The Tower
In the beginning god said let there be light.
And before the light there was but darkness.
And in the darkness, you found the tower.
A jagged spiral of smooth onix brick reaching for the heavens, a gaping wound upon the midnight sky. Its abhorrent form a stalwart bastion against the invading woods and the beasts that dwell within. Within its endless labyrinth of spiral stairways and crooked paths dwell the watchers the unseen masters of the dark.
The watchers, for that is what you have concluded they must be, observe you from every hidden crevice and shadow in the structure, their prying, malicious eyes lie hidden yet you can feel their presence just as surely. What sinister designs they may hold for you you do not know, but it is a fate which you would wish to avoid nonetheless. What form these horrors take you do not know for you have never seen them, they hide from you in shadow and in darkness, beyond the corner of your eye and in the half glimpsed nightmares of your dreaming mind. But they are ancient, of that you are most definitely sure, they are a will and mind as old as the tower itself, an ancient curse as inevitable as it is horrifying.
The corridors of the tower lie shrouded in silence and the stillness of the grave, but there is no peace here, no respite to be found among the lonely ruins. Three tirants lay claim upon its gothic majesty, three wills that clash upon its tar-hued bricks, an infernal trinity of fiends that wage their war eternal. They call to you in darkness and in light, in the wind that bends the trees and in the gentle passing of the clouds, they would entrap you in their petty war and make you the vessel of their designs. Remodel you into a vessel of the greatest glory and the most sublime of terrors. They offer you salvation from the dark, an end to the endless hunger of the watchers and a salvation from your infinite confinement.
Submit to one and face the others, or risk forever sleeping in these hallowed halls.
The Primate Moon:
You climb the edifice to its peak, assaulted by the wind and mocked by the rustling of the trees, yet you persist. Each step you take brings you closer to that enchanting light, that siren call that guides you towards the heavens above. You feel the vengeful malice emanating from the tower’s roots home in on you, but still you will yourself to cross that precipice. You rise like Icarus further and further heavenwards until the smooth obsidian brick gives way to the open sky, and the full demonic majesty of the star before you. A thousand writhing skinless bodies turn to face you, a thousand lidless eyes gaze upon you with naked adoration, a thousand smiling mouths sing songs of praise with a singular, soothing voice. The sound echoes through your blood in a way you never thought would be possible, each silken note plunging your body into the deepest bounds of ecstasy. Your mind is filled with visions the likes of which you have never seen, of shining spires upon alien worlds and the furthest reaches of the cosmos. You feel your consciousness leave your body as if shedding its cocoon to reveal its true resplendent self, you soar through the moonlit skies with wild abandon, you frolic in the stars and revel in the open skies. Too late you see the vengeful, grasping arms of the forest, too late you turn to flee as they drag you into the consuming mud and let the insects take you, but the moon will not forsake its own, its cleansing light shines through you and frees you from the earthly vermin.
“Arise o bridge to the heavens, arise my chosen self. Arise from this earth of mud and death, ascend to the heavens which are your birthright.”
The moon is a beacon of hope, an avatar of transcendence, it is the bridge and gate and key. The path to heaven lies through it alone, for how else might one ascend than to the stars? It seeks to make you a prophet to its teachings, its unbegotten dearest child. You will become its messiah to the world, its instrument of salvation. You will be granted its blessing to triumph on your quest, but the path is fraught with danger from both the envious and cunning beasts of the earth and from the hateful spider and his foul machinations, his endless hunger ever consuming.
If you embrace the calling of the moon you will be filled with the gifts of the soul, you will forever see the hearts of men and understand their woes and strife, you will know how to cure them and bring them into the moons hallowed light. The creatures of death and darkness may move against you, but what need a resplendent soul fear them? What do the watchers have to menace him whom they can only watch and envy ?
The Lord of Beasts:
The tower and the city hold nothing for you; they are but bastions of vice and profanity -- dens of wickedness and the pulpits for false prophets and blasphemers. You reject that monument of sin, the incorrigible rebellion and unfettered pride that led to its creation. You seek the solace of the trees and find comfort in their gnarled embrace. At last you come upon the enchanted heart of the forest, its blessed inner self. You find no guardian barring your passage, no ever-watcher or flaming blade to bar you from entry, the path opens as the trees bow before you, honored by your presence. Your senses are assaulted by the innocent decadence, naked men and women frolic like wild beasts upon the glade, their vacant, empty, hollow eyes gleaming with the purity of newborns as they serve mingle with wild beasts and graze upon the garden. Beasts of the earth stand at attention, serving at the whim of their king of ignorance and death. He sits upon a throne of bloodied bone beneath the shadow of a pair of mighty trees, their branches bearing the most succulent of fruit. five and one dozen antlers forming his resplendent crown, beneath the regal canopy five and one dozen faces does he have to judge his royal court, to witness them in their naked glory and rejoice. Within one arm sits the body of a strangled serpent which he has taken for a scepter, within the other sits an empty human head. His royal, noble, eyes assess you with the wisdom of a sage. He beckons to you, a clarion call echoing in your ears.
“Kneel, O child of the blessed earth. Kneel and accept your destiny and calling. Kneel and be reborn as a guardian of the balance”
The King of the Forest is the master of the wilds that ever encroach upon the tower, and yet his realm is itself under siege. The false prophets, the disciples of the fell moon, ever seek to lead his flock astray, to force their sin upon them and rob them off their bliss. And from the depths come the servants of the destroyer, their endless hunger would consume the forest and all within it and still be unfulfilled. And so the king would make you into his knight, entrust you to protect the garden and its herd, to ward against the darkness with the power he shall grant you.
If you accept the king’s task you shall receive the blessing of the earth, for you are now among her favored children, and she protects her own. Never shall you want for sustenance so long as you walk her sacred body, and the beasts of the earth shall know to heed your calls. Even the watchers in the dark shall bother you no more, for few dare stand before the champion of genesis. But beware the prophets and their honeyed words, their sweet seductions and their vipers lies, and stand firm against the spiders wanton slayers and their perverse judgements.
The Tarantula:
You take the endless stairs into the tower’s abyssal depths. Before long the smothering darkness takes everything from you, your sight, your sense of time, the baleful light of the moon and the seditious whispers of the trees, the darkness is all you have and all you need to find your way, the darkness and the song. It guides you down through the endless descent, its rhythmic bleating luring deep into the bones of the tower, deep into the lair of the beast. You follow the music into a great chamber, a vault of ivory and bone within which lie rows upon rows of prostrated remains, each bowed towards the centre. Preceding over this infernal congregation lies a colossal figure, a chained spider, its hairy limbs lie bound with great ropes of iron and terminate in razor claws that lie within a mockery of prayer, its fangs drip bile that burns the ground and water with anticipation of its next meal even as words of sweetest salvation and justice to the world echo from its maw, but worst of all are the beasts eyes for where you expect to find eight orbs of black lie nothing but a pair of endless pits, two swirling holes of burning sapphire that seem to gaze right through you. The beast lies kneeling before a statue of a headless knight, his sword outstretched as it to strike, it's shining form a figure of adoration for all present in the room. A rasping, hungry, voice echoes across the church, every note throbbing with an alien passion that sears your very being.
“Greetings fellow seeker of justice, greetings he who rejects the tower and its evil ways. Greetings hero.”
The spider is a pious creature, one that rejects the sin and evil of the tower and its denizens, he welcomes you among his flock with joyful sincerity and bids you become an agent of good and justice in his name, he offers to show you the means of strength and freedom, to grant you the power to drive out the beasts of the woods and cast the cursed moon down from the skies. But be warned, for the blessings of the spider do not come cheap, for while the creature wants nothing from you for himself, his gifts are sure to anger his enemies and set them against you.
If you accept his covenant you shall receive the power of the ideal, for when you let your will pure you shall receive the strength to see it done, just let the burning hunger take control, embrace your truest self and be reborn as an instrument of retribution. While this gift has driven the tower against you they quake at your passing for the spiders hunger is about you, even the watchers in the dark know terror when you are on the warpath, but they haunt your shadow still.
Exordium
Your pact is sealed, your fate is bound. Your eternal war begins its bitter tune. Yet even now the rising of the sun dispels this world of shadow and of doubt. Wake now into the world that was.The mirror upon which you stand. But dont forget the promise that was made, for dreams hold more than lies for you.
Wake up and do what must be done,
Wake up seek out that tower and fulfill your duty.
Wake up and …
Wake up!
Wake up!
I thought we lost you there for a while, you had us worried half to death, are you alright?