Pandemonium

• A plane in the Spiritual Realms
  Sometimes considered one of the Divine Realms

There is no one description of Pandemonium. Even among those who claim to have glimpsed its depths, no two accounts are the same, and few scholars believe a mortal being can travel to Pandemonium and return with their mind intact. A howling void of endless tunnels, a labyrinth of wind-carved stone, a realm where screams take form and shadows coil into laughter— these are but fragments of the descriptions found in Codex Maledictum, the most infamous collection of accounts from supposed planar travelers. If there is truth in such writings, Pandemonium is a realm of ceaseless wind and darkness, its tunnels stretching into infinity, its pathways twisting with no discernible pattern.

A painting imaging Pandemonium by Kaelion the Elder

The Standard Multiversal Model places Pandemonium among the undifferentiated Spiritual Realms, and does not propose an origin for this place of madness. Yet, some suggest otherwise. Nicole Ardouin, though often ignored, collected the most extensive history of Pandemonium in On the Foundations of Madness. In this impressive, though rarely studied work, she collected numerous fragments of lost writing and deep history concerning Pandemonium, which hint at the possibility the Plane of Madness is metaphysically a realm of the embodied god the Mad One, often known as the Avatar of Jinnik. While many scholars refuse to engage legends of the Three Despairs, and claim that Jinnik is a myth from the early days of humanity, Nicole argues strongly that Pandemonium is indeed one of the Divine Realms.

Those who have studied On the Foundations of Madness believe the strongest evidence in support of its claims comes from the apparent connection between Pandemonium and lycanthropy, often referred to as the curse of the Mad One, though the exact metaphysics of this connection remain a mystery.

Recent events in Chardon have brought home the reality of Pandemonium for many. The first disjointed reports on the Pandemonium Incursion in Chardon described a wind that tore through the Kylos Market, a howl so intense that many who heard it apparently fell dead, and throughout the city flashes and visions of a labyrinth of endless tunnels filled only with the fierce howling wind stunned thousands upon thousands. And yet, according to the official investigation organized by the Society of the Open Scroll, that was far from the worst effects. The howling wind froze into a jagged wall of cracked stone, through which strange mad whispers can still be heard – for the wizards of the Hetaeri Magica have yet to succeed in removing this cursed stone. Worse is the troubling outbreaks of lycanthropy that now plague the city. It seems certain, based on the Society’s investigation, that many who survived that first terrifying howl only appeared to be unaffected. Daily reports now hint that even hearing the whispers of the cracked stone may be hazardous.