I awoke to find the Outside Ones clustered around me. Their awful, slime-coated tentacles reached for me as they dangled below their gelid bodies, a foul mephitic odour emanating from them. I could feel the intense pressure battering away at the edges of my mind. Their voices were projected wordlessly into my mind. It is difficult to describe how it felt. It was a series of intentions and powerful commands without any need to be spoken. I struggled, fighting back with all of my finely honed thoughts, a wall of force that screamed “NO!” With every ounce of ferocity I could muster.
I was heartened to see them flinch away from me. I even registered surprise, of all things, in their communications with each other. They had not realized that an Araevian of any race could resist their blandishments and manipulations. Now I felt the aggression and rage batter again. I felt a lance of pain rocket into my skull, so I gritted my teeth and pushed back harder still. It grew harder to concentrate, my brain fogging as even more pressure was exerted.
I made the decision to turn the tables and I threw out a mental blast at them, a hurled spear of mental force. It exploded against their own wall of resistance, but again it seemed to unsettle them and force them to step back. I continued to concentrate, my temples throbbing as the horrid creatures milled around me. There was a cold fury about them now. I sent out this message: I am not weak, I will not let you control me, I am not like the others you have preyed on. One of the Outside Ones lunged at me, drill like mouthparts extended but a forceful mental assault made it writhe and retreat.
I was on my feet now, rising up to face them. I drew myself up and squared my shoulders, projecting more confidence than I felt. Their tentacles writhed in agitated motion as they closed again. I could see my weapon in the corner of the room where they had discarded it. It looked intact, but how was I to reach it? I imagined a weapon, a scythe and tried to form it in my mind. I thought of it slicing through their mental wall, cutting into them and throwing them aside. I kept up that thought until one of the eldritch things recoiled, followed by others. Eventually, through sheer force of will, I compelled them to back away. However, I knew that my time was short before they recuperated.
I drew my weapon up to my shoulder and depressed the trigger, sweeping it in a broad arc around me to drive the horrid beings back. The sizzle of their flesh and their dying screams still haunt me, in spite of knowing that they are foul and seek nothing but destruction. I ran then, as fast as I was able to. I had to turn back on occasion to fend them off, but eventually the chase seemed to end. At the time, I didn’t stop to consider the significance of this cessation. I merely climbed out of that underground area and pounded down the shattered streets of shadow-shrouded Valmoor.
Once I had left that Vis-forsaken place, I journeyed slowly back to Terminus. On the journey, I began to harbour serious misgivings about the Outside Ones and their pursuit of me. I could not imagine that after my assault on them and my aggressive resistance, that they’d truly let me escape their attentions for long. I began to keep up a mental vigilance in seeking to find and counter their influence if it appeared. I had not anticipated how much power was truly present in those creatures and they made it evident to me in a dramatic way.
One night, as I had been sleeping on the airship that was taking me back to Terminus, I felt a lancing pain explode into my brain. I sat up in bed, clutching my aching head as I tried to stop myself from screaming. Through the haze of agony, I realized that the Outside Ones had found me. The pain began to reach a crescendo, blocking me from mounting an effective counter-attack. Drawing on every bit of ability I could muster, I slowly began weaving a tenuous shield to shut out the attack. It crumbled several times but I fought back, eventually starting to force the attack away. Once the foundation had been established, I was able to fortify the structure further to gain control.
I could feel the utter rage that seized the creatures as I again resisted them. I sensed that they were reaching the edge of their effective range. It was comforting to know they had limits, but alarming to realize that one could travel a long distance and still be found. I managed to sleep and only woke after a whole day had elapsed. It left me wondering how it was that they were able to broadcast their mental powers over such a distance. As I considered this question, the only acceptable answer was that they could magnify their signal with a suitable device. I lacked the knowledge to know precisely how this might be achieved but I knew someone who could help me once I arrived in the grand city.
The tower of Sapientia Coetus rose like a sharp crystalline shard into the blue sky’s clarity as I entered that hallowed centre of learning. It was blanketed in a reverent silence as shafts of light refracted and reflected inside it. I made my way through the vaulting interior and into one of the vertical transport devices that made it possible to rapidly navigate. I found myself waiting outside the office of Professor Eduard Tersius and being summoned inside. I was not prepared for the revelatory information that he’d provide nor the path upon which it set me.
I was heartened to see them flinch away from me. I even registered surprise, of all things, in their communications with each other. They had not realized that an Araevian of any race could resist their blandishments and manipulations. Now I felt the aggression and rage batter again. I felt a lance of pain rocket into my skull, so I gritted my teeth and pushed back harder still. It grew harder to concentrate, my brain fogging as even more pressure was exerted.
I made the decision to turn the tables and I threw out a mental blast at them, a hurled spear of mental force. It exploded against their own wall of resistance, but again it seemed to unsettle them and force them to step back. I continued to concentrate, my temples throbbing as the horrid creatures milled around me. There was a cold fury about them now. I sent out this message: I am not weak, I will not let you control me, I am not like the others you have preyed on. One of the Outside Ones lunged at me, drill like mouthparts extended but a forceful mental assault made it writhe and retreat.
I was on my feet now, rising up to face them. I drew myself up and squared my shoulders, projecting more confidence than I felt. Their tentacles writhed in agitated motion as they closed again. I could see my weapon in the corner of the room where they had discarded it. It looked intact, but how was I to reach it? I imagined a weapon, a scythe and tried to form it in my mind. I thought of it slicing through their mental wall, cutting into them and throwing them aside. I kept up that thought until one of the eldritch things recoiled, followed by others. Eventually, through sheer force of will, I compelled them to back away. However, I knew that my time was short before they recuperated.
I drew my weapon up to my shoulder and depressed the trigger, sweeping it in a broad arc around me to drive the horrid beings back. The sizzle of their flesh and their dying screams still haunt me, in spite of knowing that they are foul and seek nothing but destruction. I ran then, as fast as I was able to. I had to turn back on occasion to fend them off, but eventually the chase seemed to end. At the time, I didn’t stop to consider the significance of this cessation. I merely climbed out of that underground area and pounded down the shattered streets of shadow-shrouded Valmoor.
Once I had left that Vis-forsaken place, I journeyed slowly back to Terminus. On the journey, I began to harbour serious misgivings about the Outside Ones and their pursuit of me. I could not imagine that after my assault on them and my aggressive resistance, that they’d truly let me escape their attentions for long. I began to keep up a mental vigilance in seeking to find and counter their influence if it appeared. I had not anticipated how much power was truly present in those creatures and they made it evident to me in a dramatic way.
One night, as I had been sleeping on the airship that was taking me back to Terminus, I felt a lancing pain explode into my brain. I sat up in bed, clutching my aching head as I tried to stop myself from screaming. Through the haze of agony, I realized that the Outside Ones had found me. The pain began to reach a crescendo, blocking me from mounting an effective counter-attack. Drawing on every bit of ability I could muster, I slowly began weaving a tenuous shield to shut out the attack. It crumbled several times but I fought back, eventually starting to force the attack away. Once the foundation had been established, I was able to fortify the structure further to gain control.
I could feel the utter rage that seized the creatures as I again resisted them. I sensed that they were reaching the edge of their effective range. It was comforting to know they had limits, but alarming to realize that one could travel a long distance and still be found. I managed to sleep and only woke after a whole day had elapsed. It left me wondering how it was that they were able to broadcast their mental powers over such a distance. As I considered this question, the only acceptable answer was that they could magnify their signal with a suitable device. I lacked the knowledge to know precisely how this might be achieved but I knew someone who could help me once I arrived in the grand city.
The tower of Sapientia Coetus rose like a sharp crystalline shard into the blue sky’s clarity as I entered that hallowed centre of learning. It was blanketed in a reverent silence as shafts of light refracted and reflected inside it. I made my way through the vaulting interior and into one of the vertical transport devices that made it possible to rapidly navigate. I found myself waiting outside the office of Professor Eduard Tersius and being summoned inside. I was not prepared for the revelatory information that he’d provide nor the path upon which it set me.