A Darkness that Blackens the Sun

Everyone's heard of the Hole. No one knows exactly when it was built, or how, or by whom - a wizard, obviously. Maybe the same sorcerer is still running the thing, though it's been around for over a hundred years, veering through the sky, blackening the sun and calling men and women up into its belly. Men and women who are never heard from again.

Simply described, the Hole looks like a giant, inverted cone made of black stone. A single tower rises from its flat top. It flies through the air - usually a thousand feet or more up, though this varies. It keeps no schedule but wanders from country to country, seeking prisoners.

None are sure who is master of this flying fortress; some claim that the Hole is alive and hungry, and that it's simply learned the best way to get food is to take convicted criminals. Certainly no one from the Hole has spoken to anyone on the ground for decades or more. No favor or pay is asked for taking dangerous criminals; the Hole just does it.

Days before the Hole appears, winds will announce it. No matter the usual course of the winds, they will change to blow towards the flying mountain. Their speed and strength will increase until the Hole appears, supported by a twisting column of gale-force air that sucks in dust, clouds - and sometimes people.

The Hole moves slowly, and the center of its wind funnel is steady and easy to avoid. Only those who don't (or can't) get out of the way are in danger of being sucked up - but those who are pulled up to the Hole never return.

Thus, if a ruler or governor has a prisoner who is too dangerous or inconvenient to house indefinitely, but who is too difficult to kill (for whatever reasons; practical, moral or political) the prisoner can be left in the path of the Hole - usually tied up or immobilized in some other fashion. Such prisoners are sucked up no fuss, no muss, out of their hair forever.

Rumors

There are, of course, plenty of rumors about the Hole.

• It's not a prison at all; its master is a slaver who collects desperate characters, trains them and then sells them as workers or mercenaries in distant lands.
• The Hole is some abominable living creature, mindlessly devouring humans to fill its great hunger.
• The Hole was built by a sorcerer who was fasciinated with crime and punishment. Those who are taken up are not tortured, but are treated with such kindness and compassion that they eventually give up their evil ways and are returned to society with new names and faces as agents of the benevolent wizard.
• It's a gate to hell. It's for those who are going to hell anyhow and don't want to wait.
• Inside, it's a great gladiatorial arena, where the prisoners are constantly pitted against each other for the amusement of the gods, demons or sorcerers who watch from the tower.
• It's the home of a group of angels who were mistakenly thrown out of heaven. Ill-equipped to deal with a world in which good and evil are mixed together, they collect criminals in an effort to understand evil. Their methods of inquiry are not gentle.

Hole in the Sky A Generic Fantasy Setting

Introduction
Welcome To Your Death
Dwellers in the Hole
Escape from the Inevitable