Abyss is one of the eleven playable maps in VALORANT. The map is set on the island Sør-Jan in the Jan-Mayen and Svalbard territory of Norway. It served as one of the main bases for the secret organization known as Scions of Hourglass.
Lore[]
Discovery[]
Abyss is located in a giant chasm inside the volcanic rocks of the island Sør-Jan. The VALORANT Protocol first learned about the existence of this base through a mysterious journal found in the Edinburgh’s central library by Omen while he was on leave from VALORANT and was searching to find anything about the Scions of Hourglass and its links to his past.
During his time in the Edinburgh’s central library, Omen meets Clove while in a gunfight with Scions agents, the exact details of what happens during and after the fight is unknown but it is hinted that Clove might have died in the fight and their body carried onboard a ship belonging to the Scions. In their state between life and death, Clove overheard Scions agents talking about returning the journal to “The Elder Grotto”. Omen later recruits Clove and delivers them to the VP along with the journal that belonged to Scions of Hourglass.
In the VPHQ, Clove and Cypher get to deciphering the journal which is written in coded language and learn that a secret cavern is mentioned in it. Cypher searches the Scions’ ship's navigation logs and manages to find some coordinates pointing to a nondescript island in the Arctic ocean. Killjoy's scans shows the island houses a very large subterranean space and massive power readings indicating a lot of radianite activities.
The VALORANT Protocol sends in a team including Clove, Omen and Iso to the island with Sage as control. The team manages to push out the Scions of Hourglass soldiers and later secure the entire cave. During the gunfight between Scions and the VP, some bullets break the protective glass of a containment cell causing it to leak. This cell later proved to be where Scions of Hourglass was keeping Vyse.
Access to the Main Base and Function of Different Sectors[]
As one of the main bases for Scions of Hourglass Abyss had three main sections for various goals of the secret group; These sectors are: The Radiant Lock-Up, The Library and Archive, The Botanical Garden. The mission for each of these sectors is described in coded messages visible in the security feeds of each of these sections in a small office in A Secret part of the map;
- The coded message for the library reads “Confine to the abyss” most possibly referring to Scions’ mission to hide and lock away any knowledge pertaining to radianite.
- The coded message for the botanical garden reads “ Trim the vine” which is potentially referring to Scions removing any trace of any plants affected and transformed by radianite.
- The coded message for the radiant lock-up is “ History will forget you” which is an ominous message about them burying any knowledge of radiant people ever existing
The playable area seems completely cut off from the surrounding cave, however it is worth noting that in the teaser card for the map, Sage is descending from a rope and a narrow walkway is visible connecting the main base to the large building visible behind the attacker spawn. An elevator and a small lobby is also visible to the right of the attacker spawn, with a sign that reads "Welcome to the Elder Grotto" indicating there are multiple ways to access the base.
The Radiant Lock up[]
In their pursuit of suppressing any trace of radianite, Scions of Hourglass has been making sure that no one whose radiance manifested was known, remembered or survives for a long time. A site on Abyss is basically a multi-level prison where they kept and potentially studied radiant people that they would kidnap over time. There is a large vertically hollow section in the middle of this site and the glass fronts of the holding cells are visible there. They are lit in red light indicating them being empty at the moment.
The cryogenic holding cell[]
Visible across the chasm from A site, an hourglass-shaped cell is embedded within large basalt columns. This particular cell was where Scions of Hourglass was holding Vyse captive in extremely cold temperatures to stop her from using her powers. The glass front wall of this cell was compromised in the gun fight that broke out between the VP and Scions soldiers and it caused a leak in the cold gas within the cell. This resulted in Vyse waking up and mustering enough energy to use her rose vines and finally break out of this cell in patch 9.02.
[[it contains, according to Omen, "Millennia of Radiant history stolen from the world and crammed into the cave."[1] Embedded into a nearby pillar is the containment unit which once held Vyse prisoner, its visuals having being updated since the launch of the map to now depict Vyse having broken out.]]