Difference between revisions of "Abandoned Sewer Network"

The destruction of Baumton was a nightmare. Out of fear and desperation hundreds of its citizens fled into the relative safety of the Sewer Network. Through the grime and muck you can catch evidence of this perilous journey: discarded food packets and clothes, scratched messages left for loved-ones who didn't make it, crude drawings etched into the brick by children desperate for a way to distract themselves from the situation. Most of Baumton's citizens who fled to the Sewer Network were eventually rescued, but the network has dangers of its own apart from the Rikti and not everyone who entered it ever returned.

At the deepest point beneath Paragon City the sounds of the millions above and the machinery that support them filter down to this dark place as a mournful groan. It is not difficult to understand why this part of the Abandoned Sewer Network came to be known as the Underworld, for no where else does it feel more isolated and desolate.

The dislocated voices of Steel Canyon's throngs filter down to this place, echoing through the miles of pipes and corridors to reverberate here. If you listen long enough you can catch snippets of lost conversations. Street lore says that for those with the ability to filter out the dross, these collected voices tell the secrets of the city.

Many people, of a particular mindset, find they cannot tolerate the dirt and noise of Skyway City's sprawl. It takes someone of singular courage (or foolhardiness) to see the Abandoned Sewer Network as the place they would like to escape to. But down here, in the cool confines of the tunnels, away from the noise of Skyway, a kind of peace can be achieved.

In King's Row, where life is hard and opportunities few, competition for resources can be fierce. But down here, someone of rare vision could carve out a niche for themselves; dominating the creatures who call this part of the sewer home or using the network's ability to touch every part of the city as a means to carry out all kinds of business out of the eyes of the authorities.

Amidst the hustle and bustle of Atlas Park, with masses of super-powered individuals going to and fro, it is easy to forget the miles of tunnels and chambers that underlie that district. People go about their daily business unaware of the thriving ecology that takes place beneath their feet. Vahzilok, Hydra, Hellions, and worse skulk in the shadows, going about their own dark business while the citizens of Atlas Park shrug off the notion that danger lurks a handful of yards away.

Far away from the light of civilization and the life of normal people, darkness can take on a life of its own. It flows into every corner, irresistible and tireless, as silent as death. It is the natural state of things down here where your presence is a violation. The darkness can flow into you if you let it, and standing here in the heart of it, you can feel it pressing in against your consciousness, daring you to open yourself to it as so many others down here have.

There are some who can court darkness without making it a part of themselves. They walk with ease in the shadowy spaces, yet carry a portion of the light with them wherever they go. It is rare to be able to straddle these two worlds so easily, too easy is it to devote yourself completely to one side or the other. It is in a sense a reflection of one's mastery over themselves and you would not be the first to tread these sodden halls to test their resolve or to seek mastery of their own instincts. Most heroes flee the Abandoned Sewer Network before they can be tested, while people such as the Vahzilok and the Hellions give themselves over completely to the darkness.