BlackLotus
First Post
The Brothers Nine:
Nine bandits, who had just robbed a caravan, travel westward towards the village Wyrmshire. When the bandits were within a mile distance of the village, they saw a strange sight. Many people are gathering on top of a hill listening man preaching about the existence of a new God. The bandits stop to listen the man’s speech, before they descide to take their next action.
“All men are born in sin, hence God sacrificed his one and only begotten son, so that man can be saved from their sins. Those who are forgiven of their sins and are faithful to the one and only True God shall be allowed to enter his kingdom to live in eternal paradise.”
The bandit leader approaches the preaching man and he begins to speak.
“I had enough of your prattle, my men and I are here to rob you lot, even if it means that we have to leave some dead corpses behind. So if you wanna live, just hand over the loot.”
The preaching man looked down a t the bandit leader and simply said, “You are the brothers nine, born from the same mother and father. Then when you and your brothers were born from her womb, you were immediately sold to Goblin slave traders for profit.
I know that your mother and father have knowledge of the True God, since you and each one of your brothers have Christian Names, Bartholomew.”
The bandit leader, Bartholomew, shocked by what he had just heard from the preaching man’s lips draws his sword from his sheath in a threatening manner.
“Perhaps you’ll be the first one to die for prodding around in my head, Wizard. And I really hope to see this God of yours come down here to save you from my blade.”
Without any signs of fear the preaching man looked at Bartholomew with pity and stated,” Bartholomew, I know of a secret that you hold in the back of your mind where no Wizard can reach. I shall whisper this secret into your ear to show you that God knows everything about you.”
“Okay, I’ll play, tell me this secret of all secrets that I hold in my head”, replies the bandit leader.
The preaching man leaned over and whispered something into the bandit leader’s ear. Suddenly a look of shock appeared across Bartholomew’s face as he took his blade and plunged it into the preaching man’s chest.
The preaching man did not show any signs of hate or anger towards Bartholomew. Instead he just looked at the sword sticking out of his chest. Tears of sadness rolled down his face as he grabbed the hilt of the sword and pulled the weapon from out of his chest.
The preaching man then flung the bladed weapon to the ground at Bartholomew’s feet.
“Bartholomew, take this sword and return it to your sheath. Also, you and your brothers shalt not harm or kill any other people, GOD COMMANDS IT!”
Bartholomew along with his group of bandits and the rest of the people within the gathering fell to their knees pleading for mercy. The preaching man looked upon the people and knelt down beside them in humility.
Bartholomew speaks with a quivering, uncertain voice, “Who are you?”
The preaching man looks at Bartholomew and replies,” I am the Arch Angel Gabriel and there is no need to fall to your knees in my presence, because I am merely a servant of the one and True God here on this world to spread his word. He has nothing but mercy for all of you; he is not a vengeful God; only the wicked shall fear him.
Tell me Bartholomew, do you and your brothers remain to be among the wicked?”
Sudden a glowing aura of spectral light surrounds Gabriel and a pair a Angelic wings materializes on his back. Everyone who is within Gabriel’s presence feels an overwhelming sense of peace and tranquility.
Bartholomew speaks,” I have my doubts about this God, but I will try to be faithful towards him. Especially after what I have witnessed today, I will promise not to continue in my thieving ways and I will not kill another person as long as I walk this land.”
Gabriel places his hands upon Bartholomew’s shoulders and states,” Good, you have answered wisely, Bartholomew, all an Angel can ask a human to do is at least try. Even the most devoted humans have often time faltered in their belief in God. As long as they find their way back to the right path shall they enter his kingdom and live for all eternity.
I have past a beautiful field about 2 miles Northwest of here, both you and your brothers can build God’s House at that location to spread his word. I have drawn up some plans on how the Cathedral is to be built; even Angels such as myself have hobbies that we like to pursue.”
The Angel Gabriel hands Bartholomew a scroll containing detailed plans on how the Cathedral to the one True God was to be built.
Evil Ensues:
A short time after the Cathedral to an unknown God was built, the devils gathered together on the bottom most layer of hell, Nessus, and held an emergency meeting. The meeting was to be lead by the Notorious King of Devils Asmodeus. Any Devil Lord that did not appear at this meeting was to be demoted to the rank of Lemure, as punishment.
Asmodeus, sitting on a great thrown made of brass and Brimstone pounds his fiendish staff on the floor of the citadel.
“Silence! It has come to my attention that the Angel Gabriel was spotted on the world called the Source, spreading the teachings of a forbidden God. If the word of this forbidden God spreads a number of Devil Lords within this chamber will cease to exist. The question is how are we going to deal with this situation.”
The Spider Goddess, Lolth, takes the floor, “My Lord Asmodeus, may I humbly suggest that I have my Drow worshippers take care of this Angel. I can provide them with magical weapons that could be used against him. This Angel will never step foot in the Prime Material Plane again.”
Asmodeus throws a fireball at Lolth, which sets her on fire. “Fool! The Angel Gabriel is an Immortal, he can not be harmed by any form of magic, either by a magically enchanted weapon, spell or poison. This forbidden God bestowed these protections upon him. Anyhow Lolth, you are one of the Lords, which will cease to exist if the word of this forbidden God spreads, along with all the Drow who worship you.”
Asmodeus’s attention is drawn to the Devil Lord Hexxis. He notices that Hexxis is playing with a rat. Suddenly Angered Asmodeus screams,” How dare you bring food within my meeting chamber! I will now punish you for your lack of focus on this matter of great importance!” Asmodeus points at Hexxis, then a bolt of lightning springs out of his index finger, striking the offending Devil Lord in the head.
Hexxis bows his head in submission as he begins to speak,” Sorry my Lord, but this rodent is actually apart of my plan. There was a creature that was once an enemy to all men. He is called Craven, the king of the rat people. This rat that I hold in my hands has Craven’s blood coursing through its veins. The human named Bartholomew, well my Lord Asmodeus, this human’s faith in this GOD wavers with uncertainty. We could use this to our advantage. One bite from this rat could destroy Bartholomew and resurrect the Rat King to its former glory.”
“Hexxis my patience is growing short with you, tell me how could resurrecting an old were-rat help us in this matter.”
“My Lord Asmodeus, the rat people are a crafty sort. These creatures have the ability to turn the humans against this Forbidden God. All will grow to fear and hate this GOD, as soon as the Ratlings have completed their mission.”
With a furious hatred burning in his eyes, Asmodeus replies,” Hexxis pray to me that you are right about this; otherwise, I might just have to eat you whole and spit out your bones across this chamber’s floor. And the other Lords of Hell will draw witness to this disgusting act, if you fail me.”
Evil in the form of a Rat!
Bartholomew with the holy bible in his arms had just wished his two brothers, Judas and Peter, a goodnight. The two brothers left the Cathedral and went to the Estate located on top of Mullbury Hill to rest for the night. Bartholomew wanted to join his brothers, but he had just remembered to return the holy book back onto the altar in the hall of worship.
The priest enters the main hall where the people come to worship the True God. He notices that the chamber has a sinister aura about it whenever nightfall comes. Brother Bartholomew always has an unsettling feeling when he enters the hall of worship during the hours of darkness. The pews where the people sit during the day cast eerie elongated shadows at night. The silhouettes of rats can be seen running across the windowsills, backlit by the moonlight shining through the stain glass images of each window. But some how this night was to be different, Bartholomew can sense it; something evil is lurking within the shadows.
As Brother Bartholomew places the holy book on to the altar, he notices a rat staring at him from the isle way between the two rows of pews.
“Shooo go away rodent. I’ll have nothing to do with you this night”, whimpered the young priest.
Unfortunately for Brother Bartholomew, the rat just stood there and stared, instead this time it had a human-like grin on it’s face. Suddenly the fiendish rat lunged at the priest with a vicious attack. It bit into Brother Bartholomew’s skin repeatedly until the young priest’s robes were soaked with his own blood. Now visibly scarred by the rodent’s relentless attack, Bartholomew’s body falls to the floor. The body of priest spasms as it begins its transformation into a monstrous humanoid rat-like creature. The Were-rat, Craven, has been reborn.
The Were-rat Craven woke from his eternal sleep, only to see a fiendish apparition appear before him. He sees the Devil Lord Hexxis standing over him and realizes that this infernal entity was the one who had resurrected him back to life. The Devil Lord Hexxis speaks,” Craven, this is the temple of the forbidden God. If Knowledge of this God spreads throughout the lands then the control that we have over this world will be lost. The monsters and mythical creatures, which were born from the Dreamtime Mists will cease to exist. You, Craven, will also cease to exist along with them if you fail in your mission.”
Craven, now on knees showing nothing but obedience to the infernal Lord replies,” My Lord Hexxis what would you have me do to stop the knowledge of this forbidden God from spreading across these lands?”
“Craven, you must start by killing the other priests who come to this temple. Use your shape-shifting ability and assume the form of Brother Bartholomew, this will allow you to perform this first task without difficulty. After you have killed them, then you will infect their bodies with your blood. This will transform whatever life they may have left within them into were-rats, who’ll obey you without question.”
Craven suddenly interrupts the infernal lord with a statement of his own,” Yes, my lord Hexxis, I see this plan of yours develop within my mind. When the people come here to worship this forbidden God we will set a trap for them. We will kill them all!”
“Craven”, Hexxis interrupts,” You will kill all but one person that comes to this temple. That one survivor will then tell others about the evil thing that this God did to the people who worship him. The people will grow to fear and hate this forbidden God and no one ever come to worship him again.”
“Is there anything else that you wish for me to do, Lord Hexxis?” asks the Were-rat as he shape-shifts into the form of Brother Bartholomew.
“Yes Craven, one of my agents is amongst of the brothers nine. He is a traitor to them and their God. He has a strongbox hidden within a secret room in front of a shrine that is dedicated to me. I want you to tear your beating heart from your chest and place it within that box. If you are killed in battle, then you will be resurrected back to life and physically reappear wherever the box containing your heart is located. Anyone who opens this box and looks upon your beating heart, Craven, will be transformed into a ratling that will obey your commands. However, I must warn you, should a crying child gaze upon your heart. Then those tears from the crying child, that fall upon your beating heart will destroy you.”
“I will immediately put your plan into action, Infernal Lord Hexxis,” cries Craven as he watches the vision of the fiend fades from his sight.
This is story to my next adventure that I'm going to write. Feedback would be much appreciated.
