, the Step of Foundation, was created in 1 DE. Still not clearly understood, the worlds that Piranoth created ended up being corrupted by the Threads of Damnation. This would lead to a great rebellion between the primordials and their former chaos aberrations that had turned into demons. This happened in the Creation War, leading to a thousand year war called the Abyssal Release (7777 DE - 8777 DE).

When the gods defeated the primordials in the Creation War, Piranoth was so angry that he totally abandoned Piranoths Steps to the demons. His departure was so quick, that many primordials relics were left behind. Some of these were items that open rifts between systems. These were used by the demons in the Demon Spawn War to invade the Quara'tun system.

Piranoths Steps came to be known as the Abyss when its new rulers, the Demon Lords, came to be masters of the system.

The Abyss is the realm of demons and other chaotic evil creatures. There are said to be 666 worlds and moons of this system. Some of these are under the yoke of a demon lord. Two of the most powerful demon lords are Demogorgon and Orcus.

When the Abyss was created in the deepest reaches of Chaos, it is said that the evil emanating from this realm corrupted some of the mighty primordials. Demogorgon, Baphomet, and Orcus were some of the primordials that became infused with chaos and evil and then reshaped into the likeness of pure destructive evil. They became the demon lords, masters of entire realms of the Abyss. When we defeated the primordials, we opened the way for the demon invasion of other realms.

- Naraz-Nâru, from a mithril plaque at Ginbar-Karud - "One Darkness Unto Another"

In the distant past, during the God Era, the realm of Bal-Kriav was invaded by Abyssal hordes. This conflict became known as the Demon Spawn War. Early in the God Era, most of the gods were still new to their stations and hard-pressed to defend against the seemingly unlimited numbers of demons. They formed special legions of angels to combat the abyssal menace. One of these groups was led by an angel named Asmodeus. After many decades of brutal conflict, the legion under Asmodeus slowly began to employ darker measures against their foes. Ultimately, they would become the Fallen Angels, and to this day still do battle with the demons of the Abyss.

We must fight them on the same terms, our methods must be as brutal as theirs if we are to stop the hordes, and if our agents are to operate among them, they must act as them.

- Asmodeus, to the god Athena - "Dark Measures"

Bal-Kriav has been corrupted from the Abyss in several areas. In the Lith-Crillion Era, the demon empire Varelay ruled Ma'Ohari for more than a millennia. The demons of this empire were trapped on Bal-Kriav during the Demon Spawn War. This war also left Abyssal items scattered across the realm. Ladneg, once a world hopping device, lies scattered across a northern swamp of Hells Womb.

In the Black Tide War (1465 - 1504), Katrana, one of the leaders of the First Dead Council, opened the inter-system rift Abyssal Funnel. After goodly forces secured the Sylvan Kingdoms, a number of powerful mages, a druid, and the god Arcana worked together to close it.

Another gateway to the Abyss lies deep in Turgon. In the Phael-Tetramord War, the elves sought aid from the faraway worlds in their fight against the Tetramord. One of the rifts they opened became permanent, opening a bridge to a world under Demogorgon's control. This gateway, the Ungorth Reddik Road, became an invasion route for Demogorgon's armies. Today, all of Turgon is under the yoke of Demogorgon.