View inside the Atrium of Akenash
The Tower of Akenash houses the only World Tree on human territory and is controlled by Governor Barimen and his son, Aaron.
Overview
Structure
The giant tower is shown to float on a piece of land in mid-air and airships are the only way of reaching or leaving the place. Whether this float was an expected feature or an unexpected side-effect of housing the Tree is not known.
Concept Art - Vertical Panorama View of the Tower
The Atrium of Akenash has several areas which Styx explores throughout his incursion of the tower during the events of Master of Shadows.
- The Governor's Apartment: Luxurious, well guarded and bright section where the Governor is housed. Styx visits the high quarters to infiltrate Governor Barimen's private rooms in order to steal the key to allow him access to the bridge which leads to The Heart of the Tree.
- The Sewers: Dark, wet and deep down in the tower. Widely infested by Roabies and partly destroyed by tree roots. The section of the sewers Styx crosses twice contains an ancient Mural's Room with paintings of Elves and World Tree roots.
- The Viaduct: This is a section of the sewers down in the tower characterized by various large pipes running through a deep chasm. It houses Querberus' secret laboratory and is crossed twice by Styx, once while he helps Querberus to escape.
- The Sewer Hideout: Headquarters of Styx and Ozkan. It contains leftovers of a construction site and got partly furnitured over the years of use. Styx's corner also houses a smithy and small laboratory to spend skill points and stock up on equipment. There is another section where Styx - Original used to hide to do research. Styx confronts him there while seeking revenge.
- The Akenash Library: A large collections of books and archives in lofty, bright rooms. Not very guarded by full for library staff. Styx visits the Library in order to seek out the plans for the Atrium so he can find his way around more easily.
- The Docks: A large dock area inside the hollow top part of the tower where cargo is loaded. Styx slips inside a transport chest here to be able to reach the Governor's Apartments.
- The Embassy: Luxurious offices, a library and a giant open main hall for conferences and political meetings. Styx will infiltrate Akenash's Embassy in order to acquire the schedule for when the next airship will leave Akenash so he can make his escape once he steals the Heart of the Tree.
- The Incinerator: A huge vertical oven running through several levels in the tower, fed with fuel from multiple sides. Styx passes through the area surrounding incinerator in order to return to the hideout, and later again in order to infiltrate the library a second time to steal records detailing the prison under Aaron's rule.
- The Atrium Docks: A docking area close to the Embassy. Several large airships are moored here. Styx passes through the docks in order to reach Akenash's embassy to acquire the transport orders for the airships.
- The Distillery: A section with pipes, burners and stills where Amber is stored and processed. Styx passes through the distillery twice throughout the game. Earlier it was as he was making his way towards his hideout, and later on he returns in order to be reborn in an empty cocoon as a perfect creature of the Amber.
- The Elevator: This area connects the Distillery, the Prison and the Sewer hideout. Styx passes through here three times in order to reach his destinations. The area is characterized by a large elevator leading down to the lower parts of the prison as well as taverns for the guards and offices.
- The Low-Security Prison: Complex, dungeon-like structure with two large gates blocking it off to the laboratory. Contains torture chambers and prison cells. Late in the game Styx infiltrates the prisons in order to liberate a supposed "friend" before intending to make the final journey towards the Heart of Tree.
- The High-Security Prison: Higher density of guards, several chained orcs and higher overall security with spikes, grids and cells. Houses cell number five, where the "friend" is locked up before Styx frees him.
- The Laboratory: Styx passes through the laboratory on his way to the high security section of Akenash's prisons. On his way he witnesses several strange experiments being performed on apparent prisoners. Contains large World Tree roots, operation tables, anatomical collections and torture chambers.
- The Heart of the Tree: The Heart of the Tree is the final area of the Tower that Styx visits during his infiltration of Akenash. This section is where the final showdown of the game occurs with Styx doing battle against his dark creator.
Inhabitants
Akenash serves as home to all humans working there as well as to all elves, who tend to the Tree for the humans.
Hierarchy
The tower is controlled by Governor Barimen and his son Aaron. Human guard ensure law and order within its walls and the Inquisition takes over the security of the prison and laboratory. The elves work alongside the humans in crucial areas. Their leadership is not clear but to represent their desires within the tower, they have chosen the Elf Ambassador to be in direct contact with Governor Barimen.
History
Foundation
Akenash was designed and created by Querberus, a human architect, possibly for the specific purpose of housing the only World Tree available and accessible (mostly exclusively) to the humans.
Over the years, the roots of the World Tree expanded beyond the confines of its chamber, penetrating into the lower levels of Akenash and ripping apart their walls, floors, and piping. Many of the lower levels had to be abandoned. Repair crews labor down there day at night to ensure that the foundations of Akenash were not completely destroyed.
Styx: Master of Shadows
In the finale of Styx: Master of Shadows, Styx destroys the Heart of the World Tree to spite his creator. Somehow, this caused the magic that kept Akenash aloft to fail, and the fortress fell to the ground. The only survivors of this disaster are Styx and hordes of other goblins spawned from the Amber lake at the crash site.
Geography
Location
The tower sits on a small piece of floating land in a mountain area.
Gallery
What Fans Think
Thoughts on Akenash
Akenash is a crazy place, being this impossible, isolated tower floating somewhere in the middle of nowhere, housing a giant tree. We don't really get to see what the exact purpose of the tower is so I thought about it a little and here is what I co…
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