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Gates of despair

Hades is the Land of the Dead, a fiery underground place of tormented spirits

It is the central focus of an ancient religion deep underground in the Eastlands, the tenets of which state that trespassers in the temple and breakers of the commandments will be sent there.

Hades is a desolation, with one corner filled with a pile of mangled bodies (the last remains of less fortunate adventurers) who cry with thousands of voices lamenting a hideous fate.

The gateway to Hades, inscribed with the words "Abandon every hope all ye who enter here!" was once guarded by Cerberus, evil spirits and wraiths.

The Malifestro Quest[]

What can be an entrance to hell is under the Flathead Mountains: above it the Temple of Zork was built, and at one end of the temple a passage leads down to a small room with iron gates, through which a hot wind blows; an inscription says "Abandon every hope, all ye who enter here". Invisible spirits laugh and prohibit anyone to pass. At the other end of the room, an endless stairway spirals downward, and from that void comes a foul-smelling draft; however tries to descend the stairs will reach no end and will be unable to climb back up.

Inside hell there are fires leaping from unseen depths, dead bodies and the wailing of thousands of lost souls. A relatively safe, upward winding narrow ledge leads to an exit

Giant toad

Bivotar and Juranda, following Vengrallior's advice to "Pass through the gates of despair" decide to go in. The spirits stopped them with an unseen force, but Bivotar got rid of them reading an incantation from a book found in the Temple; this caused the spirits to acknowledge a superior power and fled, screaming with pain. The kids follow the narrow ledge which became a small and steep. A giant toad lept out and started hunting them, but thanks to the magic sneakers they were wearing, they were able to run fast and high enough to lose it, and burst out of the tunnel into sunlight.

Zork 1[]

However, the adventurer who would become the Second Dungeon Master used the power of the local religion to call upon an unearthly force to exorcise the spirits, allowing anyone free access to the Land of the Dead.

Zork: Grand Inquisitor[]

In 1067 GUE, Hades re-vamped its admissions service, installing an automated touch-tone telephone system to call Charon's shuttle to the gates. Regular postage could be delivered to Hades at "666 Hades Proper". The Inquisition's Frobozz Electric Totemizer provided the option of delivering the totems of victims to Hades.

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