Otrol awoke, finding a crown of braided leaves upon his head, a gift from Faden, with three jewels; one argent, one incarnadine and one pitch. He also sees that he has been draped in silken robes, woven by Helaroc's creations This pleases Otrol. So attired, Otrol steps down from the treetops and into the house of his shaman, the Wise One Ga'ghan.
"Ga'ghan? It is time. There is a game afoot, and the Axe Man has made the first move. Descend to the Spring. There is something there waiting for you."
And so the shaman did. And there was. The egg which the Wise One stole so long ago had hatched and stood, fully grown, in the waters of the spring.
And so, the Shaman set forth upon his steed, ready to do the work of his God.
And everyone sleeps, and Armok stnads forth, and sends a vision in your dream...
And you see the Snarecrevice City, as it grows and grows. You see Bloodhand die, and his line continue through his son. You see his son die, and his three sons vie for power, only stopped by Ta'hath. You see king after king after king, born, and die. You see libraries built, observatories, all made and built as the goblins grow in intellect. Great minds of goblins are made. You see new Goblin cities appear, all growing near the mountain home. You see Cavernhall, great city under the deep, glistening in the creations of another god. Invasions and attacks, glimpses of wars you see: you see a mountainous rock golem strike at the walls, you see a dragon-like beast pack invade the Cavernhall, you see a wave of spiders, riding forth, two huge beasts at their front. Most attacks are beaten back, but some cities are lost forever. You see the Ta'hath, Blessed One, who is now old. Older than many. He now leads the Snarecrevice's religion: praying, sacrificing, and praising his god. Only one goblin does not follow the religion, one older than all other beings, other than the gods themselves...
And you see the Wise One. Old, he has searched the planet. Each year, he returns to his god's springs. You see glimpses of his time: from him sipping from the Healing Springs, to him beating back spiders great, to him stealing an egg from the Shaluri beasts, to him sneaking into the Snarecrevice city. Long, he has watched others, and observed. His home, even though he wanders, resides in the Feather Tree, high above the brances. There, he collects, and has a collection of books and scrolls, of weapons and stones. And you see a final glimpse, of him filling a vile, a green liquid pouring in. You feel something becoming of this, but Armok turns your attention elsewhere...
And you see the Shaluri, now with a cavern town of their own. Many of their children inhabit the many caves and caverns, spanning endless distances throughout the mountains. Some lead to the goblin kingdom, some lead near the Great Tree. The Shaluri have smoothed caverns, and traps and doors. They use iron weapons, and yet wear no armor. A single city on the surface they dwell, a goblin city, taken when it the greenskins came too close to the Shaluri caves. You glimpse through their history in your slumber: you see three great mountain beasts attack, killing many. Two are felled by trap and rope, yet one gets away, creating a great toll of casualties; you see the goblins, surprised as the beasts break the earth below them, killing them quick. The Shaluri have no government, and their religion is little more than ancestor worship. And you see the Rock Golems, out for blood. They wander and rampage and kill. You see a battle at a stone city, and dozens of arrows bouncing from their skin. You see a golem destroying a group of chalri, and a brif flash of a golem disapearing under the springs, and not coming back...
You see a net, flying and swooping, before being crushed under a giant golem. The remaining five still wander the Venom planet, killing and raging.And you see the Chalri and Ganru, the cats and deer of the lands. There is another Ganru species, who have fully developed horns, a defensive ability gained from them. Another, with shorter horns, roam the land, but in fewer number. The Chalri have not changed, as they are still the lead predators other than the Goblins and Shaluri.
And you see the Guardian Champion of the Rift. He is older then most, and still guards the rift between the worlds. You see the land around it, with plants snapping and biting. You see a wolfman pack, leading to go through the rift. You see many skulls now, littering the ground. And you see the Wise One, entering the rift unhindered. And then you see the Blackfur tribe, and the Great Muskox. Long have you seen them, and long have they come. Now, the wolfmen hunt no more:they have captured all of the muskox, and now breed and slaughter them. You see how they have forgotten the Hunt, with only one remembering...
You glimpse The Butcher, who kills the musk ox for the tribe settlement. You see his past, as the seventh son of the seventh son of the original Alpha, when the Hunt was remembered. He now leads the Pack.
And then you glimpse something that you hadn't seen: a glimpse of the future perhaps. You see the great city of Snarecrevice, dead and littered with bodies unscathed in the open; you see wolfmen, hunting and being hunted by Shaluri; you see the throne room of Snarecrevice, a single, maniacle greenskinned figure, laughing as you see the body of the king; you see the Feather Tree, oozing with poison, sinking lower into the spring. Armok then awakens you, with a warning of what is to come."Awaken now, my blood children. For a time of great reckoning is upon you. These worlds are set soon upon a blaze which will destroy all."
You awake, and the first movement is the cracking of an egg.
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Topic: Third God Game (Read 8263 times)