R
Rune Alchemist
Guest
Original poster
OOC
Tartarus...where the damned, sinful, and unbelievers go when they die, if you believe the church. A dangerous place full of demons that want nothing more than to torture mortals for their own enjoyment. The land is made of cracked, hard rock that can't grown anything. There is no water, only seas of lava and lakes of fire. The skies are eternally dyed an eerie red that rain down fire and brimstone upon the land. This is what the church says, anyways. And the church can't possibly be wrong, of course....
Far away from the brimstone, lakes of fire, and hard cracked rock in a quiet corner, nearly forgotten by even the denizens of Tartarus, laid a ruin. This ruin was ancient. It was covered in dead trees, vines, and all manner of demonic growth. It was off limits to everyone as commanded by Denetheos himself. Not a single demon was allowed in. Why, wasn't known. Of course, no one would dare to even ask such a question. However, within the ancient halls of the ruin, something stirred.
A lone figure moved through the ancient hallways, accompanied only by a fire in its left hand to light its path, and its shadow. Its long white cloak leaving a trail in the debris that littered the floor. The only feature that could be seen on the figure, was long white hair that trailed down from under its hood. The figure moved with haste down the ancient hall, until it came to a large set of ruined double doors that towered above even the halls of the Infernal Palace.
The doors led to a large, circular room. The furnishings had all long since rotted away, leaving only dust and the large chandelier that somehow still hung above them behind.
The figured moved swiftly inside, and was immediately greeted by a second trespasser. This...creature, seemed to look like something out of a nightmare. Its face, if you could call it that, was mostly skeletal with remaining skin being a grey color that looked ready to fall off of the creatures face at the slightest breeze. Long, stringy strands of black hair still hung to the scalp of this creature, clinging desperately to what little life they had left. The creatures mouth had been replaced with a skeletal grin, its teeth ending in sharp points, grey fleshy muscles still clinging to the jaw. The eye sockets held no eyes, only a dim blue light. The rest of the creature, was cloaked in a black robe that was as equally as worn as its owner looked.
"I apologize," The skeletal creature said with a bow to the white robed figure as it entered. "But there has been a...complication." The creatures voice was raspy and old, just as it itself appeared to be.
"Such as?" The one robed in white replied, its voice being clearly feminine and having an air of nobility to it.
"I seem to have...misplaced, our souls." The creature said, though it received no reply from the woman so it took it as permission to continue. "I believe my twin interfered and re-routed the souls to the Styx. I do not know why, but perhaps she believes I was trying to cause mischief."
"For the love of..." The woman replied, though no anger was intended. It instead sounded tired, and somewhat annoyed. "This was our best chance. We will not get another like it for centuries. How can you just 'misplace' them?" This was there best chance, no doubt about it. Denetheos was so focused on crushing the rebellion and finding out who the traitors were that he had called Cerberus to the front lines of his little war party so that he could attempt to gain an upper hand. Annoyed, the woman walked past the creature, pacing somewhat as she thought of their next course of action. The woman sighed, and gave her companion a stern look form underneath her hood. "We'll just have to work with what we have then. Where's Sloth?"
"He went to the Gates. I believe he wants to try and retrieve the souls. Odd, him being so...productive." The one called Death replied, trailing behind her slightly. Its movement was odd, not making any footsteps as he did so, with the cloak swaying gently as he moved.
"Sloth can always be productive if he gets off his lazy fat ass." The woman replied, her voice being oddly calm and still maintaining a regal sound despite her words. "We can think of this as like a test for them. If these souls you produced can get past the Styx and make it to the gates then they have a high probability of getting their jobs done. With Cerberus gone, it shouldn't be that difficult unless they run afoul of the Styx. She usually keeps to herself, though, so shouldn't be a problem." She continued, turning to face her companion. "Go, return to your duties. We can't have anyone getting suspicious of us leaving so suddenly. I'll cover for Sloth."
"Of course, Lady Greed." With that, Death bowed and vanished in a blur of movement that would be impossible for any mortal to keep up with. The woman, Greed, exited the way she came in, making her way to the ruins entrance. Perhaps, for once, they could get the upper hand here and go on the offensive. She would need to make preparations for these mortals to ensure they obeyed....whether they wanted to or not. She couldn't have her new toys running around freely, after all....
Far away from the brimstone, lakes of fire, and hard cracked rock in a quiet corner, nearly forgotten by even the denizens of Tartarus, laid a ruin. This ruin was ancient. It was covered in dead trees, vines, and all manner of demonic growth. It was off limits to everyone as commanded by Denetheos himself. Not a single demon was allowed in. Why, wasn't known. Of course, no one would dare to even ask such a question. However, within the ancient halls of the ruin, something stirred.
A lone figure moved through the ancient hallways, accompanied only by a fire in its left hand to light its path, and its shadow. Its long white cloak leaving a trail in the debris that littered the floor. The only feature that could be seen on the figure, was long white hair that trailed down from under its hood. The figure moved with haste down the ancient hall, until it came to a large set of ruined double doors that towered above even the halls of the Infernal Palace.
The doors led to a large, circular room. The furnishings had all long since rotted away, leaving only dust and the large chandelier that somehow still hung above them behind.
The figured moved swiftly inside, and was immediately greeted by a second trespasser. This...creature, seemed to look like something out of a nightmare. Its face, if you could call it that, was mostly skeletal with remaining skin being a grey color that looked ready to fall off of the creatures face at the slightest breeze. Long, stringy strands of black hair still hung to the scalp of this creature, clinging desperately to what little life they had left. The creatures mouth had been replaced with a skeletal grin, its teeth ending in sharp points, grey fleshy muscles still clinging to the jaw. The eye sockets held no eyes, only a dim blue light. The rest of the creature, was cloaked in a black robe that was as equally as worn as its owner looked.
"I apologize," The skeletal creature said with a bow to the white robed figure as it entered. "But there has been a...complication." The creatures voice was raspy and old, just as it itself appeared to be.
"Such as?" The one robed in white replied, its voice being clearly feminine and having an air of nobility to it.
"I seem to have...misplaced, our souls." The creature said, though it received no reply from the woman so it took it as permission to continue. "I believe my twin interfered and re-routed the souls to the Styx. I do not know why, but perhaps she believes I was trying to cause mischief."
"For the love of..." The woman replied, though no anger was intended. It instead sounded tired, and somewhat annoyed. "This was our best chance. We will not get another like it for centuries. How can you just 'misplace' them?" This was there best chance, no doubt about it. Denetheos was so focused on crushing the rebellion and finding out who the traitors were that he had called Cerberus to the front lines of his little war party so that he could attempt to gain an upper hand. Annoyed, the woman walked past the creature, pacing somewhat as she thought of their next course of action. The woman sighed, and gave her companion a stern look form underneath her hood. "We'll just have to work with what we have then. Where's Sloth?"
"He went to the Gates. I believe he wants to try and retrieve the souls. Odd, him being so...productive." The one called Death replied, trailing behind her slightly. Its movement was odd, not making any footsteps as he did so, with the cloak swaying gently as he moved.
"Sloth can always be productive if he gets off his lazy fat ass." The woman replied, her voice being oddly calm and still maintaining a regal sound despite her words. "We can think of this as like a test for them. If these souls you produced can get past the Styx and make it to the gates then they have a high probability of getting their jobs done. With Cerberus gone, it shouldn't be that difficult unless they run afoul of the Styx. She usually keeps to herself, though, so shouldn't be a problem." She continued, turning to face her companion. "Go, return to your duties. We can't have anyone getting suspicious of us leaving so suddenly. I'll cover for Sloth."
"Of course, Lady Greed." With that, Death bowed and vanished in a blur of movement that would be impossible for any mortal to keep up with. The woman, Greed, exited the way she came in, making her way to the ruins entrance. Perhaps, for once, they could get the upper hand here and go on the offensive. She would need to make preparations for these mortals to ensure they obeyed....whether they wanted to or not. She couldn't have her new toys running around freely, after all....
The Stygian Caves. It's said that here is where the Underworld begins and the Mortal Realm ends. This is partly true. It is the weakest area between the three realms, though no one has stepped foot in the place for centuries on account of Illya sealing them, and removing all access to and from the mortal world. One could still access The realms of Heaven and Tartarus, though each were guarded by a large, nearly impenetrable gate and highly trained guardsman.
The caves had been a site of many battles during the Requiem war, many angels and demons falling in battle, and many even meeting their demise at the hands of the Styx, whose water was like poison to anything that so much as touched it, as the so called goddess that ruled over it was corrupted by demonic powers at the height of the Requiem war causing many Demons and Angels alike to suffer great casualties at the hands of the now rage filled creature.
The river flowed through most of the caves, with it branching out until it pooled or fell into an abyss. It was the only way to safely navigate through the maze-like caverns, if you did not, then there was a good chance of being trapped in there for eternity, as no one has ever mapped or explored the depths of the caves.
These caves, while seemingly safe and devoid of life, was one of the most dangerous places in all the realms. Since it is so close to the three realms, reality here is unstable. Things shift. You drop something it doesn't hit the floor, but vanish. Creatures from all the realms sometimes find their way into the place. Humans, sometime find themselves in here after falling asleep, and die at the hands of some monster or die from starvation. This doesn't happen often, but it does happen. Sticking together in a large group, may even be difficult....
Now, after many centuries of desolation, something stirs. Mortals have found their way into the caves somehow. These souls are the first to step foot in this place for centuries, and the creatures who lurk here have noticed, and are eager for a fresh meal....
