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- Jul 6, 2008
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- 11,370
The Black Pyramid of Uridimmu (I)
It is cold inside the pyramid, contrary to all your expectations. Plucking a torch from the wall, you make your way in. The narrow corridor begins to slope downward gently, forcing you to hobble more carefully. There is a light breeze blowing up from below; the torches flicker, and shadows dance wildly across the walls. With the wind comes a cloying, bestial stench. Your left leg twinges sharply as you walk, sending mild waves of pain up your body. Strange pictorials are carved into the walls – visages of fantastic and monstrous creatures and incomprehensible glyphs. Amongst these you spot a recurring figure; a black, six–eyed hound devouring limbs and organs of the fallen on a magnificent throne, with robed figures prostrated before it. A chill begins to nest in your gut, and the pain in your leg grows. At the bottom of the corridor is an archway. You stop before it, taking a deep breath. The presence of a beast is close by. If this is part of the trial, however, you have no choice but to proceed.
You step through the archway, finding yourself in a great hall held up by countless giant pillars wider than you are tall. There are no torches here save your own. You hold yours up high, a single, red flame wavering against the darkness. The floor here is polished compared to the rough-hewn corridor, but here and there you see deep claw marks that have raked apart the stone. Blood stains that have turned brown with age smear the pillars and the floor. Here and there, at the very edges of the gloom, you seem to spot scattered bones. The hall seems to have been abandoned for a long, long time, falling in to ruin and disrepair. All you can hear is the crackling of your fire, and your resounding footsteps bouncing off the distant walls.
In the quiet dark, you see in front of you a faint white light. As you approach, the light resolves itself into the figure of a girl slightly shorter than you are. Her long blonde hair is luminescent, seemingly glowing with a brilliance of its own. At that sight, a single name rises to your lips. “Rain?”
But with the child’s back to you, you are unable to see her face. Besides, she would be too old to be Rain, and so you drive that thought from your mind from now. She seems to be looking upwards, her head tilted far back, arms spread to her side as if attempting to block something with her small frame. Curious, you follow her gaze, looking up.
A low growl rumbles through the entire hall, quaking the floor and sending small streams of sand trickling down from the ceiling. In the darkness, six glowing eyes open up one by one, manifesting high in the ceiling. The eyes burn with a purple fire, and you can sense them fixate on you. Terror strikes your heart and freezes your blood, and at that moment the pain in your leg explodes, causing you to go to one knee. Suddenly, the child turns and leaps at you, pushing you down flat on the ground. A stream of flame bursts through the space where you had been. The intense heat sears your skin even without making contact, and for an instant, your mind is filled with screams and fires and laughter.
Was it your father? Was it your mother? Which of your parents was it, that threw themselves over you while you could smell the aroma of burning meat and crackling fat, while you could hear their screams and pleas of mercy, while you could see the flesh drop from their bones, while you could not even breathe, the burning air scorching your throat.
You are snapped out of it by the girl shaking you almost violently. She looks angry yet sad at the same time, her emerald green eyes slightly watery beneath her frowning brow. Giving her an apologetic nod, you look at the beast that had attacked you. The darkness seems to be solidifying, outlining a massive silhouette that towers above you; a winged shadow that is far larger than a bear, perhaps even as large as Father McClellan’s church. You can make out the faintest hints of a snout stretched in a wicked grin, and within that maw, sharp, gleaming teeth each thicker than your arm. Something about it reminds you of the shadowbeast you once fought in the forest… but you can tell that this thing is far greater, far stronger, and far more terrible.
Come you have to my throne unbidden.
You hear a deep, cruel voice in your head. It is a voice that brings to mind slaughter, a voice that evokes prey being hunted down and torn apart, a voice of blood and guts piled up in offerings.
It has been an eternity since I have had a tribute, and I HUNGER.
That last word echoes inside your skull loudly, blasting away all thought from your head. You take a step back, fear gripping your heart as adrenaline floods your body. Fight or flight. You have to make a choice…
“No.” A clear, firm voice, as beautiful as that of bells, rings out near your ear. You feel the girl clasp both hands on your cheeks as she turns your face to look at her. As she gazes straight into your eyes, a burning heat spreads across your chest. You reach into your clothes and pull out Rain’s silver pendant, now blazing with an incandescent white light.
The beast’s six eyes burn with an even greater glow of interest, and you can faintly see a giant paw move in the dark. It takes one step forward, shaking the entire hall.
Shutting her eyes tightly, the blonde girl clasps her hands over your own desperately, covering the pendant. In that instant, you know what can be done… what must be done.
***
From the pendant, you draw out the power to:
***
It is cold inside the pyramid, contrary to all your expectations. Plucking a torch from the wall, you make your way in. The narrow corridor begins to slope downward gently, forcing you to hobble more carefully. There is a light breeze blowing up from below; the torches flicker, and shadows dance wildly across the walls. With the wind comes a cloying, bestial stench. Your left leg twinges sharply as you walk, sending mild waves of pain up your body. Strange pictorials are carved into the walls – visages of fantastic and monstrous creatures and incomprehensible glyphs. Amongst these you spot a recurring figure; a black, six–eyed hound devouring limbs and organs of the fallen on a magnificent throne, with robed figures prostrated before it. A chill begins to nest in your gut, and the pain in your leg grows. At the bottom of the corridor is an archway. You stop before it, taking a deep breath. The presence of a beast is close by. If this is part of the trial, however, you have no choice but to proceed.
You step through the archway, finding yourself in a great hall held up by countless giant pillars wider than you are tall. There are no torches here save your own. You hold yours up high, a single, red flame wavering against the darkness. The floor here is polished compared to the rough-hewn corridor, but here and there you see deep claw marks that have raked apart the stone. Blood stains that have turned brown with age smear the pillars and the floor. Here and there, at the very edges of the gloom, you seem to spot scattered bones. The hall seems to have been abandoned for a long, long time, falling in to ruin and disrepair. All you can hear is the crackling of your fire, and your resounding footsteps bouncing off the distant walls.
In the quiet dark, you see in front of you a faint white light. As you approach, the light resolves itself into the figure of a girl slightly shorter than you are. Her long blonde hair is luminescent, seemingly glowing with a brilliance of its own. At that sight, a single name rises to your lips. “Rain?”
But with the child’s back to you, you are unable to see her face. Besides, she would be too old to be Rain, and so you drive that thought from your mind from now. She seems to be looking upwards, her head tilted far back, arms spread to her side as if attempting to block something with her small frame. Curious, you follow her gaze, looking up.
A low growl rumbles through the entire hall, quaking the floor and sending small streams of sand trickling down from the ceiling. In the darkness, six glowing eyes open up one by one, manifesting high in the ceiling. The eyes burn with a purple fire, and you can sense them fixate on you. Terror strikes your heart and freezes your blood, and at that moment the pain in your leg explodes, causing you to go to one knee. Suddenly, the child turns and leaps at you, pushing you down flat on the ground. A stream of flame bursts through the space where you had been. The intense heat sears your skin even without making contact, and for an instant, your mind is filled with screams and fires and laughter.
Was it your father? Was it your mother? Which of your parents was it, that threw themselves over you while you could smell the aroma of burning meat and crackling fat, while you could hear their screams and pleas of mercy, while you could see the flesh drop from their bones, while you could not even breathe, the burning air scorching your throat.
You are snapped out of it by the girl shaking you almost violently. She looks angry yet sad at the same time, her emerald green eyes slightly watery beneath her frowning brow. Giving her an apologetic nod, you look at the beast that had attacked you. The darkness seems to be solidifying, outlining a massive silhouette that towers above you; a winged shadow that is far larger than a bear, perhaps even as large as Father McClellan’s church. You can make out the faintest hints of a snout stretched in a wicked grin, and within that maw, sharp, gleaming teeth each thicker than your arm. Something about it reminds you of the shadowbeast you once fought in the forest… but you can tell that this thing is far greater, far stronger, and far more terrible.
Come you have to my throne unbidden.
You hear a deep, cruel voice in your head. It is a voice that brings to mind slaughter, a voice that evokes prey being hunted down and torn apart, a voice of blood and guts piled up in offerings.
It has been an eternity since I have had a tribute, and I HUNGER.
That last word echoes inside your skull loudly, blasting away all thought from your head. You take a step back, fear gripping your heart as adrenaline floods your body. Fight or flight. You have to make a choice…
“No.” A clear, firm voice, as beautiful as that of bells, rings out near your ear. You feel the girl clasp both hands on your cheeks as she turns your face to look at her. As she gazes straight into your eyes, a burning heat spreads across your chest. You reach into your clothes and pull out Rain’s silver pendant, now blazing with an incandescent white light.
The beast’s six eyes burn with an even greater glow of interest, and you can faintly see a giant paw move in the dark. It takes one step forward, shaking the entire hall.
Shutting her eyes tightly, the blonde girl clasps her hands over your own desperately, covering the pendant. In that instant, you know what can be done… what must be done.
***
From the pendant, you draw out the power to:
A. Attack. So that you can hunt and destroy all those who would bring harm to you and your beloved ones.
B. Protect. So that you and those you care about cannot be touched by malice.
C. Conceal. So that no vile intentions may find you and those you hold dear.
B. Protect. So that you and those you care about cannot be touched by malice.
C. Conceal. So that no vile intentions may find you and those you hold dear.
***
