03- The Apostles of Doom

by J. Langland

  Rede stared in shock at this very weird demon. He would have expected demons, particularly one this horrifying, to have their act together a bit more.

  “Hello! Last name? Family name? Surname?” the demon asked.

  “Yondin. Rede Yondin. Yondin is my mother’s family name.”

  The demon gave him a grin and began going through his papers again, muttering something unintelligible. “Ahh! Now we are getting somewhere!” He looked up, grinning from ear to ear. “Can you confirm your patrimonial name? That of your sire?”

  “Czernobog Smerti was my sire,” Rede said. Clearly this demon must work for the Storm Lords. It was not something he would have expected, but nothing in his life was making a lot of sense.

  “Excellent!” the demon exclaimed, raising his left upper hand, which now contained a large, purple-plumed feather pen. He moved it down theatrically to where Rede assumed paper was and made a motion as if he were checking a box. “Yep! I am here for you!”

  That was something no one really wanted to hear from a demon. Rede hoped the lock would prove some impediment. Perhaps as it was wrenched off the frame, the guards would hear and come running? Rede could not see what the demon was doing, but from what he could see through the window, he was moving to open the door. There were some clicking noises and suddenly the door opened outward, the demon coming around it to enter his cell.

  Rede shrank back at the sight. The demon did indeed have four arms; he also seemed to have a second torso extending from the buttocks of his front legs to a rear set of legs. Rede blinked as he realized that the demon was not only completely naked, but that it was rather frighteningly endowed—twice! Rede wrenched his eyes away from that sight to note that the demon had green, insectlike wings on his back that were moving gently back and forth.

  As the demon entered the room, Rede puzzled over the fact that its hands were empty. There were no papers, no pipe, no plume, nothing in the demon’s hands. He glanced out the door to see if the papers were on the floor. There was nothing there; perhaps they were on the other side of the door.

  Rede’s eyes came back to the demon as it made its way over to him, flashing a very creepy grin. Rede was not sure what the demon was going to do. Probably disembowel him, or perhaps take him back to the Storm Lord army. He wasn’t sure which he’d prefer at the moment: short-term, agonizing pain followed by death, or a long miserable life as a monstrous predator.

  The demon stuck out his lower right hand. “Nice to meet you, Rede. My name is Tisdale, but my friends call me Tizzy. You may call me Tizzy!”

  Rede stared at him, blinking. He tentatively reached out to shake the demon’s hand, being careful not to cut himself on its razor-sharp claws. The demon’s grasp was surprisingly dry and quite warm. Concentrating on the handshake, Rede at first didn’t notice the demon’s other upper hand reaching for his neck until the demon’s forearm brushed against his cheek. Rede lurched, trying to pull away as a nasty metallic screeching sound assaulted his ears.

  Suddenly Rede was falling over, down to the floor. The demon’s hands were free and clear of him; one of them held the metal collar that he had been wearing, which was now pinched open.

  Tizzy dropped the collar and chain on the bench and turned toward the door. “Come along now. Those guards will eventually come back and I’m so munchy, I might have to eat them.” The demon gestured at Rede to follow him.

  Rede scrambled to his feet, his legs stiff and aching, and followed the demon out of the cell. He glanced behind the door, but saw no papers or pen. The demon gestured for Rede to come up alongside him as he marched them towards the exit.

  As Rede came forward, he noted that the demon was lighting his pipe with a small flame which shot from the thumb on the hand not holding the pipe. He was not sure where the pipe had come from; it had not been there in the cell.

  The demon’s lower left hand suddenly appeared in front of him with a small tube of rolled-up paper. Each end of the paper tube was twisted shut, presumably to keep something inside the tube.

  “Smoke?” the demon asked after taking a big puff on his pipe.

  “Uh, no thanks?” Rede said tentatively, not wanting to insult his demon rescuer.

  Tizzy shrugged. “Are you sure? It’s a great stress reliever, and according to my records, you’ve been under a lot of stress recently.”

  “I’m good, thank you,” Rede said shaking his head.

  “Too bad! Your loss.” Tizzy shrugged. “But that’s okay, we have plenty of time yet for you to relax and have a good smoke once we get you settled in.”

  “Uhm, so where are we going?” Rede asked.

  “Well, first we are going to the Isle of Doom here on Nysegard,” Tizzy said. He turned to smile at Rede, wiggling his eyebrows. “And then I’ll take you on a tour of the Abyss!”

  Rede stopped in tracks. The demon was not taking him to the Storm Lords? Instead he was dragging him to the Abyss? He was literally going from the frying pan into the fire!

  Tizzy reached out to pull Rede forward. “Come, come, it’s not that bad. Plenty of mortals visiting these days! Vaselle is even making these nifty personal air conditioners. I think you two will get along. Given how nervous you seem, I’m betting you and my accursed master, Gastropé, will get along as well.”

  Tizzy paused for a moment. “But if I were you, I’d be a wee bit circumspect around Jenn. She’s got these crazy ideas about good and evil, and I suspect she’ll think that all dhampyrs are evil.” He started moving again, pulling Rede along. “So come along, don’t worry! You’ll love being Doomed!”

  The Demons of Astlan shall continue in Volume IV. Unfortunately, Tizzy is not willing to release the name of the volume at the time of printing.

  Meanwhile, be prepared for the Chronicles of Astlan, Book I: Into the Wilds

  Appendix I: The Localverse

  Curriculum Obtestatus: College of Wizardry

  University of the Council States

  The localverse is the name given to alternate worlds or planes of existence that follow essentially the same rules of magic that Astlan does, but which are not alternate versions of Astlan. While the worlds have different sets and levels of wizardry, spells and arcane devices that work in one world work completely as expected in the other worlds of the Localverse, with no modification. Animagic and similar druidic and shamanistic magic also work normally, as do Holy Rituals, although the prayers and chants may be different for historical reasons.

  At various points in time, various groups in Astlan have engaged in regular or semi-regular trade with these other worlds. The level of trade and interaction over the centuries has been dependent on the various groups, parties, nations on each world having the desire or ability to trade.

  One very interesting characteristic of these worlds is that they all share common timelines, meaning that every time one travels to one of the localverse worlds, it is always the same version of that world. Thus, all interactions between worlds are historically connected and are shared experiences between the planes. For example, if you were to talk to an individual on one of these worlds, the next time you returned, they would remember talking to you.

  While this might sound obvious, technically, it is not. The principal concept of the multiverse is one of multiple versions of reality where different timelines exist. Worlds in the localverse share a common timeline. Now it is true that, if you ventured to Excelsior or another plane not in the universe, the same spell using the same coordinates would bring you to the same plane every time. It is possible to find timeline variants of the non-localverse worlds if one really tries. In some cases, it may take years or centuries of searching, but it can be done.

  However, to date, no one has ever encountered an alternate timeline version of the other worlds in the localverse. What most scholars take this to mean is that the planes of the localverse are so close together that one cannot actually phase shift to those realms using conventional means. One would instead have to use a variant of a time travel
spell to get to alternate versions, even as one would need to do to get to an alternate version of Astlan.

  When traveling between these worlds, it is very important to know coordinates both for the world itself and for locations within the world. Thus, for example, while the same spell will allow one to travel to any of these worlds, the spells must be customized to include information on which world and where in that world to travel to (it can be inconvenient to materialize over a large body of water). The Council and its trading counterparts in these worlds have standardized spell variants for designated locations on each of these worlds. One presumes that other groups have done similar.

  Astlan

  Our home world.

  Avalon

  An orderly world that has many naturally forming gateways to other planes of existence. Avalon is a majority Sidhe world, with humans in the minority relative to Astlan.

  Etterdam

  By Astlanian standards, Etterdam is a war-torn world ruled by a great number of feudal overlords. Kingdoms, nations, empires and dynasties tend to be rather fluid over the centuries, much more so than on Astlan.

  Ithgar

  Ithgar is a pleasant world, not too different from Astlan in terms of temperament and wizardly skills. Ithgar does, however, have more conflict between humans and jötunnkind than Astlan.

  Nysegard

  Nysegard is under severe travel restrictions by all sensible Astlanian authorities, not only wizardly ones, but by most major religions as well. Nysegard was overrun by the Unlife many thousands of years ago. While life still clings to the plane, the Forces of Darkness are the strongest on Nysegard of anywhere on this side of the multiverse. Nysegard is quite infamous for exporting its necromancers and Unlife to other planes within the localverse, seeking to gain footholds.

  Romdan

  A land of vast plains and gentle mountains, there are many nomadic cultures on Romdan as well as a large number of sophisticated city-states.

  Targella

  Targella is in some ways quite different than other worlds within the multiverse. Oddly, among the majority of races—human, alfar, orc and dwarven—more often than not, the societies are matrimonial rather than patrimonial. It is unclear why this would be so widespread, but it is often disturbing to travelers from strong paternalistic cultures.

  Appendix II: Introduction and Overview of Time, Space and the Multiverse

  By Borgolos Thought Splitter, Shamage of Doom

  Mount Doom Shamanic Studies Program: Inter-Dimensional Magineering & Research

  Mortal mages and scholars have a limited understanding of how the multiverse functions. This is perhaps understandable, as it does take centuries of study to even truly appreciate the complexity of time and multispace; this is why the gods tend to have the best understanding of how things work. However, with the assistance of the Altrusians, the djinn, and some input from moderately cooperative gods, Doom’s understanding is far beyond that of most mortal scholars.

  In this article, I shall restrict myself to speaking of the Planes of Orc, the material world. Discussion of the Outer Planes, Elemental Planes, Astral Plane and the Abyss can be found in other articles within the Library of Doom. I shall include some information on the æthereal realms, as these realms are intrinsic to the various material planes. Further, as this is but an introductory overview, I shall not discuss the mathematics, nor the actual magineering requirements and proscriptions. Those too may be found in numerous other documents.

  Terminology

  We begin with clarifying basic terminology that is often confused and conflated.

  The multiverse: The entirety of creation, including all planes of existence

  The Elemental Planes: Should be well known as the material components of the multiverse: Earth, Air, Water, Fire and Spirit. It is the interaction of these five elements that creates mana.

  The Planes of Orc, Man, Elf, etc. These are the material or physical planes created by the combination of the five elements, called Midgard by jötunnkind, the Æsir, the Vanir and many others.

  The Outer Planes: A “halo” region outside of the Planes of Orc. It is very mana-rich and animus friendly. These regions reflect aspects of the material planes and do so subject to the machinations and manipulations of very powerful magineers—commonly referred to as gods.

  The æthereal planes are contained within the Planes of Orc. They are specifically tied to individual material planes of existence. They are Spirit shadows of the material plane to which they are attached.

  The Astral Plane: A very unusual plane that is accessible only to animus and mana, more so than the Outer Planes. The Outer Planes may have refleca materials which are reflections of material objects and which have the semblance of material properties; however, these do not exist within the Astral Plane. It is a realm only accessible to animus and mana, similar to the æthereal realms; however, unlike the æthereal realms, there is only one Astral Plane and it connects all of the other planes of the multiverse. Some scholars have alluded to it being the “grouting of the multiverse.”

  The Demiplanes: Djinnistan. A realm of spirit and elements that is arranged differently than the material planes. In some ways they might be considered an alternate set of material planes; however, apparently there are not an infinite number of time streams. Unfortunately, for security reasons, the djinn are not particularly forthcoming about their own plane(s).

  Limbo: A layered buffer realm, or set of planes “between” Midgard and the Outer Planes. Many deities and pantheons use it as a staging area for followers awaiting Judgement or Assignment.

  Purgatory: A layered buffer realm, or set of planes “between” Midgard and the Abyss. Many deities and pantheons use it either as a staging area or as a threat of damnation for those of their followers who require either additional review or a milder punishment than having them thrown to demons or the dark gods of their own pantheon.

  The Abyss, aka Home: A place that defies logic, contradicting the laws of both magic and physics.

  As far as we can determine, the Abyss is infinite in extent.

  It has materiality, like the material planes, yet also is quite friendly to animus and mana. This should not be possible.

  There is only one Abyss. Unlike the multiverse, it appears to be time invariant, i.e., it is not possible to bifurcate its timeline. This presents numerous issues with regard to events in the material planes as well as those in the Outer Planes (which reflect events in the material planes).

  Some scholars, both demonic and godly, have referred to it as the bedrock, or foundation of the multiverse. However, this, plus its time invariance, contradicts the Standard Model of the Multiverse and its relationship to time.

  This has caused some to suspect that the Abyss may lie outside the multiverse, which of course is contradictory and ontological; however, this theory would imply that the multiverse exists somewhere within the Abyss. I do not pretend to understand the ramifications of such a statement.

  Time

  Understanding time is critical to understand the vast majority of the multiverse. Time is the zeroth dimension, and orders (and reorders) the multiverse. It is different from all of the other 665 dimensions that form the multiverse, in that it is the baseline for the ordering of the different universes of the material planes.

  For clarification, the Planes of Orc—the material planes—comprise the majority of the multiverse and are its heart, assuming something that is technically infinite can be the majority of something super-infinite. The material planes are bound by, and ordered by, Time. The Outer Planes, as reflections of the material planes, are thus affected by time as well; however, the very powerful magineers (gods) living there are more than capable of distorting their own reflected worlds. I must cut this discussion short, because, while quite interesting, it comes perilously close to discussing one of the touchiest issues between the accords of the gods and demons, the Rules of Temporal Manipulation. Allowing that the RTM are a very political issue, I shall not d
iscuss them further in this article.

  As stated previously, the æthereal realms, being tied to their material planes, are temporally synchronized with them. The Astral Plane is loosely coupled in time with the material planes, and because of this loose coupling, there can be some very unusual circumstances. For example, two different incarnations of the same individual from different closely aligned timelines can actually meet with impunity in the Astral Plane.

  The Elemental Planes are assumed to be relatively immune to, or unaffected by time. Since there is no life there, at least as far as anyone can determine, there is no clear way to measure or detect time in the Elemental Planes.

  The Abyss clearly has time—is ordered by time—but as stated, there is only one timeline for the Abyss; there are no alternate Abysses. At least, not so far as anyone can determine. Similarly, the Abyss has no æthereal plane; we suspect this is related to the fact that spirit forms (animabodies) can exist here without being dissipated.

  The time invariance can create some paradoxes when mortals come to the Abyss, as in theory, it should collapse a mortal’s timelines to a single instance; yet upon their return to their material planes do their timelines merge back to their original state? This is not clear to our researchers due to the fact that we cannot directly measure our own alternate timelines. We can only examine alternate timelines that are highly distinct from our own.