The Turgid Places
By Rev. K.
The Turgid places was created as a realm of punishment by incarna of the Egyptian Court. It began as a place where rebellious spirits would be consigned and those who had failed their masters would be tossed there for an indefinite time. Other incarna seeing the effectiveness of this, have created similar realms with similar characteristics.
The realm resembles a very large sphere of shiny clear liquid.(for those of you who have seen the movie "Stargate" it is much like the liquid in the gate.) The sphere trembles and joggles in place as if were held together only by surface tension. Suspended within the realm are the clearly visible ephemera of any spirits trapped there up to a distance of 10 feet or so. After ten feet in, the spirits are less visible.
Spirits trapped within the sphere are undergoing a hideous form of torture. although it is not discernible from the outside the sphere contains a very strong tidal force that slowly tears the ephemera of any creature trapped within apart and then forcibly reforms it. This process takes about an hour. Because of the nature of this force and the pain involved,any spirit of less than incarna level that become trapped here are unable to leave under their own steam. Incarna level spirits have been trapped here as well but they are almost always able to win free. It may take months, it may take years but they almost always are able to tear free.(and boy will they be pissed.) The only ways for a spirit to be released from this bondage is to be summoned forth, (this is simple requiring only the name of the spirit and Spirit 2) To promise service to someone who can scry within the realm( also pretty easy, requiring only Correspondence 2 and Spirit 2) or to have someone physically lead them out of the realm. (very hard, you'll see why in a moment.)
Mages and Garou who would visit this place should be aware of a few things. For one, they are also subject to the tidal forces within and will suffer 1 health level every 5 minutes they stay within the realm.(once dissipated, the visitor then regains 1 health level every five minutes.) it require either the Concentration merit or a point of willpower to manage to work any kind of Magick or gift at all. Mages and Garou who end up spending any amount of time(say a few days) here being torn apart and put back together will gain a serious derangement.(hydrophobia is usual.) Gates into and out of the realm erode at a rate of one magickal success per minute and those wishing to pierce the gauntlet of the realm from the inside must make 7 successes against a 9 difficulty. Mages and Garou should also be made aware that touching the exterior of the realm is a good way to get dragged in by the surface tension.( one would think that high level forces Magick might be enough to fragment this realm. sadly, that is not the case.)The only way to safely interact with this realm is through scrying gates and combinations of Correspondence and spirit.(such Magick is easy in comparison requiring only knowledge of where such realms are and 4 successes.)
Spirits trapped within this place will promise nearly anything to be free of it, and in many cases this means that such spirits can be coerced into servitude. However ,it should be noted that many of these spirits were put here for a reason. Some might pervert the terms of service while others might have angry masters who seek them out.
Consigning a spirit to the Turgid Places is a ticklish thing for Mages. Mages who threaten spirits with consignment there had best be able to back it up or the spirit will find out. Those who actually do consign a spirit to the turgid places had better expect that the spirit will be an undying enemy forever and will get as many of his friends to help with bedeviling the Mage. It should be noted that some communities of spirits are very close knit and will come the aid of a trapped spirit. This is why attempting to trap Paradox spirits in this realm is an incredibly bad idea. Trap a Hawk Jaggling here and you'd better be prepared to have trouble with other Hawk spirits from then on.
Many of the denizens of the turgid places are inept spirits or actively malevolent spirits. Such include: demons of all sorts,rhakshasi,cranky elementals, cranky djinn,efreet,marids,and dao, disease spirits and spirits of madness,various banes, mad perceptors, and other such. (it should be noted that ghosts cannot be trapped here.)
The interior of the realm appears to be entirely featureless and without gravity. although atmosphere appears to be liquid it is still ephemera and is breathable as usual. Characters that are stuck without some means of propulsion drift lazily unless dragged into one the currents which will toss them about quite a bit. Seeing in the realm is akin to seeing underwater and words tend to be somewhat garbled.(making communication with other spirits a bit difficult but not impossible. Strangely, this is not a problem when speaking to a spirit through a gate.