Location Files: Tartarus

In this universe, there exist beings whose power is such that Death alone is not enough to stop them. Tartarus is*. Tartarus is a maximum security prison, not because there does not exist a more secure location in the universe, but because such a thing cannot exist. To escape from Tartarus is no more possible than adding the numbers 2 and 3 to get 7. To do so would contradict the unshakable certainties on which Fate is founded. Much of its nature is highly classified, known only to The Fates. Perhaps the least imposing of its fortifications is the presence of the three Hecatonchires, a name which translates to “Hundred handed ones” from the Old Script. Whether this translation is literal or metaphorical is of little consequence, as those who lay eyes on the Hecatonchires rarely survive long enough to count them all. Though there are more terrifying countermeasures in place, you are permitted no knowledge of them, save the assurance that they are beyond your capacity to imagine.

Though much effort has gone into fortifying Tartarus, it is not technically correct to assert that Tartarus was built to contain the greatest threats to The Hellenistic Pantheon. Tartarus was not built at all. Rather, he one of the very first Primordial Beings, coming into existence shortly after The Origin. The location Tartarus† has been used as a dungeon since the so-called “Golden Age” overseen by Cronus, but it was only under the rule of The Olympians that it was augmented into a perfect prison. These augmentations were enacted as a countermeasure, to ensure that The Golden Age stayed in the past. Tartarus is also home to the several primordial deities, like Tartarus himself, who were cast there when Cronus first usurped The Heavenly Throne. Among them are Nyx and Erebus, parents to many of those who now call The Underworld home, as well as Gaia, Uranus, et cetera. And though they are the most fundamentally powerful beings in all of the Hellenistic Pantheon, they are not the greatest danger lurking in the depths of Tartarus. This distinction belongs to the war criminals of The Divine War. Their names are highly classified. Few are permitted to know them, and even those with sufficient clearance are forbidden from uttering or writing them. The motivation for this taboo is, itself, classified information. (For an exhaustive coverage of the limited information about The Divine War to which Reapers have clearance, see Miscellaneous Files: The Divine War) Ultimately, there is very little that Reapers need know about Tartarus.  It suffices to say that Tartarus is an extremely unpleasant place, where extremely unpleasant individuals are kept. If you do not wish to learn just how extremely unpleasant Tartarus is, it is advised that you refrain from being extremely unpleasant.

* enough to stop them (The aforementioned beings). This sentence was cut short for dramatic effect in a way that is grammatically correct, yet somewhat ambiguous. Hence, the inclusion of this footnote.

† The relationship between Tartarus, the entity, and Tartarus, the location, is fundamentally unlike that between Hades, the entity, and Hades, the location. The Underworld is merely named after Hades; the being of the God and the being of his realm are entirely discrete. Tartarus, on the other hand, is a singular existence, which manifests itself both as a location and a personification. However, the metaphysical subtleties involved in this distinction are far beyond the scope of this handbook.