March 27, 2024 • 51 mins
Alaric and the ghouls descend into the darkness in search of the Soul Prism.
Credits:
Alaric Von Beller - George Ledoux
Falk-Ghoul - Matthew Curtis
Bo-Ghoul - Damon Alums
The Prisoner - Matthew Curtis
The Pillar - Jack Lindsey
The Messenger - Damon Alums
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):
Two hundred twenty-one
years now have passedsince the greatest empire of man crumbled…
or at least, that is what I once thought.
Now, after the things I have seen,the splendor of Ustilia is diminished,
and the greatest empiremay never be known.
There have been so many civilizations,now lost to time,
(00:27):
and the foundations of eachwere built on the bones of another.
Just as Thacea rose from Ustilia,
Ustilia rose from a predecessor,
as did its predecessor from another still.
The cycle of civilization,from empire to ruins, spins ever down
through the ages… and ever downthrough the darkness of the depths.
(00:50):
It was some time before my captorsdecided what to do with me.
I spent that time in the very cageI had crafted to contain the ghoul,
tracking the passage of daysby the counterpull of my blood
against the sun, which I could senseeven so far below the mountain.
Falk-Ghoul came to visitme regularly during my captivity.
(01:12):
He seemed to enjoy it.
“Poorlittle Alaric… never was very clever.”
“Clever enough to catch you.”
“Is that what you think?”
“Clever enough to shoot your arms off,”
“That was quite rude.”
(01:33):
“Oh, I’ve been far more graciousthan you deserve, ghoul.
I kept you fedwhen you were in this cage.”
“Hmm… very well.” The ghoul quickly
turned and crawled away, disappearingthrough one of the many tunnels.
Some time later,it returned, leading an emaciated man
with terrified eyes, hand in claw.
(01:55):
With a retch, itspit up the key to the cage,
which it pinched with the tips of twoenormous claws and unlocked the cage,
opening it just wide enoughto shove the other prisoner inside.
With a resounding click,
the cage was snapped shut,and the ghoul swallowed the key once more.
(02:17):
“Let it not be said that we are
ungracious,”
it said,and then scuttled away into a tunnel.
“Please…
don’t hurt me,” “I’mnot going to hurt you,”
I answered, trying to sound reassuring,but I could tell by his face
that he was just as afraid of meas the ghouls.
(02:39):
“What is your name?”
“Please, please!.”
He crouched into the farthest cornerof the cage,
hunkering down and wrapping his bonyarms around his knees.
He hid his face from meand would say no more, whatever I asked.
The next time Falk-Ghoul returned,he clicked in
(03:00):
what I assume was disapproval.
“Spurning food
is an insult here.” “This isn’t food.
It’s a human being.”
“Ohhh… this will be fun.”
“What do you mean?
And what have you done to this man?
Have you been starving him?”
(03:21):
“Starving?
We give him feasts.
He is a picky eater--picky,picky, yes.” “Why
will he not speak?” “To you?
Have you seen yourself lately?”Come to think of it,
I had not seen myselfsince the day of my death.
Falk-Ghoul leaned in for a sniff.
(03:42):
“We count three in the cage.
We will return to count again.”
And with that, it was gone.
I turned to the other prisoner once more.
“I’m going to try to get you out of here,
but I need you to tell me who you are.”I said, trying my best to ignore
(04:04):
the rising scent of burning nectarthat cut through the fetor of the mound.
The prisoner remainedcrouched into a pitiful ball.
I felt the blood pulling me toward him.
My handsseized his shoulders and lifted him.
It was like lifting a bundle of cloth.
He cringed and turned his facefrom me, shutting his eyes tight.
(04:24):
“Why?
Why won’t you look at me?”
“Vampire,”
Suddenly, wordsleapt from my throat without thought.
“Look at me!” I felt the prisoner’s bodytrembling to resist,
but his head slowly turned to face me.
When he opened his eyes, I felt a sort ofmagnetism through my gaze.
(04:46):
It was as if I could see into his eyes,
as if I knew him then, not in any waythat I could articulate in language,
but on some instinctual level.
His pupils dilated; his body went slack.
I had seen an effect like thisbefore, from my inquisitor’s
chimes.“Who are you?”
(05:08):
“I’m a dreg.
I’m just a dreg,” he answered, unableto look away from my eyes.
“From Jelrass?” “Not inside,
never inside.” “What are you doing here?
What are they doing to you?”“My name was in the tithe.
They’re trying to feed me.” “Feed you?
(05:30):
Feed you what?” “People.
Pieces and parts.” “Why?” “I don’t know.
I didn’t know.” “Didn’t know?”
“I thought it was just meat at first.
I was so hungry.”“Monsters.” “There’s another one.”
"What?” “I saw it.” “Saw what?”
(05:53):
“When I ate.
It wasn’t there before, but then I woke up
and it was watching me.”
“What was watching you?”
“The smiling thing… it’s
voice was like a rattle.”
I set the frail prisoner
(06:13):
back down and broke my gaze from his eyes.
He quickly returned to fetal positionin his corner of the cage.
Starvationand torture had broken his mind.
Another victim to avenge one day,after the Awakened were dealt with.
Yet though I attemptedto turn back to my side of the cage,
the blood would not allow it.
(06:35):
“No…”
I said, feeling myselfbegin to stoop down.
“No!” Onehand clasped around the prisoner’s throat.
I could feel his pulsebeneath his hollow neck,
and the bloodwithin began to pulse with it.
My arms trembled as I fought the blood,but still
the prisoner was drawn toward me.
(06:55):
I felt my mouth open; my teeth bared.
“Please, god…”
And then it stopped.
My blood released me,and I was able to stand again.
I quickly retreated to the farthest cornerof the cage,
facing away from the prisoner,gripping the bars with all my might.
Another daypassed, and Falk-Ghoul returned,
(07:18):
sniffing confusedly.
“Strange… very strange…
three remain.” “Forhow long will you keep me here, ghoul?”
“Another day,another year, another century,
(07:38):
perhaps.” “Amarax will wonder soonwhy I have not returned.”
“Amarax has sent us something strange…a vampire cannot deny the thirst.”
“I have fed on the blood of animals.
I will not feed on the blood of man.”
“Such choice should not be
within your power.”
(08:00):
It’s head
tilted left and rightas it sniffed deeply,
searching for the answer.“You’re wasting time here.
We must go below to seek the Soul Prism.”Falk-Ghoul turned from me
and crouched lowso that it’s head was near the other
prisoner.
“Hungry?
We have some treats for you.”
(08:23):
It pushed a clawful of intestinethrough the bars of the cage,
which splattered near the prisoner’s head.
“Leave himbe.” “You would have him starve?”
“Cannibalism is anathema!”
“Indeed, it is.”
(08:43):
The ghoul
began to retchand soon produced the key to the cage.
The door was unlocked and opened.
“Come along then Alaric,
the Damned.” “No more yearsor centuries?” “Not this time.”
As I stepped out of the cage,the ghoul closed it
behind me.
(09:07):
“We count one in the cage.
We will return to count again,”
it said, and then turned to leadthe way down one of the many tunnels.
As I followed, I sometimessaw tunnels branch into other rooms
bustling with activity among the ghouls.
But there was one roomthat was mostly empty,
save for the figures of several menand women encased
(09:30):
and suspended in the waxyresin of the walls.
From the look of them,they were all badly starving.
“Why must you torture them?
Is it not enough to take their lives?”
“They are our guests.
We offer them feasts.” “You must know whatyou’re saying is madness.”
“The moundis a place of great hospitality, yes.
(09:53):
” “I can’ttell if you actually believe that.”
I was taken then into a chamberunlike any other I had seen in the mound.
Here, the resin of the wallsand floor was not sticky
or pliantlike the waxy substance in other chambers.
These excretions were darker, rigid,
and smooth,almost as if they had been polished.
(10:15):
The floor heresank toward the center of the room,
in which lay a large pool of reekingbilious fluids.
The ceiling was so highthat I could not find it.
As we moved across the hardened resin,the chamber was filled
with the clattering of the ghoul’s claws,but still my own feet gave not a sound.
(10:36):
I saw then that many ghouls were gatheredhere.
Some clung to the walls, othersringed the bilious pool,
and still others sat within it.
I had not noticed them at first,because unlike
all the other chambers,the ghouls here were utterly silent.
As we neared the edge of the pool,
I felt my blood unsettled,and Falk-Ghoul turned to me.
(10:59):
“Vampires may not enter the sacred bile.”
“Sacred b….” “You will wait here.” “Just
out of curiosity…” “Becauseit will eat you.
No more slow-speak now.
Silence.” It then turned to take its placeamong the circle of ghouls
that sat within the pool,and I waited in silence.
(11:22):
For amoment the chamber was utterly quiet.
The ghouls were unmoving, unbreathing,and the bile was still.
Then a noiseI had not yet heard from them rose.
It was a low, croaking sound,
emanating from deep in a ghoul’s chest,and it sent ripples across the bile
(11:44):
as if from a thousand stones.
Another ghoul
joined, and another,tossing their heads back
and gaping their jawsso that they could swallow a man whole.
From the ring around the pool,from the walls, more voices joined
until the entirety of the chamberwas awash in the guttural croaking.
(12:07):
The surface of the bile was rippledfrom each ghoul within it,
and as the ripples collided
strange patterns began to coalesce.
Some of the voices
rose or fell, and with themthe patterns in the pool shifted.
I realized
that the ghouls were all coordinatingbetween each other,
not just bringing their voices intoalignment, but the patterns themselves.
(12:32):
For as their voices harmonized,
the shifting patterns stabilized,and the surface of the pool
became a strange triangular spiral,
rotating counterclockwise.
When this harmony manifested,my blood began to tremble
with the same frequency, and I felt itspinning counterclockwise within me.
(12:53):
Then, too,I became aware of something I was blind to
before--something elsewas in that chamber with us.
It was hidden to my sight,but my blood, brought into resonance
with the ghouls,could now sense its presence.
I cannot say what I feltexcept perplexion.
My blood had no recognitionof what it was sensing.
(13:18):
It was a thing outside of memory,outside of experience,
at least as far asthe blood curse could tell.
It was older.
It was other.
I cannot even guess at it.
And then, all at once,the ghouls fell silent.
The surface of the bile,and my blood, receded to stillness,
(13:39):
and the entity faded from my perception.
Falk-Ghoul emerged from the circle then,motioning for me to follow.
We moved through the tunnelswithout saying anything for a time.
“So… what exactly was that?” “You saw.
The ghouls were singing, yes.” “That’s
(14:02):
what you call it?” “What do you call it?”“I have no idea.
What was its purpose?”
“Difficult to say in slow-speak.
We will go below now.” “You will?
How many of you?”
“Only we,”
Bo-Ghoul said, trundling alongside us.
(14:23):
“Wonderful…will three be enough?” “Six,
we have,” “Fiveand a half, with this vampire, yes.”
“Yes, let
us pray that retrieving the Soul Prismdoes not require simple arithmetic.”
I followed the ghouls through the tunnels,ever downward,
(14:44):
until wax gave way to rock and dirtonce more.
The tunnels here were less maintained,more irregular in their shape,
and we came upon a great holeon the ground that opened into nothing.
The three of usstood peering down into the abyss.
“After you,”
“I can’t see the bottom.”
(15:07):
“Let us help.”
Before I could answer, a mighty clawthrust
against my backand pitched me into the hole face first.
I plummeted through eternal night,flailing, grasping at nothing.
I know not how long I fell, only thatI was able to envision quite a detailed
revenge on the armored ghoulbefore I touched solid ground again.
(15:30):
I landed as if I had not fallen at all,
but merely taken a gentle step,soundless in the dark.
Why this fall did not provokea transformation into mist, I do not know.
Perhaps the better questionis why the fall from Deadhaus Gate
did, for I now believeno fall from any height can harm me.
(15:50):
I took account of my surroundings,unimpeded by the lack of light.
I stood on a bed of fineash, gray to my eyes,
that stretched all around meas a vast desert.
There were no dunes in this ashen desert,
for no winds moved beneath the mountain.
Instead, there were strange patterns
(16:12):
in the sand,wide curves marked with ridges
that ran for some length, disappeared,and emerged elsewhere.
When I
turned around, I found a sheer stone wall,too large to be anything but a natural
formation, too smooth to be anything
but manmade… or made by something.
(16:33):
As I marveled at the vast edifice,
I saw a pair of shapesdescending along its face.
It was the ghouls.
They crept down the wallwith the same ease they crept along
the ground, Bo-Ghoul in the lead
and Falk-Ghoul trailing behind.
At length they reached the surface,
(16:54):
or very nearly the surface of the ashand paused there,
clinging to the wall.
“Told you he would be fine,”
“Just take me to the damn Soul Prismso I can be rid of you.”
“A ways yet, Alaric the Damned,
We must cross the Writhing Dark.”
(17:17):
“Then let’s be done with it.”The ghouls glanced at one another,
exchanged a few clicks,but remained perched to the wall.
Bo-Ghoul tentatively stretched a claw down
and scratched a line in the ash,
and they exchanged glances once more.
“Well? What are you waiting for?”
(17:38):
“This place is
less safefor ghouls than for vampires” “And
why is that?”“Vampires are very quiet, yes.
Nothing can feel their feet falling.”
“Vampires prance,”
“Do my ears deceive me?
(17:59):
The mighty ghouls afraid?”
Bo-Ghoul grumbled in his throatand slowly descended from the wall.
He took a few careful steps forward,
then glanced back at Falk-Ghoul,who followed.
They paused again at the base of the wall,
sniffing.
(18:24):
“What do a vampire’s eyes see?”
Falkor Ghoul asked, motioning ahead.
“Nothing. Ash.
Some markings."
“No stones?” I looked more carefully,
and amid the grayI discerned block-like forms.
“Yes… yes, I think so.” "You
(18:45):
must go to the closest stoneand wait for us.” "Why?"
“They smell as ashes.
We cannot find them from afar, no.”
And you must take this.
Bo-Ghoul added,hawking up a chunk of flesh,
slick with fluid,which it then plucked from the ground
(19:09):
and offered to me.“In god’s name, why?”
“So we can find you.”
“What is it?” The armored ghoul clasped my hand with one of its claws
and slapped the drippingchunk into my palm.
“Spleen.
Give it a squeezeit when you reach the stone.”
(19:34):
I looked downat the oozing organ in disdain.
I could not guess at Bo-Ghoul’sface, behind his mask of bone,
but I have no doubtit was marked with satisfaction.
“If the ash moves,
come back to the gate.
They will not near
(19:57):
“What gate?
Who?”
“The World Gate,”
it motioned back toward the enormous
wall.“The World
Gate--do you mean to say that, that,that wall is part of the same structure--”
Shh. Bo-Ghoul hissed.
(20:19):
“The World Gate goes all the way down.”
“My god…who could have built such a thing?”
“Their bones are dust.
Their voices are whispers, yes,”
(20:42):
“Make haste now, Alaric…
but quietly.”
I turned to findthe nearest block of stone,
then glanced back at the ghouls,who nodded silently.
Whatever might have been waiting for meout there, I could not guess it.
My blood sensed nothing,and yet the ghouls were clearly wary.
(21:04):
Still,I had my part to play in this expedition,
and so I began to move, leavingno footprints in the ash as I crossed it.
No sound stirred in the darkbeneath the mountain as I strode,
and it was not longuntil I reached what I then
realized was a chunk of ancient masonry.
I leapt atop the stonewith soundless ease, then turned back
(21:27):
to see the figures of the ghoulshunkered near the gate, sniffing. I
held thespleen aloft, gently squeezing it,
which caused a spurt of fluidto squelch forth.
Then the ghouls began to stir.
Falk-Ghoul retched and spita chunk of something in a remarkable arc.
The indiscernible chunk landedsome distance away,
(21:49):
scattering the ash where it fell,and then I heard it,
the rushing of a great massbeneath the surface.
My eyes darted to the source of the sound,and I could see the ash
swelling as something passed under it,winding back and forth
along a curved path toward the chunk.
As soon as the unseen thing began to move,so did the ghouls,
(22:12):
directly toward me at great speed…
well, great speed for ghouls.
Just as they began to clamberatop the stone,
the chunk vanished in a spray of ash,and all was still.
“You might have mentionedthere was a creature.”
“Sometimes there is
not.” “Well, what is it?”
(22:35):
“Clatter-clack.”
At the mention of this name, Bo-Ghoulshuddered in its armor.
“Is that an animal?
Is it undead?”
“We haven’t asked it.” “Vampire can try,”
“Where are we going now?” “To the center.
Do you see?” “No… I don’t know.
(22:58):
What am I lookingfor?” “Stones that are lower.”
I looked again more carefully and noticedthere was a slight sloping of the ash
ahead, a rounded dipping,as if this desert sat in a great bowl.
And here and there alongthe gently sloping ash
were the mangled ruins of ancient masonry.
(23:21):
“But onlyas far as this stone is to the gate.
We are not as quick as you.”
“Stronger though… and more clever, yes,”
"You know.
I could lead you straight into the ash,
far from any stones, if I wanted.” “No
(23:42):
Soul Prism then.”
“And your thirst would find youbefore you found a way out,”
I turned from the ghouls,saying nothing, and leapt so that I sailed
through the dark and landed silentlyon a crumbled arch some distance away.
I saw them sniffing,trying to guess where I had gone.
(24:06):
I thought of tossing the spleeninto the ashes,
having them run to itonly to find no platform to climb upon.
But two ghouls were not worthlosing intelligence from the liche.
I held the spleen aloftand gave it a squelching squeeze.
Once more, Falk-Ghoul retched and spita chunk of something far away,
(24:27):
and once morethe ashes shifted as an unseen thing
dug its winding path beneath them.
The ghouls
frantically clambered toward the arch,barely able to fit upon it for its size.
“Bigger stones!
Need bigger stones!” Falk-Ghoul hissed,turning to look back at the chunk,
(24:48):
which had vanished.I smiled,
but said nothing, and leapt again,
this time to the shattered top of a towerthat had sunken into the ash.
With a squeeze of the spleen,the process was repeated.
The bait was thrown,and the Clatter-clack went winding.
Now the ghouls began to climb
(25:08):
confusedly in circles alongthe stones of the shattered tower top.
I watched them for a whilebefore calling out.
“I’m up here, clever ghouls.”They followed my voice,
joining me with some disgruntled rattlesin their throats.
“Difficult
to smell when so much has been burnt,”
(25:31):
Falk-Ghoul said, now covered in ash
from head to claw.“What is this place?
How was it burned?” I asked, surveyingthe area surrounding the tower.
There had clearly been a city here once,but all that remained
were so many blastedfragments scattered across the ashes.
“The Writhing Dark, an end
(25:54):
of reign, where sleepless lie great stonesunmade,”
“The broken bones of cities slain, the
ashes of a house betrayed,”
“One of the Great Houses?”
(26:14):
“Long, long ago,”
I knew better than to pressa ghoul for specifics,
and so I simply turned and leapt again,taking no small satisfaction in the fact
that, from their point of view,I was simply vanishing.
Without the spleen to guide them,I could truly disappear, if I so chose.
After giving the signal I watched from atoppled tablet whose etched writings
(26:39):
I could not recognizeas the ghouls flung their bait,
but this timethe thing beneath the ashes did not move.
Again, Falk-Ghoul retched and spit
another chunk, but still nothing.
All was silent.
I could see thatthe two were exchanging clicks.
Perhaps the creature had gone?
(27:00):
Bo-Ghoul stretched a claw downand dug a line in the ash.
Nothing.
Tentatively, the
armored ghoul set himself down
and moved some distance from the towerbefore glancing back,
and Falk-Ghoul followed.
They moved very slowly, very cautiously,
(27:21):
though not without sound as I do.
Then, when they were away from the tower,perhaps a third of the way to me, the
ashes began to shift as the Clatter-clackfuriously drove toward them.
The ghouls broke into an ungainly gallop,as fast as their twisted forms
could move.
As a human, it might have impressed me.
(27:43):
But the Clatter -clack was far quicker,even submerged in the ash.
When it became apparentthat they wouldn’t make it,
Bo-Ghoul turned about and charged,tucking its armored head
so that it slammed facefirst into the oncoming creature.
Falk-Ghoul paused, glancingback at what I could only perceive as
a frenzy of thrashing limbs and sprayingash, then darted toward the tablet
(28:07):
and leapt to perch upon its edge,peering back at the violence. I
hearda great cracking, a splitting of bone,
and then watched as Bo-Ghoul emergedfrom the cloud of ash,
charging on all fourstoward the two of us.
Its helmet was gone, and a torn
and ragged facelay exposed to the darkness.
(28:29):
Again,the ashes began to shift as a winding path
spread at great speedtoward the retreating ghoul.
Just as Bo-Ghoul reached the tablet,its back
claws were pulled beneath the ash,dragging it down to the waist.
It reached with one claw, whichFalk-Ghoul clasped, digging its own hind
claws into the tablet, but they scrapedmany gashes into the stone
(28:52):
as the Clatter-clack pulled both ghoulsdeeper.
Falk-Ghoul turned to me and reached,and I clasped his misshapen wrist.
We all pulled,and Bo-Ghoul was torn free of the ash…
or at least his torso was torn free.
His legs were ripped from their sockets,leaving
nothing but mangled stumps in their place.
(29:16):
Then a furious noise rose from the ashes,
a clacking so sharp and full of malicethat my blood pulsed with it.
The tablet upon which we stood began
to tremble, and to my horror, to sink.
Falk-Ghoul scooped up his leglesscompanion, hoisted him
over his shoulder,and turned to me. “To the center!
(29:37):
We will find you!” “You won’t make it;you’re too slow!” But it gave no answer.
It leapt from the tabletand began to scuttle on three limbs,
its remaining arm clutchingBo-Ghoul over its shoulder.
“Damn it all!”I leapt out into the ash, clawing at it
with my hands, making as much noiseand movement as I could.
(29:59):
When the tablet had sunken
beneath the ash, the winding path beganto move once more, this time toward me.
“That’s right, you son of a bitch,this way.” With alarming speed,
the mound of ash snapped backand forth, its length at least 10 men.
But just as it neared my feetI sprang up, bounding
clear of the spray of ash and arcingthrough the darkness after Falk-Ghoul.
(30:22):
As I sailed through the dark,I saw the Clatter-clack’s
path immediatelydiverge toward the ghouls,
closing in on thembefore I could even land.
I moved in a blur to intercept, darting
between the oncoming creatureand the ghouls before swerving away.
It didn’t work.
The creature kept driving toward them.
(30:44):
I darted in again, reaching downto rake my hand along the ash
as I retreated this time,but I was not fast enough.
A hideous head burst forth from the ash,
eyeless, a chitinous lobeguided by many striped feelers.
Beneath this,
a pair of
mandibles swung wide as bony scythes,
(31:04):
and a segmented body bore many bristles.
Those horrible mandiblesclamped down onto the hand
closest to the ash, and I saw thatthe chitin of this creature shimmered,
like oil on the surface of water.
I struggled to free myself,
the blood surging into my arm,giving me strength, but it was not enough.
(31:24):
And the Clatter-clackdid not wish to take only a piece of me.
Its many bristles twitched,pulling us both downward, into the ash.
Then I heard Falk-Ghoul retch,and a glob of bilious fluid
splattered against my wrist, hissingand smoking immediately upon contact.
My hand and wrist dissolved in the fluid,freeing me
(31:46):
from the grip of the Clatter-clack.
I stumbled backward, falling,righting myself, leaping, all in
perhaps a second of time, and still thatdamnable thing was snapping at my heels.
From the vantage pointto which I had leapt, I could see
at last the center of the WrithingDark, its lowest point,
an enormous hole, perfectly circular,leading further down into the depths.
(32:11):
With a glance down I saw
the creature closing in on the ghoulsonce more.
I leapt again, landing alongside them
as it burst from the ground,seizing Falk-Ghoul’s left claw.
The ghoul immediatelyreached down and bit its own wrist,
severing the claw before charging forward,but the Clatter-clack
seized its left arm again in a flash.
(32:33):
“No!” I shouted, reaching forwardwith outstretched fingers,
and I felt a shockwavepulse through my blood.
It surged down my arm,through my outstretched fingers,
and burst out of me into the world.
The ash between myselfand the Clatter-clack was cloven
like water in the wake of a ship,and the creature was struck
as if by a battering ram, hissingin a terrible wrath.
(32:56):
Falk-Ghoul was released, and desperatelydashed for the great opening,
and I leapt over the creature,which stretched up out of the ash
to such great height that it stoodas a shimmering tower of many segments.
As I arceddirectly toward its mighty jaws,
I thrust my hand forward once more,and a crack of unseen
(33:17):
power surged from me,smiting the hideous creature
so that it crumpled to the ashand writhed in hissing rage.
Then I fell.Into the great mouth
I plummeted, wondering for how longI would fall.
Only a brief moment, it turned out.
Falk-Ghoul caught me by the coat
(33:37):
as it clung to the rim of the openingby its clawed feet.
Bo-Ghoul’s torso was tuckedunder Falk-Ghoul’s clawless arm.
“Need a hand here,”
Falk-Ghoul said, and Bo-Ghoul reachedforward, offering one of his claws,
which Falk-Ghoul snapped off at the wristwith its teeth and devoured in seconds.
(33:59):
Then I watched as the flesh at the ghoul’swrist reformed itself
in a squelching, tearing display of gore.
Falk-Ghoul opened and closed its freshclaw.
“Hmm… need more.”
Bo-Ghoul’sother claw was offered, then it’s arm,
and then it’s other arm,all of which Falk-Ghoul devoured,
(34:21):
and then new limbsburst from its back so that it had six.
“Much appreciated.”
With two of its armsit carried Bo-Ghoul and myself.
With the other fourit began to clamber down the wall.
“That was madness,” “You did well,” “Did
(34:44):
ok.” “But
what was that thing!?” “The Clatter-clack”
“You charged straight into it!”
“Took my face, yes.”
“It took your legs,
too!” “Still got arms.” “You don’t,
though!” “They’re only borrowed.”
(35:06):
“And you,
You melted my hand!” “You’re welcome.”
“I just got that back!”
“You will again, yes.” “And I…
I got that Clatter-clack!” “You did,”
“Amarax failed to mention such a creature
when he sent me.” “Amarax is this way.
(35:29):
Sends us on a task, givesno details, does not help,
does not observe.”
“Liches,”
“Liches,” “But it’s not dead, is it?
The Clatter-clack… it’s still up there.”
“Not dead, no.
(35:49):
But might be gone when we return.
Goes elsewhere sometimes,”
I was about to inquireas to how we might bypass the creature
when the perfectly circular tunnelopened into a titanic cavern.
Falk-Ghoul clamberedfrom the wall of the tunnel
to the ceiling of the cavern, and I gazedin complete awe at the city below.
(36:13):
A vast and motionless metropolislay utterly silent
at the bottom of the cavern, its buildingsassembled of cyclopean stones,
each as big as a fortress.
That it had been deadand abandoned for eons
there was no doubt, for a greatblanket of dust was laid upon all things.
(36:33):
But what manner of people could have livedhere?
What manner of sorcerycould have assembled such stones?
And this city was so farbeneath the mountain, below
the ruins of yetanother civilization utterly lost to time.
But all were dwarfed by the World Gate,
which descended even here, from cavernceiling to cavern floor
(36:58):
and beyond,an endless wall of smoothest stone.
“Who built this city?"
“We know not their names,”
“The dust of bones gives no visions,”
I watched for a time in silenceas we descended
(37:19):
the wall, and the massive stonesof the nameless city rose
until they dwarfed usas we settled on the rocky floor.
Falk-Ghoul led us in as wide a berth
as could be managedaround the enormous stones, but eventually
we came close enough to discern etchingsin the ground that radiated from the city.
They reminded me of those in the liche’s
(37:41):
circle--not identical, but very similar.
When Falk-Ghoul’s claws brushed overthe grooves,
it stopped in its tracks and turned to me.
“We’llhave to cross the silent lines,” “Are
they dangerous?” “Magickcannot speak among them, no.”
“Spells… like words or phrases.”
(38:04):
Falk-Ghoul nodded and moved ahead,
still carrying Bo-Ghoul beneathone of its many arms.
I followed, and as I crossedover the lines I felt a strange sensation,
as if a thick blankethad been placed over me,
pressing in from all directions.
“The ones who builtthis city must have etched these lines.”
(38:26):
“Perhaps.” “It would protect them
from magick.”
“Or keep them from using it,”
I saw ahead
a crack in the cliff-like walls;Falk-Ghoul was head ed directly for it.
But as we drew nearer, a sound emanatedfrom the shadows of the opening,
(38:47):
a deep and stretching sighthat put my blood
on full alert.
“Stay near to us!”
Falk-Ghoul hissed,and I quickly strode to its side.
I saw then the shadows of the passagebegin to leak and spill,
as if they were fluid,sliding along the cavern floor,
(39:07):
stretching out into the image of a hoodedfigure.
The hooded shadow roseslowly from the floor, coming upright,
a cloak of impenetrable black, and
beneath itI heard the faintest clinking of chains.
I knew what this was.
With the same deliberate languor,
(39:28):
its shadowedsleeve rose to reveal stretching fingers
that billowed like black smoke, curlinguntil one remained,
pointing at me.
“This meat belongs to the mound!”
Falk-Ghoul hissed at the wraith,but it remained unmoving.
Then, in an instant of time so briefthat I simply could not perceive it,
(39:51):
the wraith vanished from the openingand appeared alongside me.
Bo-Ghoul, whose head rested near me,
bore its teeth and hissed.
The wraith’s hood turned to regard
the ghoul for a moment, then back to
me. Again, in a mere flicker,the wraith was gone,
manifestingin that same instant on my other side.
(40:13):
I do not think that it was movingat great speed, not in the way that I do.
It was more like it hadsimply always been in the next position
it chose, and any memory of itsomewhere else was mistaken.
Falk-Ghoul whirled and bore its teeth,advancing slightly,
and the wraithvery slightly drifted backward.
(40:34):
Then the wraith’s sleevesraised slightly from its sides;
its shadowyfingers opened, and many chains unfurled
from the depths of its cloak,stretching outward in all directions,
bending toward the threeof us with their hooked tips.
“This is not
the one you want!” Falk-Ghoul hissed.
I could hear the desperationedging in its voice.
(40:58):
“There are two.
Amarax is the other.”The wraith’s hood tilted for a moment,
then glanced up and away from us.
Another stretching sigh emanatedfrom the shadowy being as it withdrew
into the darkness of the opening aheadand became one with it.
All of us were silent for a moment.
“You have betrayed the liche,”
(41:21):
“Amarax stands a better chance
against that thing than us.
It is what the liche would want,”
“It will come for him?” “It already has,
yes.” “Then we should make haste.” We passed into the fissure
at the base of the cavern wallthat led further down into the depths.
(41:42):
Falk-Ghoul led us througha winding network of tunnels,
marked with millions of tinyholes, the size of coins,
navigating by smellthrough so many branching paths
I could not rememberif I gave my life to their study.
For so
long did we descend,through darkened spaces perhaps untouched
by any living thing, pastfanning walls of crystal,
(42:05):
and vents of scalding steam.
And then at last I was laidto rest on the floor of a vast chamber
in which towereda twisted spire of darkened jade.
“Here is where you do
your work,” “There?”I pointed to the strange tower.“
The Soul Prism?” “A Pillar of Malorum,”“The liche told me this name…
(42:29):
he said it was one of the Great Houses,the Pillars.” “They
are the first house, as we are the last.”
“But it’s just a massive stone.”
“It is a Pillar of Souls, yes,”
“There are many pillars,as there are many magicks.
(42:51):
Take a piece from the Pillar
and that piece will flow with its magick.”
“A Soul Prism…” “Yes,”
“How do I extract a piece?”"Quietly,"
“Or you will join the Pillar,
and not even the Weaver could unstitchyou then.”
(43:15):
Though I was not surewhat these warnings entailed,
I was sure enoughthat they were something to be avoided.
I was also sure of my abilityto be soundless.
I gave the ghouls a parting nodand set out toward the pillar.
As I crossed the vast chambertoward the massive pillar,
I was reminded of a Grand Inquisitor
(43:36):
who once crossed a strange chambertoward a massive pyramid.
Another life.
Drawing closer, I could discern
no details on the toweras I might on human architecture.
Its twisted shape seemed to suggestit was melted rather that assembled
or carved, a warped tower of green so darkit was almost black.
(43:59):
Once I had arrivedat the base of the structure,
I reached out and placed my remaining handagainst the surface.
Something stirred in my blood,
a faint unease.
The stone was cold to the touch,colder than my dead hand,
but no sign was giventhat the Pillar had noticed me.
(44:21):
It was unchanged.
I began to circle its base,inspecting its surface for any flaws,
anywhere I might be able to grip and pry,but there was nothing,
nor was there anything resemblinga foothold that I could spy higher up.
Still, the top of the spirewas narrower than its base.
(44:41):
Perhaps there was a slope
sufficient to hold me…perhaps the blood would know.
I closed my eyes, felt the bloodswirling into my legs, and leapt.
I landed soundlessly, one hand
clasping around the tip of the spirefor balance.
I paused for a moment, listening,but nothing stirred.
(45:02):
From here I could see the ghouls as one
tiny shape,indistinguishable from each other.
Once more, I inspected the Pillar,but the only potential weakness
I could discernwas perhaps the tip of the spire itself.
It was thin enough thatperhaps I could break a piece of it off…
(45:23):
but could this be done silently?
I hooked my handless arm around the spire
and tightened my grip upon its tip.
“Carefully,” I said to myself.
With a twist of the wrist, a piecebroke free, perhaps as large as a knife.
It made the slightest sound.
(45:44):
All at once, my blood began to bubble.
The floor of the cavern belowcracked and split, and Falk-Ghoul
immediately fled, disappearingfrom my sight back into the tunnels.
I leapt from the tip of the spire,sailing through the dark, but to where?
The ground fell away beneath me, and ayawning abyss opened to swallow me whole.
(46:06):
I fell, and my body took a deep breaththat I released in a sigh of mist.
But there was not enough time.
I struck something--a rope it almostfelt like--and my sigh was choked shut.
I could not change.
Desperately,I urged the blood into my limbs,
but my movementsonly entangled me further.
(46:27):
I looked to the rope, but to my shockI could barely perceive it.
It was given shapeby the faintest reflection of light,
spreading in all directionsin a symmetry of net-like structure,
but the rope itselfwas practically invisible.
Then I felt it trembling beneath me,
sharp vibrations that faded quickly,
(46:49):
like the pluckingof a stringed instrument.
And then I saw the shadow that rushedtoward me, greater than a dragon, and
knew by its shape that this was no rope.
It was a web.
The twisted spirefrom which I broke a fragment was itself
but a fragment of the true Pillar,which lay beneath the cavern floor,
a spider,a twisted abomination of a spider.
(47:13):
Each of
its legs were shapedas twisting stalks of blackest green
that danced effortlesslyacross its unseen web,
as if it were gliding through the darknessitself.
Its abdomen, a swollen mass of stone-likechitin, bore a mark along its underside,
the vague impression of a visagedistorted in agony.
(47:34):
It brought its monstrous headbefore me, warped fangs,
four enormous eyesthat shone with baleful green light.
I was a but a mote in those eyes,a feeble thing
trapped before one of the world’sgreat powers.
I struggled as best I could, trashing atgreat speeds in the web.
(47:54):
Suddenly, it felt as if any icy knifewere sliding through my brain,
and with it came a deafening whisper,
the voice of a woman.
“Shhhhhhhhh….lie still
in the cold stream.”
(48:18):
The voice permeated me.
It wasn’t speaking to me;it was speaking to my blood,
which began to flow as molasses.
Still I struggled,but it was a drunken resistance now.
The great spider’s fangs rose,and I saw their tips
glistening with luminescent dew.
(48:39):
My blood gave me no warning.
My blood was crippled.
“El’Sabayoth…” I managed to slur.
“El’Sabayoth preserve me.”
The fangs descended, far more quicklythan something
so large should be able to move,and then I was blinded.
(49:01):
Golden light envelopedme--I was weightless--and
when it faded I opened my eyes once again
to find myself in a grassy field.
The stars shone brightly overhead.
“BE NOT AFRAID,”
a voice like many waters washed over me.
(49:22):
I turned in horror and awe, and thereit was, just as it had been in Ft.
Zaestra, the winged thing of onlywings, the eyes of judgement.
I fell to my knees.
My blood left my command entirely.
“BE NOT AFRAID,”
(49:42):
“Please…
what do you want!?” “THRICEHATH THOU PRAYED.
THRICE HATH THOU BEEN DELIVERED.”
“Three times?”I murmured, unable to form my thoughts.
“THE PILLAR, THE PRISONER, THE CHILD.”
“El’Sabayoth…”the realization dawned on me then.
(50:06):
“You?” “A MESSENGER.”
“What….
what message?” I could not bring myselfto meet its eternal gaze.
“THE EMBERS OF THE ALL-FIRE YETBURN ON MALORUM.
THE GOLD WILL BE REKINDLED.”
“I don’t… I don’t understand.”
(50:26):
“HIDDEN BY THE FAITHFUL, GUARDEDFROM THE HERETICS.”
“Why… why tell me this?”
“IT IS THY DESTINY.”“OF
THY FLESH THOU SHALT GIVE TO THE GOLD,
AND THUS SHALT THE DAWN COME.”
“There must be a mistake…I didn’t know my prayers would be heard!
(50:49):
I didn’t know any of this!” “BE SILENT!”
The words struck me like a thunderbolt,flinging me to my face.
“WHEN THE SERPENT SWALLOWS THE SEED,
WHEN THE FOUNTAIN SWALLOWS THE SUN,
I WILL RETURN AND BEAR THEE TO THY FATE.
AMEN.”
(51:11):
And then it was gone,
so swiftly that it was likeit had never been there, and I was left
alone in the field, clutching a darkjade shard in my remaining hand,
listening to the wind in the grass,whispering
a wordlessprophecy. -Alaric the Damned.
Two hundred twenty-one
years now have passedsince the greatest empire of man crumbled…
or at least, that is what I once thought.
Now, after the things I have seen,the splendor of Ustilia is diminished,
and the greatest empiremay never be known.
There have been so many civilizations,now lost to time,
(00:27):
and the foundations of eachwere built on the bones of another.
Just as Thacea rose from Ustilia,
Ustilia rose from a predecessor,
as did its predecessor from another still.
The cycle of civilization,from empire to ruins, spins ever down
through the ages… and ever downthrough the darkness of the depths.
(00:50):
It was some time before my captorsdecided what to do with me.
I spent that time in the very cageI had crafted to contain the ghoul,
tracking the passage of daysby the counterpull of my blood
against the sun, which I could senseeven so far below the mountain.
Falk-Ghoul came to visitme regularly during my captivity.
(01:12):
He seemed to enjoy it.
“Poorlittle Alaric… never was very clever.”
“Clever enough to catch you.”
“Is that what you think?”
“Clever enough to shoot your arms off,”
“That was quite rude.”
(01:33):
“Oh, I’ve been far more graciousthan you deserve, ghoul.
I kept you fedwhen you were in this cage.”
“Hmm… very well.” The ghoul quickly
turned and crawled away, disappearingthrough one of the many tunnels.
Some time later,it returned, leading an emaciated man
with terrified eyes, hand in claw.
(01:55):
With a retch, itspit up the key to the cage,
which it pinched with the tips of twoenormous claws and unlocked the cage,
opening it just wide enoughto shove the other prisoner inside.
With a resounding click,
the cage was snapped shut,and the ghoul swallowed the key once more.
(02:17):
“Let it not be said that we are
ungracious,”
it said,and then scuttled away into a tunnel.
“Please…
don’t hurt me,” “I’mnot going to hurt you,”
I answered, trying to sound reassuring,but I could tell by his face
that he was just as afraid of meas the ghouls.
(02:39):
“What is your name?”
“Please, please!.”
He crouched into the farthest cornerof the cage,
hunkering down and wrapping his bonyarms around his knees.
He hid his face from meand would say no more, whatever I asked.
The next time Falk-Ghoul returned,he clicked in
(03:00):
what I assume was disapproval.
“Spurning food
is an insult here.” “This isn’t food.
It’s a human being.”
“Ohhh… this will be fun.”
“What do you mean?
And what have you done to this man?
Have you been starving him?”
(03:21):
“Starving?
We give him feasts.
He is a picky eater--picky,picky, yes.” “Why
will he not speak?” “To you?
Have you seen yourself lately?”Come to think of it,
I had not seen myselfsince the day of my death.
Falk-Ghoul leaned in for a sniff.
(03:42):
“We count three in the cage.
We will return to count again.”
And with that, it was gone.
I turned to the other prisoner once more.
“I’m going to try to get you out of here,
but I need you to tell me who you are.”I said, trying my best to ignore
(04:04):
the rising scent of burning nectarthat cut through the fetor of the mound.
The prisoner remainedcrouched into a pitiful ball.
I felt the blood pulling me toward him.
My handsseized his shoulders and lifted him.
It was like lifting a bundle of cloth.
He cringed and turned his facefrom me, shutting his eyes tight.
(04:24):
“Why?
Why won’t you look at me?”
“Vampire,”
Suddenly, wordsleapt from my throat without thought.
“Look at me!” I felt the prisoner’s bodytrembling to resist,
but his head slowly turned to face me.
When he opened his eyes, I felt a sort ofmagnetism through my gaze.
(04:46):
It was as if I could see into his eyes,
as if I knew him then, not in any waythat I could articulate in language,
but on some instinctual level.
His pupils dilated; his body went slack.
I had seen an effect like thisbefore, from my inquisitor’s
chimes.“Who are you?”
(05:08):
“I’m a dreg.
I’m just a dreg,” he answered, unableto look away from my eyes.
“From Jelrass?” “Not inside,
never inside.” “What are you doing here?
What are they doing to you?”“My name was in the tithe.
They’re trying to feed me.” “Feed you?
(05:30):
Feed you what?” “People.
Pieces and parts.” “Why?” “I don’t know.
I didn’t know.” “Didn’t know?”
“I thought it was just meat at first.
I was so hungry.”“Monsters.” “There’s another one.”
"What?” “I saw it.” “Saw what?”
(05:53):
“When I ate.
It wasn’t there before, but then I woke up
and it was watching me.”
“What was watching you?”
“The smiling thing… it’s
voice was like a rattle.”
I set the frail prisoner
(06:13):
back down and broke my gaze from his eyes.
He quickly returned to fetal positionin his corner of the cage.
Starvationand torture had broken his mind.
Another victim to avenge one day,after the Awakened were dealt with.
Yet though I attemptedto turn back to my side of the cage,
the blood would not allow it.
(06:35):
“No…”
I said, feeling myselfbegin to stoop down.
“No!” Onehand clasped around the prisoner’s throat.
I could feel his pulsebeneath his hollow neck,
and the bloodwithin began to pulse with it.
My arms trembled as I fought the blood,but still
the prisoner was drawn toward me.
(06:55):
I felt my mouth open; my teeth bared.
“Please, god…”
And then it stopped.
My blood released me,and I was able to stand again.
I quickly retreated to the farthest cornerof the cage,
facing away from the prisoner,gripping the bars with all my might.
Another daypassed, and Falk-Ghoul returned,
(07:18):
sniffing confusedly.
“Strange… very strange…
three remain.” “Forhow long will you keep me here, ghoul?”
“Another day,another year, another century,
(07:38):
perhaps.” “Amarax will wonder soonwhy I have not returned.”
“Amarax has sent us something strange…a vampire cannot deny the thirst.”
“I have fed on the blood of animals.
I will not feed on the blood of man.”
“Such choice should not be
within your power.”
(08:00):
It’s head
tilted left and rightas it sniffed deeply,
searching for the answer.“You’re wasting time here.
We must go below to seek the Soul Prism.”Falk-Ghoul turned from me
and crouched lowso that it’s head was near the other
prisoner.
“Hungry?
We have some treats for you.”
(08:23):
It pushed a clawful of intestinethrough the bars of the cage,
which splattered near the prisoner’s head.
“Leave himbe.” “You would have him starve?”
“Cannibalism is anathema!”
“Indeed, it is.”
(08:43):
The ghoul
began to retchand soon produced the key to the cage.
The door was unlocked and opened.
“Come along then Alaric,
the Damned.” “No more yearsor centuries?” “Not this time.”
As I stepped out of the cage,the ghoul closed it
behind me.
(09:07):
“We count one in the cage.
We will return to count again,”
it said, and then turned to leadthe way down one of the many tunnels.
As I followed, I sometimessaw tunnels branch into other rooms
bustling with activity among the ghouls.
But there was one roomthat was mostly empty,
save for the figures of several menand women encased
(09:30):
and suspended in the waxyresin of the walls.
From the look of them,they were all badly starving.
“Why must you torture them?
Is it not enough to take their lives?”
“They are our guests.
We offer them feasts.” “You must know whatyou’re saying is madness.”
“The moundis a place of great hospitality, yes.
(09:53):
” “I can’ttell if you actually believe that.”
I was taken then into a chamberunlike any other I had seen in the mound.
Here, the resin of the wallsand floor was not sticky
or pliantlike the waxy substance in other chambers.
These excretions were darker, rigid,
and smooth,almost as if they had been polished.
(10:15):
The floor heresank toward the center of the room,
in which lay a large pool of reekingbilious fluids.
The ceiling was so highthat I could not find it.
As we moved across the hardened resin,the chamber was filled
with the clattering of the ghoul’s claws,but still my own feet gave not a sound.
(10:36):
I saw then that many ghouls were gatheredhere.
Some clung to the walls, othersringed the bilious pool,
and still others sat within it.
I had not noticed them at first,because unlike
all the other chambers,the ghouls here were utterly silent.
As we neared the edge of the pool,
I felt my blood unsettled,and Falk-Ghoul turned to me.
(10:59):
“Vampires may not enter the sacred bile.”
“Sacred b….” “You will wait here.” “Just
out of curiosity…” “Becauseit will eat you.
No more slow-speak now.
Silence.” It then turned to take its placeamong the circle of ghouls
that sat within the pool,and I waited in silence.
(11:22):
For amoment the chamber was utterly quiet.
The ghouls were unmoving, unbreathing,and the bile was still.
Then a noiseI had not yet heard from them rose.
It was a low, croaking sound,
emanating from deep in a ghoul’s chest,and it sent ripples across the bile
(11:44):
as if from a thousand stones.
Another ghoul
joined, and another,tossing their heads back
and gaping their jawsso that they could swallow a man whole.
From the ring around the pool,from the walls, more voices joined
until the entirety of the chamberwas awash in the guttural croaking.
(12:07):
The surface of the bile was rippledfrom each ghoul within it,
and as the ripples collided
strange patterns began to coalesce.
Some of the voices
rose or fell, and with themthe patterns in the pool shifted.
I realized
that the ghouls were all coordinatingbetween each other,
not just bringing their voices intoalignment, but the patterns themselves.
(12:32):
For as their voices harmonized,
the shifting patterns stabilized,and the surface of the pool
became a strange triangular spiral,
rotating counterclockwise.
When this harmony manifested,my blood began to tremble
with the same frequency, and I felt itspinning counterclockwise within me.
(12:53):
Then, too,I became aware of something I was blind to
before--something elsewas in that chamber with us.
It was hidden to my sight,but my blood, brought into resonance
with the ghouls,could now sense its presence.
I cannot say what I feltexcept perplexion.
My blood had no recognitionof what it was sensing.
(13:18):
It was a thing outside of memory,outside of experience,
at least as far asthe blood curse could tell.
It was older.
It was other.
I cannot even guess at it.
And then, all at once,the ghouls fell silent.
The surface of the bile,and my blood, receded to stillness,
(13:39):
and the entity faded from my perception.
Falk-Ghoul emerged from the circle then,motioning for me to follow.
We moved through the tunnelswithout saying anything for a time.
“So… what exactly was that?” “You saw.
The ghouls were singing, yes.” “That’s
(14:02):
what you call it?” “What do you call it?”“I have no idea.
What was its purpose?”
“Difficult to say in slow-speak.
We will go below now.” “You will?
How many of you?”
“Only we,”
Bo-Ghoul said, trundling alongside us.
(14:23):
“Wonderful…will three be enough?” “Six,
we have,” “Fiveand a half, with this vampire, yes.”
“Yes, let
us pray that retrieving the Soul Prismdoes not require simple arithmetic.”
I followed the ghouls through the tunnels,ever downward,
(14:44):
until wax gave way to rock and dirtonce more.
The tunnels here were less maintained,more irregular in their shape,
and we came upon a great holeon the ground that opened into nothing.
The three of usstood peering down into the abyss.
“After you,”
“I can’t see the bottom.”
(15:07):
“Let us help.”
Before I could answer, a mighty clawthrust
against my backand pitched me into the hole face first.
I plummeted through eternal night,flailing, grasping at nothing.
I know not how long I fell, only thatI was able to envision quite a detailed
revenge on the armored ghoulbefore I touched solid ground again.
(15:30):
I landed as if I had not fallen at all,
but merely taken a gentle step,soundless in the dark.
Why this fall did not provokea transformation into mist, I do not know.
Perhaps the better questionis why the fall from Deadhaus Gate
did, for I now believeno fall from any height can harm me.
(15:50):
I took account of my surroundings,unimpeded by the lack of light.
I stood on a bed of fineash, gray to my eyes,
that stretched all around meas a vast desert.
There were no dunes in this ashen desert,
for no winds moved beneath the mountain.
Instead, there were strange patterns
(16:12):
in the sand,wide curves marked with ridges
that ran for some length, disappeared,and emerged elsewhere.
When I
turned around, I found a sheer stone wall,too large to be anything but a natural
formation, too smooth to be anything
but manmade… or made by something.
(16:33):
As I marveled at the vast edifice,
I saw a pair of shapesdescending along its face.
It was the ghouls.
They crept down the wallwith the same ease they crept along
the ground, Bo-Ghoul in the lead
and Falk-Ghoul trailing behind.
At length they reached the surface,
(16:54):
or very nearly the surface of the ashand paused there,
clinging to the wall.
“Told you he would be fine,”
“Just take me to the damn Soul Prismso I can be rid of you.”
“A ways yet, Alaric the Damned,
We must cross the Writhing Dark.”
(17:17):
“Then let’s be done with it.”The ghouls glanced at one another,
exchanged a few clicks,but remained perched to the wall.
Bo-Ghoul tentatively stretched a claw down
and scratched a line in the ash,
and they exchanged glances once more.
“Well? What are you waiting for?”
(17:38):
“This place is
less safefor ghouls than for vampires” “And
why is that?”“Vampires are very quiet, yes.
Nothing can feel their feet falling.”
“Vampires prance,”
“Do my ears deceive me?
(17:59):
The mighty ghouls afraid?”
Bo-Ghoul grumbled in his throatand slowly descended from the wall.
He took a few careful steps forward,
then glanced back at Falk-Ghoul,who followed.
They paused again at the base of the wall,
sniffing.
(18:24):
“What do a vampire’s eyes see?”
Falkor Ghoul asked, motioning ahead.
“Nothing. Ash.
Some markings."
“No stones?” I looked more carefully,
and amid the grayI discerned block-like forms.
“Yes… yes, I think so.” "You
(18:45):
must go to the closest stoneand wait for us.” "Why?"
“They smell as ashes.
We cannot find them from afar, no.”
And you must take this.
Bo-Ghoul added,hawking up a chunk of flesh,
slick with fluid,which it then plucked from the ground
(19:09):
and offered to me.“In god’s name, why?”
“So we can find you.”
“What is it?” The armored ghoul clasped my hand with one of its claws
and slapped the drippingchunk into my palm.
“Spleen.
Give it a squeezeit when you reach the stone.”
(19:34):
I looked downat the oozing organ in disdain.
I could not guess at Bo-Ghoul’sface, behind his mask of bone,
but I have no doubtit was marked with satisfaction.
“If the ash moves,
come back to the gate.
They will not near
(19:57):
“What gate?
Who?”
“The World Gate,”
it motioned back toward the enormous
wall.“The World
Gate--do you mean to say that, that,that wall is part of the same structure--”
Shh. Bo-Ghoul hissed.
(20:19):
“The World Gate goes all the way down.”
“My god…who could have built such a thing?”
“Their bones are dust.
Their voices are whispers, yes,”
(20:42):
“Make haste now, Alaric…
but quietly.”
I turned to findthe nearest block of stone,
then glanced back at the ghouls,who nodded silently.
Whatever might have been waiting for meout there, I could not guess it.
My blood sensed nothing,and yet the ghouls were clearly wary.
(21:04):
Still,I had my part to play in this expedition,
and so I began to move, leavingno footprints in the ash as I crossed it.
No sound stirred in the darkbeneath the mountain as I strode,
and it was not longuntil I reached what I then
realized was a chunk of ancient masonry.
I leapt atop the stonewith soundless ease, then turned back
(21:27):
to see the figures of the ghoulshunkered near the gate, sniffing. I
held thespleen aloft, gently squeezing it,
which caused a spurt of fluidto squelch forth.
Then the ghouls began to stir.
Falk-Ghoul retched and spita chunk of something in a remarkable arc.
The indiscernible chunk landedsome distance away,
(21:49):
scattering the ash where it fell,and then I heard it,
the rushing of a great massbeneath the surface.
My eyes darted to the source of the sound,and I could see the ash
swelling as something passed under it,winding back and forth
along a curved path toward the chunk.
As soon as the unseen thing began to move,so did the ghouls,
(22:12):
directly toward me at great speed…
well, great speed for ghouls.
Just as they began to clamberatop the stone,
the chunk vanished in a spray of ash,and all was still.
“You might have mentionedthere was a creature.”
“Sometimes there is
not.” “Well, what is it?”
(22:35):
“Clatter-clack.”
At the mention of this name, Bo-Ghoulshuddered in its armor.
“Is that an animal?
Is it undead?”
“We haven’t asked it.” “Vampire can try,”
“Where are we going now?” “To the center.
Do you see?” “No… I don’t know.
(22:58):
What am I lookingfor?” “Stones that are lower.”
I looked again more carefully and noticedthere was a slight sloping of the ash
ahead, a rounded dipping,as if this desert sat in a great bowl.
And here and there alongthe gently sloping ash
were the mangled ruins of ancient masonry.
(23:21):
“But onlyas far as this stone is to the gate.
We are not as quick as you.”
“Stronger though… and more clever, yes,”
"You know.
I could lead you straight into the ash,
far from any stones, if I wanted.” “No
(23:42):
Soul Prism then.”
“And your thirst would find youbefore you found a way out,”
I turned from the ghouls,saying nothing, and leapt so that I sailed
through the dark and landed silentlyon a crumbled arch some distance away.
I saw them sniffing,trying to guess where I had gone.
(24:06):
I thought of tossing the spleeninto the ashes,
having them run to itonly to find no platform to climb upon.
But two ghouls were not worthlosing intelligence from the liche.
I held the spleen aloftand gave it a squelching squeeze.
Once more, Falk-Ghoul retched and spita chunk of something far away,
(24:27):
and once morethe ashes shifted as an unseen thing
dug its winding path beneath them.
The ghouls
frantically clambered toward the arch,barely able to fit upon it for its size.
“Bigger stones!
Need bigger stones!” Falk-Ghoul hissed,turning to look back at the chunk,
(24:48):
which had vanished.I smiled,
but said nothing, and leapt again,
this time to the shattered top of a towerthat had sunken into the ash.
With a squeeze of the spleen,the process was repeated.
The bait was thrown,and the Clatter-clack went winding.
Now the ghouls began to climb
(25:08):
confusedly in circles alongthe stones of the shattered tower top.
I watched them for a whilebefore calling out.
“I’m up here, clever ghouls.”They followed my voice,
joining me with some disgruntled rattlesin their throats.
“Difficult
to smell when so much has been burnt,”
(25:31):
Falk-Ghoul said, now covered in ash
from head to claw.“What is this place?
How was it burned?” I asked, surveyingthe area surrounding the tower.
There had clearly been a city here once,but all that remained
were so many blastedfragments scattered across the ashes.
“The Writhing Dark, an end
(25:54):
of reign, where sleepless lie great stonesunmade,”
“The broken bones of cities slain, the
ashes of a house betrayed,”
“One of the Great Houses?”
(26:14):
“Long, long ago,”
I knew better than to pressa ghoul for specifics,
and so I simply turned and leapt again,taking no small satisfaction in the fact
that, from their point of view,I was simply vanishing.
Without the spleen to guide them,I could truly disappear, if I so chose.
After giving the signal I watched from atoppled tablet whose etched writings
(26:39):
I could not recognizeas the ghouls flung their bait,
but this timethe thing beneath the ashes did not move.
Again, Falk-Ghoul retched and spit
another chunk, but still nothing.
All was silent.
I could see thatthe two were exchanging clicks.
Perhaps the creature had gone?
(27:00):
Bo-Ghoul stretched a claw downand dug a line in the ash.
Nothing.
Tentatively, the
armored ghoul set himself down
and moved some distance from the towerbefore glancing back,
and Falk-Ghoul followed.
They moved very slowly, very cautiously,
(27:21):
though not without sound as I do.
Then, when they were away from the tower,perhaps a third of the way to me, the
ashes began to shift as the Clatter-clackfuriously drove toward them.
The ghouls broke into an ungainly gallop,as fast as their twisted forms
could move.
As a human, it might have impressed me.
(27:43):
But the Clatter -clack was far quicker,even submerged in the ash.
When it became apparentthat they wouldn’t make it,
Bo-Ghoul turned about and charged,tucking its armored head
so that it slammed facefirst into the oncoming creature.
Falk-Ghoul paused, glancingback at what I could only perceive as
a frenzy of thrashing limbs and sprayingash, then darted toward the tablet
(28:07):
and leapt to perch upon its edge,peering back at the violence. I
hearda great cracking, a splitting of bone,
and then watched as Bo-Ghoul emergedfrom the cloud of ash,
charging on all fourstoward the two of us.
Its helmet was gone, and a torn
and ragged facelay exposed to the darkness.
(28:29):
Again,the ashes began to shift as a winding path
spread at great speedtoward the retreating ghoul.
Just as Bo-Ghoul reached the tablet,its back
claws were pulled beneath the ash,dragging it down to the waist.
It reached with one claw, whichFalk-Ghoul clasped, digging its own hind
claws into the tablet, but they scrapedmany gashes into the stone
(28:52):
as the Clatter-clack pulled both ghoulsdeeper.
Falk-Ghoul turned to me and reached,and I clasped his misshapen wrist.
We all pulled,and Bo-Ghoul was torn free of the ash…
or at least his torso was torn free.
His legs were ripped from their sockets,leaving
nothing but mangled stumps in their place.
(29:16):
Then a furious noise rose from the ashes,
a clacking so sharp and full of malicethat my blood pulsed with it.
The tablet upon which we stood began
to tremble, and to my horror, to sink.
Falk-Ghoul scooped up his leglesscompanion, hoisted him
over his shoulder,and turned to me. “To the center!
(29:37):
We will find you!” “You won’t make it;you’re too slow!” But it gave no answer.
It leapt from the tabletand began to scuttle on three limbs,
its remaining arm clutchingBo-Ghoul over its shoulder.
“Damn it all!”I leapt out into the ash, clawing at it
with my hands, making as much noiseand movement as I could.
(29:59):
When the tablet had sunken
beneath the ash, the winding path beganto move once more, this time toward me.
“That’s right, you son of a bitch,this way.” With alarming speed,
the mound of ash snapped backand forth, its length at least 10 men.
But just as it neared my feetI sprang up, bounding
clear of the spray of ash and arcingthrough the darkness after Falk-Ghoul.
(30:22):
As I sailed through the dark,I saw the Clatter-clack’s
path immediatelydiverge toward the ghouls,
closing in on thembefore I could even land.
I moved in a blur to intercept, darting
between the oncoming creatureand the ghouls before swerving away.
It didn’t work.
The creature kept driving toward them.
(30:44):
I darted in again, reaching downto rake my hand along the ash
as I retreated this time,but I was not fast enough.
A hideous head burst forth from the ash,
eyeless, a chitinous lobeguided by many striped feelers.
Beneath this,
a pair of
mandibles swung wide as bony scythes,
(31:04):
and a segmented body bore many bristles.
Those horrible mandiblesclamped down onto the hand
closest to the ash, and I saw thatthe chitin of this creature shimmered,
like oil on the surface of water.
I struggled to free myself,
the blood surging into my arm,giving me strength, but it was not enough.
(31:24):
And the Clatter-clackdid not wish to take only a piece of me.
Its many bristles twitched,pulling us both downward, into the ash.
Then I heard Falk-Ghoul retch,and a glob of bilious fluid
splattered against my wrist, hissingand smoking immediately upon contact.
My hand and wrist dissolved in the fluid,freeing me
(31:46):
from the grip of the Clatter-clack.
I stumbled backward, falling,righting myself, leaping, all in
perhaps a second of time, and still thatdamnable thing was snapping at my heels.
From the vantage pointto which I had leapt, I could see
at last the center of the WrithingDark, its lowest point,
an enormous hole, perfectly circular,leading further down into the depths.
(32:11):
With a glance down I saw
the creature closing in on the ghoulsonce more.
I leapt again, landing alongside them
as it burst from the ground,seizing Falk-Ghoul’s left claw.
The ghoul immediatelyreached down and bit its own wrist,
severing the claw before charging forward,but the Clatter-clack
seized its left arm again in a flash.
(32:33):
“No!” I shouted, reaching forwardwith outstretched fingers,
and I felt a shockwavepulse through my blood.
It surged down my arm,through my outstretched fingers,
and burst out of me into the world.
The ash between myselfand the Clatter-clack was cloven
like water in the wake of a ship,and the creature was struck
as if by a battering ram, hissingin a terrible wrath.
(32:56):
Falk-Ghoul was released, and desperatelydashed for the great opening,
and I leapt over the creature,which stretched up out of the ash
to such great height that it stoodas a shimmering tower of many segments.
As I arceddirectly toward its mighty jaws,
I thrust my hand forward once more,and a crack of unseen
(33:17):
power surged from me,smiting the hideous creature
so that it crumpled to the ashand writhed in hissing rage.
Then I fell.Into the great mouth
I plummeted, wondering for how longI would fall.
Only a brief moment, it turned out.
Falk-Ghoul caught me by the coat
(33:37):
as it clung to the rim of the openingby its clawed feet.
Bo-Ghoul’s torso was tuckedunder Falk-Ghoul’s clawless arm.
“Need a hand here,”
Falk-Ghoul said, and Bo-Ghoul reachedforward, offering one of his claws,
which Falk-Ghoul snapped off at the wristwith its teeth and devoured in seconds.
(33:59):
Then I watched as the flesh at the ghoul’swrist reformed itself
in a squelching, tearing display of gore.
Falk-Ghoul opened and closed its freshclaw.
“Hmm… need more.”
Bo-Ghoul’sother claw was offered, then it’s arm,
and then it’s other arm,all of which Falk-Ghoul devoured,
(34:21):
and then new limbsburst from its back so that it had six.
“Much appreciated.”
With two of its armsit carried Bo-Ghoul and myself.
With the other fourit began to clamber down the wall.
“That was madness,” “You did well,” “Did
(34:44):
ok.” “But
what was that thing!?” “The Clatter-clack”
“You charged straight into it!”
“Took my face, yes.”
“It took your legs,
too!” “Still got arms.” “You don’t,
though!” “They’re only borrowed.”
(35:06):
“And you,
You melted my hand!” “You’re welcome.”
“I just got that back!”
“You will again, yes.” “And I…
I got that Clatter-clack!” “You did,”
“Amarax failed to mention such a creature
when he sent me.” “Amarax is this way.
(35:29):
Sends us on a task, givesno details, does not help,
does not observe.”
“Liches,”
“Liches,” “But it’s not dead, is it?
The Clatter-clack… it’s still up there.”
“Not dead, no.
(35:49):
But might be gone when we return.
Goes elsewhere sometimes,”
I was about to inquireas to how we might bypass the creature
when the perfectly circular tunnelopened into a titanic cavern.
Falk-Ghoul clamberedfrom the wall of the tunnel
to the ceiling of the cavern, and I gazedin complete awe at the city below.
(36:13):
A vast and motionless metropolislay utterly silent
at the bottom of the cavern, its buildingsassembled of cyclopean stones,
each as big as a fortress.
That it had been deadand abandoned for eons
there was no doubt, for a greatblanket of dust was laid upon all things.
(36:33):
But what manner of people could have livedhere?
What manner of sorcerycould have assembled such stones?
And this city was so farbeneath the mountain, below
the ruins of yetanother civilization utterly lost to time.
But all were dwarfed by the World Gate,
which descended even here, from cavernceiling to cavern floor
(36:58):
and beyond,an endless wall of smoothest stone.
“Who built this city?"
“We know not their names,”
“The dust of bones gives no visions,”
I watched for a time in silenceas we descended
(37:19):
the wall, and the massive stonesof the nameless city rose
until they dwarfed usas we settled on the rocky floor.
Falk-Ghoul led us in as wide a berth
as could be managedaround the enormous stones, but eventually
we came close enough to discern etchingsin the ground that radiated from the city.
They reminded me of those in the liche’s
(37:41):
circle--not identical, but very similar.
When Falk-Ghoul’s claws brushed overthe grooves,
it stopped in its tracks and turned to me.
“We’llhave to cross the silent lines,” “Are
they dangerous?” “Magickcannot speak among them, no.”
“Spells… like words or phrases.”
(38:04):
Falk-Ghoul nodded and moved ahead,
still carrying Bo-Ghoul beneathone of its many arms.
I followed, and as I crossedover the lines I felt a strange sensation,
as if a thick blankethad been placed over me,
pressing in from all directions.
“The ones who builtthis city must have etched these lines.”
(38:26):
“Perhaps.” “It would protect them
from magick.”
“Or keep them from using it,”
I saw ahead
a crack in the cliff-like walls;Falk-Ghoul was head ed directly for it.
But as we drew nearer, a sound emanatedfrom the shadows of the opening,
(38:47):
a deep and stretching sighthat put my blood
on full alert.
“Stay near to us!”
Falk-Ghoul hissed,and I quickly strode to its side.
I saw then the shadows of the passagebegin to leak and spill,
as if they were fluid,sliding along the cavern floor,
(39:07):
stretching out into the image of a hoodedfigure.
The hooded shadow roseslowly from the floor, coming upright,
a cloak of impenetrable black, and
beneath itI heard the faintest clinking of chains.
I knew what this was.
With the same deliberate languor,
(39:28):
its shadowedsleeve rose to reveal stretching fingers
that billowed like black smoke, curlinguntil one remained,
pointing at me.
“This meat belongs to the mound!”
Falk-Ghoul hissed at the wraith,but it remained unmoving.
Then, in an instant of time so briefthat I simply could not perceive it,
(39:51):
the wraith vanished from the openingand appeared alongside me.
Bo-Ghoul, whose head rested near me,
bore its teeth and hissed.
The wraith’s hood turned to regard
the ghoul for a moment, then back to
me. Again, in a mere flicker,the wraith was gone,
manifestingin that same instant on my other side.
(40:13):
I do not think that it was movingat great speed, not in the way that I do.
It was more like it hadsimply always been in the next position
it chose, and any memory of itsomewhere else was mistaken.
Falk-Ghoul whirled and bore its teeth,advancing slightly,
and the wraithvery slightly drifted backward.
(40:34):
Then the wraith’s sleevesraised slightly from its sides;
its shadowyfingers opened, and many chains unfurled
from the depths of its cloak,stretching outward in all directions,
bending toward the threeof us with their hooked tips.
“This is not
the one you want!” Falk-Ghoul hissed.
I could hear the desperationedging in its voice.
(40:58):
“There are two.
Amarax is the other.”The wraith’s hood tilted for a moment,
then glanced up and away from us.
Another stretching sigh emanatedfrom the shadowy being as it withdrew
into the darkness of the opening aheadand became one with it.
All of us were silent for a moment.
“You have betrayed the liche,”
(41:21):
“Amarax stands a better chance
against that thing than us.
It is what the liche would want,”
“It will come for him?” “It already has,
yes.” “Then we should make haste.” We passed into the fissure
at the base of the cavern wallthat led further down into the depths.
(41:42):
Falk-Ghoul led us througha winding network of tunnels,
marked with millions of tinyholes, the size of coins,
navigating by smellthrough so many branching paths
I could not rememberif I gave my life to their study.
For so
long did we descend,through darkened spaces perhaps untouched
by any living thing, pastfanning walls of crystal,
(42:05):
and vents of scalding steam.
And then at last I was laidto rest on the floor of a vast chamber
in which towereda twisted spire of darkened jade.
“Here is where you do
your work,” “There?”I pointed to the strange tower.“
The Soul Prism?” “A Pillar of Malorum,”“The liche told me this name…
(42:29):
he said it was one of the Great Houses,the Pillars.” “They
are the first house, as we are the last.”
“But it’s just a massive stone.”
“It is a Pillar of Souls, yes,”
“There are many pillars,as there are many magicks.
(42:51):
Take a piece from the Pillar
and that piece will flow with its magick.”
“A Soul Prism…” “Yes,”
“How do I extract a piece?”"Quietly,"
“Or you will join the Pillar,
and not even the Weaver could unstitchyou then.”
(43:15):
Though I was not surewhat these warnings entailed,
I was sure enoughthat they were something to be avoided.
I was also sure of my abilityto be soundless.
I gave the ghouls a parting nodand set out toward the pillar.
As I crossed the vast chambertoward the massive pillar,
I was reminded of a Grand Inquisitor
(43:36):
who once crossed a strange chambertoward a massive pyramid.
Another life.
Drawing closer, I could discern
no details on the toweras I might on human architecture.
Its twisted shape seemed to suggestit was melted rather that assembled
or carved, a warped tower of green so darkit was almost black.
(43:59):
Once I had arrivedat the base of the structure,
I reached out and placed my remaining handagainst the surface.
Something stirred in my blood,
a faint unease.
The stone was cold to the touch,colder than my dead hand,
but no sign was giventhat the Pillar had noticed me.
(44:21):
It was unchanged.
I began to circle its base,inspecting its surface for any flaws,
anywhere I might be able to grip and pry,but there was nothing,
nor was there anything resemblinga foothold that I could spy higher up.
Still, the top of the spirewas narrower than its base.
(44:41):
Perhaps there was a slope
sufficient to hold me…perhaps the blood would know.
I closed my eyes, felt the bloodswirling into my legs, and leapt.
I landed soundlessly, one hand
clasping around the tip of the spirefor balance.
I paused for a moment, listening,but nothing stirred.
(45:02):
From here I could see the ghouls as one
tiny shape,indistinguishable from each other.
Once more, I inspected the Pillar,but the only potential weakness
I could discernwas perhaps the tip of the spire itself.
It was thin enough thatperhaps I could break a piece of it off…
(45:23):
but could this be done silently?
I hooked my handless arm around the spire
and tightened my grip upon its tip.
“Carefully,” I said to myself.
With a twist of the wrist, a piecebroke free, perhaps as large as a knife.
It made the slightest sound.
(45:44):
All at once, my blood began to bubble.
The floor of the cavern belowcracked and split, and Falk-Ghoul
immediately fled, disappearingfrom my sight back into the tunnels.
I leapt from the tip of the spire,sailing through the dark, but to where?
The ground fell away beneath me, and ayawning abyss opened to swallow me whole.
(46:06):
I fell, and my body took a deep breaththat I released in a sigh of mist.
But there was not enough time.
I struck something--a rope it almostfelt like--and my sigh was choked shut.
I could not change.
Desperately,I urged the blood into my limbs,
but my movementsonly entangled me further.
(46:27):
I looked to the rope, but to my shockI could barely perceive it.
It was given shapeby the faintest reflection of light,
spreading in all directionsin a symmetry of net-like structure,
but the rope itselfwas practically invisible.
Then I felt it trembling beneath me,
sharp vibrations that faded quickly,
(46:49):
like the pluckingof a stringed instrument.
And then I saw the shadow that rushedtoward me, greater than a dragon, and
knew by its shape that this was no rope.
It was a web.
The twisted spirefrom which I broke a fragment was itself
but a fragment of the true Pillar,which lay beneath the cavern floor,
a spider,a twisted abomination of a spider.
(47:13):
Each of
its legs were shapedas twisting stalks of blackest green
that danced effortlesslyacross its unseen web,
as if it were gliding through the darknessitself.
Its abdomen, a swollen mass of stone-likechitin, bore a mark along its underside,
the vague impression of a visagedistorted in agony.
(47:34):
It brought its monstrous headbefore me, warped fangs,
four enormous eyesthat shone with baleful green light.
I was a but a mote in those eyes,a feeble thing
trapped before one of the world’sgreat powers.
I struggled as best I could, trashing atgreat speeds in the web.
(47:54):
Suddenly, it felt as if any icy knifewere sliding through my brain,
and with it came a deafening whisper,
the voice of a woman.
“Shhhhhhhhh….lie still
in the cold stream.”
(48:18):
The voice permeated me.
It wasn’t speaking to me;it was speaking to my blood,
which began to flow as molasses.
Still I struggled,but it was a drunken resistance now.
The great spider’s fangs rose,and I saw their tips
glistening with luminescent dew.
(48:39):
My blood gave me no warning.
My blood was crippled.
“El’Sabayoth…” I managed to slur.
“El’Sabayoth preserve me.”
The fangs descended, far more quicklythan something
so large should be able to move,and then I was blinded.
(49:01):
Golden light envelopedme--I was weightless--and
when it faded I opened my eyes once again
to find myself in a grassy field.
The stars shone brightly overhead.
“BE NOT AFRAID,”
a voice like many waters washed over me.
(49:22):
I turned in horror and awe, and thereit was, just as it had been in Ft.
Zaestra, the winged thing of onlywings, the eyes of judgement.
I fell to my knees.
My blood left my command entirely.
“BE NOT AFRAID,”
(49:42):
“Please…
what do you want!?” “THRICEHATH THOU PRAYED.
THRICE HATH THOU BEEN DELIVERED.”
“Three times?”I murmured, unable to form my thoughts.
“THE PILLAR, THE PRISONER, THE CHILD.”
“El’Sabayoth…”the realization dawned on me then.
(50:06):
“You?” “A MESSENGER.”
“What….
what message?” I could not bring myselfto meet its eternal gaze.
“THE EMBERS OF THE ALL-FIRE YETBURN ON MALORUM.
THE GOLD WILL BE REKINDLED.”
“I don’t… I don’t understand.”
(50:26):
“HIDDEN BY THE FAITHFUL, GUARDEDFROM THE HERETICS.”
“Why… why tell me this?”
“IT IS THY DESTINY.”“OF
THY FLESH THOU SHALT GIVE TO THE GOLD,
AND THUS SHALT THE DAWN COME.”
“There must be a mistake…I didn’t know my prayers would be heard!
(50:49):
I didn’t know any of this!” “BE SILENT!”
The words struck me like a thunderbolt,flinging me to my face.
“WHEN THE SERPENT SWALLOWS THE SEED,
WHEN THE FOUNTAIN SWALLOWS THE SUN,
I WILL RETURN AND BEAR THEE TO THY FATE.
AMEN.”
(51:11):
And then it was gone,
so swiftly that it was likeit had never been there, and I was left
alone in the field, clutching a darkjade shard in my remaining hand,
listening to the wind in the grass,whispering
a wordlessprophecy. -Alaric the Damned.
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