Date unknown, Location: unknown, Time since Awakening: 0.25 hours
The platforms are the board? The board becomes the platforms? Nothing makes sense here in the Dark Tapestry. Even my senses are confused. Gravity feels relative, scents across my tongue feel strange, the void around us is endless. Five larger islands, several smaller ones, all of them scattered about, with pillars, probably 25 feet high standing freely throughout. On each island lies a slab with Greek letters, the center one holding a channel where the slabs can be placed.
Also on the islands, waiting for us, are old 'friends'. I can see Magog, as he was before the mushrooms hit, his bully boys, a half dozen green hags, and some mummies coming out of sarcophagi. Timmy is already on one island. Turns out the void hadn't consumed him. A prison cell is built into the island across from his horizontally. The island across from him vertically looks like it will be Chicago's landing place. Next to that island is the one Nanfoodle will land. And I'm headed straight toward the central island. With Magog. My scales start shifting as I look at my odds of defeating him myself. They are not good.
As we land lightly the voice from before comes back, "You are doomed to die! The Crawling Chaos will absorb your souls! You will perish here, in the Temple of Change!" Seravin seems to teleport into the prison cell, giving the voice from above a tone other than anger, confusion. "You're not supposed to exist in this universe."
Chicago is as quick on his feet as ever, dashing from his island to mine, punching multiple bugbears and throwing his chakram at Magog along the way. Nanfoodle is quickly surrounded by the mummies on his island, and Timmy does a particularly Timmy thing to the bugbear on his island. He rushes it, jumps across a small chasm, then plants all four of his weird monster feet into the bugbear, pushing it off into the endless void below. Nanfoodle begins climbing the pillar on his island to get away from the mummies, and I finally gather my bearings.
I follow Chicago's course of action, rushing around to the opposite side of Magog and stabbing him with my shortswords. Only one makes it through his thick fatty body, but it seems to do major damage. I can taste rich red blood from a liver as it sprays across my face. It is hard to spit without lips, but I think I manage it. Goblin blood makes me wish I was swallowing ash instead. The bugbears and hags start up, pushing pillars to make bridges between islands and casting spells. Then Magog grins, his voice grinding out like a rockslide. "Now you learn why you ought not have done that…" The veritable tree he uses as a weapon crashes into Chicago, dropping the weak fleshy man with a crunch. Then he turns to me his grin turning to a vicious smile before he swings at me.
The only thing I can hear is a high pitched whine. My tongue tastes like copper. How did I end up a few feet away from that elephantine foot? Oh. Its Magog. The fact that I'm still breathing, though it feels like the air is full of glass, is a miracle. I hear a high pitched scream as Nanfoodle's column starts dropping into the void. The gnome manages to leap off but falls in anyway. That's not good. There's a grinding sound from elsewhere, but even the thought of moving my head hurts. Between Magog's legs I see Chicago, blood oozing out of him and slowly forming a red pool. I hear the crack of thunder. My scales are hot. I can feel my muscles spasm and my heart supercharge before I pass out.
A breath manages to shudder its way out of my broken and electrified body. I lift my head. Chicago is up, Timmy's ridiculously long arms have imparted him with some magical healing. Looking left Nanfoodle did the same to me. How did he get here? Shouldn't he be falling forever? And what's that funny hat? Oh…That's Magog's…I really hope Nanfoodle gets out from under there, it can't be good for his health. Another thunderbolt. More heart squeezing. Then blackness once more.
Instead of air coming out of my mouth it is blood. Things have moved around again. The Hags and Bugbears are closer. Nanfoodle is out from under Magog. There appears to be grime on his helmet. My stomach turns and I vomit more blood. I'm getting sick of this and its not just the blood. Timmy reaches out with his long arms and imparts more healing on Chicago. A cackle from behind me. I manage to avoid most of the Hag's sharp nails. I don't avoid the second hag's nails. The bloodloss makes me pass out again.
The next time I wake a bugbear is near me, fighting to get over Magog's girth. Apparently he was taken down by my companions. Good. Couldn't have happened to a better person. I stab the Hag and notice that another bridge has been made of a column and Seravin has gotten free from his prison cell. Horrible squelching sounds come from behind me.
Yellow eyes the size of dinner plates. Folds of rubbery green flesh atop seal flippers. Blue tentacles coming from the back and rear. Teeth bigger than my wrist gnashing down and around. Something about this creature is not right. It has too many bones. It doesn't have enough mass. It doesn't fit. It still doesn't fit. Why doesn't it fit.
When I stop seizing I realize that Chicago is missing. Timmy and Nanfoodle don't seem bothered by it, so the creature must be friendly. Seravin isn't moving on one of the other islands. I kill the hag that closes with me. I guess they're out of spells? Or they just want to rely on their nails. The monster is surrounded by bugbears and hags, but seems to be handling itself real well. That light shines from Timmy's mouth, possibly upset, possibly content, whispering Dagon. Dagon. Dagon.
The next minute is a blur of killing and avoiding the monster. It finishes all of its opponents then begins doing unspeakable things with the hags. The rest of us start moving to collect the slabs. Nanfoodle figures out they use Greek letters to spell 'Delta'. The world shatters around us, and we wake up in the flying castle. I have no idea where we actually are anymore.
Seravin seems to have gotten better and starts explaining what happened to him in the real world. Apparently the Crawling Chaos pulled him into the Void, and is going to do this to each of us in turn. One per dawn. In the Void Seravin found the Lord of the Underworld, Nodens. A war was brewing between the gods and to end it we have to kill the Crawling Chaos. I hear whispers from the Headmaster, congratulating me on finding one of the gods, and granting me a touch more power. Nodens is supposed to help us kill the Crawling Chaos. But in the end it won't bring back Tobias, he's been removed from our existence…
[zombify_post]
My Expression When Someone States the Obvious