There wasn't a specific way to get there, but if you looked hard enough, and squinted in just the right way...
Endless dusty plains, pockmarked with ruins innumerable and ancient. Here was the domain of the lost, the forgotten, and the unnameable. Celephai trudged through the ashen plains, looking off into the distance for that telltale shifting morass of tentacles in the sky.
"Now, he's got a good eye... he can see us now. The problem, of course, is surviving until then."
He could be a long way from them, due to how flexible this place's rules were concerning time and space.
"I should recommend we get comfortable. Gain shelter. Who knows what else could survive here."
Celephai strained to look farther ahead. Unfortunately, four eyes were not better than two at this.
"...Things do tend to just wander in sometimes. This realm is easy to access by all manner of creatures, some more than others."
It wouldn't be hard for any old human to come in, particularly if they'd known of the place before. It was a kind of refuse bin for civilizations who'd gone too far in their practices, their magics and horrible rituals. Their lust for power ended up bringing them to oblivion, this dead realm.
"Be wary of sharp corners, the Hounds are particularly sensitive here... Actually, maybe the open would be the best place to stay."
She recalled the Hounds of Tindalos, whom could materialize from corners, taking their prey almost completely by surprise... but even they were nothing compared to the spiders of Leng. Best not to dwell on them.
"It is likely we will find habitable ruins in a day or two, depending on the state of flux we find ourselves in... but hopefully, Shuma will find us before then."
Celephai wasn't sure how to take the question. Metaphysics were much harder from the perspective of mortals.
"One does not just 'meet' elder things, old gods, ancient ones, things that lurk beyond space and time... they tend to be a little more impacting on one's affairs. To answer your question though, two."
The second was Shuma-Gorath. The first was, well, herself. That was an interesting few moments of introspection.
"In any case, I'd like to bring a little bit more of it to this side. I... guess I miss them."
You haven't been out here a long time, have you sweetheart? She shook her head.
Sometimes, things get through. Or are pulled through. And sometimes, well...they start to get used to being on this side. Sure, you're unknowable, unfathomable, maddening, fiendishly powerful while in your own world, but nine times out of ten over here, you're just another girl with green skin. She looked back again.
No offense, of course. I've met a few of your kind.
She sighed. That was the problem. There were too many RULES here. Only when the stars were right, and the appropriate rituals had been prepared, and when the walls of the realm of dreams wore down just thin enough...
Then you get here, and you find out it's not nearly as good as it's cracked up to be. Influencing mortals to commit heinous acts aside.
"I have not been here long at all, that much is true. I... suppose in time I will come to meet some of the others here. Still, it would be nice to bring a little piece of home here. Maybe just an obelisk or two..."
No problem with that at all. I get homesick sometimes too. Maybe this Shuma person can help you. She clicked her tongue.
Name sounds familiar. Not sure why. Suddenly there was a keening, gibbering howl across the plains. It echoed and bounced off nothing in particular, coming back four or five times for another go. Margrett grabbed her hammer.
Celephai gave Margrett a confused look. Cel could not identify the sound for some reason. She'd learned quite a bit about elder things and aberrations on the other side, but this sounded very strange for some reason.
"What sound? It does not sound like- wait. It's your weird acoustics interfering with the sound. What is it?"
Your reality is going to take some time to get used to.
The reply would have been that Cel knew this, but, unfortunately, saw it more prudent to assume a fighting stance.
The Hounds. I don't know their names, but last time I was here they messed me up pretty bad. I've gotten better, but who knows how many there are. She looked down.
Unfortunately, my armor is covered in right angles...
"I don't think you need to worry. Just tell me when you see the smoke. The trick, I've heard, is to catch them the moment they come out..."
Unfortunately, in her formerly long dancing career, she'd never really known about how to KILL one. You could wound them, sure, but they were ever-thirsting, ever patient for the one moment you slip up. Celephai wasn't sure about the best possible way to even harm one.
"...if you're feeling really vulnerable, you could just take the armor OFF..."
Celephai focused carefully on the issuing smoke, waiting for the head of the Hound to start squeezing itself out from impossible angles of reality. It came, suddenly, from an elbow. Massive orbs for eyes, long, sleek bodies with long, thin limbs with clawed hands and feet. It moved with impossible suddenness, as if it were simply snapping through space in very short intervals.
"There!"
Before Celephai had even begun the exclamation, the beast began it's strike. She moved in, attempting to try and catch the creature off-guard, but it caught her with a hand, clenching her forearm with abominable strength. Celephai, thankfully, wasn't about to let this creature get away with that. She lunged at one of it's legs, wrapping her tentacles around it as tightly as she could.
"Now! Hit it!"
And she prayed Margrett would strike the thing just right. If it was even the tiniest bit off, if the angle was just wide enough, the creature could vanish again into space, to await a better time to attack.
She spun on her heel, hammer smashing at the thing, careful to not make it create any corners with the ground or herself. It hit the Hound square, smashing it into dust. Marg's armor still smoked.
This is going to be a tough one. She put her palm on her face.
There was an awkward stumbling by Celephai to regain her balance after Margrette thoroughly vaporized the first one. Fortunately, that's what the tail was for.
"Only if you don't feel uncomfortable doing so. I mean, you're only being attacked by a being that can materialize right on top of you..."
She was antagonizing Margrett, with a certain hint of playful intent. Yes, it seemed like a very silly thing to do, but sometimes the situation called for the weird, the strange, and the unusual. The Hounds of Tindalos were, by and large, very unusual.
"...I would even go so far as to consider it a recommendation."
Last Edit: Sept 7, 2011 7:27:46 GMT -5 by Celephai