Lake Misquamicus

Lake Misquamicus, also known as Area 666 or Devil's Lake, is a lake in rural Florida that was swapped out with an equivalent amount of matter from Hell in a supernatural event called a Spatial Merge. The lake features in Edward Lee's Infernal series, appearing in the novel Lucifer's Lottery and Christine Morgan's authorized sequel Lakehouse Infernal.

Description
Lake Misquamicus is a fairly small lake with a volume of six billion gallons. After the Spatial Merge, its contents consists mainly of blood and feces at roughly human body temperature, with a smattering of other bodily fluids and wastes. The lake contains a host of luciferic wildlife, including many creatures larger and more dangerous than any on Earth. The lake obviously emits a horrendous stench, so powerful that it can incapacitate people unfamiliar with it.

The magic of the Spatial Merge and the malign energies of Hell have heavily warped the life-forms of the surrounding area. The trees seem to have agonized human faces, and most of the local wildlife has mutated into dangerous predators. Humans who live near the lake have almost all mutated as well. Most sport grotesque deformities and follow Hell's depraved moral code.

Lake Misquamicus and the surrounding area have also adopted some of Hell's physical and metaphysical laws. Electrical power does not function within a certain distance of the lake, an effect that can bring down low-flying aircraft. Anyone wishing to use electricity-powered devices must instead rely on agonicity, which is derived from the electrical impulses created by the brain of a human experiencing great pain. Most importantly, the souls of those who die near the lake do not go directly to any afterlife, but instead reincarnate into the nearest Hellborn animal.

Needless to say, Lake Misquamicus is an extremely dangerous area. It was surrounded by a large wall manned by the U.S. military and equipped with powerful inward-facing guns. Access to the lake is only granted with express government permission.

History
Lake Misquamicus was originally a normal freshwater lake. At some point, it became a minor tourist destination, which people would visit for swimming and boating. However, the lake was targeted by Lucifer himself. Lucifer intended to transport the entire lake to the Mephistopolis, both in order to gain fresh water for the city and to insult God, and worked on the project for centuries.

In 2008, this project came to fruition. By simultaneously killing 66 million people across Hell, Lucifer acquired the energy needed to complete the Spatial Merge. The water of Lake Misquamicus was teleported directly out of the lake bed and was replaced six minutes later by an equivalent mass of liquid from Hell's Sea of Cagliostro. The removal of the lake displaced millions of tons of air, as did its replacement, and both events caused powerful shockwaves that damaged nearby buildings and could be heard for miles around. The magic involved also caused all electrical power nearby to instantly and permanently fail.

One of the creatures transported to Earth by the Merge was Favius, a damned Roman soldier, and three Golems under his command. After confirming that he was on Earth, Favius and his Golems headed to a nearby bar, where they killed several patrons. Favius then waited at the scene for police to arrive, and massacred at least six officers when they did. When the military finally arrived, he surrendered.

The area was hastily closed off with no evacuation, leaving hundreds of people still inside when Area 666 was set up. These people would all eventually mutate into local monsters. For a time, the communities outside the wall tried to make money off their newfound notoriety, but this business died out and the towns were abandoned. The government would, on occasion, permit access to well-paying tourists and religious groups. Many of these people were captured and enslaved by the locals for use as agonicity generators.

In 2018, a church group visited the lake in an attempt to purify it. This coincided with Favius' government-sponsored return to the lake, where he was to demonstrate the Golem magic he had promised them. Instead, Favius turned against his American "allies," killing many of the soldiers and conscripting the rest. Not long after, he encountered the decimated church group. One of their disillusioned members, June, offered to join Favius, and consummated their union by murdering her mother and giving her virginity to Favius as his bride. This act initiated a ritual of unclear nature, which may have caused a much large manifestation of the Mephistopolis on Earth to serve as an invasion beachhead.

Bible Creek
Bible Creek is an ironically named freshwater creek near Lake Misquamicus. It hosts the ruins of a summer camp and a tribe of dozens of mutated "creekers" that live nearby. These creekers are worshipers of Lucifer, and attempt to sacrifice visitors.

Crawdaddy's
Crawdaddy's is a small bar near the lake. It is the site of Favius' initial massacre after he emerged from the lake. The bar is still open, managed by a man deeply loyal to Favius. A monument to Favius sits outside the bar.

Lakehouses
Several lakehouses sit near the lake's shore. Most of them are inhabited by families who resided there before the Merge, who have since grown physically and morally warped. These houses are usually powered by a single captive human used to generate agonicity. At least one of the homes is actually a tangible projection created by an unknown organism from Hell.

Trivia

 * At least seven lakes in the United States bear the name "Devil's Lake," none of which are in Florida.