The afternoon sun was sinking slowly toward the horizon, sending shadows through the town and lighting the sky with a blazing red. A raven desends upon the town and flies toward the Tower. Arriving, it drops a small paper package which it had been carrying in its claws on the front steps of the tower and landed on a nearby railing. It looked around the surrounding area while ruffling its feathers before cawing several times.
The package is simply a piece of parchment wrapped around a small rock. Only two words are written on the paper: on the outside reads "Rune" and on the inside "Oxoqlps."
The surrounding area was a modest clearing on a slope overlooking Jastery from the west. Lamps lights could be seen in the distance down in the town as the sun sunk deeper on the horizon. At the base of a single tree in the clearing sat Goose, leaning against the base of the tree and looking out Jastery and the surrounding geography.
"I see. I was relieved when we returned to Jastery and found you and Weylan alive. After you disappeared we continued on and found ourselves in a room with several strange creatures. I still do not know what to make of them. We were offered a choice to leave one of us behind and they would allow the rest to leave or to fight and die. The group decided to fight and managed to get out of there. But prior to the fight I used that magnifying glass we found to look at a strange, multi-eyed creature that did not seem to be in phase with our world."
Goose then turned empty eyes to Rune. "I saw something, Rune. I saw something that scared me more than anything has before, enough that it broke me. The memory of it visits me every night."
The construct nods, "None of the creatures of the Beyond seem comfortable on this plane. Like trying to shove a square peg in a round hole. One might get it in there, but it will have changed."
Seemingly troubled by the mental state of the druid, Rune emits: "You should seek out Peleus. He can offer much in the way of meditation and healing. Also, you may want to speak with Weylyn, his knowledge of the organic mind is far greater than mine"
Goose shook his head and turned to look back over Jastery. "My mental state is not why I asked you to join me out here. This is my place of pondering, I simply need time. I do want to tell you of what I saw."
He gazed up into the sky. "I saw myself standing on this world. Then I saw this world become but a spec of dust on a bubble. This bubble was but one of many on an ocean more vast than you can imagine. Beneath that ocean I saw movement, and an eye opened." He turned his gaze back to the golem's face. "That eye looked at me, Rune. Whether it was looking at just me, at our group in Taulad that night, Jastrey, or our world, I do not know."
He pointed to the paper in Rune's hand. "Oxoqlpts. That word was scribed in blood on the wall in that room. Do you know anything of this word?"
Rune flinches at the word, and was halfway to stopping Goose from uttering the word. "This one knows very, very little of the exiles. This one would also refrain from speaking thier names, as they seem to have power. You recall Weylyn's death of course. However, we did return with books. The trouble is, this one has cross referenced them with every known language. They are not written in a known tongue"
Wind whistles through the mountains around the pair. The moment Goose utters the name, "Oxoqlps," the sky flashes sickly green. The buildings of Jastrey wave eerily, becoming tentacles that reach toward him. In the distance, the tower becomes a great hand. In the palm of the hand is a face, its eyes replaced by mouths with circular rows of fangs. They open in a silent scream, and the mountains reverberate with the impossibly vast noise of some alien creature buried deep below.A moment later, the vision passes, returning the world to normal.
Goose sat frozen as he watched the sight before him, but shifted into Wild Form as the tentacles reached out for him. He growled as fiercely as he could around the chocking fear in his throat and released two breath attacks at the incoming tentacles, one green and one electric blue [Tox and Shock]. The silent scream shook him to his core, causing his fur to stand on end and leaving him breathing short, rapid breaths as the world around them returned to normal.
Rune responds to the outburst by teleporting behind the druid, so they are back to back. The construct has produced a black dagger in one hand, and holds up the other arm ready to end anything that comes from the forest.
After a moment, the golem's blazing runes dim and it emits, "Goose, what are you attacking?"
Goose relaxed further and sat on his haunches. "There may indeed be power in ancient words. That or I have lost more of my sanity than I thought."
He considered what little he had learned of the Exiles. "Rune, what do you think it means that another realm was blending into our own? Did something natural happen or do you think it was due to the actions inside that building?"
The construct sheaths its dagger and returns to a passive stance. "The planes often touch each other in places, although by certain rules. Graveyards touch the Nether, Volcanoes touch the Maelstrom, and so on. However, it is this one's theory that because of the sheer volume of un-balanced minds combined with the torture and nature of that building is what allowed the Beyond to leak though. Your current mental state is might have allowed your perceived tentacles to reach through. The entire situation is curious. Normally, the realm of the mind falls into the Astral plane, yet these constructs can reach through and interact with out world, like the nature of the Aether."
"While we are on the subject, we should return to that place, and burn it to the ground."
Goose considered Rune's words carefully until the end when his ears perked. "Do you really think that burning it down would do any good? I am not studied on the mingling of realms so you may have to explain this better to me, but would not the actions that were conducted there be in a more intangible form than that? Even if the building were burned, the location where the turmoil occurred is still present, would not that still cause the realms to mix?"
Goose nods. "I can understand that. Though before that, I recommend that you return to the tower. I may have hallucinated a moment ago, but I saw the Mage Tower turn into a giant hand with a face in the palm. The eyes of the face were mouths lined with fangs. It may be nothing, but your presence may be required at the Tower."
Rune says nothing for a moment. A long moment. Rune beings to open a portal to the tower, but decides not to. "Excuse this one. This one fears the books it brough back may be causeing this image to appear. Speaking of the books, you should bring the one you have to the tower." emits from the construct as it turns and begins sprinting towards the tower. Pinecones fall from the trees as it does so.
He watched Rune take off down the mountain, recalling the failed portal attempt in Talaud. He remained at the tree for a few moments, considering the vision and Rune's words. Reaching into a hole at the base of the tree he retreived the book he had returned with. Flipping through the pages he saw only gibberish.
Closing the book he turned his gaze to Jastrey. Had what he'd seen simply been hallucinations, or was he seeing something no one else could. Fear grew in the pit of his stomach, but if he was going to test a theory this was the best place for it. He was well outside of Jastrey and a good ways from the Bear camp. He took a deep breath and exhaled.
"Let us see if it happens again. Oxoqlps."
Rune quickly disappears down the mountain as Goose stands alone. A breeze rustles the nearby brush, but the world is otherwise quiet. Then Goose hears a voice, almost too low to make out. "Rkhsh k'luth oxOqlps vkrekt," it says, alien words that make his vision swim. Pain shoots through his arms. One wrenches itself around so its palm is facing him, displaying the hideous face from his previous vision. "Rkhsh k'luth oxOqlps vkrekt," it repeats, louder, while his other arm contorts. Bones break in sickening succession, sending waves of agony through him, until the limb begins to flop about. It takes on the appearance of a tentacle and begins choking him while the other hand continues to yell, "Rkhsh k'luth oxOqlps vkrekt!"Just as Goose is about to faint from terror and lack of air, the vision passes. He is unchanged and unhurt, left with nothing but the lingering sense that worse things could happen if he utters the dread name of the chtrxy again.
Goose looks around as if hearing a noise, then his expression grows distant. He holds his right palm up for inspection and reacts in terror, then grabs his throat with his other hand and begins to choke himself. He comes to his senses after a moment, gasping for air and seemingly frightened.
Goose dropped to his hands and knees gasping for breath. The first vision was certainly not a one-off deal. There were many questions for which he had no answers. In fact, the most recent vision brought up additional questions. Was the effect limited to him, or would it occur to anyone who spoke the word? Why was the face on his hand repeating the same phrase over and over, the same phrase that had summoned tentacles to pull Weylyn into the Beyond when the Ulf had spoken the words? What did the phrase mean? At the top of the list was how much worse things could get if he repeated the word again, but he had seen enough to squash that curiosity.
There is more going on here than your damn curiosity, Goose. If these visions are real or warnings, you could be endangering the entireity of Jastrey and possibly the mortal realm. For now, he decided it was best that he keep these visions between himself and Rune. He did not need his family and those in town thinking he was some loony. Given time he might be able to uncover more clues as to what was happening. Until then...
He stood up shakily and picked up the book. Placing the book in a sack he secured to his waist, he shifted back into his Wild Form and set off down the mountain after Rune.
Rune picks up the stone, mutters a quick enchant, and drops into a portal.
He appears in the mountains, with the stone in hand.