The Maw

The Maw is an Alliance-owned maximum-security prison that houses over 10,000 prisons right on neutral territory on the Fordvern Advance. It was a monumental project that was conceived between the Elves and Dwarves during the late 1300s, just before the Alliance was officially founded. The two races wanted a facility to house their most dangerous criminals as far from the public as possible. King-slayers, rogue archmages, interdimensional elementals, castle-breakers were all housed here. The smartest, strongest, most deadly assortment of criminals all under one roof. The Elves and Dwarves chose the location because the coordinates were an environmental anomaly where the currents of the Fordvern Advance all met and collided with one another. When the Humans joined the project, they came up with the idea to build it down, under the waters and into the ocean floor itself. A deep, echoing series of echoing cells. The Maw wasn't where you sent to reform, it was where you were sent to be swallowed up and die.

Admittance

A number of things must happen before a person is considered to be committed to the Maw. First, once a person is formally convicted, the level of their crime is measured by the judge delivering the sentence. High acts of treason, mass murder, and even performance of forbidden magic can all be reasons a judge from a town or city puts forth a request for admittance to the Maw. Then, the request is submitted to the Alliance itself who has their own judges review the crime and the convicted party. If the Alliance judges deem the crime serious enough, and the convict is indeed beyond reform, they then accept the request for admittance, and the security team at the Maw is notified. Before the prisoner arrives, their file is reviewed by the staff at the Maw who decided on what level the convict is housed. The convict eventually it put on a special military ship meant to withstand the waters around the Maw, and escorted to the Maw.
Upon arrival to the stormy shores, the convicted and their escort are joined by Maw security and enter the facility. Once inside, the convicted is fully stripped, searched, and tattooed with a glyph that allows the staff to track them and retrieve their file on the general prison floor. High-powered casters have their arcane powers sealed by either a flexible, anti-magic neck-brace, or are forcefully Branded by an on-site Warden. They are finally led to their respective cell-block, floor, and/or solitary isolation. Their daily schedule is determinant on how much of a risk they pose.

Defenses

The Maw is a 24-story facility, 12 levels above and below ground, surrounded on all sides by large waves and sharp rocks that thwart even the most well-planned escape attempt. That's if the escapee even made it out of the facility. The interior is a well-organized, but dizzying maze of hallways, guard rooms, cells, and fake doors leading to long, deadly drops. The prison's rooms are always changing, reconstructed, and repurposed to prevent prisoners from learning the layout. Only the prison guards have the most recent maps and escort janitorial, architectural, and kitchen staff who'd be easily lost without guard escorts. The Maw is also staffed by two-hundred and fifty guards, and over one-hundred heavily-armed automaton constructs. The guards and automatons each come equipped with an arsenal of gear and weaponry meant to subdue prisoners with expertise in magic, martial arts, and mighty barbaric abilities. All of this is overseen and run by Warden Masako Harayumi and her twelve Overseers. There have been no known successful escape attempts.

Notable Locations

The Black Cells The 12th level in the underground facilities of the Maw. Only personnel that have been personally authorized by Masako herself are allowed on this level or anywhere near these cells. The cells themselves are built into the natural bedrock of the facility and gated with a series of locks that require specific methods of unlocking to open. The metal and earth that coat these cells make it so that no sound other than direct speech can penetrate the interior. It's occupants are forced to endure their sentence in total silence with only the vibrations of the earth and their own heartbeat to keep them company. As far as the public knows, these cells don't exist and neither do their occupants.

The Abyss Meant for individuals too dangerous to keep even on the Material Plane. A series of dimension doors summonable only by the Maw's trained mages. The Abyss is a solitary pocket dimension created by the Maw's founders where highly, highly dangerous casters are simply thrown into, away from any component or source of magic. Some are even bound and gagged as they're quite literally thrown into an infinitely maddening abyss.