So last night late the cover of Adventurer,Conqueror, King's rule book was staring at me & over the last day or so as has Wretched Space. And because we've been running the Cha'altverse lately. There occurs to me the idea from the ACK's rule book in the appearance of 'sinkholes of evil'. These have to do with dungeon locations & places of pure evil according to the ACK's rule book page 253; "Some campaigns feature places that are corrupted by the energies of the Nether Darkness. In ACKS these are known as sinkholes of evil. Profane powers and undead creatures are stronger there, while the divine and the living are weakened. Sinkholes of evil can develop anywhere that death and decay predominate. Sinkholes of evil can be shadowed, blighted, or forsaken. The table below summarizes the effects of the various types of sinkholes of evil."
With the appearance of the Beyond within Wretched Space these are perfect areas for sinkholes of evil from ACK's rule book page 253;"SINKHOLES OF EVIL Some campaigns feature places that are corrupted by the energies of the Nether Darkness. In ACKS these are known as sinkholes of evil. Profane powers and undead creatures are stronger there, while the divine and the living are weakened. Sinkholes of evil can develop anywhere that death and decay predominate. Sinkholes of evil can be shadowed, blighted, or forsaken. The table below summarizes the effects of the various types of sinkholes of evil. Shadowed Sinkholes Shadowed sinkholes develop from two sources of corruption: Chaotic altars (such as those in evil shrines, temples, or churches) and places of death (such as cemeteries, catacombs, and battlegrounds). Chaotic altars create shadowed sinkholes as soon as they are erected. The size of the shadowed sinkhole around the altar will be 100 square feet per 100gp spent on the altar. For instance, a 10,000gp altar would create a 100' x 100' shadowed sinkhole around the altar. At the Judge’s discretion, meeting the gp value of the altar might require special components or blood sacrifices (as described in Chapter 7 under Magic Research) instead of standard treasure. Places of death create shadowed sinkholes naturally over time. The annual percentage chance of such an area becoming shadowed is equal to number of dead interred in the area divided by the area’s size in square feet, rounded up. For instance, a small 50' x 50' cemetery with 25 graves has a 1% chance of becoming shadowed each year. An enormous cemetery such as the realworld Wadi Al Salam (5 million dead across 64 million square feet) has an 8% chance of becoming shadowed each year. Once the shadowed sinkhole develops, the size of the shadowed sinkhole will be 100 square feet per 20 dead interred in the place. However, a sinkhole of evil will not develop if the dead are cremated by a Lawful divine spellcaster, or if one or more shrine(s) to Lawful powers are erected on the site. The Lawful shrine(s) must have a gp value of at least 5gp per dead interred in order to prevent the area from becoming shadowed."
These 'sink holes of evil' are literally scattered across the universe within Wretched Space as ancient alien sorcerers & dark wizards have taken advantage of the carnage of ancient interstellar wars and conflicts.
And that version contains Cha'alt & that's where things get interesting. Because Cha'alt is literally a 'Forsaken Sinkhole ala page 254; "Forsaken Sinkholes A blighted area might, through some awful juxtaposition of the planes or terrible ritual magic, become forsaken. Forsaken sinkholes are pits of darkness where the vilest creatures and foulest magic are found. Such places are very rare (Judge’s discretion). Corpses in forsaken areas have an 80% chance to return as undead in 1d4 rounds unless their bodies are burned. Chaotic spellcasters who cast reversed (evil) divine spells or necromantic spells in a forsaken sinkhole calculate the spell effects as if the casters were two class levels higher than their actual level of experience. Lawful divine spellcasters cast spells as if they were two class levels lower for purposes of spell effects, and may not turn undead. Any undead in forsaken areas gain a +2 bonus to attack throws, saving throws, damage rolls, and AC. Characters performing necromancy (described in Chapter 7) in a blighted sinkhole gain a +3 bonus to their magic research throws. Any undead created in forsaken areas gain a permanent +2 hit point per Hit Die, and animate dead spells cast in forsaken sinkholes create twice the normal number of Hit Dice of undead. A forsaken sinkhole can be used for blood sacrifice."
And on our version of Cha'alt this is exactly what the alters are used for!
Our version of Cha'alt is literally a forsaken sinkhole with it's shadow looming in the beyond like a beacon of Eldritch evil. This is why so many sorcerers & dark wizards come from Cha'alt in our campaigns.
By the time we've gotten to the era of Wretched Space Cha'alt cast's its shadow into our reality causing the dark magical forces to roil against the walls of interstellar space.
