by Langland, J.
"Nothing!" the demon answered her in a bass that nearly shook her to the bone. "That's what I was looking around trying to determine a second ago.
"He definitely came through the hole and I saw him in the cave, through the hole. He isn't here now though." The demon almost, almost, sounded sincere. If, that were, such a thing was possible for a demon. She rigidly tried to hold herself calm. She glanced at Gastropé. He still seemed to be fixated on the demon, and didn't take his eyes off it, even though it paid him no attention.
Jenn heard voices from the tunnel. They were indistinct at first. One of them seemed to belong, almost, to an old man, rather high pitched and crotchety. The other sounded like Rupert's. There was also some sort of droning noise, kind of like a giant humming bird. "So how many masters have you had?" Rupert's voice seemed to ask. Was Jenn delirious?
"Oh let's see, 47, I think. It gets hard to tell after a while, they all start running together. The only one that really matters is the now one of course. The others are just worm food and memories. Well, except for Maurice. Maurice never got to be worm food. Was food though. Yep. Mighty tasty food at that."
The voices got louder, and suddenly from the long tunnel appeared Rupert, walking slightly ahead of...of well, a demon. A very weird looking demon with four arms and four legs and insectoidal humming bird wings. Rupert was looking backwards, over his shoulder at the demon as he walked. Every bit as if he were having a stroll in the park with a friend.
"Rupert!" Jenn shouted. "What are you doing? Have you gone completely berserk!" She couldn't believe this. This had to be some kind of nightmare. Nothing like this could ever happen, it was just too unreal. The absolute absurdity of the casual nature of their conversation caused her mind to reel.
The octopodal demon stopped abruptly, staring at Jenn and Gastropé in surprise. He took them in, and then looked at the big demon. Rupert just smiled sweetly at Jenn as if nothing were wrong. "So Tom, what do you got here?" he gestured with a couple hands at Gastrope' and Jenn. "Wizard take out? Sound's good to me. I haven't been to a good flaying in years! Boggy, that low down buddy of mine didn't even invite me to the mutilation of his accursed master!"
Gastropé's eyes were finally distracted from Tom, over to the smaller demon. Fortunately for him, his face couldn't get any whiter; it could, however, turn a sickly yellow color. "Actually, it'd be a pretty good lesson for the lad here, boy needs to get his technique down young. You really can't start too young.
"I suppose you're gonna do the honors. After all, they're your toys. I'm sure you'll want the lass, but can I maybe have just a small bit of time with the sickly looking one?" Gastropé collapsed on the floor in a heap. Suddenly, Jenn was torn, she didn't know whether to be terrified or pissed. She supposed terror was the more rational response, but she was really just getting too numb. Her mind too overloaded. There was only so much terror and insanity one could deal with at time, before a person just said enough is enough. Pissed seemed to be more likely at the moment.
"No, Tizzy. These are my guests. I've given my word to protect all...three...of them." Tom looked rather sourly down at Gastropé, obviously stretching the truth and hating ever moment of it.
"Oh shucks, Tom. Why don't I ever get to have any fun?" The Tizzy demon whined. He stuck a long stemmed pipe in his mouth and took a large puff. Jenn had no idea where the pipe had come from, all four of his hands had been empty when he’d entered the cave. "Look, these two wizards here, they're gonna expire soon anyway. They can't keep their magic up too long, and then their gonna bake. If they're baked, they tend to be rather unlively and are pretty boring to torture! And what's more, they taste so much better raw! Like Wizard Sushi!"
"Tizzy! I said, no." Tom stated sternly, like a father to a naughty child.
"Spoilsport." Tizzy said sourly, not meeting Tom's eyes. Tom just stood there looking at Tizzy, making sure he had the idea. Tizzy looked away taking several long draws on his pipe.
"Ok then," Tizzy looked over at Rupert. "Why don't you come with me then, Rupert. I'll show you the Courts of Chaos. You'd find that a fun place I'm sure. Maybe I can get us an audience with Mephistopheles. He's starting to warm to me. Last time he only had his guards whip me for a month non-stop when I stopped into see him unannounced."
Rupert looked excited. He looked from Tom to Jenn and back and forth. "Can I? It'd be real neat!"
"Rupert!" Jenn shouted. That was it! As soon as she got them out of there, the kid was going to the first doctor, or priest, she could find! He was obviously gone for. The heat had completely melted his brain! Like a marshmallow in a fire. He didn't have too stable a grasp on reality in the first place, and now it was completely gone.
"No." Tom said. Jenn did a double take. The demon was agreeing with her.
"Aaahhh Tom. You promised to show me the Abyss! And you're obviously busy right now. Tizzy can show me just fine, while you take these guys back some place."
"You what!" Jenn shouted, again staring aghast at Tom. She was starting to get hoarse from all the shouting.
Tom looked at her in annoyance, then back to Rupert. "You know I promised no such thing. You are not going with Tizzy. You're going with the rest of us...wherever that is."
"To.o.ohhhmmm..."
"Don't try that with me Rupert! It was stupid enough of me to let you go wandering into that army camp alone. I'm not going to compound it by letting you run all over the Abyss with Tizzy."
~
Rupert got a sour look on his face. It really disappointed him. He'd love to go see the Abyss, especially the Courts of Chaos. Actually, though, he couldn't complain too much. After all, Tom was behaving just the way Rupert had always wanted him to behave. The way he'd always dreamed of. Be careful about what you wish for, Rupert thought, you may get it.
Chapter 42
What a day! Tom thought to himself. This has got to take the cake. Here he was, the responsible hero who lets a little kid wander into the enemy army camp and purposefully get captured. True it worked, but that was another issue. The more he thought about it, the luckier he had been.
After Rupert had gone down into the camp, Tom had allowed himself to fade back to his cave. He'd then sat and tried to 'listen' for Rupert. He'd also replayed the scene with the demons who'd captured Jenn in his mind. Somehow, they'd opened some sort of physical gateway to take her physically through. They didn't just fade out. That would be a handy trick he decided. For one thing if he could do it, then he could bring stuff from Astlan to make his cave nicer. Finally, he heard Rupert calling his name, and it had been very hard to hear, he was glad he'd been listening. At that point, Tom had decided to try a different approach from his normal one. Instead of fading, he tried to imagine a doorway or hole that led to Rupert. He'd concentrated on it, and imagined Rupert calling him from just the other side. Eventually, he was able to see Rupert, in much the same way he'd seen Jehenna, and this time he just punched a hole through the image and opened a hole. From there he'd just stepped through.
It had been a completely different sensation, more like a momentary sense of vertigo and then there he was. No fading, no gentle switching of planes, he just stepped through, as if stepping over a large chasm. They'd all been damn lucky he had done it this way. If that hole hadn't still been there, he didn't think he'd have been able to get the others out. The soldiers had surrounded the tent.
Naturally, he could have killed them all, fairly easily, but in the time that took, Rupert and Jenn would probably have died in the fire or by the arrows of the guards. It was also nice not to have to kill anyone for a change. All he'd had to do was slightly maim a guy. That seemed like a major improvement. Nonetheless, it had still been too close for any real comfort on his part. He'd almost blown it completely. He really needed to think a little more first. He wouldn't always be so lucky.
Tom looked over to where Jenn was trying to wake up the passed out Gastropé. Tom had hoped he'd seen the last of that guy. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, he'd been tied up with
Jenn. He really couldn't blame her for wanting to rescue the guy. Under more normal circumstances, say as in back in Harding, he would have done the same, probably. At least he liked to think so. Now of course, like in so many things, he seemed much more detached, more cavalier about such small things. Small things? he was talking about a man's life after all. Not exactly small, but that was the problem, Tom just kept finding himself thinking and acting ruthlessly.
Not that Tom was the only one with mental problems in this group. Actually, he thought, all of them had severe issues. Gastropé was a coward of the first degree, no confidence what-so-ever. Jenn had one severe attitude problem, probably came from being a wizard. Rupert had finally lost the few remaining face cards in his deck, and there was no question that Tizzy was blatantly psychotic, neurotic, and a few other -otics to boot. The worst part was that Tizzy and Rupert were over there in a corner talking back and forth like old buddies. The little demon was certainly not helping Rupert's condition. Whatever that condition was.
Fortunately, Rupert had agreed to listen to reason and not go gallivanting off with Tizzy. Following that, however, Jenn had informed him that she and Gastropé couldn't keep their spells up for long and that she expected him to return them all to Astlan very soon. He didn't know what spells she was talking about, unless it was the light spell, but Tizzy had made the same comment before asking about eating them. So, he had to get them out of there, he guessed. The question was, how?
He might be able to open another hole, it had been slightly tiring, but not too bad. Unfortunately, he didn't know for sure where to open one at. Boggy had once mentioned something about needing a focal point for demons to find a place in Astlan. A wizard conjuring them, or something similar. The last two times he'd gone willingly to Astlan, he'd had someone calling him that he could focus on. He didn't have that now. Would simply imagining a place he'd been, be sufficient? Was fire needed? it had always been there in the past. He just didn't know. They really needed something like Demon-Ed. After all, if you had to take a class to drive a car, shouldn't you also have to take one to be a demon? Being a demon was a lot more dangerous; to others at least.
Well, what did he have to lose? All he could do was try. Everyone else was busy, so he might as well try. What first though? His Tae-Kwon-Do instructor always said that a clear head was the first step in any process, so Tom guessed some form of meditative trance might help. Tom went over and sat down in his chair. He closed his eyes and began to relax his body.
Actually, despite all the craziness going on around him, Tizzy and Rupert babbling on, and Jenn comforting Gastropé, trying to convince him he wouldn't be eaten, it wasn't as difficult to achieve a trance like state as Tom had feared. He simply concentrated on blankness, on whiteness. He let the sounds of the others wash over him. Pass him by, and go on, like water rolling over a stone in a brook. He remained calm, serene, unchanged by it. He cleared his mind and slowed his, hmm, he didn't seem to have a heart rate. After a moment's pause to consider his lack of heartbeat, he resumed his blank state. He wiped all the confusion, all the warring thoughts and clamoring memories from his mind.
Tom concentrated on images of Astlan, as he remembered them. He concentrated on fire. Consuming fire. Fire which ate all, which gave all. Fire, the birthplace of the Phoenix. Fire, the warm bath which could only caress him, fill him with gentle warmth. He imagined himself encased in fire, he was the living flame itself. He remembered when he was first conjured. The chanting, the braziers, he brought them back into focus, as if they were there.
Suddenly they were there. The braziers, the flame, the chanting, all were there. A voice was chanting a summons. Tom felt no compulsion however, the summons wasn't for him, but for some other. It was also a weak summons. Tom felt that even if it had been for him, he could easily have resisted it. Nonetheless, Tom concentrated on the summons, focused his will upon it, his very being.
Tom saw a room, different then Lenamare's. True, there was a lot of paraphernalia lying about, but very different sorts. Not so much bat-wing and blood magical, but more incense and reverence magical. A bald headed little man was chanting over a small flame adjacent to the one which was Tom. He was waving a small medallion on some sort on a chain.
"By the Holy Azrael and Azaphael, I summon thee. Come thee oh demon Krysfalkenon. Thy Holy Master Verigas calls thee to do his bidding. Answer demon! The Lord Tiernon will not tolerate insubordination to his Blessed Priests. Come demon! I conjure thee by thy true name. Come demon, come now." The little man suddenly stared into the flame that was Tom. "I sense thee demon, get thee into this chamber. Come, come into this most Holy Place of Power!"
Ok, Tom thought, I don't really need a second invitation. Tom began to imagine his body as the flame, began to allow himself to fade. Then he remembered why he was doing this, and pulled back slightly. He couldn't fade through, he needed a gateway. Crap.
"Arrest ye demon. Thou canst not depart! I have summoned thee, thou must come!"
Annoyed, Tom said, "Don't worry, I am coming." The little self-styled priest jerked suddenly, aware that something was dreadfully wrong. He'd heard Tom, and he knew it wasn't any little Krysfalkenon demon coming through the flame. Suddenly the priest's chanting changed. It seemed to Tom that he felt the ties to the room weakening.
We can't have that, Tom thought. Tom concentrated on the room, imagining a small tear in the space between him and the room. With a mental hand he stuck a finger in the hole and began widening it. Wider and wider so that soon he could get a mental hand in. The priest was now shouting commands at the top of his lungs. Apparently growing slightly desperate. Tom opened his eyes. There before him, between the chair and the table was a small hole in space, surrounded by a ring of fire.
Apparently the others in the room had heard him call out to the wizard, because they were all staring at him and the hole. He spared a moment of his attention for Jenn and said, "Well, you said you needed to go back? Are you ready?" He then turned back to the hole and stuck both hands into the hole, tearing it wider. On the other side of the hole was the room with the priest.
The priest was jumping up and down. As the hole got wide enough for the priest to see Tom, the priest stopped chanting and screamed a scream of bloody murder. For some odd reason that Tom couldn't understand, and in fact, disturbed him greatly, the man's scream caused him to smile. He opened the hole wider and stepped through.
Higher Realms
Curriculum Vitae: College of Wizardry
University of the Council States
The World of Astlan, is but many of a large number of worlds that exist in transcendental spaces beyond the vision of mere mortals.
These transcendent realms are the homes of beings of both great beneficence and terrible malevolence. These realms include the Worlds of Men, the Deific Realms of the Gods, the Elemental Planes of Nature, the Astral Plane and lastly the dreaded Abyss.
Linking all of these realms of existence is the Astral Plane, it provides the bridge to all other transcendent worlds. We mortals exist in the Worlds of Men, yet the Planes of Man are many, Astlan is simply one version of diverse set of "alternate realities." Similarly the Deific Realms are composed of many worlds each ruled by a mighty pantheon of divine beings. There are 5 Elemental Planes corresponding to each of the five elemental forces. Lastly, there is but one Abyss, where all that is evil in both the higher and lower realms are consigned to eternal damnation and suffering.
Infinite Worlds that Might Have Been
The planes of man are the multiple planes of existence upon which mankind (mankind here includes elvenkind, dwarvenkind, and other sentient races) reside. In principle there are an infinite number of planes of man, but only those most recently divergent from our own are accessible. Thus only the plane of Astlan, and major alternate versions of Astlan are accessible. Rumors persists of methods of traveling to other planes with alternate physical laws, but the Astral Plane certainly does not link the Astlanian worlds to them. Incidentally, note th
at not all the divergent Astlanian worlds use the same name. We use the name of our own reality to describe all those planes of man where the same laws of magical science and nature apply. Thus only the planes of man where the same laws of nature and magic apply, are accessible via the Astral Plane. Certainly, no individuals from other planes of men have ever been seen, nor has anyone ever found a point of egress to one of these planes on the Astral Plane
Theories do abound that methods similar to the very direct Demonic Gateway spell could potentially be used to contact such worlds. However, no such spells currently exist.
Finally, there seems to be some sort of minimal quanta of difference necessary to access the true "alternate realities." Theory suggests that one should be able to reach worlds in which a loved one did not die, etc. However, to date, no one has been able to fine tune or adjust any spell tight enough to select out such worlds. Currently only Astlanian-like worlds separated by a certain minimal amount of change are accessible. Typically these are worlds in which major events had very different outcomes.
The reasons for this are not known, however theoreticians have hypothesized a set of Laws of Plausibility that require understanding of extremely advanced mathematics and wizardry to comprehend. Essentially, many of the alternate possibility worlds (i.e. did I have coffee or tea this morning) diverge only for short durations before collapsing back into the primary reality wave function. Hence, some suggest, the reason you may not be able to remember what you had this morning for breakfast in 20 years is because that information has been lost in the collapse of the current probability wave. In simpler, more philosophical terms, neither the past nor the future exist, only the present is real.
