A Total of Five Rivers flow into the Underworld all dangerous though at varying quality, while some of these rivers even go down to Tartarus itself.
River Cocytus
( http://camphalfblood.wikia.com/wiki/River_Cocytus )
The least dangerous of all the Rivers was the Cocytus or Kokytos is the River of Wailing, which looks fairly tame. Its dark-blue waters wound peacefully through the Underworld, but if you got too close, you would hear the cries of tortured souls churning in the current. Because the River was fed by the tears of the damned, being close to it would send anyone into a state of depression while touching the water itself is a bad idea but go ahead and test it if dare.
River Phlegethon
( http://camphalfblood.wikia.com/wiki/River_Phlegethon )
The next river was the Phlegethon, the River of Fire. It roars through the Underworld caverns like a torrent of burning gasoline, cutting channels through the black volcanic rock, lighting everything bloodred, filling the air with smoke and fumes until finally the river plummeted as a fiery waterfall into the deeper abyss of Tartarus, which was basically the basement of the basement.
The thing was, Phlegethon water wouldn’t kill you, even if you were mortal. Sure, it would burn like 'radioactive chili peppers sautéed in acid'. It would definitely make you wish you were dead. But, the river was designed to keep its victims alive so that they could suffer forever. Many damned souls had to swim through it for all eternity, or be stuck in the fiery water up to their necks.
According to some legends, the Phlegethon could eventually burn away your sins and let you go free if you were really, really sorry for the things you’d done. During Percy and Annabeth's Trip Tartarus in The Doors of Death they actually drank from the river itself and it healed their wounds proving the River's secondary name 'The River of Healing' true but if you're still willing to drink from it then go for it, I sure as Hades don't plan on doing that.
River Acheron
( http://camphalfblood.wikia.com/wiki/River_Acheron )
The Acheron was the River of Pain. It is exactly as the name implies. The Acheron started in the mortal world, near a temple of the dead in Epirus. Maybe that’s why ghosts were drawn to it and filled the river with their own pain and suffering. The Acheron meandered along until it plunged underground and tumbled into the Underworld. There it widened into a dark, steamy, swampy expanse that caused pain to anyone unlucky enough to touch its waters or even hear it's current. After a while, the Acheron split into two smaller rivers—the Cocytus and the Styx—that flowed in opposite directions until they both spilled into Tartarus.
River Lethe
( http://camphalfblood.wikia.com/wiki/River_Lethe )
The Lethe looked harmless but if you have been listening to this I'm sure you know that isn't true at all. In most places, it is a gentle span of milky-white water that rolled over a shallow bed of stones, softly gurgling in a way that made your eyes feel heavy. You would think you could wade across this river, no problem. But I would highly advice against doing so. A single drop of Lethe water would wipe your short-term memory. You wouldn’t remember anything that happened in the last week. Take a full drink, or wade into those waters, and your mind would be erased. You wouldn’t remember your own name, or where you came from. For some spirits of the dead, however, the Lethe was actually a blessing. Crowds of ghosts were always gathered at the banks, drinking from the river so that they could forget their former lives, because you can’t miss what you don’t remember. Occasionally spirits were even allowed to reincarnate—to be reborn in the mortal world for another life. If you took that chance, you had to drink from the Lethe first so that you wouldn’t remember your old life.
Poppies grew all along the banks of the Lethe, which is why poppy juice has the power to put people to sleep and dull their pain. At one point, the Lethe curved around the entrance of a dark cave where the god Hypnos lived—the god of sleep. What was it like inside? No one has ever described it, probably because anyone stupid enough to go in fell asleep and never came out again... So you know happy thoughts.
*River Styx
( http://camphalfblood.wikia.com/wiki/River_Styx )
The last but not least the River Styx, a sacred river that separates the land of the living from the realm of the dead located in the Underworld. It is sometimes simply referred to as the Styx. Oaths made by this river brings something 'worse than death' to the Oath Bearer if not fulfilled.
The Other side of the Styx resides the Underworld to get there you have to ride Charon's Barge/Ferry which floats along the river. The Styx circles the Underworld like a moat so it is really required to cross it to get into the Underworld itself but you also have to go through the Main Gates of the Black Walls of Erebos protected by the Cerberus at the Gate. This is intentiona; to keep the Living away from the Underworld until it's their time though the Children of Hades don't have much problem going in and out of the Underworld of course.
The current was dark and sluggish, always shrouded in foul-smelling mist, and the water was corrosive to mortal flesh. Mix sulfuric acid with sewage and a splash of liquid hatred, and you’ve got the Styx. But some brave or insane Demigods have known to bathe in the river itself though only three were lucky enough to survive and become invulnerable. The First was Achilles, his mother, Thetis, held him by his heel to keep him anchored to the mortal world, dipping him into the river. Since the river is so powerful, the person bathing in it has to pick one vulnerable spot on their body to make sure they are anchored to their human life, or else they will dissolve into the river. Thus the saying "Achilles' Heel" came to be because he was defeated in his vulnerable spot, his heel. The second was Luke Castellan who used the river to be able to host Kronos. His weakness was a small bit of skin just under his left arm. Percy Jackson would use the river to become invincible so he could defeat Kronos. His vulnerable point was in the small of his back.
*You must post that you are on a Ferry if further due to the River and "DOA Recording Studio" being connected. You must be riding the Ferry to get across the River Styx.)
River Cocytus
( http://camphalfblood.wikia.com/wiki/River_Cocytus )
The least dangerous of all the Rivers was the Cocytus or Kokytos is the River of Wailing, which looks fairly tame. Its dark-blue waters wound peacefully through the Underworld, but if you got too close, you would hear the cries of tortured souls churning in the current. Because the River was fed by the tears of the damned, being close to it would send anyone into a state of depression while touching the water itself is a bad idea but go ahead and test it if dare.
River Phlegethon
( http://camphalfblood.wikia.com/wiki/River_Phlegethon )
The next river was the Phlegethon, the River of Fire. It roars through the Underworld caverns like a torrent of burning gasoline, cutting channels through the black volcanic rock, lighting everything bloodred, filling the air with smoke and fumes until finally the river plummeted as a fiery waterfall into the deeper abyss of Tartarus, which was basically the basement of the basement.
The thing was, Phlegethon water wouldn’t kill you, even if you were mortal. Sure, it would burn like 'radioactive chili peppers sautéed in acid'. It would definitely make you wish you were dead. But, the river was designed to keep its victims alive so that they could suffer forever. Many damned souls had to swim through it for all eternity, or be stuck in the fiery water up to their necks.
According to some legends, the Phlegethon could eventually burn away your sins and let you go free if you were really, really sorry for the things you’d done. During Percy and Annabeth's Trip Tartarus in The Doors of Death they actually drank from the river itself and it healed their wounds proving the River's secondary name 'The River of Healing' true but if you're still willing to drink from it then go for it, I sure as Hades don't plan on doing that.
River Acheron
( http://camphalfblood.wikia.com/wiki/River_Acheron )
The Acheron was the River of Pain. It is exactly as the name implies. The Acheron started in the mortal world, near a temple of the dead in Epirus. Maybe that’s why ghosts were drawn to it and filled the river with their own pain and suffering. The Acheron meandered along until it plunged underground and tumbled into the Underworld. There it widened into a dark, steamy, swampy expanse that caused pain to anyone unlucky enough to touch its waters or even hear it's current. After a while, the Acheron split into two smaller rivers—the Cocytus and the Styx—that flowed in opposite directions until they both spilled into Tartarus.
River Lethe
( http://camphalfblood.wikia.com/wiki/River_Lethe )
The Lethe looked harmless but if you have been listening to this I'm sure you know that isn't true at all. In most places, it is a gentle span of milky-white water that rolled over a shallow bed of stones, softly gurgling in a way that made your eyes feel heavy. You would think you could wade across this river, no problem. But I would highly advice against doing so. A single drop of Lethe water would wipe your short-term memory. You wouldn’t remember anything that happened in the last week. Take a full drink, or wade into those waters, and your mind would be erased. You wouldn’t remember your own name, or where you came from. For some spirits of the dead, however, the Lethe was actually a blessing. Crowds of ghosts were always gathered at the banks, drinking from the river so that they could forget their former lives, because you can’t miss what you don’t remember. Occasionally spirits were even allowed to reincarnate—to be reborn in the mortal world for another life. If you took that chance, you had to drink from the Lethe first so that you wouldn’t remember your old life.
Poppies grew all along the banks of the Lethe, which is why poppy juice has the power to put people to sleep and dull their pain. At one point, the Lethe curved around the entrance of a dark cave where the god Hypnos lived—the god of sleep. What was it like inside? No one has ever described it, probably because anyone stupid enough to go in fell asleep and never came out again... So you know happy thoughts.
*River Styx
( http://camphalfblood.wikia.com/wiki/River_Styx )
The last but not least the River Styx, a sacred river that separates the land of the living from the realm of the dead located in the Underworld. It is sometimes simply referred to as the Styx. Oaths made by this river brings something 'worse than death' to the Oath Bearer if not fulfilled.
The Other side of the Styx resides the Underworld to get there you have to ride Charon's Barge/Ferry which floats along the river. The Styx circles the Underworld like a moat so it is really required to cross it to get into the Underworld itself but you also have to go through the Main Gates of the Black Walls of Erebos protected by the Cerberus at the Gate. This is intentiona; to keep the Living away from the Underworld until it's their time though the Children of Hades don't have much problem going in and out of the Underworld of course.
The current was dark and sluggish, always shrouded in foul-smelling mist, and the water was corrosive to mortal flesh. Mix sulfuric acid with sewage and a splash of liquid hatred, and you’ve got the Styx. But some brave or insane Demigods have known to bathe in the river itself though only three were lucky enough to survive and become invulnerable. The First was Achilles, his mother, Thetis, held him by his heel to keep him anchored to the mortal world, dipping him into the river. Since the river is so powerful, the person bathing in it has to pick one vulnerable spot on their body to make sure they are anchored to their human life, or else they will dissolve into the river. Thus the saying "Achilles' Heel" came to be because he was defeated in his vulnerable spot, his heel. The second was Luke Castellan who used the river to be able to host Kronos. His weakness was a small bit of skin just under his left arm. Percy Jackson would use the river to become invincible so he could defeat Kronos. His vulnerable point was in the small of his back.
*You must post that you are on a Ferry if further due to the River and "DOA Recording Studio" being connected. You must be riding the Ferry to get across the River Styx.)
