Abatha, Princess of Madness
The Pathways of Pandemonium

This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
-Ecclesiastes 9:3

ABATHA'S PRINCIPALITY
To the left and far below Stygia, Pandemonium extends from the bottom of Beleth's Tower to Gebbeleth's Garden of Stones. The Principality has few entrances to its constantly shifting tunnels and grottos and the uninitiated and unwary may find themselves in seemingly endless hallways that lead nowhere or climbing a staircase with no landing. Pandemonium is lit with muted colors in checkerboard patterns, spiraling spectrums and blotches reminiscent of Rorschach inkblots. The only Superior who makes their home in Pandemonium is Abatha and that suits both her just fine. The realm is too small for another Prince and too chaotic and unstable for many to want it.

Passages lead outward to Stygia and the inner base of Beleth's Tower. All but the weakest servitors of Madness are able to navigate through the twists, turns and ever-changing topography. Though the methods of getting to Pandemonium's principal areas may vary, the actual locations of the locales below do not seem to waver... much.

House of Stairs
Abatha's primary headquarters is named after the M.C. Escher work it resembles. Here the laws of perspective and relativity--and, to some extent, gravity (as much as it exists in Hell)--have lost their grip and up, down and sideways share meanings. It is from the House of Stairs that the Princess of Madness directs her servitors in the spreading and strengthening of her Word on Earth.

The Institution
Bathed in colors of greens and yellows, The Institution is Pandemonium's research facility. Within the gothic walls of this sanitarium, demons of Madness experiment on damned souls, devising new ways of furthering their cause. It's rumored that the souls of humans are not the only "patients" of the madhouse and that Abatha has some of her most trusted physicians experimenting on Ethereals and even demons who have displeased Abatha or show promise in finding God through madness.

Ward 13
The rumors are true. Though there are only twelve listed wards in The Institution, there is a secret ward occupied by Abatha's most favored as well as disfavored. The former perform experiments on the latter, examining the psyche of celestials through the most violent and disturbing of means.

Hall of Mirrors
The majority of Madness's Tethers are stabilized in the Hall of Mirrors. The well-guarded Hall is, like most of Pandemonium, more of a maze than a single passage, the walls of which are lined with distorted mirrors. Only a small handful of those mirrors are tied to the corporeal realm, most are simply mirrors. However, eleven mirrors within the Hall will transport their victim to a cell in one of The Institution's wards. Those taken to The Institution sometimes return, but those who do are not quite the same as they once were.

THE SOULS OF THE INSANE
Madness has some effect on the Fates and Destinies of those who suffer from it, but it is not inherently damning. There are as many, if not more, suffers from madness in Heaven as there are in Hell, and Pandemonium itself only gathers a few of them. The damned souls of Abatha's Principality are more those who desired to spread insanity or who tortured others in the sake of selfish study than souls where were actually deemed insane in life. That's not to say that one won't find their share of screamers, psychopaths or the violently deranged within Madness's domain, of course.

MADNESS AND THE MARCHES
Some of Pandemonium's tethers lead directly to the Border Marches, making Pandemonium the only Principality in Hell that isn't Beleth's Tower with a direct tie to the Marches. Some claim that this is proof that Abatha forged a pact with powerful ethereal spirits who are using her as method of invading Hell. Of course, if that truly is the case the perhaps the Ethereal Heresy is correct and God is really a powerful Ethereal, and angels and demons are other ethereal spirits with special ties to the subconscious of humanity. Such theories are publicly scoffed and privately feared by most.

PANDEMONEUM'S POACHED
Abatha attracted a number of demons to her service when she became the Princess of Madness. Few have forgotten the positions that Nybbas's first servitors quickly rose to, and many demons hoped to ride the fast-track of growth a new Prince can offer--so long as the new power doesn't immediately come crashing down. More cautious demons also remember how long the first servitors of Magog lasted.

While some of the demons who have pledged their service to the Princess came through trades and agreements with other Princes, most of her Word-bound servitors came on their own accord, breaking away from their former Superiors. Many of these defectors came from Saminga and Haagenti. They hope that their Princess will swiftly rise in power and influence to better protect them--and of course, give them more power in return.

Because they lost an unprecedented number (though hardly crippling) of their demons, damned souls (and with them, the Essence they generate), Abatha earned a great deal of ire from the Princes of Death and Gluttony. Were it not for word given from Kobal to Haagenti to "wait it out" regarding the young Princess, a skirmish could have occurred. The Prince of Death is quite upset over his losses but has bigger fish to fry, first. He does hold a grudge against the young Princess and will strike against her eventually.

SAMPLE TETHERS
Old Sea View Hospital
Staten Island, New York

Across the street from Sea View Hospital and in shrouded woods lies the abandoned "Old Sea View Hospital". Formerly a tuberculosis hospital and poor house, the dilapidated historical landmark has also been called the "Hospital of the Damned". During its time, the hospital was host to a great number of victims of madness. Though never, officially, an insane asylum, most poor houses were simply the same thing--only without hope of treatment.

Today, the buildings are crumbling and many are considered dangerous. Neither that nor the fence that surrounds the building, however, keep people away. Some sneak through the fence, others through a tunnel system connecting to a nearby farm. While a somewhat ideal spot for shady dealings, most human visitors are there as ghost-hunters. Unlike most tethers where celestials are mistaken for ghosts, Old Sea View Hospital is truly haunted by a number of spirits, not the least of which is former jazz guitarist Charlie Christian, who passed away in the hospital in 1942.

The Word-Bound Seneschal of Abatha's most powerful tether in the New England states is boB, Shedite Baron of Insanity. While boB takes great care not to reveal the true nature of the crumbling hospital, he takes great delight in the human visitors, spreading his own corrupting influence over them. His favorite moments, however, are when the rise of fear in a human, due to their own imagination becomes so strong it blooms into a madness of its own. Those moments are Abatha's favorites, as well.

Poveglia Island
Poveglia Island, Italy

Though Saminga and Abatha are hostile to each other, they will work together to defend Poveglia Island, one of the few locations to hold tethers to Madness and Death in very close proximity. Poveglia Island is a small island in Italy's Venetian Lagoon. In modern times, the island is used primarily for vineyards and is not open to the public, but it holds a tragic past.

Before the 1400's, the island was a tether's to Makatiel's laboratory. Romans had used the island to isolate plague victims and its usage continued as a lazar house and plague pit. Through three rises of the black death in Europe use of the island was considered an efficient way of keeping the infected separated from the healthy. Though there are no official records, it's calculated that over 160,000 people have died on the tiny island--charred bones from the mass pyres still wash up on shore. This made it very easy for Saminga to claim the weakening tether after Makatiel's death.

In 1922, a mental hospital was built on the island and, much like the prior uses of the island, anyone showing any sign of "sickness"--this time of the mind--could be sent to the hospital. The doctor there, seeking to make a name for himself, performed lobotomies with hammer and chisel, tortured patients in the bell tower, and performed ghastly experiments. For the first time since the Roman age, a new tether formed on the island and Abatha was pleased.

The island itself is rarely set upon these days, outside of occasional farmers (who do not live there) and is said to bestow an aura of evil. Ash of the dead covers the ground and strange winds circle in the air, causing sensations of breath on the back of one's neck and screams in the air. Within the past 20 years a family sought permission to visit the island, hoping to buy it cheaply and build a vacation home. They left before the night was over and have refused to comment on the reason for their abrupt departure. The only fact known is that their daughter's face was gashed open by "something" and needed twenty stitches.

Sabaoc, Djinn Demon of Poveglia Mental Hospital, has been the only Seneschal since the tether was formed. The institution is Abatha's strongest link in Italy and the Stalker often is forced to handle demons entering and leaving Southern Europe as well as the rare demon with the Committed attunement--as the closed intitution still counts!

Narrenturm
Vienna, Austria

The Narrenturm was the first psychiatric hospital to be constructed as such. Built in 1784 under Emperor Josef II, the "Fool's Tower" was constructed like a fortress; with slot-like windows for 200 to 250 mental patients. Patients were retained in cells, often chained to the walls. Upon Abatha's ascension to Princessdom, a tether quickly formed and was stabilized. The Narrenturm became Abatha's second Tether.

As psychiatric practices evolved, the madhouse tower was considered outmoded. Many of its operations closed and due to humanity's changing thoughts as well as subtle war by the Host, weakened as a tether. Thanks to agents of Abatha and some allies, in 1971, the building was transformed into the Federal Pathologic-Anatomical Museum. Reminding visitors of the power of madness. The tether remains powerful, even today.

The Impudite Captain of Disturbance, Gustazi, is the current Seneschal of the museum (the former two have been lost to oblivion). Though he has yet to be Word-Bound to tether, he has confidence his ascension is near. The Taker will often play as a one of the museum's tour guides, hoping to spark a diabolical interest in his Princess's Word.

DEAD TETHERS
Bethlem Royal Hospital
Kent, England

Bethlem Royal Hospital or, as it was and is more commonly referred to as, "Bedlam", was Abatha's greatest tether and largest loss. Even before rising to her position as a Princess, Abatha had ties to Bedlam. It was, in some ways, her "vacation spot" while forging out Pandemonium--she would visit and laugh joyously in the treatment of the insane. When it was announced that entry to Bedlam would be free on Tuesday, Abatha had little doubt that her Word was in no danger.

Bedlam was Abatha's first tether. There were already paths leading from it to Pandemonium and one of the Princess's first acts was to stabilize the tether and collect from its heady stream of Essence. It was Bedlam that helped Abatha survive that first crucial decade of being a Superior in Hell.

Already despised by Blandine, Novalis and Yves, its use as a tether secured their path to abolishing the building. By 1815, Bethlem Hospital had moved to St. George's Fields. Where patients of the hospital were better cared for. The tether remained in its spot, weakened, but not gone. In 1930, the hospital was moved to an outer suburb of London, solely on human initiative, which weakened the tether that much more.

Over time, the tether dwindled and died. And while the Word of Bedlam is still strong (held by Naal, Calabite Knight of the Gaze), the tether itself is no more.

Artwork By: Erich Arendall (click here for image details)