Passage of Souls (Location)



The Passage of Souls is the first explorable area in Labyrinth: Origin and serves as a Prelude Area. The area is the part of The Halls of the Forgotten.

The passage introduces players to basic puzzle solving and is home to several Secrets and Easter Eggs.

More importantly, the level introduces players to the element of exploration to achieve a goal, a mechanic that the game uses frequently, especially for secrets.

Appearance
The architectural design derives from The Halls of the Forgotten theme.

The passage is unique from other areas in the Halls' as it is the only one to feature water.

The passage geographically is the highest point in the game (pre-labyrinth) meaning the layer of soil between the passage and the surface world is very thin. This is a direct cause of fissures in the ceilings and also the water seeping through into the hallways.

It is possible that the passage was built much further below the surface, but erosion has affected the land above, reducing the thickness of the earth between the passage and the surface.

Function
The area was created as a place of rest for the dead members of The Kal'ün, however after The Chosen Divide, the passage became a place of execution and torture also.

After the divide, members of the Kal'un who supported Sarula were laid to rest here peacefully as was intended for the race. The dead would be taken through the hallways, through to a small pool where a ceremony would be held to send the soul of the deceased to the afterlife. Following that, the body would be burned, with the ashes being placed in urns and pots and sealed in a tomb.

However, following the divide that split the race religiously, the supporters of Githa were discriminated against by their radical brethren. They did not share the same rights as those who supported Sarula in death.

Many were taken to the passages for punishment or execution for being traitors. Most punishments lead to death.

Instead of having a ceremony and an urn, they would instead be cast from the side of the bridge linking the passage to the Hold of the Redeemer

Development
The passage was the first area to be developed, but started off as a series of caves. Over one hundred iterations later and the style of the area would set the visual style of the Halls of the Forgotten as a whole.

Trivia

 * Baked goods sometimes visit this area.
 * The level had to be remade 5 times. Smaller changes such as replacing each individual wall piece with optimised meshes occurred only a few times. This is the only level in the game that has needed such drastic edits over development.
 * The scene has been optimised over 20 times.