THE EXPEDITION OF NOTHING

[xo31 3979]

 

It was a quiet, raining night upon Azuras, and a merchant ship was making it away from the Island - as to head back to a few others on its trade route. The crew members noted a strange, eerie presence upon the ship as they left.

 

But nothing came of it. Their trade route passed through a few nameless islands, and they made success in each - but noted that the strange, otherworldly feeling of dread had departed while they made pass through one specific area - Judi.

 

A one-horned being slid down the side of their boat as they made departure, and then walked calmly across the waters in the dead of the night to make it to the docks without making a scene. A dark hood was flipped up over his head and hair, and his eyes glowed a dim orange beneath his good - matching those vague tattoos that covered his body. While a creature such as himself might be slain for walking the streets of Azuras for his brands and horns - the Saltfolk of this region cared not, so long as one found themselves respectful. 

 

His first stop was a large, sprawling tavern-inn. He pushed the door open to the place where men and women had a merry time following the conclusion of a long work week. Drink was present in the air, and he scanned the room - flipping down his hood so as to not appear too suspicious. A seat was taken at the bar - and words spoken to the bartender. 

 

“Excuse me!” Elijah called forth, with a raised and waved hand.

 

The barkeep’s head slowly reared over, and with a haunted smile, did he part towards the devil. “What can I get you, son?” He asked.

 

“Let me get your choice. Whatever that may be.” Elijah asked him, his orangeish eyes scanning over a menu on the back. “And let me get a room at the inn for a couple nights.”

 

“Sure thing,” The man replied, and with a shake and stir, a short glass with ice cubes and glowing liquid was presented to Elijah, alongside a single key, which was on a keychain alongside an indicator with perfected font reading ‘2-3’. As one could expect, the barkeep told him, “Floor two, room three.” 

 

Elijah nodded a head, and produced a small sack of gold upon the table - far more than was worth what he ordered, but he cared not… much to the barkeep’s delight.

 

“I’m here to learn,” Elijah explained to the barkeep after a sip of that strong fluid which caused him to wince. “About this place. It’s people.” 

 

The barkeep took a moment to consider, and then spoke. “We’re magicians. I can’t tell you much as I hardly leave this damned place - but most folk here are adept with such blessed things. Perhaps attend a service at the Church. There’ll be one tomorrow.” - “Perhaps the priests may have more information for you.” He spoke - and with a hand wafted, some glasses magicked themselves to cleanliness. 

 

A nod of his head, and the tired Herald finished his glass - and ascended up to the upper floor of the tavern and slipped a key into the knob of a door labelled with a perfect ‘3’. The door creaked open, and he fell down upon the bed. 

 

When he closed his eyes… he dreamed of horrible, terrible and eldritch things. Normal, it must’ve been, he decided. But he mostly thought,
 

Why was I sent here?

 

. . .

 

He awoke to a humid, sunless morning beneath gray clouds, and stood to part downstairs onto the foggy streets of Judi. There was a silence about the town - and Elijah shivered, somewhat. He recalled the words of that barkeep - and travelled to the large church he saw in the distance. The one with the vague, purple glow.

 

He pushed into the church, and the horrible screech of Moonspeech buried itself deep into his skull - causing him to flinch heavily. It was no matter, though, as he made to sit and watch as a group of cultists raised their hands before a supermassive voidal tear that made him sick to his stomach to even observe. One man sat next to him, and eyed him cautiously beneath a dark hood. The devil’s own dark hood covered his face, and he stared back darkly. 

 

“What is your name?” Elijah inquired through a hum.

 

The man did not respond. Of course, Elijah could see his entire face through the darkness. The hate was evident. It didn’t take much more than that for Elijah to depart - but there was this… strange feeling about him. He wanted to fight, more than anything, but before he made such a mistake… he quickly departed.

 

On his way out, he stopped by a cultist who was also departing. He asked them, “Where would one go to meditate on this religion around here?”

 

The man replied calmly, “Ah, tomorrow is the test of the magi. Are you connected to the Blessed Void?” 

 

Elijah’s eyes squinted in consideration for a long moment, and then he wafted up some pale blue auras, and said - lying - “Yes.” 

 

“Ah. Very good,” Replied the cultist, “Yes, yes, then it is okay for you to come. Tomorrow will be quite the test indeed.” 

 

With narrowed eyes, Elijah parted away cordially. His day was spent amongst the markets, and he parted back to the inn, where he spoke once more to the innkeeper regarding the nature of magic within the city.

 

“Ah… yes,.. Yes.. Well, I’m not allowed to say much, not to outsiders anyhow - but you are free to attend if you are attuned to the Void. Most of us here don’t even use our magic for combat, you see, it is mainly for rituals and day-to-day living.” He explained to Elijah.

 

Deep in the night, Elijah, restless,  made forth to that Church. The doors were unlocked, thankfully, and he creaked them open. It was empty, save for one man, praying in front of that supermassive Voidal Tear. Elijah parted up behind them as they spoke into the tear - and he felt the horrible presence from the damned thing. The man stood, and Elijah spoke quietly, “Could you tell me more?”

 

The chants halted, and the head of the man slowly looked into that voidal tear.

 

“Yes… kneel, and find nothing.”

 

Sure enough, Elijah kneeled… and they began to speak..

 

…

 

Elijah awoke the next morning, after some strange dreams of insane variety. He had achieved some wicked state of enlightenment from the man the prior eve - but nothing that could be truly put into words. He decided that, today, he would make a nice breakfast for him and his partner on the journey - as he had that ‘test’ to attend later in the day.

 

It was a long day of meditation, considering the dreams and words of the last day.

 

Until eventually, his eyes opened widely, later in the night. There was an underlying… annoyance. Aggression, he felt towards everything. His partner felt it too.

 

But regardless, he walked, and made his way to that church. He entered, and sat down. After some long moments of waiting, the ritual began. They spoke in grand, dramatic speech, and someone leaned over to whisper to Elijah to, “Connect to the Void.” 

 

Of course, he could do no such thing. But he manifested the false-tell from his blessing, as some sort of proof. With a rush, a wave of madness fell over him centered from the voidal tear. With a second, the madness deepened. An anger slowly washed over him - but it was something mindless. Something hateful. 

 

Oh, these worthless, betrayers of the material, he thought. His teeth grit hard, and he reached up to grasp his temples. Why was he feeling this way?

 

“Grr-” He groaned, and the person next to him said, “The connection will protect you - don’t worry.” 

 

This is when he realized that he should not be here. He slowly stood to his feet as a horrible frequency inched deeper into his mind. He wanted to fight. He wanted blood. For Azdromoth. He began to walk out of the place, but cultists stood to follow him, trying to usher him to stop. Things were blacking out, now. His fists curled into themselves, and ash began to manifest into a sword next to him, and it appeared, shining in the moonlight and tearlight. Arcane energies surged up through his veins, and his eyes vanished entirely. His vision went dark, as if he fell asleep.

 

For a moment, the vision returned. His breathing was aggressively rhythmic, and he sent a warhammer strength punch through a cultist’s head as they fired evoked lightning over his whole body.

 

For a moment, the vision returned. He was beholding his starsteel sword and chopping through cultists with a dagger stabbed deep into his shoulder.

 

For a moment, the vision returned. He was grappling someone, and leaned down to bite into an artery in their neck - spraying blood all over himself and them.

 

He fought, eternally, without his choice. He was far more skilled than these magi warriors and cultists. It was black, for him, though. 

 

Until, with a crash, he awoke, slammed against the wall, covered in violet thaumburn scars and with parts of his body crystallized into focus crystal and arcanium. His eyes only then remanifested with a headache, and he turned to see the church exploding into a galactic mushroom cloud which reached high up into the skies. His jaw was dropped - and he rushed to that place where he was staying to ensure his partner was ok. When he verified that she was, they quickly made part of the docks, though there was only one ship available..

 

There was little time to consider what to do and where to go - so the pair with limited boating knowledge climbed atop the ship, and set sail the best they had seen before - fleeing the burning and immolated void-city.

 

But this journey was little success - as they truthfully had little experience at sea. So, they sat, and they stared at the stars, and Elijah was still wracked by visions from that accursed place. He meditated in thought - upon books and knowledge and information - and the pair of them worked together, using that crimson comet in the sky to guide themselves back to Azuras.

 

Spoiler

random narrative post of a mission Elijah was sent on... im not the best writer but i word vomited enough

 

[spaazmatism 1017]

Spoiler

Yeah My Awesome Devil Killed Tons Of People And Got Magicked And Shit. It's Awesome.

 

[Aftrballini 450]

Spoiler

Banger

+1

[StingyParrot 1595]

Spoiler

rip judy oml