The Blood River
Location: Abyss / Pazunia and Grand Abyss
Now Blood River is a right miserable place, and that ain’t no jokin’ matter. Meanderin’ through the rough patches of Pazunia like a snake that’s seen far too much of this life and just wants it all to end, the river carries the stench and wickedness of the Abyss in its flow like a thick scum of debris.
Now, it bursts forth from a spring hidden deep, I mean real deep, in the guts of the Plain of Infinite Portals, in a part of the Badlands that no one in their right mind would want to traipse. This ain’t your ordinary watercourse, no. It drifts lazily, but with a malicious kinda purpose, you know? Like it knows just where to find the dark places, the spots where the worst of the worst happen. Breakin’ off into streams here and there, slitherin’ into the pits of Pazunia and disgorging itself into the horrific Lake Main before takin’ the final plunge into the dreadful Grand Abyss of the Blood Rift, a place even a hard-boiled basher like meself ain’t eager to visit a second time.
Pazunia
You’d think the crimson currents might beckon all manner of beings eager to explore its mystery but trust me, cutters with a hint of grey matter steer clear of the riverbank. It’s a place of hidden dangers, with dark and noisome secrets buried in its muddy banks, and unknown entities lurkin’ in its depths, ready to snatch the unwise, unwilling and unfortunate. The water’s just not right, ya know? Fetid, carryin’ a smell that turns even the strongest stomachs. A smell of death, decay, and things best left forgotten.
You need to cross it? Hah, you’d be a barmy to try it alone. The bashers who must cross tend to find them shallow fords, where the crimson currents ain’t as strong, and they go in groups, large groups, ’cause there’s safety in numbers, or so they say. But, and here’s the dark of it, there are those who work the river, demonic ferry operators with nothin’ to lose. I’ve seen ’em, piloting small boats and rafts, dancing with death as they navigate the turbulent surface of the river. It’s got to be a job that requires supernatural powers of navigation, because they say the River never takes the same course twice, and a repeat journey between two nasty locations on its shores will pass through different terrain each time.
Let me tell ya, ain’t nothin’ in the multiverse that’ll prepare you for the sight of those ferrymen, faces twisted with malice and bodies marked by the Abyss itself, carting lost souls across the dark waters. One glance and you’ll be wishin’ to head back to where you came from. It’s a merciless place, the Blood River, not for the faint of heart, I tell ya. It’s got a dark mind of its own, that river, and it ain’t no friend to the living, not by a long shot.
Grand Abyss
After taking a dive over the rim of the Plain of Infinite Portals and into the Grand Abyss, the Blood River manifests in a truly bizarre and perilous manner on this layer. This river doesn’t simply flow along the bottom of the chasm; instead, it snakes unpredictably along the walls, defying gravity and the laws of nature.
As it courses along Hag’s Rock, the Blood River exudes a toxic mist that bathes the surrounding area in a noxious fog. This mist fuels the growth of grotesque mosses and lichens, painting the walls of the Grand Abyss in sickly hues of crimson and rot. The result is a nightmarish landscape that’s both unique, and deadly.
The first thing a planewalker will notice is its gravity-defying flow: The river twists and turns along vertical surfaces, creating an ever-changing maze of liquid paths across the cliff-face. The rocks here are slick with sticky red fluids, making footing treacherous at best, and climbing even more dangerous. Prolongued contact with the vapours emanating from the river are highly poisonous, potentially causing symptoms including nausea, dizziness, muscle twitching, and in severe cases, convulsions or paralysis. The mist is also mutagenic, causing accelerated and twisted growth in the surrounding flora.
The Blood River floods regularly, and in the Grand Abyss this event is especially dangerous. Imagine a tidal wave of steaming and blood and clots sweeping across the face of an infinite cliff that you’re trying to climb and you’ll get the picture. Wise climbers will be sure to have a contingency plan to permit them to fly safely off the cliff face in this eventuality.
If all that wasn’t bad enough, the corruptive properties of the Blood River attract all manner of noxious demonic entities, making encounters with Abyssal wildlife and hungry, wandering qlippoth more likely in its environs.
Source: Demonomicon [4e] p50, expanded by Jon Winter-Holt, mimir.net