Mate the 888th is in his office, laughing.
-I can't belive he fell for that! We, accepting a worshipper of Nifih, after plaguing us with so much suffering?! Hah! And the best part is, he himself planned his own death! Come on! The Crundleshaggers may be stupid, but I don't think that a bloody human will pass throught unnoticed, will he? Well, enough of that. Likot, pick up that man's clothes and burn them. Give his weapons to some of our guys.
As Mate picked up the rusty old spear that man had on his back, he felt a terrible shock.
His eyes turned purple as he started seeing things.
He saw a city, a great city, populated by humans.
He saw those humans falling to sin.
He saw an angered goddess, cursing those men and their whole kin.
He saw a dwarf, Osp, praying to the goddess as he turns into a blood-sucking demon, because of a fit of anger by the maddened deity.
He saw a spear in the chest of a dying man.
He saw beastmen, on the shapes of frogs, lizards and snakes, entering the city, only to turn themselves into blood-crazed vampires.
He saw the spear left there as years passed, bodies rot, metal rusted and the sons of DateTattooed fled the city or stayed, crazed by the curse.
He saw a man, grabbing the rusty spear, and using it to slay vampires.
Shorast.
He saw Shorast, falling under the curse of Nifih, going mad for blood and flesh of the sentient.
He saw blood on engraved walls.
He saw a once great dwarven fortress, crumbling to the ground.
He saw Nifih.
-The kin of DateTattooed is cursed. They and everyone close to them must suffer and die. I've seen my temples defiled by man, dwarf, goblin and beast. And they all deserve their righteous punishment.
"The goblins are all but gone, spread out in tribes, running for their lifes while their great black towers and spirals lay in ruins or under siege.
"The animalmen, savages, are being hunted down by even the filthy kobolds. And even if they will outlast the greenskins, they shall fall.
"Dwarves and men, though. Those are tough foes. While many a man has been reached by my Curse, their race still fight me or ignore my existence, trying to forget the rightfull vengance that is coming their way.
"And then... There's dwarves. They have been the luckier of all yet, and may even outlast the human race, once it succumbs to the Curse. But they shall fall. Osp was but me showing myself to your lowly kin. As Doomforests is only the first of many dwarven strongholds that shall fall to me.
"That man, Shorast, belives that I have still faith on his race. His faith gives me a special influence over him that I lack with many others. He shall shccumb to me, and when he does, he will be my hand in the destruction of this fortress, and the continuation of the Curse to the rest of the dwarven kin. They will fall, eventually, it's only a matter of time.
Mate could not move, could not speak and could not close his eyes until the deity stopped speaking. When he was able to do so, he did what every self-respecting dwarf would do and attacked the goddess.
Still, an old dwarf priest aganist a goddess bent on vengance upon most of the world was not a fair fight, and when Mate's fists touched her face...
It was burning hot!
Mate jumped back, as the goddess came close to him.
-Perhaps, you could also help me to expand the Curse. A brave dwarf like you would be really usefull in the destruction of his own kin.
-No!
Mate scrambled backwards, the floor felt like stone, but it was completely black, looking up, he could not see a ceiling, but complete darkness, with some streams of light blue far up. And a million of red eyes were staring at him, hungrily.
Nifih raised her arm, ready to possess Mate's soul, and the dwarf covered himself, waiting for the end.
And then, nothing.
As Mate looked again at the evil goddess, he saw a wall of something, apparently red glass, between the two.
A wall of blood.
-YOU ARE NOTHING WITHOUT ME.
The voice, loud and strong, made the million staring eyes flee into the darkness, even Nifih looked scared. But it made Mate calm, he felt protected.
-I BROUGHT YOU INTO EXISTENCE, AND I CAN MAKE YOU LEAVE IT.
Nifih started hitting the wall.
-I am not yours to control! I was created by you, but now, I am superior! I can defy your authority, I can defeat you! I AM TRANSCENDENT!
The wall broke like glass and everything faded.
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Mate woke up in his office, Likot and other priests trying to wake him up.
-What happened?!
-...Let's say that of all the deities I have seen while having an hallucinogenous trip, Armok was the nicer.
-What shall we do?!
-Find Shorast and bring him here. He can't die, and he must know what Nifih really is. If he knows the thruth about her, she will not be able to control him, or so I hope.
-Can we risk it?
-We HAVE to risk it. We will die anyway. Let's atleast die trying not to.
Likot sent another disguised dwarf to MechaTechno territory, to get Shorast before the Crundle worshippers did.
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Topic: The Hastening of Doomforests (Read 452598 times)