The Abyss was nonexistence, nothingness.[1] It is uncertain whether or not the Abyss was a warren. Also, it was not synonymous with Chaos, and in fact, it was capable of consuming Chaos. Kiska's thoughts: "Chaos was stuff. Just unformed or differently organized stuff that she would call chaotic. Not nothingness. That was Outside. Beyond. The Infinite Abyss."[2]
In House of Chains[]
Heboric saw what he called the Abyss in a Hen'bara fueled vision. He was surprised to observe spheres and fiery stars spread across vast distances. He also noted scores of Jade giants tumbling towards an enormous wound in space. Heboric discovered that the giants were related to the fall of the Crippled God and had fallen through the wound into the Malazan world in his wake.[3]
In Midnight Tides[]
Knowledge of Mother Dark's fate was passed down among generations of widows of Scabandari's Tiste Edur followers. The K'Chain Che'Malle reacted to the Tiste invasion of the Malazan world by sending their Kaschan magic into the warren of Darkness like a plague. All gates from Kurald Galain to the other worlds were sealed and Mother Dark was driven into the core of the Abyss. There, she was surrounded by an endless swirl of light which she would consume until her own annihilation. Mother Dark's murder would mean the end of the game between Darkness, Light, and Shadow as well as the death of the Abyss and all of existence.[4]
In Toll the Hounds[]
When Nimander Golit encountered the Dying God in Bastion, the Dying God spoke, saying "On the floor of the Abyss, - yes, there is a floor - there are the fallen. Gods and goddesses, spirits and prophets, disciples and seers, heroes and queens and kings - junk of existence."[5] Hairlock was also on the floor of the Abyss, exploring, and the Dying God met and spoke with him there. The Dying God said that "The machine was broken, but I didn't know that. I rode its back, up and up. But then something happened. An accident. We fell a long way. We were terribly broken, both of us."[6] Spotting the enormous mechanism in the streets of Bastion, Kallor thought it looked like the work of the K'Chain Che'Malle.[7]
In Return of the Crimson Guard[]
In an attempt to reach the battle between Malazan and Crimson Guard forces outside Li Heng, the Wickans, lead by Nil and Nether, decided to travel via a warren, and chose the Abyss, saying that it was "the one least likely to invoke the wrath of any guardian".[8] They opened a portal to the Abyss and traveled through on a temporary path of dirt conjured before them and disappearing into the miasma behind them. Rillish Jal Keth, who accompanied them, observed "smearing, shifting land, spiraling sky and blurring, meteor like stars", and noted that the sky "turned so fast the stars blurred like spun torches" and the sun was larger than normal and a vivid crimson. He was also able to observe such anomolies as a skeleton dragon and a far-off fortress which appeared to float on nothing.[9] When the Wickans exited the Abyss, Ullen Khadeve perceived a rippling in the air which formed into a dark blue aurora that the Wickans burst out of.[10]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ Stonewielder, Chapter 7
- ↑ Stonewielder, Chapter 7
- ↑ House of Chains, Chapter 13, US SFBC p.491-496
- ↑ Midnight Tides, Chapter 3, US SFBC p.116-118
- ↑ Toll the Hounds, Chapter 12, US MMPB p.621
- ↑ Toll the Hounds, Chapter 12, US MMPB p.622-624
- ↑ Toll the Hounds, Chapter 10, US SFBC p.410
- ↑ Return of the Crimson Guard, Book 3 Chapter 2, US MMPB p.705
- ↑ Return of the Crimson Guard, Book 3 Chapter 2, US MMPB p.749-751
- ↑ Return of the Crimson Guard, Book 3 Chapter 2, US MMPB p.754-755