I had been dodging the abyss in Hagga Rift for quite some time. That was about to change one evening. I decided I'd just go peek. I had no idea at the time the wild adventure it would take me on.

While I had been around a few locations now in the Hagga Rift. I had yet to find a way down. The plan was to load up on my sand bike and ride it right off the edge into the abyss. I assumed there must be some easy way to get out that would become apparent once I was down there.

What I was not expecting was for this adventure to turn into a few hours of barely staying alive. Thinking I had found a way out to be cheated once again. As you will see, the abyss has a few levels to its rocky terrain. Riding my bike down into it placed me on the lowest floor of it.

Packed with a little water, some extra fuel, and knowing the light would be fading soon enough. I left my base and made it across the bit of a sandy gap, hoping to not have any unwanted meetings with a sand worm like I've already had before.

With what courage I could muster, I rode right off into a random spot into the abyss. By that time, it was getting quite late into the evening, and it must have been almost midnight. I then fell for quite some time. As I did, I started to realize I might have just made a huge mistake. This place was massive, and there were many layers to it.

I landed with a thud. I looked around and did not notice anything that interesting. So, I went right off the edge of some shelf that I landed on till I hit the bottom of it. It no longer mattered what time of day it was above ground. All I could see around me was darkness.

I ended up driving around for a little while, finding some random camps to raid. Despite crafting the best weapons and gear I could. The fights were a little more than I was expecting to take on.

After a while, I found Testing Station 29. It had a few guards on the outside that I somehow managed to survive to take out. My biggest goals, other than not getting killed, were to find some water inside the testing station. Along with perhaps a way out.

After clearing some rooms, I ended up finding a transceiver that I needed for a mission. Beyond that, and a run-in with a boss that almost killed me a few times. A way out was not within my reach while within the station itself.

Not that far away, I found what looked like some ledges I could crawl up and onto. Along with the sky. I thought this was perhaps a way out. For those who had better stamina and climbing abilities than I do. It sure could be.

After making it up to a couple of those rocky shelves. I had just one major push left. I, however, feel just a couple of feet short of making it out. My stamina ran out, and I could not find a decent spot to try and rest.

I fell almost ended up at the bottom. I managed to catch myself a couple of times with the smallest amount of strength I had remaining. That was perhaps the only thing that kept me from falling to my death.

I made further attempts. They were all met with failure. The clock was also starting to tick on by at this point. I became frustrated and decided to go looking for a way out elsewhere.

Next up, I ended up exploring several Choam Mineral Extraction Facilities. There seemed to be quite a few of them down here. Many of them even had a decent amount of Erythrite crystals. I, however, lacked the means to carry even a fraction of what my eyes gazed on in greed in the coming hours of this adventure.

I also found that many of these facilities would just take me to a different level of the abyss itself. Some of them were quite vast. Others seemed less impressive, but in those, I'd meet not as much resistance from those running the sites.

At least this time Arrakis did not even try and Tantalus me with a way out. I was now having to make choices of what loot to carry and what to drop. I ended up picking up a few strange things, and I had no idea what they were used for. It would turn out I'd need the Ray Amplifiers later, and this entire trip would suddenly become worth my time just getting the amount of them I acquired.

By this point, I was starting to struggle with having enough water. I thankfully had noticed before that on the ground floor, there were a few plants to collect some flower dew from. I could only get a small amount. It would at least buy me some time to find a way to escape.

At this point, I'm getting quite tired of being down in the abyss. I ended up opening my map and discovering a location called The Spiral. If that is what one would call a stairway up out of this cursed place, I'd be fine with it.

The ground floor was quite heavily guarded. I ended up drinking my last swig of water I had been carrying with me. It would give me my final boost in stamina, and after that, I'd be running on empty. It was, however, enough to get through and to start making the climb.

After a couple of floors up, I discovered a little offshoot. Curiosity got the better of me, and I had to go take a look. Sure enough, I noticed the locked Pentashield, and now there was no turning back until I was killed or found an ID to get past it to see what it was protecting.

I ended up finding a small amount of spice sand and some other stuff. While I would not need spice sand for quite some time. I felt like I hit the jackpot, even though eighteen units of it might as well be zero.

In all my excitement, I ended up getting turned around a bit. At one point, I found myself on a ledge looking back out into the abyss. Above me was the surface. Below me were many layers of gloom lurking below.

Instead of backtracking like I should have done. I decided to just jump onto a pile of rocks and try for the surface from there. I feel a couple of times, but every time I either managed to catch myself or land at a location that was higher than my starting point.

I climbed and climbed and climbed some more. I ended up lucking out a few times and finding some decent spots to rest at. After what seemed like ages, I found myself back on the surface.

I called my sand bike, and I rode off back towards my base. Down the massive hill and into the gap between that region and my base. I was going so fast that the sand bike almost did not slow down till I hit my garage. Almost slammed into the back wall.

Final Thoughts

This would not be an adventure I'd forget any time soon on Arrakis. While I'd attempt to stay away from the abyss for quite some time, as I don't want to spend an eternity trying to get back out once again. It was so worth the experience.

Later, I'd end up finding better ways of getting in and out of the abyss in Hagga Rift. For that, I'd be quite grateful, as despite how bloomy and challenging that part of the region was. It held enough Erythrite crystals that at one point, I'd find myself making at least weekly, if not more frequent, trips back down there just for them alone.

Information

Screenshots were taken and content was written by @Enjar about Dune: Awakening.