Solar Infanticide, Take Two! (Closed RP, Elric/Nidhogg)
((Nidhogg appears with mod permission- his app will occur after this thread))
So, the first attempt had failed, but it was a spectacular failure. Never before had Stormbringer drank a soul yet left something behind. What that something was, was truly horrible- and also perplexing. The inverted sky above was clearly the aesthetic of Chaos- but yet, the soul had tasted like something else. Something foul in a way that Chaos never could be, and Chaos could be foul. The soul he had sucked from the thing was the most disgusting soul he and Stormbringer had ever tasted. He began to wonder now about its identity- its soul had tasted nothing like Chekalakh's. But it was clearly not a Lord of Law or Balance- perhaps a Chaos Lord somehow spawned upon this plane, and had never been native to his own?
Elric had failed, but had not yet given up. He did not wish to ask Smaug to fly up to the sun again, for it had made the dragon feel nearly as ill as drinking the soul had made him. It had not been an easy landing, and he was still bruised and battered from the ordeal. Thankfully, Sunflora's berry had in fact cured the worst of the albino's burns, for which he was grateful. But although he could not attempt the same tactic again, he still had other options.
He was the last in a long line of Melnibonean emperors, and the most powerful in his realm. And now, he would call upon those skills. But what he would have to do was long, exhausting, and would be likely to extract a heavy toll. The pacts he had already formed were those of his own realm, and this one was different. This entire cycle was different. But surely, some remnant of those entities would remain, such as the Beast Lords, or some equivalent?
And so, Elric hit upon an idea, and set about its preparation. Firstly, he drank a few acromantula souls with Stormbringer, followed by a heavy dose of the strange drugs of Melnibone, to keep his energy up during his sorcery. He then told Smaug his concept, to summon a sorcerous ally to try dealing with the Baby Sun, and asked if the dragon would keep an eye on him. For, he would need to remain in a trance for many hours, or even days, in order to accomplish his goal. As the dragon grudgingly accepted, still rather annoyed from the last attempt, he gathered his pack and made his way to the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
Once there, he found a place just in sight of the grounds, but not yet beneath the aura of the Baby Sun. He did not want it watching his work. He then cleared the dead matter from an area of soil, followed by the living, and began to incise a complex runic pattern into the bare ground. As he worked, he began to meditate, his eyes roving over the tree roots, and seeming to find shapes within, shapes he added to his strangely organic pattern, while he thought of those creatures he knew best- the sinuous forms and scaled bodies of the Melnibonean dragons, thoughts of which lead to those of other serpentine creatures, from the smallest snakes, to the mightest dragons, like Smaug. For many hours he traced the patterns into the soil with a long knife, long enough for true sun to fall from apex to horizon. As night fell, he ceased his work, and put aside the blade. Without a word he shed his clothing, laying it outside the circle. He then stretched down nude, aside from Stormbringer and his cursed Sparklypoo tiara, in the center of the circle, spreadeagled, and lying on his front side.
And then, he began to chant. Not in the language of Melnibone, but the bizarre and hissing tongue of the reptiles, the speech which he would have used to communicate with their rulers in his own realm. The chanting helped attune his mind to their frequencies, helped him sink into the proper state of trance to seek out a Beast Lord. As he chanted, he stared at the earth, and the roots of the tall tree growing beside him, how they coiled and twisted as they plunged into the earth, and he set his mind amongst similar paths. His eyes were wide open, but his mind and spirit swiftly fled elsewhere, and began the long passage into the unknown. For a long while, he chanted, unaware of his body still carrying out these actions, and as he plunged further and further into the mazes of the astral plane, his chanting quieted, eventually stilling all together. Any who saw him might think him dead, a corpse lying wide-eyed and stripped upon a patch of weirdly scrawled ground.
But Elric was alive, and exceptionally aware. Time ceased to have any meaning, and the hours passed by unknown as he wandered through the astral plane, calling in the sibilant tongue of reptiles. And then, he heard a distant answer. There was something, and it recognized his presence. He moved in its direction, treading the weird paths in a manner that to him, appeared physical- and it quite possibly would to others he encountered there, as well. In his youth, Elric had dreamed the experiences of over a thousand years as if they were life, for it was part of his training, and could exert a strong presence even in non-physical realms. He had no idea how many hours passed as he threaded through what seemed a maze of roots, which he'd followed since he sunk into his trance, a maze which grew mistier and more tangled as he neared the presence he had sensed.
And then, he beheld Nidhogg, in all his glory, gnawing upon the tangle of roots. His serpentine form awed Elric, as he greatly resembled the Melnibonean dragons of his home, and the albino hailed him in the hissing tongue of the Reptiles. "Greetings, Father of Serpents. I am Elric of Melnibone, and have traveled far to seek your audience."
So, the first attempt had failed, but it was a spectacular failure. Never before had Stormbringer drank a soul yet left something behind. What that something was, was truly horrible- and also perplexing. The inverted sky above was clearly the aesthetic of Chaos- but yet, the soul had tasted like something else. Something foul in a way that Chaos never could be, and Chaos could be foul. The soul he had sucked from the thing was the most disgusting soul he and Stormbringer had ever tasted. He began to wonder now about its identity- its soul had tasted nothing like Chekalakh's. But it was clearly not a Lord of Law or Balance- perhaps a Chaos Lord somehow spawned upon this plane, and had never been native to his own?
Elric had failed, but had not yet given up. He did not wish to ask Smaug to fly up to the sun again, for it had made the dragon feel nearly as ill as drinking the soul had made him. It had not been an easy landing, and he was still bruised and battered from the ordeal. Thankfully, Sunflora's berry had in fact cured the worst of the albino's burns, for which he was grateful. But although he could not attempt the same tactic again, he still had other options.
He was the last in a long line of Melnibonean emperors, and the most powerful in his realm. And now, he would call upon those skills. But what he would have to do was long, exhausting, and would be likely to extract a heavy toll. The pacts he had already formed were those of his own realm, and this one was different. This entire cycle was different. But surely, some remnant of those entities would remain, such as the Beast Lords, or some equivalent?
And so, Elric hit upon an idea, and set about its preparation. Firstly, he drank a few acromantula souls with Stormbringer, followed by a heavy dose of the strange drugs of Melnibone, to keep his energy up during his sorcery. He then told Smaug his concept, to summon a sorcerous ally to try dealing with the Baby Sun, and asked if the dragon would keep an eye on him. For, he would need to remain in a trance for many hours, or even days, in order to accomplish his goal. As the dragon grudgingly accepted, still rather annoyed from the last attempt, he gathered his pack and made his way to the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
Once there, he found a place just in sight of the grounds, but not yet beneath the aura of the Baby Sun. He did not want it watching his work. He then cleared the dead matter from an area of soil, followed by the living, and began to incise a complex runic pattern into the bare ground. As he worked, he began to meditate, his eyes roving over the tree roots, and seeming to find shapes within, shapes he added to his strangely organic pattern, while he thought of those creatures he knew best- the sinuous forms and scaled bodies of the Melnibonean dragons, thoughts of which lead to those of other serpentine creatures, from the smallest snakes, to the mightest dragons, like Smaug. For many hours he traced the patterns into the soil with a long knife, long enough for true sun to fall from apex to horizon. As night fell, he ceased his work, and put aside the blade. Without a word he shed his clothing, laying it outside the circle. He then stretched down nude, aside from Stormbringer and his cursed Sparklypoo tiara, in the center of the circle, spreadeagled, and lying on his front side.
And then, he began to chant. Not in the language of Melnibone, but the bizarre and hissing tongue of the reptiles, the speech which he would have used to communicate with their rulers in his own realm. The chanting helped attune his mind to their frequencies, helped him sink into the proper state of trance to seek out a Beast Lord. As he chanted, he stared at the earth, and the roots of the tall tree growing beside him, how they coiled and twisted as they plunged into the earth, and he set his mind amongst similar paths. His eyes were wide open, but his mind and spirit swiftly fled elsewhere, and began the long passage into the unknown. For a long while, he chanted, unaware of his body still carrying out these actions, and as he plunged further and further into the mazes of the astral plane, his chanting quieted, eventually stilling all together. Any who saw him might think him dead, a corpse lying wide-eyed and stripped upon a patch of weirdly scrawled ground.
But Elric was alive, and exceptionally aware. Time ceased to have any meaning, and the hours passed by unknown as he wandered through the astral plane, calling in the sibilant tongue of reptiles. And then, he heard a distant answer. There was something, and it recognized his presence. He moved in its direction, treading the weird paths in a manner that to him, appeared physical- and it quite possibly would to others he encountered there, as well. In his youth, Elric had dreamed the experiences of over a thousand years as if they were life, for it was part of his training, and could exert a strong presence even in non-physical realms. He had no idea how many hours passed as he threaded through what seemed a maze of roots, which he'd followed since he sunk into his trance, a maze which grew mistier and more tangled as he neared the presence he had sensed.
And then, he beheld Nidhogg, in all his glory, gnawing upon the tangle of roots. His serpentine form awed Elric, as he greatly resembled the Melnibonean dragons of his home, and the albino hailed him in the hissing tongue of the Reptiles. "Greetings, Father of Serpents. I am Elric of Melnibone, and have traveled far to seek your audience."