May 22, 2024 • 34 mins
Alaric races back to the liche.
Credits:
Alaric Von Beller - George Ledoux
Liche - Joey Sourlis
Website: http://DeadhausSonata.com
Discord: https://discord.gg/XjUXa4v
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/DeadhausGame
Created by Apocalypse Studios
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Pruin, the month of frost,
11 days, 221 years after…
after what?
What is Deadhaus?
What is death?
Is it a state of being?
Not a binary state,for while one may be living or dead,
so too may they be undead,which seems to be neither.
(00:26):
Perhaps it is a path alongwhich many wander?
With what I have nowseen, that seems more likely,
but I cannot say for certain.
I begin to suspecteven now that I know nothing.
When the light of El’Sabayoth’s messengerfaded,
control of my blood returned to me.
(00:47):
Of all the materials and forcesI have encountered in my time
as a vampire,
that being exerts the greatest influenceover my cursed blood--seemingly able
to command me--as if my blood recognizesits authority above my own.
And, given that it was
able to divert me from the childand the prisoner,
(01:09):
even the agony of my thirst bowsbefore the servant of the Gold.
With my bloodunder my own power once more,
I fled through frozenfields and rime-encrusted forests,
more silent than the falling snow,which no longer melted against my flesh
as it did in life.
Yet neither does the cold cut into meas it once did, for I am colder
(01:33):
still within.
Only when feeding,or before the sun, do I know any warmth,
as scorching judgement,or maddening elation.
At length I found the river that I sought
and coursed its watersto the outskirts of the Dregs.
To those that lay huddled in their hovels,
(01:53):
my embrace would have been a mercy…
or perhaps that is simplywhat the blood wishes me to believe.
I shudder to thinkthat it may be influencing my thoughts
in ways that I cannot perceive.
By the sign of the KnightI knew my way from the city.
Its starry steed charged near
(02:13):
to the horizon, to the west,and I followed.
When I came at last uponthe skeletal pillars,
I found that the liche’scircle lay in snowy ruin.
Tables were overturned, devices shattered.
The bodies that were once bound tothe pillars were strewn
about in various pieces,as was the body of the liche.
(02:36):
Its skull protruded from the snow,
grinning up at me,as if to say I was too late.
I stood in silence for a time,
gazing downin to the eyeless hollows of my enemy.
“One less monster in the world,”
I said at Last.
“Have you already forgotten
(02:56):
what I taught you?”a familiar voice echoed within me.
“You survived… there was a wraith!”
“So I’ve learned.”
“It attacked us in the depths.
Falk-Ghoulrevealed you to save us.”
"Irrelevant. We must prepare the Conflux.” “But…but you’re in pieces!”
"Irrelevant. We must prepare the Conflux.”
(03:18):
“But…but you’re in pieces!”
“A former vessel is in pieces; I endure.”
“How…” Then I remembered
what Amarax had told meabout the destruction of liches.
“… it did not find your phylactery.”
“It found five of them.
There were six.”
(03:39):
“Why keep them so close together?
Doesn’t that make you more vulnerable?”“They were not kept together.
A wraith is a fragmented being.
It can exist in many places at once.”
“But how did it find them?"
It found the fragments of my soulto itself.
(03:59):
That blinding lightto where the other fragments lay hidden.
“Your phylacteries…but not the sixth… why?”
“Because that fragment of my soulis intertwined with another.
The wraith did not recognize it.”“Another…” Suddenly,
the circle vanished from my sightand I stood in total darkness.
(04:23):
A pair of blue-green lampsignited from the black,
illuminating the face of the licheas I remembered it.
“Yes, Alaric… another."
“You cannot mean…”
“I suppose I should offer you my thanks.”
“I did not agree to this!”
(04:43):
“Yourconsent was not a component of the spell.”
“I could destroy you now…if I'm your last phylactery,
I could walk into the sea and cleanseyour blackened stain from Malorum!”
“That would be a most selfless act,so I’m rather assured
of my safety for the moment.”“Damn you to hell, Amarax!”
(05:05):
“There are many realms, young Alaric.
Which one is hell,
I cannot say.” The darkness of my innerself receded,
and once more I stood amid the snow-strewnruin of the liche’s circle.
“To some travelers,
this world could be hell,and what is paradise to them
(05:25):
could drive us insane.”“I spit on your philosophizing!
I will not aid you a single step moreuntil you extricate yourself.”
“Then we’llbe keeping each other company for a long,
long time.”“I will go to the Darklight Enclave!
I will tell them where you arehidden!” “Dissolving in the sea
(05:46):
would be a far less painful fatethan what the wraiths would do to you.
They feed on sufferingas you feed on blood.”
“So help me, Amarax,I will find a way to separate
our souls.” “How about a trade?” “Asif I could trust you!” “And why not?
(06:08):
I kept my end of our first deal.
I gave you knowledge in exchange for youraid.”
“Whileconcealing the true nature of our binding!
God knows what else you’renot telling me.”
"Do you mean to claim that you keep no secretsfrom me?”
This time, I had no reply.
“There are strange gaps in your memories
(06:31):
that I can neither account for nor access.
It’s almost as if I’mbeing blocked from them by magick…
but you don’t know how to do that.”Still I said nothing.
“I know the mark of Empyrean.
You are out of your depth, fledgling…but I could help you.”
(06:53):
“Help me?
You couldn’t even help yourselfagainst a wraith!” “Suppose
I had destroyed this one--theothers would soon know of it.
The cost of destroying them allwould be far greater
than the cost of reconstituting a vessel.”
“Could you destroy them all?” Irrelevant.
(07:13):
True power comes from the ability to plan
ahead, not to destroy.
You would do well to remember that.
“But won’t they discover your trick?
Won’t they come for both us?”
“In time, yes,
which is why we must spendwhat is left to us wisely.”
(07:34):
Realizing the perilthat I now shared with the archliche,
I saw no choicebut follow him for the time being.
“What must I do?”
“Gather the remains that are scatteredhere.
Take a portion of them to the pointsI show you.”
As he said this,I beheld the ground illuminated
(07:54):
by a configurationthat I knew was not truly present.
This image was being transposedupon my vision through magick,
a circular arrangement of eight smallercircles, with a ninth in the center,
and spiraling lines between them all.
“Nine Ancients, nine magicks,
(08:16):
nine Pillars, nine realms.”
Nine pillars… pray
tell me…in what fevered dream of a gibbering
imbecile is a monstrousspider considered a pillar?”
“Words and names
can carry more than one meaning.
Each of the nineAspects of Magick flow through Malorum,
(08:38):
who is also called the Twisted Mother.
Her children, the Pillars,are the ultimate manifestations
of these nine aspects.
They are at oncetitanic engines of magickal energy
and living,thinking servants of their mother’s will.
Even the smallest shard of their bodies
(08:59):
can generateoverwhelming energies of its aspect.”
“You still might have warned meit was a giant spider…
or at the very least you could havewarned me of the Clatter-clack.”
“The what?” “Thatdamnable creature in the Writhing Dark.”
I felt a shifting within my mind,
like cold fingers running behind my eyes.
(09:20):
“That is a Nameless Worm.” “The
ghouls said it was a Clatter-clack.” "The
ghouls live in a hole, coated in vomit.
These creatures are called Nameless Worms
because of their infusionwith the Nameless Aspect of Magick.
They were much smaller once.” “Bythe way, Alaric,
(09:42):
there are giant worms and spidersunderground--maybe
keep an eye out for those!”“We don’t have time for this.
You should be gathering the remains.”
Maybe I could gather them betterif Falk-Ghoul didn’t
have to melt off my hand to save mefrom a giant worm with no name!”
An echoingsigh resounded from my thoughts.
(10:05):
“This is true.
Allow me.”
Suddenly, and beyond my control,
I drew in a deep gulp of frozen airand released it in a sigh.
Mist poured from my mouth,enveloping my body,
replacing my fleshuntil only mist remained.
Then, no sooner had I become mistdid I feel a suction of air
(10:29):
from within my center,and the mist came swirling into it.
This suction became my lungs, my throat,
my mouth, drinking in the vaporous formI held only moments ago,
condensing once more into flesh.
All of the muck and bodily fluids fromthe mound were gone from me,
(10:49):
and my hand was restored,as if it had never been missing.
“You could have done thatthe whole time!?”
“Onlywith my primary soul in this vessel.”
“I am not a vessel!” “The wraiths will beon their way soon, Alaric!”
I redoubled
my efforts, now able to gatherthe frozen remains with both hands,
(11:12):
and Amarax instructed mewhere to place them.
“We must always begin on the left side.
These are the Aspects of Chaos.”
“Why must they be first?”“Because order arises from chaos.”
“Can’t order also fall into chaos?” “Yes,
(11:32):
but chaos is always the beginning.
Start at the second circle from the top;
this is the Abyssal Aspect.
It is the black womb of precreation,the domain of the Sun Eater.
Its energies weave curses and drink life,
just as S’sa-Naraj drinks light itself.
(11:54):
In this circle you must place any eyes
you can find, six if possible,
and make sure you leave thempointed at the ground.
Let them see nothing.”
I did as I was instructed,
plucking eyes from the severed headsthat sprouted from the snow
and turning their lifeless pupils downwardbefore placing them in the circle.
(12:17):
As I did this, the circle
faded from my sight and was replacedby the winding sign of a serpent,
and light receded from the sign,darkening its boundaries.
“Now, to the right side.
These are the Aspects of Order.
Again, the second from the top;
(12:38):
this is the Celestial Aspect.
From coldest dark came burning light,
the domain of the All-Fire.
Its energies smite the foes of El’Sabayoth
just as they empower those that serve him.
Here you must place a heart.”
(12:59):
Though the limbless torsosnearby were frozen solid,
it was nearly effortlessfor me to break through
one of their ribs and seize an icy heart.
As before, when I placed the frozen organwhere it belonged, the circle faded,
this time replaced by a circle of spears,radiating outward.
(13:19):
The snow around this sign melted;the heart sparked into flame
and crumbled to ash,and my blood bade me come no closer to it.
“Now the topmost circle on the right.
This is the Necrotic Aspect, for oncelight was born into the universe,
so too could it die, and death
(13:41):
is the domain of the Weaver.
Necrotic energiesgnaw away at all that they touch,
withering even mountainsto dust over time...
but not the servants of Allalmawt.
Here you must placethe skull of my former vessel.”
I wrenched the grinning skull of my enemy
(14:02):
from the snow and placed it in the circle,
and there was revealedthe symbol that is marked upon the moon,
and a brief image flickered in my thoughts
of red hair and pale skin.
“Across from this circle, its counterpart,the Psychic Aspect.
From death, there is rebirth.
(14:24):
The earliest life was simple,
but across eons of deathand rebirth, sentience arose,
and with it,dreams, the domain of Islirith.
Psychic energies
can inject the mind with nightmares.
If they are strong enough,
(14:45):
the nightmares can be made manifest.
A head must be offered here.
It needn’t be whole,but the brain must be intact.”
Taking one of the now eyeless heads fromthe snow and placing it into the circle
ignited the sign of a mad eye,which stared into me.
"That eye is following me...
(15:07):
when I move over here, it turns..."
“Pay it no mind.
Now we must invert the path of flesh,
as above, so below.
Second from the bottom, on the right,the Arcane Aspect.
From dreams come hidden knowledge,and with it the ability to create.
(15:29):
The Arcane is a domain of esotericthought,
of patterns that repeat themselves,that build themselves.
Many are the creations of
this domain, as many are the sides of Ohm.
We’ll need a brain here,
but you’ll have to shape itso that its lines are straight.”
(15:51):
“And… how… would I dothat?” “I fixed your hands.
Use them.”
Taking up another of the eyeless heads,
I bore down upon it with my gripuntil its skull cracked, then picked away
the piecesto reveal the blackened brain within.
I scooped out the putrefied organand took it to the circle.
(16:13):
“So… I just…” “Think of it as clay.
Make its edgesstraight.” “Could you not have made
these preparations in advance?”“You’ll have to forgive me;
I was being torn apartby hundreds of chains.”
I sighed and knelt in the snow,
reforming the boundaries of the brainas best I could so that they were square.
(16:36):
When the
offering was
sufficient, a pattern of many sideswas illuminated,
and its lighttraced through the wrinkles of the brain.
Very faintly,beneath the softest patter of snowfall,
I heard a gentle thrummingthat seemed to pulse in time.
“Into chaos next, across
(16:57):
from the Arcane, is the Nameless Aspect.
The trueboundary of knowledge is not ignorance,
but that which is unknowable.
This aspect,like its Ancient, has no name.
Its energies are volatile, unpredictable.
I do not use them, unless I must.
(17:20):
You would be wise to avoid them.
Here must be placed tongues,however many remain."
As it was, only two tongues remained.
I snatched the icy slabs of fleshfrom mouths
that no longer needed themand tossed them into the circle.
As I watched the luminous horns ignite,
(17:41):
I felt something stir within my blood…
something familiar, yet forgotten.
“Now, bottom left, the Temporal Aspect.
In time are three things,
all that was, all that is,all that will be,
each fragmented across the temporal flow.
(18:03):
So too is the Ancient of Timeshattered, as is its realm,
existing as fragments in places and timesbeyond counting.
Its magick can bend seconds into years,
or perforate centuriesso that they empty themselves in days.
To this circle, two hands must be given.”
(18:26):
As I droppedthe pair of hands into the circle,
I saw them slow as they fell, nevercoming to touch the ground, only to hang
suspended above the luminous symbolthat formed in the circle’s place.
“And here, at the end,there is only Uorou.
They are their own realm,
(18:46):
and they are many,but all of them are one.
To them belongs the Alchemical Aspect,
an aspect of change, throughwhich one thing may become another.
We need blood for this circle”“These bodies are too old…
and they’re frozen.” “Your blood won’tfreeze.” “I can’t extract mine.
(19:10):
It moves away from wounds.”“I can suppress that.
Use your fangs to open your wrist.”
“Fangs?” “Yes, Alaric.”
I reached into my own mouth,feeling the shape of my teeth.
The liche was right.
These were not the canines of a mortal,
but hideous, needle-like daggers.
(19:32):
“Be quick about it.
Your blood has an absurdamount of magickal energy--it is not easy
to suppress.” I stepped to Uorou’s
circle and brought my wrist to my mouth.
A cold shudder passed through my body.
“Now!” I bit down, and for the first time
since my death, I watched bloodspill helplessly from a wound.
(19:57):
It trickled down my arm,but also spattered onto the snow,
and was itselfshaped into the sign of a wave.
Once more, a cold shudderpassed through me, and the blood upon
my arm flowed back up into the wound,knitting it closed from within.
“Step away from the spilled blood--itwill try to return to you,”
(20:19):
Amarax warned me, and I obeyed.
With each of the outer circles filled,only the one in the center remained.
“The Primordial Aspect of Magickis at once destruction and creation.
It is the soul of Malorum herself…
the soul of all unconquered worlds.
(20:41):
Its voice is raging fires and howlingtempests.
Its words speak of retribution.
But before this circle is filled,
you must connect the symbols,
each aspect to its counterpart,
and each to Malorum, throughwhich all flow.”
(21:03):
“Connect them how?” How “Bones.
Strip the flesh from them,break them into smaller pieces.
There can be space between them,but not too much.”
“Tedious work,” “And the lines must arc.
No straight lines.”
(21:23):
I sighed and set to my taskwith grim determination.
“But why is flesh and bone required?
What have body parts at allto do with Aspects of Magick?”
Magic is meaning, made manifest,
and like flows to like.
Think of these offeringsas analogical talismans.
(21:46):
There are many potential substitutes,
so long as they holdthe necessary semantic resonance.
We continued our internal discourseas I worked, flaying frozen
flesh from bones and snapping themwith preternatural strength.
“I don’t understand.”
“What has a heart to do with the sun?”
(22:09):
“A heart?
It is red.
The sun is sometimesred.” “That is a partial connection.
If it was the only connection,
it would be a poor offering.
The lesserthe semantic resonance of its components,
the greater the magickal energyrequired to cast a spell.”
“A heart…may… live or die?” “Insufficient.
(22:35):
You can do better.”
“I don’t know the answer.
Just tell me.” “There is not one answer,
and the truth holds little valueif it is simply given.”
“You could give me a hint at least.”
“The universe is a tapestry
(22:56):
of symbols, and symbolshold many meanings.
The sun is one of them.
The heart is another.
What do these symbols share?”
“This sounds like poetry...” “Yes,
and what is poetry?”
“Bah, I don’t want to understand!”
Then, I realized as I placedthe last of the bones,
(23:20):
that I had seen the shapeof this ultimate configuration before.
Its materials were somewhat different, but
this was unmistakably the same spiral
as had been left by the wights.
“This spiral… it was at Ft.
Zaestra!” “It is a Nonary Conflux,
a symbol in itself.
(23:42):
Nine Ancients, nine magicks, nine houses,
nine spheres.” “What
is its purpose?” “There are many.
For us, it will rend the barrier betweenrealms so that we may pass.”
“How couldthe wights have known to make this?
They are mindless!”“Likely the same way that you did…
(24:05):
they were instructed.” “Bywhom?” “By whom,
indeed.” To this I said nothing.
“I could help you, Alaric.”
“Then help me finish this damned Conflux.”“Not yet.
Before the last circle is filled,we will need a lantern.
(24:25):
Searchthe snow; there should be a cage, black.”
I dug about for a time, discardingvarious trinkets and occult objects
until I dredged up a blackened cagethat was all too familiar to me.
“This?” “Yes,
but its light fled from the wraith.
You’ll have to track itdown.” “The Will-O’-Wisp?” “Indeed.
(24:50):
It fled to the north.
It won’t have gone far.”
I oriented myselfby the sign of the Knight,
putting him on my left before setting out,and the world rushed past in a blur.
“How do you see anything like this?”
“I don’t.
It’s reflex, remember?” “It’sdisorienting.” “Oh?”
(25:12):
I thought, coming to a halt.
“Can’t your magick help you see?”“I wouldn’t s--”
I bolted forward mid-thought,which cut the liche’s
words short, then came to an abruptstop some distance away.
“What was that?” “I… said...
there’s no--” Again I sprang fromthe snow, soundless, swifter than shadow.
(25:36):
Amarax’s thoughts dissolved and a faintsmile pulled at the corner of my mouth.
It had taken me some time to growaccustomed to the speeds
of which I am capable,and that was with the blood guiding me.
As a passenger in my body,Amarax must have felt
as if he was being fired from a cannonwhen I moved at speed.
He said little elseas I sped to the north.
(25:59):
Eventually, the white blanket of theforest floor was cast in soft blue light;
a faint ringing sound resonatedthrough the rime-encrusted trees.
The wisp I found orbiting the icy
trunk of a large tree,and I stopped some distance away.
“Alright, there it is.” “Now you’ve
(26:20):
got to catch it.” “What? Why?
I saw you point at itand force it to enter the cage before.”
“Better that I conserve my magickfor the journey ahead.”
“Just take some of mine then.”
“If I expend magick, it might be noticed.
The shadows might begin to lengthen,and if that happens, the cumulative
(26:43):
pain of our entire existence will be sheer
ecstasy next to what follows.”
“Fine… I’ll just go get it
then.” I leapt from the forestfloor, arcing toward the wisp
at tremendous speed,but then there was no wisp.
It did not move; it simply ceased to bewhere it was and appeared somewhere else.
(27:05):
I smashed face first into the icy
tree and came tumbling down into the snow.
“By the way, Alaric, it can teleport!”
“I didn’t tell you to just leap at itlike some kind of animal.”
“Alright, master liche…how do I catch the little blue ball?”
“Spiritual beings are not bound by thesame laws of movement as material beings.
(27:30):
You are unlikelyto capture one by movement alone.”
“What if I did this?”
I thrust my hand forwardwith outstretched fingers at the wisp,
and a shockwave burst from me,
scattering the snow along a pathto the wisp and striking the tree
it orbited with such forcethat the rime was blasted from it
and fell around usas so many crystal shards.
(27:53):
The wisp was gone before the shockwavereached it, now orbiting another tree.
“For the Weaver’s sake,think before you act!” “Well,
you weren’t telling me useful information,so I had to improvise.”
“A wisp is a lesser manifestationof the Primordial Aspect,
and like flows to like.
(28:15):
That is why it seeks trees.
It can feel the currents of its aspectflowing through them.”
“I’m feeling another blast comingon...” “You will not--”
“Then you’d better startspeaking plainly.” “The sign of Malorum,
do you remember it?”
“I do.” “Make it in the snow,
(28:35):
large enoughthat you could stand within it.”
I dug out the shape of clasping hands.
“Now, stand in the signand bury your feet.”
“What?” “Your feetmust be beneath the soil”
“I don’t see how this--” “Just do it!”I sighed,
scooped a couple of holes in the ground,and placed my feet into them.
(29:00):
“They must be covered by the soil.”Once more
I stooped, this time to cover my boots,so that I was sprouting from the ground.
“Now, take the cageand hold your hands toward the sky.”
“Like this?”I asked, raising both hands above my head.
“At an angle, a little lower.
(29:23):
Good.
Now… this will be risky… but…”
A strange sensation spread through my gut,
as if I were being pulledtoward the ground,
and at the same time the sign beneath mebegan to shine in the snow.
The flow of my bloodwithin me became sluggish,
as if it were growing thicker,and I felt my movements labored.
(29:47):
“Don’t move, Alaric.
Only the wind may move you.”
“What’s happening?” “You do not question.
You may only stand.
Dig deep.
Drinkwater.” “Wha--” “Think those thoughts.
Dig deep, drink water.
(30:08):
Say them in your mind!” “Dig deep,
drink water.” Then I saw the wisp
leave the orbit of its chosentree and drift toward the forest floor.
“Repeat it.
Don’t stop.” “Dig…
deep… drink…water…”
(30:30):
Even my thoughts were slowing,
but the wisp was drawing toward me.
“Dig…
dig…”
It began to orbit me,and I felt a strange familiarity
between us, as if we recognized oneanother for the first time.
“The cage, Alaric!
Use the cage, quickly” My arm trembled
(30:53):
against my effort to move it;I felt as if it would break.
With agonizing slowness, as if movingin a nightmare, I brought the cage closer.
I could not have caught even a fat child
at such speeds,but the wisp was unphased by my movement.
I watched in slow motionas I intercepted its path
(31:14):
with the cage, and the little doorsnapped shut behind it.
The wisp flickered,suddenly realizing its fate, and though
it pressed against the blackened bars,it could not pass them.
All at oncethe light faded from the sign of Malorum,
and a great tensionwas released from my gut.
I fell forward,catching myself on hands and knees,
(31:37):
feeling like a strange sack of fluids.
As I looked to my hands, a single leaf
had emerged from beneath my rightthumbnail.
I plucked it, which made me wince
in pain.“I’m not even…
going to ask…
what just happened.”
(31:59):
My thoughts flowed so quickly that I hadto pause between each few words.
“There wouldn’t be time to explain… look.”
I could feel the directionAmarax wished me to look, and as I did,
I saw the shadows of an ancient tree beginto stretch ever so slightly toward us.
“Get back to the circle.
(32:19):
Now!” A surge of energy rippled through me
from within,and I felt my strength return.
I was on my feet and rushingthrough the forest in an instant.
As I broke out of the trees,the Knight charged the skies to my right.
We reached the circle in moments,but I knew
such increments of timewere ages to a wraith.
(32:40):
“The center circle!
Stab the Soul Prism into Malorum!”The shadows of the skeletal pillars
began to lengthen, and a deep,stretching sigh emanated from them.
The wisp began to rapidly ricochetwithin its cage.
I cried out and drove the jade-like dagger
of the Soul Prism into the center circle.
(33:01):
As it pierced the ground,I heard the shuddering
whisper of the monstrous spiderfrom whence it came,
and pale green light rose from within it,
dull at first, then brighter,until it shone
as an emerald star,brighter than the moon.
And as it brightened,I heard a sound that I had heard before,
(33:22):
long ago, a low thrumming,rising in pitch.
It was the sound of the Cruciblebeing brought from a closed
to open configuration,only this was far more powerful.
The pitch rosehigher than the Crucible’s ever did,
and then the blinding green lightspilled out of the Soul Prism,
(33:45):
arcing along the lines that
connected Malorum’s circle to the others,and then the lines between them.
The circles were eachfilled with pale green light
in the same orderas I had made the offerings to them,
only so quicklyI could barely distinguish the sequence.
Then the circlein which rested the skull of Amarax,
the circle of Allalmawt, shonebrightest of all,
(34:09):
and its boundariesexpanded, passing beneath my feet
as they swept across the Conflux,devouring every other circle,
every arcing line.
And then I saw that I stood upon nothing,
for in the spacethat once held the Conflux,
nothing remained--no symbols,
no light, no snow, no soil.
(34:31):
Nothing… a hole in reality.
And then I fell.-Alaric the Damned
Pruin, the month of frost,
11 days, 221 years after…
after what?
What is Deadhaus?
What is death?
Is it a state of being?
Not a binary state,for while one may be living or dead,
so too may they be undead,which seems to be neither.
(00:26):
Perhaps it is a path alongwhich many wander?
With what I have nowseen, that seems more likely,
but I cannot say for certain.
I begin to suspecteven now that I know nothing.
When the light of El’Sabayoth’s messengerfaded,
control of my blood returned to me.
(00:47):
Of all the materials and forcesI have encountered in my time
as a vampire,
that being exerts the greatest influenceover my cursed blood--seemingly able
to command me--as if my blood recognizesits authority above my own.
And, given that it was
able to divert me from the childand the prisoner,
(01:09):
even the agony of my thirst bowsbefore the servant of the Gold.
With my bloodunder my own power once more,
I fled through frozenfields and rime-encrusted forests,
more silent than the falling snow,which no longer melted against my flesh
as it did in life.
Yet neither does the cold cut into meas it once did, for I am colder
(01:33):
still within.
Only when feeding,or before the sun, do I know any warmth,
as scorching judgement,or maddening elation.
At length I found the river that I sought
and coursed its watersto the outskirts of the Dregs.
To those that lay huddled in their hovels,
(01:53):
my embrace would have been a mercy…
or perhaps that is simplywhat the blood wishes me to believe.
I shudder to thinkthat it may be influencing my thoughts
in ways that I cannot perceive.
By the sign of the KnightI knew my way from the city.
Its starry steed charged near
(02:13):
to the horizon, to the west,and I followed.
When I came at last uponthe skeletal pillars,
I found that the liche’scircle lay in snowy ruin.
Tables were overturned, devices shattered.
The bodies that were once bound tothe pillars were strewn
about in various pieces,as was the body of the liche.
(02:36):
Its skull protruded from the snow,
grinning up at me,as if to say I was too late.
I stood in silence for a time,
gazing downin to the eyeless hollows of my enemy.
“One less monster in the world,”
I said at Last.
“Have you already forgotten
(02:56):
what I taught you?”a familiar voice echoed within me.
“You survived… there was a wraith!”
“So I’ve learned.”
“It attacked us in the depths.
Falk-Ghoulrevealed you to save us.”
"Irrelevant. We must prepare the Conflux.” “But…but you’re in pieces!”
"Irrelevant. We must prepare the Conflux.”
(03:18):
“But…but you’re in pieces!”
“A former vessel is in pieces; I endure.”
“How…” Then I remembered
what Amarax had told meabout the destruction of liches.
“… it did not find your phylactery.”
“It found five of them.
There were six.”
(03:39):
“Why keep them so close together?
Doesn’t that make you more vulnerable?”“They were not kept together.
A wraith is a fragmented being.
It can exist in many places at once.”
“But how did it find them?"
It found the fragments of my soulto itself.
(03:59):
That blinding lightto where the other fragments lay hidden.
“Your phylacteries…but not the sixth… why?”
“Because that fragment of my soulis intertwined with another.
The wraith did not recognize it.”“Another…” Suddenly,
the circle vanished from my sightand I stood in total darkness.
(04:23):
A pair of blue-green lampsignited from the black,
illuminating the face of the licheas I remembered it.
“Yes, Alaric… another."
“You cannot mean…”
“I suppose I should offer you my thanks.”
“I did not agree to this!”
(04:43):
“Yourconsent was not a component of the spell.”
“I could destroy you now…if I'm your last phylactery,
I could walk into the sea and cleanseyour blackened stain from Malorum!”
“That would be a most selfless act,so I’m rather assured
of my safety for the moment.”“Damn you to hell, Amarax!”
(05:05):
“There are many realms, young Alaric.
Which one is hell,
I cannot say.” The darkness of my innerself receded,
and once more I stood amid the snow-strewnruin of the liche’s circle.
“To some travelers,
this world could be hell,and what is paradise to them
(05:25):
could drive us insane.”“I spit on your philosophizing!
I will not aid you a single step moreuntil you extricate yourself.”
“Then we’llbe keeping each other company for a long,
long time.”“I will go to the Darklight Enclave!
I will tell them where you arehidden!” “Dissolving in the sea
(05:46):
would be a far less painful fatethan what the wraiths would do to you.
They feed on sufferingas you feed on blood.”
“So help me, Amarax,I will find a way to separate
our souls.” “How about a trade?” “Asif I could trust you!” “And why not?
(06:08):
I kept my end of our first deal.
I gave you knowledge in exchange for youraid.”
“Whileconcealing the true nature of our binding!
God knows what else you’renot telling me.”
"Do you mean to claim that you keep no secretsfrom me?”
This time, I had no reply.
“There are strange gaps in your memories
(06:31):
that I can neither account for nor access.
It’s almost as if I’mbeing blocked from them by magick…
but you don’t know how to do that.”Still I said nothing.
“I know the mark of Empyrean.
You are out of your depth, fledgling…but I could help you.”
(06:53):
“Help me?
You couldn’t even help yourselfagainst a wraith!” “Suppose
I had destroyed this one--theothers would soon know of it.
The cost of destroying them allwould be far greater
than the cost of reconstituting a vessel.”
“Could you destroy them all?” Irrelevant.
(07:13):
True power comes from the ability to plan
ahead, not to destroy.
You would do well to remember that.
“But won’t they discover your trick?
Won’t they come for both us?”
“In time, yes,
which is why we must spendwhat is left to us wisely.”
(07:34):
Realizing the perilthat I now shared with the archliche,
I saw no choicebut follow him for the time being.
“What must I do?”
“Gather the remains that are scatteredhere.
Take a portion of them to the pointsI show you.”
As he said this,I beheld the ground illuminated
(07:54):
by a configurationthat I knew was not truly present.
This image was being transposedupon my vision through magick,
a circular arrangement of eight smallercircles, with a ninth in the center,
and spiraling lines between them all.
“Nine Ancients, nine magicks,
(08:16):
nine Pillars, nine realms.”
Nine pillars… pray
tell me…in what fevered dream of a gibbering
imbecile is a monstrousspider considered a pillar?”
“Words and names
can carry more than one meaning.
Each of the nineAspects of Magick flow through Malorum,
(08:38):
who is also called the Twisted Mother.
Her children, the Pillars,are the ultimate manifestations
of these nine aspects.
They are at oncetitanic engines of magickal energy
and living,thinking servants of their mother’s will.
Even the smallest shard of their bodies
(08:59):
can generateoverwhelming energies of its aspect.”
“You still might have warned meit was a giant spider…
or at the very least you could havewarned me of the Clatter-clack.”
“The what?” “Thatdamnable creature in the Writhing Dark.”
I felt a shifting within my mind,
like cold fingers running behind my eyes.
(09:20):
“That is a Nameless Worm.” “The
ghouls said it was a Clatter-clack.” "The
ghouls live in a hole, coated in vomit.
These creatures are called Nameless Worms
because of their infusionwith the Nameless Aspect of Magick.
They were much smaller once.” “Bythe way, Alaric,
(09:42):
there are giant worms and spidersunderground--maybe
keep an eye out for those!”“We don’t have time for this.
You should be gathering the remains.”
Maybe I could gather them betterif Falk-Ghoul didn’t
have to melt off my hand to save mefrom a giant worm with no name!”
An echoingsigh resounded from my thoughts.
(10:05):
“This is true.
Allow me.”
Suddenly, and beyond my control,
I drew in a deep gulp of frozen airand released it in a sigh.
Mist poured from my mouth,enveloping my body,
replacing my fleshuntil only mist remained.
Then, no sooner had I become mistdid I feel a suction of air
(10:29):
from within my center,and the mist came swirling into it.
This suction became my lungs, my throat,
my mouth, drinking in the vaporous formI held only moments ago,
condensing once more into flesh.
All of the muck and bodily fluids fromthe mound were gone from me,
(10:49):
and my hand was restored,as if it had never been missing.
“You could have done thatthe whole time!?”
“Onlywith my primary soul in this vessel.”
“I am not a vessel!” “The wraiths will beon their way soon, Alaric!”
I redoubled
my efforts, now able to gatherthe frozen remains with both hands,
(11:12):
and Amarax instructed mewhere to place them.
“We must always begin on the left side.
These are the Aspects of Chaos.”
“Why must they be first?”“Because order arises from chaos.”
“Can’t order also fall into chaos?” “Yes,
(11:32):
but chaos is always the beginning.
Start at the second circle from the top;
this is the Abyssal Aspect.
It is the black womb of precreation,the domain of the Sun Eater.
Its energies weave curses and drink life,
just as S’sa-Naraj drinks light itself.
(11:54):
In this circle you must place any eyes
you can find, six if possible,
and make sure you leave thempointed at the ground.
Let them see nothing.”
I did as I was instructed,
plucking eyes from the severed headsthat sprouted from the snow
and turning their lifeless pupils downwardbefore placing them in the circle.
(12:17):
As I did this, the circle
faded from my sight and was replacedby the winding sign of a serpent,
and light receded from the sign,darkening its boundaries.
“Now, to the right side.
These are the Aspects of Order.
Again, the second from the top;
(12:38):
this is the Celestial Aspect.
From coldest dark came burning light,
the domain of the All-Fire.
Its energies smite the foes of El’Sabayoth
just as they empower those that serve him.
Here you must place a heart.”
(12:59):
Though the limbless torsosnearby were frozen solid,
it was nearly effortlessfor me to break through
one of their ribs and seize an icy heart.
As before, when I placed the frozen organwhere it belonged, the circle faded,
this time replaced by a circle of spears,radiating outward.
(13:19):
The snow around this sign melted;the heart sparked into flame
and crumbled to ash,and my blood bade me come no closer to it.
“Now the topmost circle on the right.
This is the Necrotic Aspect, for oncelight was born into the universe,
so too could it die, and death
(13:41):
is the domain of the Weaver.
Necrotic energiesgnaw away at all that they touch,
withering even mountainsto dust over time...
but not the servants of Allalmawt.
Here you must placethe skull of my former vessel.”
I wrenched the grinning skull of my enemy
(14:02):
from the snow and placed it in the circle,
and there was revealedthe symbol that is marked upon the moon,
and a brief image flickered in my thoughts
of red hair and pale skin.
“Across from this circle, its counterpart,the Psychic Aspect.
From death, there is rebirth.
(14:24):
The earliest life was simple,
but across eons of deathand rebirth, sentience arose,
and with it,dreams, the domain of Islirith.
Psychic energies
can inject the mind with nightmares.
If they are strong enough,
(14:45):
the nightmares can be made manifest.
A head must be offered here.
It needn’t be whole,but the brain must be intact.”
Taking one of the now eyeless heads fromthe snow and placing it into the circle
ignited the sign of a mad eye,which stared into me.
"That eye is following me...
(15:07):
when I move over here, it turns..."
“Pay it no mind.
Now we must invert the path of flesh,
as above, so below.
Second from the bottom, on the right,the Arcane Aspect.
From dreams come hidden knowledge,and with it the ability to create.
(15:29):
The Arcane is a domain of esotericthought,
of patterns that repeat themselves,that build themselves.
Many are the creations of
this domain, as many are the sides of Ohm.
We’ll need a brain here,
but you’ll have to shape itso that its lines are straight.”
(15:51):
“And… how… would I dothat?” “I fixed your hands.
Use them.”
Taking up another of the eyeless heads,
I bore down upon it with my gripuntil its skull cracked, then picked away
the piecesto reveal the blackened brain within.
I scooped out the putrefied organand took it to the circle.
(16:13):
“So… I just…” “Think of it as clay.
Make its edgesstraight.” “Could you not have made
these preparations in advance?”“You’ll have to forgive me;
I was being torn apartby hundreds of chains.”
I sighed and knelt in the snow,
reforming the boundaries of the brainas best I could so that they were square.
(16:36):
When the
offering was
sufficient, a pattern of many sideswas illuminated,
and its lighttraced through the wrinkles of the brain.
Very faintly,beneath the softest patter of snowfall,
I heard a gentle thrummingthat seemed to pulse in time.
“Into chaos next, across
(16:57):
from the Arcane, is the Nameless Aspect.
The trueboundary of knowledge is not ignorance,
but that which is unknowable.
This aspect,like its Ancient, has no name.
Its energies are volatile, unpredictable.
I do not use them, unless I must.
(17:20):
You would be wise to avoid them.
Here must be placed tongues,however many remain."
As it was, only two tongues remained.
I snatched the icy slabs of fleshfrom mouths
that no longer needed themand tossed them into the circle.
As I watched the luminous horns ignite,
(17:41):
I felt something stir within my blood…
something familiar, yet forgotten.
“Now, bottom left, the Temporal Aspect.
In time are three things,
all that was, all that is,all that will be,
each fragmented across the temporal flow.
(18:03):
So too is the Ancient of Timeshattered, as is its realm,
existing as fragments in places and timesbeyond counting.
Its magick can bend seconds into years,
or perforate centuriesso that they empty themselves in days.
To this circle, two hands must be given.”
(18:26):
As I droppedthe pair of hands into the circle,
I saw them slow as they fell, nevercoming to touch the ground, only to hang
suspended above the luminous symbolthat formed in the circle’s place.
“And here, at the end,there is only Uorou.
They are their own realm,
(18:46):
and they are many,but all of them are one.
To them belongs the Alchemical Aspect,
an aspect of change, throughwhich one thing may become another.
We need blood for this circle”“These bodies are too old…
and they’re frozen.” “Your blood won’tfreeze.” “I can’t extract mine.
(19:10):
It moves away from wounds.”“I can suppress that.
Use your fangs to open your wrist.”
“Fangs?” “Yes, Alaric.”
I reached into my own mouth,feeling the shape of my teeth.
The liche was right.
These were not the canines of a mortal,
but hideous, needle-like daggers.
(19:32):
“Be quick about it.
Your blood has an absurdamount of magickal energy--it is not easy
to suppress.” I stepped to Uorou’s
circle and brought my wrist to my mouth.
A cold shudder passed through my body.
“Now!” I bit down, and for the first time
since my death, I watched bloodspill helplessly from a wound.
(19:57):
It trickled down my arm,but also spattered onto the snow,
and was itselfshaped into the sign of a wave.
Once more, a cold shudderpassed through me, and the blood upon
my arm flowed back up into the wound,knitting it closed from within.
“Step away from the spilled blood--itwill try to return to you,”
(20:19):
Amarax warned me, and I obeyed.
With each of the outer circles filled,only the one in the center remained.
“The Primordial Aspect of Magickis at once destruction and creation.
It is the soul of Malorum herself…
the soul of all unconquered worlds.
(20:41):
Its voice is raging fires and howlingtempests.
Its words speak of retribution.
But before this circle is filled,
you must connect the symbols,
each aspect to its counterpart,
and each to Malorum, throughwhich all flow.”
(21:03):
“Connect them how?” How “Bones.
Strip the flesh from them,break them into smaller pieces.
There can be space between them,but not too much.”
“Tedious work,” “And the lines must arc.
No straight lines.”
(21:23):
I sighed and set to my taskwith grim determination.
“But why is flesh and bone required?
What have body parts at allto do with Aspects of Magick?”
Magic is meaning, made manifest,
and like flows to like.
Think of these offeringsas analogical talismans.
(21:46):
There are many potential substitutes,
so long as they holdthe necessary semantic resonance.
We continued our internal discourseas I worked, flaying frozen
flesh from bones and snapping themwith preternatural strength.
“I don’t understand.”
“What has a heart to do with the sun?”
(22:09):
“A heart?
It is red.
The sun is sometimesred.” “That is a partial connection.
If it was the only connection,
it would be a poor offering.
The lesserthe semantic resonance of its components,
the greater the magickal energyrequired to cast a spell.”
“A heart…may… live or die?” “Insufficient.
(22:35):
You can do better.”
“I don’t know the answer.
Just tell me.” “There is not one answer,
and the truth holds little valueif it is simply given.”
“You could give me a hint at least.”
“The universe is a tapestry
(22:56):
of symbols, and symbolshold many meanings.
The sun is one of them.
The heart is another.
What do these symbols share?”
“This sounds like poetry...” “Yes,
and what is poetry?”
“Bah, I don’t want to understand!”
Then, I realized as I placedthe last of the bones,
(23:20):
that I had seen the shapeof this ultimate configuration before.
Its materials were somewhat different, but
this was unmistakably the same spiral
as had been left by the wights.
“This spiral… it was at Ft.
Zaestra!” “It is a Nonary Conflux,
a symbol in itself.
(23:42):
Nine Ancients, nine magicks, nine houses,
nine spheres.” “What
is its purpose?” “There are many.
For us, it will rend the barrier betweenrealms so that we may pass.”
“How couldthe wights have known to make this?
They are mindless!”“Likely the same way that you did…
(24:05):
they were instructed.” “Bywhom?” “By whom,
indeed.” To this I said nothing.
“I could help you, Alaric.”
“Then help me finish this damned Conflux.”“Not yet.
Before the last circle is filled,we will need a lantern.
(24:25):
Searchthe snow; there should be a cage, black.”
I dug about for a time, discardingvarious trinkets and occult objects
until I dredged up a blackened cagethat was all too familiar to me.
“This?” “Yes,
but its light fled from the wraith.
You’ll have to track itdown.” “The Will-O’-Wisp?” “Indeed.
(24:50):
It fled to the north.
It won’t have gone far.”
I oriented myselfby the sign of the Knight,
putting him on my left before setting out,and the world rushed past in a blur.
“How do you see anything like this?”
“I don’t.
It’s reflex, remember?” “It’sdisorienting.” “Oh?”
(25:12):
I thought, coming to a halt.
“Can’t your magick help you see?”“I wouldn’t s--”
I bolted forward mid-thought,which cut the liche’s
words short, then came to an abruptstop some distance away.
“What was that?” “I… said...
there’s no--” Again I sprang fromthe snow, soundless, swifter than shadow.
(25:36):
Amarax’s thoughts dissolved and a faintsmile pulled at the corner of my mouth.
It had taken me some time to growaccustomed to the speeds
of which I am capable,and that was with the blood guiding me.
As a passenger in my body,Amarax must have felt
as if he was being fired from a cannonwhen I moved at speed.
He said little elseas I sped to the north.
(25:59):
Eventually, the white blanket of theforest floor was cast in soft blue light;
a faint ringing sound resonatedthrough the rime-encrusted trees.
The wisp I found orbiting the icy
trunk of a large tree,and I stopped some distance away.
“Alright, there it is.” “Now you’ve
(26:20):
got to catch it.” “What? Why?
I saw you point at itand force it to enter the cage before.”
“Better that I conserve my magickfor the journey ahead.”
“Just take some of mine then.”
“If I expend magick, it might be noticed.
The shadows might begin to lengthen,and if that happens, the cumulative
(26:43):
pain of our entire existence will be sheer
ecstasy next to what follows.”
“Fine… I’ll just go get it
then.” I leapt from the forestfloor, arcing toward the wisp
at tremendous speed,but then there was no wisp.
It did not move; it simply ceased to bewhere it was and appeared somewhere else.
(27:05):
I smashed face first into the icy
tree and came tumbling down into the snow.
“By the way, Alaric, it can teleport!”
“I didn’t tell you to just leap at itlike some kind of animal.”
“Alright, master liche…how do I catch the little blue ball?”
“Spiritual beings are not bound by thesame laws of movement as material beings.
(27:30):
You are unlikelyto capture one by movement alone.”
“What if I did this?”
I thrust my hand forwardwith outstretched fingers at the wisp,
and a shockwave burst from me,
scattering the snow along a pathto the wisp and striking the tree
it orbited with such forcethat the rime was blasted from it
and fell around usas so many crystal shards.
(27:53):
The wisp was gone before the shockwavereached it, now orbiting another tree.
“For the Weaver’s sake,think before you act!” “Well,
you weren’t telling me useful information,so I had to improvise.”
“A wisp is a lesser manifestationof the Primordial Aspect,
and like flows to like.
(28:15):
That is why it seeks trees.
It can feel the currents of its aspectflowing through them.”
“I’m feeling another blast comingon...” “You will not--”
“Then you’d better startspeaking plainly.” “The sign of Malorum,
do you remember it?”
“I do.” “Make it in the snow,
(28:35):
large enoughthat you could stand within it.”
I dug out the shape of clasping hands.
“Now, stand in the signand bury your feet.”
“What?” “Your feetmust be beneath the soil”
“I don’t see how this--” “Just do it!”I sighed,
scooped a couple of holes in the ground,and placed my feet into them.
(29:00):
“They must be covered by the soil.”Once more
I stooped, this time to cover my boots,so that I was sprouting from the ground.
“Now, take the cageand hold your hands toward the sky.”
“Like this?”I asked, raising both hands above my head.
“At an angle, a little lower.
(29:23):
Good.
Now… this will be risky… but…”
A strange sensation spread through my gut,
as if I were being pulledtoward the ground,
and at the same time the sign beneath mebegan to shine in the snow.
The flow of my bloodwithin me became sluggish,
as if it were growing thicker,and I felt my movements labored.
(29:47):
“Don’t move, Alaric.
Only the wind may move you.”
“What’s happening?” “You do not question.
You may only stand.
Dig deep.
Drinkwater.” “Wha--” “Think those thoughts.
Dig deep, drink water.
(30:08):
Say them in your mind!” “Dig deep,
drink water.” Then I saw the wisp
leave the orbit of its chosentree and drift toward the forest floor.
“Repeat it.
Don’t stop.” “Dig…
deep… drink…water…”
(30:30):
Even my thoughts were slowing,
but the wisp was drawing toward me.
“Dig…
dig…”
It began to orbit me,and I felt a strange familiarity
between us, as if we recognized oneanother for the first time.
“The cage, Alaric!
Use the cage, quickly” My arm trembled
(30:53):
against my effort to move it;I felt as if it would break.
With agonizing slowness, as if movingin a nightmare, I brought the cage closer.
I could not have caught even a fat child
at such speeds,but the wisp was unphased by my movement.
I watched in slow motionas I intercepted its path
(31:14):
with the cage, and the little doorsnapped shut behind it.
The wisp flickered,suddenly realizing its fate, and though
it pressed against the blackened bars,it could not pass them.
All at oncethe light faded from the sign of Malorum,
and a great tensionwas released from my gut.
I fell forward,catching myself on hands and knees,
(31:37):
feeling like a strange sack of fluids.
As I looked to my hands, a single leaf
had emerged from beneath my rightthumbnail.
I plucked it, which made me wince
in pain.“I’m not even…
going to ask…
what just happened.”
(31:59):
My thoughts flowed so quickly that I hadto pause between each few words.
“There wouldn’t be time to explain… look.”
I could feel the directionAmarax wished me to look, and as I did,
I saw the shadows of an ancient tree beginto stretch ever so slightly toward us.
“Get back to the circle.
(32:19):
Now!” A surge of energy rippled through me
from within,and I felt my strength return.
I was on my feet and rushingthrough the forest in an instant.
As I broke out of the trees,the Knight charged the skies to my right.
We reached the circle in moments,but I knew
such increments of timewere ages to a wraith.
(32:40):
“The center circle!
Stab the Soul Prism into Malorum!”The shadows of the skeletal pillars
began to lengthen, and a deep,stretching sigh emanated from them.
The wisp began to rapidly ricochetwithin its cage.
I cried out and drove the jade-like dagger
of the Soul Prism into the center circle.
(33:01):
As it pierced the ground,I heard the shuddering
whisper of the monstrous spiderfrom whence it came,
and pale green light rose from within it,
dull at first, then brighter,until it shone
as an emerald star,brighter than the moon.
And as it brightened,I heard a sound that I had heard before,
(33:22):
long ago, a low thrumming,rising in pitch.
It was the sound of the Cruciblebeing brought from a closed
to open configuration,only this was far more powerful.
The pitch rosehigher than the Crucible’s ever did,
and then the blinding green lightspilled out of the Soul Prism,
(33:45):
arcing along the lines that
connected Malorum’s circle to the others,and then the lines between them.
The circles were eachfilled with pale green light
in the same orderas I had made the offerings to them,
only so quicklyI could barely distinguish the sequence.
Then the circlein which rested the skull of Amarax,
the circle of Allalmawt, shonebrightest of all,
(34:09):
and its boundariesexpanded, passing beneath my feet
as they swept across the Conflux,devouring every other circle,
every arcing line.
And then I saw that I stood upon nothing,
for in the spacethat once held the Conflux,
nothing remained--no symbols,
no light, no snow, no soil.
(34:31):
Nothing… a hole in reality.
And then I fell.-Alaric the Damned
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