How unfortunate it is that you must ask me of the deep, how much of our history has been lost over the ages? How much of our history is waiting to be laid bare by inquisitive minds? Do you know of the old conquests of our kingdom far in the east? Of our rivalry with the other great city’s, the other kingdoms? The four great city’s always locking horns over resources and cultivated land? How much do you know of Shalen in general? What’s that? Only three great city’s?! A pox upon you! For shame that you don’t know the lessons direly learned by our ancestors! There used to be four city’s, four kingdoms! But for the avarice and greed of men there still would be!.. My apologies... you did not deserve that, you are still young and learning dear apprentice.

Long ago, about three hundred and twenty six years to be exact, there was four kingdoms, our own but a fledgling still growing, there was a larger kingdom to our south, across the great spinal mountains that make our border, you may wonder why it’s always proclaimed that the mountains are inaccessible to us, its not the mountains themselves or the beasts upon it, although deadly we are more than a match to contend with them. No dear apprentice, its what lays beyond the mountain that’s the problem, a passage to the deep.

That is why its inaccessible, none dare tread upon the deep or risk meeting it’s denizens. The kingdom of Faall’eln is what it was called then, much like our own kingdom of Valen is now, their military was even better than our own, they even had an elite order of Knight’s, the Drangszarrd, said to have consumed so much essence from slain beasts to have the strength and combat prowess of twenty men each, the best equipment, the best magic’s to support them. But it was for nothing.

The stupidity and pride of its leaders undid them all! They thought themselves unbeatable, unmovable, a cliff against with which any tide would break against!

They ventured into a place that they should not have! Fools! They mined and mined the bedrock, taking no heed of the warning signs! Not caring! Just wanting the precious materials that could be found underground! Well… they found what they wanted alright. Along with their doom. One night a singular shaft of the great mine they had dug caved in, taking the floor with it, opening an abyss! A gateway into the deep! And the shadows poured upon the land, grotesque monstrosities cloaked within. It was madness! Pure madness! The entire kingdom fell, all in a single night!

A complete bloodbath that only stopped thanks to the sun, the only thing that is anathema to the denizens of the deep, very few made it out alive.

You ask me what is the deep my apprentice? Well, It is our end if we do not follow the lessons of our past, always fear the deep my apprentice, for if one day you do not and you go knocking upon the gates of the abyss….

The deep might knock back.

Kazie Umbre 1st scholar of the Arcanium Consortium in a lecture to his Apprentices

Pain…. So much pain… Splintered images of faces leering at me…. Beasts tearing apart as I let forth a great spell… Despair… A crystal-like flower blazing with power…. More pain… SO MUCH PAIN! … Falling into a pit paralyzed… Laughter… Fucking laughter… More leering faces, rictus like grin’s spread in malicious mirth… More pain… More laughter….

WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING….?!

More pain… why…? why…? When will it stop….? Please stop…. Please… please…please… STOP…! Help…. Me…. Please….

What…. More images… another beast… no… A monster… help…. NO STOP…! IT HURTS….! THE PAIN…! KILL ME…! KILL ME...! KILL ME…! KILL ME…!

WHY WONT IT STOP!!

Never… Stops… The pain… how long… have I been…. Like this….

AN ETERNITY!!

I get it now…. The pain never ends…. It NEVER ENDS….!

FOREVER!

Yes… Forever…. And ever… And ever… And ever…

YESSSSSSSSSSSSS MOREEE!!!

HAHahHAHAha…. More… Bring… Me… More… PAIN! MORE PAIN! MORE PAIN! MORE PAIN!

MORE!!! GIVE US MORE!!!!!!

MORE… Pain… It’s so …. Good…

SO GOOOOOOOODD!

Others…. Must feel… This good… Too… Lucky….

LUCKY! LUCKY! LUCKY! LUCKY!

But… Some… Might not…. Poor… Souls….

HELP THEM FEEL THE PAIN!

Yes…. YES… They… Would love… That… Spread… The pain… Spread the PAIN!... But how?...

GET UP! GET UP! GET UP AND OPEN OUR EYES!

Yes…. My… Eyes.

A forest lush with vegetation, predators and prey alike skittering and stalking beneath its great mass of canopy, the great cycle of life happening in all its glory, the call of birds twittering and chirping, the scratching of small mammals, the growls of many a beast locked in combat, the ambient background noises the same as in any forest on Firnius, all suddenly ceased.

“Come… To me….”

A voice unlike any other sounds silently within the forest, but still all the beasts heard it.

Irresistible, like honey, like the sweetest nectar but terrible, tortured and twisted.

“Come… Here….”

The deafening sound of a thousand feet shuffling as if to the tune of a piper, marching through the forest, eyes glassy, minds clouded, all following the broken voice in the dark.

The very air itself seemingly disappears, fleeing from an unseen dark will, the trees groaning under the weight of a terrible mind, silently screaming in protest.

Still the beasts come, forever shuffling, flying and skittering to the tune in the dark, pilgrims toward a deep pit inside a great maw, in which laid a great shadow, two orbs of night far darker than the rest the only thing to attain to what waited within.

The sounds of screaming, pleading and begging unintelligible to the ears of man constantly permeated the forest, the sickening grinding, as if of two great stone jaws crashing together, the cracking of bones and tearing of flesh.

A sweet symphony of agony to all, a delight to the nightmare in the pit, until the very last of the condemned souls entered that un-holy hollow.

Too soon it passed, only a few nights and days of joy, of pain, of agony. Not enough, no where near enough.

The nightmare in the shadows moved forth toward the entrance of the maw, shuddering forward with a very unsteady gait, as if unused to its body, as if it was incomplete, missing something that would make it whole.

Reaching, grasping for the light that shined down from the sky blocking the entrance to freedom, to more fun, to more joy, to more PAIN.

Shadows peeled back as a disgustingly grotesque finger, a foot long, red raw as if the skin had been flayed from the muscle, blood steadily dripping to the floor below and topped by a long black ivory talon, the same length as the finger itself shimmering sickeningly with a dark grey light, pierced the veil of sunlight.

Instant searing heat and blinding fire, the nightmare screams, the voice of thousands of tortured souls wailing in agony, like the screams of children sounding from within its shadowy mass, it slams back into the dark, back into the pit, its sanctuary of misery, of refuge.

Eyes like the void stare in hatred at the light, imagining the worst things possible to happen to it, disturbing things. It knew now, to shun the light, to hunt only in the dark, at least… for now. But soon it would be strong enough, very soon it would be free, free to spread the pain.

Especially to those laughing bastards!... wait what?... laughter?.... why?

KILL THEM

Yes… the laughing… those faces…. THE LAUGHING FACES..... I WANT TO SHRED THEIR FACES! …

KILL THEM ALLLLLLLLLL!

ALL NEED TO DIE! … END THE LAUGHTER! … END THEM! … SHOW THEM PAIN...!

SHOW THEM THE NIGHTMARE!

Time slowly passed, like the waves waning and waxing, years creep by, an age.

A forest slowly changes over time, rot and disease slowly set in, what was once vibrant towering trees slowly, quietly turned in to blackened husks, their branches slowly melding, as if imitating arms, hundreds of hands, wooden charred claws bared in threat to the world.

The very ground itself started its own metamorphosis, the land changing, what was once soil full of the very essence of life, slowly syphoned away, as if being devoured by some dark god, in its place a different type of essence, one of decay and rot, turning its colour black, the rank smell of decomposition pervaded the air.

Time flowed ever onwards, through the many seasons, none of which seemed to ever touch a silent horrify forest, a mockery of a forest, a waiting nightmare.

A new type of being finally started to grow within the wraith like scene, but not one birthed by creation, no, one birthed by blasphemy, a blight upon the world, a curious grey fungus.

It started from the very ground, sickly grey coloured, small straggly hair adorning its surface, ever shifting as if caught in a breeze that did not exist, it propagated, slowly creeping up the trees, across the ground, it grew. Its purpose… evil will incarnate.

An owl, a starving wolf, a herd of Herbivores, all made the mistake to consume the fungus in hope of sustenance.

But how could anything from this horror scape be benign? It was they that were fed upon, the fungus took root within their very stomach’s and began its nefarious purpose, its spores flooded their systems, their organs, their brains, their very minds.

Soon the changes came upon them.

Pain, more pain than they had ever encountered in their daily lives, it lasted for days along with their screeching and screams. Their very forms soon began to change, the owl’s feathers shed off, its skin covered in blisters and pustules, growing twice its normal size, claws elongating, beak lengthening, turning serrated.

The wolf grew in height to one and a half meters at the shoulder, three meters long, grey Flailing tentacles slowly split through its very skin, its jaws widening, thickening as many separate rows of teeth sprouted within.

The herd, well… too many variations of to account for, abominations all.

The changes never the same, ever shaping, ever evolving. But one thing they all shared.

Aggression, the need to feed, to consume life and grow stronger, to hunt.

Unknowingly growing into fatter morsels for the nightmare lying in wait.

A year passed, more death, more pain, more joy.

It was time.

The nightmare sent out its terrible voice, calling out into the night.

The abominations answered, running or flying with an urgency that they did not understand, their very beings in agony with the need to answer the call, no matter how far, no matter what they were doing, they came.

All to feed the nightmare in the dark.

The wolf was the last to meet its end within the maw of the cave, the nightmare was grinning.

Ecstasy flood it’s very being, a new type of pain taking hold, its own form changing, evolving, strengthening, what was once incomplete was now whole.

The nightmare was ready. To brave the daylight, to finally put an end to the smiling faces, to silence the laughter. To share the pain.

A sickening deep and shrill giggling echoed out into the rapidly approaching night, a thousand voices in one, the nightmares own brand of humor, It was happy.

Its voice was still traveling on the stagnant evening air, when it inadvertently touched a mind, one it had not expected, a much stronger mind than it was used to, resistant.

It stopped laughing, no joy to be found, no happiness. The mind. It was like them. THE LAUGHING FACES, THE FUCKING LAUGHING FACES!!

MURDER, DESTROY, CONSUME THEM ALLLLLLLLL!!!

END THE LAUGHING!!

END THE LAUGHING!!

END THE LAUGHING!!

BREAK THEM!

A voice in the dark called out, from a pit, in a cave that appeared as a great maw.

“come… To me…”