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“Holy shit!” I cried as a train burst from a portal directly over my head. [1]
Abyss Station is station number #436 on the Iron Tangle.
Description
The Abyss Station is the mechanism on the Iron Tangle for the showrunners to dispose of train cars at the end of the line. All non-engineer employees of the Iron Tangle get off at station number 435 and portal back to the Trainyard. The engineers drive the train through another portal right at station 436 which takes only the engineer's car back to the Trainyard. The rest of the train is portaled right above the Abyss Pit.
The station platform is bare, with no sign or bench. There is only a single set of steep industrial metal stairs in the center of the platform. The stairs lead up into a metal hatch in the ceiling.
After about an hour of climbing, the stairs lead to a circular metal iron catwalk overlooking and circling a massive flaming pit. All around the interior walls of the cavern are hundreds of glowing portals. There are multiple catwalks populating the interior of the cavern. The hole is almost perfectly round, at least a mile across and thousands of feet deep.
Trains come through the portals (without the engineer's car) and crash into a pile at the bottom of the pit. Small fires burn in the pile of crashed cars. Jikininki Janitor Ghouls crawl over the pile. [1]
There appears to be some kind of black hole effect that pulls crawlers into the pit if they fly too far off the walkways. [2]
Portal Description
Looking at one of the portals on the wall:
Ultima Corp DungeonWerx Industrial Subspace Portal.
Warning: You are facing the incorrect side of this portal. Entering through this side will have no effect. You may pass safely through this side, but use caution not to backtrack while entering.
Type: One-way portal. Gated by conveyance type and to key holders.
Can you pass this portal? Yes*
Warning: You must be on a gated conveyance and/or a key must be equipped or held outside of inventory, depending on type. Compatible keys have been marked in your inventory.
Environment on other side of portal: Compatible.
The visual analysis on the other side of the car shows the Trainyard. Items that will allow for passage through the portal include Engineer keys and the Train Conductor's Souvenir Hat. [1]
Story
Book 3
Gore-Gore talks with the Royal Court of Princess Donut when he still doesn't know Carl was the one who derailed the Ochre Line thanks to Donut's high charisma. He explains how the engineer cars work. [3]
Once Carl successfully steals the Nightmare Express, he uses it to drive to station 436 and check out what is there. He uses his new Neural Enhancers to analyze the portal on the wall, and realizes that there are two types of keys to get back to the earlier station lines: an Engineer's key and the Train Conductor's Souvenir Hat given out at the beginning of the floor. [1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Dinniman, Matt. The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook (Chapter 15)
- ↑ Dinniman, Matt. The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook (Chapter 27)
- ↑ Dinniman, Matt. The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook (Chapter 11)