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t is written in the ancient legends... that high amidst the moon-swathedpeaks of the great mountain of shadows, hides the aeon-weary threshold of theastral gate... the portal from our world, to beyond... it is said that one whoholds the key and knows the empyreal incantation may stand within the ancientring of stones atop the mountain when the stars are correctly aligned, andunlock the mystic gate, summoning its sidereal sentinels, thereby attaining Ultimate enlightenment and wisdom unparalleled...[part 1: the invoking][the aspirant reaches the summit]Keepers of the cosmic threshold, my ascent has been fraught with terror,deathsteeped, storm-hammered. (these grim mountains are strewn with the bonesof the ill-fortuned dead.) o' guardians of the astral gate, the spheres blazeat last in trine... i hold the key! (the trinity of stars shall touch thecircle of stones once more...) the incantation of xuk'ul is known to me, theorb of summoning earned with bloodshed! (the crystalline key to the outerrealms and the arcane rite to empower it are at last mine, seized atswordpoint from the citadel of the black templars. enlightenment awaits!)Many years ago, the mystic orb of summoning was seized by the mysteriousblack templars,a band of sombre, plunder seeking knights from the kingdoms tothe east of the great sea. they wrested the sorcerous gem from the ancientshrine of azaimedes, where i t had lain hidden for countless centuries, itstrue power and purpose known only to the dour shamans who tended to the elderplace of worship. it is said that the tapestry of slaughter woven that day wasunparalleled in its ferocity, and that the marble walls of the ancient shrinewere, and still remain, stained vivid crimson with the spilled blood of theorb's keepers.Ka-kur-ra, i summon thee,zul'tekh azor vol-thoth.mighty xuk'ul arise,kur'oc gul-kor, come forth.I hold aloft the pulsing orb, astral spheres, empower the mystic key.ring of elder stones entwined in prophecy, the rite of invocation enthrallsthine power. replete from drinking deep of darkness, black shapes dancing'twixt the stones, lucent beams lancing forth from the gleaming, cepheidstars, a creeping mist ensorcells my tongue...A great stillness binds the moon-cloaked mountaintop in gloomingshackles... (high above, the myriad stars gleam bright against the night sky,three more resplendently bedazzling than the others, their sidereal aurasengulfing the stones...) and the central stone of the ancient ebon ring beginsto pulsate with a darksome energy... a thunderous maelstrom ablaze withwrithing celestially spawned power then rends the stygian night... (a vastshimmering aperture, a vortex of heliacal fire... the pathway to beyondbeckons!)the astral gate is open...the guardians have awakened...[xuk'ul:] impudent mortal! you dare summon us? if 'tis elucidation youseek, you shall have it!Such searingly terrible stellar majesty... my sanity is lashed like avessel on a storm-wracked sea. what price this invocation? shall the singingstars claim my very mind?To countless worlds we travel, riding the endless black seas 'twixt thestars... the ebon oceans of infinity... flying through a thousand suns, thenwatching their light fade, as if it were but a flickering candleflame snuffedby the wind. as beings of p ure energy we become one with the vastness,transcending the ethereal walls of time, spanning at once this celestialeternity, and yet existing as no more than a mote of dust within the vista ofits endlessness... journeying beyond...The threshold looms, (the |
star-way between dimensions stretches beforeme...) the gate to that which lies beyond yawns wide... unspeakable forcesgibber and pulsate in the outer darkness... elder horrors dwell here, thingswhich were ancient and revelled in sublime galactic malevolence when evenxuk'ul was naught but a bloated cosmic maggot, writhing and suckling at thebreast o f its amorphous mother... they-who-lurk-and-breed-in-limbo... thesquamous sovereigns of the elder void!Primal terror drags my essence screaming back from the threshold. theichor of pestilent tongues clings to me, tendrils probing, the ire of fiends!The ravening black worms of madness are devouring the shredded remnantsof sanity as i return to my slumbering steel-clad body... but as thedream-veil lifts, i feel my limbs transform, flesh becoming cold stone...enshrouded by a dark mantle of obsidian . and the laughter of the guardiansechoes, carries upon the winds of this spectral eve. such is the price ofenlightenment. and so, a new brooding sentinel of stone joins the others onthe nighted mountain top... standing silently in the ancient circle of truth,standing... waiting, beneath the stars.[lyrics: byron][music: jonny maudling] |
