Petitioners of the Grand Abyss
Location: Abyss / Layer 4 — The Grand Abyss
The Grand Abyss promises a brutal afterlife for souls who were already falling long before they died. It’s for the berks who refused to stop chasing, refused to stop climbing over others, and refused to let go. It’s both a punishment—and a continuation. The souls here were already living on the edge, taking risks, clinging to obsessions, and chasing their desires down ever-narrowing paths. In life, they hubristically thought they could master the abyss.
They were wrong.
You can’t climb out of the Abyss. But you can keep falling forever.
—Abyssal saying
If the Grand Abyss is a chasm of endless searching, precarious paths, and the threat of falling, so of course the sins that drag a soul here are bound to echo those themes. This layer ain’t looking for the brutish tyrants of Baator or the cold schemers of Gehenna. No, it’s got its sights set on those who already had everything they needed but dug too deep but still couldn’t stop their hunger for more. Cutters who craved everything despite their advantages, even as their desires destroyed them and those around them. The Grand Abyss takes the berks who sought meaning, pleasure, or power in the darkest places and fell into pits of their own making.
These kinds of obsessions are the sort that hollow you out and leave you clinging to the edge of meaninglessness. The Grand Abyss doesn’t just reflect a sod’s crimes — it reflects the nature of their fall too, how the mighty lost their grip on reason, morality, and sanity.
The Sin of Insatiable Seeking
“You were never satisfied with what you had. You kept digging, and now you’ve fallen.”
This is the fate of the obsessive pursuer. The aggressive philosopher who never stopped questioning, even after they’d already torn down everything they believed. The greedy treasure hunter who chased that “one last score”, looting every ruin until it buried them. The vain lover who sought “the perfect partner” and left a trail of broken hearts behind them. They couldn’t accept what was already in front of them. They always needed to look too deep, climb too high, and push too far.
“When you chase perfection, can you ever stop running?”
These souls are cursed to fall from their pedestals and into in the Grand Abyss, to cling to its shifting ledges and crumbling paths pursuing empty promises. They climb, they grasp, they fall, they start again. They chase shimmering lights that flicker just out of reach. When they finally grasp something, it crumbles to dust. The Abyss torments them with an endless search. They’re cursed to pursue empty promises.
The Sin of Precarious Ambition
“You knew the path was too dangerous, but you walked it anyway.”
This is the fate of the obsessive risk-taker. Now it’s not a crime to take risks of course, but these berks bet everything—their honour and fate of their families, their very lives—for a chance at power, fame, or wealth. These berks are the gamblers who doubled down, and lost, when they should have walked away. They are condemned to tread the narrow paths above the endless chasm, believing they’ll never slip. They’re the arrogant fool who climbs without a rope. The warlord who wages battle on a more powerful foe, force-marching his army over the cliffs of defeat.
“Is ambition bravery, or just a mask worn by the reckless?”
When these souls arrive in the Grand Abyss, they walk its cliff-edges and hear the wind torment them with whispers of every risk they ever took. They might hear siren voices encouraging them to “go on, just one more step.” Sometimes the ground crumbles underfoot just as it did in life. Their inevitable fall is always waiting. And then? They land on a ledge far below and begin again. Each fall leaves them more battered, but they can never stop. The only thing worse than falling is staying still and accepting their fate.
The Sin of Refusing to Let Go
“You should have let it go. Instead, you clung on—even as you fell.”
This is the fate of berks who refused to relinquish their obsessions, even as they were consumed and destroyed by them. They held on too long to hate, to love, or to pride. They couldn’t let go, and that refusal dragged them down. It’s not just about holding grudges—it’s about knowing something is destroying you but clutching on to it tighter anyway. Maybe they’re the avenger who pursued their nemesis until they destroyed themselves. When you cling to hate, to power, or to an old grudge long after it should be over, the Abyss will claim you. The tighter you clutch, the deeper you sink.
These souls in the Grand Abyss are caught in perpetual freefall. They grab at ledges, but their hands slip. Their grip is weak, but they never stop reaching. Every precarious ledge represents something they failed to let go of. They fall past old lovers, past grudges, past regrets—but still they refuse to let go. While they have forgotten their past, the Abyss delights in reminding them of every obsession from their lives—but each one is now a millstone around their neck. Their lost loves, their futile vengeance, their misplaced pride—it all pulls them down, down, down. These berks will fall forever.
Source: Jon Winter-Holt
